Out & About: 'Kecksburg' movie cast and crew visit with fans

Interest in the 1965 Kecksburg UFO incident, though steady throughout the years, spiked with the Sept. 12 premiere of the movie “Kecksburg,” complete with red carpet at the State Theatre Center for the Arts in Uniontown.

In the run-up to the premiere, filmmaker Cody Knotts, cast and crew members had a meet-and-greet with fans on Sept. 11 in the Kecksburg Fire Hall, just a few steps away from the acorn-shaped monument to the incident that has sparked 50-plus years of conspiracy theories.

Tiny Kecksburg became one big parking lot as hundreds streamed to the fire hall to line up for a quick photo, an autograph with everyone from South African actor Scott Cooper, who plays WHJB radio reporter John Murphy — whose death some tie to his reporting on the incident — to Rachel Walczyk of York, who plays Young Girl No. 1.

Joining cast and crew were well-known paranormal researcher Stan Gordon and Mable Mazza, who was WHJB station manager when the mysterious object descended from the sky, only to be hustled away by military personnel.

Scott and Emily Wilcox came from Florence, S.C., for the event. Scott was a fraternity brother and roommate of Knotts at Bethany College in West Virginia. He plays an alien abductee in the film.

Others had various reasons for attending the meet-and-greet, from simple curiosity to a love of independent films to a still-burning desire to know what really happened on that cold December day. Like they said on “The X-Files” — and Knotts agrees — the truth is out there.

Seen at the fire hall: Jan Fiorina, Jan Kingery, Russell Blystone, Kristin Rege, Mitch Steele, Liz Woodley, Madison Zepp, Waylon and Amanda Zepp, movie extra Rachel Beeman, hair and makeup artist Melanie Gillum and the filmmaker’s son, Nick Knotts.

For more information on the premiere and the movie, visit kecksburgufomovie.com.