The 2024 Kecksburg (PA) UFO Festival Conference to Feature Raymond Szymanski- A Retired Senior Engineer/Scientist from the Air Force Research Laboratory at the ufologically legendary Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
2024 Kecksburg (PA) UFO Festival Conference Speakers Announcement
The Conference takes place on July 21, 2024, at 1 PM.
Raymond Szymanski
Award winning author, researcher, and lecturer, Raymond Szymanski, is the acknowledged expert on Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) and its alien connections. In his first book, Fifty Shades of Greys: Evidence of Extraterrestrial Visitation to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and Beyond, Raymond reveals compelling photographic evidence and research that supports long-held rumors of Wright-Patterson’s alien involvement. Forty years of employment at the fabled Air Force Base, where Roswell crash wreckage was examined, has given Raymond unique access to locations and individuals providing tantalizing information on Men in Black, rumored alien burial sites, and the famous but elusive Hangar 18.
In his 2nd book, Victoria’s Secret Truth, Raymond presents an in-depth, convincing two-year case study for Close Encounters of the 7th Kind that crosses multiple generations of the same family. Therein, Raymond shares all the evidence that includes medical, clinical, photographic, audio, and video, which allows the reader to arrive at unavoidable conclusions regarding alien contact, including ‘why’ they are abducting unsuspecting humans by the thousands.
The final entry in the trilogy is Swamp Gas My Ass (SGMA), the true exploits of two American heroes who intercepted the famous 1966 Michigan ‘Swamp Gas’ UFO, an interplanetary visitor that government officials tried to explain away as “marsh gas”. This and many other formerly secret military aviation history events are told through the recorded interviews and written memoirs of the two U.S. fighter-interceptor pilots who lived them. This book is featured in The Science Channel’s new series, Mission Unexplained, which began airing in June 2023, and Canada’s Cottage Channel, aired in April 2023.
Raymond has appeared on the History Channel’s Ancient Aliens series; The Discovery Channel’s Expedition X Premier Episode (where host, Josh Gates referred to Ray as “my Wright-Patt guy”); Science Channel’s Mission Unexplained; Dayton Fox 45 Morning Show, Youngstown NBC Morning Show, The Boom Boom Room with Ray Mancini, and has been quoted and amusingly misquoted in every major UK tabloid including The Sun, The Express, and The Daily Mail.
He has made guest appearances on: Coast to Coast AM with George Knapp; Open Minds w/Alejandro Rojas; Midnight in the Desert; The Light Gate w/Preston Dennet & Dolly Safran; Fade to Black w/Jimmy Church; The Unexplained; Military X-Files; The Danny Gordon Show; Spaced Out Radio; Strange Dimensions; Aquarian Radio; Sacred Matrix Radio; Veritas Radio; The Dave Glover Show; Radio Wasteland; Beyond Reality Radio; Michael Decon Show; Passion for the Paranormal; Timeless Esoterica; The Edge w/Daniel Ott; Night Dreams w/Gary Anderson; Fenton Files w/Lorien Fenton; Martin Willis Show; Meanwhile, Here on Earth w/Peter Robbins, and a hundred other shows deserving prominent mention.
Ray has made well-received presentations at: 2023 MUFON Symposium; UFO MegaCon in Laughlin, NV; Children of the Stars Conference in Milan, Italy; the Los Angeles UFO and Paranormal Research Society (UPARS); the Denver Paranormal Research Forum; the Florida Paranormal Research Group; the Arizona, North Carolina, and Michigan MUFON Chapters; Engineers Club of Dayton (loaded with former intelligence personnel-yikes!); International Dark Sky Park in Mackinaw City; and a hundred other public appearances across the country and many national and international Skype appearances. Raymond is featured in the 2022 Hillsdale College documentary, Aliens in the Arb. (Hillsdale College was the site of 1966 SGMA event.)
