UFO spotters meet up at annual MUFON summit in New Jersey

The Mutual UFO Network boasts more than 500 UFO field investigators worldwide.

Celestial Art Stars and Galaxies in Outer Space Showing the Beauty of Space exploration. Planet Texture furnished by NASA ( masoud rezaipoor/BigStock)

Celestial Art Stars and Galaxies in Outer Space Showing the Beauty of Space exploration. Planet Texture furnished by NASA ( masoud rezaipoor/BigStock)

This weekend, the world’s premiere UFO tracking organization will descend upon Cherry Hill, New Jersey, in a flash of intergalactic light. The Mutual UFO Network, which boasts more than 500 UFO field investigators worldwide, will host the annual multi-day symposium at the Crowne Plaza in Cherry Hill from Friday to Sunday.

The theme for this year’s symposium?

“UFOs, extraterrestrials, and the future of humanity,” said Jan Harzan, the executive director of MUFON.

MUFON began hosting the symposium in 1970, making this the organization’s 49th national conference. Each year, the summit is staged in different locations throughout the country in order to reach MUFON’s 4,000 members, Harzan said.

Cherry Hill was chosen this year to give easy access to those from New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. “We have a strong Pennsylvania chapter,” Harzan said.

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The symposium hosts between 350 and 1,000 people each year, and Harzan expects about 500 attendees at the Crowne Plaza. “Anyone can attend,” including walk-ins, he said.

The symposium will feature a series of speakers, field-training and investigation workshops, as well as story-sharing panels for those who claim to have experienced UFO contact. Free and paid events will be offered each day.

Harzan said that the theme was chosen to address the fact that the near future could bring discoveries and communications with “other intelligences” in the universe.

In addition, MUFON will be providing help — ranging from counseling to exorcisms — to those who claim to have had an interaction with other types of intelligence, he said.

UFO sighted by a New Mexico State University student, West of Picacho Peak, Las Cruces, New Mexico, March 12, 1967
UFO sighted by a New Mexico State University student, West of Picacho Peak, Las Cruces, New Mexico, March 12, 1967. About 2 p.m., the student was hiking in a desert area near Picacho Peak, New Mexico, when he spotted a big round silvery object hovering in the air just above a rocky hill about 500 yards away. He prepared his 4″ X 5″ Press Camera, set it at F8 and 1/100 shutter speed, and snapped one good black and white picture of the object. (AP Photo)

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