The Paracast Newsletter
May 25, 2025
www.theparacast.com
Discover the Secrets of Paranormal Documenaries From the 1970s and Horror Film Legends With Gary D. Rhodes on the Paracast!
The Paracast is released every Sunday and available from our site, https://www.theparacast.com, your favorite podcast app, and the IRN Internet Radio Network. All episodes from 2022 and later now feature better audio and fewer ads. We are also re-releasing some of our most popular classic episodes.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVEN'T SIGNED UP FOR THE PARACAST+ YET? PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO THE PARACAST+ SO YOU CAN 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 bonus podcast, After The Paracast, plus a special version of The Paracast with all the ads removed, when you join The Paracast+. We also offer a special RSS feed for easy updates of the latest episodes on your device. Episodes for subscribers to The Paracast+ are now released 24 hours earlier. Flash! Now includes over 100 classic episodes, so take advantage of our lowest rates ever! Act now! It's easier than ever to susbcribe! For the easiest signup ever, please visit: https://www.theparacast.plus
This Week's Episode (May 25, 2025): Gene and cohost Tim Swartz feature Gary D. Rhodes. He is a renowned film historian and author with a passion for uncovering the forgotten stories of horror cinema. He’s a world expert on Bela Lugosi and Dracula, and will reveal the secrets of the tragic life story of this world-famous horror film legend. He will also talk about his book, “Weirdumentary: Ancient Aliens, Fallacious Prophecies, and Mysterious Monsters From 1970s Documentaries.” The book unlocks the secrets of the strangest cinematic phenomenon of the 1970s. It’s the ultimate guide to the bizarre, the unexplained, and the wildly entertaining films and television programs that blurred the line between fact and fantasy. “Weirdumentary” examines dozens of movies and TV series, sold to the unsuspecting public as documentaries, beginning with “Chariots of the Gods” (1970) and ending with “The Man Who Saw Tomorrow” (1981). Leonard Nimoy’s “In Search Of” makes an appearance, and so does Orson Wells in his late-career role of sinister yet skeptical narrator. Although listeners to The Paracast know about their factual basis, many of these shows and movies featured spurious experts, questionable evidence, and low-budget dramatization. Acclaimed comic book artist, writer, and historian Stephen R. Bissette, best known for his groundbreaking work on DC Comics’ “Swamp Thing” alongside Alan Moore, provides the foreword.
After The Paracast — Available exclusively to Paracast+ subscribers on May 24: Renowned film historian and author Gary D. Rhodes returns to talk with Gene and cohost Tim Swartz about pop culture, with an emphasis on horror films, especially the classics of the last century. He talks about Forrest J Ackerman, known for the “Famous Monsters of Filmland” magazine and his vast collection of horror film and sci-fi memorabilia. Gene will also speak of the times he met Forry over the years. There will be a discussion about efforts to preserve old films and TV shows that continue to deteriorate, and the lost treasures. And what about failed efforts to present an accurate version of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” on the silver screen? Among his books, Gary is author of “Weirdumentary: Ancient Aliens, Fallacious Prophecies, and Mysterious Monsters From 1970s Documentaries.” The book unlocks the secrets of the strangest cinematic phenomenon of the 1970s. It’s the ultimate guide to the bizarre, the unexplained, and the wildly entertaining films and television programs that blurred the line between fact and fantasy. When he’s not diving into dusty film archives, Gary can be found teaching, lecturing, or working on his next independent film.
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. And look for @theparacast on Bluesky Social, Facebook, Threads and X.
The Ministry of Unfulfilled Dreams
By Gene Steinberg
This is a fable.
One evening, the President of the United States makes a special announcement from the Oval Office. What he says, stripped of he usual flowery prose, is this:
“For many decades, people have reported unknown objects in the skies around the world. Whether they are called UAPs, UFOs or flying saucers, some have speculated that we are being visited by intelligent beings from other worlds.
“When God created the universe, he created millions and millions of planets, some of which are no doubt capable of supporting life as we know it. Some may even have civilizations more advanced than ours, and have thus developed the technology to allow them to travel among the stars.
“Well I am now confirming that, yes, the UAP phenomenon has an offworld origin. UAPs are coming here from one or more advanced civilizations elsewhere in the universe.
“While UAPs have been studied by our military for many decades, we do not, as yet, have any final answers to reveal as to their level of their advancement. We can say with a high degree of certainty, that they do not appear to represent a threat to us, to our way of life.
