The Dogman Symposium - In Photos

Here's a bunch of photos from the weekend, at the Dogman Symposium at Defiance, Ohio - some shots from the drive there, from the meet-the-speakers event, the gig itself, dinner on the Saturday night, and a visit to the site of the 1972 creature/"werewolf" encounter in town  at the old railroad tacks. An excellent time, and many thanks to good mate Ken Gerhard for all his hard work in putting the conference together!

Dogman Symposium Website

If you're interested in attending the Dogman Symposium in Defiance, Ohio on August 6, here's the newly created website for the gig.

The speakers are: Ken Gerhard, Linda Godfrey, me, Stan Gordon, David Weatherly, John Tenney and (as master of ceremonies) Lyle Blackburn.

Should be a good one!

Arrived in the Mail...

Arrived in the mail today, a copy of the new book from Stan Gordon, Astonishing Encounters: Pennsylvania's Unknown Creatures, Casebook Three. A big review will be online from me next week. Thanks, Stan!

Kecksburg UFO and More

Here are a few photos from this past weekend's Pittsburgh MUFON conference in Youngwood PA at the Westmoreland County Community College, of various friends, John Ventre, Thomas Lee Curtin, Jr., and Stan Gordon.

As well as shots from a road-trip with John V to check out the town of Kecksburg, the home of an alleged UFO crash in December 1965, and which the town celebrates every year with a festival. They have also made a life-size model of the UFO, as you'll see.

Weird Winged Things: Pennsylvania

Stan Gordon updates us on the latest wave of strange, flying creatures in his home state of Pennsylvania.

He begins:

"There has been a long history of giant bird sightings in Pennsylvania. The term 'Thunderbird” has been used to describe these generally very large, normally black or dark brown birds with massive wingspans. Not all of the descriptions of these flying cryptids however are the same. Some witnesses

"I have Interviewed in past years have stated that what they saw looked more like a giant bat.
Others reluctantly told me what they observed looked more prehistoric and similar to a pterodactyl or teratorn. More than one person told me that the huge flying creature they saw could only be described as a dragon. And yes, some who have witnessed these creatures have hesitantly used the term gargoyle.

"In recent months there has been a noticeable increase in reports of these mysterious flying creatures. The following is a brief summary of these reports that have come to my attention. I have received other such reports from the eastern region of the state but I have not been able to interview those involved."

And here's the complete article, which makes for cool reading...

UFOs & Bigfoot: This Weekend

This just in from Stan Gordon , author of the excellent book, Silent Invasion (which, if you don't already have it, you really should!):

UFO and Bigfoot Conference at This Weekend’s Kecksburg , PA UFO Festival

The 9^th annual Kecksburg Old Fashion & UFO Festival is going to take place from July 25-27, 2014, with many special events planned for the weekend. The event commemorates the crash landing of a mysterious object that fell from the sky into a wooded area near the community of Kecksburg during the late afternoon of December 9, 1965. The military that arrived in the area that day reportedly recovered the object and transported it to an Air Force base in Ohio. What the object was still remains a mystery.

The weekend festival is a great family event that has many unique ongoing features and great food. On Friday, starting at 6 PM, there will be half price night in the kitchen serving burgers, fries, and hot dogs. Inside the social hall will be a Craft Show and jewelry vendors as well as the Kecksburg V.F.D. UFO gift shop. On the outside there will be food Booths, Boy Scouts, apple dumplings, wood carving, and DJ Music.

Saturday, July 26: Open 11 AM to 11 PM.  Inside the social hall with the craft show and other venders will be displays with UFO, Bigfoot, and Paranormal researchers and groups. Some of those scheduled to attend include Stan Gordon- UFO researcher & author, Eric Altman-PA Bigfoot Society, Brian & Terrie Seech-Center For Unexplained Events, Fred Saluga-W. VA MUFON State Director, John Ventre-PA MUFON State Director, Ryan Cavalline and Dave Rupert-Legend Hunters and Cheryl Alsippi- ALKO PSI-paranormal research group.


The parade starts at 2 PM, followed by the bucket brigade, hay bale toss, and the bed race at 4 PM. The famous Smoke In the Valley Burn Out contest is at 6 PM. Entertainment will be provided by Agway Shop Lifters Band. The evening will commence with a fireworks display. Prizes awarded for Best UFO Entry, Best UFO Costume, Best UFO Pet Costume, and Best UFO motorcycle.

