Publication:  Kingman Daily Miner

Date:  August 28, 1995

Page:  1

Article Title: UFOs

Subtitle:  Conference raises awareness, questions about close encounters

Author:  Amy Coller, Miner Staff Writer



Flying saucers, creatures with big black eyes, alternative health.

What do all these have in common?



They were al topics of discussion at Saturday's UFO Conference,

sponsored by the Space Universal Life Church (SULC), at the Mohave

County Fairgrounds.



The day, which began at 9 a.m. and continued through 9 p.m., with

vendors selling a variety of UFO items and 11 speakers.  Speakers

included abductees, authors, contactees, a Reiki master and a forensic

reconstruction illustrator of spacecraft.



Al Able, CEO of the Space Universal Life Church, said they are an

open-door church. He said he founded it because his mother saw a

UFO "and she was a devout Catholic."

 

He said he later found out that the president of Notre Dame and

former President Jimmy Carter also saw one.

  

Able said plans are in the works to build a SULC Residence and

Support Facility. The complex will include a museum with items

they have collected over the years, a two-story motel, a SULC

Residence center and a rehabilitation center.



Able said the rehabilitation are for people such as himself with a

physical disability.



The complex will be located in Dolan Springs. Projected opening

date is a couple of years, he said.

  

Saturday's conference was the first one held by the SULC, Able said.

                             

He said it went well and he expects to hold another next year. He

said it is a good opportunity to "get these people together to

build a base for building the buildings."



Able said the project will be funded through fundraisers and

donations.



He said so far the group has raised a good sum.  "One guy donated

$100,000, another guy donated 400 theater seats," he said.



He said anyone who donates to the project will receive a tax

deduction.



One of the attendees of the conference was Rob Chilcoat, "Mohave

County's unofficial aviation historian."



He said he is researching the alleged 1953 UFO crash in Kingman.



"It's like a good whodunit," he said. "I'm trying to find out if it

actually happened."



He said he is working to find the location which has the highest

chances of being the crash-site. 



"It's been fun. I've spent over 150 hours on the Internet chasing

down rabbits to increase my knowledge base," he said.



The SULC meets every other Wednesday at 15965 Iron Drive,

in Dolan Springs, at 7 p.m.



There will be a meeting at the Kingman Library, 3269 N. Burbank, on

Saturday, Sept. 30 from 2 to 4 p.m. Anyone is welcome to attend.

###



(Photo)



Caption:  Miner photo/AMY COLLIER

Al Able, CEO of the Space Universal Life Church, and Kathryn Punkey,

display gift items at the first-annual UFO Conference at the fair

grounds Saturday.