Day Tripper

Bucks County UFO Conference

by Holly Otterbein

Sat., Jan. 24, noon-5:30 p.m., $15, Bucks County Community College, 275 Swamp Road, Newtown, 724-836-1266, mufon.com

Bucks County is known for its preponderance of farmland, bed-and-breakfasts, and — since last summer — UFO activity. Between June and September of 2008, 100 Bucks residents reported UFO sightings to the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON), an agency that investigates those strange, flying objects in the sky. The reports came in all shapes and sizes: One woman saw a glowing, white aircraft drop metallic sprinkles onto her trees. Another eyed an unnatural-looking object as it whizzed across the sky, flying as fast as 3,000 miles per hour before it ducked behind a cloud.

"The number of people calling in was off the charts," says John Ventre, Pennsylvania director of MUFON. Usually, he receives about 25 reports of UFO sightings in that time period — in the entire state of Pennsylvania. It was such an anomaly that the Discovery Channel took notice, and aired an entire UFOs Over Earth episode about Bucks County.

But the area's newfound fame didn't bring it insight into last summer. Ventre hopes to shed light on the UFO spottings at a conference on Saturday, where field investigators will showcase their research on Bucks County UFOs. The quest for the truth doesn't end there: Temple University professor David Jacobs will speak about alien impregnation, and Bill Birnes, star of the History Channel's UFO Hunters, will discuss his government conspiracy theories.