THE PARACAST NEWSLETTER
September 24, 2017
www.theparacast.com
A Paracast Listener Grills Gene on His Background and Views on UFOs
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 an exclusive podcast, After The Paracast, plus a higher-quality version of The Paracast free of network ads, 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 also feature selected 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 submit themselves to questions about UFOs and their background in the field of Ufology from Paracast listener Louis Sheehan. Gene talks about his history as a UFO researcher and writer, and about a series of recurring nightmares during a period when he constantly smelled the odor of burnt sulphur, both of which may have significance as paranormal events. Gene also discusses at length his favorite episodes of The Paracast and debates, with Randall, the original and current meaning of the acronym "UFO," and why Gene is not necessarily a believer in the most popular theory, that the flying saucers are spaceships from other planets. As Gene often states, would we even recognize the product of a highly advanced spacefaring technology?
Chris O’Brien’s Blog: Our Strange Planet
After The Paracast -- Available exclusively to Paracast+ subscribers on September 24: Featuring Gene with guest co-host J. Randall Murphy and listener Louis Sheehan. In this episode, documentary filmmaker Paul Kimball answers Louis’ questions about his 2005 film, “Best Evidence: Top 10 UFO Sightings.” Looking back at these cases, are there any that Paul no longer finds compelling or worth including in that list? The discussion also focuses on the inaccuracy of eyewitness testimony, and why multiple witness cases give investigators a better chance to find the core truth of the incident. Paul goes on to state that he regards most people who investigate sightings as untrained in basic investigative techniques, making it difficult to get a full and accurate account of a sighting.
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. Check out our new YouTube channel at: The Official Paracast Channel
UFOs and Spaceships — One More Time!
By Gene Steinberg
On the September 24th episode of The Paracast, I briefly debated J. Randall Murphy — who goes by the moniker “Usual Suspect” in our forums — about the definition of the acronym “UFO.” And I often wonder why there should be an argument unless you deliberately spin that definition.
It stands for Unidentified Flying Objects, a term evidently coined by the late Captain Edward Ruppelt, when he headed up the Air Force’s Project Blue Book, to replace flying saucers and similar sensational names for the phenomenon. The term became popularized by Ruppelt’s book on the subject, although many still prefer the original name.
Regardless, on a practical level, I don’t believe that something that is listed as “unidentified” should be identified as a space ship. It simply means that a sighting hasn’t been solved. Indeed, those advocating UFO reality will point to the large number of unknowns reported by Project Blue Book that cry out for further investigation.
But all that means is that these sightings cannot be explained by conventional objects or phenomena. It doesn’t imply any other explanation as far as I’m concerned, though, as I said, those who favor UFO reality will say that they must be spaceships.
After all, what else could they be?
Randall wants to use the extraterrestrial explanation to test the evidence, to see whether an unknown can become known that way. To me, it’s a step too far. I’d rather focus on the “what is it?” question than assume that a specific answer must be correct.
Maybe we’ll arrive at that point someday. But I still insist that UFO research hasn’t progressed to that level. The evidence is, by and large, anecdotal. Sure there are some photographs that seem to indicate the presence of an unknown flying object that sometimes appears to be metallic. If it’s physical, and not one of ours, what can be?
Assuming, once again, that the photos actually depict a UFO and were not somehow manipulated to reveal something that has been altered or is nothing more than a model or digital recreation.
The best UFO photos, unfortunately, are by and large products of the analog film technology of the last century. Despite the prevalence of cameras in the pockets or purses of billions of people, there are precious few photos that depict anything demonstrably unknown.
With the very newest smartphones from Apple, Samsung and other companies, you can even take genuine 4K movies of something, but most of the time you end up with some lights in the sky that cannot be otherwise identified as anything strange.
Even with so-called trace evidence, it’s still not possible to demonstrate what that UFO might just be. Even when you have flying objects making pinpoint turns and being simultaneously seen visually and on radar, that doesn’t prove what they are.
I suppose it’s easy to suggest someone’s test aircraft, though the pinpoint turns seem a bit much for any technology that we know about. So we return to the world of UFOs, but not spaceships. We are still dealing with phenomena that is, at this point in time, unknown.
So are they spaceships? Could it be that one or more spacefaring civilizations has deemed Earth to be worthy of their attention? As we discover more and more extrasolar planets — those orbiting far-off star systems — the possibility that some of them may have spawned life is certainly possible.
