THE PARACAST NEWSLETTER
November 8, 2015
www.theparacast.com
We Explore Martian Mysteries with Dr. John Brandenburg 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.
Announcing The Paracast+: We have another radio show, and for a low subscription fee, you will receive access to After The Paracast, plus a higher-quality version of The Paracast without the network ads, and chat rooms. NEW! We’ve added an RSS feed for fast updates of the latest episodes and we give free ebooks for long-term subscriptions. A Paracast+ video channel is coming soon. Check out our new “Lifetime” membership, and subscribe before November 16, 2015 to avoid the price increase and lock in the current rates! 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 Goggs Mackay present Dr. John Brandenburg to help sort out all sorts of amazing Martian mysteries in light of NASA revelations about the presence of running water on Mars and new understandings of the red planet’s atmosphere. Dr. Brandenburg is author of “Death on Mars: The Discovery of a Planetary Nuclear Massacre,” which describes a now-dead Martian civilization and the shocking reason for its demise: an ancient planetary-scale nuclear massacre leaving isotopic traces of vast explosions that endure to our present age. He works as a veteran plasma physicist and Senior Propulsion Scientist at Orbital Technologies Corporation in Madison, Wisconsin.
Chris O’Brien’s Site: Our Strange Planet
After The Paracast -- Available exclusively to Paracast+ subscribers on November 8: Chris discusses his brief fall vacation, after which he and Gene revisit the contentious issue of alien abductions. The recent forum controversy featuring debates over the work of abduction investigator Dr. David Jacobs and Emma Woods, a former test subject who has been attacking him over a variety of issues for several years. Chris says he more or less “zoned out” over the discussions, as Gene gives a brief summary of the history of flamewars in our forum, and what went on in the Jacobs/Woods debates before it was shut down. The discussion moves to the work of Dr. Jacobs, and the ongoing concerns Gene and Chris have over not only his methods but his offhand dismissal of the theories presented by other abduction researchers that are contrary to his. Chris explains why he’s looking forward to shows where the guests talk about doing solid work to investigate UFOs and oth er mysteries.
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.
Taking UFO Research to the Next Level
By Gene Steinberg
Most of the UFO cases accumulated since 1947 consist of eyewitness testimony. Quite often, it’s just one person who sees a strange flying — or landing — thing. When there are multiple witnesses, the descriptions don’t always jibe.
From time to time, there have been reports of simultaneous visual and radar sightings. In other words, a radar return is confirmed by the visual presence of a UFO, or vice versa. This is said to be significant, since it confirms that something one sees is solid enough to appear on radar.
There are numerous photos, but very few are clear enough to allow you to separate the real from the frisbees or the kites or other things tossed into the sky, or hung aloft by wire. In recent years, video special effects have become easy enough — and cheap enough — so anyone with even modest skills can create something that will require a professional to determine if it’s a fake.
Today’s iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus can take 4K videos that are so close to professional quality you could make movies with them. They are tailor made for UFO fakery and, in all fairness, other smartphones also have powerful cameras that are well suited to making digital mischief.
Even though there have been reports of possible trace evidence, supposed remnants after the landing of a strange object, the smoking gun remains elusive. It hasn’t reached the point where you can assemble a group of mainstream scientists and deliver proof positive that something unknown — possibly extraterrestrial — is happening.
While some of you will maintain such evidence exists already, it is clearly not compelling enough to persuade the skeptics. But what will it take? To paraphrase a paragraph in a famous UFO book of long ago, would a UFO have to land on the White House lawn — or New York City’s Central Park — to convince the nonbelievers?
Would ET have to hack our TV networks and satellite systems and broadcast their messages around the world?
Well, that concept has been used as a plot device in at least two sci-fi films, including “Earth Versus the Flying Saucers” in 1956 and “Man of Steel” in 2013. In the former, a B-movie classic, ET warns us to look to the sun for a warning. In the latter, a reboot of the Superman origin story, General Zod demands that Earth surrender Kal-El (Superman’s Kryptonian name) or face the consequences.
So would ET simply take over the airwaves to demonstrate their reality, or would a physical landing be required?
I sort of suspect that a media warning of some sort would be largely disbelieved unless it was accompanied by evidence of ET’s physical presence. People no longer believe the media.
This doesn’t mean that the public doesn’t believe UFOs exist. Polls over the years indicate from one-third to one-half the people in the U.S. accept their reality, and in large part that means they are visitors from outer space. Other theories don’t receive the same level of coverage, in part because they are more difficult to explain in a brief sound byte. Also, our science fiction culture has already embedded the image of alien visitors on our consciousness, but at least it’s a starting point.
But 68 years after the first sightings of the modern UFO era, it doesn’t seem as if a whole lot has been accomplished. We are always several steps removed from the smoking gun.
One possible way to gather evidence would be to catch UFOs in the act, but that tends to be an accidental occurrence. Even if you live in a place where sightings are frequent, there is no guarantee they will show up at your convenience, particularly if you have the equipment at hand to take photos and make measurements.
