“The Bootleg Dome” turns up the extra-terrestrial activity in Landers
The Bootleg Dome is a new project in Landers and their first show will be an art installation called LETRA (Landers Extra Terrestrial Research Association). Located at the foot of Goat Mountain across the mysterious pull of the Lander’s vortex, the Bootleg Dome’s LETRA project aims to explore the shifting border between science fiction and science fact—collecting, preserving, and reimagining the artifacts of human–alien entanglement.
Former owners of L.A.’s Bootleg Theater Alicia and Jason Adams were gifted various props from the TV show Moonbase 8, including a Mars Rover and their original dome, before the Landers winds challenged the integrity of the structure, prompting them to trade it in for the heavier-duty dome they have today at 36 feet in diameter and 20-feet high. Since then, the couple’s fascination with outer space’s relation to the land has grown, prompted by files Alicia found at the Morongo Historical Society:
“We started out with this idea at the Morongo Historical Society where they have files on every subject imaginable and we came across this one file that talked about moon research, that before going up to visit the moon, they were going the Mojave to do research with the dirt and how to move around. They had these incredible machines out there that they were working with. Then we kind of thought we should tie that together with an obvious interest in extraterrestrials that’s in Landers,” said Alicia.
“Then a couple of our children have had strange sightings out there and they wrote it all on our little bulletin board at the cabin and we’re like well how can we involve our kids in this?” added Jason.
With help from their daughter, a graduate of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Adams began to formulate the idea, inspired by magnetic apocrypha of L.A.’s Museum of Jurassic Technology and our local Desert Oracle, whose host Ken Layne will be doing a live call in radio show from a barn alongside the dome at their special after-hours transmission on October 24 and 25.
“So we’re going to convert part of it into an old radio booth and then run a mic cable out to a post with the phone on it and then the audience will come up and call in and we will all be able to see the exchange,” said Jason.
“And that will be the pre-show to the UFO variety show that will follow,” added Alicia.
The Adams are keeping this variety show on LETRA’s final weekend somewhat mysterious beyond its imaginative prompt of the Voyager space shuttle’s legendary gold record time capsule compiled to communicate with potential extra-terrestrial neighbors after its 1977 launch.
“The gag is that some punks back in 1977 slipped a flyer into the Voyager saying, ‘Here are the coordinates and on October 24th and 25th, 2025 you have to come to this party,’” said Jason.
Besides a rumored abduction that may take place, the Adams say to expect preserved otherworldly specimens, strange communication devices, fragments of crash sites, and first-hand accounts ranging from ancient Sumer to modern day Landers. The exhibit will be going the first three weekends of October, with the special nighttime performances on the last Friday and Saturday.
For more information on the Bootleg Dome’s LETRA exhibit, visit: bootlegtheater.org/letra.
