THE PARACAST NEWSLETTER
March 3, 2013
The Black Vault's John Greenewald, Jr. Returns to The Paracast
Special Announcement: The Paracast is heard Sundays from 2:00 AM until 5:00 AM Central Time on the GCN Radio Network and affiliates around the USA, and online across the globe via download and on-demand streaming.
Why It's Important for You to Donate to The Paracast: Although ads help cover a small part of our expenses, the income they produce is never enough to pay your humble hosts decent wages. Also, we do not receive any revenue from the ads placed on the show by our network or local stations. So we hope you're able to help fill the gap, if you can, to help us cover increasing server costs and other expenses -- or perhaps provide a little extra cash for lunch and utility bills. No contribution is too small (or too large
. It’s easy to send a donation. We have a Donate link on our home page, below the logo and audio player. There's also a Donate link on our forums, at the bottom of the sidebar on the right. Or just send your PayPal donation direct to sales (at) theparacast (dot) com. And if you’ve had a problem getting to our Donate screen, please try again. We just fixed a serious PayPal access problem, and it should work properly now.
Attention U.S. Listeners: Help Us Bring The Paracast to Your City! In the summer of 2010, The Paracast joined the GCN radio network. This represented a huge step in bringing our show to a larger, mainstream audience. But we need your help to add additional affiliates to our growing network. Please ask one of your local talk stations if they are interested in carrying The Paracast. Feel free to contact us directly with the names of programming people we might be able to contact on your behalf. We can't do this alone, and if you succeed in convincing your local station to carry the show, we'll reward you with one of our special T-shirts, and other goodies. With your help, The Paracast can grow into one of the most popular paranormal shows on the planet!
Please Visit Our Online Store: You asked, and we answered. We are now taking orders for The Official Paracast T-Shirt and an expanded collection of other specially customized merchandise. To get your T-Shirt now featuring our brand new logo, just pay a visit to our online store at The Official Paracast Store to select your size and place your order. We also offer a complete lineup of other premium merchandise for your family, your friends and your business contacts.
About The Paracast: The Paracast covers a world beyond science, where UFOs, poltergeists and strange phenomena of all kinds have been reported by millions across the planet.
Set Up: The Paracast is a paranormal radio show that takes you on a journey to a world beyond science, where UFOs, poltergeists and strange phenomena of all kinds have been reported by millions. The Paracast seeks to shed light on the mysteries and complexities of our Universe and the secrets that surround us in our everyday lives.
Join long-time paranormal researcher Gene Steinberg, co-host and acclaimed field investigator Christopher O'Brien, and a panel of special guest experts and experiencers, as they explore the realms of the known and unknown. Listen each week to the great stories of the history of the paranormal field in the 20th and 21st centuries.
This Week's Episode: Gene and Chris present TV producer John Greenewald, Jr., founder of The Black Vault, who has scanned hundreds of thousands of documents he retrieved via the Freedom of Information Act, which cover UFOs, the Kennedy assassination and a number of other controversies and conspiracies. He'll also answer questions from our listeners.
Chris O'Brien's Site: Our Strange Planet
The Black Vault: The Black Vault
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. We recently completed a major update that makes our community easier to navigate, and social network friendly.
When the Air Force Released UFO Information
By Gene Steinberg
Once upon a time, the U.S. Air Force was at least somewhat forthcoming about releasing UFO reports, particularly in the early 1950s, when the late Captain Edward Ruppelt headed up Project Blue Book. Indeed, in those days, the late Major Donald E. Keyhoe received a wealth of information with which to fill the pages of his various books.
Now Keyhoe had other information sources, many as the result of his various contacts in the military. But he also befriended such people as Ruppelt and Albert M. Chop, once a spokesperson for Project Bluebook, who later become deputy public relations director at NASA.
However, the release of UFO information to Keyhoe and others didn’t mean that the U.S. military had actually admitted they were not conventional objects or phenomena. Even when a sighting was declared “unidentified,” the Air Force would insist that, if enough information was available, those sightings would also be explained.
But that was the crux of the mystery. Keyhoe and others contended that no amount of information would make those UFOs conventional. To this day, even though only a small portion of the reported sightings remain unexplained, the mystery persists. We have no idea what those flying things might be, although many believe them to be spaceships no doubt arriving here from other star systems.
Now in the early days, Keyhoe would speculate about the possibility of aliens from Mars. It was part of the popular culture, and there were even sci-fi movies that depicted visitors from Mars and Venus. Contactees also claimed the beings they met came from those planets. Only later did we come to realize that intelligent life as we know it couldn’t survive the hothouse atmosphere of Venus, and that if such life ever existed on Mars, it was millions or billions of years ago. Of course, Keyhoe even wrote about the alleged Martian canals long before astronomers realized that they were optical illusions. And, no, I’m not going to get into the alleged face on Mars right now.
