Up until recently, the city of Burlington, WI, was nothing more to me than the site of a particularly unpleasant summer job back in my college days, and a place where I could fill my flex-fuel Ford (and soon-to-be UFO chase vehicle) with E-85. Then I heard about the Fourth Annual Burlington Vortex Conference...Turns out, there's more to this little southern Wisconsin burg than I had thought. It's got a Vortex. That makes sense; you can't have a Vortex Conference without a Vortex. But what is a Vortex? One website claims that the Burlington Vortex is "One of the Strongest Vortices in the World!" I actually created my own Vortex this morning when I stirred cream and sugar into my coffee and created a swirling whirlpool in my mug... I think I can safely say that that was one of the weakest vortices in the world, but it serves to illustrate a point: a Vortex is a phenomenon in which various things get sucked in and swirled together and something entirely different comes out the other end. That is actually a not altogether inaccurate description of the much-hated summer job, so maybe I knew about the Burlington Vortex on some level all along.The Vortex itself seems to be a doorway or passage that can suck ordinary earthlings into a world of magic and mystery and allow us to make contact with otherworldly beings, which sounds pretty cool and makes the 125 I spent to attend one day of the Conference seem like a pretty good deal. That's only 62.50 per plane of reality per day; what other Vortex can beat that value proposition?In truth, I am really looking forward to the Conference, not only because of the Vortex but because it brings together some of the brightest lights in UFO and paranormal research ("UFO People," 9/7/11). But it's coming up in two short weeks, and I have to decide which of the three days I will attend. This has suddenly become a pressing matter, as I have been commissioned by a magazine to write a piece about the event, so I want to attend the Conference on the day with the most colorful lineup of speakers... Do I cover the Roswell expert? The Vortex expert? Can I interview them both and write one article for each plane of reality? If so, will I get paid double?Lots to consider here, but looking over the speakers roster at http://www.livinginthelightms.com/tickets I am drawn to the crop circles guy...This is going to be fun.
