UFO hunters gather in Philadelphia

People interested in UFOs will gather in Northeast Philadelphia for a conference this weekend, to discuss recent sightings and exchange information.

The conference brings together big names in UFO circles—including author Bill Burnes who hosts the history channel series “UFO Hunters.”

John Ventre is the Pennsylvania state director for the Mutual UFO Network, which organizes the conference. He says the conference has been drawing more people every year, but UFO science is still outside the mainstream.

“In a way, it is on the fringe only because the government, the media, the colleges and universities, they don’t take it serious,” said Ventre. “Some of the cases are absolutely incredible. I don’t know how you can ignore what the people are seeing.”

He says the conference speakers are credible, scientific-minded individuals who claim to have had interactions with UFOs, leading them to believe in extraterrestrial visitors.

Ventre believes the scientific community and government officials don’t want to discuss this topic. “It’s an inconvenient truth that they don’t have an answer to, or the answer is not something they want to tell us, and they just ignore it,” he said. “One day, there’s going to be a case that you can’t ignore,” added Ventre.

A group of UFO believers is currently petitioning the White House under president Obama’s “We the People” program to acknowledge an extraterrestrial presence on Earth. They want the government to release related classified information.

Organizers for the Philadelphia conference say it is almost sold out and will draw about 300 people.