If you're going to talk to a person who is a UFO scholar, it's best not to ask whether they "believe."

  • Meet-up of UFOlogists this weekend
  • 2016 MUFON Symposium in Orlando
  • Panels include personal encounters, questions about alien life

"It has nothing to do with belief," said Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) Florida State Director, Morgan Beall. "It's a phenomenon. It's real."

The Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista is hosting the 2016 MUFON Symposium. Beall is in charge of Florida's chapter, which is putting on this weekend's meet-up. It's a chance for people curious about intelligent life to hear about personal encounters from self-titled 'UFOlogists.'

"We don't wear tinfoil hats," Marc D'Antonio smiled. "But that is how we're portrayed."

D'Antonio is MUFON's chief photo and video analyst. He reiterates that - in his words - they're not "nutcases." In fact, attendees and speakers are scientists, researchers and retired military personnel, many of whom say they've had personal encounters.

"We saw this - what looked like a satellite," Beall told us. "It stopped and moved, not in a quick 90-degree turn, but gradually went in a different direction - which satellites don't do."

D'Antonio says there's no concrete data that alien life exists, but he thinks that is changing.

"We probably have - very conservatively - maybe 20, 25-million populatable planets," he said.

So what do aliens look like? You, of course, have that typical Hollywood-type - gray, large almond-shape eyes, skinny little bodies. But it gets way more complex.

"We don't know if they're inter-dimensional," Beall said. "We don't know if they came from a different time."

D'Antonio says symmetry is key.

"Maybe that's something the universe naturally selects," he said. "But I suspect there are no pogo-stick aliens hopping around, but there might be!" 

Guests can meet with guys like Beall and D'Antonio all weekend. The free experiences include a UFO film fest and access to vendors.

The list of guest speakers is on MUFON's official page.

Below is the latest scheule of events for:

Saturday, Aug. 26

8am - 9:30 a.m. ................................ Experiencer Workshop - hosted by Denise Stoner
9 a.m. ............................................. Symposium Opening and Welcome
9:10 a.m. - 10:10 a.m. ....................... Richard Thieme "Against the Wind: Why People Can't Think Seriously About UFOs"
10:25 a.m. - 11:25 a.m. ..................... Erling Strand "The Hessdalen Phenomena and Project Hessdalen"
11:40 a.m. - 12:40 p.m. ..................... Kathleen Marden "UFOs: Two Sides to Every Story"
12:40 p.m. - 2:15 p.m........................ OPEN LUNCH
12:40 p.m. - 2:15 p.m. (Private Speaker Panel #1 - "Life in Space" - with "​Erling Strand, Bill Schroeder, Alejandro Rojas, David Marler, Robert Powell, and John Greenewald." - ​Ticket Required)
2:30 p.m. - 4 p.m. ............................. Robert Powell "MUFON's Top 10 UFO Cases from 2015"
4:15 p.m. - 5:15 p.m. ......................... John Greenewald "FOIA - UFOs and our Space Agencies"
5:15 p.m. - 6:45 p.m. ......................... OPEN DINNER
6:45 p.m. - 7:45 p.m. ........................  Rich Hoffman "2013 Aguadilla Puerto Rico UAP Case"
8:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. ........................  Bill Schroeder "UFOs Over Florida, The 1967 Flap"
9:00 p.m. - 10:30 p.m. ....................... Sci-Fi thriller "Beacon Point" - with Director Eric Blue - FREE Stay for the Q&A with the Director after the film!
Picture.

Sunday, Aug. 27

8 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. .............................  Experiencer Workshop - hosted by Denise Stoner
8:45 a.m. - 9:45 a.m. ........................  Cheryl Costa ​​ "200 Years of UFOs Over New York"
10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. .....................  Ben Moss / Tony Angiola "The Socorro New Mexico, Lonnie Zamora Incident: Evidence of a Non-Human Event"
11:15 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. ..................... Alejandro Rojas "Official Government UFO Organizations"
12:15 p.m. - 1:45 p.m. ....................... OPEN LUNCH
12:15 p.m. - 1:45 p.m. (Private Speaker Panel #2 - "Disclosure and Contact" with "​Paola Harris, Cheryl Costa, Ben Moss, Tony Angiola and Kathleen Marden" - Ticket Required)
1:45 p.m. - 2:45 p.m. ........................  David Marler "The Flying Saucer Invasion of 1950 - Farmington, NM and Beyond"
3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. ........................ ​ Paola Harris "From Our Oceans to Outer Space: An International Perspective on Astronaut Testimonies about Space Travel and Underwater Bases"
5:00 p.m. .........................................  Symposium Closing