There have been efforts to find patterns. In the early days, UFO researchers wondered if their presence had any connection with the Mars “opposition,” where the red planet is, when viewed from Earth, opposite the sun. This event occurs every 780 days, but efforts to confirm such a cycle failed. Of course, that theory arose when people still believed that Mars might harbor intelligent life. Perhaps it did, at one time, but there’s no evidence now of anything that could possibly be more advanced than simple microbial life. And we haven’t even confirmed that.
Over the years, I’ve heard theories of five-year cycles, seven-year cycles and flights across ley lines. But as soon as a pattern seems to emerge, it doesn’t. UFOs are random yet again, or are following the beat of a different drummer whose intentions we cannot yet fathom.
I’ll avoid, for the moment, the belief that Earth governments already know the UFO secret, but have kept it hidden for unknown reasons. We haven’t proved anything of the sort, and it may be a cop out to avoid having to confront the fact that final evidence has yet to be discovered.
Again, catching UFOs in the act is the ideal, and there are new efforts to try to obtain such evidence.
So we have Chris O’Brien’s San Luis Valley Camera Project, where a network of video cameras is being established in a region that’s been home to frequent paranormal events. Yet another project, UFODATA, is under development now.
According to the description posted at the project’s site, ufodata.net: “Our goal is to exploit this technological convergence by building a large network of automated surveillance stations with sophisticated sensors that will monitor the skies 24/7 looking for aerial anomalies. After over two years of developing our ideas, making plans, and testing relevant technologies we are now ready to move into the next phase – a ‘proof of concept’ by developing our first working prototype of a fully functioning monitoring station. This station will have a core optical unit with cameras capable of detecting and recording both an image and spectra, a magnetic sensing unit, instrumentation to detect microwave and other radiation, and other sensors to record atmospheric and local environmental data. Alarm triggers will initiate recording by all the equipment, permitting capture of a broad range of physical data that can then be analyzed by experts.”
Sounds intriguing, and we plan to feature two members of the project team, Mark Rodeghier, Ph.D., from the Dr. J. Allen Hynek Center for UFO Studies, and investigative reporter Leslie Kean, on our November 15, 2015 episode.
Clearly the traditional methods of gathering and storing UFO evidence have given us little more than huge databases of anecdotal reports. There’s a crying need to move beyond mere data collection, and perhaps these two projects, from our own Chris O’Brien and the UFODATA team, will go a long way towards acquiring iron-clad evidence of UFO reality.
Well, at least if the saucers cooperate. But we have to try.
Copyright 1999-2015 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!
November 8, 2015
www.theparacast.com
We Explore Martian Mysteries with Dr. John Brandenburg 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.
Announcing The Paracast+: We have another radio show, and for a low subscription fee, you will receive access to After The Paracast, plus a higher-quality version of The Paracast without the network ads, and chat rooms. NEW! We’ve added an RSS feed for fast updates of the latest episodes and we give free ebooks for long-term subscriptions. A Paracast+ video channel is coming soon. Check out our new “Lifetime” membership, and subscribe before November 16, 2015 to avoid the price increase and lock in the current rates! 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 Goggs Mackay present Dr. John Brandenburg to help sort out all sorts of amazing Martian mysteries in light of NASA revelations about the presence of running water on Mars and new understandings of the red planet’s atmosphere. Dr. Brandenburg is author of “Death on Mars: The Discovery of a Planetary Nuclear Massacre,” which describes a now-dead Martian civilization and the shocking reason for its demise: an ancient planetary-scale nuclear massacre leaving isotopic traces of vast explosions that endure to our present age. He works as a veteran plasma physicist and Senior Propulsion Scientist at Orbital Technologies Corporation in Madison, Wisconsin.
Chris O’Brien’s Site: Our Strange Planet
After The Paracast -- Available exclusively to Paracast+ subscribers on November 8: Chris discusses his brief fall vacation, after which he and Gene revisit the contentious issue of alien abductions. The recent forum controversy featuring debates over the work of abduction investigator Dr. David Jacobs and Emma Woods, a former test subject who has been attacking him over a variety of issues for several years. Chris says he more or less “zoned out” over the discussions, as Gene gives a brief summary of the history of flamewars in our forum, and what went on in the Jacobs/Woods debates before it was shut down. The discussion moves to the work of Dr. Jacobs, and the ongoing concerns Gene and Chris have over not only his methods but his offhand dismissal of the theories presented by other abduction researchers that are contrary to his. Chris explains why he’s looking forward to shows where the guests talk about doing solid work to investigate UFOs and oth er mysteries.
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.
Taking UFO Research to the Next Level
By Gene Steinberg
Most of the UFO cases accumulated since 1947 consist of eyewitness testimony. Quite often, it’s just one person who sees a strange flying — or landing — thing. When there are multiple witnesses, the descriptions don’t always jibe.
From time to time, there have been reports of simultaneous visual and radar sightings. In other words, a radar return is confirmed by the visual presence of a UFO, or vice versa. This is said to be significant, since it confirms that something one sees is solid enough to appear on radar.
