A couple of weeks ago, I received the photo pictured left in an email from an anonymous sender, along with the following note:

"Attached you will find a poor picture of a poster from 1974 of the Mid South UFO Conference that I put together for what I believe was Stanton's first trip to Tennessee. The conference drew approximately 300 people. Thought you might find it interesting as it is the only surviving poster from then that I know of."

"Too cool!" I thought. Not only had there been a turnout of 300 for a Tennessee UFO conference, but this was back before I was born! I quickly replied to the sender, thanking them for sharing the photo and asking for more details on the conference. My anonymous friend was glad to oblige:

"Basically this conference was after the great wave of sightings of 1973 and I and a group of friends wanted to raise public awareness. I was a Field investigator for APRO at the time and investigated a number of sightings in the Memphis area."

The conference was held at Memphis's Christian Brothers University, where Stanton presented his lecture, "Flying Saucers are Real", to an eager crowd of enthusiasts.

"We had a good turnout as we used a variety of public relation activities" my contact said. "TV public spots (free), Press conference with Stanton on TV, and lots of posters, flyers, etc...cost was low as the College rented the place cheap too."

We can only hope that we get as lucky in hosting our future conferences! Much thanks to my new friend for providing this photo and interesting story -- I hope you are able to become involved in Tennessee MUFON activities in your area soon!