Jefferson Kincaid, a Portland area videographer and local cable access show host, is staging his Portland July 4, 1947, UFO Sightings Celebration again this year.

"Most people don't know that Portland was right in the thick of UFO sightings way back at the beginning of the UFOs in 1947," said Kincaid. "If they know anything at all about the history of UFOs, they know about Kenneth Arnold's famous sighting of nine discs seen on June 24, 1947, between Mt. Adams and Mt. Rainier, but they don't know that his sighting was at the beginning of a massive wave of sightings that started in the Pacific Northwest and traveled across the U.S."

"When I started doing research in the late 1990s and discovered just how many sightings there were in the Portland metro area in June/July 1947, I was astonished. I soon found that Keith Rowell, Oregon MUFON's Assistant State Director, had already done some preliminary research, and I got intrigued. I've done extensive research at the Oregon Historical Society and on the Internet, and I have now greatly extended his initial efforts. It is just amazing how many sightings there were in the first month after June 24, 1947."

Kincaid will be presenting his latest research, now encompassing many of the small town newspapers in Oregon and Washington. He is especially interested in eyewitness accounts from 1947 Oregon and Washington. If you've got a story, he wants to hear it.

This year the event will be held at Dilly's Sports Bar at 2002 SE Division St., Portland, OR, from 12 PM to 3 PM, on July 4, 2011. Oregon MUFON will be assisting Kincaid in his presentations. Join us and learn more about UFOs in Oregon and Washington history.