Out of countless numbers of planets, I suppose it would be a stretch to assume none of them have life, or that such lifeforms might not have evolved into creatures that can build an advanced technological civilization.
It’s the law of averages and all that.
But even if spaceships — or at least visitors from the stars — are among us, why is it that the technology revealed by UFOs doesn’t appear to be as advanced as it should be? Sometimes it seems as if the UFOs deliberately tailor their visual presence to something that is only slightly ahead of us.
So maybe we can’t duplicate the pinpoint turns or fly as fast as they seem to fly, but that doesn’t mean we won’t be able to accomplish those tasks sometime in the not-distant future.
If UFOs have been watching us for centuries — and reports of airborne anomalies go back really far in our historic texts — wouldn’t they continue to advance their civilizations? If they managed to fly here 2,000 or more years ago, should we assume their technology has remained stagnant since then?
All right, there are sci-fi stories about races of people discovering the remnants of technology from ancient civilizations that they manage to repurpose for their own use. Or at least they can fly the machines but not necessarily understand the technology.
I suppose that’s possible, but if it is, who developed those flying machines in the first place, and does their civilization still exist somewhere in the universe?
Regardless, if you even assume a slow pace of development across the centuries, would we even be able to recognize there presence? Where will humankind be a couple of thousand years from now if we actually survive the petty tribal wars, global warming, and the other ever-present dangers to our existence?
At the very least, it may just be that UFOs, whatever they really are, are not seen in their true form. So we either interpret the phenomenon as well as our limited sensory inputs can manage, or the forces behind the UFOs do it for us.
But that still assumes some sort of transportation device from advanced physical beings who come from other worlds.
That, however, is based on the assumption that UFOs stand for spaceships, and we don’t know that yet!
So we return to the beginning. Saying UFOs must be defined as spaceships is little more than a word game. That doesn’t appear to be the intent of the original definition, which was to separate the known from the unknown.
It still doesn’t tell us what UFOs really are, so let’s move on and see if there’s a way to answer that question. I mean, we do have possibilities, but it doesn’t seem that we’ve moved much past that.
Besides, if we knew what UFOs are, wouldn’t they be properly referred to as IFOs: Identified Flying Objects?
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 anybody else, and that's a promise!
September 24, 2017
www.theparacast.com
A Paracast Listener Grills Gene on His Background and Views on UFOs
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 an exclusive podcast, After The Paracast, plus a higher-quality version of The Paracast free of network ads, 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 also feature selected 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 submit themselves to questions about UFOs and their background in the field of Ufology from Paracast listener Louis Sheehan. Gene talks about his history as a UFO researcher and writer, and about a series of recurring nightmares during a period when he constantly smelled the odor of burnt sulphur, both of which may have significance as paranormal events. Gene also discusses at length his favorite episodes of The Paracast and debates, with Randall, the original and current meaning of the acronym "UFO," and why Gene is not necessarily a believer in the most popular theory, that the flying saucers are spaceships from other planets. As Gene often states, would we even recognize the product of a highly advanced spacefaring technology?
Chris O’Brien’s Blog: Our Strange Planet
After The Paracast -- Available exclusively to Paracast+ subscribers on September 24: Featuring Gene with guest co-host J. Randall Murphy and listener Louis Sheehan. In this episode, documentary filmmaker Paul Kimball answers Louis’ questions about his 2005 film, “Best Evidence: Top 10 UFO Sightings.” Looking back at these cases, are there any that Paul no longer finds compelling or worth including in that list? The discussion also focuses on the inaccuracy of eyewitness testimony, and why multiple witness cases give investigators a better chance to find the core truth of the incident. Paul goes on to state that he regards most people who investigate sightings as untrained in basic investigative techniques, making it difficult to get a full and accurate account of a sighting.
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. Check out our new YouTube channel at: The Official Paracast Channel
UFOs and Spaceships — One More Time!
By Gene Steinberg
On the September 24th episode of The Paracast, I briefly debated J. Randall Murphy — who goes by the moniker “Usual Suspect” in our forums — about the definition of the acronym “UFO.” And I often wonder why there should be an argument unless you deliberately spin that definition.
It stands for Unidentified Flying Objects, a term evidently coined by the late Captain Edward Ruppelt, when he headed up the Air Force’s Project Blue Book, to replace flying saucers and similar sensational names for the phenomenon. The term became popularized by Ruppelt’s book on the subject, although many still prefer the original name.
