Close Encounters of the Financially Rewarding Kind
07/20/92
THE LOS ANGELES BUSINESS JOURNAL

One night a couple of years ago, while lying in bed at 2 a.m.,
Irene Chen says she was overcome by a surge of "tingling heat
energy" that entered through her head, exited through the bottom of
her feet and warmed her entire house to the point where her roommate
thought she had turned up the heat.
Then, she says, she saw a holographtype vision hovering in space
in her bed room that depicted the name Unicus at the top of a 17-
story building. A telepathic voice told her to start publishing a
magazine by this name about unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and extraterrestrials (ETs), and that the magazine would eventually
achieve worldwide recognition.
The telepathic voice also told her that if she started the
magazine on her own, the "spirits from the other side" would find
people to help her with it.
Chen, who was working as a freelance art director for
advertising agencies, soon started publishing Unicus at home on her
Macintosh computer. Now Unicus has a circulation of more than 35,000 nationwide, and Chen has 15 volunteers along with one other paid
staff member helping her with the magazine.
Unicus is one of dozens of Los Angeles County-based businesses
selling products that are just out of this world. There are two
other locally based magazines, along with businesses that sell
videos of UFO sitings, UFO caps, T-shirts and books. Then there are
the UFO and ET conventions, and groups of earthlings who meet solely
to bond with others who have had UFO and ET experiences.
Long an active business sphere, it has become increasingly
popular during the past five years, said Edward Foster, editor in
chief of International UFO Library Magazine.
People are less reticent about discussing UFO thoughts and
experiences, he says. "They're not so worried about someone pointing
a finger and saying, 'There goes a funny farm candidate,'" he says.
You never know when you'll run into someone willing to talk
about their experiences. One time when Foster was in a store getting
some photocopies made for his magazine, the young man waiting on him
told Foster he saw a UFO twice when he lived in the Louisiana
bayous.
The subject has also acquired more credibility, Foster said.
Some people who claim to have had UFO and ET experiences have
reputable credentials.
A survey conducted by Unicus magazine showed that 49 percent of
its readers are college graduates and 15 percent have postgraduate
degrees. Also, the average annual income of its readers is $37,000
and 21 percent make more than $65,000 a year. Sixty percent of the
readers are female and 40 percent are male.
The UFO appeal appears to be nearly universal, encompassing
scientists, military personnel, psychologists, police officers and
physicians, sources say.
Selling products about spaceships and funny-looking creatures
with antennas isn't always profitable though, Foster says. Some
publishing houses that put out books on the subject make money, and
some of the field's magazines do well. But most of the mom-and-pop
businesses that peddle UFO-type products don't make much profit, if
any, he says.
Information on the subject is transmitted via books and videos.
Alexandria II, a new age bookstore with outlets in Pasadena and
Westwood, carries about 300 books and about a dozen videos on the
subject of UFOs and ETs, says Victoria Gevoian, one of the the
bookstore's owners.
One of the top sellers is "Secret Life," which "uncovers the
full drama of what it's like to be abducted" in UFOs, Gevoian says.
People who have had contact with those from outer space don't
like to be alienated. They like to read about others who have had
similar experiences, she says.
Alexandria II has sold at least 100 of the "Secret Life" books
at a price of $21 each during the past couple of months, Gevoian
says.
Also, UFO book-signings at the store often attract as many as
150 earthlings, three times as many as attend signings for books on
more down-to-earth subjects.
Meanwhile, videos sold at the bookstore show footage of UFO
encounters and talk about the technology of UFOs, among other
things.
Furthermore, those intrigued by UFOs have a chance to encounter
others with the same topic by participating in a UFO group that
meets at the bookstore once every couple of months.
The group started out several months ago with about 10
participants, but now has about 30, says Rachel Wynter, a manager of
Alexandria II. The sessions feature speakers who are authorities on
the subject and involve discussions afterward.
Those who wanted to link up with a larger group of UFO and ET
enthusiasts went to the "Ultimate Need to Know" seminar in Arcadia
on June 27 and 28. Hundreds of earthlings landed at the Embassy
Suites Hotel there to learn not only about flying saucers but also
about alleged government cover-ups of UFO activity, one of the most
heated topics of discussion among UFO zealots.
Gary Schultz, co-producer of the seminar and founder/director of
a group called Secret Saucer Base Expeditions, said there is
evidence that four large aerospace companies--namely El Segundo-
based Rockwell International Corp., St. Louis-based McDonnell
Douglas Corp., Calabasas-based Lockheed Corp. and Los Angeles-based
Northrop Corp.--are involved in UFO research.
"Late-breaking information" regarding alleged secret covert
facilities being operated by the companies in the Antelope Valley
was released at the conference, Schultz says.
Some would rather sit in the comfort of their own homes and read
UFO magazines than attend seminars. A sampling of recent articles:
the story of a high-ranking Brazilian medical and psychological
professional who was taken for a space journey, and evidence that
three governments deny there was a UFO crash in South Africa.
To illuminate these magazines for reading purposes, UFO
enthusiasts can buy flying saucer lamps from Jonathan Fox for $75
apiece. The ceramic lamps are about 10 inches high and 8 inches
wide. Fox makes them as a sideline business he operates out of his
Santa Monica home.
Each UFO magazine, meanwhile, serves a different purpose for its
readers. Don Ecker, research director of Sunland-based UFO magazine,
says his staffs purpose is to attempt to get to the bottom of the
UFO mystery.
"We have no doubt that the phenomenon is real," he says, but
adds that it cannot yet be said with certainty that the situation
does indeed involve extraterrestrials.
International UFO Library Magazine has a different mission,
which is to present all of the available information and let the
public make up its own mind. Foster says.
Foster was a writer before he was hired to edit the magazine,
but had never written about anything to do with UFOs. "I had a lot
of skepticism" at first, "and I still have a lot," he says.


Beth,
http://ricksbbs.synchro.net:8080
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