THE WALTON PROJECT


 

In 2013 GWC INVESTIGATORS were selected to participate in High Desert Test Sites' 2013 programming by a selection committee consisting of Andrea Zittel, Dave Hickey, Aurora Tang, and Libby Lumpkin.  
 

For HDTS 2013, GWC INVESTIGATORS engaged in a period of intensive on-site investigation into extraterrestrial experiences and the UFO phenomenon. During the week of October 12-19, 2013, GWC set up base camp in Northern Arizona, an area with a higher-than-average number of UFO sightings or interactions. As an investigative team, GWC conducedt intensive field research, including audio and video recordings and data collection on light pollution, celestial movements, local flora and faun,a and topography ,and sought out eyewitness accounts from local residents. While embedded, GWC also constructed temporary and non-invasive site markers at geographical points of interest linked to our findings, movements, and sightings of Unidentified Flying Objects. Investigations sought correlations between sightings and geographical site: In what ways does the landscape or climate of northern Arizona affect human psychology and the frequency of UFO sightings? Are sightings more prevalent at dawn or dusk? Are sightings influenced by ground topography or by geologic features? Findings were inconclusive.

 

 

 

UFOs in Arizona Since 1995: Custom Google Map: blue pins = reported sightings of UFOs, red pin = GWC base-camp site at Turkey Springs, AZ, and shaded area = the geographical area of primary interest.

GWC established a base camp at Turkey Springs, a site situated in the Sitgreaves National Forest, approximately 60 miles south of Interstate Hwy 40, off Hwy 260 between Prescott and Snowflake, Arizona. Research was concentrated at this site, but included tangential investigations into UFO related phenomena in nearby locales with reported histories of UFO sightings and abductions.


 

While embedded in the field during the week of October 12-19, 2013, GWC, Investigators welcomed visitors to their base-camp during set daytime hours and one overnight UFO watch. The members of the group will composed daily debriefings of findings, digitally recorded and archived. Following the week of embedded research, GWC held a public presentation of their field reports at The Tamarind Institute, in Albequerque, New Mexico. Additionally, GWC has produced a documentary film archiving and explicating their findings, viewable at public screenings and here, online.

With a history dating back at least as far as the written word, whether approached as a believer or a skeptic, the UFO phenomenon says something about what it is to be human. We are driven by curiosity to look beyond ourselves for answers, to peer into the stars and strive to know what we cannot touch. Now, with orbiting telescopes and digital image data processing, we can peer into the deepest reaches of the universe, and find planets that, perhaps, mirror our own. The UFO phenomenon can be explained in many ways: by hallucinations, repressed trauma, military testing, or atmospheric anomalies. Maybe, though, it is none or all of these—maybe it’s the universe coming to us, folding around and enveloping us.

Glendening field notes excerpt.
Glendening field notes excerpt.
Glendening field notes excerpt.
Welsh field notes excerpt.
Carney field notes excerpt.

GWC INVESTIGATORS received generous financial support for this project from the Oregon Arts Commission and the Regional Arts & Culture Council



 

 

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