The Paracast Newsletter
February 12, 2023
www.theparacast.com
Ufologist/Occultist/Original Thinker Allen Greenfield Talks About Alternate Realties, Ancient Astronauts and More 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 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! Use the coupon code ufo20 to receive a 20% discount on five-year or lifetime subscriptions. And PayPal now accepts cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, in payment. And if you don't want to use PayPal, we now also offer a second payment option, from Stripe, which accepts major credit or debit cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay. For "qualified users," you can also take advantage of Pay Later options, so act now! For the easiest signup ever, please visit: https://www.theparacast.plus
This Week's Episode: Gene and cohost Tim Swartz present a very special evening with the one-and-only Allen Greenfield. One of the original teen Ufologists from the 1950s and 1960s, Allen is a world traveler and a long-time student of occultism, esoteric spirituality and Gnosticism, a study he began in 1960. A past (elected) member of the British Society for Psychical Research, the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP), he has twice been the recipient of the "UFOlogist of the Year Award" of the National UFO Conference (1972 and 1992), which ran continuously on an annual basis for 41 years. During this discussion, Allen will focus on the possibilities that UFOs are other than spaceships, perhaps emerging from an alternate reality. He'll also discuss the legends of ancient astronauts, the theory that advanced extraterrestrials visited Earth more than two thousand years ago and inspired religious mythology. Allen is also one of Gene's closest friends.
After The Paracast — Available exclusively for Paracast+ subscribers on February 12: Cutting-edge theorist Allen Greenfield continues his discussion with Gene and cohost Tim Swartz about a variety of topics. He talks of his family background, the prospects for the ongoing Pentagon’s UAP Study, and why he doesn’t believe in a Silence Group or government secrecy on the topic. He will point to other possible solutions for this amazing mystery of the ages. Allen, Gene and other long-time researchers, including Rick Hilberg, were pioneers of the teen Ufology movement in the early 1960s. Today, after decades of writing and research, they remain close friends. In his books, Allen provides proof of UFO and Occult connections and exposes the UFO mystery with the discovery of hidden Secret Ciphers and Rituals used by UFONAUTS, Contactees, Occult Adepts and their Secret Chiefs who have maintained communication with Mysterious Ultraterrestrial beings who control force beyond our comprehension and human adepts, stretching from antiquity to the present moment.
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: The Official Paracast Shop, and check out our new YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheOfficialParacastChannel.
There At The Beginning — More or Less
By Gene Steinberg
Retired religious scholar David Halperin is one of my longtime friends, a fellow traveler from the teen Ufologists movement from the late 50s to the early 60s. He hasn’t lost his interest in UFOs and the culture around the topic, and continues to cover it in a regular blog with news and views.
So in a recent email, Halperin reminded us about a post he made on July 9, 2012, about the legend — make that a myth — of the alleged Philadelphia Experiment. It involves a reported attempt to make a ship invisible during World War II.
If it worked, if it was real, it would have made it impossible for the enemy to see a vessel in their midst as we shot them down, so to speak. In a loose fashion, it echoes the efforts over the years to genuinely help conceal airplanes and ships from detection.
The most popular realization of the technology is probably the B2 “stealth” bomber, which uses so-called “low-observable” characteristics to make it more difficult to detect. The plane is using various techniques to make it happen, such as “reduced acoustic, infrared, visual and radar signatures (multispectral camouflage),” according to Wikipedia, but that’s a far cry from becoming invisible.
You’d think that, if the Philadelphia Experiment was real, there’d be no need to spend billions of dollars for a lesser solution.
But back to the story: So the experiment was supposedly conducted at the Philadelphia ship yard, involving the USS Eldridge. But not only did the vessel become invisible, it teleported to Norfolk, Virginia and back again. So I suppose we can add a little early Star Trek lore to the myth.
The crew? What happened is a confusing maze that involved invisibility, teleportation and time travel. It wasn’t a good place to be.
