Published: September 18, 2007 10:05 pm         

Promoter eyes ’08 UFO show; Beckley not ruled out

Honeymooners and the plain curious from a number of states and foreign countries helped make the first UFO Extravaganza a success, and promoter Larry Bailey says he is already throwing out some ideas for the 2008 show.

One is to use chartered buses to visit some of the sites dear to UFO enthusiasts, such as Flatwoods, home of the so-called Braxton Monster that frightened adults and school children alike on a September evening back in 1952 and formed the backdrop of Bailey’s first show.

“I wouldn’t rule out Beckley,” Bailey said Tuesday when asked if he would consider staging the second show next summer outside Charleston.

“I wouldn’t rule out some of the little cities, either. I’m a firm believer that if they want you, you have to listen to them.”

Bailey’s first show, held at the old Capitol Theater in Charleston, featured nuclear physicist Stanton Friedman, who has spent years researching the UFO phenomenon ever since the 1947 benchmark incident in Roswell, N.M., where many believe aliens crash-landed spacecraft and the government launched an elaborate scheme to cover up the evidence.

Friedman’s presentation was based on what he calls a “cosmic Watergate” with the federal authorities systematically hiding evidence of visitations by aliens in their zeal to maintain control of the citizenry, who, if they became aware of the truth, would be inclined to see themselves less as citizens of individual nations but as earthlings.

Author Frank Feschino autographed his second book on the Flatwoods Monster, which he asserts was an alien who hobbled into West Virginia after his craft was disabled in a space battle between ETs and U.S. jetfighters.

Bailey said the UFO event, if staged annually, could help stir some economic development.

“We’re kind of dying on the vine at times,” he said.

“We definitely need some tourism or something to rejuvenate this state.”

Besides chartered tours of eerie sites, Bailey is exploring the prospect of bring in a variety of other speakers next year. Before then, Bailey intends to take the show on the road to Charlotte, N.C., either by the end of this year or next spring.

— E-mail:

mannix@register-herald.com