THE PARACAST NEWSLETTER
May 28, 2017
www.theparacast.com
Canadian UFO Researcher Chris Rutkowski Discusses the 1967 Falcon Lake UFO Close Encounter 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 print and eBook book 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: Gene and guest co-host J. Randall Murphy present Canadian UFO researcher Chris Rutkowski to talk about a new book about a classic UFO encounter that he wrote with Stan Michalak, “When They Appeared — Falcon Lake 1967: The inside story of a close encounter.” Just what really happened? Did a UFO land and cause thermal and/or radiation injuries to the lone witness? Chris Rutkowski, BSc, MEd, is a Canadian science writer and educator, with a background in astronomy but with a passion for teaching science concepts to children and adults. Since the mid-1970s, he also has been studying reports of UFOs and writing about his investigations and research.
J. Randall Murphy’s Site: Ufology Society International (USI) - Explore the UFO Phenomenon
Chris Rutkowski’s Site: Ufology Research
After The Paracast -- Available exclusively to Paracast+ subscribers on May 28: Guest co-host J. Randall Murphy (Usual Suspect) and special guest Robert Brandstetter (Burnt State) discuss racism in Ufology and how MUFON treated the case of a former state director who made offensive white nationalist comments and was finally dismissed. There is some political discussion here, as the panel wonders whether it’s time for MUFON to vet members who occupy positions of importance. Randall and Robert debate the reality behind the 1967 Falcon Lake UFO encounter, featured in the recent book from Chris Rutkowski and Stan Michalak, “When They Appeared.” The merits of other close encounters, such as the Travis Walton abduction, are considered.
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.
Ufology at the Crossroads
By Gene Steinberg
I realize a lot of you might take a “why bother?” attitude towards UFO research nowadays. I mean, it’s not as if the pursuit has had any measurable result. Sixty-five years ago, the prevailing opinions had it that the flying saucers were spaceships from somewhere unknown, and that the U.S. government knew the truth. But their so-called “Silence Group,” operating under deep secrecy, opted not to tell us, and, in the meantime, went on to debunk the cases with false and misleading statements.
It’s sometimes hard to believe that the “conventional wisdom” of the 1950s has changed so little. Then the UFOs might be thought of as coming from a nearby planet, perhaps Mars. Now the origins are generally regarded as interstellar and, as more and more potential life-bearing worlds are discovered by scientists, it’s considered a certainty.
Therefore, it’s high time that the authorities disclose what they know. After all, they must know something, right? If we know what’s going on — more or less — imagine all the incredible sightings they have cataloged above top secret.
Now there were many organizations established to look into the phenomenon in the good old days. Among them, there were two key organizations that gained some measure of national and worldwide prominence. One was the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP), particularly after best-selling flying saucer book author Major Donald E. Keyhoe came onboard as Director.
As I’ve written previously, NICAP was nothing if not controversial. It’s “board of governors” was heavily laden with former military personnel, in large part because Keyhoe was a retired Marine. That, to skeptics, was a sign that something suspicious was up. Why add such people as the former head of the CIA, if the organization wasn’t a government front of some sort?
It so happened that the CIA person, Rear Admiral R.H. Hillenkoetter, was Keyhoe’s classmate once upon a time. But it still looked suspicious to some.
Now NICAP’s original mission was not to solve the UFO mystery, but to persuade Congress to hold hearings. So it was in essence a lobbying organization, although it did investigate UFO cases, largely to advance its goals. But Keyhoe was overly cautious, and some critics wondered just how close he’d allow a UFO to get before he stopped taking it seriously.
So he was supposedly reluctant to take the Barney and Betty Hill abduction seriously. But he was eventually persuaded to give it its due.
Now forget, for a moment, my run-ins with their former office manager, Richard H. Hall. NICAP’s real problem was being so naive about the value of putting the UFO subject before Congress. Keyhoe believed that, once his evidence was presented objectively, there was no way that they wouldn’t take it seriously.
So when Congress finally had a look-see, the Condon Committee was created. Its report, which many felt whitewashed the evidence in concluding there was nothing to UFOs, gave the Air Force the excuse it needed to shutter Project Blue Book.