Regardless, on a practical level, I don’t believe that something that is listed as “unidentified” should be identified as a space ship. It simply means that a sighting hasn’t been solved. Indeed, those advocating UFO reality will point to the large number of unknowns reported by Project Blue Book that cry out for further investigation.
But all that means is that these sightings cannot be explained by conventional objects or phenomena. It doesn’t imply any other explanation as far as I’m concerned, though, as I said, those who favor UFO reality will say that they must be spaceships.
After all, what else could they be?
Randall wants to use the extraterrestrial explanation to test the evidence, to see whether an unknown can become known that way. To me, it’s a step too far. I’d rather focus on the “what is it?” question than assume that a specific answer must be correct.
Maybe we’ll arrive at that point someday. But I still insist that UFO research hasn’t progressed to that level. The evidence is, by and large, anecdotal. Sure there are some photographs that seem to indicate the presence of an unknown flying object that sometimes appears to be metallic. If it’s physical, and not one of ours, what can be?
Assuming, once again, that the photos actually depict a UFO and were not somehow manipulated to reveal something that has been altered or is nothing more than a model or digital recreation.
The best UFO photos, unfortunately, are by and large products of the analog film technology of the last century. Despite the prevalence of cameras in the pockets or purses of billions of people, there are precious few photos that depict anything demonstrably unknown.
With the very newest smartphones from Apple, Samsung and other companies, you can even take genuine 4K movies of something, but most of the time you end up with some lights in the sky that cannot be otherwise identified as anything strange.
Even with so-called trace evidence, it’s still not possible to demonstrate what that UFO might just be. Even when you have flying objects making pinpoint turns and being simultaneously seen visually and on radar, that doesn’t prove what they are.
I suppose it’s easy to suggest someone’s test aircraft, though the pinpoint turns seem a bit much for any technology that we know about. So we return to the world of UFOs, but not spaceships. We are still dealing with phenomena that is, at this point in time, unknown.
So are they spaceships? Could it be that one or more spacefaring civilizations has deemed Earth to be worthy of their attention? As we discover more and more extrasolar planets — those orbiting far-off star systems — the possibility that some of them may have spawned life is certainly possible.
Out of countless numbers of planets, I suppose it would be a stretch to assume none of them have life, or that such lifeforms might not have evolved into creatures that can build an advanced technological civilization.
It’s the law of averages and all that.
But even if spaceships — or at least visitors from the stars — are among us, why is it that the technology revealed by UFOs doesn’t appear to be as advanced as it should be? Sometimes it seems as if the UFOs deliberately tailor their visual presence to something that is only slightly ahead of us.
So maybe we can’t duplicate the pinpoint turns or fly as fast as they seem to fly, but that doesn’t mean we won’t be able to accomplish those tasks sometime in the not-distant future.
If UFOs have been watching us for centuries — and reports of airborne anomalies go back really far in our historic texts — wouldn’t they continue to advance their civilizations? If they managed to fly here 2,000 or more years ago, should we assume their technology has remained stagnant since then?
All right, there are sci-fi stories about races of people discovering the remnants of technology from ancient civilizations that they manage to repurpose for their own use. Or at least they can fly the machines but not necessarily understand the technology.
I suppose that’s possible, but if it is, who developed those flying machines in the first place, and does their civilization still exist somewhere in the universe?
Regardless, if you even assume a slow pace of development across the centuries, would we even be able to recognize there presence? Where will humankind be a couple of thousand years from now if we actually survive the petty tribal wars, global warming, and the other ever-present dangers to our existence?
At the very least, it may just be that UFOs, whatever they really are, are not seen in their true form. So we either interpret the phenomenon as well as our limited sensory inputs can manage, or the forces behind the UFOs do it for us.
But that still assumes some sort of transportation device from advanced physical beings who come from other worlds.
That, however, is based on the assumption that UFOs stand for spaceships, and we don’t know that yet!
So we return to the beginning. Saying UFOs must be defined as spaceships is little more than a word game. That doesn’t appear to be the intent of the original definition, which was to separate the known from the unknown.
It still doesn’t tell us what UFOs really are, so let’s move on and see if there’s a way to answer that question. I mean, we do have possibilities, but it doesn’t seem that we’ve moved much past that.
Besides, if we knew what UFOs are, wouldn’t they be properly referred to as IFOs: Identified Flying Objects?
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 anybody else, and that's a promise!