The Paracast Newsletter
January 23, 2022
www.theparacast.com
Veteran UFO Researcher/Author Kevin D. Randle Looks at Governent UFO Investigations and Explores the Classic 1957 Levelland Case on The Paracast
The Paracast is heard Sundays from 3:00 AM until 6:00 AM Central Time on the GCN Radio Network and affiliates around the USA, the Boost Radio Network, the IRN Internet Radio Network, and online across the globe via download and on-demand streaming.
SUPPORT THE SHOW AND ENJOY THE ULTIMATE PARACAST EXPERIENCE AT A SPECIAL LOW PRICE! We have another radio show and we’d love for you listen to it. So for a low subscription fee, you will receive access to an exclusive podcast, After The Paracast, plus an enhanced version of The Paracast with the network ads removed, when you join The Paracast+. We also offer a special RSS feed for easy updates of the latest episodes on your device. Flash! Use the coupon code ufo20 to receive a 20% discount on five-year or lifetime subscriptions. And PayPal now accepts cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, in payment, so act now! For the easiest signup ever, please visit: https://www.theparacast.plus
This Week's Episode: Gene is joined by special guest cohost Curt Collins as they present veteran UFO researcher Kevin D. Randle, here to talk about his latest book, "Levelland," in which he provides extensive research into this classic sighting from November, 1957, which stalled cars and caused other mysterious electromagnetic effects. Randle began his study of UFOs while still a high school student. In 1972 he published his first article about UFOs in Saga's Annual UFO Report. Throughout the 1970s, he published a number of articles concerning a variety of UFO sightings including tales of alien abduction, photographic cases, and those involving some sort of physical evidence. Randle's writing is not limited to the UFO field. He is the author of more than 100 books that cover no just UFOs, but action-adventure, mysteries, and science fiction.
After The Paracast — Available exclusively for Paracast+ subscribers on January 23: Gene and Curt Collins, our special guest cohost, welcome researcher/author Kevin D. Randle for further discussion. He focuses the main part of the interview on his current view of the Roswell crash, and his plans for yet another book on the topic. He also offers his skeptical view of the curious case of Lt. Col. Philip J. Corso, co-author of a controversial book, "The Day After Roswell," in which he placed himself at the center of critical events, such as the alleged distribution of alien technology to private industry. Randle is the prolific author of more than 100 books that include "Roswell in the 21st Century," a comprehensive look at the results of his 30 years of research into the legendary case.
Reminder: Please don't forget to visit our famous Paracast Community Forums for the latest news/views/debates on all things paranormal: https://www.theparacast.com/forum/. Visit our new online shop for great branded merchandise at: https://www.theparacast.shop/, and check out our new YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheOfficialParacastChannel
On Musical Chairs and the UFO Field
By Gene Steinberg
So one thing is certain about the U.S. government’s involvement in the UFO mess. Regardless of what might be going on behind the scenes — which can be suspected but not proven — there have been multiple efforts using multiple names to investigate the situation.
How seriously is another matter.
So in the early days of the modern era, the Air Force set up an investigative project to study the flying saucers. In 1948, it was called Project Sign, but soon became Project Grudge. This more than likely reflected its clear efforts to downplay the phenomenon, that it was nothing special.
By 1953, it became Project Blue Book, a more respectable title. The flying saucers were thus relabeled as Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs). Folks like me used the names interchangeably.
By 1969. when Project Blue Book was shuttered after the Condon Committee fulfilled its real mission to report that there was nothing to it, the Air Force had accumulated some 12,618 sightings. Some suggest more, but that’s at least what they recorded.
Except for occasional mutterings, such as claims that the Roswell crash was caused by a Project Mogul balloon, with crash test dummies tossed in to flesh out the package, the Air Force was officially out of the flying saucer business.
Officially.
Now when The New York Times published a report in December of 2017 about a secret Pentagon UFO project, it was in response to Navy sightings as depicted in those infamous “tic tac” videos.
