THE PARACAST NEWSLETTER
December 29, 2013
The Paracast and Don Ecker Team for a Special Year-End Segment
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.
Important — Please Read! In a separate email, Paracast host Gene Steinberg has made a personal appeal for emergency financial assistance. Please check that message for further details. If you’re able to assist, please note that 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.
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 catch up on 2013 and lots more with the one and only and always Don Ecker, host of the Dark Matters radio show, to discuss this crazy year, the "other" Dark Matter show, and a whole lot more. You'll hear Don's reaction to the constant onslaught of UFO fakers, who are exposed only to return shortly thereafter as if nothing ever happened. Is there hope for the UFO field and learning about what's really happening in 2014 — or ever?
Chris O'Brien's Site: http://www.ourstrangeplanet.com
Don Ecker’s Dark Matters Radio: Dark Matters Radio - Downloads | CyberStationUSA On Demand Programming
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.
Sponsored Message: Don’t get ripped off when you need to liquidate your precious jewelry and silverware. Call Steve at Numis Gems at (480) 878-7678 and get the straight scoop!
You Can’t Put a Good Hoaxer Down
By Gene Steinberg
As far as I’m concerned, any question of whether the notorious contactee, George Adamski, actually met extraterrestrials as claimed was resolved in the 1950s. The sensational 1952 account about meeting a handsome being, wearing a silvery uniform, in the California desert, brought guffaws even from people who believed in the reality of flying saucers.
In passing, I couldn’t but notice the general resemblance of the being Adamski allegedly met to the character Michael Rennie portrayed, Klaatu, in the 1951 sci-fi classic, “The Day the Earth Stood Still.” Well, at least the silvery uniform. Rennie’s hear was much shorter.
Now Adamski claimed to have produced several witnesses to his unworldly encounter, but it does seem as if their testimony was questionable. The entire affair was pretty well disposed of in the “Special Adamski Expose” issue of Jim Moseley’s “Saucer News,” published in 1957.
Yes, Adamski did produce photos of alleged flying saucers, but they were, to put it bluntly, laughable and hardly worth further examination. Adamski wasn’t taken seriously by many so-called scientific UFO researchers, though he did have his followers. In passing, it’s worth noting that he was peddling a philosophy of peace and brotherhood long before the same viewpoint was allegedly voiced by his alien friends. Indeed, he published a book several years before his claimed contact where the being he encountered was identified as Jesus Christ.
Adamski was also quoted as saying to a friend that you sometimes had to go through the back door to present the truth. So it may well be, as many believed, that Adamski realized that few people would take him seriously if he presented his philosophy as something he devised, but if it came from the mouths of advanced alien beings, it would gain more credibility.
Understand that, except for a small band of true believers, I regarded the Adamski affair as something no longer relevant to the UFO field, particularly here in the 21st century. Well, that is until Chris O’Brien and I interviewed UFO researcher Timothy Good on the December 22, 2013 episode of The Paracast.
Now owing to such books as “Above Top Secret,” Good has been regarded as a pretty straight shooter in the field. But it did seem to be that he was far more gullible in accepting questionable claims during this session, particularly when compared to his first appearance on the show on January 13, 2008. So he cited the Adamski contacts, and those silly saucer photos, as genuine.
My feeling: You can’t keep a good UFO faker down. Regardless of how thoroughly some of these people are debunked, they nonetheless still manage to retain their followers, or, after a few years of obscurity, simply get back in the game as if nothing ever happened.
One recent example is the notorious Sean David Morton, who has gotten himself in various jams as an alleged psychic and investment advisor. With the SEC suing him for millions of dollars allegedly bilked from would-be investors, you’d think that would put the kibosh on further public appearances.
But, no. The word simply hasn’t spread very far despite the efforts of The Paracast, and Royce Myers, proprietor of the “UFO Watchdog” site and blog, who has written extensively on the subject. So when I was in casual conversation with a colleague who also hosts a weekly radio show, I was surprised to discover that she and her listeners actually took Morton seriously. He also showed up not long ago to host a banquet at a UFO convention. How soon things are forgotten, particularly when it comes to the more questionable and extreme characters that find themselves attracted to the paranormal.
