THE PARACAST NEWSLETTER
September 7, 2014
www.theparacast.com
Mysterious Events in New Mexico Explored 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.
Why You Should Donate 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
. It’s easy to send a donation. We have a Donate link on our home page, below the logo and audio player. Or use the Donate link on our forums, at the bottom of the sidebar on the right. You can also 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 once again switch gears, as we announce the return of everyone's favorite "good natured" skeptic, Benjamin Radford. During his last visit to The Paracast (April 17, 2011 — Benjamin Radford), we talked about his excellent book "Tracking the Chupacabra." This time around we'll be discussing his latest book, "Mysterious New Mexico: Miracles, Magic, and Monsters in the Land of Enchantment." We all know that New Mexico is the "Land of Enchantment," but what does Ben really think? Inquiring minds, like yours, will find out as we focus on all sorts of strange legends about possible unusual events, including the alleged Aztec, NM UFO crash.
Chris O’Brien’s Site: http://www.ourstrangeplanet.com
Benjamin Radford’s Blog: Benjamin Radford
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.
The Freedom to Change Your Mind
By Gene Steinberg
When you’re a politician, changing your views in any significant way may be dangerous. When it happens, however good the intentions, your enemies will pounce upon you and claim that you’re doing it for some evil political purpose. You aren’t allowed to be honest about how you feel. There must be some deception going on to pander to voters — or something.
To be sure, when a politician moves to another political party, it’s more about getting elected than choosing a new home that better reflects ones beliefs and policies.
In this tiny corner of the world, in the UFO field, I sometimes expect that such considerations explain why some long-time researchers refuse to change their views. Even when shown that things have changed, that the evidence they tout is worthless, they persevere. You might admire their resilience in the face of sometimes severe criticism, but what if the original viewpoint is no longer valid?
I thought about this when I was reading a chapter about the alleged 1948 Aztec UFO crash in a new book, “Mysterious New Mexico: Miracles, Magic, and Monsters in the Land of Enchantment,” from a light-hearted skeptic, Benjamin Radford.
I have several quibbles with the chapter, which I discuss in this weekend’s episode of The Paracast. One is creating the impression that long-time researcher and prolific author Kevin D. Randle believes the Aztec crash really happened.
Kevin has been on The Paracast 11 times since the show started in 2006. He’s not a person to suffer fools gladly, and, while he believes in UFO reality, that they are likely spaceships from out there, he doesn’t support Aztec, not in the least.
Indeed, we featured Kevin in a debate with Scott Ramsey, a staunch supporter of the case, and the main author of “The Aztec Incident: Recovery at Hart Canyon.” You can argue who won the debate, and who might have had more facts at their fingertips. But my impression that there is nothing to this story was only buttressed by Kevin’s patient arguments indicating that real evidence for a UFO crash at Aztec is lacking. You can’t even point to any documented UFO episode in Aztec that day since the newspapers carried no such reports. Locals don’t seem to remember anything strange happening, and one of those locals even wrote a series of articles for Kevin’s blog explaining why.
It pretty much depended on a controversial UFO book, “Behind the Flying Saucers,” by the late Variety gossip columnist Frank Scully.
Now it may just be that Kevin once was supportive of Aztec. But he isn’t now, and hasn’t been for quite a while. He is allowed to change his mind.
My own UFO views have also evolved over the years. Early on, I believed that it was all about spaceships, the prevailing theory through the years. That view changed somewhat in the mid-1960s, when researcher Allen Greenfield and I had an all-night gabfest one New Year’s Eve near New York’s Times Square. Where others were celebrating, Allen and I were talking about the possibilities of alternate realities. As the discussion continued, Allen pointed to his copy of a fantasy book, “The Incomplete Enchanter,” by L. Sprague De Camp and Fletcher Pratt, in which the protagonist is somehow transported to another reality where the laws of magic take precedence over the laws of physics.
Our bourgeoning theory had it that UFOs will sometimes behave as if they do not adhere to what we understand as the laws of physics, and may thus be arriving here from some parallel dimension where different physical laws prevail. The theory of multidimensional UFOs didn’t originate with us, but it was food for thought. You see, we both felt it was premature to consider the mystery solved, since it was early in the game.