With a paltry $22 million at its disposal, the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP) was set up to look into the matter. All or most of the money was funneled over to a group set up by one Robert Bigelow, a hotel magnate with an abiding interest in the paranormal, to do the heavy lifting. Some of the research funds went to MUFON, although that deal eventually fell apart.
With the money used up, we ended up with yet another UAP office, known as the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP), the name used in that Times story.
Oh, and so far, The Paracast has featured one of the story’s authors, Leslie Kean, well known in the UFO field for taking a solid journalistic stance on the enigma. One of the other reporters, Ralph Blumenthal, who has earned a Pulitzer for his past work, will appear on The Paracast in an episode scheduled for February 13, 2022.
More recently, there was the Pentagon UAP Task Force, established in the 2021 military budget. As scheduled, it released its promised preliminary report six months after the appropriation was approved, on June 25, 2021, but it was a pathetic document. It summarized the situation, but lacked the sort of details fans of UFO lore and others the least bit curious would have liked to better understand the evidence.
A follow-up report, due 90 days later, never appeared.
That takes us to the 2022 military budget, which establishes yet another — so far unnamed — office to take on UAP investigation.
According to a press release from the office of U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), working along with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Congressman Ruben Gallego (D-AZ): “The office will be administered jointly between the Secretary of Defense and the Director of National Intelligence, and will empower military and civilian personnel working for the DoD and Intelligence Community to report incidents and information involving UAPs.”
In other words, the Air Force appears to be essentially shut out of the process, although I suppose they would have to comply with any requirements about sighting reports.
And consider this telltale paragraph in that release: “The UAP office will be required to provide unclassified annual reports to Congress and classified semiannual briefings on intelligence analysis, reported incidents, health-related effects, the role of foreign governments, and nuclear security.”
Regular listeners to The Paracast should take note of the “health-related effects” phrase, and its potential. While there have been episodes of people suffering from sunburn symptoms, reddened skin, after a sighting, they tend to be temporary and of little importance.
But when it comes to episodes such as the Cash-Landrum sighting in Texas in December, 1980, witnesses may suffer from serious illnesses in the wake of a close encounter with a UFO. Were they caused by the interaction with the object, or just the perfectly normal symptoms people suffer over the course of their lives?
The plan to look into health issues was evidently the result of the influence of Bigelow’s organization in setting up the latest and greatest UFO project.
But all of these government musical chairs also raises concerns. At least with Project Blue Book, it was the same project with different names. With the current investigation, the so-far unnamed Pentagon office will be the fourth since the early 2000s. By the time it’s set to release its first report within a year after the appropriations bill was passed, there will be a 2023 military budget. Will it include support for this office, kill it in the interests of the expected political byplay in the wake of this year’s elections, or set up a totally different office with a similar mission?
If the latter, it would get the authorities off the hook if they fail to release the initial annual report as promised. After all, the office would no longer technically exist even if it merely had a different name and possibly a different location, but mostly performed the same duties.
It’s not as if lots of people were clamoring for the Pentagon UAP Task Force’s follow-up report that was missing in action. Setting up a new office deflected any such concerns. Perhaps the existing personnel at that office knew their mission was about to end, so they spent the remainder of the year packing boxes and securing computer files.
Now one of our Paracast favorites, UFO researcher/author Kevin D. Randle, himself a retired Army Lt. Col., hasn’t been terribly hopeful about the prospects. He’s labeled the current UFO efforts as nothing more than “Condon 2.0,” in other words a potential whitewash.
As if we needed another.
Another Paracast favorite, UFO historian Jerry Clark, has expressed a more optimistic view.
As for me, call me jaded, call me a negativist, but I just don’t expect anything much to come of these ongoing efforts. Unless, of course, it’s all been part of a program to gradually disclose the alleged UFO secret. But I’ve never been a disclosure fan, and I have no expectations whatever of any significant developments this time.
Copyright 1999-2022 The Paracast Company. 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!
