Arts & Entertainment

I Want to Believe: Flying Saucers Take Center Stage at Saturday's Sonoma International Film Festival

Sonoma resident and ufologist Jim Ledwith will answer questions on a panel of experts on Saturday afternoon

On Saturday , April 14, the will become the first "mainstream" film festival to air a series on extraterrestrials, and Jim Ledwith is over the moon.

"An international film festival; I keep repeating this because it's unbelievable - I mean finally, finally," said Ledwith.

As Sonoma's resident expert in extraterrestrial life (the preferred term is "ufologist"), Ledwith, who teaches a popular class on extraterrestrial encounters at the , was instrumental in bringing the typically fringe-genre to center stage. (Catch Ledwith's previews of the films on Saturday's UFO roster at right.)

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The UFO Sidebar event begins at 10 a.m. Saturday with the film "The Day Before Disclosure", and continues at noon with a "Life After Contact" multimedia presentation. The panel discussion with Ledwith and other members of  Studio 51 is set for 2 p.m. All Sidebar events are at the .

"This size town has allowed this genre to go mainstream," he explains. "It's been like an incubator."

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About 20 years ago, Ledwith, who is now quasi-retired from his career in the self-storage business, began devoting much of his time to researching extraterrestrial theories and evidence - viewing over 200 related films and adding a long list of relevant publications to his daily reading.

Around that time, Ledwith began teaching a small seminar to a handful of students at the Millbrae Community Center, eventually teaching a similar series through Sonoma Valley High School's adult education series. 

"Everything in life, whether it's extra terrestrials or not, you have to start somewhere," said Ledwith. "For me that was it." But after a few years, Ledwith began to find the classes - which each lasted almost nine hours and were taught in front of only a handful of students  - grueling.

Luckily, the opportunity to teach a class at the Sonoma Community Center popped up, reigniting Ledwith's zeal, and drawing 60-70 students per class.

His enthusiasm for his subject is contagious.

"Look how ornate that is," explains Ledwith, gazing at a YouTube video of a crop circle. "You have six hours to complete it - now tell me, how many people would it take."

Ledwith says he always believed in extra-terrestrial life, citing a family photo taken on a sunny Friday on July 19, 1952, showing a white blur in the corner, which Ledwith identifies as a UFO.

"They always pick the weekends, which I find very considerate," says Ledwith.

Though he doesn't like to talk about his abduction ("it's too much for many people,") Ledwith credits it with furthering much of his current passion and desire to share information with the general public.

Whenever I get someone with a credential to come on board - whether it's a doctor or a PhD - it's a big deal. "Ufologist," that kind of credential means mouthing to the general public," says Ledwith.

The current crop of cinema gives him hope, especially the recent flick "Paul," ("Have you seen it?" he asks, "I have - three times.") Modern alien movies are chock full of information, according to Ledwith. Case in point, X-files ("there's some truth to it) E.T. ("More than meets the eye") and Close Encounters of a Third Kind ("the best UFO movie ever made.) 

But, films and outreach set aside, Ledwith can feel the cultural climate tipping towards a point of acceptance in recent years - perhaps thanks to the open-mindedness of events like the Sonoma International Film Festival.

"Over the years I would ask people ‘Do you believe?’ and they used to say – ‘Are you f-ing crazy,’" says Ledwith. "Now they say: ‘Well there's got to be someone else out there.’"

Purchase a Saturday discounted day pass, $50, using the code "ufojim" when purchasing. The series kicks off at 12:30 p.m. at the Sonoma Community Center with Crop Circles: Crossovers From Another Dimension. A panel of experts meets for "Are We Alone?" at 3 p.m., in Room 101 at the Community Center, and "Out of the Blue" airs at 6:30 p.m. at the New Belgium Lounge at the Community Center.


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