THE PARACAST NEWSLETTER
March 12, 2017
www.theparacast.com
Journalist Leslie Kean Discusses Life After Death 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 After The Paracast, plus a higher-quality version of The Paracast free of network ads, and chat rooms 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’ve just begun to add podcasts and videos from Paul Kimball’s “Other Side of Truth.” Check out our new lower rates, starting at just $1.49 per week, plus our “Lifetime” membership and special free eBook offers! For more information about our premium package, please visit: Introducing The Paracast+ | The Paracast — The Gold Standard of Paranormal Radio.
This Week's Episode: With her book, "Surviving Death: A Journalist Investigates Evidence for an Afterlife," journalist Leslie Kean takes her interest in the paranormal to a totally new direction. Here's what Leslie says about what spurred her new quest: “While exploring the evidence for an afterlife, I witnessed some unbelievable things that are not supposed to be possible in our material world. Yet they were unavoidably and undeniably real. Despite my initial doubt, I came to realize that there are still aspects of Nature which are neither understood or accepted, even though their reality has profound implications for understanding the true breadth of the human psyche and its possible continuity after death.” Before writing about UFOs and the afterlife, Leslie worked as a freelance writer and radio producer for a number of major media outlets. Erica Lukes is guest co-host.
Chris O’Brien’s Site: Our Strange Planet
Erica Lukes Site: Erica Lukes, UFO Classified Radio Show Host KCOR
Leslie Kean’s “Surviving Death” Site: Surviving Death: A Journalist Investigates Evidence For An Afterlife
After The Paracast -- Available exclusively to Paracast+ subscribers on March 12: Gene and guest co-host Erica Lukes take a casual look at Leslie Kean’s approach to writing a book about life after death. Gene wonders if that book kind of got away from her as she confronted unexpected personal experiences while trying to maintain a journalist’s objectivity. There’s brief speculation about possible similarities between near-death experiences and UFO abductions, how such episodes take on cultural influences. Gene questions Erica about her personal encounters, and she recalls some strange ghost-like experiences at a home she once occupied in Utah. When asked what he has experienced, Gene brings up memories of a few things that happened to him as a child that were perhaps not paranormal, but certainly a little curious.
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.
UFO Sightings: Investigating Half-Way
By Gene Steinberg
There are tens and tens of thousands of UFO sightings that have been recorded over the years. Some are little more than one paragraph descriptions of lights in the sky. Others detail incredible encounters that may even include the landing of a strange aircraft, and the presence of its alien crew.
With all this evidence to call on, it’s unfortunate that so little progress has been made in figuring out what’s really going on. Most so-called UFO organizations don’t even try. Other than attempting to evangelize the message that ET is here and we should all be ready, there’s not much of an effort being made to demonstrate that this is true. Another excuse for not doing research is to demand that the American government — or any government — reveal the truth to one and all. We deserve to know!
But what about all that evidence that’s been accumulated over the years?
There’s certainly a lot there, although such organizations as MUFON and NUFORC are better at building databases than doing much of anything with the data. All that material: What does it mean?
What about combining the data? Well, when I asked NUFORC Director Peter Davenport about it on an episode of The Paracast in 2016, he danced around the subject. MUFON also appears to prefer to be the center of UFO data collection activity, rather than one of many organizations that work together.
But even if the egos could be set aside and efforts to cooperate actually occurred, where would they go next?
Well, maybe to expand the database of cases, to provide better tools for researchers to actually do some research. Yes, that’s the ticket.
The real question, however, is the quality of the database. If critical pieces of information are missing, or not being gathered, it’s very possible that keys to a potential solution to the UFO mystery are being overlooked.
I’ve made this point on The Paracast in the past, when I asked some guests from MUFON why their questionnaires and investigative methods usually overlook the background of an eyewitness. They focus on the case as an event that’s independent of the observer, so they may ignore someone’s background in which they may have had a number of paranormal experiences that do not, on the surface, appear to be UFO related.
So what if they lived in a haunted house, saw frightening apparitions or strange creatures, such as Bigfoot? Did they experience nightmares involving possible aliens or alien craft? What about their relatives? Is there a family history of paranormal encounters? And what about the location? Is there a history there of other strange happenings? Consider the possibilities.
For MUFON and other organizations, questions are usually asked with the assumption that, as long as the witness appears to be an honest, credible person, you can take their report at face value. Sure, perhaps they were fooled by a planet, star or conventional aircraft or other conventional phenomena. That will, one hopes, be considered in evaluating the worth of the report.
But even if all the elements are there in terms of a strange object making strange maneuvers or otherwise behaving in an unworldly fashion, how does that differ from all the other possible unknowns? How does that help us towards solving the mystery?
So MUFON Executive Director Jan Harzan recently told our listeners that they don’t mind if a witness volunteers some extra information about their personal history, but such questions aren't routinely asked.
