"I would definitely buy this thing, if given a chance. But instead of using it to attract UFOs, I'd use it to drive my neighbors crazy. Whenever they play their music too loud, I'd crank up my UFO Attractor and drown them out. If a UFO happened to land in their backyard as a consequence, all the better."- Anomalist

"The optimism Julie "Jitterbug" Pearce exuded Friday when talking about the likelihood her unlikely contraption can detect extraterrestrial life was undeniable."- Nick Kotzea- Duluth News Tribune

"Julie "Jitterbug" Pearce wants to make a long-distance call -- very long distance. Pearce has built what she calls a UFO Attractor. The gizmo has colored strobe lights, low-powered lasers and a radio transmitter. She hopes she can grab the attention of any passing saucers and persuade ET to land for a chat."- Associated Press

When I initially invited some local press to participate in the unveiling of Project C.A.D.D.E.T., I was only expecting a good time around a campfire under the stars. However, before I knew it, the story had made the 10 o'clock news and made the front page of the Duluth News Tribune the following morning. Next thing I knew, I had people e-mailing me from all across the state. Shortly thereafter, I began getting e-mails from across the country, and most recently, the story as spread International. It blows my mind how people's interest in such a bizarre invention has just "taken off"! However, is very exciting because not only has it spurred many interesting conversations about life beyond earth, I believe that it has challenged people's thinking. Whether or not this, as some people have been calling it, "UfO Attractor", actually brings extraterrestrial life to earth, I feel like it has already been a huge success.

Get In On The Action!

Like to cover the story? Print the Press Release Below:

Duluth, MN -- August 30, 2004 -- We hear about random sightings of what people call UFOs coming from the mouths of people all around the world. Some people even go so far to say that they have been abducted by these beings and have been used in various experiments, only to be returned scarred and traumatized. Is there really life beyond earth? This is still one of the greatest mysteries of our modern day world. The very thought of our human race not being the most superior or advanced beings within the universe is enough to make people shutter in disbelief, angry out of fear, cling tightly to deep spiritual beliefs, or become curious to discover more. One of these curious minds springs out of Duluth, MN. This young entrepreneur, Julie Pearce, owner and director or Jitterbug Productions has researched and developed her own methodology that she plans on using to either validate or disprove the existence of life beyond earth. She has integrated those ideas into the production of a device that in theory, will attract, detect, and communicate with these other life forms, should they exist.

The idea for the device began as a sort of imaginative addition to an event that was being planned in the Minnesota wilderness. What started as a non-functional prop to a camping event, turned quickly into something larger than even Pearce would have expected. In her research, she discovered a midwestern scientist, Myron "Mike" Muckerheide, who had dedicated himself to the creation of what he referred to as the "UFO Attractor". Muckerheide also spent much of his life developing LASER systems for the government and medical fields, as well as working closely with NASA at their headquarters in Cape Canaveral, FL. Some of his work is even on display within the Smithsonian Institute of Science in Washington, DC. Unfortunately, he died in his hometown of Port Washington, WI before he was able to complete this most recent project. However, Pearce was eager to both continue his work while integrating her own ideas into its completion.

Pearce has since taken Muckerheide's original idea of attracting extraterrestrial life through the use of flashing lights, and expanded the device to use more elaborate means of attraction. She has also made the device capable of not only potentially attracting extraterrestrial life, but also detecting the presence of other life forms in a measurable capacity, and establishing simple communication potentials.

The device uses three high-powered strobe lights arranged in a triangular formation, 3 helium-neon lasers shining into a large 5-inch crystal, a special element known as Labradorite, and a repeating digital signal transmitted into space to employ its attraction potential. In order to detect and measure whether or not any noticeable differences in the environment have occurred, the device uses a radiation Gauss meter, a temperature gauge, a compass, a digital clock, and an electromagnetic frequency detector. There will also be constant digital video surveillance of the sky. Furthermore, if there are noticeable changes in the environment that would indicate the presence of extraterrestrial life and that presence is able to change the frequency of the digital transmission, a keyboard will be used to respond in a simplified form of communication.

Pearce is not thoroughly convinced that life beyond this Earth does exist, but she is determined that if there is, she will find a way to prove it. However, even in the most measurable and credible of data, we will always still have our doubts as to whether or not we are really alone.

# # #