They are out there — in the Ozarks!

  

          Eureka Springs is known for its quirky side. Nestled in the Ozarks on the side of a mountain, the town attracts a variety of followers — including a few from outer space!

            The 28th annual Ozark Mountain UFO Conference, the oldest UFO conference in the United States, kicks off Friday, April 10, 2015, in Eureka Springs, bringing together experts and investigators in the field of UFOs, extraterrestrials and ancient and lost civilizations. The conference takes place at the Best Western Inn of the Ozarks Convention Center at 207 W. Van Buren St. in the heart of town.

Peter Davenport

            The event was the brainchild of the late UFOlogist (I didn’t make that word up, it was in the press release) Lucius O. Farish. Since his passing in 2013, the conference has been helmed by metaphysical author and researcher Dolores Cannon.

            The event opens with a lecture by Peter Davenport, another UFOlogist and director of the National UFO Reporting Center since 1994. He’s also a current member and former costate section director and Director of Investigation for the Washington State chapter of MUFON (Mutual UFO Network). Also on April 10, Thom Reed will recount his childhood ET/UFO encounters from the 1960s. Several of Thom's childhood sketches from 1969, depicting what he witnessed first-hand, are displayed at the Roswell UFO Museum in New Mexico, and the Great Barrington Historical Society of Massachusetts will also include Thom’s extraterrestrial encounters in their collection.

            Psychic Nikki Pattillo, author of “Children of the Stars: Advice for Parents and Star Children and A Spiritual Evolution,” will also speak on day one of the conference, giving her lecture titled “Star Children and a New Earth.”
            On April 11, Kewaunee Lapseritis, researching the Bigfoot/Sasquatch phenomenon, will give his presentation “Overwhelming Evidence for a Bigfoot/UFO Connection” and Barbara Lamb, veteran crop circle researcher and author of “Crop Circles Revealed,” will speak on “Crop Circles: A Worldwide Mystery.”

Kewaunee Lapseritis

            Linda Moulton Howe, recipient of the Lucius Farish Foundation Award for excellence in UFO research, TV producer, documentarian, author and Earthfiles.com editor, will speak as well as a keynote speech by UFO author, investigator, researcher and reporter Richard Dolan, who hosts the Richard Dolan Show on KGRA Radio, is a frequent guest to Coast-to-Coast AM, and is featured in the new television documentary series, “Hangar One.”

Melanie Young

            On April 12, Melanie Young, a neonatal nurse, will speak about her research into The Starchild Skull, a 900-year-old bone skull found in Mexico in the 1930s that is strangely shaped and exhibits possible qualities of an extraterrestrial origin.

Sherry Wilde, author of “The Forgotten Promise,” will return this year as the final speaker at the 2015 Ozark Mountain UFO Conference to further discuss her decades-long encounters with extraterrestrials in the presentation “The Esoteric Life of a Volunteer.”

            The final day of the conference will also include a tribute to the late Dolores Cannon, who passed away in October 2014 after writing dozens of books based on her nearly 50 years of investigations into UFOs and metaphysics. She obtained information about ETs and UFOs from thousands of past life regression sessions and developed her own technique of hypnotherapy, Quantum Healing Hypnosis Therapy (QHHT), which also enabled her to directly communicate with extraterrestrials. Dolores was involved with the Ozark UFO Conference since its inception.
             For more information, visit www.ozarkufoconference.com.

Cheré Coen is an award-winning travel writer specializing in the Deep South. She is also the author of “Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History,” “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana” and co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.” Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.

The South's just weird all over!

            We drive along the South’s intricate web of Interstates and routinely come across this weird image. No, the truck isn’t driving backwards and heading straight for us, but this truck cab being towed sure makes for a scary sight, especially if you’re heading home after a night in New Orleans.

            This weird moment made us think of a few more.

            Like the no swimming sign at the Louisiana Welcome Center, on the Bayou State side of the Sabine River outside southeast Texas. Even the hardiest of souls who ignore undertow warnings and go outside during hurricanes will probably do exactly what this sign says.

            Or how about this dinosaur someone placed in their back yard in Eureka Springs. To keep cats away? To give the dog a fright when he takes a leak in the middle of the night?

           What’s a weird thing you’ve seen in the South, or is this a gross understatement? (Yes, we realize there are many weird things in the South, which is why we wrote this blog!) But we’d still love to hear about it. Or send us a photo by email with the subject line “Weird South” to cherecoen@gmail.com.

We've been told a lie. Humpty Dumpty lives!

             Eureka Springs is a funky little town. It began with a doctor’s discovery of the medicinal springs, drawing people to the area who built the town around the side of a mountain. Throughout town you’ll find old buildings and remnants of buildings along secluded roads and trails, an underground city from when the current town was built on top of the old and lots of caves and springs. 

             And then there’s Humpty Dumpty.

            He sits on a wall — intact — in the middle of downtown Eureka Springs. Apparently he hasn’t fallen yet — or we've been lied to! Visitors looking for the fairy tale need to know where to spot him or they will easily walk by and never see him perched above. Humpty makes his home next to the Basin Spring Park, where Spring and Main streets intersect. Just pass by and look up.

            The town is also home to the world’s largest tuned wind chime, a 36-foot-tall creation hanging from a 100-year-old oak tree that’s listed on the Guinness Book of Records. It’s located in front of Celestial Windz Harmonic Bizaar at 381 Highway 23 South. Listen here to the NPR story, which includes audio of the chimes.