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LAPIS was called FUFOIG back in the distant days of the late 1980s. We have also been called BUFOS (Blackpool UFO Society) and at one time considered the name Fylde Aerial Research Team but thought better of it!

What a line-up for a small room above a restaurant overlooking Blackpool's North Pier and all for the grand ticket price of £1.75!!

This was the 2nd conference that LAPIS ever held - sadly details of the first one are lost in the mists of time. It was also the first conference that John, our webmaster and longest serving member, attended having joined LAPIS just three months earlier.

The master of ceremonies on the day was the great Joseph Dormer, much missed and now a coastal resident on the other side of the country, in sunny Scarborough.

As well as the amazing price of the tickets, notice the start time! Much more civilised than the 10am starts of most modern day conferences and the conference continued into the evening. LAPIS recently attended the CFZ's weird weekend and particularly enjoyed the sessions on Saturday when lectures eventually finished at 11.15pm!

A strange coincidence on the day was that our former head honcho, Rob Whitehead, was working in the restaurant bar at the time but was oblivious to the conference and would not find out about LAPIS for another 8 years...how history might have been different!