Ideas about other dimensions, alternate realities or what have you have been sometimes bandied about in the UFO field over the years, but these concepts rarely penetrate the mainstream.
I felt then and now that many theories should be tested before settling on a final answer. Sure, the solution no doubt ultimately lies with the UFOs, and whether or not the force or beings responsible for them reveals the truth, or whether governments disclose guilty knowledge about what’s going on. I also suppose that, if UFO research moves beyond the mere collection of sightings to more intense study of what the data means, we might come upon an answer beyond “well, what could they possibly be if not ET?”
In the end, I have long believed that the UFO mystery remains an unsettled issue, despite a general agreement on the extraterrestrial theory.
I’ve also become skeptical of some elements of the mystery that I might have once accepted. So while I do not discount the possibility that something strange did occur in Roswell, NM, and that it might have an alien origin, some of the side issues leave me cold. The existence of the MJ-12 documents is a major example. It seems all-too-coincidental that they turned up in a roll of film sent to a colleague of now-discredited UFO researcher William Moore. As a co-author of the 1980 book, “The Roswell Incident” with Charles Berlitz and a sadly uncredited Stanton T. Friedman, Moore was one of the go-to people for Roswell lore.
But Moore also admitted to being recruited as a government disinformation agent during an appearance at a MUFON conference, and thus he become persona non grata to most of the UFO research community. So maybe he was, in the end, behind the MJ-12 documents, which purportedly revealed the existence of a secret group of scientists, military leaders and government officials charged with making sense of the UFO mystery in the wake of the Roswell crash.
I also wouldn’t doubt that the U.S. government and its allies might have taken advantage of the UFO mystery to create phony sightings as a means of misdirection. While people were looking for UFOs, they were busy experimenting with test aircraft and weaponry. It all became part of the UFO fog, and thus wasn’t taken seriously. Indeed, I wouldn’t be surprised of some of those alleged flying saucer abductions were, in fact, early efforts at mind control by government agents.
The long and short of it is that the UFO mystery is a highly complicated affair, without final solutions. It may even be possible that all or most of the prevailing theories are somehow true, in a manner of speaking. But I reserve the right to think differently next week.
Copyright 1999-2014 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!
September 7, 2014
www.theparacast.com
Mysterious Events in New Mexico Explored 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.
Why You Should Donate 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
. It’s easy to send a donation. We have a Donate link on our home page, below the logo and audio player. Or use the Donate link on our forums, at the bottom of the sidebar on the right. You can also 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 once again switch gears, as we announce the return of everyone's favorite "good natured" skeptic, Benjamin Radford. During his last visit to The Paracast (April 17, 2011 — Benjamin Radford), we talked about his excellent book "Tracking the Chupacabra." This time around we'll be discussing his latest book, "Mysterious New Mexico: Miracles, Magic, and Monsters in the Land of Enchantment." We all know that New Mexico is the "Land of Enchantment," but what does Ben really think? Inquiring minds, like yours, will find out as we focus on all sorts of strange legends about possible unusual events, including the alleged Aztec, NM UFO crash.
Chris O’Brien’s Site: http://www.ourstrangeplanet.com
Benjamin Radford’s Blog: Benjamin Radford
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.
The Freedom to Change Your Mind
By Gene Steinberg
When you’re a politician, changing your views in any significant way may be dangerous. When it happens, however good the intentions, your enemies will pounce upon you and claim that you’re doing it for some evil political purpose. You aren’t allowed to be honest about how you feel. There must be some deception going on to pander to voters — or something.
To be sure, when a politician moves to another political party, it’s more about getting elected than choosing a new home that better reflects ones beliefs and policies.
In this tiny corner of the world, in the UFO field, I sometimes expect that such considerations explain why some long-time researchers refuse to change their views. Even when shown that things have changed, that the evidence they tout is worthless, they persevere. You might admire their resilience in the face of sometimes severe criticism, but what if the original viewpoint is no longer valid?
I thought about this when I was reading a chapter about the alleged 1948 Aztec UFO crash in a new book, “Mysterious New Mexico: Miracles, Magic, and Monsters in the Land of Enchantment,” from a light-hearted skeptic, Benjamin Radford.
I have several quibbles with the chapter, which I discuss in this weekend’s episode of The Paracast. One is creating the impression that long-time researcher and prolific author Kevin D. Randle believes the Aztec crash really happened.
