THE PARACAST NEWSLETTER
June 10, 2018
www.theparacast.com
Explore Ghosts, UFO Abductions and UFOs with Ryan Sprague 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 A PREMIUM PARACAST EXPERIENCE! 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 a higher-quality version of The Paracast free of network ads, when you sign up for The Paracast+. We also offer a special RSS feed for easy updates of the latest episodes, the Paracast+ Video Channel, episode transcripts, Special Features, Classic Episodes and there’s more to come! We also feature selected podcasts and videos from Paul Kimball’s “Other Side of Truth,” and we are now offering special access to the first two episodes of the ghost haunting show he cohosts, "Haunted." Check out our new lower rates, starting at just $1.49 per week, plus our “Lifetime” membership and special free print and eBook book offers! For more information about our premium package, please visit: https://plus.theparacast.com/.
This Week's Episode: Gene and guest co-host Goggs Mackay present cutting-edge paranormal researcher Ryan Sprague for a romp through the world of the strange and unknown. Ryan is an author, screenwriter, and playwright splitting homes between New York City and Los Angeles. He is also an investigative journalist specializing in the topic of UFOs. He's interviewed witnesses in all walks of life about UFO sightings and possible encounters with extraterrestrials, and is the author of Somewhere in the Skies: A Human Approach to an Alien Phenomenon and is also a contributing writer to the anthology, UFOs: Reframing the Debate. Ryan is also the creator and host of the "Somewhere in the Skies Podcast."
Chris O’Brien’s Blog: Our Strange Planet
Ryan Sprague's Site: Somewhere in the skies
Paul Kimball's Site: Winter Light Productions
After The Paracast -- Available exclusively for Paracast+ subscribers on June 10: As a follow-up to this week’s episode of The Paracast, featuring paranormal researcher Ryan Sprague, Gene and special guest Paul Kimball discuss a series of possible ghost encounters that involved Ryan, Greg Bishop, Holly Stevens and other fellow travelers. Paul tries to put these episodes in perspective compared to other paranormal phenomena. So, for example, did they really contact his close friend, the late Mac Tonnies, from the other side? Are such events yet another part of the co-creation scenario, in which we communicate with “them” to produce these sightings? How has Paul’s ghost-hunting ventures influenced his attitude towards such mysteries? A fascinating question, from Ryan, is also considered. Do paranormal events still occur if there’s nobody around to witness them?
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
Paranormal Phenomena and Personal Interactions
By Gene Steinberg
I’d like to thank my new friend Ryan Sprague for reminding me of a well-known ethical conundrum, “If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there, does it still make a sound?”
I’ll get to that shortly, and how it might impact paranormal phenomena, and the co-creation hypothesis that has been mentioned more and more frequently on The Paracast. As to that theory, if you’ve just tuned in, it’s about the possibility that the events we see involve, in part, our own participation. Thus cultural influences may heavily impact the form they take.
So if we a steeped in classic space opera sci-fi lore, does that explain why UFOs traditionally appear as metallic spacecraft? If we were conditioned to expect flying beings, such as angels or fairies, is that the form they’d take?
What’s really there anyway?
Now among the most popular — and some believe endless — debates in our forums is whether UFOs are spaceships. One of our regular participants has suggested that we oppose the extraterrestrial hypothesis (ETH), which is why we so often discuss alternate theories.
But I’ve never said that. Greg Bishop has never said that. Nor has Paul Kimball and Ryan Sprague said they object to the ETH.
While I’m sometimes accused of keeping my head in the 1950s, the ETH is the theory that originally gained prominence then, and I’ve argued for years that other possibilities ought to be considered.
After all, as it stands, we don’t have a smoking gun that demonstrates this or any other theory. There’s nothing lost in considering alternatives and how they might fit into the picture.
So what about that tree and the sound it may or not make when it falls?
Well, we seem to have an awful time demonstrating the existence of paranormal phenomena separated from the eyewitnesses. Yes, UFOs and ghost phenomena are photographed from time to time, but someone is usually there to take the photos. Besides, most of these pictures don’t contain the clear details we need to have a “ghost” of a chance of figuring out what’s going on.
There are even cases where cameras were set up to capture possible UFO abductions, only the equipment seems to mysteriously fail whenever something might be happening. There are also reports that the experiencer, perhaps under a trance, deliberately turns off the device.
It doesn’t make it easy.
When it comes to UFOs, there are several efforts in various stages of progress to set up networks of detectors to capture sightings or other paranormal events in progress whether or not someone is there.
Chris O’Brien has his San Luis Valley Camera Project (Christopher OBrien is creating The San Luis Valley Camera/Monitoring Project | Patreon ) in the late stages of development. But they are all similar in one respect, which is to have the equipment installed in areas where paranormal activity appears to occur more often than in other locales. So there ought to be a greater chance of capturing a sighting in progress, taking photos, videos and making critical measurements.
