Name: History+Mystery Conference!
Start: 2026-04-11T09:00:00-05:00
End: 2026-04-11T17:00:00-05:00
Location: Starved Rock Lodge & Conference Center

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Mothman Incident! But there was much more unexplained phenomena that occurred in 1966! Come join us for a day of presentations on the WEIRD history from that impactful year
*The Smiling Man Indrid Cold
by Neal Gibbons
*Men In Black - Phantoms, Androids, Gov't Informants
by Jack Chavez
*Mothman
by Bill & Jaci Kousoulas

Registration Opens: 8:30AM - $20
Starved Rock Lodge-One Lodge lane-Oglesby, Il
Check in begins at 8:30AM CST by the LaSalle Room
First Presentation 9:00AM - Last Presentation 5:00PM CST
Late Comers are Welcomed Just Check in at the Door
𝙎𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙧𝙨:
Sam Maranto - Roger Laurella -Don Schmitt- Tom Wertman-Gregory Cisko - Neal Gibbons - Dr. William Kousoulas - Jack Chavez – Tim Aines & Sam
𝐓𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐀𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐚 𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝟏𝟗, 𝟏𝟗𝟔𝟔: Roger Laurella
Multiple Witnesses very unusual sighting and remarkable physical evidence case
𝐃𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐇𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝟐𝟎-𝟐𝟏, 𝟏𝟗𝟔𝟔: Don
Schmitt
Dozens of witnesses, including police and Hillsdale College students,
reported seeing bright, maneuvering lights and "7oating discs" over Dexter and Hillsdale, Michigan. U.S. Air Force consultant Dr. J. Allen Hynek famously attributed the sightings to "swamp gas" (methane). However, this explanation was widely disputed by locals, law enforcement, and future President Gerald Ford, who called for a congressional investigation.
𝐆𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐝 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝟐𝟖, 𝟏𝟗𝟔𝟔: Greg Cisko
House committee on Armed Services, Science and Aeronautics receives a letter from house minority leader Gerald Ford expressing his dismay with Dr. J. Allen Hynek’s 7ippant “Swamp Gas” explanation for the Michigan sightings. He urges for a serious investigation.
𝐖𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐀𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐚 𝐀𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐥 𝟔,𝟏𝟗𝟔𝟔 𝐒𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: Roger & Sam
Mass Sighting Account with physical trace evidence, local & apparently US military/quasi military/intelligence personnel present. Request and out right threats to suppress all information where immediately encountered by witnesses and others. There was even a possible disappearance of one of the witnesses
𝐏𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐒𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐥 𝟏𝟕, 𝟏𝟗𝟔𝟔: Tom
Wertman
Two Sheriff’s officers stop to examine an abandon car when they observe an unidentified flying object rises from behind the trees and hovers above them, the ground drenched in bright light. What transpires next will be an 86-mile chase at speeds of more than 100 mph that will take the deputies and a few more officers from Ohio to Pennsylvania.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗲, 𝗢𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟲, 𝟭𝟵𝟲𝟲: Greg Cisko
The University of Colorado agreed to undertake the Air Force-funded project directed by physicist Edward U. Condon, the 18-month, $500,000+ Scientific Investigation of Unidentified Flying Objects. Its significance shaped far more than public opinion to this day. * Discussed in better detail later in the Panel Secession.
𝙎𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙 𝙃𝙖𝙡𝙛 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙡𝙪𝙣𝙘𝙝-
𝐖𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐃𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐,𝟏𝟗𝟔𝟔: Neal Gibbons
On interstate 77 a man encountered a strange UFO that blocked the road. A tall man comes out and communicates telepathically with him. A man with dark complexion and a grin on his face. This grinning man eventually shares his name “Indrid Cold”.
𝐏𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐌𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐦𝐚𝐧 & 𝐔𝐅𝐎𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟗𝟔𝟔: Bill & Jaci Kousoulas
UFOs & Mothman …who was first reported by two couples near Point Pleasant, WV, on November 15, 1966, at an abandoned TNT factory. Following dozens of sightings, it became associated with the December 1967 Silver Bridge collapse, marking it as a harbinger of doom
𝙈𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝘽𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙠 1966: Jack Chavez
Associated with many high-profile UFO encounters are the presence of extremely unusual characters. Those incidents in 1966 were no different if anything the Point Pleasant episode was marked by more than their share of such strangers.
𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞: 𝐒𝐚𝐦 & 𝐓𝐢𝐦
The Twenty-Year Anniversary of the Gate C-17 O’Hare Incident
The Lake Cook Car Incident Photos and detail