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Do ‘They’ Exist?

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14th Annual UFO Film Festival entertains Gallup

It must be aliens. Well, there’s a belief shared by many that life outside of our solar system exists.

Folks that believe in UFOs, aliens, or just otherworldly-curious attended the 14th Annual UFO Film Festival at the El Morro Theatre, Oct. 21-22.

The event consisted of two feature length documentary movies: “Unacknowledged” and “ETs Among Us,” in addition to “Conscious Circles” – Colin Andrews, first and foremost circle researcher, on film.

Speakers were also present, such as Christopher O’Brien, who spoke on his documentary film “It Could Happen Tomorrow.”

Ron Regehr presented evidence that the Roswell wreckage in the Ramey Office photo could not have been a weather balloon. Navajo Rangers Lt. (Ret.) Jon Dover and Sgt. Stanley Milford Jr., discussed their investigations of paranormal events on reservation lands (including witchcraft, UFO sightings, hauntings, Big Foot sightings).

Speakers came from as far away as Canada for this unique event and brought evidence for the audience to view as well as holding a Q&A.

Local Gallupian, Chuck Wade, presenter of the festival says it was yet another successful event and educational to boot.

“It was just wonderful, the people have been nice, and we’ve had nice crowds,” he said. “The films and speakers have been tremendous. I’ve really enjoyed it.”

When asked how this event came to be, Wade said 14 years ago in Saint Augustine, near Socorro, he and his wife heard about a UFO crash site. They ventured over and began to dig for evidence. In reportedly finding some, and he decided to show them off; thus, the UFO Festival was born.

“What we found at that actual UFO dig site was pretty extraordinary; we wondered what to do with it, so we decided to show them, and with films,” he said.

Those UFO parts that Wade found were on display for everyone to see, and to arrive at  their own conclusion whether UFOs exist.

Curiosity is what brought Billy Rybak to the festival, straight from Cleveland, OH. He said the UFO phenomenon and the people surrounding it, intrigued him.

“To me essentially there’s billions and billions of stars out there and each of these contains planets,” he said. “There’s no way that we can’t be alone. You listen to other people’s account and I think it’s interesting.”

Lt. Ret. Jon Dover, one of the speakers that spent a total of 31 years in law enforcement, 10 years with the Navajo Rangers, handled some strange cases along the way.

The case that started it all was a sighting of Bigfoot in the Chuska Mountains by an elderly Navajo couple. They called the police, but reluctantly their story was dismissed and snickered at.  A second call was made to the chief. This started Dover’s new calling – to handle these special cases with care.

“I was told to start taking cases like this and to handle them in a professional manner regardless of the case,” he said, “We were told that we were going to get cases of unexplained phenomenon such as: UFO sightings, Bigfoot sightings, hauntings, and Navajo Skin walkers. Since then officially, I had been doing them for 10 years and have had a lot of strange cases.”

Dover says in regards to UFO cases, he was told by those in the professional field that his department had the best documented cases ever, with 30 documented cases of Bigfoot sightings, including tracking and gathering evidence.

When asked what is the strangest case that he’s handled, he said that he was once followed by an orb for 40 miles (an orb is thought to be entity or a ball of light/energy.)

“This happen at two in the morning. And it started out at Indian Wells and almost to Leupp, Ariz.,” he said. “It was bigger than a basketball, and began to just follow me. It veered off and went up on the mesas. It started out as a green light. It then paralleled with my course and actually turned red and this gave me a very creepy feeling.”

Dover said as a criminal investigator people often ask him if he believes in the strange phenomena he encounters. His response: it’s all about the evidence.

“A venue like this allows me to get out information … and that is what we are about, educating the public,” he said. “The evidence I’ve gather in these cases cannot be refuted – there has to be an explanation.”

Having seen objects herself, Lorene Willis of Dulce, N.M., came down to learn more as well as letting the public know about a UFO Conference in Dulce June 2018.

“I think it’s great,” Willis said. “We heard about this from Wade himself, and we always like to come, and it’s a lot of fun. To hear the speakers and watch the movies, it’s great. I believe yes there are UFOs, although I’m a little skeptical about whether or not there are aliens.”

It’s events like these that Wade said are fun and interesting for those looking for answers.

Visit: www.chuckwadeufo.com

Story and photos 
by Dee Velasco
For the Sun