THE PARACAST NEWSLETTER
February 26, 2011
Listen to the Fifth Anniversary Celebration of The Paracast
Special Announcement: The Paracast is heard Sundays from 6:00 PM until 9:00 PM (Central Time) on the GCN radio network.
The Paracast Humbly Requests Your Donations: Although ads help cover a small part of our expenses, the income they produce is never enough. Also, we do not receive any revenue from the ads placed on the show by our network. So we hope you'll be willing 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. No contribution is too small (or too large
. We have a Donate link on our home page, below the logo and audio player. There's also a Donate link on our forums, right below our logo. Or just send your PayPal donation direct to sales (at) theparacast (dot) com.
Attention U.S. Listeners: Let's Bring The Paracast to Your City! Last summer, The Paracast joined the GCN radio network. This represented a huge step in bringing our show to a larger, mainstream audience. Now we want your help to add more 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 directly. With your help, The Paracast can grow into one of the most popular paranormal shows on the planet!
You Can Now Order The Official Paracast T-Shirt: You asked, and we answered. We are now taking orders for The Official Paracast T-Shirt and a collection of other specially customized merchandise. To get your T-Shirt, just pay a visit to our new online store at Welcome to The Official Paracast Store to select your size and place your order. We now also offer a lineup of other premium merchandise featuring The Paracast logo.
Sunday, February 27, 2011: 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 hosts interview long-time researchers in the field, to shed light on the mysteries and complexities of our Universe and the secrets that surround us in our everyday lives.
Join us as we explore the realms of the known and unknown, and hear great stories of the history of the paranormal field in the 20th and 21st centuries.
This Week's Episode: The Paracast is five years old, as we gather together three of our co-hosts to talk shop, and answer your questions about the state of paranormal research, and whether, if ever, solutions will be found. Joining the session are co-host Christopher O’Brien, guest co-host Greg Bishop, and former co-host Paul Kimball.
Christopher O'Brien's Site: Home - Our Strange Planet
Greg Bishop's Blog: UFOMystic Greg Bishop
Paul Kimball's Site: Redstar Films
Reminder: Don't forget to visit our always-active Discussion Forums for the latest news/views/debates on all things paranormal (and note our new Internet address): The Paracast Community Forums.
Ufology’s Wacky People
By Gene Steinberg
Many years back, in the early stages of the modern UFO era, one Gabriel Green, who headed up the Amalgamated Flying Saucer Clubs of America, ran as a write-in candidate for President. He tried it first in 1960, and repeated the attempt in 1972. On both occasions, Richard Nixon was on the ballot, so maybe it was meant as a political statement of some sort.
If nothing else, Green had an inflated view of himself and his position in the world. He claimed to have a PhD in physics, but his real education was evidently restricted to business. Although Green said that he had received word of the Second Coming of Jesus during a channeling session, that event had not occurred as of Green’s death in 2001.
Of course, anyone can run for President of the U.S., so long as they meet the simple requirements, being 35 years of age and a natural born citizen. And, no, my friends, I won’t even touch that curious “birther” theory that’s going on nowadays, claiming that President Obama was not, despite the existence of a published newspaper announcement and a birth certificate showing he was born in Hawaii in 1961, a citizen of the U.S.
More often than not, however, political candidates with a UFO bent tend to concentrate on local and state races. Kenneth Arnold, whose 1947 UFO sighting is credited (or blamed) with starting the UFO legend, tried once to run for Lieutenant Governor of Idaho, in 1962, but didn’t succeed. I don’t know if his connection to the UFO mystery had anything to do with it.
I suppose, in the scheme of things, you can call Green wacky, whereas Arnold, otherwise a perfectly ordinary businessperson, got caught up in the crazy quilt UFO world strictly by accident.
Regardless, Green strikes me as a fairly conventional oddball, as such things go, especially when compared to one character in the UFO field who actually started out as a fairly routine researcher. Since I don’t want to become embroiled in the current mess that he evidently started, I will not name him here. Regulars to The Paracast Community Forums, however, know who he is.
Some years back, this person wrote a pretty sensible book debunking the contact claims of the controversial Billy Meier. No great stretch. Meier’s claims make crazy seem normal, and the photos and movies he provides to prove his claims are ludicrously inept fakes.