“I cannot as yet respond to questions, but we will, in the coming days, discuss the presence of UAPs further as we develop more information. Thank you and may God bless our troops.”
Or something like that.
I had thought of writing something more appropriate for a President, or something that takes into account other possibilities, such as communicating with ET, but decided against it. You can easily modify the statement any way you want and convey the basic message.
Indeed, such an announcement has been the wet dream of disclosure advocates for decades. If you read the books from early UFO advocate Major Donald E. Keyhoe, as I did in days gone by, it was clear that he believed such a revelation was right around the corner. He imagined that the U.S. Congress was honest enough (?) to accept the reality of the phenomenon and make certain we were all told the truth.
In retrospect, it’s difficult to imagine that a seasoned aviation writer and military veteran was so naive about the way things are. Indeed, when actual Congressional hearings were held in 1969, after years of briefings, they resulted in the infamous Condon Report that merely repeated the Air Force’s contention that there was nothing to it.
That the document contained some pretty compelling unexplained UFO cases was ignored in its conclusions. I suppose the theory was that the vast majority of the pubic wouldn’t read much of it. So creating a false impression would succeed.
And it did. The Air Force deep-sixed Project Blue Book, and except for followers and members of UFO clubs and publications, most people believed it.
Until more sightings occurred. Certainly the legendary 1973 flap made it clear that UFOs weren’t going away. I recall running sighting reports on my daily newscasts, when I was working as News Director at a radio station in the Philadelphia suburbs. Fortunately management didn’t seem to care. So long as I provided coverage of local events, they took it in stride.
If they had any interest in the subject, they never told me.
Over the years, the disclosure movement returned in fits and starts with little positive results. Sure, lots of people believed in UFOs, and that they were extraterrestrial, according to periodic polls on the question. But things didn’t change.
There was reason to be optimistic when, in 2017, a daily newspaper often identified as “The Old Gray Lady,” The New York Times, revealed the existence of a secret Pentagon UAP research program. There were renewed expectations that something positive would happen this time.
But as the years passed, even hearings in the halls of Congress have failed to resolve the matter. The Pentagon merely reports the shibboleth of days gone by, that the appearance of UAPs do not represent a threat to national security, and there is no evidence of an offworld origin.
It does seem that, even if the hoped for disclosure of UAP reality does happen, most people will take it in stride. If it wasn’t followed by a massed appearance of strange flying objects, perhaps a landing and communication, it will soon vanish from the news sources. Cable TV talking heads will return to the political mess of the day and people would move on.
Sure, there have been suggestions that the revelation of the presence of ET would trigger worldwide panic, a disruption to the energy industry and other unsavory consequences. But in the real world, it will probably only dominate the public’s attention for a short time. If UAPs don’t have an immediate impact on our civilization, it’s doubtful there’d be any long-term impact.
Indeed, some disclosure fans believe it has already happened, so gradually the it is embedded in our sci-fi based pop culture.
But such scenarios are dependent on UAPs being extraterrestrial. As The Paracast has discussed in our over 19 years, there may be far more complex issues involved. It’s not just the possibility that our “visitors” come from another dimension or another time. Some have speculated that, since legends and myths of strange visitors have been part and parcel of our culture for ages, we really do not know what’s going on.
Explaining all of it in pithy prose is just not easy. This is especially true in a short attention span culture. If it can’t be summarized in a couple of sentences, people will by and large lose interest.
I am not about to go into a lengthy discourse about the way things are, other than that the situation results in the public at large mostly oblivious to the events of the day. Sure, cable TV news gets a decent audience regardless of your political views. But the ratings amount to just a few million people each day. TV reality shows — which are not, in fact, depictions of reality — have far more viewers. That especially includes shows focusing on the paranormal, which are largely streamed on low-rated cable TV outlets.
Books on the paranormal rarely sell in large quantities. The most successful recent title, “Imminent” from former Pentagon official Luis Elizondo, actually made it to number one in the non-fiction category according to The New York Times. For one week. Then it rapidly lost popularity. While still popular among UFO books and related categories on Amazon, it ranks just short of 5,000 among all titles.
Other than Elizondo’s occasional appearances on cable TV, it hasn’t changed things all that much.
I hate to be a pessimist, but my expectations of some sort of UFO disclosure were dashed years ago. Yes, I’d like to be proven wrong some day. But as I’ve said before, I still see no reason to think it’ll ever happen.
Copyright 1999-2025 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!