When he communicated with Project Blue Book personnel, it appears that Keyhoe got much of his information verbally, taking notes that later morphed into the recreated conversations that appeared in his books. But other writers were evidently treated differently. In the early 1950s, when my friend Jim Moseley took a road tour around the country to gather UFO information, he visited Project Blue Book’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Instead of just being given a briefing, Moseley received the actual reports that he was allowed to copy during his visit, although he was prohibited from taking the originals with him. This was a time when you could not simply make a photocopy of a document to take with you. Although copying machines were first invented in the 1930s, the original Xerox, forerunner of the modern copying machine, didn’t arrive on the market until 1959.
In any case, Moseley returned from his trip with loads of material for a book that wasn’t actually published for several decades. Some of it was finally incorporated into “Shockingly Close to the Truth,” published in 2002. However, when Keyhoe learned that Moseley had actually been granted physical access to Project Blue Book’s sighting reports, he reportedly raised a stink. The Air Force evidently became less amenable to releasing sighting information after that.
It took the Condon Committee and what was regarded as a whitewash of UFO evidence to give the Air Force an excuse to shutter Project Blue Book in 1969. But many believe that Blue Book was essentially a public relations operation all along, or at least never involved in serious investigations, since it was usually staffed by public information people or junior officers.
Moseley would visit Project Blue Book’s headquarters periodically, particularly in the 1960s. He befriended one or more of the people in charge of the agency, but told me at the time that he never received any conclusive or “smoking gun” information about UFO reality from these people.
With the end of Project Blue Book, the Air Force and the entire U.S. government essentially abandoned any official or at least public involvement in UFOs. Many believe that, to this day, the real investigation continues behind the scenes, and they can point to various military regulations about reporting sightings. Document requests through the Freedom of Information Act continue to yield UFO-related material, but nothing that takes us any closer to a solution to the enigma.
But many still believe that the Air Force, other military agencies, or perhaps even a secret project exists to continue to study UFOs. None of this can be confirmed, just as there’s no confirmation that the government of the U.S. or any other developed country is in possession of secrets about the enigma that demonstrate we are being visited by spaceships, or advanced civilizations from another dimension or elsewhere on Earth.
Yes, there are ongoing claims from alleged whistleblowers claiming to possess inside information about UFOs, and the government’s ongoing involvement in concealing the truth. But none of these claims can be confirmed. There continue to be efforts by UFO believers to persuade governments to disclose what they know, and while some countries have released reams of UFO related information from time to time, we haven’t come much further in figuring out what’s really going on.
Today, Project Blue Book is long ago and far away. But you have to wonder how things might have been had the agency not been shuttered. Would it still exist, or would the Air Force have simply found another excuse to shut it down?
The Paracast Copyright 1999-2013 Making The Impossible, Inc. 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!
March 3, 2013
The Black Vault's John Greenewald, Jr. Returns to The Paracast
Special Announcement: The Paracast is heard Sundays from 2:00 AM until 5:00 AM Central Time on the GCN Radio Network and affiliates around the USA, and online across the globe via download and on-demand streaming.
Why It's Important for You to Donate to The Paracast: Although ads help cover a small part of our expenses, the income they produce is never enough to pay your humble hosts decent wages. Also, we do not receive any revenue from the ads placed on the show by our network or local stations. So we hope you're able to help fill the gap, if you can, to help us cover increasing server costs and other expenses -- or perhaps provide a little extra cash for lunch and utility bills. No contribution is too small (or too large
. It’s easy to send a donation. We have a Donate link on our home page, below the logo and audio player. There's also a Donate link on our forums, at the bottom of the sidebar on the right. Or just send your PayPal donation direct to sales (at) theparacast (dot) com. And if you’ve had a problem getting to our Donate screen, please try again. We just fixed a serious PayPal access problem, and it should work properly now.Attention U.S. Listeners: Help Us Bring The Paracast to Your City! In the summer of 2010, The Paracast joined the GCN radio network. This represented a huge step in bringing our show to a larger, mainstream audience. But we need your help to add additional affiliates to our growing network. Please ask one of your local talk stations if they are interested in carrying The Paracast. Feel free to contact us directly with the names of programming people we might be able to contact on your behalf. We can't do this alone, and if you succeed in convincing your local station to carry the show, we'll reward you with one of our special T-shirts, and other goodies. With your help, The Paracast can grow into one of the most popular paranormal shows on the planet!
Please Visit Our Online Store: You asked, and we answered. We are now taking orders for The Official Paracast T-Shirt and an expanded collection of other specially customized merchandise. To get your T-Shirt now featuring our brand new logo, just pay a visit to our online store at The Official Paracast Store to select your size and place your order. We also offer a complete lineup of other premium merchandise for your family, your friends and your business contacts.
About The Paracast: The Paracast covers a world beyond science, where UFOs, poltergeists and strange phenomena of all kinds have been reported by millions across the planet.
Set Up: The Paracast is a paranormal radio show that takes you on a journey to a world beyond science, where UFOs, poltergeists and strange phenomena of all kinds have been reported by millions. The Paracast seeks to shed light on the mysteries and complexities of our Universe and the secrets that surround us in our everyday lives.
