10th Annual UFO Festival at Hotel Oregon

While we might believe in UFOs, we cannot believe it's been a decade since our festival began! Let's go back to that first go-'round -- the event was founded as a way for McMenamins to honor the landmark 1950 Trent UFO sighting in which farmer Paul Trent and wife photographed an unknown craft hovering in the sky, said to be some of the most credible images of UFOs to date. Over the years, we've hosted noted ufology experts including Bruce Maccabee, Jesse Marcel, Jr., Budd Hopkins, David Jacobs and many others.

Not only is the festival an educational experience for both believers and skeptics, it's a fun time for families and friends. We'll have live music by Gavin Wahl-Stephens as his band come through on McMenamins' Great Northwest Music Tour, a UFO costume parade sure to be the biggest and best yet, an open Q&A session featuring an esteemed panel of experts and much more.

For our 10th Anniversary UFO Festival, we've put together quite a line-up of distinguished guest speakers, from experts to UFO witnesses alike:

Keynote Speaker Linda Moulton Howe · Saturday, May 16 · 4 p.m.
Reporter and Editor for Earthfiles.com and Investigative Reporter for "Coast to Coast AM with George Noory" and "Dreamland Online" with Whitley Strieber
Linda Moulton Howe is a graduate of Stanford University who has devoted her film, television and radio career to science, medicine and the environment. With videotaped interviews, slides and illustrations, Howe will present one family's eyewitness account of a 1974 military encounter with a UFO in Albuquerque, NM.

Kathleen Marden · Friday, May 15 · 7 p.m. (in conjunction with Stanton Friedman)
UFO Researcher and Co-Author with Stanton Friedman of Captured! The Betty and Barney Hill UFO Experience. The True Story of the World's First Documented Alien Abduction (2007)
Marden is the niece of Betty and Barney Hill, the focus of one of the most well-known alien abductions in UFO history. With UFO research luminary Stanton Friedman, Marden co-authored the story of her aunt and uncle's harrowing 1961 experience. During her long career as a social worker, educator and certified hypnotherapist, Marden implemented model educational programs and taught adult education classes on UFO and abduction history. For 10 years, she served on the MUFON Board of Directors as the Director of Field Investigator Training.

Stanton Friedman · Friday, May 15 · 7 p.m. (in conjunction with Kathleen Marden)
Internationally Recognized UFO Researcher and Lecturer
In 1970, Friedman left his career as a physicist behind to pursue the scientific investigation of UFOs. Since then, he has lectured at more than 600 colleges and 100 professional groups in 50 states, nine provinces, and 16 foreign countries. Friedman has published more than 80 UFO related papers and has appeared on hundreds of radio and television programs. He has also provided written testimony to Congressional hearings and appeared twice at the United Nations.

The Bales Brothers · Saturday, May 16 · 10 a.m.
UFO Witnesses, Northern Idaho, September 2000
While on an overnight hunting trip, four men witnessed an enormous, silent, triangular object hovering 200 feet above them. Soon after, they filed a report with the National UFO Reporting Center, part of which reads: "My brother and I ... like to think we are normal, educated, businesspeople. ... We all have excellent eyesight. This was also a 'dry' camp. Although this exceeded the limits of our known comprehension we felt privileged to have witnessed this most incredible piece of equipment." Two of these eyewitnesses will relate their incredible experience.

About the UFO Festival

The festival began as a way to honor the famous 1950 Trent sighting in which two local citizens witnessed and photographed a UFO, said to be some of the most credible images of UFOs to date. Read a detailed history of the Trent sightings.