Well, we made it through Jamboree Days without burning down the mountain. The parade and all the festivities were fun, as were the picnic in the San Moritz Meadow and the fireworks, viewed from the North Shore patio complex.

The only thing missing was the return of the spaceship that encircled Lake Gregory during the fireworks extravaganza back in 2001. Alright, I know what you’re thinkin’, Uncle Mott’s been smokin’ them funny lookin’ cigarettes. T’aint so, McGee – over 1,000 level-headed folks, including yours truly and Mrs. Uncle Mott (Auntie Rhea), witnessed a UFO encircling the lake at breakneck speed.

There’s a Starman waiting in the sky, he’d like to come and meet us, but he thinks he’d blow our minds. There’s a Starman waiting in the sky, he’s told us not to blow it ‘cause he knows it’s all worthwhile. He told me, ‘Let the children lose it, let the children use it, let all the children boogie.’ (“Starman” – David Bowie – 1969 – From the album Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars)

According to the National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC), a strange light with no flashing lights and no sound came in from the west and circled the lake three or four times. The first time, it took about one minute to complete a circle estimated in excess of 10 miles in diameter, which would equate  a speed of about 1,800 miles per hour, then moved more slowly, taking about a minute and a half to complete each of the remaining encirclements. On the final circle, it split into two objects and dropped straight to the ground without slowing. Then both objects merged back into one and continued westward until it was out of sight. Yes, I truly believe they’re out there.

I’ve also had other UFO sightings, including one back in 1966 when I was returning from an evening summer school class and I and about a dozen people witnessed a huge white object that resembled a full moon hovering above us near the town of Tustin. It obviously wasn’t the moon since the actual moon was on the opposite side of the night sky. I never saw anything in the paper or on TV about the occurrence, but that doesn’t prove that I and the others didn’t see it. However, I did call in to Art Bell’s Coast-to-Coast radio show one evening and explained what I had witnessed. Art, who was George Noory’s predecessor on Coast-to-Coast, was a big follower of paranormal events, was thankful of my reported sighting.

As a child growing up in Orange County, I spent many an evening focused on the nighttime sky and I had a keen interest in the stars and planets, so I held a series of nighttime lectures on things celestial and invited the neighbors over to listen to my backyard lectures, one of which was titled “The Red Planet,” which mentioned the possibility of extraterrestrial life.

There’s a Starman waiting in the sky, he’d like to come and meet us, but he thinks he’d blow our minds…

Keep it flyin’,

Uncle Mott