Raymond holds a Bachelor’s in Electrical & Electronics Engineering from the University of Detroit (1975). In 1983 he completed his graduate studies in Computer Engineering at Wright State University. From 1983 -1993 he led the Ada Joint Program Office’s Evaluation and Validation Team sponsored by the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. He served two years as the first Director of the WPAFB Installation Civilian Wellness Program, impacting the lives of 12,000 base civilians. In addition to dozens of annual performance awards received in his distinguished career, Raymond received two of the highest Air Force Civilian awards: The Air Force Civilian Achievement Award, and the Outstanding Civilian Career Service Award. In his spare time, he ran 16 marathons, including the 2010 and 2015 Boston Marathons. He retired in 2011 as a Senior Engineer/Scientist from the Air Force Research Laboratory at the ufologically legendary Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
Ray’s talk for the Kecksburg UFO Conference is titled: The Lighter Side of Flying Saucers: Official Explanations, Debunkers, and the Media.
Stan Gordon- UFO-Bigfoot Researcher and Author
Stan Gordon was trained as an electronics technician who specialized in radio communications. He worked in the advanced consumer electronics sales field for over forty years. Stan has been researching UFO sightings, Bigfoot encounters, and other mysterious events in Pennsylvania since 1959. Since then, he has been involved with the investigation of thousands of unusual incidents. For many years, Stan led teams of scientists, engineers, and research specialists to investigate mysterious occurrences across Pennsylvania. He is the primary investigator of the 1965 UFO crash incident that occurred near Kecksburg, PA.
Stan has been taking calls on UFO sightings and other strange reports from the public since 1969, and he continues to receive unusual reports on a regular basis. He has given illustrated lectures both locally and nationally on the topics of UFOs, Bigfoot, Cryptids, and strange encounters since the late 1960s. Gordon is a former PA State Director for the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) and was its first recipient In 1987 of the MUFON Meritorious Achievement in a UFO investigation Award. He was listed in the 2005 FATE Magazine special, The 100 Most Influential People in UFOlogy Today.
He is the producer of the award winning UFO video documentary, “Kecksburg The Untold Story.” Stan is the author of four books, Silent Invasion: The Pennsylvania UFO-Bigfoot Casebook, Really Mysterious Pennsylvania, and Astonishing Encounters: Pennsylvania’s Unknown Creatures, and Stan’s 4th book, “Creepy Cryptids And Strange UFO Encounters Of Pennsylvania.” His books are available on amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.
Stan appears frequently on radio, podcast, and television programs discussing his research on these topics. He has been interviewed for TV and radio programs nationally and internationally. Stan has been seen on the History & Discovery Channel, SyFy Channel, Travel Channel, Fox News Channel, Destination America Channel, and Unsolved Mysteries, as well as numerous other TV programs. He has been a guest on the Coast to Coast radio show several times. For updates on upcoming events and reports visit Stan’s website: www.stangordon.info.
Stan will present to the conference audience an update on some of the very detailed UFO, Bigfoot, and cryptid encounters reported by the public. Many of these cases have occurred in Westmoreland County and the Greater Pittsburgh area in recent years and months. Some of these incidents occurred in daylight at very close range.
Connie and Chris Brinker (Directors of FayWest Paranormal)
Connie and Chris and the following team members will present a program about an active, remote area in Fayette County known as Pennsylvania’s Area X. At this location, various types of strange occurrences such as cryptid encounters and small balls of light low to the ground are continuing to be reported. Bigfoot sightings have also been reported nearby. Photos and videos will be shown that documented some of these incidents. The team members have all experienced some very strange incidents at Area X, that they will describe to you.
Connie has been having Paranormal experiences since she was a little girl, with objects moving in her parents’ house without explanation. She always had a love for ghosts and hauntings, and always had a curiosity for other areas of the Paranormal, as well. In May of 2021, she had a sighting that changed her way of thinking. Connie has since started researching all fields of the Paranormal.
Chris began his interest in the paranormal, watching “In Search of…” and the typical teenage ‘all things spooky’. After he started dating Connie, they started returning to places that they had experiences, prior to meeting each other. Chris is the skeptic of the group and is always trying to debunk claims, but has had his own experiences in different areas of the Paranormal, that has made him a believer.
https://www.youtube.com/@faywestparanormal
https://www.facebook.com/FayWestParanormal?mibextid=ZbWKwL
Thomas Mihok-Investigator with the Pennsylvania Bigfoot Society and FayWest Paranormal
Tom Mihok is a Cryptozoologist and paranormal investigator. In 2004 he formed the Penn Hills Paranormal Society. His group investigated hauntings and reports of paranormal activity for both private residences and businesses. Tom has investigated some of the most active haunted locations in the country.