January 23, 2022
www.theparacast.com
Veteran UFO Researcher/Author Kevin D. Randle Looks at Governent UFO Investigations and Explores the Classic 1957 Levelland Case on The Paracast
The Paracast is heard Sundays from 3:00 AM until 6:00 AM Central Time on the GCN Radio Network and affiliates around the USA, the Boost Radio Network, the IRN Internet Radio Network, and online across the globe via download and on-demand streaming.
SUPPORT THE SHOW AND ENJOY THE ULTIMATE PARACAST EXPERIENCE AT A SPECIAL LOW PRICE! We have another radio show and we’d love for you listen to it. So for a low subscription fee, you will receive access to an exclusive podcast, After The Paracast, plus an enhanced version of The Paracast with the network ads removed, when you join The Paracast+. We also offer a special RSS feed for easy updates of the latest episodes on your device. Flash! Use the coupon code ufo20 to receive a 20% discount on five-year or lifetime subscriptions. And PayPal now accepts cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, in payment, so act now! For the easiest signup ever, please visit: https://www.theparacast.plus
This Week's Episode: Gene is joined by special guest cohost Curt Collins as they present veteran UFO researcher Kevin D. Randle, here to talk about his latest book, "Levelland," in which he provides extensive research into this classic sighting from November, 1957, which stalled cars and caused other mysterious electromagnetic effects. Randle began his study of UFOs while still a high school student. In 1972 he published his first article about UFOs in Saga's Annual UFO Report. Throughout the 1970s, he published a number of articles concerning a variety of UFO sightings including tales of alien abduction, photographic cases, and those involving some sort of physical evidence. Randle's writing is not limited to the UFO field. He is the author of more than 100 books that cover no just UFOs, but action-adventure, mysteries, and science fiction.
After The Paracast — Available exclusively for Paracast+ subscribers on January 23: Gene and Curt Collins, our special guest cohost, welcome researcher/author Kevin D. Randle for further discussion. He focuses the main part of the interview on his current view of the Roswell crash, and his plans for yet another book on the topic. He also offers his skeptical view of the curious case of Lt. Col. Philip J. Corso, co-author of a controversial book, "The Day After Roswell," in which he placed himself at the center of critical events, such as the alleged distribution of alien technology to private industry. Randle is the prolific author of more than 100 books that include "Roswell in the 21st Century," a comprehensive look at the results of his 30 years of research into the legendary case.
Reminder: Please don't forget to visit our famous Paracast Community Forums for the latest news/views/debates on all things paranormal: https://www.theparacast.com/forum/. Visit our new online shop for great branded merchandise at: https://www.theparacast.shop/, and check out our new YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheOfficialParacastChannel
On Musical Chairs and the UFO Field
By Gene Steinberg
So one thing is certain about the U.S. government’s involvement in the UFO mess. Regardless of what might be going on behind the scenes — which can be suspected but not proven — there have been multiple efforts using multiple names to investigate the situation.
How seriously is another matter.
So in the early days of the modern era, the Air Force set up an investigative project to study the flying saucers. In 1948, it was called Project Sign, but soon became Project Grudge. This more than likely reflected its clear efforts to downplay the phenomenon, that it was nothing special.
By 1953, it became Project Blue Book, a more respectable title. The flying saucers were thus relabeled as Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs). Folks like me used the names interchangeably.
By 1969. when Project Blue Book was shuttered after the Condon Committee fulfilled its real mission to report that there was nothing to it, the Air Force had accumulated some 12,618 sightings. Some suggest more, but that’s at least what they recorded.
Except for occasional mutterings, such as claims that the Roswell crash was caused by a Project Mogul balloon, with crash test dummies tossed in to flesh out the package, the Air Force was officially out of the flying saucer business.
Officially.
Now when The New York Times published a report in December of 2017 about a secret Pentagon UFO project, it was in response to Navy sightings as depicted in those infamous “tic tac” videos.
