THE PARACAST NEWSLETTER
April 21, 2013
UFO Videos -- Real or Fake! Learn the Facts on 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 controversial UFO promoter Blake Cousins, who has posted hundreds of alleged UFO photos on a YouTube channel. This is an unforgettable episode where you may even wonder whether the guest will actually show up. We also feature active forum member Goggs Mackay as a guest panelist.
Chris O'Brien's Site: Our Strange Planet
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.
Entertainment or Information
By Gene Steinberg
Once upon a time, broadcast news was considered a public service, not beholden to the entertainment or profit-making divisions at a radio or TV station, let alone a network. Ratings were less important, at least until local stations and the networks realized that news could be a wonderful source of profits.
Things changed -- for the worse.
These days, news is considered just another source of entertainment, and the fight for ratings is as intense as that of a scripted drama, sitcom, or so-called “reality” show.
In fact, you sometimes wonder if news, particularly the long-form variety on cable networks, is itself a reality show. You have talking heads screaming at one another, arguing points that usually make little sense and often have nothing to do with what’s going on in the real world. But watchers watch, advertisers advertise, and everyone is happy -- I guess.
When it comes to a “reality” show, there’s very little reality. Even programs depicting a family looking for a new home are carefully staged, events telegraphed, and interactions faked to provide the maximum amount of suspense. Yes, even for a house hunter.
In our paranormal corner of the universe, there are several shows that present people hunting ghosts, monsters, even UFOs. Although supposedly based on real evidence, events are usually recreated or exaggerated to provide the maximum amount of entertainment value, not to mention ratings, and it all has to come to a satisfactory conclusion in 44 minutes, plus the ads.
While the producers of such shows will claim that the information they present is accurate and carefully researched, you have to wonder about details being hyped, or events being recreated to make it seem as if the UFO is flying right over the heads of the show’s hosts, or the ghost is chasing after them. Whom do you trust?
If you go on YouTube, you’ll find loads of content created by regular people designed to demonstrate their nascent moviemaking skills, particularly special effects abilities. Such material appears among movie trailers and music videos and is designed to provide an alternate channel for users of Macs, PCs, mobile gadgets and even TVs.
Now YouTube is a division of Google, a company that earns most of its revenue from targeted ads. Sometimes you see such ads before a video begins, or they are presented in sidebars, carefully designed to appeal to what Google interprets as your needs. Yes, they do know what you do and where you are going. Big Brother has nothing on Google when it comes to snooping and getting in your face, although you can opt out of ads that are targeted for your benefit.
And, of course, if you want to see a video of a UFO, not to worry. The very search term “UFO” is guaranteed to deliver thousands and thousands of results. Some of it may even be genuine, but more often than not, the videos show indistinct lights in the sky, symptoms of cameras (or smartphones) shaking, and blurry objects of all sorts. There are even photos that appear to depict what might be a solid flying object with a distinct shape, but how do you now that it wasn’t just whipped out by a budding special effects artist?
In the old days, when you wanted to fake a UFO movie, you’d grab a hub cap, a lantern, a kite or perhaps a frisbee. Maybe you’d even fabricate some sort of circular craft in the garage if you had the skills. Just toss it in the air, start the camera rolling, and send the results to your friends or to the local UFO club.
These days, however, it doesn’t take a large investment to acquire professional caliber video editing equipment and software. Apple’s Final Cut X, an application widely used in the motion picture industry, can be had for $299. Add $50 for Apple’s Motion app, and you can also begin to create realistic special effects.
With YouTube, Facebook and sources of online social interaction, your attempt at video fakery can soon become a worldwide sensation. Even better, if you decide to set up a YouTube channel as a repository of UFO movies, you may even get some traffic, and if you share ad revenue with Google, perhaps a little side income.
What about the truth? What about actually assembling genuine evidence of UFO reality and presenting it to the public? Real or fake, it doesn’t matter. You just want traffic, and if you get people posting comments, and others posting comments about other comments, it doesn’t really matter if they approve or not. So long as they continue to visit your channel, and talk about your online library, so be it. It’s all about the hit count, and facts be damned!
When you listen to this week’s episode of The Paracast, you’ll hear about a specific YouTube channel, and a specific promoter who set up that channel. For a while, you’ll actually wonder if the guest will ever show up and defend himself against the hard questions.
Without spoiling the surprise, consider what someone of that ilk might say to defend the practice of putting up any and all UFO movies without regard to whether they are real or fake. So long as people are watching, and the ad revenue grows, everything is all right. Sure, when questioned, such a person may claim to be actually doing a service to the UFO field by providing an outlet with which to present information in a convenient setting. But if most of what is presented is junk, mostly clumsy fakes, how is the cause of finding out what UFOs are and where they come from served?
But it’s all about the entertainment value, not serving the interests of a news-hungry public. Aren’t you having a good time?