In addition to being a member of the Fay-West Paranormal group, Tom is also a field investigator for the Pennsylvania Bigfoot Society. In addition to being interviewed on numerous podcasts and speaking at paranormal events on a wide range of subjects, Tom can also be seen in the Small Town Monsters series, “Sasquatch Unearthed: The Ridge.
Eric Altman-Director of the Pennsylvania Bigfoot Society and a researcher with FayWest Paranormal.
Eric Altman is a Cryptozoologist and Paranormal enthusiast specializing in researching the Bigfoot/Sasquatch phenomenon with a combined 43 years of study, field research, and investigations. Eric is a well-respected field investigator, contributing author, founder, and Director of the Pennsylvania Cryptozoology Society, one of the founding members and Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Bigfoot Society. Eric was also the host and co-founder of Beyond the Edge Radio, a live weekly radio program covering a variety of paranormal and fringe topics for over 12 years from 2007 to 2019.
Eric has and actively investigates cases, sighting claims, and continues to conduct fieldwork dating back to 1997. He has investigated and assisted in investigating hundreds of Bigfoot sightings, encounters, and claims in Pennsylvania and across the country. Eric served as host and organizer of the East Coast Bigfoot Conference from 2000 to 2011, and the Pennsylvania Bigfoot Camping Adventure, an annual charity fund raising event from 2017 to 2019.
For over 23 years, Eric is a much sought-after public speaker on the topics of Bigfoot and other paranormal topics across the country. Eric has appeared in various documentaries, films, and television programs about Bigfoot on the Travel Channel’s Paranormal Declassified and the Discovery plus series “Fright Club” and the Recent Small Town Monsters 6 episode series “Sasquatch Unearthed: The Ridge.” Eric has written for and contributed to numerous books and magazine articles on the subject of Bigfoot. He has been interviewed as a featured guest on hundreds of national radio programs and podcast shows. He has also been featured in national and local newspapers, magazine articles, and various forms of print media. To learn more about Eric, visit his websites https://www.ericaltman.net. https: www.pabigfoot.com and https: www.pacryptosociety.com
https://www.pabigfootcampingadventure.com/
Kevin Paul-Paranormal Researcher and Author from Greene County, Pennsylvania
A descendant of some of the prominent first European families to settle in what is now known as Greene County, Kevin Paul was immersed at an early age in local folklore and its application to everyday life in rural southwestern Pennsylvania. A lifelong experiencer of the unexplained, he is the only researcher and investigator to focus exclusively on the 578 square miles that comprise the creepiest corner of the Keystone State. His interest in studying the paranormal began in 1966 when headlines about the Mothman sightings in Point Pleasant, West Virginia first appeared in local newspapers.
He is a graduate of West Virginia University and has worked in production agriculture, conservation of natural resources, agricultural marketing, and sales. His farm background and family history are blended with folklore to create a distinctively different and low-tech approach to the research and investigation of paranormal activity.
In addition to doing presentations at regional conferences he has appeared on Richard Syrett’s Strange Planet, Gary Anderson’s Night Dreams Talk Radio, James Creachbaum’s The Hitman’s Paranormal Radio Show, Heather Moser’s The Lore You Know, the Mysterious Radio Podcast, the California Haunts Radio Podcast, The BUMP Podcast, The Wellhouse Exorcism Podcast, The Esoteric Book Club Podcast, the This Uncanny Earth podcast, and others.
While he continues to work in support of local small farms and urban agriculture, he also enjoys relaxing with his wife, reading, listening to music, collecting vintage small engines and garden tractors, and traveling the back roads of America. His program is titled, “Politics and the Paranormal in Greene County Pennsylvania.” It will be an overview of types of strange activity seen in Greene County, the effect of the culture industry on paranormal investigations, and possible explanations.
The Kecksburg UFO Festival takes place July 19-21, 2024. www.kecksburgvfd.com