So where’d it all begin?
Well, you see, there was this book from a mostly forgotten UFO investigator, M.K. Jessup, entitled “The Case for the UFO,” published in 1955. It influenced a curious character from Pennsylvania, one Carl M. Allen who, beginning in 1956, wrote at length about his views and concerns to Jessup.
In his letters, Allen first revealed his take on the Philadelphia Experiment.
Halperin describes this story in more detail. But it involved Allen, using the Latinized nom-de-plume of Carlos Allende, annotating Jessup’s book as if it were done by three different people.
Somehow it got into the hands of the Office of Naval Research in Washington, who contacted Jessup about it. In the end, the agency was somehow interested enough to commission a special reprint of the book in a spiral-bound edition with Varo Manufacturing Company of Garland, Texas. The three sets of annotations were identified by using different colored inks.
In 1950’s technology, this wasn’t such an easy trick, but a small number of copies were circulated. Later, controversial UFO writer Gray Barker, who was in touch with Jessup in his final years (he committed suicide in 1959) published his own version of the Varo book.
To make matters all the more confusing, some people in the UFO field have claimed that Jessup’s passing might have actually been a hit, done because he may have known too much about the phenomenon.
The late Ufologist/zoologist Ivan T. Sanderson spoke of his friendship with Jessup on several occasions, claiming that there was no way “Morris” would have killed himself. No plausible evidence of foul play was ever provided, although the story persists.
The Philadelphia Experiment became the focus of a best-selling book of that title, from Charles Berlitz and William Moore, published in 1979.
Yes, it’s the same team responsible for “The Roswell Incident,” published in 1980, which gave rise to an urban legend and endless research into the 1947 crash of a possible flying saucer. In passing, Stanton Friedman supposedly got the first digs on the Roswell story and did much of the preliminary research. In the end, he only got some book credits rather than a coauthor byline.
Over the years, however, Friedman filled his lectures with Roswell lore, so it did help him pay the bills.
Now for some background:
In 1975, I interviewed Berlitz about a previous book of his, “The Bermuda Triangle,” for a public access cable TV show in New York City. During our conversation, he said he was looking into the Philadelphia Experiment for a new book, and wondered aloud about the fate of the Varo edition of Jessup’s work. He strongly implied it had mysteriously disappeared.
I expect he did that just to hype his forthcoming book, creating an air of mystery about it. Had he done his research, he would have known that copies were available at modest cost. I had the one that Gray Barker published, and I offered to loan it to him if he wanted.
You can still buy a copy from Amazon.
Over the next few months, I got some free lunches from Berlitz as we talked about the story. I even got a credit or two in the book for my efforts. Not such a bad deal for a few free meals and some conversation.
But to be perfectly fair, I never believed in any of it. “The Philadelphia Experiment: Project Invisibility” did sell enough to earn the sale of movie rights. Not for a documentary, but for a low-budget sci-fi film released in 1984. It stared Michael Paré and Nancy Allen, among others, more or less recounting the invisibility experiment, having Paré’s character as of the sailers who was transported to 1984.
I suppose it did enough business to earn a low-budget sequel, 1993’s “Philadelphia Experiment II,” about which the less said the better.
And, of course, the tale persists to this day, as some continue to claim it was all real. There’s the case of the late Al Bielek, who claimed to be a part of the original experiment, and to have experienced time travel. You can find interviews with him online.
In the midst of all this hype, the tragic life of the myth’s creator, Carl Allen, is sad in one key way. He was never able to cash in on the fate of a tall tale that remains relatively popular even in the 21st century.
According to Halperin, “the phrase ‘Philadelphia experiment’ currently gets upwards of 60,000 Google searches each month.”
Whether you believe it or not, it’s a sure thing that the story has a fascinating air to it. It has all the magic and mystery of a true sci-fi legend, enough so that I plan to have Halperin on The Paracast in the near future to tell the story.
One more time.
Copyright 1999-2022 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!
