| UFO gathering planned for Sept. 5 at Flatwoods
By Mannix Porterfield
Register-Herald Reporter
register-herald.com
Under a canopy of blinking stars overlooking a pastoral hillside in the rugged mountains of West Virginia, the vigil is coming.
Aided by a phalanx of amber lights, apparently the preferred hue of those who, many are convinced, live beyond planet Earth but visit here regularly, the watchers are gathering next month in rural Braxton County.
For it was there, more than 50 years ago, that a small hamlet known as Flatwoods gave birth to one of the larger-than-life legends in the annals of Unidentified Flying Objects.
Children engaged in a pick-up game of football suddenly were astonished by the glare of a dazzling light that seemed to scurry up a hillside.
Soon, some adults joined the chase, and when they arrived, the sights, sounds and smell would dog them for the rest of their lives. What they consistently told authorities over the years about that Sept. 12, 1952, evening never changed â a 12-foot, metallic object issuing an offensive odor of sulfur while emitting sounds one witness likened to bacon sizzling in a fry pan.
So just after sunset on Sept. 5, a mere week shy of the 57th anniversary of the birth of the "Flatwoods Monster" chapter in UFO history, watchers from across the nation will take up positions on a farmland adjacent to the actual site where the spectacle appeared.
"We're going to put some lights up and different stuff," says prolific author and exhaustive UFO researcher Frank Feschino, the key player in an extravaganza that opens Sept. 3 at the Alban Arts and Conference Center in St. Albans.
This marks the third straight year Feschino and other experts in the UFO field have appeared in the Charleston area.
Feschino says he learned soon after launching some personal research into crop circle rings in Braxton County in the early 1990s that aliens have a keen love affair with the color amber.
This fact was relayed by Colin Andrews, the crop circle expert in England, when the two met through MUFON (the Mutual UFO Network), says the author, and it was in their meeting he learned of the British government's interest in various types of light and patterns, and how they figured in the UFO controversy.
"Amber lights seem to draw the UFOs in the area of Stonehenge and different parts of England, where those crop circles and patterns were," says Feschino, a Port Orange, Fla., resident who has devoted much of his life to investigating the "Flatwoods Monster" incident.
"For some unknown reason, the UFOs were showing up over England and attracted to amber-colored lights. God only knows why."
All during the Sept. 4-6 celebration in Flatwoods, the UFO buffs will be taking hayrides up a hill.
"It's going to be kind of fun," says Feschino, who has authored two books on the Braxton County chapter of the UFO saga.
"We'll see what happens. You never know. Stranger things have happened in those mountains."
What if aliens do arrive and touch down? Will the watchers invite them to a picnic? Pass out RCs and Moon Pies? Take them to a football game? Introduce them to other elements of earthling culture?
"Take pictures and wave," Feschino replied.
Hopefully, if there is a close encounter of the third kind, Feschino would have the makings of a blockbuster book to join his others.
Years ago, when he opened his research, ultimately convincing the denizens of Braxton County he was serious and not looking for a venue in which to scorn them, he was challenged to head for the hills and look for himself.
"We did, and in certain parts of the years, we would see these UFOs," he sad.
Taking the advice of his crop circle investigator-friend, Feschino installed amber lights on his forays.
"Son of a gun, it worked," he said. "I got photographs of them. I got some video footage. All types of stuff up in those mountains. I've been documenting the crop circle rings because no one else had done it in West Virginia."
Feschino turned over his crop circle findings and learned his contributions had become part of a huge database Andrews maintains on the subject.
"If like circle rings and patterns show up, it's like a fingerprint process," the author said.
"And some of them that showed up in West Virginia showed up in England along the coast."
Joining him at the one-day event in St. Albans will be Alfred Lehmberg, once a combat pilot in the Vietnam War and now a monthly contributor to UFO Digest.
Directed by promoter Larry Bailey, the St. Albans event will include Feschino's documentary on Flatwoods and a 2002 movie, "The Mothman Prophecies," a Richard Gere film based on author John Keel's book about the bizarre appearance of a bird-like creature many witnessed in the Point Pleasant area in 1967.
During the Braxton festival, a number of activities are on the menu, including a parade and Feschino's documentary.
Feschino initially produced "The Flatwoods Monster" about the phenomenon that has given the community a lasting reputation, and followed that with a more in-depth book, "Shoot Them Down," in which he described the Braxton incident as a sidelight to a bigger drama being played out on the East Coast â aerial warfare between Air Force pilots and aliens with the military under orders from President Truman to wipe out the invaders.
Feschino isn't making any promises about a landing next month. Even with amber lights as an enticement, he can't guarantee a rendezvous with aliens.
"What a story it would be if we really could get them to come in?" he speculated.
"Anyway, it will be a lot of fun. It's a good educational thing for the kids, too. And it will help the economy of that area."
Who knows, he added, Flatwoods eventually could become a global magnet for UFO buffs, not unlike that historic town in New Mexico.
"Some day, we might turn the town into a Roswell," Feschino added.
Email: mannix@register-herald.com
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