Mar - Apr - 2003

The aliens are coming.
The world’s largest travelling UFO and alien exhibition, Phenomena – Alien Encounter was, held at the Gold Coast last Christmas (2002).

Phenomena offered an eerie and fascinating glimpse into the bizarre realm of UFOs, extra terrestrials and close encounters as it attempts to answer one of mankind’s greatest mysteries: Is there life on other planets?

The visually spectacular show, featuring 10 separate exhibits, displays models, photographs, videos, interactive and historical material was supplied by UFO Magazine in the UK.

From the history of UFO sightings through to the infamous Roswell incident and reported alien abductions, Phenomena took audiences on a mysterious and at times unsettling journey into the unknown.

“It is the largest exhibition of its kind in the world,” said Greg Volich, director of Gold Coast-based international traveling Exhibition Company the Atech Group, which had brought Phenomena to the Coast.

“It had finished a stint at the Bahrain Summer Festival where it was viewed by tens of thousands of people and we brought it to the Gold Coast for Christmas before embarking on a world tour.

“For anyone with a fascination with UFOs and extra terrestrials, Phenomena posed as many questions as it seeks to answer. And even if you're a nonbeliever, its still great fun.”

Among the exhibit many fields of the UFO phenomenon were explored, including history. Since the dawn of time, the earth has been visited by strange and unexplained phenomena. The prophet Ezekial wrote of it and many primitive cultures, including Australia’s Aboriginal, depicted it in their art. Alien Encounter took visitors on a journey through the history of contact.

Mans unrelenting search for life in the universe was also displayed. Even before the enormity of space was conquered, humans wondered whether the stars could be abodes for alien life forms. Alien Encounter joins SETI, Voyager and the NASA missions to educate visitors on the current search for life.

The exhibit displayed some of the best photographic evidence, video footage, witness accounts and radar tracks around. Many claims have been documented; many have been quickly disproved as unreliable, outrageous or simply mistaken. Some, however, defy explanation.

The Explanations; Errors in perception are commonplace in UFO reports, potentially transforming an ordinary phenomenon into a mysterious or unidentified object. Aircraft lights, aurora, comets, flares, lenticular clouds, satellites, sun pillars and even reflections from curved glass have led to extravagant claims. Alien Encounter helped the visitor play scientist.

A prominent pictorial section of the display involved crop circles. First dubbed “The Mowing Devil’, crop circles were revealed to have taken place in farmers’ fields since as early as 1678. Visitors to Phenomena were presented with possible explanations including wind, electromagnetic fields and perhaps even alien intervention.

Perhaps one of the most popular themes were alien encounters – Phenomena looked at various alien encounters, including the death of Capt Thomas Mantell during the Kentucky incident of 1948 and the startling image of Lt. William Patterson surrounded by a ring of enormous blue-white lights during the buzzing of the White House in 1952.

Also popular on a related subject were ‘Abductions and Implants’. The sheer number of people now claiming abduction experiences covers a wide spectrum of society. Alien Encounter looked at the most famous, including New Yorker Linda Cortile’s claim that she was “floated’ out of her 12th floor apartment in 1989 to a waiting spacecraft.

No UFO exhibit would be the same without conspiracy. Are the governments of the world conspiring to protect the public from material they consider too much for us to accept or confront? The stories of a secret government organisation and their agents – The Men in Black – are perhaps more fact than fiction.

Alien Harvest – The mysterious deaths and mutilations of animals throughout the US and Europe have mystified scientists and the medical profession. Bloodless carcasses with no clues to the cause of death are just the beginning of the mystery. More disturbingly, Phenomena has evidence that suggests this activity may not be focused on animals alone.

Roswell – Did something crash in New Mexico in 1947? Were alien bodies recovered and did reverse engineering of alien technology take place at Area 51 as Bob Lazar claims. Phenomena – The Alien Encounter looked at one of the 20th century’s greatest mysteries.

AUFORN Invitation to Participate
This is our first weekend at the Alien encounter exhibit Phenomena and we have had a great time meeting all the locals and listening to some of their amazing stories of sightings and ET close encounters. The Phenomena exhibit is educational and very informative and is well worth the $12.50 admission to get in. Its a visual wonderland of UFO history starting long ago in the biblical times to present day sightings. Robert, Vivian and I have had a great weekend and we would like to thank Barry Cummings and his staff for welcoming us to join in their exhibit.

The Media
The exhibit is definitely attracting a great deal of media attention and AUFORN have done our fair share of media interviews this weekend, so keep an eye on the local Tweed and Gold Coast news papers. Unfortunately for all UFO organisations the Ralieans are also in the news, so I can say with honesty we had to side step many questions being asked of our thoughts on human cloning.

Phenomena exhibit is a great experience for all the family and International and Australian audiences seem to be fascinated with the evidence presented to them. One young visiting American boy aged 11 summed up the thoughts of many by saying. “We can't be the only living organisms in this vast universe, there has to be many more life forms, we just haven't found out were their from, yet, but we will”.

If you have any UFO sightings to report an AUFORN representative will be there to assist in answering any questions you many have wherever possible. Be advised to be on the lookout for the men in black.


