Giant Rock Space Convention
Organized annually by George Van Tassell from 1954 until
just before his death in 1977 at Giant Rock airport near Valley,
California. The 1954 and 1958 events attracted more than ten
thousand attendees. Van Tassell, author of the book I Rode in
a Flying Saucer (1952), claimed that the Giant Rock area was a
natural cone of receptivity for flying saucers and that he received
telepathic messages from UFO crew members, who
were also said to visit him.
The space conventions resembled old-time Spiritualist
camp meetings, with lectures by contactees or speakers on
the metaphysical and religious aspects of UFOs. The conventions
declined in attendance through the 1960s and were discontinued
after Van Tassells death.
Sources
Clark, Jerome. The Emergence of a Phenomenon UFOs from the
Beginning through 1959. Vol. 2 of The UFO Encyclopedia. Detroit
Omnigraphics, 1992.
Van Tassell, George. I Rode in a Flying Saucer. Los Angeles
New Age Publishing, 1952
