Ticket sales take off for 'Kecksburg' UFO movie premiere

Tickets are going fast for the Sept. 12 world premiere of “Kecksburg,” a feature film based on the famed 1965 UFO incident in the tiny Westmoreland County village of the movie’s title.

The event will take place at the State Theatre Center for the Arts, 37 E. Main St., Uniontown.

About 200 general admission tickets remain for the initial screening, says director/producer Cody Knotts. Cost is $15.

There also are some $35 preferred seat tickets left, which include a pre-party at 7 p.m. Sept. 11 at the Kecksburg Volunteer Fire Department in Kecksburg.

Cast and crew members will attend the party, and guests will be able to purchase movie merchandise and have it signed. Food and drink sales will benefit the fire department.

Interest in the premiere is widespread, with people from North and South Carolina and Texas planning to attend, Knotts says.

“Kecksburg” follows local radio reporter John Murphy as he tries to get to the truth of the perceived government cover-up of what locals believed was a UFO crash landing in the woods near Kecksburg. Four years later, Murphy was the victim of a fatal hit-and-run car accident.

“(The movie) is a wonderful mix of history, mystery and legend, and the story is still relevant,” Knotts says. “A reporter dying for a story is really important.”

The story explores the theme of “people you can trust and people you can’t trust,” including your own government, Knotts says.

He points to a report that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton filed a Freedom of Information request in 2016 for the Kecksburg incident files, with government officials responding that they were missing.

“That tells me there’s something there,” Knotts says.

One particular scene may have special relevance to today’s news.

In discussing how to spin the incident, an adviser to President Lyndon Johnson says, “We’ll blame it on the Russians.”

“Perfect,” Johnson responds. “The public always believes it’s the Russians.”

First scheduled for Greensburg’s Palace Theatre, the premiere was moved to the Uniontown venue for logistical reasons, Knotts says.

“The Palace isn’t really set up to show movies, which would have meant us moving in a lot of projectors,” Knotts says. “The access for the red carpet, and pulling cars up to the front entrance, is easier at the State, too.”

Tickets to the premiere are available at Hayden pharmacies in Greensburg, Youngwood and Mt. Pleasant and at kecksburgufomovie.com.