33. CHAPTER 6 - ONWARDS AND UPWARDS - ON THE (UFO) ROAD AGAIN

In March of 1986 the Boeing Paraphsychology Club sponsored a "Psychic Fair." This happens twice a year.

The UFOCCI purchased a booth where we showed documentary films, sold books, asked people questions about UFO experiences and sold the Missing Link, our monthly publication.

A man stopped by the booth to see what we were offering. He picked up the UFO CONTACT FROM THE PLIEADES book by Lee and Britt Elders. He carefully looked it over, then sat it down and walked away. Soon he came back. He had gone to his van to leave the psychic fair. Sitting in his van he thought about the book. Should he go back and buy it or not. With big decisions in his life he listens to his inner voice to nudge him yeh or ney. It was yeh. He came back and bought the book.

That was my first introduction to Jim Van Avery.

After reading the Plieades book Jim called me and asked about the Billy Meier's case. I told him I had several videos on it if he would like to see them. He asked if he could come over and look at them at my house.

I always felt "the boys upstairs" had sent Jim to me. Jim has been very helpful to the UFOCCI. He soon attended his first meeting. That was the last meeting that Dan attended.

Jim became very interested in the phenomena behind the abduction cases. His particular interest was the out of body phenomena, or OBE. He has just about every book written on that particular subject.

Jim is a digital design electronic engineer. With his background he has the fundamentals to try and understand the mechanics of propulsion systems which so many of the contactees are being given information on.

Jim is also a clinical hynotherapist. He studied with the Everygreen Center Institute under Nora Teeter.

He has been very good to the members of the UFOCCI. Jim drives his van and takes many of us to conferences, lectures, etc. In the summer of 1987 Jim drove 5 members to the Rocky Mountain UFO Conference in Laramie, Wyoming. Another member followed in his pickup. We set up the C.B. before we left home so that we would be in constant communication. Our theme song, "On the Road Again," was played on Jim's tape deck to Jerry in the pickup. Now you will know where the title of this book came from. Thanks to Willy Nelson it has become "our" song.

On the way to Laramie we camped overnight at the KOA Campground in Boise, Idaho. That night one of the members saw a UFO out over the desert near the power lines.

I decided that Jim should have an active part in the UFOCCI. At a UFOCCI Board Meeting we voted to install him as Associate Director to the overall organization.

At the 1987 Jorpah Jim acted as Master of Ceremonies, proving to be adept in every department. He also recorded the Jorpah on video tape on his Pansonic video camera.

Some of the unusual events that happened at Jorpah have previously been described, however, there are a few highlights that I would like to tell you about.

In 1985 we decided to put on a play for the entertainment night. The play was about a Star Master in charge of representatives from different planets in our solar system.

The Canadian UFOCCI group was invited to be in the play also. This led to a problem. All of the members in Seattle had many play practices but the members in Canada only had their scripts. They would have to fit into the play on the appointed night without any practice.

The star of the show was Ralph Blasbalg, from Vancouver, BC, who played the Star Master. Each person had designed their own costume, as had Ralph. Some were unique and deserved prizes for their innovatiness. Ralph was truly the star. When he came into the lodge everyone went into hysterics laughing. Ralph wore black leotards, a long white cloak down to his thighs, and a crown and scepter. Every time he talked the crown lit up. As he tiptoed in he kept raising his cloak in a little dance step.

You would have had to be there to appreciate the play. The actors laughed more than the audience. I don't think anyone remembered their lines.

The person who played the Blue Marble World Representative was just as funny as Ralph. Ron Chaput who is about 6'3" and weighs around 250 came in a dress made out of aluminum foil; a wig of yellow, blue, pink and green and his face painted blue.

By the time the play was over,, it resembled nothing as it was originally intended. There will never be anything to replace that play.

At the 1987 Jorpah we were all hoping to see something. Most of us were in bed around 11:30 p.m. on Saturday evening. I was sleeping beside our assoicate director from Virginia Beach, mainly because someone broke their leg the previous year getting out of the top bunk in the middle of the night. All of a sudden someone outside started yelling UFO, UFO. I woke up with a bound - straight over Barbara Nielsen - in my sexy red nightgown, without shoes, or robe, I flew out the door. People were running out of their cabins from all over the grounds to the parade ground situated right in the middle of Camp Long.

As we got down to the open space of the parade ground everyone was looking to the northwest portion of the sky. A pink lighted ribbon like object was traversing the sky going to the southwest. As it moved along it changed shapes but was consistent in its movement. As we watched the letters I- L - V - U were made in the sky.

There were approximately 25 people who had assembled, all jumping up and down and hugging each other. Of course, I was freezing because of my red nightgown. It was the most exciting point of the Jorpah (the ufo). That was when I realized I didn't have anything on except my nightgown!

Of course, on Saturday evening at the entertainment portion the men were very excited! Lozanna Elwood, my daughter from New York City, hired her previous ethnic dancing group she used to be a member of to dance for us. Most of them were belly dancers. One theater dancer performed a dance called "Metamorphosis." It was very unusual. The dancer came out in a gold mask, a tall black feathered head dress, and a black caftan. As she danced she slowly removed both the head dress and the caftan revealing a very unusual costume of fringed beads on a body suit. The music was exotic to accompany the dance.

In 1986 I flew to New York City to visit my daughter. I made arrangements before I left home to visit Budd Hopkins in New York City. My daughter and I visited him one afternoon in his apartment. Budd was very hospitable. He told us about a well known writer that was writing a book on his abduction. It was Whitley Streiber. However, at the time he would not reveal who it was. I presented him with a book of past "Missing Link" newspapers and he gave us a tour of his studio to see his unusual art pieces.

In 1987 Budd came to Seattle to be on the Good Morning program at KING TV. A group from our organization were on the program also. Several of us were able to talk about what had happened to us personally.

After the show we went to lunch with Budd. He told us about many interesting cases he was working on and we exchanged a few of ours. Basically we wanted to listen to what he had to say.

At that time he gave us a copy of his "Kit" he presents to contactees. It is in total opposition to what our organization stands for. I am wondering what is the basis behind his views.

The Kit explains to the contactee that he/she should not join any UFO group; that they should stay to themselves but find a buddy they can discuss their hypnosis with but not their case. This seems like an attitude without compassion for the person.

Our organization was founded because the witness had no one to discuss what happened. Parents, spouses, peers had no inkling of what a contactee goes through. Therefore, in many cases they sought pychiatric help for the family member because they personally were unsable to cope with the trauma exhibited.

When contactees come together they are able to discuss their unusual events with each other. At that time they find there is nothing at all wrong with their minds because others have had the same experiences. Through this interaction they feel much better about themselves and are able to integrate this into their everyday life.

Similarly other "pseudo" scientific investigators have been less than scientific, or compassionate, in their dealings with abduction cases. In follow up calls after very good cases we have found either the investigator never came to talk with the person at all, or the investigator had preconceived ideas about what happened and never followed up on some of the best cases that we have encountered. In the meantime the person was left wanting.

To my sense of justice this is the most outrageous injustice. Whenever possible I try to help these people understand what has happened without interjecting my own thoughts into the case.

To describe what I mean I will give you an example of several "good" cases that MUFON neglected.

The first one took place on November 12, 1987 in Baker, California.