Unveiling Alien Con: A Day for Alien Enthusiasts

Alien Con came to Pasadena for a quick two days, so if you missed it – here’s our wrap-up of all things alien related.

We showed up on Saturday, March 4th not expecting much since we had never attended before. But we arrived to an overall pretty exciting and informational event that brought together UFO enthusiasts from all over the world, literally. Attendees were treated to a day filled with fascinating panels, unique merchandise, and new information.

The first panel of the day, “History’s most compelling UFO incidents,” was just that…particularly compelling. Panelists Mindy Tautfest, Marc D’Antonio, Ron James, and Earl Grey Anderson, along with independent investigator Jon Dover, dove into a selection of some of the most fascinating and unsettling UFO reports investigated by MUFON (Mutual UFO Network_ throughout the years. These included famous UFO events like Roswell, the UFO near Flagstaff, the Utah 1975 schoolyard event, and the Long Beach incident in 2014. We learned tons of new details about these events, leaving us with plenty to go home and research. Some of these I hadn’t even heard about before! I found the Flagstaff story most interesting considering that many Native American tribes have longstanding histories and cave-paintings reflecting otherworldly visitors.

After the panel, we had the chance to explore the marketplace, which featured a pretty wide range of UFO-related items. One of the standout items I took home was a Lyrian star seed candle (I recently found out I am a star seed, but need to do more research – as usual). I also grabbed a sweatshirt, a few stickers,  and some great-smelling soaps. As a small business attorney, I love to stop by and support local businesses in any sort of marketplace…especially if they’re selling alien-themed goodies.

The Convention Center food looked pretty average, so during lunchtime, we opted to take a stroll down Colorado Blvd for some food. I had previously worked at a law firm in Pasadena for almost three years – so I knew we would find something great, and we did. I totally forgot there was a King Taco in Pasadena – and since my husband had only been there once (after a late-night out), I wanted him to try it again! We grabbed some flautas to share since we both had scarfed down a ton Dunkin Donuts that morning in anticipation of walking alot. The flautas hit the spot…and King Taco is a spot you certainly don’t want to miss if you’re ever in Los Angeles. Their salsa is some of my favorite in the city.

As we headed back for the afternoon panel, the security line was really long. But that’s really my only critique for the day (aside from food options). This panel was a biggie – featured on a pretty large stage with a packed room. This time, panelists Dr. Travis Taylor (our favorite), Nick Pope, Jay Stratton, and Stanford professor Garry Nolan discussed UAPs (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena) using a scientific approach. The panelists provided intriguing insights into this topic, highlighting the potential challenges we could face, even in the event of an alien invasion! This caught my attention specifically – because it sounds crazy, right? Well, apparently after running hundreds and thousands of scenarios,  Dr. Travis Taylor made a suggestion that the only way we could ever win a war against aliens if every eligible person over the age of 14 and every birthing person of age birthed triplets. This might sound like a wild idea, but it these are experts in their fields. Admittedly, it does highlight the need to think creatively about how we would respond to such a scenario even though I don’t think that would come to fruition. All in all, the panelists didn’t seem to think aliens were a major threat either (at least for right now) but that we need to continue to do more work in this area to discover new information.

Despite the theme of the event and what type of people you might expect to attend, the attendees themselves were surprisingly (of course, by society’s standards) “normal.” But that all depends how you define normal, right? To me, this highlighted the fact that the fascination with UFOs can bring together people from all walks of life. If you walked into the crowd and didn’t know what the convention was for, you certainly wouldn’t be able to make a successful bet based on the folks there!

Overall, AlienCon was a really fun day. The event provided an opportunity for attendees to learn more about famous UFO events, as well as to explore a range of interesting and unique merchandise. It also provided a chance for attendees to connect with others who share their passion for all things alien-related without feeling judged. The long-standing “are we alone?” question was only cemented further for me. What I can say is that we definitely aren’t alone in our thirst for knowledge about what else exists in our universe.