With a month remaining prior to the fifth annual Chehalis Flying Saucer Party, scheduled for Sept. 12 and 13 in downtown Chehalis, event organizers are now accepting artwork submissions for the Flying Saucer Party UFO Art Show.
“Submit your theme-related artwork to be part of this curated exhibition celebrating the spirit of the Chehalis Flying Saucer Party Art Show,” organizers said in a Facebook post. “Selected works will be displayed at Mint City Coffee in historic downtown Chehalis.”
Artists can bring their submissions to the Lewis County Historical Museum, located at 599 NW Front St. in downtown Chehalis. The deadline to submit out-of-this-world-themed artwork for the show is Saturday, Aug. 30.
The artwork will then be displayed and available to purchase at Mint City Coffee, located at 539 N. Market Blvd. in downtown Chehalis, on both days of the Flying Saucer Party. A total of 30% of the proceeds from art sales will benefit the Lewis County Historical Museum.
This year’s Chehalis Flying Saucer Party, dubbed the “Contactee Edition,” also features former Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) Washington state director Maurene Morgan, U.S. Army veteran turned history professor and author Bruce Solheim, science educator, author and Universe University Podcast co-host Chris Grant along with filmmaker, local historian and Pacific NorthWEIRD Podcast co-host Vince Ynzunza as speakers.
Also scheduled for the Flying Saucer Party is the third annual Northwest Flying Saucer Film Fest, a parade and fun run, the famous Saucer Drop event, vendors and new Lewis County Historical Museum exhibits.
First held in 2019, the Chehalis Flying Saucer Party celebrates the famous June 24, 1947, flight of Kenneth Arnold, who claimed to have witnessed nine metallic objects flying in an echelon formation stretching nearly 5 miles between Mount Rainier and Mount Adams while flying near Mineral after taking off from Chehalis.
This sighting helped coin the phrase “flying saucer” after Arnold described what he saw as “saucer-like aircraft flying in formation,” in an East Oregonian article detailing the sighting.
His sighting also sparked the famous Summer of the Saucers in 1947, when thousands of reported flying saucer sightings were made nationwide after Arnold’s story went public.
Arnold’s granddaughter, Shanelle Marie Arnold, will be available for a meet and greet throughout the day on Sept. 13 at the Lewis County Historical Museum during the Flying Saucer Party.
For more information on the speakers and exact time and location of Chehalis Flying Saucer Party events and how to purchase tickets, read The Chronicle’s preview at https://tinyurl.com/nxj4d4sn or visit https://www.flyingsaucerparty.org/.
