This year’s Chehalis Flying Saucer Party, originally scheduled for Sept. 11 and 12, has been canceled, according to event organizers, who made the unexpected announcement on Thursday, June 11.
“To the UFO community and beyond, all good things come to an end and with a heavy heart. We are announcing that the Chehalis Flying Saucer Party will not be continuing from here on out,” organizers said on the event's official Facebook account. “All planned events for this September, including the film festival, are canceled. We make this difficult decision after careful consideration and unfortunately, we have no other option than to cease operations. We started this UFO festival in 2019 as a celebration of the amazing Kenneth Arnold story — wherein on June 24, 1947, Arnold took off from the Chehalis airport and encountered nine flying craft near Mount Rainier — a sighting that gave birth to the term ‘flying saucer’ and kickstarted modern UFOlogy as we know it. Although the festival is over, the history that we celebrated and the memories that we made will not go away. Thanks to everyone who attended, volunteered and whose imaginations were sparked by this event. May the spirit of the Flying Saucer Party continue on in the hearts and minds of its supporters and friends.”
The film festival was The Northwest Flying Saucer Film Fest, first held in 2023. It was held in conjunction with the Flying Saucer Parties in 2024 and 2025.
An announcement for submissions to the film festival had already been made earlier this year, and on the film festival’s own Facebook page, organizers stated full film submission fee refunds would be issued “as soon as possible.”
“We are proud of this film festival and the eclectic, talented community that showed up the past three years for a fun night of UFO-themed films, documentaries, animations, and music videos!
“We cherish those memories — and we hope you do too,” organizers said on Facebook. “Although this end is sudden and unceremonious, we hope to resurrect the film festival in the coming years, likely in a new location and city,” organizers wrote. “For now, please continue making films and supporting independent theaters. Now more than ever, cinema and community are vital to the health of our society. And keep your eyes to the sky — you just might see us fly by one day.”
The Chronicle reached out to Jason Mattson to ask for more details. Mattson was the former director of the Flying Saucer Party’s main sponsor and host site, the Lewis County Historical Museum.
He had partnered with Vince Ynzunza, co-host of the Pacific NorthWEIRD podcast and paranormal investigator, to organize the Flying Saucer Party and Northwest Flying Saucer Film Fest.
However, he recently resigned from being the museum director to pursue a career opportunity elsewhere, which left the events in limbo.
As the Lewis County Historical Society Board of Directors has yet to find a replacement for Mattson, the decision was made to cancel the events.
“It's kinda crazy. I resigned to pursue something new and they haven't found anyone to keep it open. With me leaving, there's nobody to take on the Saucer Party,” Mattson told The Chronicle. “It sucks. I loved what Vince and I created.”
Lewis County Historical Society board member Peter Lahmann told The Chronicle the board would be meeting on Tuesday to discuss their next steps.
An ode to Arnold’s historic sighting, which helped kick off the “Summer of the Saucers” in 1947 — when thousands of reports of unidentified objects in the skies across the nation were made after Arnold’s own report was publicized — the annual Flying Saucer Party featured speakers ranging from Arnold’s own surviving granddaughter Shanelle Marie Arnold, to U.S. Navy veteran Kevin Day, a radar operator who was aboard the USS Nimitz in 2004 during the now-famous “Tic Tac” video incident.
Other speakers included retired Navajo Ranger and paranormal investigator Jonathan Dover, Coast to Coast AM host Connie Willis and former Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) Washington state director Maurene Morgan, among other major names in the paranormal world.
Aside from the speakers and film fest, the Flying Saucer Party also featured an art show, an “alien invasion” costume parade, the “Dash for Disclosure” fun run, live music by The Jacked Lords, UFO-themed builds from local Lego Users Group members, a vendor market and the famous “Saucer Drop” event.
While the Flying Saucer Festival was a new event in the region, the Saucer Drop actually originated as a way to honor Arnold’s sighting during the old Chehalis Krazy Days festival in the 1970s, when small toy frisbees (the saucers) would be thrown out to a crowd. The frisbees all had prizes on them, usually discounts or free items at local businesses, which the Chehalis Flying Saucer Party Saucer Drop also carried on.
As for the Northwest Flying Saucer Film Fest, dozens of entries were made each year, but the one this Chronicle reporter remembers most is still the audience choice winner from the inaugural festival — Stuck In Orbit.
The movie features the late Chehalis resident John Henricksen, who passed away in 2024, under the moniker “Burt Burtson.” After being abducted, Burt attempts to get people to believe his story. Aside from winning audience choice, Stuck In Orbit also won the award for best documentary.
Henricksen made the film with the help of his family, including his grandson Enoch Lui who directed it. Stuck In Orbit can be viewed here https://vimeo.com/868014471.
Links to other entries from the previous Northwest Flying Saucer Film Fests can be found on The Chronicle’s website at https://tinyurl.com/bdhx2mdy, https://tinyurl.com/4pacnc36 and https://tinyurl.com/5e4w3ebe.
