THE PARACAST NEWSLETTER
May 11, 2014
www.theparacast.com
Paranormal Investigator Loyd Auerbach Talks About Ghosts and Other Phenomena 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.
Why It's Important for You to Donate to The Paracast: Although ads help cover a small part of our expenses, the income they produce is never enough to pay your humble hosts decent wages. Also, we do not receive any revenue from the ads placed on the show by our network or local stations. So we hope you're able 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 and utility bills. No contribution is too small (or too large
. It’s easy to send a donation. We have a Donate link on our home page, below the logo and audio player. Or use the Donate link on our forums, at the bottom of the sidebar on the right. You can also send your PayPal donation direct to sales (at) theparacast (dot) com.
Attention U.S. Listeners: Help Us Bring The Paracast to Your City! In the summer of 2010, The Paracast joined the GCN radio network. This represented a huge step in bringing our show to a larger, mainstream audience. But we need your help to add additional 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 on your behalf. We can't do this alone, and if you succeed in convincing your local station to carry the show, we'll reward you with one of our special T-shirts, and other goodies. With your help, The Paracast can grow into one of the most popular paranormal shows on the planet!
Please Visit Our Online Store: You asked, and we answered. We are now taking orders for The Official Paracast T-Shirt and an expanded collection of other specially customized merchandise. To get your T-Shirt now featuring our brand new logo, just pay a visit to our online store at The Official Paracast Store to select your size and place your order. We also offer a complete lineup of other premium merchandise for your family, your friends and your business contacts.
About The Paracast: 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 is a paranormal radio show that takes you on a journey to a world beyond science, where UFOs, poltergeists and strange phenomena of all kinds have been reported by millions. The Paracast seeks to shed light on the mysteries and complexities of our Universe and the secrets that surround us in our everyday lives.
Join long-time paranormal researcher Gene Steinberg, co-host and acclaimed field investigator Christopher O'Brien, and a panel of special guest experts and experiencers, as they explore the realms of the known and unknown. Listen each week to the great stories of the history of the paranormal field in the 20th and 21st centuries.
This Week's Episode: Gene and Chris present Loyd Auerbach, considered by many to be our top expert on the "paranormal." According to his bio, Loyd is Director of the Office of Paranormal Investigations, and is the 2013/2014 President of the Forever Family Foundation, an organization supporting research on Life After Death and the work of spirit mediums in the grieving process. He has served on their Scientific Advisory Board for a number of years. He was appointed to the faculty of Atlantic University of Virginia Beach, VA, in late 2010, where he teaches an online Parapsychology course. You'll learn about his ongoing research and even some case histories. There will also be some myth busting, so you'll know what those reality TV shows present that's just not so.
Chris O’Brien’s Site: http://www.ourstrangeplanet.com
Loyd Auerbach’s Site: The Paranormal Network | Official Site of Parapsychologist Loyd Auerbach and the Office of Paranormal Investigations
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. We recently completed a major update that makes our community easier to navigate, and social network friendly.
Of Ghosts and Other Apparitions
By Gene Steinberg
It’s a fair criticism that The Paracast spends a lot of time covering UFOs. That’s largely my fault, as I got involved in paranormal research via that route. But it’s also true that we present viewpoints you often don’t hear on other radio stows, simply because they are stuck in the “flying saucers must be spaceships” meme. Other possibilities are seldom entertained seriously.
By that I don’t mean to say that we aren’t being visited by aliens (from other worlds, not from the other side of the U.S. border), but I still think we don’t have a smoking gun that confirms any theory. Claims from alleged whistleblowers usually fail to pass muster, and sometimes you think they are either faking it for reasons best known to themselves, or they are plants hired by some individuals or agencies to mislead us.
But what about all those reports about ghosts and haunted houses? Certainly the interest is there, since TV reality shows on the subject remain popular, more so than UFOs. Besides, almost everybody I talk to can point to some sort of ghost story involving a friend or family, or the simple belief that they’ve had proof of life after death.
