Conference brings out dedicated UFO hunters

By Vimal Patel
Denver Post Staff Writer

Chuck Zukowski said he is used to skeptics deriding his belief in UFOs as silly escapism, but that's OK.

"There's more physical evidence that UFOs exist than there's physical evidence that Jesus Christ existed," the Colorado Springs resident and reserve sheriff's deputy said.

Zukowski was one of about 70 people, ranging from college students to retired professionals, who flocked to the Tivoli Student Center at the Auraria Campus on Saturday to talk about evidence of unidentified flying objects and convince skeptics.

No bug-eyed costumes with dangling Slinkys were in sight at the annual Colorado UFO Briefing. It was serious business.

"The evidence is simply overwhelming," said James Carrion, international director of the Mutual UFO Network, a national group that studies sightings.

Carrion used to flip through his mom's National Enquirer magazines when he was 11, sparking his interest in the topic. At that time, the tabloid actually used to hire real investigators to dig for information, he said.

The 38-year-old network is the world's largest UFO investigative group, with 2,500 members and 800 field investigators, Carrion said. Devouring thick books and attending seminars is a requirement to become a certified investigator.

Jefferson County resident Rick Nelson said he once saw three barrel-shaped objects fluttering in the sky over Arvada. One of the shimmering gold and copper things was about one-quarter mile away before it shot to the sky and out of sight, he said.

"Anyone who spends time researching it can't dismiss it," he said.

Colorado has a disproportionately high number of UFO sightings - about 5 to 12 a month out of a national 150, according to the Bellvue-based group.

It's unclear why, said Alejandro Rojas, the group's education director.

"We have a lot of cutting-edge (air) defense going on here," he said, explaining part of the sightings spike.

An annual UFO conference is set for Aug. 10-12 at the Denver Tech Center Marriott, where the negatives of McMinnville, Ore., UFO photos - pictures declared authentic by a group of University of Colorado scientists - will be shown to the public for the first time, Carrion said.