But having shot its single bullet and not getting the results it expected, NICAP never recovered. Amid reports of financial irregularities and, facing bankruptcy, Keyhoe was basically let go for incompetence. He was not, to be blunt, much of a manager. Indeed, on the two occasions I visited their headquarters, Keyhoe wasn’t there. Evidently he just showed up every few days to check on things. For several years, Hall was the real power behind the throne when it came to actually doing something; that is, until he resigned.
The other UFO club of prominence was the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization (APRO), headed up by Jim and Coral Lorenzen. Unlike NICAP, APRO was actually devoted to investigating UFO reports, and did a credible job on the Socorro, NM sighting and other cases. They even published some compelling UFO reports from South America.
Now without putting the blame on anyone, I had exactly two encounters with Ms. Lorenzen. The first occurred while I was a teenager publishing a small UFO magazine. She objected when I printed a short summary of an article she wrote for Fate. After exchanging a couple of letters, she dropped the matter.
But when I ran into her at a UFO conference over a decade later, upon being introduced, all she could remember was our little dustup.
I wouldn’t suggest that her abrasive personality was one of the reasons why a number of APRO members split off from the organization in 1969. It is common for UFO clubs, then and now, to organize and reorganize, and for some members to decide they can do it better and go their own way.
Well, that’s what happened this time, as the Midwest UFO Network (MUFON) was formed from that splinter group. APRO, in turn, remained in existence until 1988.
In 1973, MUFON was renamed Mutual UFO Network, to remove the regional flavor as its ambitions grew. Today, MUFON has a large network of state directors and field investigators. But its efforts to remain relevant in the 21st century have have resulted in some questionable moves.
The first has been to select lecturers with less-than-stellar reputations for taking a factual approach to UFOs, and book them to appear at MUFON’s annual conference. It is more about filling seats than informing people.
So for its 2017 symposium, one of the featured speakers is the controversial Michael Salla, Ph.D., who is scheduled to talk about “The U.S. Navy’s Secret Space Program and Nordic Extraterrestrial Alliance.”
The Nordic who?
Then there is a certain reality TV show, the History Channel’s “Hangar 1,” supposedly based on MUFON’s files. The show lasted for two seasons, with a total of 20 episodes broadcast in 2014 and 2015. But it was widely criticized for taking a less-than-credible approach to the facts. As with most reality shows, it was designed to be entertaining and provocative first.
But I suppose it helped to improve MUFON’s bottom line with new membership signups, and I presume licensing fees of some sort were involved.
That takes us to the fate of one of the featured players on “Hangar 1,” John Ventre, who most recently occupied the position of MUFON’s Pennsylvania State Director.
Unfortunately, Ventre is nothing if not controversial, and he was finally fired by Executive Director Jan Harzan due an unfortunate habit of making alleged racist comments.
So just how does someone who behaves that way rise to a position of prominence in MUFON? Why was he allowed to co-host a TV series designed to advance the organization’s interests? Didn’t anyone bother to read his hate-filled white nationalist racist rants? I did, and I will not quote them here.
The spotlight is on MUFON. While the organization can certainly allow anyone to join, those who occupy positions of authority ought to be vetted. I know that, when I have sought part-time work with an employer, they do a background check. Clearly MUFON dropped the ball once again here. Anyone with a leadership position in MUFON will be regarded as a voice of the organization. If they are doing nasty things, even on their own time, that will reflect on MUFON, and they need to make sure such things don’t happen again.
If they hope to be taken seriously.
It would also help if MUFON made more of a concerted effort to do something with the many thousands of cases that have been collected over the decades. They can start with making the online UFO sighting database actually work efficiently.
In talking with Jan Harzan and other MUFON leaders, I continue to suggest that they take a closer look at the eyewitnesses to UFO encounters to get a fuller picture of what’s going on.
I doubt that I’m being taken seriously. But my suggestion that they do background checks for those in authority — starting with the existing leadership — would go a long way to help restore MUFON’s credibility. But it would help a lot if they actually made an effort to do some real UFO research. Just collecting and publishing sighting reports, and engaging in idle speculation about them, is not research.