Certainly there’s a valid reason to want to believe that we survive beyond the point of death. You wouldn’t want to think you enter a realm of nothingness. Whether you are reincarnated into a new body and get another chance — generally without memories of your previous life it seems — or you move on into some other plane of existence, it is certainly comforting to believe that things don’t just stop when the body ceases to live.
But the closest I came to observing an afterlife experience happened in 1985, when my mother-in-law, Gwen, literally died in my wife’s arms. We were at my sister-in-law’s home, and we called 911 when Gwen was seized with an apparent heart attack. As the medics took her out on the stretcher, my wife felt an intense sensation in the pit of her stomach. It’s not uncommon; maybe her mother was saying her last goodbye.
The popular culture has certainly exploited the belief in ghosts or survival after death. Consider the 1990 movie, “Ghost,” directed by Jerry Zucker. And yes, that’s the same Jerry Zucker who formed the team that directed “Airplane” and other wacky comedy movies. This time, it was quite serious, and it even won a best supporting actress Oscar for none other than Whoopi Goldberg, who played an over-the-top phony psychic who suddenly discovers her paranormal powers are genuine.
The plot is pretty simple. A young banker, portrayed by Patrick Swayze, is tragically murdered, but hangs around as a ghost in an effort to locate the person responsible for the plot to kill him. There are some touching scenes as the Swayze’s character tries to adjust to his new state, including an encounter with a ghost who haunts New York’s subways, one who teaches him how to actually move physical objects and make his presence known to those who aren’t psychic.
As part of the research for the script, screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin reportedly examined actual ghost reports, and their presumed behavior, in crafting the plot for “Ghost,” and it shows. So in a sense, you have here, with the usual dramatic excesses, a story about someone who is lost midway between our reality and the afterlife until he deals with the unfinished business of unmasking the person who hatched the murder plot. If you saw the film, you’ll recall that the person who hired the killer was his best friend, a fellow banker.
So if ghosts truly exist, and the reports of ghost-like behavior or apparitions are exactly as described, is it unfinished business that keeps them here rather than face their ultimate destiny? I won’t cover the question of the existence of a heaven or a hell, but just consider a place where the dead must go. Is there a processing or way station that they must visit first to learn their ultimate fate?
Once their business as ghosts is concluded, movies and TV shows usually depict a door that serves as the gateway to the afterlife. Beyond that door is a bright glow, but the bright glow may just appear in space, without a physical door, or the appearance of a physical door. This scenario is all-too-common in descriptions of where we go when we die. Even people who have so-called near-death experiences, where they may be clinically dead for a short time, perhaps during surgery, recall some sort of bright light or doorway as the place to which they are destined to go once life ends. Sometimes they might even encounter a deceased friend or family member who might inform them their lives are not yet over.
Now scientists will tell you that the experiences you have in that brief period when you are — or appear to be — dead is just an illusion. It is not a real experience, even though the details appear to be fairly common to those who undergo the experience.
Proving the existence of ghosts is another matter entirely. While it may be possible to measure environmental changes when the spirits are allegedly present, particularly using instruments that measure electromagnetic emanations, it’s not as if you can capture one and bring it into the laboratory. The supposed interaction may consist of the symptoms, not the cause, such as noises in the home. Or maybe you will see a flash of light, or some sort of physical apparition that resembles a human or other living being. There are even alleged photos of possible ghosts, but they are often regarded as fakes.
One curious aspect of a ghost sighting is what appears to be a looping effect, where they seem to repeat the same actions over and over again. It’s almost as if you are watching a video that plays and replays. Sometimes I wonder if you’re seeing the aftermath of an event that somehow made a strong impression on the environment, and thus is destined to always repeat itself. Or at least repeat itself often enough for people to see it, assuming they are sensitive to such effects.
In saying that, the closest I came to ever seeing anything ghostlike occurred back in the early 1970s. My first wife, Geneva, and I were sleeping in the living room of our Pennsylvania home. Early in the morning, she awakened me to tell me she saw an apparition she interpreted as some sort of “water elemental.” I didn’t have my glasses on, but I did notice a brief shadow of something in the corner of my left eye. But it was over and the episode never repeated itself. Make of it what you will.