There are numerous photos, but very few are clear enough to allow you to separate the real from the frisbees or the kites or other things tossed into the sky, or hung aloft by wire. In recent years, video special effects have become easy enough — and cheap enough — so anyone with even modest skills can create something that will require a professional to determine if it’s a fake.
Today’s iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus can take 4K videos that are so close to professional quality you could make movies with them. They are tailor made for UFO fakery and, in all fairness, other smartphones also have powerful cameras that are well suited to making digital mischief.
Even though there have been reports of possible trace evidence, supposed remnants after the landing of a strange object, the smoking gun remains elusive. It hasn’t reached the point where you can assemble a group of mainstream scientists and deliver proof positive that something unknown — possibly extraterrestrial — is happening.
While some of you will maintain such evidence exists already, it is clearly not compelling enough to persuade the skeptics. But what will it take? To paraphrase a paragraph in a famous UFO book of long ago, would a UFO have to land on the White House lawn — or New York City’s Central Park — to convince the nonbelievers?
Would ET have to hack our TV networks and satellite systems and broadcast their messages around the world?
Well, that concept has been used as a plot device in at least two sci-fi films, including “Earth Versus the Flying Saucers” in 1956 and “Man of Steel” in 2013. In the former, a B-movie classic, ET warns us to look to the sun for a warning. In the latter, a reboot of the Superman origin story, General Zod demands that Earth surrender Kal-El (Superman’s Kryptonian name) or face the consequences.
So would ET simply take over the airwaves to demonstrate their reality, or would a physical landing be required?
I sort of suspect that a media warning of some sort would be largely disbelieved unless it was accompanied by evidence of ET’s physical presence. People no longer believe the media.
This doesn’t mean that the public doesn’t believe UFOs exist. Polls over the years indicate from one-third to one-half the people in the U.S. accept their reality, and in large part that means they are visitors from outer space. Other theories don’t receive the same level of coverage, in part because they are more difficult to explain in a brief sound byte. Also, our science fiction culture has already embedded the image of alien visitors on our consciousness, but at least it’s a starting point.
But 68 years after the first sightings of the modern UFO era, it doesn’t seem as if a whole lot has been accomplished. We are always several steps removed from the smoking gun.
One possible way to gather evidence would be to catch UFOs in the act, but that tends to be an accidental occurrence. Even if you live in a place where sightings are frequent, there is no guarantee they will show up at your convenience, particularly if you have the equipment at hand to take photos and make measurements.
There have been efforts to find patterns. In the early days, UFO researchers wondered if their presence had any connection with the Mars “opposition,” where the red planet is, when viewed from Earth, opposite the sun. This event occurs every 780 days, but efforts to confirm such a cycle failed. Of course, that theory arose when people still believed that Mars might harbor intelligent life. Perhaps it did, at one time, but there’s no evidence now of anything that could possibly be more advanced than simple microbial life. And we haven’t even confirmed that.
Over the years, I’ve heard theories of five-year cycles, seven-year cycles and flights across ley lines. But as soon as a pattern seems to emerge, it doesn’t. UFOs are random yet again, or are following the beat of a different drummer whose intentions we cannot yet fathom.
I’ll avoid, for the moment, the belief that Earth governments already know the UFO secret, but have kept it hidden for unknown reasons. We haven’t proved anything of the sort, and it may be a cop out to avoid having to confront the fact that final evidence has yet to be discovered.
Again, catching UFOs in the act is the ideal, and there are new efforts to try to obtain such evidence.
So we have Chris O’Brien’s San Luis Valley Camera Project, where a network of video cameras is being established in a region that’s been home to frequent paranormal events. Yet another project, UFODATA, is under development now.
According to the description posted at the project’s site, ufodata.net: “Our goal is to exploit this technological convergence by building a large network of automated surveillance stations with sophisticated sensors that will monitor the skies 24/7 looking for aerial anomalies. After over two years of developing our ideas, making plans, and testing relevant technologies we are now ready to move into the next phase – a ‘proof of concept’ by developing our first working prototype of a fully functioning monitoring station. This station will have a core optical unit with cameras capable of detecting and recording both an image and spectra, a magnetic sensing unit, instrumentation to detect microwave and other radiation, and other sensors to record atmospheric and local environmental data. Alarm triggers will initiate recording by all the equipment, permitting capture of a broad range of physical data that can then be analyzed by experts.”
Sounds intriguing, and we plan to feature two members of the project team, Mark Rodeghier, Ph.D., from the Dr. J. Allen Hynek Center for UFO Studies, and investigative reporter Leslie Kean, on our November 15, 2015 episode.
Clearly the traditional methods of gathering and storing UFO evidence have given us little more than huge databases of anecdotal reports. There’s a crying need to move beyond mere data collection, and perhaps these two projects, from our own Chris O’Brien and the UFODATA team, will go a long way towards acquiring iron-clad evidence of UFO reality.
Well, at least if the saucers cooperate. But we have to try.
Copyright 1999-2015 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!