LOS ANGELES (RNS) — “This ship was huge. It was like a city-sized ship. And there was hundreds of beings on board,” said Debbie Solaris, a military veteran and one of six panelists sharing their alien encounters with a packed room at the LAX Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles on a recent February Friday. “They had larger heads, larger eyes,” she said, describing one alien group. “Very big auras, lots of colors.”
Panelists’ testimonies had the arc of conversion narratives; after her out-of-body experience in 2012, Solaris traded her career in environmentalism for one as a galactic historian.
“I knew at that point that my life changed,” said Solaris, hands folded, eyes upward, her long, dark hair contrasting with her fuchsia blouse. “My life was never going to be the same.”
At the 24th annual Conscious Life Expo, which convened more than 5,000 New Age spiritual seekers from Feb. 20-23, Solaris’ experience wasn’t fringe. The event, which has previously featured speakers like former presidential candidate Marianne Williamson, psychedelic pioneer Ram Dass and “Plandemic” filmmaker and conspiracy theorist Mikki Willis, originally focused on topics like astrology, health and wellness and sustainability when it launched in 2002. While UFO discussions have long bee …