Copyright 1999-2014 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!
May 11, 2014
www.theparacast.com
Paranormal Investigator Loyd Auerbach Talks About Ghosts and Other Phenomena 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.
Why It's Important for You to Donate to The Paracast: Although ads help cover a small part of our expenses, the income they produce is never enough to pay your humble hosts decent wages. Also, we do not receive any revenue from the ads placed on the show by our network or local stations. So we hope you're able 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 and utility bills. No contribution is too small (or too large
. It’s easy to send a donation. We have a Donate link on our home page, below the logo and audio player. Or use the Donate link on our forums, at the bottom of the sidebar on the right. You can also send your PayPal donation direct to sales (at) theparacast (dot) com.Attention U.S. Listeners: Help Us Bring The Paracast to Your City! In the summer of 2010, The Paracast joined the GCN radio network. This represented a huge step in bringing our show to a larger, mainstream audience. But we need your help to add additional 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 on your behalf. We can't do this alone, and if you succeed in convincing your local station to carry the show, we'll reward you with one of our special T-shirts, and other goodies. With your help, The Paracast can grow into one of the most popular paranormal shows on the planet!
Please Visit Our Online Store: You asked, and we answered. We are now taking orders for The Official Paracast T-Shirt and an expanded collection of other specially customized merchandise. To get your T-Shirt now featuring our brand new logo, just pay a visit to our online store at The Official Paracast Store to select your size and place your order. We also offer a complete lineup of other premium merchandise for your family, your friends and your business contacts.
About The Paracast: 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 is a paranormal radio show that takes you on a journey to a world beyond science, where UFOs, poltergeists and strange phenomena of all kinds have been reported by millions. The Paracast seeks to shed light on the mysteries and complexities of our Universe and the secrets that surround us in our everyday lives.
Join long-time paranormal researcher Gene Steinberg, co-host and acclaimed field investigator Christopher O'Brien, and a panel of special guest experts and experiencers, as they explore the realms of the known and unknown. Listen each week to the great stories of the history of the paranormal field in the 20th and 21st centuries.
This Week's Episode: Gene and Chris present Loyd Auerbach, considered by many to be our top expert on the "paranormal." According to his bio, Loyd is Director of the Office of Paranormal Investigations, and is the 2013/2014 President of the Forever Family Foundation, an organization supporting research on Life After Death and the work of spirit mediums in the grieving process. He has served on their Scientific Advisory Board for a number of years. He was appointed to the faculty of Atlantic University of Virginia Beach, VA, in late 2010, where he teaches an online Parapsychology course. You'll learn about his ongoing research and even some case histories. There will also be some myth busting, so you'll know what those reality TV shows present that's just not so.
Chris O’Brien’s Site: http://www.ourstrangeplanet.com
Loyd Auerbach’s Site: The Paranormal Network | Official Site of Parapsychologist Loyd Auerbach and the Office of Paranormal Investigations
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. We recently completed a major update that makes our community easier to navigate, and social network friendly.
Of Ghosts and Other Apparitions
By Gene Steinberg
It’s a fair criticism that The Paracast spends a lot of time covering UFOs. That’s largely my fault, as I got involved in paranormal research via that route. But it’s also true that we present viewpoints you often don’t hear on other radio stows, simply because they are stuck in the “flying saucers must be spaceships” meme. Other possibilities are seldom entertained seriously.
By that I don’t mean to say that we aren’t being visited by aliens (from other worlds, not from the other side of the U.S. border), but I still think we don’t have a smoking gun that confirms any theory. Claims from alleged whistleblowers usually fail to pass muster, and sometimes you think they are either faking it for reasons best known to themselves, or they are plants hired by some individuals or agencies to mislead us.
But what about all those reports about ghosts and haunted houses? Certainly the interest is there, since TV reality shows on the subject remain popular, more so than UFOs. Besides, almost everybody I talk to can point to some sort of ghost story involving a friend or family, or the simple belief that they’ve had proof of life after death.
