January 2026 Monthly Gathering– UFOs & Nukes: Disturbing UFO Events at U.S. Nuclear Bases 

7:00 pm (ET) Saturday, January 17, 2026 via Zoom

In 1969, the US Air Force issued a statement that read‚ “No UFO reported, investigated, and evaluated by the Air Force was ever an indication of threat to our national security.”

Robert Salas, our speaker this month, disputes this. As a retired United States Air Force Officer, he claims to have personally witnessed a UFO visiting and disabling nuclear missiles. 

In 1967, Robert Salas was an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) launch controller and missile-propulsion engineer for the United States Air Force. He was responsible for manning nuclear payloads at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana. It was an era defined by the peak of Cold War nuclear tensions, with the only protection being “Mutually Assured Destruction.”

Join us on January 17 to learn more about the UFO incident Mr. Salas witnessed and detailed in the book “Faded Giant,” which he coauthored with James Klotz. You’ll also hear about other UFO and UAP* incidents occurring over the last eighty years, which he claims have also been covered up by the government.

Robert Salas is a graduate of the US Air Force Academy. He served seven years on active duty. He worked as a weapons controller, flew target drones, commanded intercontinental ballistic missiles as a launch officer, and worked as an Air Force missile propulsion engineer on the Titan III program. From 1971 to 1973, he worked as a safety and reliability engineer for Martin-Marietta Aerospace and Rockwell International on Space Shuttle design proposals. From 1974 until his retirement in 1995, he worked for the Federal Aviation Administration. After retirement, from 1999 to 2016, he worked as a math teacher. 

Mr. Salas has been publicly speaking at UAP*/UFO conferences, on radio, and on television since 1996. His latest book is “UAPs* and the Nuclear Puzzle”.

*UAP, an abbreviation for Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, is a recently coined term that includes not only sightings of unidentified flying objects, or UFOs, but also includes unexplained phenomena, unusual movements, and energy signatures, both naturally occurring or as a result of technology.

Please note that this program will be presented only via Zoom.

Virtual Presentation (Zoom)

Please, pre-register:

  • Click tinyurl.com/SEMM-Gathering
  • Choose “January 17, 2026 6:30 pm” from the drop-down box
  • Fill in your name and email address
  • Click the “Register” button

The Zoom room opens at 6:30 pm (ET) for mingling. The program starts at 7:00 pm (ET).

There is no charge for the Zoom presentation, but, due to rising costs, your donation via PayPal is greatly appreciated.

  • Click PayPal.com
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December 2025 Monthly Gathering – L. Frank Baum: The Wizard Behind Oz

Live and via Zoom, 7:00 pm (EDT) Saturday, December 20, 2025:

You’ve seen the movie… we’ve ALL seen the movie. We all quote it. Many have read the books (Did you know there were 14 of them?). But what do we know about the man who’s really behind the curtain, who created the first (and many believe) the greatest American Fairytale ever told?  What started as a bedtime story for his children has become an international icon that is ingrained in our culture, while continuing to inspire new adaptations worldwide.  Join us at 7:00 P.M. (EST), via Zoom, when Chris Glasgow, Curator of the Oz Museum, in (Where else?) Wamego, Kansas, will guide us as we explore the life and influences of L. Frank Baum, creator of “The Wonderful Wizard of OZ”. 

Chris Glasgow was born in Ohio and has lived in 28 of the 50 US states.  She served one term in the US Air Force, then was an at-home mom for almost 20 years, raising 5 children while completing college and teaching in public high schools.  She loves to travel, read, explore history, and be involved in theater and film. Ms. Glasgow has been with the OZ Museum/Columbian Theatre Foundation as Curator for almost 10 years. She loves to learn something new every day, then share that knowledge with others. She earned a BA in Children’s Theatre at Brigham Young University; a Secondary Credential in Education from National University, and a Small Museum Pro Certificate from The American Association for State and Local History.

Live Presentation

If you are able to attend the live presentation, you have the opportunity to mingle with your fellow Mensans and guests at our usual location:
Northwest Unitarian Universalist Church in Southfield
23925 Northwestern Highway
Southfield, MI 48075

Doors open at 6:30 pm (EDT). The program begins at 7:00 pm (EDT).

Ticket prices
Members 13+ years old: $5 or buy a strip of 4 tickets for $15.
Guests 13+ years old: $7
Members and guests 12 & under: Free
Exact change is appreciated!

Following the presentation, please join us for dinner at:
Buddy’s Pizza
31646 Northwestern Highway
Farmington Hills, MI 38334

Virtual Presentation (Zoom)

If you prefer to to attend virtually, pre-register:

  • Click tinyurl.com/SEMM-2025-Gathering
  • Choose “December 20, 2025 6:30 pm” from the drop-down box
  • Fill in your name and email address
  • Click the “Register” button

The Zoom room opens at 6:30 pm (EDT) for mingling. The program starts at 7:00 pm (EDT).

There is no charge for the Zoom presentation, but, due to rising costs, your donation via PayPal is greatly appreciated.

  • Click PayPal.com
  • Log in (or sign up)
  • Click the “Send/Request” button
  • Enter the e-mail address: treasurer@nullmensadetroit.com
  • Click the “Next” button
  • Enter payment amount ($5 is recommended, but feel free to send any amount)
  • Fill “What’s this for” with “SEMM Zoom Presentations”
  • Click the “Next” button
  • Select your payment method
  • Click “Send”
  • Bask in our appreciation

November 2025 Monthly Gathering – Winter Bash

Register Now!

