Warminster welcomes UFO enthusiasts to Weird 10 conference

The mysterious world of aliens and crop circles, evidence

for the paranormal and the true nature of belief were the very real topics on

the weekend agenda at the Athenaeum. 

The Weird 10 conference brought a crowd of UFO enthusiasts

to the town as well as a collection of international experts who had come to UK

especially for the event. Chris Williams, Lead Investigator for the Swindon based

group, Swindon UFO Research, organised the conference and said he was very pleased with the

response.

“We sold 160 tickets and everybody seems to have been impressed with

the speakers and the organisation.  We

are coming back to Warminster for another Conference in March but Weird 11 will

be in Swindon as we need a larger venue.”

The subject had attracted visitors from all over the country.   David

Thompson, who has been interested in UFOs for 30 years, had travelled  from

South Yorkshire.  Sharon

and Paul Rayward came from  Farnborough, Hants and have had a long term interest in UFOs.  Paul said he had once seen a triangle of lights. One couple had not

travelled far.  Phil and Kay Hart live in

St Johns Road, Warminster and were attending for the first time - there had been a Weird 9 conference here last year.

Malcolm Robinson, author of UFO Case Fields of Scotland introduced the conference which had a

programme of speakers through Saturday and Sunday. Kevin Goodman author of UFO Warminster; Cradle of Contact , set the scene  for “why Warminster?”,  describing how Arthur Shuttlewood, a reporter

on the Warminster Journal, had been one of the first to bring the UFO focus to

the town.

Other speakers on Saturday included Wallace Thornhill,

co-author of The Electric Universe

and Thunderbolts of the Gods, who had

travelled from Canberra, Australia and Dr David Clarke from Sheffield Hallam

University where he teaches journalism and folklore.  Wallace Thornhill spoke on the physics of

cosmology and Dr Clarke raised the question of the nature of belief.

One of the Sunday speakers was Philip Mantle, editor of a new magazine which was sponsoring the event.  UFO

Matrix aims to “bring to the attention of the public as much information on

the UFO subject as possible.”

The weekend included a live music concert from a new

Southampton based group The Program Initiative and a sky watch on Cradle Hill

on Saturday night.