Part of it may be the result of short memories when it comes to discredited figures in these fields. Moreover, even when someone is thoroughly exposed, that disclosure may only reach a relatively small audience. Certainly Jim Moseley’s treatment of Adamski and other contactees serves as prime examples. Saucer News had, at best, a circulation of a few thousand subscribers over the years. For most of its life during its heyday, in fact, the average circulation was maybe a thousand or two. Yes, Jim made public appearances and all, but most of his work remains in the hands of a few serious collectors. The small publication he produced during the final years of his life, Saucer Smear, reached perhaps a couple of hundred “non-subscribers.”
Now we do have a far larger audience on The Paracast, and you can be assured that Chris and I will continue, with your help and support, to examine the world of the strange and the unknown, and expose the fakers for who they are.
Certainly, we’ve done our part. We had Morton on the show in the early days, and we quickly discovered the contradictions and outright falsehoods in some of his statements. Yet another guest, a character named Bill Knell, made all sorts of pronouncements about being featured or quoted in major publications, none of which turned out to be true. When the questioning got difficult, he hung up on The Paracast, and I think he was the first guest to do so.
More recently, with the help of Don Ecker of Dark Matters Radio and some of our regular listeners, we revealed that long-time UFO researcher Philip Imbrogno was not who he claimed to be. His educational background, which listed degrees from MIT, was bogus. His military record was also fabricated.
While Imbrogno vanished from the scene in the wake of being exposed, it’s sad to see the caliber of people who were taken in by his fakery. Early on, in fact, he co-authored a book, “Night Siege — The Hudson Valley UFO Sightings,” with Bob Pratt and Dr. J. Allen Hynek, the astronomer who, upon converting from UFO skeptic to believer, became a key figure in the field. Hynek is no longer with us, but I wonder how he would have felt knowing that Imbrogno betrayed him.
But, as I said, you can’t keep a good UFO/paranormal faker down, witness the continued belief that George Adamski and other obvious frauds were actually the real deal. And don’t get me started about a certain one-armed Swiss farmer.
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!
December 29, 2013
The Paracast and Don Ecker Team for a Special Year-End Segment
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.
Important — Please Read! In a separate email, Paracast host Gene Steinberg has made a personal appeal for emergency financial assistance. Please check that message for further details. If you’re able to assist, please note that 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.
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 catch up on 2013 and lots more with the one and only and always Don Ecker, host of the Dark Matters radio show, to discuss this crazy year, the "other" Dark Matter show, and a whole lot more. You'll hear Don's reaction to the constant onslaught of UFO fakers, who are exposed only to return shortly thereafter as if nothing ever happened. Is there hope for the UFO field and learning about what's really happening in 2014 — or ever?
Chris O'Brien's Site: http://www.ourstrangeplanet.com
Don Ecker’s Dark Matters Radio: Dark Matters Radio - Downloads | CyberStationUSA On Demand Programming
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.
Sponsored Message: Don’t get ripped off when you need to liquidate your precious jewelry and silverware. Call Steve at Numis Gems at (480) 878-7678 and get the straight scoop!
You Can’t Put a Good Hoaxer Down
By Gene Steinberg
As far as I’m concerned, any question of whether the notorious contactee, George Adamski, actually met extraterrestrials as claimed was resolved in the 1950s. The sensational 1952 account about meeting a handsome being, wearing a silvery uniform, in the California desert, brought guffaws even from people who believed in the reality of flying saucers.
In passing, I couldn’t but notice the general resemblance of the being Adamski allegedly met to the character Michael Rennie portrayed, Klaatu, in the 1951 sci-fi classic, “The Day the Earth Stood Still.” Well, at least the silvery uniform. Rennie’s hear was much shorter.
Now Adamski claimed to have produced several witnesses to his unworldly encounter, but it does seem as if their testimony was questionable. The entire affair was pretty well disposed of in the “Special Adamski Expose” issue of Jim Moseley’s “Saucer News,” published in 1957.