Sunday, July 27: Open 10 AM, music all day. Memorial Dedication and 75^th Anniversary. UFO, Bigfoot, Paranormal display continues inside the social hall with other venders. Out of this world UFO hot dog eat off at 1 PM.

The annual UFO & Bigfoot Conference will be held from 1:30 to 5 PM. The conference is free, but a donation to the V.F.D. is appreciated at the door. Scheduled to speak are Stan Gordon-“An Update on recent UFO, Bigfoot, and other mysterious encounters reported from Westmoreland County and Pennsylvania.”  Eric Altman-"Westmoreland and Fayette County Bigfoot Encounters", John Ventre-“The Case for UFOs”, and Brian Seech-“Strange Cryptids of the Ohio River Valley.”

There will also be car cruise 10 AM- 5 PM (Dash Plaques to first 100) and a kids pedal power tractor pull at 3 PM for  3 to 10 years olds. There will also be music by the Katrina Lynn Band. The Social Hall venders and research display will stay open until 6 PM.

The Kecksburg V.F.D. fairgrounds is located at the intersection of Claypike & Route 982, at 5128 Water Street Kecksburg PA. For information call: 724-423-9540. 

Stan Gordon: UFOs & Cryptids

For fans of Cryptozoology and Ufology, check out this, coming up next week re Stan Gordon, an excellent researcher and author.

UFOs And Creature Encounters

This just in from Stan Gordon:

July, 2012
For Immediate Release
For Information contact: Ron Struble, Kecksburg V.F.D. at 724-423-9540 or Stan Gordon, 724-838-7768

2012 Kecksburg UFO Festival To Host “Mysterious Pennsylvania UFO and Creature Encounters” Conference.

The 2012 Kecksburg Old Fashioned Days & UFO Festival will be held July 28th and 29th, at the fire department festival grounds in Kecksburg, PA, located in Mount Pleasant Township. This will be the seventh annual such festival founded by the Kecksburg volunteer fire department. Join us for this two day event that will feature many special events including a parade, classic car show, and their famous Burn Out Contest.

Prizes will be awarded this year for the best UFO entry in the parade, as well as for the best alien costume. New this year will be additional contests for the Best UFO Alien Pet Costume, and the Best UFO Motorcycle. On Sunday the very popular “Out of This World UFO Hot Dog eating Contest” will take place at 1 PM.

On Sunday from 1:30-5 PM, The Kecksburg UFO Committee will host their second annual Kecksburg UFO Conference titled, “Mysterious Pennsylvania UFO and Creature Encounters”.  The conference is free, but a donation at the door is appreciated to support the Kecksburg volunteer fire department.

The 2012 Kecksburg speaker line up includes: Stan Gordon, Author and UFO-Bigfoot Researcher. Gordon is the principal investigator of the 1965 Kecksburg UFO incident.  He will be speaking about, “Strange Encounters of Pennsylvania”. This will be an illustrated discussion about the history of UFOs, Bigfoot and other strange creatures reported across the state including recent incidents.

John Ventre, Author and Pennsylvania State Director for the Mutual UFO Network, will discuss his recent appearance on the Anderson Cooper TV show discussing UFOs, and how they edited the program.

Eric Altman, Director of the Pennsylvania Bigfoot Society, will talk about past and present Bigfoot encounters reported in Pennsylvania.

Dave Dragosin, Assistant Director of the Pennsylvania Bigfoot Society for Western Pennsylvania, will discuss the implication of forensic sketches in relation to Bigfoot investigations.

During the two day festival, various Pennsylvania UFO, Bigfoot and Paranormal researchers and groups will set up displays in the social hall.

Those who are expected to attend include, Stan Gordon-UFO-Bigfoot Researcher and Author, Eric Altman-Director of the PA Bigfoot Society (PBS), John Ventre-PA State Director of the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON), Dave Dragosin-Assistant Director of the PA Bigfoot Society (PBS) for Western Pennsylvania, Dan Hageman-Director of the Butler Organization of the Unexplained (BORU), Brian and Terrie Seech-Center for Unexplained Events (CUE), Keith Bastianini-UFO Researcher and Graphic Artist, Jim Brown-Brown Electronics Lab-Independent Research Associates, and Joe Kosczuk-Westmoreland Paranormal Investigations.

Kecksburg located in Mount Pleasant Township in Westmoreland County, is located about 40 miles SE of Pittsburgh.  This rural community has become a location of international interest after a mysterious object reportedly fell from the sky into a nearby wooded area on December 9, 1965. What that metallic acorn shaped object with strange hieroglyphic-like symbols may have been is still being debated. The military that arrived on the scene that night apparently recovered the device and hauled it away.