Please pre-pay on paypal:

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October 2025 Monthly Gathering – The mafia in the US: The devil is in the details

Live and via Zoom, 7:00 pm (EDT) Saturday, October 18, 2025:

What do we know about the history of the mafia in the US? What CAN we know about that history? Our speaker Dr. Karla Mallette shares insights into the history of the mafia. Based on her research into the mafia in Detroit, she’ll focus on a notorious period– the bloody summer of 1930– exploring some of the differences between mafia myths and reality. Going deep into the details is the only way to correct the historical record and understand how the mafia took root in the US during Prohibition – and how it continued to thrive until ethnic competitors threatened its business model in the 1970s. 

Dr. Karla Mallette is author of three books on medieval Sicilian, Italian, and Mediterranean history, including Lives of the Great Languages: Arabic and Latin in the Medieval Mediterranean (University of Chicago Press, 2022), which won the Modern Language Association’s award for the best book in comparative literary studies. She has also published numerous articles on medieval and early modern history. Dr. Malette received a Ph.D. from the Centre for Medieval Studies, at the University of Toronto, in 1998. She has taught at the American University of Beirut and at Miami University of Ohio, and has been teaching at the University of Michigan since 2009. At Michigan, she has directed the Center for European Studies and the Global Islamic StudiesCenter and was Chair of the Department of Middle East Studies from 2020 until 2025. Since 2015, she has taught a course on the mafia in Sicily, the US, and Detroit.

Live Presentation

If you are able to attend the live presentation, you have the opportunity to mingle with your fellow Mensans and guests at our usual location:
Northwest Unitarian Universalist Church in Southfield
23925 Northwestern Highway
Southfield, MI 48075

Doors open at 6:30 pm (EDT). The program begins at 7:00 pm (EDT).

Ticket prices
Members 13+ years old: $5 or buy a strip of 4 tickets for $15.
Guests 13+ years old: $7
Members and guests 12 & under: Free
Exact change is appreciated!

Following the presentation, please join us for dinner at:
Buddy’s Pizza
31646 Northwestern Highway
Farmington Hills, MI 38334

Virtual Presentation (Zoom)

If you prefer to to attend virtually, pre-register:

  • Click tinyurl.com/SEMM-2025-Gathering
  • Choose “October 18, 2025 6:30 pm” from the drop-down box
  • Fill in your name and email address
  • Click the “Register” button

The Zoom room opens at 6:30 pm (EDT) for mingling. The program starts at 7:00 pm (EDT).

There is no charge for the Zoom presentation, but, due to rising costs, your donation via PayPal is greatly appreciated.

  • Click PayPal.com
  • Log in (or sign up)
  • Click the “Send/Request” button
  • Enter the e-mail address: treasurer@nullmensadetroit.com
  • Click the “Next” button
  • Enter payment amount ($5 is recommended, but feel free to send any amount)
  • Fill “What’s this for” with “SEMM Zoom Presentations”
  • Click the “Next” button
  • Select your payment method
  • Click “Send”
  • Bask in our appreciation

September 2025 Monthly Gathering -The Chinese Dream: Restoring the People’s Republic’s “National Greatness”

Live and via Zoom, 7:00 pm (EDT) Saturday, September 20, 2025:

Since he became China’s preeminent leader in 2012, Xi Jinping has pursued an agenda to make the country prosperous, strong, harmonious, and globally influential in advance of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic in 2049. This talk will explore specific policies that the CCP has implemented to achieve this “Chinese Dream”, including domestic efforts to eliminate poverty and construct a unified national identity, and global outreach like the Belt and Road Initiative. It considers results to date and challenges that will impact China’s drive to cement superpower status over the next quarter century.

Join the members and guests of Southeast Michigan Mensa at 7:00 P.M. (EDT), on Saturday, September 20, when Wayne State historian Dr. Elizabeth Lublin, will lead us in our examination of Xi Jinping’s and his goal of national rejuvenation with the aim of restoring China to its historical place as a great world power.

A historian of modern Japan, Elizabeth Lublin taught courses on East Asia at Wayne State for over twenty years. Her early publications examined the reform activism of the Japan Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, and her current research explores Japan’s tobacco and match industries. Altogether, she spent roughly seven years in Japan before joining the faculty at Wayne State in 2001. The highlight of those years was an audience with the Emperor and Empress. This privilege came with Lublin’s receipt of a Crown Prince Akihito Scholarship. Dr. Lublin received a Ph.D. in Modern Japanese History, from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Live Presentation

If you are able to attend the live presentation, you have the opportunity to mingle with your fellow Mensans and guests at our usual location:
Northwest Unitarian Universalist Church in Southfield
23925 Northwestern Highway
Southfield, MI 48075

Doors open at 6:30 pm (EDT). The program begins at 7:00 pm (EDT).

Ticket prices
Members 13+ years old: $5 or buy a strip of 4 tickets for $15.
Guests 13+ years old: $7
Members and guests 12 & under: Free
Exact change is appreciated!

Following the presentation, please join us for dinner at:
Buddy’s Pizza
31646 Northwestern Highway
Farmington Hills, MI 38334

Virtual Presentation (Zoom)

If you prefer to to attend virtually, pre-register:

  • click tinyurl.com/SEMM-2025-Gathering
  • choose “September 20, 2025 6:30 pm” from the drop-down box
  • fill in your name and email address
  • click the “Register” button

The Zoom room opens at 6:30 pm (EDT) for mingling. The program starts at 7:00 pm (EDT).

There is no charge for the Zoom presentation, but, due to rising costs, your donation via PayPal is greatly appreciated.

  • click PayPal.com
  • log in (or sign up)
  • click the “Send” button
  • Enter the e-mail address: treasurer@webmaster
  • click the “Next” button
  • enter payment amount ($5 is recommended, but feel free to send any amount)
  • fill “What’s this for” with “SEMM Zoom Presentations”
  • click the “Next” button
  • select your payment method
  • click “Send”
  • bask in our appreciation