Certainly there’s a valid reason to want to believe that we survive beyond the point of death. You wouldn’t want to think you enter a realm of nothingness. Whether you are reincarnated into a new body and get another chance — generally without memories of your previous life it seems — or you move on into some other plane of existence, it is certainly comforting to believe that things don’t just stop when the body ceases to live.
But the closest I came to observing an afterlife experience happened in 1985, when my mother-in-law, Gwen, literally died in my wife’s arms. We were at my sister-in-law’s home, and we called 911 when Gwen was seized with an apparent heart attack. As the medics took her out on the stretcher, my wife felt an intense sensation in the pit of her stomach. It’s not uncommon; maybe her mother was saying her last goodbye.
The popular culture has certainly exploited the belief in ghosts or survival after death. Consider the 1990 movie, “Ghost,” directed by Jerry Zucker. And yes, that’s the same Jerry Zucker who formed the team that directed “Airplane” and other wacky comedy movies. This time, it was quite serious, and it even won a best supporting actress Oscar for none other than Whoopi Goldberg, who played an over-the-top phony psychic who suddenly discovers her paranormal powers are genuine.
The plot is pretty simple. A young banker, portrayed by Patrick Swayze, is tragically murdered, but hangs around as a ghost in an effort to locate the person responsible for the plot to kill him. There are some touching scenes as the Swayze’s character tries to adjust to his new state, including an encounter with a ghost who haunts New York’s subways, one who teaches him how to actually move physical objects and make his presence known to those who aren’t psychic.
As part of the research for the script, screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin reportedly examined actual ghost reports, and their presumed behavior, in crafting the plot for “Ghost,” and it shows. So in a sense, you have here, with the usual dramatic excesses, a story about someone who is lost midway between our reality and the afterlife until he deals with the unfinished business of unmasking the person who hatched the murder plot. If you saw the film, you’ll recall that the person who hired the killer was his best friend, a fellow banker.
So if ghosts truly exist, and the reports of ghost-like behavior or apparitions are exactly as described, is it unfinished business that keeps them here rather than face their ultimate destiny? I won’t cover the question of the existence of a heaven or a hell, but just consider a place where the dead must go. Is there a processing or way station that they must visit first to learn their ultimate fate?
Once their business as ghosts is concluded, movies and TV shows usually depict a door that serves as the gateway to the afterlife. Beyond that door is a bright glow, but the bright glow may just appear in space, without a physical door, or the appearance of a physical door. This scenario is all-too-common in descriptions of where we go when we die. Even people who have so-called near-death experiences, where they may be clinically dead for a short time, perhaps during surgery, recall some sort of bright light or doorway as the place to which they are destined to go once life ends. Sometimes they might even encounter a deceased friend or family member who might inform them their lives are not yet over.
Now scientists will tell you that the experiences you have in that brief period when you are — or appear to be — dead is just an illusion. It is not a real experience, even though the details appear to be fairly common to those who undergo the experience.
Proving the existence of ghosts is another matter entirely. While it may be possible to measure environmental changes when the spirits are allegedly present, particularly using instruments that measure electromagnetic emanations, it’s not as if you can capture one and bring it into the laboratory. The supposed interaction may consist of the symptoms, not the cause, such as noises in the home. Or maybe you will see a flash of light, or some sort of physical apparition that resembles a human or other living being. There are even alleged photos of possible ghosts, but they are often regarded as fakes.
One curious aspect of a ghost sighting is what appears to be a looping effect, where they seem to repeat the same actions over and over again. It’s almost as if you are watching a video that plays and replays. Sometimes I wonder if you’re seeing the aftermath of an event that somehow made a strong impression on the environment, and thus is destined to always repeat itself. Or at least repeat itself often enough for people to see it, assuming they are sensitive to such effects.
In saying that, the closest I came to ever seeing anything ghostlike occurred back in the early 1970s. My first wife, Geneva, and I were sleeping in the living room of our Pennsylvania home. Early in the morning, she awakened me to tell me she saw an apparition she interpreted as some sort of “water elemental.” I didn’t have my glasses on, but I did notice a brief shadow of something in the corner of my left eye. But it was over and the episode never repeated itself. Make of it what you will.
Copyright 1999-2014 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!