You might wonder why such projects haven’t been done in the past. But the sort of equipment needed was usually too expensive for cash-starved researchers and groups to try. I suppose it’s possible the military has been doing this for years, and maybe there’s evidence that we’d love to see if they’d let lose with it. Would such data reveal critical evidence of UFO reality?
Maybe not.
You see, if the co-creation hypothesis has any merit, the nature of the phenomenon depends on there being a human participant. So it takes on the influences of at least two parties. One is the source, whatever it might be, and the other is the eyewitness. If there are multiple witnesses, they might see something roughly similar, or different. Or nothing at all.
On the other hand, if the source phenomenon is partly responsible for what happens, does the UFO still appear when there are no living beings to see it? Yes, the sound of a falling tree scenario.
What about ghosts? If there was nobody in that haunted house, would such entities appear, or does all paranormal phenomena depend on at least two parties to co-create? Can two humans accomplish the task, or must the source be present as well to do its thing?
Now if this is the requirement, does that mean that the possibility of using tech gear to capture the data without our presence can’t happen? I suppose it doesn’t have to mean that the human co-creator has to be in the same location. Being nearby, even in a home or office, may be sufficient to provide the subconscious connection.
Sure, I might be whistling in the dark here. But this possibility will only be credible if defection equipment usually fails unless someone is nearby to help the cause.
But I’m not dismissing the possibility that we are being influenced by “them” to see what we think we are seeing.
That goes back to the suggestion that, say, a UFO is little more than a hologram generated for our benefit by ET. Inasmuch as we cannot accept their true appearance, they are manipulating their appearance to make them more acceptable.
So if it’s 1950’s style spaceships, so be it. If it’s piloted by a Nordic or a gray, so be it.
So why would ET engage in this play-acting anyway? Are they doing it as a means of training their youngsters to manage contact with the primitive dwellers of backwards planets? Is there a prime directive at work here?
Is it possible their appearance is so hideous to our sensibilities that we’d be frightened at their presence? But doesn’t that happen anyway with some possible alien encounters, such as abductions?
Certainly if you want to accept the presence of such phenomena as independent and separate from us, then they’d be around even if we weren’t. Therefore, the presence of some sort of detection system must inevitably succeed if these sightings occur in unoccupied places.
But I don’t necessarily believe that triggering a paranormal phenomenon depends on the presence of a witness. Maybe I’m just shooting from the hip here, but consider the possibilities.
Copyright 1999-2018 The Paracast LLC. 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!
June 10, 2018
www.theparacast.com
Explore Ghosts, UFO Abductions and UFOs with Ryan Sprague 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 A PREMIUM PARACAST EXPERIENCE! 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 a higher-quality version of The Paracast free of network ads, when you sign up for The Paracast+. We also offer a special RSS feed for easy updates of the latest episodes, the Paracast+ Video Channel, episode transcripts, Special Features, Classic Episodes and there’s more to come! We also feature selected podcasts and videos from Paul Kimball’s “Other Side of Truth,” and we are now offering special access to the first two episodes of the ghost haunting show he cohosts, "Haunted." Check out our new lower rates, starting at just $1.49 per week, plus our “Lifetime” membership and special free print and eBook book offers! For more information about our premium package, please visit: https://plus.theparacast.com/.
This Week's Episode: Gene and guest co-host Goggs Mackay present cutting-edge paranormal researcher Ryan Sprague for a romp through the world of the strange and unknown. Ryan is an author, screenwriter, and playwright splitting homes between New York City and Los Angeles. He is also an investigative journalist specializing in the topic of UFOs. He's interviewed witnesses in all walks of life about UFO sightings and possible encounters with extraterrestrials, and is the author of Somewhere in the Skies: A Human Approach to an Alien Phenomenon and is also a contributing writer to the anthology, UFOs: Reframing the Debate. Ryan is also the creator and host of the "Somewhere in the Skies Podcast."
Chris O’Brien’s Blog: Our Strange Planet
Ryan Sprague's Site: Somewhere in the skies
Paul Kimball's Site: Winter Light Productions
After The Paracast -- Available exclusively for Paracast+ subscribers on June 10: As a follow-up to this week’s episode of The Paracast, featuring paranormal researcher Ryan Sprague, Gene and special guest Paul Kimball discuss a series of possible ghost encounters that involved Ryan, Greg Bishop, Holly Stevens and other fellow travelers. Paul tries to put these episodes in perspective compared to other paranormal phenomena. So, for example, did they really contact his close friend, the late Mac Tonnies, from the other side? Are such events yet another part of the co-creation scenario, in which we communicate with “them” to produce these sightings? How has Paul’s ghost-hunting ventures influenced his attitude towards such mysteries? A fascinating question, from Ryan, is also considered. Do paranormal events still occur if there’s nobody around to witness them?