Kevin has been on The Paracast 11 times since the show started in 2006. He’s not a person to suffer fools gladly, and, while he believes in UFO reality, that they are likely spaceships from out there, he doesn’t support Aztec, not in the least.
Indeed, we featured Kevin in a debate with Scott Ramsey, a staunch supporter of the case, and the main author of “The Aztec Incident: Recovery at Hart Canyon.” You can argue who won the debate, and who might have had more facts at their fingertips. But my impression that there is nothing to this story was only buttressed by Kevin’s patient arguments indicating that real evidence for a UFO crash at Aztec is lacking. You can’t even point to any documented UFO episode in Aztec that day since the newspapers carried no such reports. Locals don’t seem to remember anything strange happening, and one of those locals even wrote a series of articles for Kevin’s blog explaining why.
It pretty much depended on a controversial UFO book, “Behind the Flying Saucers,” by the late Variety gossip columnist Frank Scully.
Now it may just be that Kevin once was supportive of Aztec. But he isn’t now, and hasn’t been for quite a while. He is allowed to change his mind.
My own UFO views have also evolved over the years. Early on, I believed that it was all about spaceships, the prevailing theory through the years. That view changed somewhat in the mid-1960s, when researcher Allen Greenfield and I had an all-night gabfest one New Year’s Eve near New York’s Times Square. Where others were celebrating, Allen and I were talking about the possibilities of alternate realities. As the discussion continued, Allen pointed to his copy of a fantasy book, “The Incomplete Enchanter,” by L. Sprague De Camp and Fletcher Pratt, in which the protagonist is somehow transported to another reality where the laws of magic take precedence over the laws of physics.
Our bourgeoning theory had it that UFOs will sometimes behave as if they do not adhere to what we understand as the laws of physics, and may thus be arriving here from some parallel dimension where different physical laws prevail. The theory of multidimensional UFOs didn’t originate with us, but it was food for thought. You see, we both felt it was premature to consider the mystery solved, since it was early in the game.
Ideas about other dimensions, alternate realities or what have you have been sometimes bandied about in the UFO field over the years, but these concepts rarely penetrate the mainstream.
I felt then and now that many theories should be tested before settling on a final answer. Sure, the solution no doubt ultimately lies with the UFOs, and whether or not the force or beings responsible for them reveals the truth, or whether governments disclose guilty knowledge about what’s going on. I also suppose that, if UFO research moves beyond the mere collection of sightings to more intense study of what the data means, we might come upon an answer beyond “well, what could they possibly be if not ET?”
In the end, I have long believed that the UFO mystery remains an unsettled issue, despite a general agreement on the extraterrestrial theory.
I’ve also become skeptical of some elements of the mystery that I might have once accepted. So while I do not discount the possibility that something strange did occur in Roswell, NM, and that it might have an alien origin, some of the side issues leave me cold. The existence of the MJ-12 documents is a major example. It seems all-too-coincidental that they turned up in a roll of film sent to a colleague of now-discredited UFO researcher William Moore. As a co-author of the 1980 book, “The Roswell Incident” with Charles Berlitz and a sadly uncredited Stanton T. Friedman, Moore was one of the go-to people for Roswell lore.
But Moore also admitted to being recruited as a government disinformation agent during an appearance at a MUFON conference, and thus he become persona non grata to most of the UFO research community. So maybe he was, in the end, behind the MJ-12 documents, which purportedly revealed the existence of a secret group of scientists, military leaders and government officials charged with making sense of the UFO mystery in the wake of the Roswell crash.
I also wouldn’t doubt that the U.S. government and its allies might have taken advantage of the UFO mystery to create phony sightings as a means of misdirection. While people were looking for UFOs, they were busy experimenting with test aircraft and weaponry. It all became part of the UFO fog, and thus wasn’t taken seriously. Indeed, I wouldn’t be surprised of some of those alleged flying saucer abductions were, in fact, early efforts at mind control by government agents.
The long and short of it is that the UFO mystery is a highly complicated affair, without final solutions. It may even be possible that all or most of the prevailing theories are somehow true, in a manner of speaking. But I reserve the right to think differently next week.
Copyright 1999-2014 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!