The Kecksburg festival will be held on the volunteer fire department festival grounds. The location is Claypike and Rt. 982. The address is 5128 Water Street, Kecksburg, PA. For more information and event details visit the Kecksburg V.F.D. website at: www.kecksburgvfd.com or www.stangordon.info  or call 724-423-9540.

Stan Gordon: Sunday Night

If Stan Gordon's weird creature cases that I highlighted here over the last few days caught your attention, you may be interested to know he will be on Beyond the Edge radio this coming Sunday night - and, yep, cryptozoolgical weirdness will definitely be on the list!

Here's the link to the show.

From Snake To Snakes

Stan Gordon has shared with me yet another weird creature report from his files. And this one is pretty much beyond creepy and almost positively Lovecraftian! I'll let Stan (author of Silent Invasion: The Pennsylvania UFO-Bigfoot Casebook, a book you really should own!) relate the details in his very own words.

Over to Stan:

This incident first came to the attention of Brian Seech, founder of the Center for Unexplained Events, who quickly made me aware of the occurrence. I have had the opportunity to interview the husband who was driving the car during this experience.

This incident occurred on September 19, 2009, at about 3:45 pm, on a beautiful, clear and sunny afternoon, in rural Westmoreland County, not far from Youngwood. A woman, her husband and child were in their car driving along the country road that afternoon. Suddenly, the woman seated behind her husband yelled out, “watch out for that snake.” The man slowed down as they focused on a black snake about four feet long that was slowly moving across the road ahead of them from right to left. The head of the reptile was in the center of the roadway. The fellow told me that while the creature looked like a snake, it did not slither like a snake, but instead, was “gliding real slow.”

Suddenly, something happened that the witnesses are still trying to explain. As the couple watched, the body of the snake broke apart into approximately eight individual creatures. The man related that this happened quickly, almost as if it exploded. Each creature was about four inches in length, but  stretched up to approximately six inches as they moved. They were tubular shaped, with no tail, and charcoal black in color. The fellow said he was unsure if there was hair, but what might have been hair was of a “shiny wet” texture.

Each creature seemed to have four feet, two on each side of the body. The feet were hard to describe, since they were black, the same color as the body. They did not notice any eyes. The wife told her husband that she could see the mouth of one creature, which was wide open. The vehicle stopped about ten to twenty feet from the creatures, which were “moving individually, erratically, and extremely fast in the road.”

The creatures moved like inch worms with the back hunched up and then stretching flat, growing at least two additional inches in length each time they moved. Then all of the individual creatures positioned themselves to form a perfect solid black circle in the middle of the road. At that point, an additional similar crawling creature came out of the grass from the driver’s left side, and with extreme speed, joined the others in the circle. They then apparently all joined into one snake-like form, as no space could be seen between the units after they joined together. Then it moved very quickly to  the left side of the road into the grass from where it had originated from.

The entire incident was estimated to have taken place in five to ten seconds. No unusual sounds or smells were detected during the experience, but the windows were closed at the time. The man        drove the car forward, as they looked to the left trying to see where the creature had gone. They quickly hurried down the road and out of the area.

The witness explained that “the event was surreal, like watching computer generated graphics or animation”. Soon after the event, the wife drew pictures of the creatures, and sculpted what she saw with play-doh. Various reptiles, insects, and animals were researched on the internet to try to find an explanation, but none fit the various characteristics of what  was observed.

This report was of much interest to me, as there was an  incident I received with some similarities that occurred on June 27, 2009, in Mount Pleasant Township only a short distance from this encounter. During that evening, three passengers in a car watched what resembled over sized caterpillars, about 7 inches long moving back and forth across the road.

A UFO and a Slug-Like Thing

Stan Gordon, author of the excellent Silent Invasion: The Pennsylvania UFO-Bigfoot Casebook, has very generously let me share with you a fascinating new article from him titled Pennsylvania Close Encounter with a UFO & Slug-Like Creature.

As you'll see, it appears to blend the UFO phenomenon with Cryptozoology - a theme very present in Stan's Silent Invasion.

You can find all about Stan's decades-long work at his website, www.stangordon.info

And here's his new article:

"I received a telephone message on my answering machine at 12:32 a.m., on May 8, 2012 from a man who reported seeing a strange aerial object at close range just a short time before he called. I was able to make contact with him at around 10 a.m. at which time I conducted a detailed interview with the man involved. There were additional interviews that followed as well. The man noticed the object hovering at close range after the inside of his living room was illuminated by its lights.

