Individuals who have experienced something out of this world have a local organization with which they can share their stories on the East Side.
The Mutual UFO Network will meet Saturday at the Wilmot Library, 530 N. Wilmot Road.
The meeting is open to members of the public, whether or not they have had experiences with UFOs. The group meets once a month, every third Saturday, depending on room availability at the library. The meeting gives residents a chance to gather and share their experiences. They often have guest speakers sharing their stories and answering questions from the audience.
"Come to the meeting with an open mind. Listen to what is being said, even if you don't believe. Just listen," said George Parks, the network's Arizona director. Parks is also the Pima County section director and a field investigator.
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During the meeting, folks can learn how to join the network and become a field investigator — a researcher who verifies a sighting of an unidentified flying object. A field investigator takes a story and rules out the possibility of the UFO being a satellite or a low-flying plane.
Betty Dentato and Jeanette Bowen met at a network meeting, and they have at least two things in common. Both are East Side residents, and both said they saw the same UFO about five years ago.
When Bowen spotted one of her first UFOs on the East Side, she wanted to share her story. She contacted Parks, and he invited her to share her story at their meeting.
"I was sleeping, and about 1 a.m., a bright light shined in my room and woke me up," Bowen said. "At first I thought it was the moon, but the moon doesn't shine in that area. . . . I went to the back window and saw something flying. It looked like a submarine with a telescope on top. It was gliding with red, green, blue and white lights. It went 'whoosh' over the Catalinas and was traveling north with no sound whatsoever.
"The lights looked like Christmas lights," Bowen continued. "They were multicolored lights. I don't know why, but I wasn't scared of it. It was very beautiful."
Bowen has seen a couple dozen UFOs in her life and 15 on the East Side.
"I don't automatically say, 'Oh, a UFO,' meaning unidentified flying object. Most sightings I see are military. I study them before making a conclusion," she said.
After Dentato heard the story, she realized that she had spotted the same UFO from her house, one of 12 she has seen.
Dentato doesn't live near Bowen. But the way Bowen described her sighting, and the time and day she spotted it, matched Dentato's experience. Dentato and Bowen are sure it was the same UFO, and the meeting gave them a chance to connect and share their experiences.
"It looked like millions of stars were coming out — a huge, pulsating light," Dentato said. "It was such a beautiful sight. It looked like a star from a Christmas tree . . . huge, beautiful lights in all colors — blue, red, yellow. So pretty."
Dentato and Bowen said the meetings help connect people.
"I guess most of the people who have had sightings are afraid to come forward because of the ridicule," Bowen said. "But being able to come to a place where everyone understands what you have seen is comforting."
More information
● Mutual UFO Network, George Parks, 742-6651
How to spot a UFO
● Parks's tips on how to spot a UFO:
1. Don't try too hard.
2. Be aware of what is in the sky. Be aware that some things are hard to explain. A UFO is an unidentified flying object, and that can be anything — a plane, shuttle or a spaceship.
3. If you're investigating your sighting, call the airport. Personnel there can tell you if it was reported on radar.
4. Make a note about your sighting. Important things to include are: What did it look like? How fast and in what direction was it traveling? How large was it? Measure the size of the UFO by using your thumb and forefinger.
Meeting
● Mutual UFO Network — Wilmot Library, 530 N. Wilmot Road. Retired Lt. Col. Wendelle Stevens will speak Saturday on "The Bill Meier Story" from 1 to 4:30 p.m.