With a paltry $22 million at its disposal, the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP) was set up to look into the matter. All or most of the money was funneled over to a group set up by one Robert Bigelow, a hotel magnate with an abiding interest in the paranormal, to do the heavy lifting. Some of the research funds went to MUFON, although that deal eventually fell apart.
With the money used up, we ended up with yet another UAP office, known as the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP), the name used in that Times story.
Oh, and so far, The Paracast has featured one of the story’s authors, Leslie Kean, well known in the UFO field for taking a solid journalistic stance on the enigma. One of the other reporters, Ralph Blumenthal, who has earned a Pulitzer for his past work, will appear on The Paracast in an episode scheduled for February 13, 2022.
More recently, there was the Pentagon UAP Task Force, established in the 2021 military budget. As scheduled, it released its promised preliminary report six months after the appropriation was approved, on June 25, 2021, but it was a pathetic document. It summarized the situation, but lacked the sort of details fans of UFO lore and others the least bit curious would have liked to better understand the evidence.
A follow-up report, due 90 days later, never appeared.
That takes us to the 2022 military budget, which establishes yet another — so far unnamed — office to take on UAP investigation.
According to a press release from the office of U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), working along with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Congressman Ruben Gallego (D-AZ): “The office will be administered jointly between the Secretary of Defense and the Director of National Intelligence, and will empower military and civilian personnel working for the DoD and Intelligence Community to report incidents and information involving UAPs.”
In other words, the Air Force appears to be essentially shut out of the process, although I suppose they would have to comply with any requirements about sighting reports.
And consider this telltale paragraph in that release: “The UAP office will be required to provide unclassified annual reports to Congress and classified semiannual briefings on intelligence analysis, reported incidents, health-related effects, the role of foreign governments, and nuclear security.”
Regular listeners to The Paracast should take note of the “health-related effects” phrase, and its potential. While there have been episodes of people suffering from sunburn symptoms, reddened skin, after a sighting, they tend to be temporary and of little importance.
But when it comes to episodes such as the Cash-Landrum sighting in Texas in December, 1980, witnesses may suffer from serious illnesses in the wake of a close encounter with a UFO. Were they caused by the interaction with the object, or just the perfectly normal symptoms people suffer over the course of their lives?
The plan to look into health issues was evidently the result of the influence of Bigelow’s organization in setting up the latest and greatest UFO project.
But all of these government musical chairs also raises concerns. At least with Project Blue Book, it was the same project with different names. With the current investigation, the so-far unnamed Pentagon office will be the fourth since the early 2000s. By the time it’s set to release its first report within a year after the appropriations bill was passed, there will be a 2023 military budget. Will it include support for this office, kill it in the interests of the expected political byplay in the wake of this year’s elections, or set up a totally different office with a similar mission?
If the latter, it would get the authorities off the hook if they fail to release the initial annual report as promised. After all, the office would no longer technically exist even if it merely had a different name and possibly a different location, but mostly performed the same duties.
It’s not as if lots of people were clamoring for the Pentagon UAP Task Force’s follow-up report that was missing in action. Setting up a new office deflected any such concerns. Perhaps the existing personnel at that office knew their mission was about to end, so they spent the remainder of the year packing boxes and securing computer files.
Now one of our Paracast favorites, UFO researcher/author Kevin D. Randle, himself a retired Army Lt. Col., hasn’t been terribly hopeful about the prospects. He’s labeled the current UFO efforts as nothing more than “Condon 2.0,” in other words a potential whitewash.
As if we needed another.
Another Paracast favorite, UFO historian Jerry Clark, has expressed a more optimistic view.
As for me, call me jaded, call me a negativist, but I just don’t expect anything much to come of these ongoing efforts. Unless, of course, it’s all been part of a program to gradually disclose the alleged UFO secret. But I’ve never been a disclosure fan, and I have no expectations whatever of any significant developments this time.
Copyright 1999-2022 The Paracast Company. 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!