The Paracast Newsletter
December 31, 2023
www.theparacast.com
Happy New Year Everyone!
Discover the Potential Impact to Organized Religion by the Presence of UFOs Around the World with Musician and Filmmaker Mark Christopher Lee on The Paracast!
The Paracast is heard Sundays from 3:00 AM until 6:00 AM Central Time on the GCN Radio Network and affiliates around the USA, the Boost Radio Network, the IRN Internet Radio Network, and online across the globe via download and on-demand streaming.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVEN'T SIGNED UP FOR THE PARACAST+ YET? PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO THE PARACAST+ SO YOU CAN SUPPORT THE SHOW AND ENJOY THE ULTIMATE PARACAST EXPERIENCE AT A SPECIAL LOW PRICE! We have another radio show and we’d love for you listen to it. So for a low subscription fee, you will receive access to an exclusive bonus podcast, After The Paracast, plus an enhanced version of The Paracast with the network ads removed, when you join The Paracast+. We also offer a special RSS feed for easy updates of the latest episodes on your device. Flash! Take advantage of our lowest rates ever! Act now! It's easier than ever to susbcribe! For the easiest signup ever, please visit: https://www.theparacast.plus
This Week's Episode: Gene and cohost Tim Swartz present Mark Christopher Lee, a singer-songwriter in the cult indie band The Pocket Gods since 1998. As a filmmaker, he presents "God Vs. Aliens," which looks into whether life as we know and perceive it is just a simulation designed and controlled by extra terrestrials for some unknown purpose. This theory would then make religion and even the idea of God as a construct of the computer game and thereby the Aliens controlling it. This films explores this theory and its impact on the world's religions should we make first contact, and especially if that contact would actually negate our physical existence and any notion of God as real. Featured in the film are former UK Ministry of Defence staffer Nick Pope, Harvard astronomer Professor Avi Loeb, and UFO skeptic Seth Shostak. As a working musician, Lee has long advocated for fair royalties for artists, especially on such music streaming services as Apple Music and Spotify. He says that musicians routinely get underpaid for their work by the music industry and they have released albums of 30-second songs since 2015 to highlight the lack of fair royalties.
After The Paracast — Available exclusively for Paracast+ subscribers on December 31: Musician, songwriter, producer and filmmaker Mark Christopher Lee rejoins Gene and cohost Tim Swartz to discuss such topics as the possibility of ancient aliens, the origins of the legends of the Men In Black, UFO researcher Albert K. Bender's connection to MIB lore, whether the phenomenon is caused by time travelers from the past or future. Lee will also discuss how he created his UFO documentary, "God Vs. Aliens," focusing on the hardware and software tools he used to put the film together. Lee is a singer-songwriter in the cult indie band The Pocket Gods since 1998. As well, he is the MD of an indie record label, Nub Music, and the producer/presenter of the Sky TV show, Nub TV, which mixes music with the paranormal. Mark has long advocated for fair royalties for artists, especially on such music streaming services as Apple Music and Spotify, saying that musicians routinely get underpaid for their work by the music industry and they have released albums of 30-second songs since 2015 to highlight the lack of fair royalties,
Reminder: Please don't forget to visit our famous Paracast Community Forums for the latest news/views/debates on all things paranormal: The Paracast Community Forums. Visit our new online shop for great branded merchandise at: https://www.theparacast.shop.
Disclosure — An International View
By Bob Zanotti
First, this caveat: I want to make it perfectly clear from the beginning that I am an internationalist. I was born and raised in New Jersey USA, but have lived most of my life in Switzerland in the heart of Western Europe. I live in a multi-cultural, multi-lingual society and culture. My personal experience and world view are global. I have worked for and have been around international institutions for all of my professional and academic life. That's the caveat, so let's get started.
The word "disclosure" is probably one of the most frequently heard terms in Ufology – if not the most frequent. The standard imagined and somewhat fanciful – and in my opinion naïve — scenario of disclosure goes something like this:
“Broadcast networks interrupt their programming with breaking news. The White House has asked for time to make an historic announcement of earthshaking proportions. The President of the United States steps up to the podium in a room overflowing with journalists, and declares that contact has been made with extraterrestrial life, and that these contacts – and physical visitations – have been going on for a long time. Rumors to this effect can now be officially confirmed. A basis for communication has been established with ET, and there is a treaty of cooperation between the extraterrestrials and earthlings. Now that it is clear that ET is not a threat and there is friendly understanding and cooperation that will benefit all of mankind, the long-kept secret can be revealed. A bright future of enlightenment and benevolent co-existence and human progress is assured. ET is our friend and not our enemy. There is nothing to fear, but much to look forward to. A new era of hope has come to us from the heavens.”
Disclosure has finally occurred. But that, I'm sorry to say, is Hollywood. Disclosure, if it ever happens, will probably not come to us that way at all.