Join long-time paranormal researcher Gene Steinberg, co-host and acclaimed field investigator Christopher O'Brien, and a panel of special guest experts and experiencers, as they explore the realms of the known and unknown. Listen each week to the great stories of the history of the paranormal field in the 20th and 21st centuries.
This Week's Episode: Gene and Chris present TV producer John Greenewald, Jr., founder of The Black Vault, who has scanned hundreds of thousands of documents he retrieved via the Freedom of Information Act, which cover UFOs, the Kennedy assassination and a number of other controversies and conspiracies. He'll also answer questions from our listeners.
Chris O'Brien's Site: Our Strange Planet
The Black Vault: The Black Vault
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. We recently completed a major update that makes our community easier to navigate, and social network friendly.
When the Air Force Released UFO Information
By Gene Steinberg
Once upon a time, the U.S. Air Force was at least somewhat forthcoming about releasing UFO reports, particularly in the early 1950s, when the late Captain Edward Ruppelt headed up Project Blue Book. Indeed, in those days, the late Major Donald E. Keyhoe received a wealth of information with which to fill the pages of his various books.
Now Keyhoe had other information sources, many as the result of his various contacts in the military. But he also befriended such people as Ruppelt and Albert M. Chop, once a spokesperson for Project Bluebook, who later become deputy public relations director at NASA.
However, the release of UFO information to Keyhoe and others didn’t mean that the U.S. military had actually admitted they were not conventional objects or phenomena. Even when a sighting was declared “unidentified,” the Air Force would insist that, if enough information was available, those sightings would also be explained.
But that was the crux of the mystery. Keyhoe and others contended that no amount of information would make those UFOs conventional. To this day, even though only a small portion of the reported sightings remain unexplained, the mystery persists. We have no idea what those flying things might be, although many believe them to be spaceships no doubt arriving here from other star systems.
Now in the early days, Keyhoe would speculate about the possibility of aliens from Mars. It was part of the popular culture, and there were even sci-fi movies that depicted visitors from Mars and Venus. Contactees also claimed the beings they met came from those planets. Only later did we come to realize that intelligent life as we know it couldn’t survive the hothouse atmosphere of Venus, and that if such life ever existed on Mars, it was millions or billions of years ago. Of course, Keyhoe even wrote about the alleged Martian canals long before astronomers realized that they were optical illusions. And, no, I’m not going to get into the alleged face on Mars right now.
When he communicated with Project Blue Book personnel, it appears that Keyhoe got much of his information verbally, taking notes that later morphed into the recreated conversations that appeared in his books. But other writers were evidently treated differently. In the early 1950s, when my friend Jim Moseley took a road tour around the country to gather UFO information, he visited Project Blue Book’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Instead of just being given a briefing, Moseley received the actual reports that he was allowed to copy during his visit, although he was prohibited from taking the originals with him. This was a time when you could not simply make a photocopy of a document to take with you. Although copying machines were first invented in the 1930s, the original Xerox, forerunner of the modern copying machine, didn’t arrive on the market until 1959.
In any case, Moseley returned from his trip with loads of material for a book that wasn’t actually published for several decades. Some of it was finally incorporated into “Shockingly Close to the Truth,” published in 2002. However, when Keyhoe learned that Moseley had actually been granted physical access to Project Blue Book’s sighting reports, he reportedly raised a stink. The Air Force evidently became less amenable to releasing sighting information after that.
It took the Condon Committee and what was regarded as a whitewash of UFO evidence to give the Air Force an excuse to shutter Project Blue Book in 1969. But many believe that Blue Book was essentially a public relations operation all along, or at least never involved in serious investigations, since it was usually staffed by public information people or junior officers.
Moseley would visit Project Blue Book’s headquarters periodically, particularly in the 1960s. He befriended one or more of the people in charge of the agency, but told me at the time that he never received any conclusive or “smoking gun” information about UFO reality from these people.
With the end of Project Blue Book, the Air Force and the entire U.S. government essentially abandoned any official or at least public involvement in UFOs. Many believe that, to this day, the real investigation continues behind the scenes, and they can point to various military regulations about reporting sightings. Document requests through the Freedom of Information Act continue to yield UFO-related material, but nothing that takes us any closer to a solution to the enigma.
But many still believe that the Air Force, other military agencies, or perhaps even a secret project exists to continue to study UFOs. None of this can be confirmed, just as there’s no confirmation that the government of the U.S. or any other developed country is in possession of secrets about the enigma that demonstrate we are being visited by spaceships, or advanced civilizations from another dimension or elsewhere on Earth.
Yes, there are ongoing claims from alleged whistleblowers claiming to possess inside information about UFOs, and the government’s ongoing involvement in concealing the truth. But none of these claims can be confirmed. There continue to be efforts by UFO believers to persuade governments to disclose what they know, and while some countries have released reams of UFO related information from time to time, we haven’t come much further in figuring out what’s really going on.
Today, Project Blue Book is long ago and far away. But you have to wonder how things might have been had the agency not been shuttered. Would it still exist, or would the Air Force have simply found another excuse to shut it down?
The Paracast Copyright 1999-2013 Making The Impossible, Inc. 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!