May 25, 2025
www.theparacast.com
Discover the Secrets of Paranormal Documenaries From the 1970s and Horror Film Legends With Gary D. Rhodes on the Paracast!
The Paracast is released every Sunday and available from our site, https://www.theparacast.com, your favorite podcast app, and the IRN Internet Radio Network. All episodes from 2022 and later now feature better audio and fewer ads. We are also re-releasing some of our most popular classic episodes.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVEN'T SIGNED UP FOR THE PARACAST+ YET? PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO THE PARACAST+ SO YOU CAN 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 bonus podcast, After The Paracast, plus a special version of The Paracast with all the ads removed, when you join The Paracast+. We also offer a special RSS feed for easy updates of the latest episodes on your device. Episodes for subscribers to The Paracast+ are now released 24 hours earlier. Flash! Now includes over 100 classic episodes, so take advantage of our lowest rates ever! Act now! It's easier than ever to susbcribe! For the easiest signup ever, please visit: https://www.theparacast.plus
This Week's Episode (May 25, 2025): Gene and cohost Tim Swartz feature Gary D. Rhodes. He is a renowned film historian and author with a passion for uncovering the forgotten stories of horror cinema. He’s a world expert on Bela Lugosi and Dracula, and will reveal the secrets of the tragic life story of this world-famous horror film legend. He will also talk about his book, “Weirdumentary: Ancient Aliens, Fallacious Prophecies, and Mysterious Monsters From 1970s Documentaries.” The book unlocks the secrets of the strangest cinematic phenomenon of the 1970s. It’s the ultimate guide to the bizarre, the unexplained, and the wildly entertaining films and television programs that blurred the line between fact and fantasy. “Weirdumentary” examines dozens of movies and TV series, sold to the unsuspecting public as documentaries, beginning with “Chariots of the Gods” (1970) and ending with “The Man Who Saw Tomorrow” (1981). Leonard Nimoy’s “In Search Of” makes an appearance, and so does Orson Wells in his late-career role of sinister yet skeptical narrator. Although listeners to The Paracast know about their factual basis, many of these shows and movies featured spurious experts, questionable evidence, and low-budget dramatization. Acclaimed comic book artist, writer, and historian Stephen R. Bissette, best known for his groundbreaking work on DC Comics’ “Swamp Thing” alongside Alan Moore, provides the foreword.
After The Paracast — Available exclusively to Paracast+ subscribers on May 24: Renowned film historian and author Gary D. Rhodes returns to talk with Gene and cohost Tim Swartz about pop culture, with an emphasis on horror films, especially the classics of the last century. He talks about Forrest J Ackerman, known for the “Famous Monsters of Filmland” magazine and his vast collection of horror film and sci-fi memorabilia. Gene will also speak of the times he met Forry over the years. There will be a discussion about efforts to preserve old films and TV shows that continue to deteriorate, and the lost treasures. And what about failed efforts to present an accurate version of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” on the silver screen? Among his books, Gary is author of “Weirdumentary: Ancient Aliens, Fallacious Prophecies, and Mysterious Monsters From 1970s Documentaries.” The book unlocks the secrets of the strangest cinematic phenomenon of the 1970s. It’s the ultimate guide to the bizarre, the unexplained, and the wildly entertaining films and television programs that blurred the line between fact and fantasy. When he’s not diving into dusty film archives, Gary can be found teaching, lecturing, or working on his next independent film.
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. And look for @theparacast on Bluesky Social, Facebook, Threads and X.
The Ministry of Unfulfilled Dreams
By Gene Steinberg
This is a fable.
One evening, the President of the United States makes a special announcement from the Oval Office. What he says, stripped of he usual flowery prose, is this:
“For many decades, people have reported unknown objects in the skies around the world. Whether they are called UAPs, UFOs or flying saucers, some have speculated that we are being visited by intelligent beings from other worlds.
“When God created the universe, he created millions and millions of planets, some of which are no doubt capable of supporting life as we know it. Some may even have civilizations more advanced than ours, and have thus developed the technology to allow them to travel among the stars.
“Well I am now confirming that, yes, the UAP phenomenon has an offworld origin. UAPs are coming here from one or more advanced civilizations elsewhere in the universe.
“While UAPs have been studied by our military for many decades, we do not, as yet, have any final answers to reveal as to their level of their advancement. We can say with a high degree of certainty, that they do not appear to represent a threat to us, to our way of life.
