Greetings, earthling

Whether you seriously believe in UFO phenomena or are a sci-fi fan who likes to accessorize with aluminum foil and antennae, you'll find something just for you at McMinnville's 12th-annual UFO Festival.

McMenamins Hotel Oregon and the McMinnville Downtown Association co-sponsor the second-largest UFO festival in the nation. It annually draws serious UFO scholars - ufologists - from all over the country as well as merry-makers from this planet and beyond.

Running Friday and Saturday, May 13-14, this year's event will feature everything from scientific studies to a parade featuring people dressed as alien beings (and possibly some aliens dressed as people).

New this year is a contest that gave filmmakers a chance to use their creativity. Entries from the first McMinnville UFO Festival Video Contest will be playing from 3 to 7 p.m. Friday at 3rd Street Pizza/Moonlight Theater, 433 N.E. Third St.

Movietime Video, 3rd Street Pizza and APK Studios are co-sponsoring the contest. For more information, check the website, macmovietime.com.

In conjunction with the festival, many other area businesses will feature displays and specials. At Retrorama, for instance, photos of UFOs over Arizona, taken in 1964, are on display.

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This year's keynote speaker is Robert Salas, who will talk about the 1967 UFO encounters at Malmstrom Air Force Base.

According to Salas, on the mornings of March 16 and March 24, 1967, 10 nuclear missiles simultaneously became non-operational at two different launch facilities. The outages occurred just after guards reported UFOs hovering above the sites.

Salas will speak at 7 p.m. Friday in the McMinnville Community Center. Doors will open at 6 p.m. Admission is $10.

Another special speaker, Stan Gordon, is scheduled at 10 a.m. Saturday in the community center. Doors will open at 9 a.m. for his talk, which will cover the December 1965 Kecksburg UFO incident. Admission is $10.

In addition to being an authority on Kecksburg, Gordon is one of the world's most highly regarded investigators in the field of Sasquatch and UFO sightings.

The third keynote speaker, Paola Leopizzi Harris, is scheduled at 4 p.m. in the community center. Doors will open at 3 o'clock. Admission is $10.

Harris will discuss "The 12 Protocols of Exopolitics" and the 1945 San Antonio UFO crash case. The latter is described in Harris' book, "Born on the Edge of Ground Zero: Living in the Shadow of Area 51."

The Saturday afternoon event will be emceed by Peter Davenport, director of the National UFO Reporting Center in Seattle.

Three-event tickets, $25, are available, covering all the three community center speakers.

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Friday night, the Hotel Oregon will have three special music events in conjunction with the festival. Kirby Swatosh and the Moon Rock Patrol will perform at 7 p.m. in the Cellar Bar, which is open only to those 21 and older. Cornmeal will play at 8 p.m. in Mattie's Room. The James Faretheewell Band will play from 8 to 11 p.m. in the Paragon Room.

Kirby Swatosh & The Moon Rock Patrol will return at 7 p.m. Saturday, again in the Cellar Bar. Vivid Curve will play from 8 to 11 p.m. Saturday in the Paragon Room.

And Mattie's Room will be filled with the annual Alien Costume Ball from 8 to 11 p.m. Saturday. Playing for the ball will be Big Mama Gayle & Her Sugar Daddies.

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All day Friday and Saturday, booths will offer alien and UFO Fest related items at Third and Davis streets. Among the booths will be the Arts Alliance of Yamhill County's alien headgear making booth; a games booth operated by Mid Valley Rehabilitation; and food prepared by the McMinnville Kiwanis Club and Soroptimist International of McMinnville.

On Saturday, an additional tent will offer food, beer and gifts from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Evans Street, just off Third.

And, of course, Saturday will bring the just-for-fun part of the festival: a parade, costume contests and other activities.

Kids can make didgeridoos to play in the parade during a free workshop on the US Bank Plaza, Third and Davis streets. The workshop will start at 11 a.m.

The parade will move down Third Street at 1 p.m. Walkers and floats will gather at 11 a.m. the county parking lot at 7th and Galloway streets, with judging at 11:30 a.m. for the best float, group, alien male, female and child.

Special grand marshals for this year's parade are the people who shaved their heads for cancer research at the St. Baldrick's Day event. Local residents lost their locks in honor of loved ones who've suffered from cancer and to support the St. Baldrick's Foundation, which helps children with cancer and seeks a cure.

The parade will move out on Galloway, then take Fifth to Irvine, and Irvine to Third. It will return from Third and Cowls via Fourth Street. Afterwards, parade floats will be on display on Third Street until 5 p.m.

At 2 p.m., Willamette Radio Workshop will perform UFO-themed plays in Mattie's Room at the Hotel Oregon.

From 2 to 4 p.m., the Garcia Birthday Band will perform at Third and Evans streets.

Pets can get in on the action at 3 p.m., when the Alien Pet Costume Contest will be judged at Second & Cowls streets. The Critter Cabana is sponsoring the event, which will include prizes.

UFO Festival Video Contest entries will play at 3rd Street Pizza/Moonlight Theater at 6 o'clock. At 7 p.m., winners in the teen and adult categories will receive awards. Top prize is $100, second is $50 and honorable mention winners will receive a gift basket.