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Your Paracast Newsletter — September 13, 2015


Gene Steinberg

Forum Super Hero
Staff member
THE PARACAST NEWSLETTER
September 13, 2015
www.theparacast.com


Gene and Chris Interrogated by Paracast Forum Members

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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: A special “turnabout is fair play” episode where four members of The Paracast forums question Gene and Chris about a variety of subjects, including their early introductions to the world of the paranormal. You’ll hear a lengthy description of a frightening encounter with strange beings, "stick men," when Chris was very young. This listener roundtable features Burnt State, ChrisJohnsen, Jeff Crowell and Ufology.

Chris O’Brien’s Site: Our Strange Planet

After The Paracast -- Available exclusively to Paracast+ subscribers on September 13:Gene and Chris present Part II of our “turnabout is fair play" episode with Burnt State, ChrisJohnsen, Jeff Crowell and Ufology. What about a hypnotherapy session that Christopher O’Brien underwent years ago, conducted by a pioneer in the field, which may or may not shed light on his sighting of possible “stick people” when he was six years of age? But does Chris really went to hear them after all these years? Chris also reveals some never-before-discussed facts about his life. Both Gene and Chris mention their various musical backgrounds; Chris continues to write and perform, but Gene gave it all up for reasons he cannot remember long ago. The conversation veers to MUFON, the Hanger 1 TV reality show, and other subjects. Chris explains why he’s somewhat more positive about the MUFON TV program. So are MUFON officials in close contact with Ray Stanfo rd? Will they succeed in convincing Stanford to make a large portion of his UFO evidence public after all these years? Chris is also questioned about some of the significant things he has learned from his ongoing investigations of paranormal events. He also offers a San Luis Valley Camera Project update. This episode will leave you wanting more.

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.

The “Spoonful of Sugar” Effect
By Gene Steinberg

So how do we get the public’s eyes off their iPhones, so they actually pay attention to what is going on in our skies? Indeed, are UFOs still being seen in large numbers around the world? After all, some people suggest that it’s mostly about things that happened long ago, and most or all current sightings are just misidentified conventional objects or phenomena.

Or maybe it’s the endless obsession over the Roswell crash.

The facts are otherwise: Unconventional objects are still being reported around the world. UFO researcher Chris Rutkowski continues to catalog large collections of sightings in Canada, MUFON’s database of recent sightings is regularly being expanded, and it’s clear that, whatever is causing the UFO mystery, it’s still around.

What’s abundantly clear to me, however, is that this is a mystery that still cries for a solution. It’s all so easy to accept the conventional wisdom that we are being visited by ET, and maybe that’s true. But believing, or suspecting, is not the same as proof of what UFOs really are. Despite multiple eyewitness accounts, photos and videos, radar returns, possible trace evidence, and perhaps direct contacts, there’s no final answer.

To the general public, people who follow the UFO saga are largely dismissed as “extraterrestrial believers.” Perhaps for most of you, but that’s far from a complete or accurate picture. But in this sound bite culture, it’s all too easy to come up with a snappy descriptive label that may have little to do with the facts.

Our reality show culture has brought with it certain expectations. One of the most famous – or infamous – presidential candidates happens to be a veteran of reality shows. I often wonder whether that outlandish character is serious, taking advantage of popular culture to get his message across, or is having a huge laugh at our expense. Maybe it’s a combination of all three.

When UFOs and other paranormal events are the subject of a TV show, it’s more reality show than documentary. A lot has to be covered in a compelling and entertaining fashion in 43 minutes, plus the ads, and the producers of such fare quite often take liberties. Events may be telegraphed to fit into the timeslot. There have to be cliffhangers to keep you watching thorough the commercial breaks. All right, I just fast forward past those interruptions, but I won’t use the word “annoying” since The Paracast has the usual number of commercial breaks too. Well, at least for those of you who haven’t subscribed to The Paracast+.

During the first season of one popular UFO reality show, Hangar 1, which hangs its credibility on the reputation of a major UFO group, MUFON, there were loads of complaints about its accuracy. Fabricated evidence was presented as genuine, and presentations of known cases were, shall we say, subjected to the docudrama treatment. It was hardly a way to learn the truth behind this mystery.

But during this week’s episode of After The Paracast, my co-host, Chris O’Brien, suggested that the second season of Hangar 1 has demonstrated a greater adherence to the facts. Maybe it’s about taking a “spoonful of sugar” approach, in which entertainment values are employed to acquaint people to the essence of the UFO enigma, and maybe interest them enough to look into it further.

At some point, however, you hope such people will actually spend the time necessary to read a few books on the subject, maybe even by authors with their feet on the ground, to learn what’s actually going on. If they opt to join MUFON and concentrate their reading to the organization’s monthly magazine, I suppose that’s all right. Most of the information is pretty straightforward, although there’s not a whole lot of in-depth coverage. No doubt shorter articles are necessary to pack as much material as possible into a limited number of pages.

