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Your Paracast Newsletter — July 16, 2017


Gene Steinberg

Forum Super Hero
Staff member
THE PARACAST NEWSLETTER
July 16, 2017
www.theparacast.com


The Paracast Presents MUFON in the Crosshairs with Documentary Producer Ron James

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.

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This Week's Episode: Gene and documentary filmmaker Ron James are in debate mode. Ron is an accomplished figure in the field for his award-winning films and his TV Show "Bigger Questions." He also runs MUFON television as an independent joint venture with MUFON. According to Ron: "There is a vision for the organization and the important role it can play in moving truth forward. MUFON is still the largest organization dedicated to the scientific understanding of the ET phenomenon in the free world." With MUFON in the crosshairs, dealing with several recent controversies, the group's future and the possibility of solving the UFO mystery are front and center.

Chris O’Brien’s Blog: Our Strange Planet

Ron James’ Site: Ivolve TV - Home

After The Paracast -- Available exclusively to Paracast+ subscribers on July 16: Gene is joined by documentary producer Ron James and guest co-host J. Randall Murphy as they discuss reality. What is the nature of consciousness, the nature of existence? Does consciousness survive the death of the physical brain? Ron points out that scientists still can’t figure out where our memories are stored, even though they’ve mapped the functions of the brain. Is it stored elsewhere, perhaps in an energetic ether? In talking about the environment, Ron asserts that we were all lied to about the ongoing impact of the 2011 Fukushima disaster. In talking about the ET theory for UFOs, Ron suggests it’s all profoundly interconnected within the flexible fabric of reality.

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. Check out our new YouTube channel at: The Official Paracast Channel

The Selling of Ufology
By Gene Steinberg

In theory, chasing after the flying saucers should be pretty much all about scientific research. There’s an incredible mystery to be solved. Maybe we are being visited by spacecraft from another star system. Even though our pitiful efforts at rudimentary space travel haven’t accounted for much yet, perhaps some far-off civilization has it all figured out.

Maybe we can learn something from them.

But spending a lot of time immersed in the bushes and trying to do research can be time consuming. It wouldn’t hurt to receive some compensation for one’s labors. After all, expenses are high, the rent must be paid, and what about putting food on the table?

Now there’s nothing wrong with receiving paychecks for one’s labors. Scientists are, after all, usually paid for their work, though some volunteer. You don’t expect that the people who are engaged in inventing the next wonder drug are doing it all for charity. Doctors must be paid for healing the sick.

All too often, however, when people write books or give lectures about our paranormal world, and are compensated for their work, it’s often assumed they have surrendered their integrity. They’re in it for the money, not to present or discover the truth about something.

Maybe some day, there will be a cashless system, where people can do the sort of work that enriches their lives, and sometimes helps others, without worrying about the size of the paycheck. But that’s not the reality in which we live.

The long and short of it is that I have no problem with people earning a living.

Where I have a problem is when the “almighty dollar” supplants adherence to the truth.

Take TV reality shows. Now the label is really a misnomer, because it doesn’t necessarily represent even a semblance of reality. It’s usually about so-called non-actors engaged in something, such as surviving on a desert island, and seeing who manages to live through the faux ordeal without suffering more than a few cuts and bruises. Or maybe a few embarrassing moments.

So even if there isn’t a shooting script in the same way one might be used for a scripted drama on TV or the movies, it’s still a play. The plot lines and the outcomes are well defined, and there are few surprises.

But what about paranormal documentaries, where people allegedly seek the truth about UFOs, ancient astronauts, Bigfoot, ghosts and other mysteries? Can we depend on seeing the truth depicted in those 43 minutes between the commercials? Aren’t those haunted houses really haunted? Didn’t that crew of hapless UFO investigators scurry through the forest with night vision goggles in the hope of seeing a genuine spaceship?

What about the mysterious Hanger 1 in which MUFON allegedly engages in its studies of the UFO phenomenon?

As I said, a reality show does not necessarily represent reality. It’s a contrived situation, designed to entertain you, to keep you happy between the ads, so you might actually pay attention to those interruptions. It’s designed to get ratings, and the facts be damned!

What about the world of the paranormal? Aren’t we seeing real researchers plying their trade?

Well, yes, you do see shows featuring people who have genuine reputations as paranormal investigators. When they are interviewed about the cases they are studying, shouldn’t you take it seriously? After all, you see their faces, hear their voices. Isn’t it supposed to accurately represent the quest for the truth?

As you may have heard on The Paracast and elsewhere, what is presented on some of those reality shows is anything but reality. Details may be compressed, or overlooked, in order to fill the time limitations. Several individuals may be reduced to composite characters.

Comments made by the people on the show may be heavily edited, sometimes taken out of context.

Our own Chris O’Brien has appeared on some of these reality shows. He talks with dismay — or frustration — about the times his comments were taken out of context, made to convey something that had nothing whatever to do with his original statements or their meaning.

Take an episode of UFO Hunters in which he appeared. He was talking about the incredible phenomena that he investigated for years in the San Luis Valley, the Mysterious Valley. He wrote books on the subject.

But when the interview in question was edited and inserted into the show, the location was changed to Sedona, Arizona. Why? Is it a more mystical place? Is it a sexier location, or were the producers of the show so misinformed they couldn’t tell the difference? Perhaps they didn’t care.

Now about that Hangar 1 TV show: It’s supposed to represent the work of MUFON, even though its adherence to the facts is questionable. If I were in a position of leadership of an organization that agreed to participate in a TV show, only to have its material sensationalized, exaggerated and falsified, I’d be hopping mad!

Or maybe MUFON was too naive to understand that, ceding control of one’s research to some greedy TV producers wasn’t going to result in an accurate portrayal of their work. It’s about entertainment, it’s about ratings. It’s not about finding the truth about UFOs.

Now maybe those production suits are right after all. The public merely wants to be entertained, to be thrilled by the excitement of people chasing after incredible phenomena. It’s about keeping eyeballs glued to the screen long enough to perhaps catch the commercials, rather than skip through them. Maybe the advertisers will sell some product.

Everyone will be happy, except for the people who are seeking the truth and don’t want to be sent on wild goose chases by the nonsense presented on TV.

I’m about out of space, so I won’t say much about a certain UFO symposium that focuses on those alleged secret space programs and features presenters who claim to be time travelers.

Yes, there may be one or more secret space programs, something more involved than sending up spy satellites. Maybe humans are visiting other worlds in secret. Maybe we have developed warp drive or antigravity propulsion systems. Maybe it’s all true.

But is that a story that should dominate a symposium run by an organization that claims to be engaged in the scientific investigation of UFOs?

And please don’t get me started about the time travelers.

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