Locals share experiences at Gallup UFO Film Fest
Navajo Times | Donovan Quintero
Jason Begay, left, introduces his family, Autumn Davis-Begay, 7, and Rhonda Davis-Begay, to Clifford Mahooty Saturday during the 12th annual UFO Film Festival held at the El Morro Theater in Gallup.
GALLUP
The empty night sky in the rural spaces between towns and cities isn’t so empty for many Native Americans in the Southwest.
Guests and speakers at the 12th annual UFO Film Festival in Gallup Oct. 23-24 came not just to hear talks and watch films about the phenomenon. But they also came to explore related phenomenon based on experiences they had on the Navajo Nation and beyond.
Speaker David Shoemaker had what he said were UFO parts on hand during his talk on the opening night, before the film “High Strange New Mexico” directed by James Lujan and produced by Anthony Dellaflora set a tone related to indigenous people of the Southwest.
“The end credits feature the telling of a Native American creation story by a woman named Teresa Pijon,” Dellaflora said. “She’s actually a petroglyph scholar from San Juan Pueblo. That’s why she tells that story at the end.”
Zuni elder Clifford Mahooty showed a video of a talk he gave previously on the subject of how Native folklore and contact with extraterrestrials, which he called Star People. He said in the traditional stories and folklore of many tribes exist messages about these people from other galaxies and that contacts continue to this day.
Navajo Times | Donovan Quintero
Travis Walton, whom the movie “Fire In The Sky” is based on, speaks at the 12th annual UFO Film Festival Saturday night at El Morro Theater in Gallup.
“This has always been known by many different indigenous groups throughout the planet,” he said. “The Navajo people for example, there is a lot of activity that’s going on in the Four Corners area.”
Navajo Ranger Stanley Milford Jr. and retired Ranger Jonathan Dover spoke about their experiences investigating various phenomena in the Navajo Nation. As part of the Navajo Nation Department of Resource Enforcement, within the Division of Natural Resources, Rangers work to protect and maintain natural resources of the Navajo Nation.
Over the years the department began taking cases related to UFOs and other phenomena more seriously. One of the rangers said a Navajo elderly couple had reported seeing a strange creature, and the responding officer asked if they had been drinking. The department found such treatment of elders unacceptable, and began more serious investigations into the case and related phenomena around 2002.
“We use the idea of criminal investigation, where you have to have trace evidence,” Dover said. “It’s the same thing as a homicide investigation.”
The two can be seen on YouTube and elsewhere on the Internet speaking about their investigations, which included one where a farmer experienced the death of one of his dogs after seeing a UFO and the beings who disembarked from the alleged craft.
Navajo Times | Donovan Quintero
UFO hunter David Shoemaker holds what he calls a wand, Saturday evening at El Morro Theater in Gallup during the 12th annual UFO Film Festival.
But not all of the stories of strange happenings involve strange lights in the night sky. One Apache man said his experience involved a tall hair-covered creature running by as he passed it in a car.
“I’ve seen Bigfoot three times. The first time, he walked across the road in front of me. As soon as he walked across the road, he looked back. He gave me a glance I will never forget,” said Brian Vigio, 63.
Chuck Wade, 76, started the film festival in 2004. He said he had known about the phenomenon since he was a 7-year-old growing up in 1947. Over the years, he maintained an interest in the subject before starting the film festival.
He said a key aspect of the festival are the speakers he brings in each year.
“One of the big reasons for putting on this UFO film festival is to tell the truth. I check out everybody we call in as best I can. They’re telling the truth as I know it,” said Wade.
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