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The National UFO Conference (NUFOC) was an annual UFO conference held in various locations throughout the United States. It’s stated mission was “to present top researchers in the field of Ufology who will share their ongoing and current research.” The National UFO Conference was the longest active conference in the United States presenting information on the UFO phenomenon, held 42 times from 1964-2005. It predates the International UFO Congress.
History of the Conference
The conference was started in 1964 as the American UFO Congress¹, or Congress of Scientific Ufologists, by Rick Hilberg, Al Manak, Al Greenfield, and Dale Rettig and held its first conference in Cleveland, Ohio. Al Manak served as the first chair until 1971. In 1971, James Moseley (of Saucer Smear fame) became the chair.²
In 2004 James Moseley retired as the NUFOC’s Permanent Chairman and Lisa Davis of the San Diego UFO Society became the Executive Director.
Until the conference opted to stay permanently in Hollywood under Ms. Davis’ leadership, it chose Local Chairmans in each city it went to. For example, Kenny Young was the Local Chairman for Cincinnati’s NUFOC 39, taking care of the logistics of planning the conference, as well as running it.
Over the years, the NUFOC has held its conventions in cities in all sections of the United States, including: Cleveland, OH; New York, NY; Charleston, WV; Atlanta, GA; San Francisco, CA; Burbank, CA; Tucson, AZ; Phoenix, AZ; Miami Beach, FL; Tallahassee, FL; Minneapolis, MN; Bordontown (near Trenton), NJ; San Antonio, TX; Corpus Christi, TX; Cincinnati, OH; and Hollywood, CA. Some cities hosted NUFOC more than once.²
Most, but not all years since 1964, the NUFOC has given an award to some leading ufologist whom they considered to be outstanding. This has variously been called the Robert Loftin Memorial Award, the Ufologist of the Year Award, or the Lifetime Achievement Award. Recipients included: John Keel; Gray Barker; Rick Hilberg; Stanton Friedman; Dr. J. Allen Hynek; Timothy Green Beckley; Jenny Randles; Antonio Huneeus; Tom Benson; Dr. Frank Stranges; Jerome Clark; Karl Pflock; Whitley Strieber; and Walt Andrus.²
The last NUFOC was NUFOC 42 in 2005.³ In 2015, a NUFOC reunion was held at a hotel in Cleveland with Rick Hilberg, Tom Wertman, David Halperin, Tim Beckley, Allen Greenfield, Bob Easley, and family.⁴
Known Conferences
- NUFOC 42: Hollywood, CA - September 2-4, 2005
- NUFOC 41: Hollywood, CA - October 29-31, 2004
- NUFOC 40: Hollywood, CA - 2003
- NUFOC 39: Kings Island Resort and Conference Center (Cincinnati,
OH) - September 28th, 2002.
- Speaker list: Rick Hilberg “Ufology: The First 30 Years”, Don Weatherby and Wendy Ban of OHMUFON “MUFON’s WUFOD”, Jerry Black “Credibility In Ufology”, John Timmerman of CUFOS “The Media and UFO’s”, Derrel Sims “Alien Abductions”, Stephen Bassett “The Politics of Disclosure”.
- NUFOC 38: Originally scheduled for Austin, Texas - September 14-16, 2001. Canceled and merged with Pat Marcatillio’s “Annual UFO/ET/Alien and Abduction Congress in New Jersey, October 6-7, 2001.
- NUFOC 36: Seven Oaks Hotel and Conference Center (San Antonio, TX) -
September 25-26, 1999.
- Speaker list: Walt Andrus “The Disappearance of Frederick Valentich in Australia”, Joe Firmage “The Truth & ISSO”, Jim Moseley “Weird Personal Experiences of a Skeptical Believer”, Patrick Huyghe “The Alien Horde: A field Guide Approach to the Unknown”, Kevin Randle “The Abduction Enigma: A Scientific Analysis”, Karl Pflock “Behind the Flying Saucers: A New Twist on Aztec”, Constance Clear “Abductees: Human Ambassadors or Lab Rats?”, Whitley Strieber “Why Do We Deny It?”, Tom Deuley “MJ-12 & El Indio-Guerrero Crash”, Linda Corley “An Intimate Conversation with Major Jesse A. Marcel, Sr.”
References
- National UFO Conference Canceled http://www.nationalufocon.com/nufoc38/index.htm (dead link)
- The 36th Annual National UFO Conference
- The 39th Annual National UFO Conference http://groups.msn.com/UnexplainedInTheTristate/ufos.msnw?action=get_message&mview=0&ID_Message=56&LastModified=4675390987825000879 (dead link)
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