THE PARACAST NEWSLETTER
October 6, 2012
The "Quiet Researcher" Appears on The Paracast
Special Announcement: The Paracast is heard Sundays from 2:00 AM until 5:00 AM Central Time on the GCN Radio Network and affiliates around the USA, and online across the globe via download and on-demand streaming.
Please Send a Donation 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
. We have a Donate link on our home page, below the logo and audio player. There's also a Donate link on our forums, at the bottom of the sidebar on the right. Or just 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 Richard Sarradet, the "quiet researcher," who will discuss his interactions with the late UFO abductee and researcher Dr. Karla Turner and her husband, the hypnotist she relied on, Barbara Bartholic, and some of the material she published, especially her first book, "Into the Fringe." Alternate UFO theories and other paranormal phenomena are also on the agenda.
Christopher O'Brien's Site: Our Strange Planet
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.
Return With Us Now to the World of Disinformation
By Gene Steinberg
In the highly-rated TV drama, “Person of Interest,” one of the protagonists, Harold Finch (as portrayed by Michael Emerson), has invented a computer that somehow manages to keep tabs on virtually everything that’s going on in the U.S., and is designed to catch acts of terror before they occur. In the show, created by Jonathan Nolan (brother of “Dark Knight Rises” director Christopher Nolan), Finch uses the computer to protect people that the computer predicts may be crime victims.
The series is intelligently crafted, and has the proper conspiratorial arcs designed to keep your interest from episode to episode. But, as with most entrants in series television, the concept isn’t quite original. Consider the 1998 Will Smith movie vehicle, “Enemy of the State,” in which Smith’s character, a lawyer, is followed around Washington, D.C. by evil intelligence agents employing powerful computers after he’s falsely accused of committing murder.
Both envision an all-knowing intelligence apparatus, and plays to one’s inner paranoia about governments that are out of control. If they see all and know all, why are there still acts of murder and terrorism? Well, obviously, it’s all fiction. Clearly there are no supercomputers that powerful, not yet at any rate.
Or am I just being too skeptical?
Consider the typical Men In Black conspiracy theory, where you answer a ringing public phone, and yes there are a still a few left nowadays, only to find that the call is for you. In “Person of Interest,” there’s this scene in the current season where Finch’s cohort in this curious venture, John Reese (portrayed by a very grim Jim Caviezel) communicates with the computer via, you guessed it, a public phone. I recall one of the “Die Hard” movies where star Bruce Willis also had his close encounters with public phones in New York City, where the villain was busy feeding him instructions on what to do and where to go next.
While an omniscient computer would be expected to be able to connect to any telephone it wants, you have to wonder how a movie villain without a vast system of evesdropping equipment can manage the task. But, folks, it’s a movie.
Now in the UFO field, there have been loads of conspiracy theories about possible government involvement in spreading falsehoods about sightings, perhaps even generating a few close encounters, and possibly abductions, in order to advance some sort of covert agenda. Or maybe there is a group of scientists working on a secret government project to analyze how you and I might react should space visitors truly arrive, just to see if there’s the risk of widespread panic.
Certainly, with the presence of UFOs in our skies for so many years, we have a situation where the governments of Earth may really know what’s going on, and they need to make preparations. Or they are still in the dark, and they are just seeking options.
How to keep a secret with possibly civilization altering implications would clearly present a dilemma. I suppose it’s possible for governments, particularly in the U.S., to spread false information about UFOs, designed to divert our attention from what’s really going on. It’s true that the authorities engaged in curious mind-altering experiments over the years, so it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that they might also be playing games in the UFO field.
With tongue-in-cheek, my friends and I have often wondered whether there were any government agents subscribing to the UFO magazines I published some years back, not to mention The Paracast Community Forums. How could we possibly know, as such a person might simply observe and not participate in any discussions. Or participate occasionally without bringing undue attention to themselves.
Over the years, witnesses to UFOs and other strange encounters have occasionally been visited by possible government agents, sometimes being warned not to talk about their experiences in the interests of national security. There are, of course, the legends of the Men In Black, which many trace back to the 1950s, when UFO researcher Albert K. Bender reported being ordered by three of these individuals to stop talking about the subject. Years later, Bender wrote a book, “Flying Saucers and the Three Men,” in which he claimed the MIB who visited him were actually beings from another planet. Heavily edited by publisher Gray Barker, I often wondered whether Bender simply wrote the book to stop people from bothering him about the MIB. He was just another wacky flying saucer contactee; let’s give it a rest.
But MIB episodes predate Bender.
From time to time, I’ve even wondered whether government agents have deliberately staged UFO abductions, again perhaps to advance some sort of secret agenda, or to just test human guinea pigs. While there’s no reason to believe the classic abduction case involving Barney and Betty Hill was faked, it’s also true that they lived near a military base, and had many friends in the military. If some sort of disinformation program involving abductions was being considered, they might be suitable lab rats.
I realize that the people who have investigated the Hill case over the years will quickly dispute that theory, and I will not dismiss the fact that they may have collected enough evidence to show something weird really happened, that it wasn’t some sort of government trick. That doesn’t mean, though, that other abduction claims weren’t deliberately faked.
Over the years we’ve discussed possible government disinformation in the UFO field on The Paracast. There are the stories, for example, of that ad-hoc group of former intelligence agents, The Aviary, a possible source of such behavior, although it’s not at all clear if their activities were sanctioned, or were just examples of rogue agents gone amuck.
Regardless of the cause, it has become clearer to me over the years that at least some of the curious things that happen in the UFO field aren’t what they seem to be.
The Paracast Copyright 1999-2012 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!