As a broadcast journalist at Swiss Radio International for 32 years, I specialized in world politics and affairs, reporting frequently from the UN European Headquarters and UN specialized agencies in Geneva where I was accredited. I also worked for several UN agencies in the field. I understand how international diplomacy and intergovernmental communication and cooperation work. It was my job.
In today's world, governments don't act on their own when it comes to major announcements of this kind. The United States is certainly a big and very important player in world affairs, so I understand why an American audience would focus on the US in the context of disclosure.
The discussions about disclosure that I've heard on The Paracast and elsewhere are almost always centered around the United States, as if the US were the only country to decide if and when to go public on the issue of UFOs/UAPs. But there's a world beyond the US. In reality, the US is part of an international network of governments and allies, most of which would certainly be consulted before any such earthshaking announcement were to be made. Governments and allied (and non-allied) military people talk with each other all the time, often on a daily basis. Disclosure would be an earthshaking issue affecting the entire world and not just the United States. This would probably be the biggest announcement in human history. Such an announcement is not the domain of one and only one country.
From the American perspective, any decision to “disclose” would have followed close and and extensive consultations with allies and other Great Powers, including Russia and China. Major religious entities would also be informed through the usual diplomatic channels, since the impact on Religion would be enormous, and religious leaders would have to be prepared to deal with it. They would need time to prepare for such a theological shock and upheaval.
While there may be a lot of public disagreement about various matters among the Great Powers, quiet diplomacy goes on around the clock. Diplomacy is conducted away from the hype and rhetoric of the mass media. This is why diplomats can and do talk candidly among themselves to try to work out their differences and agree on common strategies. This quiet diplomacy is what has averted many potentially serious confrontations over the years. It is often diplomats and not armies that end conflicts. It's not dramatic headline news, but it works.
In the case at hand, if any disclosure were to occur, it would be done in an internationally coordinated way, probably within the framework of the United Nations, which is the only body that speaks for all earthly nations according to international law. I could imagine a scenario in which there would be a prearranged agreement among the major powers about the timing and content of any such announcement. The Secretary General of the United Nations and the Security Council would surely be informed ahead of time, as would national and international military and public safety organizations. Through UN channels, all members of the world body would also have been briefed.
If individual nations were to make a disclosure about extraterrestrial life on their own (which I doubt), it would be based on a common text and protocol agreed in advance. I could also imagine that a special plenary session of the UN General Assembly would be called shortly thereafter, during which the same or similar announcement would be read by the Secretary General. But I don't think any individual nation would make the announcement; disclosure would come from the United Nations during a special plenary session in New York. That protocol would have been worked out in advance by the diplomats.
But with all the other problems in the world right now, I doubt that the international community would be interested in adding more coals to the fires of fear and uncertainty without clear justification. If they did “disclose,” I think it would be to deliver some very bad news about an imminent threat from ET. But barring that, there is no urgency for disclosure (assuming there is really something to disclose), except within the UFO community, which to be brutally frank, doesn't carry a lot of weight in international circles. UFOs are not high on the international agenda right now.
I think if governments do know something, they'll be more inclined to let that particular sleeping dog lie — at least for now. Is that a conspiracy or just being prudent? That depends on your definition.
Of course, I admit that mine is not the last word on the subject. There are other opinions. I also realize that the speculation and forecasts about “impending disclosure” will continue, if for no other reason than to keep the books and lectures going. From my vantage point, that seems more likely than disclosure.
Bob Zanotti is the staff announcer and a guest cohost for The Paracast. He first got interested in UFO’s back in the 50’s as a pre-teen. What got him started was Max B. Miller’s book “Flying Saucers – Fact or Fiction”.
Bob and Gene Steinberg became friends in the 1960’s when Bob hosted a New York college radio talk show called “Coffee Klatsch”, which was devoted to the offbeat and the paranormal. Gene was a frequent guest on the show, as were Jim Moseley and other great names from the New York UFO group, including Dominik Lucchesi, John J. Robinson, August C. Roberts and Tim Beckley.
After broadcast journalism studies in New York and Montreal, Bob’s calling led him to Switzerland, where he became a full-time broadcast journalist and presenter at Swiss Radio International, Switzerland’s international shortwave station. During his 32 years with SRI, Bob also produced a number of features involving the paranormal and the esoteric.
Bob is a firm believer in the existence of extraterrestrial life and that Earth has been and is still visited by ET, and that ET might actually be our creators. But he is open to other ideas, including the Multi-Dimensional Theory and the Time Traveler Theory. Having said that, Bob also believes that many reports of UFOs are actually test aircraft or otherwise quite normal phenomena, not to mention hoaxes or wishful thinking.
Copyright 1999-2023 The Paracast Company. All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy: Your personal information is safe with us. We will positively never give out your name and/or e-mail address to anybody else, and that's a promise!