"One of the first questions the man asked me was if the object could be a 'weather plane' since there was lightning off in the distance. During our initial interview the man suddenly brought up that until I had called him back to talk about what he had observed, he had blanked out the UFO sighting encounter and had forgotten about it, and this seemed disturbing to him.  Upon seeing the object, the man attempted to video tape it as it moved off in the distance. Unfortunately, very little detail could be seen on the short video. Researcher and electronics specialist Jim Brown attempted to try to work with the footage to obtain more details but was unable to do so.  Jim stated, 'There is simply not enough resolution to determine any detail to it.'

"My research associate, Keith Bastianini, an archeologist and graphic artist, went to the location to conduct an on scene investigation and a first- hand interview with the man involved. Some very interesting additional details surfaced during that interview.  The following is a summary from Keith Bastianini’s report:

"The sighting occurred in Washington County, Pennsylvania, at approximately 11:10 p.m. on May 7, 2012.  The witness was in the living room of his second floor home while his wife was asleep in the bedroom at the time of the sighting.  The night was overcast and although it was not raining, there were thunderstorms on the horizon producing lightening that occasionally lit the sky. The witness was sitting on the couch watching television when the room was suddenly illuminated by brilliant white light streaming in from the window to his right.  Rising from the couch and moving to the window which looks out over the rear parking area, the witness found the source of the light to be an unknown aircraft hovering low atop an electrical pole.

"The 'aircraft' resembled a football (the pointed ends aligned vertically), with two perpendicular light arrays in the middle.  The witness estimated each light array measured approximately 30 feet in length.  Each array supported seven round lights which reminded the witness 'of baseball stadium lights.'  A square-lined grill covered each of the lights.  Three darker bands (similar to the white stripes on a football) encircled the 'craft. The witness noted the object appeared to be of seamless' fabrication.  

"The witness tried to think about what the 'craft' could be, rationalizing that with the weather conditions outside, he was seeing some 'weather plane or helicopter.'  But given the proximity of the object hovering approximately 100 feet away outside the window - 'There should have been some sound…especially if it was a helicopter!  It should have shook the whole damn building, but there was no sound whatsoever!'

"Although shocked by what he was seeing, the witness was determined to capture a picture of the object and went back to the couch where he had earlier been playing with his Sony PlayStation Vita which contained a camera. Back at the window, the witness raised the Vita to target the object in the view finder when it veered swiftly to the left and out of sight.  'Almost as if it knew I was going to take a picture,' he said. Barefoot, the witness darted from his home and down the steps to the front door (in the direction the UFO moved) still hoping to get a picture.

"At the door, he was rewarded with a view of the 'craft' moving rapidly to the south. He raised the Vita and shot video of the departing object until '…it made a right turn like a car would…' and shot from sight. The witness observed that the rear of object looked different from the 'football shape' he first observed as it moved away – 'more like a rectangle with a triangle shape beneath it.'  Also of note, only five lights that blinked alternately red and white were now visible.   

"The witness stated that the portion of the sighting as viewed from the living room window was only a matter of seconds although afterwards he had the impression that it was actually 'longer.'  Some time confusion was evident. The witness initially believed the sighting occurred about midnight but checking the time as recorded on the video places the sighting at 11:10 p.m. A check of the calibration of the camera’s clock function showed no error in the recordation of time. The witness has no explanation for his distorted memory of the time. The witness also stated that he had the distinct feeling that the 'craft' was occupied and that the occupants were aware of his presence.

"When the witness was asked if he noted any physical effects following the sighting, he stated that for 2 days afterwards he experienced 'weird' periods of confusion and forgetfulness during conversations or other activities. He attributed it to post-excitement adding he's never experienced anything like it before. The witness also reported that he didn't sleep well that night expecting 'them' to come back for him. 

"The witness also reported a strange creature sighting during the daylight portion of the day of the UFO encounter. He speculated: 'They (the UFO occupants) left something – I think that’s why they were here.' The witness then led this reporter to a rubble pile of concrete fragments adjacent to the area where the UFO hovered and he recounted finding a large slug-like creature slithering in the weeds. The 'thing' was shiny black like a slug with no apparent eyes or appendages. It measured between 2.5 - 3 feet in length and 7 - 8 inches in thickness. As the witness watched the 'thing' withering around in the weeds it slithered into a hole in the rubble pile. He reported checking the area periodically since the sighting hoping to capture a picture of the 'thing.'"