Indeed, how do today’s sightings, which may be compared to others with similar details over the past few decades, help us expand our understanding of what’s going on?
How many identical or near-identical batches of evidence do we need anyway? Or is the goal just to sell memberships, premium merchandise, and fill seats at UFO events? You want to become a genuine UFO investigator? Sign up for an online course, pay the fee, and you’re ready to hang out your UFO investigator shingle and go about your work.
Maybe we should lobby governments to license UFO researchers. After all, a barber has to pass a test. A lawyer has to pass a test, and a doctor has to have a medical license. So why not a UFO investigator? Well, that may be pushing it.
On the other hand, the current state of the UFO field is a mess. There are lots of well-meaning people going about their business gathering sighting reports, collecting and collating information, and sometimes making estimates of the situation. But how many of these people have the skills or training to actually interview people and gather evidence?
If you’re a law enforcement officer, you would generally receive training on interviewing suspects. I suppose, then, that people who have worked in that field, in any evidence-gathering capacity, might be the best UFO investigators. At least they would understand the basics of talking to witnesses, and determining whether they are being honest or deceitful.
Now if you want to become a real, honest to goodness MUFON field investigator, it has a price. An online course at “MUFON University,” labeled “Best Value,” costs $199.00. Why a “Best Value”? Well it’s a bundle that includes, “1-year on-line subscriptions to the FI Certification Training Course, FI Manual, and FI Training Video Series (Orlando 2016) plus e-Journal access!”
After you take the course, if you are still unsuited to field investigator work, does MUFON kindly — or not so kindly — suggest that maybe you should seek a different hobby or another way to volunteer and help the cause?
Can a cheap online course provide an otherwise untrained individual with the tools they need to become skilled UFO investigators?
I’m just asking.
I am certain that most MUFON field investigators are perfectly sincere and fully dedicated to the task. I’m more interested in the results, and there hasn’t been much of a material nature in the 48 years MUFON has been in existence. Sure, there’s a decent web site, even though the use of a gray background with black text makes some of the material difficult to read. MUFON has also spruced up its former nondescript magazine, although the editorial quality remains hit or miss.
Now I’m not out to get MUFON. Its inability to succeed is typical of many UFO clubs over the years.
At the end of the day, the main questions about the presence of UFOs remain unanswered. The same theories are propounded, but very little research is really occurring, and that’s unfortunate.
Copyright 1999-2017 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!
March 12, 2017
www.theparacast.com
Journalist Leslie Kean Discusses Life After Death 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 After The Paracast, plus a higher-quality version of The Paracast free of network ads, and chat rooms 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’ve just begun to add podcasts and videos from Paul Kimball’s “Other Side of Truth.” Check out our new lower rates, starting at just $1.49 per week, plus our “Lifetime” membership and special free eBook offers! For more information about our premium package, please visit: Introducing The Paracast+ | The Paracast — The Gold Standard of Paranormal Radio.
This Week's Episode: With her book, "Surviving Death: A Journalist Investigates Evidence for an Afterlife," journalist Leslie Kean takes her interest in the paranormal to a totally new direction. Here's what Leslie says about what spurred her new quest: “While exploring the evidence for an afterlife, I witnessed some unbelievable things that are not supposed to be possible in our material world. Yet they were unavoidably and undeniably real. Despite my initial doubt, I came to realize that there are still aspects of Nature which are neither understood or accepted, even though their reality has profound implications for understanding the true breadth of the human psyche and its possible continuity after death.” Before writing about UFOs and the afterlife, Leslie worked as a freelance writer and radio producer for a number of major media outlets. Erica Lukes is guest co-host.
Chris O’Brien’s Site: Our Strange Planet
Erica Lukes Site: Erica Lukes, UFO Classified Radio Show Host KCOR
Leslie Kean’s “Surviving Death” Site: Surviving Death: A Journalist Investigates Evidence For An Afterlife
After The Paracast -- Available exclusively to Paracast+ subscribers on March 12: Gene and guest co-host Erica Lukes take a casual look at Leslie Kean’s approach to writing a book about life after death. Gene wonders if that book kind of got away from her as she confronted unexpected personal experiences while trying to maintain a journalist’s objectivity. There’s brief speculation about possible similarities between near-death experiences and UFO abductions, how such episodes take on cultural influences. Gene questions Erica about her personal encounters, and she recalls some strange ghost-like experiences at a home she once occupied in Utah. When asked what he has experienced, Gene brings up memories of a few things that happened to him as a child that were perhaps not paranormal, but certainly a little curious.
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.
UFO Sightings: Investigating Half-Way
By Gene Steinberg
There are tens and tens of thousands of UFO sightings that have been recorded over the years. Some are little more than one paragraph descriptions of lights in the sky. Others detail incredible encounters that may even include the landing of a strange aircraft, and the presence of its alien crew.