“I cannot as yet respond to questions, but we will, in the coming days, discuss the presence of UAPs further as we develop more information. Thank you and may God bless our troops.”
Or something like that.
I had thought of writing something more appropriate for a President, or something that takes into account other possibilities, such as communicating with ET, but decided against it. You can easily modify the statement any way you want and convey the basic message.
Indeed, such an announcement has been the wet dream of disclosure advocates for decades. If you read the books from early UFO advocate Major Donald E. Keyhoe, as I did in days gone by, it was clear that he believed such a revelation was right around the corner. He imagined that the U.S. Congress was honest enough (?) to accept the reality of the phenomenon and make certain we were all told the truth.
In retrospect, it’s difficult to imagine that a seasoned aviation writer and military veteran was so naive about the way things are. Indeed, when actual Congressional hearings were held in 1969, after years of briefings, they resulted in the infamous Condon Report that merely repeated the Air Force’s contention that there was nothing to it.
That the document contained some pretty compelling unexplained UFO cases was ignored in its conclusions. I suppose the theory was that the vast majority of the pubic wouldn’t read much of it. So creating a false impression would succeed.
And it did. The Air Force deep-sixed Project Blue Book, and except for followers and members of UFO clubs and publications, most people believed it.
Until more sightings occurred. Certainly the legendary 1973 flap made it clear that UFOs weren’t going away. I recall running sighting reports on my daily newscasts, when I was working as News Director at a radio station in the Philadelphia suburbs. Fortunately management didn’t seem to care. So long as I provided coverage of local events, they took it in stride.
If they had any interest in the subject, they never told me.
Over the years, the disclosure movement returned in fits and starts with little positive results. Sure, lots of people believed in UFOs, and that they were extraterrestrial, according to periodic polls on the question. But things didn’t change.
There was reason to be optimistic when, in 2017, a daily newspaper often identified as “The Old Gray Lady,” The New York Times, revealed the existence of a secret Pentagon UAP research program. There were renewed expectations that something positive would happen this time.
But as the years passed, even hearings in the halls of Congress have failed to resolve the matter. The Pentagon merely reports the shibboleth of days gone by, that the appearance of UAPs do not represent a threat to national security, and there is no evidence of an offworld origin.
It does seem that, even if the hoped for disclosure of UAP reality does happen, most people will take it in stride. If it wasn’t followed by a massed appearance of strange flying objects, perhaps a landing and communication, it will soon vanish from the news sources. Cable TV talking heads will return to the political mess of the day and people would move on.
Sure, there have been suggestions that the revelation of the presence of ET would trigger worldwide panic, a disruption to the energy industry and other unsavory consequences. But in the real world, it will probably only dominate the public’s attention for a short time. If UAPs don’t have an immediate impact on our civilization, it’s doubtful there’d be any long-term impact.
Indeed, some disclosure fans believe it has already happened, so gradually the it is embedded in our sci-fi based pop culture.
But such scenarios are dependent on UAPs being extraterrestrial. As The Paracast has discussed in our over 19 years, there may be far more complex issues involved. It’s not just the possibility that our “visitors” come from another dimension or another time. Some have speculated that, since legends and myths of strange visitors have been part and parcel of our culture for ages, we really do not know what’s going on.
Explaining all of it in pithy prose is just not easy. This is especially true in a short attention span culture. If it can’t be summarized in a couple of sentences, people will by and large lose interest.
I am not about to go into a lengthy discourse about the way things are, other than that the situation results in the public at large mostly oblivious to the events of the day. Sure, cable TV news gets a decent audience regardless of your political views. But the ratings amount to just a few million people each day. TV reality shows — which are not, in fact, depictions of reality — have far more viewers. That especially includes shows focusing on the paranormal, which are largely streamed on low-rated cable TV outlets.
Books on the paranormal rarely sell in large quantities. The most successful recent title, “Imminent” from former Pentagon official Luis Elizondo, actually made it to number one in the non-fiction category according to The New York Times. For one week. Then it rapidly lost popularity. While still popular among UFO books and related categories on Amazon, it ranks just short of 5,000 among all titles.
Other than Elizondo’s occasional appearances on cable TV, it hasn’t changed things all that much.
I hate to be a pessimist, but my expectations of some sort of UFO disclosure were dashed years ago. Yes, I’d like to be proven wrong some day. But as I’ve said before, I still see no reason to think it’ll ever happen.
Copyright 1999-2025 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!