Later one, the actor in this strange multi-act play, after apparently reducing his UFO activities, returned with a vengeance. Sporting an East European mailing address, he claimed to be a secret agent (well not-so-secret, since he publicized this alleged affiliation) with an Israeli intelligence agency. He opened a Web site, and claimed that he had signed book deals involving 500 to 1,000 titles per year.
If this sounds outrageous to you, speaking as someone who has written a fair number of books (over 30 so far), I can tell you that even a book a month is an extraordinary achievement. The late sci-fi and science writer, Isaac Asimov, was credited with writing or editing some 500 years in a career that spanned many decades. Another prolific author, the late Walter B. Gibson, penned some 300 short novels featuring the legendary pulp, radio and movie character, “The Shadow.”
Of course, our crazy character never could confirm the existence of his alleged book contract. Instead, he began to make absurdly silly threats against several notables in the UFO field for various and sundry nonexistent offenses. These threats involved supposed civil and criminal behavior. In one or two cases, he actually did file those complaints, to no effect. Most of the time, the threats were empty.
I really don’t know what to make of this character, except for one possibility that occurred to me out of the blue. But let me tell you a story.
A long time ago, someone appeared on radio and TV claiming to be involved in a club that was rallying against naked animals. They wanted to make sure your dogs, cats and, I suppose, pet snakes, were all clothed in one form or another.
Wacky yes. But it was all a fake, perpetrated by a famous prankster, Alan Abel. Though he hasn’t been active in recent years, one of his notable recent hoaxes involved a ridiculous proposal that was presented to the 2000 Republican National Convention in Philadelphia. Abel and crew wanted to ban all breastfeeding because, he alleged, “it is an incestuous relationship between mother and baby that manifests an oral addiction leading youngsters to smoke, drink and even becoming a homosexual.”
Somehow the hoax was taken seriously for quite a while, since the news media clearly had only a short-term memory of his previous antics. He finally confessed to his prank a couple of years later, after some 200 media interviews on the subject
Now I’m not saying that notorious character in the UFO field is little more than a would-be Alan Abel clone. But I’d rather believe he’s just pulling a gag on us, however crazy, rather than being a full-fledged nutcase.
The Paracast Copyright 1999-2011 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!
February 26, 2011
Listen to the Fifth Anniversary Celebration of The Paracast
Special Announcement: The Paracast is heard Sundays from 6:00 PM until 9:00 PM (Central Time) on the GCN radio network.
The Paracast Humbly Requests Your Donations: Although ads help cover a small part of our expenses, the income they produce is never enough. Also, we do not receive any revenue from the ads placed on the show by our network. So we hope you'll be willing 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. No contribution is too small (or too large
. We have a Donate link on our home page, below the logo and audio player. There's also a Donate link on our forums, right below our logo. Or just send your PayPal donation direct to sales (at) theparacast (dot) com.Attention U.S. Listeners: Let's Bring The Paracast to Your City! Last summer, The Paracast joined the GCN radio network. This represented a huge step in bringing our show to a larger, mainstream audience. Now we want your help to add more 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 directly. With your help, The Paracast can grow into one of the most popular paranormal shows on the planet!
You Can Now Order The Official Paracast T-Shirt: You asked, and we answered. We are now taking orders for The Official Paracast T-Shirt and a collection of other specially customized merchandise. To get your T-Shirt, just pay a visit to our new online store at Welcome to The Official Paracast Store to select your size and place your order. We now also offer a lineup of other premium merchandise featuring The Paracast logo.
Sunday, February 27, 2011: 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 hosts interview long-time researchers in the field, to shed light on the mysteries and complexities of our Universe and the secrets that surround us in our everyday lives.
Join us as we explore the realms of the known and unknown, and hear great stories of the history of the paranormal field in the 20th and 21st centuries.
This Week's Episode: The Paracast is five years old, as we gather together three of our co-hosts to talk shop, and answer your questions about the state of paranormal research, and whether, if ever, solutions will be found. Joining the session are co-host Christopher O’Brien, guest co-host Greg Bishop, and former co-host Paul Kimball.
Christopher O'Brien's Site: Home - Our Strange Planet
Greg Bishop's Blog: UFOMystic Greg Bishop
Paul Kimball's Site: Redstar Films
Reminder: Don't forget to visit our always-active Discussion Forums for the latest news/views/debates on all things paranormal (and note our new Internet address): The Paracast Community Forums.
