Thousands of UFO fanatics have flocked to a small town in central France in the hope of finally encountering extraterrestrial life.
The event, organized by the fringe group Alliances Célestes, is believed to have attracted around 2,200 people who each paid between €150 and €190 (£128 to £162) to attend the three-day conference held in the building of the Zénith Limoges Métropole in Limoges, a small town with a population of around 130,000 inhabitants.
Organizers said they wanted to prepare people for the arrival of aliens or “new-style encounters.”
The event’s website states: “The mission of this citizen delegation is to support humanity in this process, in order to be well informed and reduce the fear and stress that this type of meeting can generate.”
Although media were barred from the event, video of the conference was leaked on BFMTV and shows thousands of people listening intently to someone speaking on a stage.
The event, organized by fringe group Alliances Célestes, reportedly attracted around 2,200 people who each paid between €150 and €190 (£128 to £162) to attend.
The stage was decorated with white furniture, including several seats and what appeared to be a high table on the right.
The conference was held in the Zénith Limoges Métropole building (photo) in Limoges, a small town of around 130,000 inhabitants.
The stage was decorated with white furniture, including several seats and what appeared to be a high table on the right.
The background of the set consisted of “futuristic” windows that depicted stars rushing past the “alien room” they were in.
The speaker can be heard telling conference attendees: “We are in contact with civilizations. When I say in contact, it is with communication and a partnership, a collaboration.
“But they have a big problem, these civilizations, and that is that they don’t know how to communicate with the citizens of Earth.
‘For what? Because the citizens of Earth are afraid.
Two French journalists managed to infiltrate and reported seeing the director of Alliances Célestes, Jean-Michel Raoux, dressed in a blue and yellow outfit, claiming he was a being from the planet “Niam”.
Raoux reportedly claimed that he regularly encountered aliens and had the power to bring aliens to different parts of Earth.
While many people in France dismissed the event as a harmless conference, political figures warned that such events attracted conspiracy theorists and extremists.
One person invited to the conference was QAnon supporter Antoine ‘Q’ Cuttitta.
The crowd also heard from Anne Givaudan, a “galactic journalist” who claimed she was from the land of “Shambhala.” She told conference attendees that she had witnessed human hybrid animals in Antarctica.
“That’s why it’s time to stand up and say: what are we doing? Do we trust beings who have always deceived us in all areas? A new world must emerge,” she told the crowd.
But while many people in France dismissed the event as a harmless conference, political figures warned that such events attracted conspiracy theorists and extremists.
One person invited to the conference was QAnon supporter Antoine “Q” Cuttitta.
The conspiracy theorist regularly posted conspiracy videos on YouTube before the platform closed his channel.
According to Conspiracy Watch, Cuttita helped found the Human Health Alliance International, a group known for its embrace of “alternative” medicine. She managed a platform offering to connect patients suffering from debilitating illnesses with “aromatherapists”, “energetics”, “magnetizers”, “massage therapists” and even “naturopaths”.
“I was stunned that such an event took place in Limoges,” tweeted Thierry Miguel, vice-president of the Haute-Vienne departmental council.
“Who are these eccentrics who come to Limoges to put the ideas of charlatans and conspiracy theorists into people’s heads?”
Miguel said he plans to hold a public meeting on the role of science and social progress.
“We cannot sit there idly in the face of possible charlatans who will come and talk to us about theories from another time,” he declared on BFMTV.
“When a society is dysfunctional, it takes refuge in such values. But we must strive to prove right from wrong based on science.