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!
April 21, 2013
UFO Videos -- Real or Fake! Learn the Facts on 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 controversial UFO promoter Blake Cousins, who has posted hundreds of alleged UFO photos on a YouTube channel. This is an unforgettable episode where you may even wonder whether the guest will actually show up. We also feature active forum member Goggs Mackay as a guest panelist.
Chris O'Brien's Site: Our Strange Planet
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.
Entertainment or Information
By Gene Steinberg
Once upon a time, broadcast news was considered a public service, not beholden to the entertainment or profit-making divisions at a radio or TV station, let alone a network. Ratings were less important, at least until local stations and the networks realized that news could be a wonderful source of profits.
Things changed -- for the worse.
These days, news is considered just another source of entertainment, and the fight for ratings is as intense as that of a scripted drama, sitcom, or so-called “reality” show.
In fact, you sometimes wonder if news, particularly the long-form variety on cable networks, is itself a reality show. You have talking heads screaming at one another, arguing points that usually make little sense and often have nothing to do with what’s going on in the real world. But watchers watch, advertisers advertise, and everyone is happy -- I guess.
When it comes to a “reality” show, there’s very little reality. Even programs depicting a family looking for a new home are carefully staged, events telegraphed, and interactions faked to provide the maximum amount of suspense. Yes, even for a house hunter.
In our paranormal corner of the universe, there are several shows that present people hunting ghosts, monsters, even UFOs. Although supposedly based on real evidence, events are usually recreated or exaggerated to provide the maximum amount of entertainment value, not to mention ratings, and it all has to come to a satisfactory conclusion in 44 minutes, plus the ads.
While the producers of such shows will claim that the information they present is accurate and carefully researched, you have to wonder about details being hyped, or events being recreated to make it seem as if the UFO is flying right over the heads of the show’s hosts, or the ghost is chasing after them. Whom do you trust?
If you go on YouTube, you’ll find loads of content created by regular people designed to demonstrate their nascent moviemaking skills, particularly special effects abilities. Such material appears among movie trailers and music videos and is designed to provide an alternate channel for users of Macs, PCs, mobile gadgets and even TVs.
Now YouTube is a division of Google, a company that earns most of its revenue from targeted ads. Sometimes you see such ads before a video begins, or they are presented in sidebars, carefully designed to appeal to what Google interprets as your needs. Yes, they do know what you do and where you are going. Big Brother has nothing on Google when it comes to snooping and getting in your face, although you can opt out of ads that are targeted for your benefit.
And, of course, if you want to see a video of a UFO, not to worry. The very search term “UFO” is guaranteed to deliver thousands and thousands of results. Some of it may even be genuine, but more often than not, the videos show indistinct lights in the sky, symptoms of cameras (or smartphones) shaking, and blurry objects of all sorts. There are even photos that appear to depict what might be a solid flying object with a distinct shape, but how do you now that it wasn’t just whipped out by a budding special effects artist?
In the old days, when you wanted to fake a UFO movie, you’d grab a hub cap, a lantern, a kite or perhaps a frisbee. Maybe you’d even fabricate some sort of circular craft in the garage if you had the skills. Just toss it in the air, start the camera rolling, and send the results to your friends or to the local UFO club.
These days, however, it doesn’t take a large investment to acquire professional caliber video editing equipment and software. Apple’s Final Cut X, an application widely used in the motion picture industry, can be had for $299. Add $50 for Apple’s Motion app, and you can also begin to create realistic special effects.
With YouTube, Facebook and sources of online social interaction, your attempt at video fakery can soon become a worldwide sensation. Even better, if you decide to set up a YouTube channel as a repository of UFO movies, you may even get some traffic, and if you share ad revenue with Google, perhaps a little side income.
What about the truth? What about actually assembling genuine evidence of UFO reality and presenting it to the public? Real or fake, it doesn’t matter. You just want traffic, and if you get people posting comments, and others posting comments about other comments, it doesn’t really matter if they approve or not. So long as they continue to visit your channel, and talk about your online library, so be it. It’s all about the hit count, and facts be damned!
When you listen to this week’s episode of The Paracast, you’ll hear about a specific YouTube channel, and a specific promoter who set up that channel. For a while, you’ll actually wonder if the guest will ever show up and defend himself against the hard questions.
Without spoiling the surprise, consider what someone of that ilk might say to defend the practice of putting up any and all UFO movies without regard to whether they are real or fake. So long as people are watching, and the ad revenue grows, everything is all right. Sure, when questioned, such a person may claim to be actually doing a service to the UFO field by providing an outlet with which to present information in a convenient setting. But if most of what is presented is junk, mostly clumsy fakes, how is the cause of finding out what UFOs are and where they come from served?
But it’s all about the entertainment value, not serving the interests of a news-hungry public. Aren’t you having a good time?
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!
