Paranormal Conference!

Off on another adventure.

By a few odd coincidences, people I know keep moving south-west and I regularly find myself washing up there, like a lost wave against the Quantocks.  Today I am heading that way to visit one of my oldest friends, for an evening which will certainly involve a good cake.  Tomorrow I will be moving on to attend an event not far from her home.  I have booked myself a day ticket for one of the conferences I spotted in Brill Mag.  We punters will spend the entire day strapped into theatre seats, hearing short presentations from paranormal buffs of different persuasions. 

I am not sure if I can sit still for an entire day, and I am already dreading the very long drive all the way home after tea.  However, I am eager to hear the Big Wig Buffs speak.  I wonder what they will say?  From the programme, there seems to be a strong UFO contingent.  I do not know what to think about UFOs.  I am fairly sure that if I saw one, I would think ‘That’s a funny looking plane’ and forget about it straight away.  Perhaps the world can be divided into three groups: people who see planes and think they are UFOs; people who see UFOs and think they are planes, and a very small number of clever folk who see stuff and know what it is.  We all hope we are either in that last group or at least headed in their direction.  Of course, there exists a fourth group, of people who just never look up.  We have all met a few of those.

This conference is organised for the loose network of Anomalous Phenomena fans.  They appear a different breed from the Spirit Fans who attend club nights and pay to go investigating.  From what I can make out, these groups appear to be male dominated, whereas the Spirit Fans have a healthy mix of the sexes in all roles.  I want to poke about in the APs because they have a broader range of interests, and I am hoping they will have a systematic, businesslike approach.  I am cheered to notice that they appear to steer clear of mediums and glasses on tables.  I am slightly worried by the possibility of a UFO rich experience.  Am I going to a theatre full of beer swilling UFO geeks?  Or am I going to my first really serious event, to meet with rational, interesting punters?