	The Australian UFO Research Network NEWS & REVIEWS © by Diane Harrison “THE PHENOMENA TRAVELLING EXHIBITION” The aliens are coming. The world’s largest travelling UFO and alien exhibition, Phenomena – Alien Encounter was, held at the Gold Coast last Christmas (2002). Phenomena offered an eerie and fascinating glimpse into the bizarre realm of UFOs, extra terrestrials and close encounters as it attempts to answer one of mankind’s greatest mysteries: Is there life on other planets? The visually spectacular show, featuring 10 separate exhibits, displays models, photographs, videos, interactive and historical material was supplied by UFO Magazine in the UK. From the history of UFO sightings through to the infamous Roswell incident and reported alien abductions, Phenomena took audiences on a mysterious and at times unsettling journey into the unknown. “It is the largest exhibition of its kind in the world,” said Greg Volich, director of Gold Coast-based international traveling Exhibition Company the Atech Group, which had brought Phenomena to the Coast. “It had finished a stint at the Bahrain Summer Festival where it was viewed by tens of thousands of people and we brought it to the Gold Coast for Christmas before embarking on a world tour. “For anyone with a fascination with UFOs and extra terrestrials, Phenomena posed as many questions as it seeks to answer. And even if you're a nonbeliever, its still great fun.” Among the exhibit many fields of the UFO phenomenon were explored, including history. Since the dawn of time, the earth has been visited by strange and unexplained phenomena. The prophet Ezekial wrote of it and many primitive cultures, including Australia’s Aboriginal, depicted it in their art. Alien Encounter took visitors on a journey through the history of contact. Mans unrelenting search for life in the universe was also displayed. Even before the enormity of space was conquered, humans wondered whether the stars could be abodes for alien life forms. Alien Encounter joins SETI, Voyager and the NASA missions to educate visitors on the current search for life. The exhibit displayed some of the best photographic evidence, video footage, witness accounts and radar tracks around. Many claims have been documented; many have been quickly disproved as unreliable, outrageous or simply mistaken. Some, however, defy explanation. The Explanations; Errors in perception are commonplace in UFO reports, potentially transforming an ordinary phenomenon into a mysterious or unidentified object. Aircraft lights, aurora, comets, flares, lenticular clouds, satellites, sun pillars and even reflections from curved glass have led to extravagant claims. Alien Encounter helped the visitor play scientist. A prominent pictorial section of the display involved crop circles. First dubbed “The Mowing Devil’, crop circles were revealed to have taken place in farmers’ fields since as early as 1678. Visitors to Phenomena were presented with possible explanations including wind, electromagnetic fields and perhaps even alien intervention. Perhaps one of the most popular themes were alien encounters – Phenomena looked at various alien encounters, including the death of Capt Thomas Mantell during the Kentucky incident of 1948 and the startling image of Lt. William Patterson surrounded by a ring of enormous blue-white lights during the buzzing of the White House in 1952. Also popular on a related subject were ‘Abductions and Implants’. The sheer number of people now claiming abduction experiences covers a wide spectrum of society. Alien Encounter looked at the most famous, including New Yorker Linda Cortile’s claim that she was “floated’ out of her 12th floor apartment in 1989 to a waiting spacecraft. No UFO exhibit would be the same without conspiracy. Are the governments of the world conspiring to protect the public from material they consider too much for us to accept or confront? The stories of a secret government organisation and their agents – The Men in Black – are perhaps more fact than fiction. Alien Harvest – The mysterious deaths and mutilations of animals throughout the US and Europe have mystified scientists and the medical profession. Bloodless carcasses with no clues to the cause of death are just the beginning of the mystery. More disturbingly, Phenomena has evidence that suggests this activity may not be focused on animals alone. Roswell – Did something crash in New Mexico in 1947? Were alien bodies recovered and did reverse engineering of alien technology take place at Area 51 as Bob Lazar claims. Phenomena – The Alien Encounter looked at one of the 20th century’s greatest mysteries. AUFORN Invitation to Participate This is our first weekend at the Alien encounter exhibit Phenomena and we have had a great time meeting all the locals and listening to some of their amazing stories of sightings and ET close encounters. The Phenomena exhibit is educational and very informative and is well worth the $12.50 admission to get in. Its a visual wonderland of UFO history starting long ago in the biblical times to present day sightings. Robert, Vivian and I have had a great weekend and we would like to thank Barry Cummings and his staff for welcoming us to join in their exhibit. The Media The exhibit is definitely attracting a great deal of media attention and AUFORN have done our fair share of media interviews this weekend, so keep an eye on the local Tweed and Gold Coast news papers. Unfortunately for all UFO organisations the Ralieans are also in the news, so I can say with honesty we had to side step many questions being asked of our thoughts on human cloning. Phenomena exhibit is a great experience for all the family and International and Australian audiences seem to be fascinated with the evidence presented to them. One young visiting American boy aged 11 summed up the thoughts of many by saying. “We can't be the only living organisms in this vast universe, there has to be many more life forms, we just haven't found out were their from, yet, but we will”. If you have any UFO sightings to report an AUFORN representative will be there to assist in answering any questions you many have wherever possible. Be advised to be on the lookout for the men in black.