Yes, Adamski did produce photos of alleged flying saucers, but they were, to put it bluntly, laughable and hardly worth further examination. Adamski wasn’t taken seriously by many so-called scientific UFO researchers, though he did have his followers. In passing, it’s worth noting that he was peddling a philosophy of peace and brotherhood long before the same viewpoint was allegedly voiced by his alien friends. Indeed, he published a book several years before his claimed contact where the being he encountered was identified as Jesus Christ.
Adamski was also quoted as saying to a friend that you sometimes had to go through the back door to present the truth. So it may well be, as many believed, that Adamski realized that few people would take him seriously if he presented his philosophy as something he devised, but if it came from the mouths of advanced alien beings, it would gain more credibility.
Understand that, except for a small band of true believers, I regarded the Adamski affair as something no longer relevant to the UFO field, particularly here in the 21st century. Well, that is until Chris O’Brien and I interviewed UFO researcher Timothy Good on the December 22, 2013 episode of The Paracast.
Now owing to such books as “Above Top Secret,” Good has been regarded as a pretty straight shooter in the field. But it did seem to be that he was far more gullible in accepting questionable claims during this session, particularly when compared to his first appearance on the show on January 13, 2008. So he cited the Adamski contacts, and those silly saucer photos, as genuine.
My feeling: You can’t keep a good UFO faker down. Regardless of how thoroughly some of these people are debunked, they nonetheless still manage to retain their followers, or, after a few years of obscurity, simply get back in the game as if nothing ever happened.
One recent example is the notorious Sean David Morton, who has gotten himself in various jams as an alleged psychic and investment advisor. With the SEC suing him for millions of dollars allegedly bilked from would-be investors, you’d think that would put the kibosh on further public appearances.
But, no. The word simply hasn’t spread very far despite the efforts of The Paracast, and Royce Myers, proprietor of the “UFO Watchdog” site and blog, who has written extensively on the subject. So when I was in casual conversation with a colleague who also hosts a weekly radio show, I was surprised to discover that she and her listeners actually took Morton seriously. He also showed up not long ago to host a banquet at a UFO convention. How soon things are forgotten, particularly when it comes to the more questionable and extreme characters that find themselves attracted to the paranormal.
Part of it may be the result of short memories when it comes to discredited figures in these fields. Moreover, even when someone is thoroughly exposed, that disclosure may only reach a relatively small audience. Certainly Jim Moseley’s treatment of Adamski and other contactees serves as prime examples. Saucer News had, at best, a circulation of a few thousand subscribers over the years. For most of its life during its heyday, in fact, the average circulation was maybe a thousand or two. Yes, Jim made public appearances and all, but most of his work remains in the hands of a few serious collectors. The small publication he produced during the final years of his life, Saucer Smear, reached perhaps a couple of hundred “non-subscribers.”
Now we do have a far larger audience on The Paracast, and you can be assured that Chris and I will continue, with your help and support, to examine the world of the strange and the unknown, and expose the fakers for who they are.
Certainly, we’ve done our part. We had Morton on the show in the early days, and we quickly discovered the contradictions and outright falsehoods in some of his statements. Yet another guest, a character named Bill Knell, made all sorts of pronouncements about being featured or quoted in major publications, none of which turned out to be true. When the questioning got difficult, he hung up on The Paracast, and I think he was the first guest to do so.
More recently, with the help of Don Ecker of Dark Matters Radio and some of our regular listeners, we revealed that long-time UFO researcher Philip Imbrogno was not who he claimed to be. His educational background, which listed degrees from MIT, was bogus. His military record was also fabricated.
While Imbrogno vanished from the scene in the wake of being exposed, it’s sad to see the caliber of people who were taken in by his fakery. Early on, in fact, he co-authored a book, “Night Siege — The Hudson Valley UFO Sightings,” with Bob Pratt and Dr. J. Allen Hynek, the astronomer who, upon converting from UFO skeptic to believer, became a key figure in the field. Hynek is no longer with us, but I wonder how he would have felt knowing that Imbrogno betrayed him.
But, as I said, you can’t keep a good UFO/paranormal faker down, witness the continued belief that George Adamski and other obvious frauds were actually the real deal. And don’t get me started about a certain one-armed Swiss farmer.
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!
