Eric Parsons / Star staff ZanZilla yoga instructor Zan Ferris is the coordinator of the Ventura County UFO Festival on Saturday at the Progressive Consciousness Studio.

Former Air Force officer Robert Salas will never forget his first UFO experience while on active duty at a nuclear missile site.

"While a UFO was hovering over my site and being observed by many airmen, all my missiles were disabled; in addition, there was another site where other UFOs were observed and its missiles were disabled," recalled the Ojai resident and retired captain, a featured speaker in August at the 38th annual International UFO Symposium in Colorado. "It is a true and important story because the public is not being informed about these events."

Salas will be among four guest speakers at the second annual Ventura County UFO Festival starting at noon Saturday at ZanZilla, a Progressive Consciousness Studio at 2750 E. Main St., Suite F, Ventura.

The other speakers will include UFO expert Preston Dennett of Canoga Park, who will bring the subject close to home, discussing "UFOs Over California: The Top 20 Encounters," with a focus on local underwater UFO activity in the Santa Catalina Channel and activity over Topanga Canyon.

Dennett also will give a presentation on the Coronado Island UFO Incident, a rare encounter involving at least six witnesses and considerable physical evidence.

"I have been investigating local cases in the area for nearly 20 years, so it's nice to talk about cases that have taken place at the location of the festival or only a short distance away," Dennett said. "It's also nice to be able to find new witnesses to old and new cases, and for all the local UFO community friends to get together."

Dennett is the author of nine books and more than 100 articles. He also is a ghost hunter and pioneer in lucid dreaming and out-of-body explorations as outlined in his book "Out of Body Exploring: A Beginner's Approach," which relates contacts with spirit guides, uncovered past lives and travels to other dimensions.

Weapons and secrets

Salas said his presentation on UFOs also will touch on two other issues of interest: "Those are nuclear weapons and government secrecy," said Salas, the author of "Faded Giant," a book chronicling his UFO experience.

"I am convinced that these objects are being controlled by extraterrestrial visitors and will inform the audience of my reasons," he said, adding that he feels compelled to bring the issue to the fore: "My purpose is to inform the public about the reality of UFOs and the extraterrestrial presence.

"Events like this are special," he said, "because they expose the public to a topic that receives scant serious attention. I hope this event will provide the public with solid information they can use to draw conclusions about the topic without dismissing it out of hand."

Made possible by ZanZilla and the Mutual UFO Network — MUFON — the festival was created to bring awareness to the experiences that many people are reporting to have, said event coordinator Zan Ferris of Ventura.

"There is no other UFO awareness event in the county such as this one," Ferris said. "It is important to give people the space to expand their perceptions. Our world might have some surprises in store for us."

Another guest speaker at the festival, Ann Druffel of west Pasadena, is the author of six books and has researched "Earth mysteries of all kinds" for half a century. In addition to her interest in UFOs, psychic archaeology, paranormal photographs and sacred sites, she also has explored altered reality abduction scenarios in her book "How to Defend Yourself Against Alien Abductions," which also will be a topic of her talk.

"I have a database of 400-plus abduction reports from the public which I have investigated since 1965," she said.

Resisting abduction

In the late 1980s, it began to occur to Druffel that about 25 percent of the abductees who came to her for counsel and other help with their problems had figured out ways to make the creatures "go away" and end the abduction scenarios.

"This fact was so intriguing, I spent the next eight years investigating these resisters," Druffel said. "It seemed logical to me that if some abductees could end the abduction scenarios and make the creatures go away that this might give us a clue as to the real nature of the abducting phenomenon."

The topic of alien implants will be covered by guest speaker Derrel Sims — aka "The Alien Hunter" — who is a registered hypnotic anesthesiologist, certified master hypnotherapist, certified master neurolinguistic practitioner, licensed private investigator and researcher of alleged human-alien encounters.

"The Ventura UFO Festival offers a forum where people who are interested in this controversial topic, or who have had experiences they cannot explain, can come together without fear of ridicule," said Sims of Houston. "We hope to foster an open exchange of ideas and shared understanding of the unexplained."

Admission is free. For more details, visit www.zanzillasyoga.com.