Ufology’s Wacky People
By Gene Steinberg
Many years back, in the early stages of the modern UFO era, one Gabriel Green, who headed up the Amalgamated Flying Saucer Clubs of America, ran as a write-in candidate for President. He tried it first in 1960, and repeated the attempt in 1972. On both occasions, Richard Nixon was on the ballot, so maybe it was meant as a political statement of some sort.
If nothing else, Green had an inflated view of himself and his position in the world. He claimed to have a PhD in physics, but his real education was evidently restricted to business. Although Green said that he had received word of the Second Coming of Jesus during a channeling session, that event had not occurred as of Green’s death in 2001.
Of course, anyone can run for President of the U.S., so long as they meet the simple requirements, being 35 years of age and a natural born citizen. And, no, my friends, I won’t even touch that curious “birther” theory that’s going on nowadays, claiming that President Obama was not, despite the existence of a published newspaper announcement and a birth certificate showing he was born in Hawaii in 1961, a citizen of the U.S.
More often than not, however, political candidates with a UFO bent tend to concentrate on local and state races. Kenneth Arnold, whose 1947 UFO sighting is credited (or blamed) with starting the UFO legend, tried once to run for Lieutenant Governor of Idaho, in 1962, but didn’t succeed. I don’t know if his connection to the UFO mystery had anything to do with it.
I suppose, in the scheme of things, you can call Green wacky, whereas Arnold, otherwise a perfectly ordinary businessperson, got caught up in the crazy quilt UFO world strictly by accident.
Regardless, Green strikes me as a fairly conventional oddball, as such things go, especially when compared to one character in the UFO field who actually started out as a fairly routine researcher. Since I don’t want to become embroiled in the current mess that he evidently started, I will not name him here. Regulars to The Paracast Community Forums, however, know who he is.
Some years back, this person wrote a pretty sensible book debunking the contact claims of the controversial Billy Meier. No great stretch. Meier’s claims make crazy seem normal, and the photos and movies he provides to prove his claims are ludicrously inept fakes.
Later one, the actor in this strange multi-act play, after apparently reducing his UFO activities, returned with a vengeance. Sporting an East European mailing address, he claimed to be a secret agent (well not-so-secret, since he publicized this alleged affiliation) with an Israeli intelligence agency. He opened a Web site, and claimed that he had signed book deals involving 500 to 1,000 titles per year.
If this sounds outrageous to you, speaking as someone who has written a fair number of books (over 30 so far), I can tell you that even a book a month is an extraordinary achievement. The late sci-fi and science writer, Isaac Asimov, was credited with writing or editing some 500 years in a career that spanned many decades. Another prolific author, the late Walter B. Gibson, penned some 300 short novels featuring the legendary pulp, radio and movie character, “The Shadow.”
Of course, our crazy character never could confirm the existence of his alleged book contract. Instead, he began to make absurdly silly threats against several notables in the UFO field for various and sundry nonexistent offenses. These threats involved supposed civil and criminal behavior. In one or two cases, he actually did file those complaints, to no effect. Most of the time, the threats were empty.
I really don’t know what to make of this character, except for one possibility that occurred to me out of the blue. But let me tell you a story.
A long time ago, someone appeared on radio and TV claiming to be involved in a club that was rallying against naked animals. They wanted to make sure your dogs, cats and, I suppose, pet snakes, were all clothed in one form or another.
Wacky yes. But it was all a fake, perpetrated by a famous prankster, Alan Abel. Though he hasn’t been active in recent years, one of his notable recent hoaxes involved a ridiculous proposal that was presented to the 2000 Republican National Convention in Philadelphia. Abel and crew wanted to ban all breastfeeding because, he alleged, “it is an incestuous relationship between mother and baby that manifests an oral addiction leading youngsters to smoke, drink and even becoming a homosexual.”
Somehow the hoax was taken seriously for quite a while, since the news media clearly had only a short-term memory of his previous antics. He finally confessed to his prank a couple of years later, after some 200 media interviews on the subject
Now I’m not saying that notorious character in the UFO field is little more than a would-be Alan Abel clone. But I’d rather believe he’s just pulling a gag on us, however crazy, rather than being a full-fledged nutcase.
The Paracast Copyright 1999-2011 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!