About 20 years ago, Bonnie Meyer took the ride of her life. 
And no, it wasn't in a 1976 Chevy Impala, Mack Truck, Harley-Davidson ATV, snowmobile, scooter, coaster wagon, roller coaster or any other like terrestrial conveyance.

She said she and a friend hitched a ride on a spaceship.

But "hitched" probably isn't an apt description.

She was offered the ride as proof that aliens really do exist.

In West Bend today to sign and talk about her new book, "Alien Contact" (iUniverse. Inc.), the affable Meyer, a retired cook from Neenah, will be at Fireside Books & Gifts, 1331 W. Paradise Drive, starting at 10:30 a.m.

It was late one summer night in 1976 when Bonnie and her friend were returning from a UFO meeting in Appleton to a campsite she and her family and her friend and her family were sharing near New London.

Up to that point, she said, she was strictly a "non-believer," and had gone to the meeting as a favor to her friend.

"She introduced me to it in 1974, but I got into it to basically debunk it," she said.

Little did she know what was going to happen two years later.

" I don't why I turned down that road," she said, "but I did."

Suddenly, a large - "bigger than the road," she said - circular, bell-shaped craft hovered in front of them and stopped.

Aliens wearing silver suits and helmets with dark visors to obscure their features disembarked and motioned for them to come in.

They did.

"They came up to my shoulder - I'm five-foot eight - and they communicated with me in their minds," she said.

The spaceship was a revelation, she said.

"the ship was much larger that what it appeared to be," she said. "Inside, the air was cool and very fresh. There were panels all around, same of them with blinking lights with windows about a third of the way up. There were designs, like hieroglyphics, on some of the panels."

"I was real surprised. And we went for a ride, and they even let me drive for a bit."

Why were they contacted and not someone else?

"They said they wanted to contact me, to assure me they existed. And they said I would be contacted again," she said.

She said she was a little frightened at first, but soon calmed down.

"At first, yes," she said. "But I was fine once I was on the ship," she said.

She said she could not recall the sensation of speed on her short flight, although she said she was nervous when they offered to let her drive.

"I thought I was going to crash the thing, but they took the controls back over before we did," she said with a laugh.

The ship landed about 15-miles from where they were picked up, she said.

"But we didn't know where we were. But our car was there, motor running, lights on," she said.

Meyer realizes - like she once did - that if aliens and other life exists on other planets, then why don't more people make contact?

"Most people don't see them because they just aren't looking for them," she said.

"If you really want to see it, you will. If you don't, you won't," she said.

Meyer has seen her share of sideways looks when she expresses her beliefs.

"Some people snicker and they think I'm a little off," she said. "I was the same way; I thought they were wackos. Until it happened to me."

Meyer said it took her five years to write the book - her first - but she is gratified that it seems to be doing well so far.

"I got my first royalty check a few weeks ago," she said.

She said the latter parts of the book deal with what messages the aliens have for us. "They talked about God, the history of the planet, the aliens that are already here," she said.

What does her husband and family think about her new passion?  "Well," she said with another laugh."They haven't committed me yet."

Meyer will also be giving a PowerPoint presentation at Fireside Books. Science fiction writer James Andrew will also make an appearance at the store.