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 any
May 28, 2017
www.theparacast.com
Canadian UFO Researcher Chris Rutkowski Discusses the 1967 Falcon Lake UFO Close Encounter 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 print and eBook book 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: Gene and guest co-host J. Randall Murphy present Canadian UFO researcher Chris Rutkowski to talk about a new book about a classic UFO encounter that he wrote with Stan Michalak, “When They Appeared — Falcon Lake 1967: The inside story of a close encounter.” Just what really happened? Did a UFO land and cause thermal and/or radiation injuries to the lone witness? Chris Rutkowski, BSc, MEd, is a Canadian science writer and educator, with a background in astronomy but with a passion for teaching science concepts to children and adults. Since the mid-1970s, he also has been studying reports of UFOs and writing about his investigations and research.
J. Randall Murphy’s Site: Ufology Society International (USI) - Explore the UFO Phenomenon
Chris Rutkowski’s Site: Ufology Research
After The Paracast -- Available exclusively to Paracast+ subscribers on May 28: Guest co-host J. Randall Murphy (Usual Suspect) and special guest Robert Brandstetter (Burnt State) discuss racism in Ufology and how MUFON treated the case of a former state director who made offensive white nationalist comments and was finally dismissed. There is some political discussion here, as the panel wonders whether it’s time for MUFON to vet members who occupy positions of importance. Randall and Robert debate the reality behind the 1967 Falcon Lake UFO encounter, featured in the recent book from Chris Rutkowski and Stan Michalak, “When They Appeared.” The merits of other close encounters, such as the Travis Walton abduction, are considered.
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.
Ufology at the Crossroads
By Gene Steinberg
I realize a lot of you might take a “why bother?” attitude towards UFO research nowadays. I mean, it’s not as if the pursuit has had any measurable result. Sixty-five years ago, the prevailing opinions had it that the flying saucers were spaceships from somewhere unknown, and that the U.S. government knew the truth. But their so-called “Silence Group,” operating under deep secrecy, opted not to tell us, and, in the meantime, went on to debunk the cases with false and misleading statements.
It’s sometimes hard to believe that the “conventional wisdom” of the 1950s has changed so little. Then the UFOs might be thought of as coming from a nearby planet, perhaps Mars. Now the origins are generally regarded as interstellar and, as more and more potential life-bearing worlds are discovered by scientists, it’s considered a certainty.
Therefore, it’s high time that the authorities disclose what they know. After all, they must know something, right? If we know what’s going on — more or less — imagine all the incredible sightings they have cataloged above top secret.
Now there were many organizations established to look into the phenomenon in the good old days. Among them, there were two key organizations that gained some measure of national and worldwide prominence. One was the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP), particularly after best-selling flying saucer book author Major Donald E. Keyhoe came onboard as Director.
As I’ve written previously, NICAP was nothing if not controversial. It’s “board of governors” was heavily laden with former military personnel, in large part because Keyhoe was a retired Marine. That, to skeptics, was a sign that something suspicious was up. Why add such people as the former head of the CIA, if the organization wasn’t a government front of some sort?
It so happened that the CIA person, Rear Admiral R.H. Hillenkoetter, was Keyhoe’s classmate once upon a time. But it still looked suspicious to some.
Now NICAP’s original mission was not to solve the UFO mystery, but to persuade Congress to hold hearings. So it was in essence a lobbying organization, although it did investigate UFO cases, largely to advance its goals. But Keyhoe was overly cautious, and some critics wondered just how close he’d allow a UFO to get before he stopped taking it seriously.
So he was supposedly reluctant to take the Barney and Betty Hill abduction seriously. But he was eventually persuaded to give it its due.
Now forget, for a moment, my run-ins with their former office manager, Richard H. Hall. NICAP’s real problem was being so naive about the value of putting the UFO subject before Congress. Keyhoe believed that, once his evidence was presented objectively, there was no way that they wouldn’t take it seriously.
So when Congress finally had a look-see, the Condon Committee was created. Its report, which many felt whitewashed the evidence in concluding there was nothing to UFOs, gave the Air Force the excuse it needed to shutter Project Blue Book.