February 12, 2023
www.theparacast.com
Ufologist/Occultist/Original Thinker Allen Greenfield Talks About Alternate Realties, Ancient Astronauts and More 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 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! Use the coupon code ufo20 to receive a 20% discount on five-year or lifetime subscriptions. And PayPal now accepts cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, in payment. And if you don't want to use PayPal, we now also offer a second payment option, from Stripe, which accepts major credit or debit cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay. For "qualified users," you can also take advantage of Pay Later options, so act now! For the easiest signup ever, please visit: https://www.theparacast.plus
This Week's Episode: Gene and cohost Tim Swartz present a very special evening with the one-and-only Allen Greenfield. One of the original teen Ufologists from the 1950s and 1960s, Allen is a world traveler and a long-time student of occultism, esoteric spirituality and Gnosticism, a study he began in 1960. A past (elected) member of the British Society for Psychical Research, the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP), he has twice been the recipient of the "UFOlogist of the Year Award" of the National UFO Conference (1972 and 1992), which ran continuously on an annual basis for 41 years. During this discussion, Allen will focus on the possibilities that UFOs are other than spaceships, perhaps emerging from an alternate reality. He'll also discuss the legends of ancient astronauts, the theory that advanced extraterrestrials visited Earth more than two thousand years ago and inspired religious mythology. Allen is also one of Gene's closest friends.
After The Paracast — Available exclusively for Paracast+ subscribers on February 12: Cutting-edge theorist Allen Greenfield continues his discussion with Gene and cohost Tim Swartz about a variety of topics. He talks of his family background, the prospects for the ongoing Pentagon’s UAP Study, and why he doesn’t believe in a Silence Group or government secrecy on the topic. He will point to other possible solutions for this amazing mystery of the ages. Allen, Gene and other long-time researchers, including Rick Hilberg, were pioneers of the teen Ufology movement in the early 1960s. Today, after decades of writing and research, they remain close friends. In his books, Allen provides proof of UFO and Occult connections and exposes the UFO mystery with the discovery of hidden Secret Ciphers and Rituals used by UFONAUTS, Contactees, Occult Adepts and their Secret Chiefs who have maintained communication with Mysterious Ultraterrestrial beings who control force beyond our comprehension and human adepts, stretching from antiquity to the present moment.
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: The Official Paracast Shop, and check out our new YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheOfficialParacastChannel.
There At The Beginning — More or Less
By Gene Steinberg
Retired religious scholar David Halperin is one of my longtime friends, a fellow traveler from the teen Ufologists movement from the late 50s to the early 60s. He hasn’t lost his interest in UFOs and the culture around the topic, and continues to cover it in a regular blog with news and views.
So in a recent email, Halperin reminded us about a post he made on July 9, 2012, about the legend — make that a myth — of the alleged Philadelphia Experiment. It involves a reported attempt to make a ship invisible during World War II.
If it worked, if it was real, it would have made it impossible for the enemy to see a vessel in their midst as we shot them down, so to speak. In a loose fashion, it echoes the efforts over the years to genuinely help conceal airplanes and ships from detection.
The most popular realization of the technology is probably the B2 “stealth” bomber, which uses so-called “low-observable” characteristics to make it more difficult to detect. The plane is using various techniques to make it happen, such as “reduced acoustic, infrared, visual and radar signatures (multispectral camouflage),” according to Wikipedia, but that’s a far cry from becoming invisible.
You’d think that, if the Philadelphia Experiment was real, there’d be no need to spend billions of dollars for a lesser solution.
But back to the story: So the experiment was supposedly conducted at the Philadelphia ship yard, involving the USS Eldridge. But not only did the vessel become invisible, it teleported to Norfolk, Virginia and back again. So I suppose we can add a little early Star Trek lore to the myth.
The crew? What happened is a confusing maze that involved invisibility, teleportation and time travel. It wasn’t a good place to be.