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
Paranormal Phenomena and Personal Interactions
By Gene Steinberg
I’d like to thank my new friend Ryan Sprague for reminding me of a well-known ethical conundrum, “If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there, does it still make a sound?”
I’ll get to that shortly, and how it might impact paranormal phenomena, and the co-creation hypothesis that has been mentioned more and more frequently on The Paracast. As to that theory, if you’ve just tuned in, it’s about the possibility that the events we see involve, in part, our own participation. Thus cultural influences may heavily impact the form they take.
So if we a steeped in classic space opera sci-fi lore, does that explain why UFOs traditionally appear as metallic spacecraft? If we were conditioned to expect flying beings, such as angels or fairies, is that the form they’d take?
What’s really there anyway?
Now among the most popular — and some believe endless — debates in our forums is whether UFOs are spaceships. One of our regular participants has suggested that we oppose the extraterrestrial hypothesis (ETH), which is why we so often discuss alternate theories.
But I’ve never said that. Greg Bishop has never said that. Nor has Paul Kimball and Ryan Sprague said they object to the ETH.
While I’m sometimes accused of keeping my head in the 1950s, the ETH is the theory that originally gained prominence then, and I’ve argued for years that other possibilities ought to be considered.
After all, as it stands, we don’t have a smoking gun that demonstrates this or any other theory. There’s nothing lost in considering alternatives and how they might fit into the picture.
So what about that tree and the sound it may or not make when it falls?
Well, we seem to have an awful time demonstrating the existence of paranormal phenomena separated from the eyewitnesses. Yes, UFOs and ghost phenomena are photographed from time to time, but someone is usually there to take the photos. Besides, most of these pictures don’t contain the clear details we need to have a “ghost” of a chance of figuring out what’s going on.
There are even cases where cameras were set up to capture possible UFO abductions, only the equipment seems to mysteriously fail whenever something might be happening. There are also reports that the experiencer, perhaps under a trance, deliberately turns off the device.
It doesn’t make it easy.
When it comes to UFOs, there are several efforts in various stages of progress to set up networks of detectors to capture sightings or other paranormal events in progress whether or not someone is there.
Chris O’Brien has his San Luis Valley Camera Project (Christopher OBrien is creating The San Luis Valley Camera/Monitoring Project | Patreon ) in the late stages of development. But they are all similar in one respect, which is to have the equipment installed in areas where paranormal activity appears to occur more often than in other locales. So there ought to be a greater chance of capturing a sighting in progress, taking photos, videos and making critical measurements.
You might wonder why such projects haven’t been done in the past. But the sort of equipment needed was usually too expensive for cash-starved researchers and groups to try. I suppose it’s possible the military has been doing this for years, and maybe there’s evidence that we’d love to see if they’d let lose with it. Would such data reveal critical evidence of UFO reality?
Maybe not.
You see, if the co-creation hypothesis has any merit, the nature of the phenomenon depends on there being a human participant. So it takes on the influences of at least two parties. One is the source, whatever it might be, and the other is the eyewitness. If there are multiple witnesses, they might see something roughly similar, or different. Or nothing at all.
On the other hand, if the source phenomenon is partly responsible for what happens, does the UFO still appear when there are no living beings to see it? Yes, the sound of a falling tree scenario.
What about ghosts? If there was nobody in that haunted house, would such entities appear, or does all paranormal phenomena depend on at least two parties to co-create? Can two humans accomplish the task, or must the source be present as well to do its thing?
Now if this is the requirement, does that mean that the possibility of using tech gear to capture the data without our presence can’t happen? I suppose it doesn’t have to mean that the human co-creator has to be in the same location. Being nearby, even in a home or office, may be sufficient to provide the subconscious connection.
Sure, I might be whistling in the dark here. But this possibility will only be credible if defection equipment usually fails unless someone is nearby to help the cause.
But I’m not dismissing the possibility that we are being influenced by “them” to see what we think we are seeing.
That goes back to the suggestion that, say, a UFO is little more than a hologram generated for our benefit by ET. Inasmuch as we cannot accept their true appearance, they are manipulating their appearance to make them more acceptable.
So if it’s 1950’s style spaceships, so be it. If it’s piloted by a Nordic or a gray, so be it.
So why would ET engage in this play-acting anyway? Are they doing it as a means of training their youngsters to manage contact with the primitive dwellers of backwards planets? Is there a prime directive at work here?
Is it possible their appearance is so hideous to our sensibilities that we’d be frightened at their presence? But doesn’t that happen anyway with some possible alien encounters, such as abductions?
Certainly if you want to accept the presence of such phenomena as independent and separate from us, then they’d be around even if we weren’t. Therefore, the presence of some sort of detection system must inevitably succeed if these sightings occur in unoccupied places.
But I don’t necessarily believe that triggering a paranormal phenomenon depends on the presence of a witness. Maybe I’m just shooting from the hip here, but consider the possibilities.
Copyright 1999-2018 The Paracast LLC. 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!