The MUFON Journal is available in both print and digital editions, and perhaps if it joined the crowd and went all digital, the publisher would consider providing more extensive coverage of case histories and more detailed commentaries.

MUFON has a lot of talented, dedicated people who appear to be making genuine efforts to get to the bottom of the mystery. But their approach appears to be colored by the innate belief that UFOs are extraterrestrial, which inhibits a wider focus. Forget about tying together multiple paranormal mysteries into a unified theory, or at least considering the possibilities.

MUFON’s annual conferences have also included speakers who may be entertaining, but are hardly beacons of hope when it comes to learning something new about the phenomenon. I can mention a few names, but it’s just as easy for you to examine the rosters of recent events to see what I mean.

Indeed, a MUFON state affiliate recently planned to feature a presentation by the American representative of a controversial flying saucer contactee. We mentioned it on the show, and the guest, MUFON representative Margie Kay, did not seem to understand the case’s shady background, or that all or most of the fundamentals had been shown to be false years ago.

Chris and I wouldn’t presume to tell people what to do, but the guest agreed to look over the case in more detail. I emailed further evidence, including links to lengthy threads from The Paracast Community Forums on the topic. It didn’t take long for the guest to be disinvited.

One recent report revealed that there are far too many TV shows vying for diminishing audiences, as more and more people are cutting the cable/satellite cord and choosing more limited fare from streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu.

In the drive to grow an audience, TV networks and producers continue to set considerations of factual coverage aside in order to present provocative content. Cable TV news networks are not above such practices, and I’ll leave it to the reader to decide who the worst offenders might be.

In a bid to fill seats, some UFO convention sponsors too often go overboard in choosing guests with a following, all with little regard to their ability to present factual data.

To a limited degree, a little sugar-coating may help convey the essence of the UFO mystery. But when it becomes a “facts be damned” approach, it just makes it all the more difficult to figure out what’s truly going on.

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THE PARACAST NEWSLETTER September 13, 2015 www.theparacast.com

The “Spoonful of Sugar” Effect By Gene Steinberg

So how do we get the public’s eyes off their iPhones ...

I'll apologize in advance. The following article on the Time website made me want to steer even more clear of cell phones than I already do, and you'll never look at a cell phone user the same way, let alone feel comfortable asking to borrow one ...

Study: 1 in 6 Cell Phones Contaminated With Fecal Matter

phone-fecal-bacteria.jpg

What’s on your smartphone? Probably fecal matter, according to new research by London scientists. That’s right, poop — on your phone. If it’s on your phone, it’s very likely on your hands too, say researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and Queen Mary, University of London. Researchers analyzed 780 swab samples — 390 from mobile phones and 390 from the hands that used them — in 12 U.K. cities. They found that 16% of both hands and phones were contaminated with E. coli ... Rest of the article here: Study: 1 in 6 Cell Phones Contaminated With Fecal Matter | TIME.com
But what could be the cause?

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butt-selfies-.png

OMG "Butt Selfies"! We finally invented a device that surpasses the Star Trek Communicator, and what does it get used for? Butt Selfies ... Don't Google it because: Yes they're real ...
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... So here it is: The reason there are no good UFO pictures from cell phones is because people are ... yup ... get ready for it ... too busy taking pictures of their azz. That's right. All you have to remember next time some skeptic asks why there's no good cell phone pics of UFOs, is just these two words: "Butt Selfies" ... God I can't believe I'm actually saying this ...
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Randall, this both doesn't surprise me in the least, especially knowing how so many people don't even wash their hands, and also it actually doesn't bother me.

I'm not saying that I have any scatological bent whatsoever - I don't - but what can also be inferred/extrapolated from the above article is that you are likely to find faecal matter in countless places and objects that human hands touch regularly.

For anyone who has ever worked on a till (cash register), you know that the coinage in circulation is horribly dirty. I used to not be able to stop imagining where customers hands had been before they handled already dirty money and handed it to me. There used to be this horrible thin film of greasy dirt on my hands after a few hours of handling lots of coins and I would have to wash my hands several times during a shift simply to try and reduce the feeling I had from the dirt. I think possibly there were tiny metal fragments in the greasy film that made it especially noticeable.

But back to where I was actually heading and that is I think since humans learned to grow bacterial cultures on petri dishes etc, we have become a little obsessed with cleanliness. Of course I like to be clean and I don't want to think I am covered in germs but when things are too clean, I think we suffer as biological beings who need resistance to germs. If you are spared contact with lots of germs you do not build resistance.
A former girlfriend of mine was fanatical about bleaching surfaces etc and she was always getting minor colds etc while I was not. If you take a snapshot of elementary school-age children now, I think their general resistance to germs and propensity for acquiring allergies/asthma is way higher than say 30 years ago.

