Exeter plans 2nd UFO Festival

SECOND ANNUAL UFO FESTIVAL SLATED FOR SEPTEMBER 4

By Kathleen D. Bailey
Published July 9, 2010, in Seacoastonline.com
http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100709/NEWS/7090320/-1/NEWSMAP

EXETER, NEW HAMPSHIRE—Exeter will host its second annual UFO Festival Saturday, Sept. 4, in the downtown area.

Dean Merchant, a member of the UFO Festival Committee, said the first festival, held last Labor Day weekend, was so successful the group decided to make it an annual event. The weekend's mixture of lectures, entertainment and children's activities marks the end of summer, the advent of fall, and Exeter's growing importance in the UFO community.

Exeter is the site of the "Incident at Exeter," in which a teenage boy and Exeter policeman saw a flying craft on a summer night in the 1960s. It's also near Portsmouth, the home of the late Betty and Barney Hill, who reportedly saw a craft and aliens in the North Country in 1961 and documented their adventure. And it's the site of several less-documented sightings, according to Merchant, who studies and lectures on the topic.

Lectures by UFO specialists begin in Town Hall at 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 4. This year's speakers include: Stan Freedman of Canada, who was responsible for bringing Roswell, N.M., back into the forefront of UFO study, according to Merchant; Peter Robbins, coordinator of the annual UFO Festival at Roswell; and Steve Firmani, director of the New England MUFON (Mutual UFO Network). The late Betty Hill's niece Kathy Marden, who has written extensively on the topic of UFOs, will also be visiting the festival but not as a lecturer.

Children's events will be centered at the Founders Park area next to Exeter Public Library. There will be a Story Circle, crafts, and the Debris Field, where children can help build a spacecraft from recycled materials. There's a costume contest and a downtown Scavenger Hunt with prizes.

There will be live music at the Loaf and Ladle on Water Street, renamed the "Alien Cafe," Merchant said.

The weekend also marks Exeter's first induction into its UFO Hall of Fame. The late Norman Muscarello, the teen who saw the spacecraft over Kensington in the '60s, will be inducted, with his brother Tom accepting his award.

The UFO Festival runs on volunteers and donations, Merchant added. Everything is free except food and the commemorative T-shirts, he said. The festival is a 501(c)3 nonprofit, and operates under the sponsorship of the Exeter Kiwanis Club.

The event is planned to bring visitors to downtown Exeter, Merchant said. To that effect, local business owners will have "out of this world" specials and deals such as the Loaf and Ladle's "UFO Whoopie Pie." He and the committee envision the festival as a destination event for UFO enthusiasts and people who want something to do on Labor Day weekend. "It's nice," he said, "for Exeter to 'own' a weekend."

Volunteers and donations are welcome.