The 2008 Bay Area UFO Expo – San Francisco

With Clifford Stone and Robert O. Dean

Late Thursday night (the 26th of September), I was sitting around contemplating my plans for the weekend when I got an email from Victoria Jack, who runs the Bay Area UFO Expo and has for 10 years now. For those of you who don't know, the BAUFOE is pretty much the biggest of its kind, at least in this country, and it always has a stellar line up of the top names in UFOlogy. This year was no exception, with the likes of Whitley Streiber, Jordan Maxwell, Robert O. Dean, David Icke, Jose Escamilla, Dr. Roger Leir, Sean David Morton and a whole host of others scheduled to be in attendance. I was surprised to find that the email asked if I was available to fill a lecture spot on Saturday morning, and even though it meant taking the Friday off of my day job (oh the pain, the pain) I readily accepted. I threw together some clothes, slapped a presentation together and headed up the road to Frisco.

With David Icke. I was not drunk. Really.

I can't say enough about everyone I saw there. Contrary to what I have heard over the years, I have found the "UFO community" to be extremely welcoming and open to me in my visits to these events. I met David Icke at the Friday meet and greet, and then rekindled acquaintances with Dr. Leir, Jose, Paola Harris, and a whole host of others. I got up Saturday and hit my lecture right on time, following the excellent presentation by Dr. John Alexander. Like him, I had video issues ($%&*!!! Vista!) and after getting a late start, I managed to get through all my 100 or so slides in the allotted 45 minutes. I was gratified by the reaction of the audience but frustrated with the limitations of the equipment. I learned that some things are just too subtle for the standard 1024x768 projector to handle.

Trust me, its artificial

After that, it was time to relax and I spent some time listening to Jordan, who I just love. And then I went to see Robert O. Dean. I had met Mr. Dean earlier in the day, and I was overwhelmed by his kindness, generosity and graciousness. I honestly don't remember ever meeting a more polite, friendly and engaging man, and I was flattered beyond belief that he had read Dark Mission and not only enjoyed it, but bought copies for several acquaintances that work at the Pentagon. Later, in both his lecture and his workshop, he made special effort to acknowledge me, Richard and Dark Mission, and I was very humbled and grateful for it. Between he and Jordan, who is always so much nicer to me than he ever needs to be, I feel like I am under the wing of 2 Jedi Masters or something. It's not like Richard is chopped liver or anything, but to be blessed by Jordan and acknowledged by Bob Dean feels like way more praise than I ever deserve. I consider all three men to be true giants amongst us, and they've made me feel as though I belonged with them at their side.

With Jordan Maxwell

I'm not worthy!

The more I listen to Mr. Dean, who has struggled and suffered for what he has told the world, the more impressed I am by the man. It is such a pleasure to hear from someone who has truly glimpsed the future, and feels so optimistic about our place in it. The UFO culture can be a dark and pessimistic place at times, so Bob Dean is a breath of fresh air in more ways than one.

George and TD

After that I headed to Gorge Noory's meet and greet, and once again I was flattered when he spotted me and acknowledged me to the crowd. He is another nice and generous man. It was too bad he and TD (touchdown Tommy Danheiser) couldn't stay, but they had to catch a plane to St. Louis to get George's studio in order after Hurricane Ike (not Icke). Tom and I exchanged a quick hello and he is so helpful and supportive to George. It's really cool to watch.

Saturday night was the big banquet, and I had a table with my name on it and a few people actually sat with me just to talk about Dark Mission. The drinks were strong, Sean David Morton was hysterical as the after dinner entertainment, and the food was excellent. I ended up in the bar (as usual) with Jose, Sean, Jordan, and some new friends over the course of the evening. Jordan held court in the lobby until the wee hours of the morning, and I staggered off to bed happy drunk and truly overwhelmed at how nice everyone is to me.

Sunday I did an interview with Regina Meredith of the Conscious Media Network and went to Paola Harris' workshop. She's as sweet as they come and a very sharp researcher. I also had a chance to catch up with Jordan as well as Tim Crawford. I also had a chance to conspire with several big names about a special project for Richard's next birthday (heh heh heh). I came back from my interview in the lobby to see various people pointing up to the sky, which could only mean one thing: "They" were making an appearance. I ran into Jordan and he told me to go check it out, so Victoria and I both went out to see what was going on. Of course, Whitley's friends had left by the time I got there. Maybe someday I'll see a UFO.

I was sorely tempted to stick around one more night for the speakers' party, but duty and my day job as a card carrying member of the Military Industrial Complex called, so I hit the road about 3 PM and got home to a very unhappy tuxedo kitty.

I had a fantastic weekend and now I'm looking forward to David Icke this week in LA. I assume it's going to rock as much as the rest of my life has been lately. Special thanks to Victoria for inviting me, Robert Perala, Jordan, Bob Dean, Jose, Sean, Brenda, Paola, Melinda Leslie, Roger Leir, George and TD, and pretty much everybody else. I had a blast. Too bad life can't be that much fun all the time.

As always, there are tons more pics over at my Flickr site.