New Times UFO writer Cheryl Costa (New York Skies) is corresponding from the International UFO Congress in Arizona. Follow daily updates HERE through Feb. 22.

“The journey of 1,000 miles begins with one step.” (Lao-tzu. Chinese philosopher (604 BC)

The journey of 2,043 miles to the IUFOC 2015 International UFO Congress has begun with a whole bunch of little steps. There were the creeping little steps on a cold floor to get that first cup of coffee. There were the stumbling steps around the bedroom looking for the TV remote so we could check the Weather Channel for travel conditions. Of course, having lived over 25 years in Washington, DC, we were amused to see that the Federal Government was shut down due to a catastrophic “six inches of snow fall.” I’m surprised they haven’t called out the National Guard. Of course all my Syracuse neighbors know that our schools would most likely be open and we’d all be driving to work, six inches or not.

Our little steps continued with the last minute packing of our bags in the bedroom. As seasoned travelers, we were careful to cross pack our bags in case of luggage loss. In the interest of protecting my Power Point presentation for the UFO conference, I made copies on two thumb drives, one that each of us will be hand carrying.

Since we checked-in last night with our flight reservations, the airline has been dutifully texting me love notes that my flights are still on time. The newly remodeled Syracuse Airport was quite impressive with regards to the new unified security screening area. The process was much improved and friendly as always. At the TSA prescreen we didn’t have to take off our shoes!

During my flight to Phoenix, I considered how Wednesday was going to transpire.

The schedule unfolds as follows:

8:30 – 9:00 AM: Conference Welcome & Announcements with conference director Alejandro Rojas

9:00 – 10:15 AM: Clifford Mahooty – The Zuni Pueblo Indian People and the UFO Connection

10:30 – 11:45 AM: Linda Zimmerman – Hudson Valley UFOs

12:00 – 1:00 PM: Lunch

1:00 – 2:15 PM: Cheryl Costa – 200 Years of UFOs over New York

Originally, fellow New Yorker Linda Zimmerman was supposed to present on Thursday, but weather conditions back east held up the previously scheduled speaker. Needless to say, when I was checking into the hotel, conference director Alejandro Rojas, remarked, “We’ll have the two New York experts back-to-back isn’t that great!”

We are expecting an opening day crowd in excess of 3000 conference attendees initially. They tell me that we can expect upwards of 5000 by the weekend.

Looking at the guest speaker list, this conference is going to be a smash!

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s Field Report from IUFOC 2015 and perhaps some video clips.

Visit the IUFOC WEBSITE HERE

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