So where’d it all begin?
Well, you see, there was this book from a mostly forgotten UFO investigator, M.K. Jessup, entitled “The Case for the UFO,” published in 1955. It influenced a curious character from Pennsylvania, one Carl M. Allen who, beginning in 1956, wrote at length about his views and concerns to Jessup.
In his letters, Allen first revealed his take on the Philadelphia Experiment.
Halperin describes this story in more detail. But it involved Allen, using the Latinized nom-de-plume of Carlos Allende, annotating Jessup’s book as if it were done by three different people.
Somehow it got into the hands of the Office of Naval Research in Washington, who contacted Jessup about it. In the end, the agency was somehow interested enough to commission a special reprint of the book in a spiral-bound edition with Varo Manufacturing Company of Garland, Texas. The three sets of annotations were identified by using different colored inks.
In 1950’s technology, this wasn’t such an easy trick, but a small number of copies were circulated. Later, controversial UFO writer Gray Barker, who was in touch with Jessup in his final years (he committed suicide in 1959) published his own version of the Varo book.
To make matters all the more confusing, some people in the UFO field have claimed that Jessup’s passing might have actually been a hit, done because he may have known too much about the phenomenon.
The late Ufologist/zoologist Ivan T. Sanderson spoke of his friendship with Jessup on several occasions, claiming that there was no way “Morris” would have killed himself. No plausible evidence of foul play was ever provided, although the story persists.
The Philadelphia Experiment became the focus of a best-selling book of that title, from Charles Berlitz and William Moore, published in 1979.
Yes, it’s the same team responsible for “The Roswell Incident,” published in 1980, which gave rise to an urban legend and endless research into the 1947 crash of a possible flying saucer. In passing, Stanton Friedman supposedly got the first digs on the Roswell story and did much of the preliminary research. In the end, he only got some book credits rather than a coauthor byline.
Over the years, however, Friedman filled his lectures with Roswell lore, so it did help him pay the bills.
Now for some background:
In 1975, I interviewed Berlitz about a previous book of his, “The Bermuda Triangle,” for a public access cable TV show in New York City. During our conversation, he said he was looking into the Philadelphia Experiment for a new book, and wondered aloud about the fate of the Varo edition of Jessup’s work. He strongly implied it had mysteriously disappeared.
I expect he did that just to hype his forthcoming book, creating an air of mystery about it. Had he done his research, he would have known that copies were available at modest cost. I had the one that Gray Barker published, and I offered to loan it to him if he wanted.
You can still buy a copy from Amazon.
Over the next few months, I got some free lunches from Berlitz as we talked about the story. I even got a credit or two in the book for my efforts. Not such a bad deal for a few free meals and some conversation.
But to be perfectly fair, I never believed in any of it. “The Philadelphia Experiment: Project Invisibility” did sell enough to earn the sale of movie rights. Not for a documentary, but for a low-budget sci-fi film released in 1984. It stared Michael Paré and Nancy Allen, among others, more or less recounting the invisibility experiment, having Paré’s character as of the sailers who was transported to 1984.
I suppose it did enough business to earn a low-budget sequel, 1993’s “Philadelphia Experiment II,” about which the less said the better.
And, of course, the tale persists to this day, as some continue to claim it was all real. There’s the case of the late Al Bielek, who claimed to be a part of the original experiment, and to have experienced time travel. You can find interviews with him online.
In the midst of all this hype, the tragic life of the myth’s creator, Carl Allen, is sad in one key way. He was never able to cash in on the fate of a tall tale that remains relatively popular even in the 21st century.
According to Halperin, “the phrase ‘Philadelphia experiment’ currently gets upwards of 60,000 Google searches each month.”
Whether you believe it or not, it’s a sure thing that the story has a fascinating air to it. It has all the magic and mystery of a true sci-fi legend, enough so that I plan to have Halperin on The Paracast in the near future to tell the story.
One more time.
Copyright 1999-2022 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!