We are animals in that we are biological and I'm sorry to say there are countless animals who are in regular contact with their own and other animal's faecal matter! I suggest that short of biological weapons research protocols, we will always be exposed to a certain amount and I think that is ok as long as we are not reminded of it too often and certainly as long as we neither taste/smell/see it!
 
I don't take my iPhone in the bathroom with me. Never. Chris?
Never. I also never put the phone to my ear unless absolutely necessary, which is never, it is out in front of my mouth 8 inches, minimum. I'm appalled when I see little kids w/ smart phones plastered against their heads. I also never carry my phone on my person— it's always in my pack, or away from me on the car console. These microwave devices are dangerous and I consider their use to be the largest unmonitored health experiment in history.
 
I don't carry a pack. Prefer to travel light, and only bring my laptop case when I absolutely need a full-blown computer with me, which is rare. My iPhone resides in my left pants pocket.
 
Never. I also never put the phone to my ear unless absolutely necessary, which is never, it is out in front of my mouth 8 inches, minimum. I'm appalled when I see little kids w/ smart phones plastered against their heads. I also never carry my phone on my person— it's always in my pack, or away from me on the car console. These microwave devices are dangerous and I consider their use to be the largest unmonitored health experiment in history.
Couldn't agree more. I still don't own a cell phone. The health issue reminds me of the hydro-fracking argument, "there's no scientific proof that it causes health problems." If you want to pervert science for your own self-serving agenda, just throw the word "proof" in there and hire a bunch of scientists to keep the issue tied up for years while you greedily exploit the situation. You get rich. A bunch of people get sick. Small price to pay. What's wrong with people? How did the system that is supposed to be preventing such problems end up becoming the system facilitating them?

A neurosurgeon in the LA area whose job it is to remove tumors all day says on a radio interview, "I know they say it isn't harmful, but when what you do all day is pull tumors out of people's heads from the same side they use their cell phone on, it makes you wonder." When one day your water is clean and pure and then after the fracking you can suddenly light it on fire. That should make you wonder too. And when over the course of half a century tens of thousands of people have reported some kind of alien craft in the sky, but still the skeptics say there's "no proof". IMO it's just the same sort of denial, only thankfully, there's far less of a health issue involved ( usually anyway ).


Returning to cell phones though, there is a serious side to my earlier comment on why there aren't any decent UFO photos from cell phones. Butt selfies are just another symptom of the narcissism discussed on one of our recent threads, and cell phones are the enabler. My personal observation of cell phone users, including nearly being driven off the road by one, is that the user's attention on a screen. It's not like they're paying attention to their environment and are primed and ready to use their camera app, that is unless it's to use it on themselves. Typically, no matter what else a cell phone user happens to be doing, they're looking down at the screen on the phone, not at what's around them.

Even if the cell phone user is on hands-free mode, their minds are elsewhere. I haven't only narrowly missed traffic accidents because of them ( thank god one of us was paying attention to the road ). People have walked right into me. If they aren't paying attention to what's right in front of them, how can we expect them to pay attention to what's going on above them? And in a sense maybe that's just as well. We'd be no further ahead as a society with a bunch of cell phone zombies weaving around with their iPhones pointed at the sky either.
 
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Smart phones giving us brain cancer seems unproven since brain tumors have basically a 50% chance of being on the same side as the phone was? I know, I'm a mo ron but it doesn't seem totally settled.
Portable computers aren't the problem-it's a lack of mindfulness in people.
And massive surveillance, but oh well, right?:rolleyes:
 
Smart phones giving us brain cancer seems unproven since brain tumors have basically a 50% chance of being on the same side as the phone was?
Your point actually supports the uncertainty of the neurosurgeon who told his story. If a tumor should in theory have a 50% chance of appearing on either side, why were the tumors of his patients predominantly on the same side they used their cell phones on? Maybe that's not "proof", but like I pointed out in a previous post, the concept of proof, especially in science, is rather slippery, and it certainly doesn't mean the same thing as there's no evidence. So look at it this way: There's no "proof" cell phones don't cause cancer either. That means the concept of "proof" is useless and what we're left with is evidence.

So on one hand we have the firsthand experience and material evidence of a neurosurgeon who has operated on numerous patients. On the other we have claims that cell phones don't cause cancer because cancer didn't happen in the group(s) of test subjects that were exposed to cell phone radiation. Which evidence holds more weight? Firsthand experience and material evidence ( tumors ) from multiple human patients, or no material evidence and a bunch of data on a white paper study? Add to that my own personal experience talking to my customers when I was a cell phone dealer ( ironically ), and you can imagine why I'm certainly not convinced that they're safe.


Tumor Phones - Start Here

 
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