But having shot its single bullet and not getting the results it expected, NICAP never recovered. Amid reports of financial irregularities and, facing bankruptcy, Keyhoe was basically let go for incompetence. He was not, to be blunt, much of a manager. Indeed, on the two occasions I visited their headquarters, Keyhoe wasn’t there. Evidently he just showed up every few days to check on things. For several years, Hall was the real power behind the throne when it came to actually doing something; that is, until he resigned.
The other UFO club of prominence was the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization (APRO), headed up by Jim and Coral Lorenzen. Unlike NICAP, APRO was actually devoted to investigating UFO reports, and did a credible job on the Socorro, NM sighting and other cases. They even published some compelling UFO reports from South America.
Now without putting the blame on anyone, I had exactly two encounters with Ms. Lorenzen. The first occurred while I was a teenager publishing a small UFO magazine. She objected when I printed a short summary of an article she wrote for Fate. After exchanging a couple of letters, she dropped the matter.
But when I ran into her at a UFO conference over a decade later, upon being introduced, all she could remember was our little dustup.
I wouldn’t suggest that her abrasive personality was one of the reasons why a number of APRO members split off from the organization in 1969. It is common for UFO clubs, then and now, to organize and reorganize, and for some members to decide they can do it better and go their own way.
Well, that’s what happened this time, as the Midwest UFO Network (MUFON) was formed from that splinter group. APRO, in turn, remained in existence until 1988.
In 1973, MUFON was renamed Mutual UFO Network, to remove the regional flavor as its ambitions grew. Today, MUFON has a large network of state directors and field investigators. But its efforts to remain relevant in the 21st century have have resulted in some questionable moves.
The first has been to select lecturers with less-than-stellar reputations for taking a factual approach to UFOs, and book them to appear at MUFON’s annual conference. It is more about filling seats than informing people.
So for its 2017 symposium, one of the featured speakers is the controversial Michael Salla, Ph.D., who is scheduled to talk about “The U.S. Navy’s Secret Space Program and Nordic Extraterrestrial Alliance.”
The Nordic who?
Then there is a certain reality TV show, the History Channel’s “Hangar 1,” supposedly based on MUFON’s files. The show lasted for two seasons, with a total of 20 episodes broadcast in 2014 and 2015. But it was widely criticized for taking a less-than-credible approach to the facts. As with most reality shows, it was designed to be entertaining and provocative first.
But I suppose it helped to improve MUFON’s bottom line with new membership signups, and I presume licensing fees of some sort were involved.
That takes us to the fate of one of the featured players on “Hangar 1,” John Ventre, who most recently occupied the position of MUFON’s Pennsylvania State Director.
Unfortunately, Ventre is nothing if not controversial, and he was finally fired by Executive Director Jan Harzan due an unfortunate habit of making alleged racist comments.
So just how does someone who behaves that way rise to a position of prominence in MUFON? Why was he allowed to co-host a TV series designed to advance the organization’s interests? Didn’t anyone bother to read his hate-filled white nationalist racist rants? I did, and I will not quote them here.
The spotlight is on MUFON. While the organization can certainly allow anyone to join, those who occupy positions of authority ought to be vetted. I know that, when I have sought part-time work with an employer, they do a background check. Clearly MUFON dropped the ball once again here. Anyone with a leadership position in MUFON will be regarded as a voice of the organization. If they are doing nasty things, even on their own time, that will reflect on MUFON, and they need to make sure such things don’t happen again.
If they hope to be taken seriously.
It would also help if MUFON made more of a concerted effort to do something with the many thousands of cases that have been collected over the decades. They can start with making the online UFO sighting database actually work efficiently.
In talking with Jan Harzan and other MUFON leaders, I continue to suggest that they take a closer look at the eyewitnesses to UFO encounters to get a fuller picture of what’s going on.
I doubt that I’m being taken seriously. But my suggestion that they do background checks for those in authority — starting with the existing leadership — would go a long way to help restore MUFON’s credibility. But it would help a lot if they actually made an effort to do some real UFO research. Just collecting and publishing sighting reports, and engaging in idle speculation about them, is not research.
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 any
