Here Be Monsters is a show that invites you to explore fear and the unknown.

I saw her face change.

I saw her see where I pulled my hair out.

Psychological warfare was always considered kind of an oddity, something done by freaks.

On the count of three, we're literally going to step out of our body.

Step out.

You can find the new season of Here Be Monsters on August 17th at KCRW.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

From the Independent Producer Project and KCRW.com, I'm Bob Carlson, and this is Unfictionional.

Unfictional is a program of true stories and personal documentaries, and this week we are not alone.

When you take the drive out to Joshua Tree from Los Angeles, it can be magical if you leave at the right time.

When there's not a lot of traffic, you just sail through the San Gabriel Valley on the I-10, the inland empire dissolves into emptiness in sunlight.

The weight of city life evaporates. The drive becomes meditative. The desert can mean different things for

different people. Some people find peace in the long, dry nothingness, some find solitude, even loneliness.

And once a year for the past four years,

a couple thousand people have found each other.

On the edge of Joshua Tree National Park,

there's an annual conference for people interested in theories

about extraterrestrial life.

It's called Contact in the Desert. This week we'll spend the whole episode there,

hearing stories from the regulars,

seeing what's for sale, and maybe a high flyer.

That's what the people here call a UFO.

...