December 31, 2023
www.theparacast.com
Happy New Year Everyone!
Discover the Potential Impact to Organized Religion by the Presence of UFOs Around the World with Musician and Filmmaker Mark Christopher Lee on The Paracast!
The Paracast is heard Sundays from 3:00 AM until 6:00 AM Central Time on the GCN Radio Network and affiliates around the USA, the Boost Radio Network, the IRN Internet Radio Network, and online across the globe via download and on-demand streaming.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVEN'T SIGNED UP FOR THE PARACAST+ YET? PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO THE PARACAST+ SO YOU CAN SUPPORT THE SHOW AND ENJOY THE ULTIMATE PARACAST EXPERIENCE AT A SPECIAL LOW PRICE! We have another radio show and we’d love for you listen to it. So for a low subscription fee, you will receive access to an exclusive bonus podcast, After The Paracast, plus an enhanced version of The Paracast with the network ads removed, when you join The Paracast+. We also offer a special RSS feed for easy updates of the latest episodes on your device. Flash! Take advantage of our lowest rates ever! Act now! It's easier than ever to susbcribe! For the easiest signup ever, please visit: https://www.theparacast.plus
This Week's Episode: Gene and cohost Tim Swartz present Mark Christopher Lee, a singer-songwriter in the cult indie band The Pocket Gods since 1998. As a filmmaker, he presents "God Vs. Aliens," which looks into whether life as we know and perceive it is just a simulation designed and controlled by extra terrestrials for some unknown purpose. This theory would then make religion and even the idea of God as a construct of the computer game and thereby the Aliens controlling it. This films explores this theory and its impact on the world's religions should we make first contact, and especially if that contact would actually negate our physical existence and any notion of God as real. Featured in the film are former UK Ministry of Defence staffer Nick Pope, Harvard astronomer Professor Avi Loeb, and UFO skeptic Seth Shostak. As a working musician, Lee has long advocated for fair royalties for artists, especially on such music streaming services as Apple Music and Spotify. He says that musicians routinely get underpaid for their work by the music industry and they have released albums of 30-second songs since 2015 to highlight the lack of fair royalties.
After The Paracast — Available exclusively for Paracast+ subscribers on December 31: Musician, songwriter, producer and filmmaker Mark Christopher Lee rejoins Gene and cohost Tim Swartz to discuss such topics as the possibility of ancient aliens, the origins of the legends of the Men In Black, UFO researcher Albert K. Bender's connection to MIB lore, whether the phenomenon is caused by time travelers from the past or future. Lee will also discuss how he created his UFO documentary, "God Vs. Aliens," focusing on the hardware and software tools he used to put the film together. Lee is a singer-songwriter in the cult indie band The Pocket Gods since 1998. As well, he is the MD of an indie record label, Nub Music, and the producer/presenter of the Sky TV show, Nub TV, which mixes music with the paranormal. Mark has long advocated for fair royalties for artists, especially on such music streaming services as Apple Music and Spotify, saying that musicians routinely get underpaid for their work by the music industry and they have released albums of 30-second songs since 2015 to highlight the lack of fair royalties,
Reminder: Please don't forget to visit our famous Paracast Community Forums for the latest news/views/debates on all things paranormal: The Paracast Community Forums. Visit our new online shop for great branded merchandise at: https://www.theparacast.shop.
Disclosure — An International View
By Bob Zanotti
First, this caveat: I want to make it perfectly clear from the beginning that I am an internationalist. I was born and raised in New Jersey USA, but have lived most of my life in Switzerland in the heart of Western Europe. I live in a multi-cultural, multi-lingual society and culture. My personal experience and world view are global. I have worked for and have been around international institutions for all of my professional and academic life. That's the caveat, so let's get started.
The word "disclosure" is probably one of the most frequently heard terms in Ufology – if not the most frequent. The standard imagined and somewhat fanciful – and in my opinion naïve — scenario of disclosure goes something like this:
“Broadcast networks interrupt their programming with breaking news. The White House has asked for time to make an historic announcement of earthshaking proportions. The President of the United States steps up to the podium in a room overflowing with journalists, and declares that contact has been made with extraterrestrial life, and that these contacts – and physical visitations – have been going on for a long time. Rumors to this effect can now be officially confirmed. A basis for communication has been established with ET, and there is a treaty of cooperation between the extraterrestrials and earthlings. Now that it is clear that ET is not a threat and there is friendly understanding and cooperation that will benefit all of mankind, the long-kept secret can be revealed. A bright future of enlightenment and benevolent co-existence and human progress is assured. ET is our friend and not our enemy. There is nothing to fear, but much to look forward to. A new era of hope has come to us from the heavens.”
Disclosure has finally occurred. But that, I'm sorry to say, is Hollywood. Disclosure, if it ever happens, will probably not come to us that way at all.