October 6, 2012
The "Quiet Researcher" Appears on The Paracast
Special Announcement: The Paracast is heard Sundays from 2:00 AM until 5:00 AM Central Time on the GCN Radio Network and affiliates around the USA, and online across the globe via download and on-demand streaming.
Please Send a Donation 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
. We have a Donate link on our home page, below the logo and audio player. There's also a Donate link on our forums, at the bottom of the sidebar on the right. Or just 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 Richard Sarradet, the "quiet researcher," who will discuss his interactions with the late UFO abductee and researcher Dr. Karla Turner and her husband, the hypnotist she relied on, Barbara Bartholic, and some of the material she published, especially her first book, "Into the Fringe." Alternate UFO theories and other paranormal phenomena are also on the agenda.
Christopher O'Brien's Site: Our Strange Planet
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.
Return With Us Now to the World of Disinformation
By Gene Steinberg
In the highly-rated TV drama, “Person of Interest,” one of the protagonists, Harold Finch (as portrayed by Michael Emerson), has invented a computer that somehow manages to keep tabs on virtually everything that’s going on in the U.S., and is designed to catch acts of terror before they occur. In the show, created by Jonathan Nolan (brother of “Dark Knight Rises” director Christopher Nolan), Finch uses the computer to protect people that the computer predicts may be crime victims.
The series is intelligently crafted, and has the proper conspiratorial arcs designed to keep your interest from episode to episode. But, as with most entrants in series television, the concept isn’t quite original. Consider the 1998 Will Smith movie vehicle, “Enemy of the State,” in which Smith’s character, a lawyer, is followed around Washington, D.C. by evil intelligence agents employing powerful computers after he’s falsely accused of committing murder.
Both envision an all-knowing intelligence apparatus, and plays to one’s inner paranoia about governments that are out of control. If they see all and know all, why are there still acts of murder and terrorism? Well, obviously, it’s all fiction. Clearly there are no supercomputers that powerful, not yet at any rate.
Or am I just being too skeptical?
Consider the typical Men In Black conspiracy theory, where you answer a ringing public phone, and yes there are a still a few left nowadays, only to find that the call is for you. In “Person of Interest,” there’s this scene in the current season where Finch’s cohort in this curious venture, John Reese (portrayed by a very grim Jim Caviezel) communicates with the computer via, you guessed it, a public phone. I recall one of the “Die Hard” movies where star Bruce Willis also had his close encounters with public phones in New York City, where the villain was busy feeding him instructions on what to do and where to go next.
While an omniscient computer would be expected to be able to connect to any telephone it wants, you have to wonder how a movie villain without a vast system of evesdropping equipment can manage the task. But, folks, it’s a movie.
Now in the UFO field, there have been loads of conspiracy theories about possible government involvement in spreading falsehoods about sightings, perhaps even generating a few close encounters, and possibly abductions, in order to advance some sort of covert agenda. Or maybe there is a group of scientists working on a secret government project to analyze how you and I might react should space visitors truly arrive, just to see if there’s the risk of widespread panic.
Certainly, with the presence of UFOs in our skies for so many years, we have a situation where the governments of Earth may really know what’s going on, and they need to make preparations. Or they are still in the dark, and they are just seeking options.
How to keep a secret with possibly civilization altering implications would clearly present a dilemma. I suppose it’s possible for governments, particularly in the U.S., to spread false information about UFOs, designed to divert our attention from what’s really going on. It’s true that the authorities engaged in curious mind-altering experiments over the years, so it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that they might also be playing games in the UFO field.
With tongue-in-cheek, my friends and I have often wondered whether there were any government agents subscribing to the UFO magazines I published some years back, not to mention The Paracast Community Forums. How could we possibly know, as such a person might simply observe and not participate in any discussions. Or participate occasionally without bringing undue attention to themselves.
Over the years, witnesses to UFOs and other strange encounters have occasionally been visited by possible government agents, sometimes being warned not to talk about their experiences in the interests of national security. There are, of course, the legends of the Men In Black, which many trace back to the 1950s, when UFO researcher Albert K. Bender reported being ordered by three of these individuals to stop talking about the subject. Years later, Bender wrote a book, “Flying Saucers and the Three Men,” in which he claimed the MIB who visited him were actually beings from another planet. Heavily edited by publisher Gray Barker, I often wondered whether Bender simply wrote the book to stop people from bothering him about the MIB. He was just another wacky flying saucer contactee; let’s give it a rest.
But MIB episodes predate Bender.
From time to time, I’ve even wondered whether government agents have deliberately staged UFO abductions, again perhaps to advance some sort of secret agenda, or to just test human guinea pigs. While there’s no reason to believe the classic abduction case involving Barney and Betty Hill was faked, it’s also true that they lived near a military base, and had many friends in the military. If some sort of disinformation program involving abductions was being considered, they might be suitable lab rats.
I realize that the people who have investigated the Hill case over the years will quickly dispute that theory, and I will not dismiss the fact that they may have collected enough evidence to show something weird really happened, that it wasn’t some sort of government trick. That doesn’t mean, though, that other abduction claims weren’t deliberately faked.
Over the years we’ve discussed possible government disinformation in the UFO field on The Paracast. There are the stories, for example, of that ad-hoc group of former intelligence agents, The Aviary, a possible source of such behavior, although it’s not at all clear if their activities were sanctioned, or were just examples of rogue agents gone amuck.
Regardless of the cause, it has become clearer to me over the years that at least some of the curious things that happen in the UFO field aren’t what they seem to be.
The Paracast Copyright 1999-2012 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!
