VAMPIRE, UFO FANS DEBATE TRUTH OF MOON LANDING

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From:AOLNewsProfiles@aol.net
Title:VAMPIRE, UFO FANS DEBATE TRUTH OF MOON LANDING
Source:Reuter
Date:April 21, 1996


By Dale Faulken

LONDON, April 21 (Reuter) - Vampire hunters, Ufologists and

experts on the sexual aspects of ancient British fertility

religions met on Sunday to debate whether people really landed

on the moon and whether alien abductions are real.

The 1,200 delegates also sat through lectures on mermaids,

reincarnation, ghosts and the evolution of the vampire at the

``Unconvention'' sponsored by the Fortean Times, Britain's

journal of strange phenomena.

``It's nice to meet our readers and have a forum for

cross-disciplinary discussion,'' said Fortean co-editor Paul

Sieveking.

Now in its 23nd year, the Fortean Times is dedicated to the

work of Charles Fort, a U.S. philosopher who said most

scientists tended to formulate theories according to their own

beliefs rather than the rules of evidence and that inconvenient

data was ignored.

``The Fortean attitude can be applied to virtually anything

-- which is one of temporary acceptance rather than committed

belief,'' Sieveking said.

Some delegates argued that the U.S. National Aeronautic and

Space Administration (NASA) had ``faked'' still and television

photographs of the U.S. moon landings and, by implication, the

moon landings themselves.

``There is no proof (of the U.S. Apollo moon landings) other

than what NASA tells us,'' said David Percy, a professional

photographer, who told delegates that close scrutiny of

photographs taken by astronauts on the moon ``indicated'' they

may have been manufactured on film sets on Earth.

``I was a sceptic but now I do believe there was a

cover-up,'' said one photographer after listening to Percy's

lecture.

Delegates also watched film footage supposed to show the

autopsy of a six-fingered and toed alien visitor in 1947.

``I can't believe 1,000 people are sitting in silence

watching this rubbish,'' said one sceptic who left the lecture

hall half way through the presentation.

Many of the delegates bought T-shirts with the alien's

pre-autopsy head embossed on the front.

Members of the Raelian Movement, who handed out leaflets to

all delegates as they entered the ``Unconvention'' doors, hope

to build an ``embassy'' for extraterrestrials, who would

otherwise ``not have any official channels to use to establish

contact'' with Earthlings.

For six pounds ($9), the Raelians will reveal what a

journalist named Rael was told by a UFO alleged to have

contacted him nearly 23 years ago.

Fortean's Sieveking said he ``reserved judgment'' as to the

validity of any of the arguments put forward at the

``Unconvention'' this weekend.

``We like to sit on the fence,'' he said.