As a broadcast journalist at Swiss Radio International for 32 years, I specialized in world politics and affairs, reporting frequently from the UN European Headquarters and UN specialized agencies in Geneva where I was accredited. I also worked for several UN agencies in the field. I understand how international diplomacy and intergovernmental communication and cooperation work. It was my job.
In today's world, governments don't act on their own when it comes to major announcements of this kind. The United States is certainly a big and very important player in world affairs, so I understand why an American audience would focus on the US in the context of disclosure.
The discussions about disclosure that I've heard on The Paracast and elsewhere are almost always centered around the United States, as if the US were the only country to decide if and when to go public on the issue of UFOs/UAPs. But there's a world beyond the US. In reality, the US is part of an international network of governments and allies, most of which would certainly be consulted before any such earthshaking announcement were to be made. Governments and allied (and non-allied) military people talk with each other all the time, often on a daily basis. Disclosure would be an earthshaking issue affecting the entire world and not just the United States. This would probably be the biggest announcement in human history. Such an announcement is not the domain of one and only one country.
From the American perspective, any decision to “disclose” would have followed close and and extensive consultations with allies and other Great Powers, including Russia and China. Major religious entities would also be informed through the usual diplomatic channels, since the impact on Religion would be enormous, and religious leaders would have to be prepared to deal with it. They would need time to prepare for such a theological shock and upheaval.
While there may be a lot of public disagreement about various matters among the Great Powers, quiet diplomacy goes on around the clock. Diplomacy is conducted away from the hype and rhetoric of the mass media. This is why diplomats can and do talk candidly among themselves to try to work out their differences and agree on common strategies. This quiet diplomacy is what has averted many potentially serious confrontations over the years. It is often diplomats and not armies that end conflicts. It's not dramatic headline news, but it works.
In the case at hand, if any disclosure were to occur, it would be done in an internationally coordinated way, probably within the framework of the United Nations, which is the only body that speaks for all earthly nations according to international law. I could imagine a scenario in which there would be a prearranged agreement among the major powers about the timing and content of any such announcement. The Secretary General of the United Nations and the Security Council would surely be informed ahead of time, as would national and international military and public safety organizations. Through UN channels, all members of the world body would also have been briefed.
If individual nations were to make a disclosure about extraterrestrial life on their own (which I doubt), it would be based on a common text and protocol agreed in advance. I could also imagine that a special plenary session of the UN General Assembly would be called shortly thereafter, during which the same or similar announcement would be read by the Secretary General. But I don't think any individual nation would make the announcement; disclosure would come from the United Nations during a special plenary session in New York. That protocol would have been worked out in advance by the diplomats.
But with all the other problems in the world right now, I doubt that the international community would be interested in adding more coals to the fires of fear and uncertainty without clear justification. If they did “disclose,” I think it would be to deliver some very bad news about an imminent threat from ET. But barring that, there is no urgency for disclosure (assuming there is really something to disclose), except within the UFO community, which to be brutally frank, doesn't carry a lot of weight in international circles. UFOs are not high on the international agenda right now.
I think if governments do know something, they'll be more inclined to let that particular sleeping dog lie — at least for now. Is that a conspiracy or just being prudent? That depends on your definition.
Of course, I admit that mine is not the last word on the subject. There are other opinions. I also realize that the speculation and forecasts about “impending disclosure” will continue, if for no other reason than to keep the books and lectures going. From my vantage point, that seems more likely than disclosure.
• • •
Bob Zanotti is the staff announcer and a guest cohost for The Paracast. He first got interested in UFO’s back in the 50’s as a pre-teen. What got him started was Max B. Miller’s book “Flying Saucers – Fact or Fiction”.
Bob and Gene Steinberg became friends in the 1960’s when Bob hosted a New York college radio talk show called “Coffee Klatsch”, which was devoted to the offbeat and the paranormal. Gene was a frequent guest on the show, as were Jim Moseley and other great names from the New York UFO group, including Dominik Lucchesi, John J. Robinson, August C. Roberts and Tim Beckley.
After broadcast journalism studies in New York and Montreal, Bob’s calling led him to Switzerland, where he became a full-time broadcast journalist and presenter at Swiss Radio International, Switzerland’s international shortwave station. During his 32 years with SRI, Bob also produced a number of features involving the paranormal and the esoteric.
Bob is a firm believer in the existence of extraterrestrial life and that Earth has been and is still visited by ET, and that ET might actually be our creators. But he is open to other ideas, including the Multi-Dimensional Theory and the Time Traveler Theory. Having said that, Bob also believes that many reports of UFOs are actually test aircraft or otherwise quite normal phenomena, not to mention hoaxes or wishful thinking.
Copyright 1999-2023 The Paracast Company. All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy: Your personal information is safe with us. We will positively never give out your name and/or e-mail address to anybody else, and that's a promise!