The Paracast

After 12 years, Gene and Randall present the return of Jeff Belanger, an author, adventurer, and considered one of the most visible paranormal researchers today. He’s the Emmy-nominated host, writer, and producer of the New England Legends series which debuted on PBS in October of 2013, and the weekly New England Legends Podcast. Since 1997, Jeff has interviewed thousands of eyewitnesses to paranormal occurrences, and has written a number of books on these subjects, including such best-sellers as The World’s Most Haunted Places. His beat includes ghosts, Bigfoot, UFOs and other strange phenomena. Jeff is considered the ultimate insider and knows how to connect with people from all walks of life when it comes to the unexplained.

Gene and Randall presents paranormal investigator John Olsen, who says he grew up in a haunted house! John has spent the last 25 years interviewing and documenting first-hand accounts of those who have witnessed all kinds of strange and unusual phenomena in the western United States. The Stranger Bridgerland series, currently consisting of three books,  contains firsthand accounts of everything from ghosts, monsters and hauntings, to glitches in the matrix, Sasquatch and UFOs. But just hearing about the personal paranormal encounters of John and his family may be quite enough to demonstrate that something really strange is going on.

How does a teenage UFO investigator from the ’60s mature into a professor of religious studies specializing in the traditions of heavenly ascent? You’ll find out as Gene and Randall present David Halperin. According to David, the UFO phenomenon is about us–our hopes, our longings, our terrors. Some of it is emerging … With messages for us? Perhaps, if we just need to learn to decode them. David taught Jewish history in the Religious Studies Department at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill from 1976 through 2000. His perspective on UFOs is that like religion, they are a human construct that has nothing to do with space travel or life on other planets. According to David, they are alien, but instead of coming from space, they come from within our own minds, our own souls, where there’s enough alienness to fill a universe. During this episode, David will offer insights into both sightings and abductions, including former Beatle John Lennon’s sighting of a UFO over New York City in 1974.

Gene and Randall present abduction researcher Kathleen Marden, who will be discussing her fifth book, “Extraterrestrial Contact: What to Do When You’ve Been Abducted,” which serves as a handbook to advise experiences and their families on how to cope with such encounters. Kathleen earned a BA degree in social work and worked as an educator and education services coordinator while attending graduate school. She is also a Master level practitioner of The Quantum Healing Hypnosis Technique. Her interest in UFOs and contact began in 1961, when her aunt and uncle, Betty and Barney Hill, had a close encounter and subsequent abduction in New Hampshire’s White Mountains. She serves as MUFON’s Director of Experiencer Research. and is on the Board of Directors of the Edgar Mitchell Foundation for Research into Extraterrestrial and Extraordinary Encounters (FREE).

Gene and Randall present Bryan Bonner, a skeptical paranormal investigator, from the Rocky Mountain Paranormal Research Society. But he’s not a debunker, just a clear thinker who tries to take a realistic approach in his studies of the strange and unknown. In his work, Brian uses a collection of equipment and the most important tool, critical thinking. He employs stage magic, mentalism and science to seek the evidence to solve the mysteries, and close the cases. His work has earned the respect of believers and skeptics alike; and earned the fear of fraudsters and charlatans. In some hilarious encounters, he outwits the con-artists. He is an expert at exposing houses, pranks and scams, and creating some to prove a point.

Gene and Randall present author and UFO investigator Preston Dennett, who discusses his current book, “Schoolyard UFO Encounters.” For the past 170 years, schools across the United States and the world have been targeted and visited by UFOs. And they are not simple fly-overs. Preston believes that the ETs are here, and they are coming for our children. He began investigating UFOs and the paranormal in 1986 when he discovered that his family, friends and co-workers were having dramatic unexplained encounters. Since then, he has interviewed hundreds of witnesses and investigated a wide variety of paranormal phenomena. He’s a field investigator for MUFON, and the author of a number of articles in various UFO and paranormal publications.

Gene and Randall present futurist speaker and author Christian Kromme. Christian is an expert in disruptive technologies and the author of the Amazon best-selling book “Humanification – Go Digital, Stay Human.” In this book, which you can download free of charge from his site, he focuses on the fascinating parallels between biology and technology. He maintains that the waves of technological innovations that follow each other in rapid rate are, in fact, no coincidence. His book helps the business world anticipate and navigate in an extremely rapidly changing world and benefit from the latest technological changes. He challenges organizations to think like a surfer, so they know how to surf the next great wave of technological change. Are we ready to face the future? Is the rise of machines a curse or a blessing?

Gene and Randall welcome Jason Gleaves, author of “UFO Photo: Computer Analysis of Worldwide Ufo Images Through the Decades,” and “Ufology Umbrella.” In his books, Jason covers a variety of detailed computer images that are analyzed and enhanced using up-to-date processing techniques of Unidentified Flying Objects and anomalies through the decades, revisiting some well-known documented cases from the past to more recent times, including the Paul Trent sighting from 1950 and the “Battle over Los Angeles” in 1942. The book also features unseen and unheard firsthand accounts of his own personal UFO sighting at RAF Cosford Air Force Base U.K. in 1993.