With all this evidence to call on, it’s unfortunate that so little progress has been made in figuring out what’s really going on. Most so-called UFO organizations don’t even try. Other than attempting to evangelize the message that ET is here and we should all be ready, there’s not much of an effort being made to demonstrate that this is true. Another excuse for not doing research is to demand that the American government — or any government — reveal the truth to one and all. We deserve to know!
But what about all that evidence that’s been accumulated over the years?
There’s certainly a lot there, although such organizations as MUFON and NUFORC are better at building databases than doing much of anything with the data. All that material: What does it mean?
What about combining the data? Well, when I asked NUFORC Director Peter Davenport about it on an episode of The Paracast in 2016, he danced around the subject. MUFON also appears to prefer to be the center of UFO data collection activity, rather than one of many organizations that work together.
But even if the egos could be set aside and efforts to cooperate actually occurred, where would they go next?
Well, maybe to expand the database of cases, to provide better tools for researchers to actually do some research. Yes, that’s the ticket.
The real question, however, is the quality of the database. If critical pieces of information are missing, or not being gathered, it’s very possible that keys to a potential solution to the UFO mystery are being overlooked.
I’ve made this point on The Paracast in the past, when I asked some guests from MUFON why their questionnaires and investigative methods usually overlook the background of an eyewitness. They focus on the case as an event that’s independent of the observer, so they may ignore someone’s background in which they may have had a number of paranormal experiences that do not, on the surface, appear to be UFO related.
So what if they lived in a haunted house, saw frightening apparitions or strange creatures, such as Bigfoot? Did they experience nightmares involving possible aliens or alien craft? What about their relatives? Is there a family history of paranormal encounters? And what about the location? Is there a history there of other strange happenings? Consider the possibilities.
For MUFON and other organizations, questions are usually asked with the assumption that, as long as the witness appears to be an honest, credible person, you can take their report at face value. Sure, perhaps they were fooled by a planet, star or conventional aircraft or other conventional phenomena. That will, one hopes, be considered in evaluating the worth of the report.
But even if all the elements are there in terms of a strange object making strange maneuvers or otherwise behaving in an unworldly fashion, how does that differ from all the other possible unknowns? How does that help us towards solving the mystery?
So MUFON Executive Director Jan Harzan recently told our listeners that they don’t mind if a witness volunteers some extra information about their personal history, but such questions aren't routinely asked.
Indeed, how do today’s sightings, which may be compared to others with similar details over the past few decades, help us expand our understanding of what’s going on?
How many identical or near-identical batches of evidence do we need anyway? Or is the goal just to sell memberships, premium merchandise, and fill seats at UFO events? You want to become a genuine UFO investigator? Sign up for an online course, pay the fee, and you’re ready to hang out your UFO investigator shingle and go about your work.
Maybe we should lobby governments to license UFO researchers. After all, a barber has to pass a test. A lawyer has to pass a test, and a doctor has to have a medical license. So why not a UFO investigator? Well, that may be pushing it.
On the other hand, the current state of the UFO field is a mess. There are lots of well-meaning people going about their business gathering sighting reports, collecting and collating information, and sometimes making estimates of the situation. But how many of these people have the skills or training to actually interview people and gather evidence?
If you’re a law enforcement officer, you would generally receive training on interviewing suspects. I suppose, then, that people who have worked in that field, in any evidence-gathering capacity, might be the best UFO investigators. At least they would understand the basics of talking to witnesses, and determining whether they are being honest or deceitful.
Now if you want to become a real, honest to goodness MUFON field investigator, it has a price. An online course at “MUFON University,” labeled “Best Value,” costs $199.00. Why a “Best Value”? Well it’s a bundle that includes, “1-year on-line subscriptions to the FI Certification Training Course, FI Manual, and FI Training Video Series (Orlando 2016) plus e-Journal access!”
After you take the course, if you are still unsuited to field investigator work, does MUFON kindly — or not so kindly — suggest that maybe you should seek a different hobby or another way to volunteer and help the cause?
Can a cheap online course provide an otherwise untrained individual with the tools they need to become skilled UFO investigators?
I’m just asking.
I am certain that most MUFON field investigators are perfectly sincere and fully dedicated to the task. I’m more interested in the results, and there hasn’t been much of a material nature in the 48 years MUFON has been in existence. Sure, there’s a decent web site, even though the use of a gray background with black text makes some of the material difficult to read. MUFON has also spruced up its former nondescript magazine, although the editorial quality remains hit or miss.
Now I’m not out to get MUFON. Its inability to succeed is typical of many UFO clubs over the years.
At the end of the day, the main questions about the presence of UFOs remain unanswered. The same theories are propounded, but very little research is really occurring, and that’s unfortunate.
Copyright 1999-2017 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!