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While Chehalis Flying Saucer Party organizers are preparing for this year’s festival in September, they also have a debate coming up — and the debate’s date has now been set, according to Jason Mattson, co-organizer of the Flying Saucer Party and the executive director of the Lewis County Historical Museum.
The debate will feature Roswell UFO Festival organizers facing off against both Flying Saucer Party and Men in Black Birthday Bash organizers, who have teamed up to form the United Festivals of UFOs, or UFO-UFO.
On Oct. 10, UFO-UFO and Roswell UFO Festival organizers will enter the debate stage at the Truth or Consequences Brewing Company in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. The exact time has yet to be decided. The debate was first announced by Flying Saucer Party co-organizer Vince Ynzunza at last year’s festival in Chehalis.
Given Truth or Consequences is some 200 miles west of Roswell and its apt name, the organizers all agreed on it as a neutral debate site. Originally incorporated as the Town of Hot Springs in 1916, the town’s name was officially changed in 1950 as part of a publicity campaign to celebrate the 10th anniversary of NBC’s radio game show, Truth or Consequences.
The topic of debate at Truth or Consequences this October? Whether Roswell is the sole spark that set off the “Summer of the Saucers” in 1947 and started the modern UFOlogy movement, or if events here in the Pacific Northwest also played a part.
UFO-UFO’s claim is staked on two important events, both of which occurred in the weeks leading up to the Roswell Incident.
The first is Kenneth Arnold’s flight from Chehalis where, after taking off en route to Yakima, he claimed to see nine metallic disc-shaped objects flying in a line near Mount Rainier south toward Mount Adams over the skies of Mineral on June 24, 1947.
After describing what he saw to the East Oregonian as “saucer-like aircraft flying in formation,” the term “flying saucer” was born, and sightings began to be reported nationwide. The Flying Saucer Party is now held annually to commemorate his sighting.
The other event is Harold Dahl’s alleged encounter with donut-shaped craft, one of which dumped metallic debris onto his boat near Maury Island in the Puget Sound three days earlier on June 21 — and his subsequent first-reported encounter with the threatening and mysterious Men in Black the following day, June 22.
Though some believe it was an elaborate hoax, this would eventually become known as the Maury Island Incident, and is commemorated annually at the Men in Black Birthday Bash.
Roswell’s claim is based on W.W. “Mac” Brazel’s alleged discovery of debris from an object that crashed near his ranch in Corona, New Mexico, over Fourth of July weekend in 1947.
Brazel’s discovery made world-wide headlines on July 8, 1947, when U.S. Army 1st Lieutenant Walter Haut, public information officer for the 509th Bomb Group from the nearby Roswell Army Air Field, put out a press release officially stating the Army had visited Brazel’s ranch and recovered “flying disc” debris.
This press release was retracted the next day as Army officials tried to claim the debris was from a weather balloon, but the incident further cemented what is now known as the Roswell Incident into history as the first major UFO coverup by the U.S. government.
While the Roswell Incident dominated debate in the UFOlogy world for decades, Arnold’s flying saucer sighting and the Maury Island Incident were seemingly shelved in the annals of history.
Following October’s debate, organizers from both the Men in Black Birthday Bash and the Flying Saucer Party hope to change this narrative — and prove it wasn’t just Roswell that birthed UFOlogy.
First held in 2019, the Flying Saucer Party returns to downtown Chehalis on Sept. 12 and 13, along with the third annual Northwest Flying Saucer Film Fest. Aside from celebrating Arnold’s sighting, this year’s party will feature another strange Lewis County UFO story — the case of Samuel Eaton Thompson, a Centralia man who claimed to have made contact with visitors from Venus in 1950 near Morton.
To learn more about the Flying Saucer Party and to purchase tickets, visit its website at https://www.flyingsaucerparty.org/. More information on the film festival can be found at https://filmfreeway.com/NWFlyingSaucerFilmFest.
The Men in Black Birthday Bash began as a private party organizer Steve Edmiston and his neighbors first held in 2012 in Des Moines just across the Puget Sound from Maury Island.
Officially held as a public festival since 2016, this year’s Men in Black Birthday Bash features a variety of events scheduled between June 13 and June 22. For more information on the events and to purchase tickets, visit https://mibbbfest.squarespace.com/.
First held in 1996, the Roswell UFO Festival is scheduled from July 4 to July 6 in Roswell, New Mexico. To learn more about the festival, visit https://ufofestival.com/.
