My 5 Favourite Podcasts of all time

[Hoffmeister]

My 5 Favourite Podcasts of all time

Here it goes people. You might notice that a lot of them are ones where people talk about their paranormal experiences. This is mainly because I find them so interesting, even though in my heart of hearts I don't think I believe most of these incidents really happened in the way that the person tells/thinks it did.... I still love to ponder “What if...”
Its the psychological aspect of it that I am interested in.

#1: Dark Matters Radio – Vito Saccheri
Vito Saccheri Moon Show Special
Perhaps the most exhilarating and exciting podcast I have ever listened to. The first time I ever listened to it, I was lying in the sun, listening to it on my headphones, and hoping to doze of to a podcast or two. Safe to say by the end of this podcast, I was so awake I felt like I had downed 5 Espresso's. I have my doubts about Vito and his story, it seems very 'convenient' that he has lost touch with everyone related to the story, but if he is making it up.... he spins one hell of a good yarn.
If you havent heard this one.... do it now!

#2 The Paracast – David Biedny and Bill Vellekoop Ghost Story February 18, 2007 Bill Vellekoop | The Paracast — The Gold Standard of Paranormal Radio
Personally, I don't think I believe in Ghosts but whatever way you look at it this is a really interesting podcast. I also don't believe that David was just making the experience up... so what exactly is going on here? The fact that there is a corroborating witness as in most of Davids experience goes a long way to suggest there might have been something paranormal going on here.

#3 Dark Matters Radio – Phil Imbrogno
http://www.dqrm.com/shows/DMR/dmr-16-t.mp3
Phils story in the second half of this podcast about how him and his crack team of paranormal investigators ended up being broken apart (and in some instances driven to suicide) by a paranormal experience was just absolutely classic. Personally I think it was an operation by someone in the government in an attempt to break them all up.... but who knows.

#4 Radio Misterioso – Rich Sarradet
Radio Misterioso July (See bottom of page)
Saw this one after Sarradet appeared as co host on DMR, and its both interesting and entertaining. Its been a while since I listened to it, but if memory serves there a few humorous interuptions to the show which really gave it that 'Pirate Radio' type feel. Walter Bosley turns up late about 20 minutes into the show with a Pizza, and I think somebody else comes to the door at some point also.
Sarradet as always combines charisma, intellect and wit, whilst Bishop never fails to come up with interesting questions.

#5 The Paracast – Jeff Ritzman experiences
August 8, 2006 Jeff Ritzmann | The Paracast — The Gold Standard of Paranormal Radio
Whatever you think of Ritzman (and I personally don't think much), this detailed account of his claimed experiences is chilling and well delivered. Biedny recently stated on another podcast that he thinks Ritzman made it all up, and I tend to agree, but if that's true then he is as good at spinning a yarn as Vito Saccheri.

There are loads of others that I like but these are the ones that stick out the most for me. Tim Binnall has done some good shows and although non of the newer Paracast shows are in here, I do think the show on the whole is better now than it was in the past. There have also been lots of other DMR greats but hey, I only had five slots!

For my overall favourite show moment, go to Don Ecker's second appearance on The Paracast, and listen to his reply when asked his opinion of Jim Moseley (at 1:43.07 in the show)
Comedy Gold.... and my favourite insult of all time
<a href="https://www.theparacast.com/podcast/april-29-2007-don-ecker/" >April 29, 2007 — Don Ecker</a>

 

[Gene Steinberg]

Whatever you think of Ritzman (and I personally don't think much), this detailed account of his claimed experiences is chilling and well delivered. Biedny recently stated on another podcast that he thinks Ritzman made it all up, and I tend to agree, but if that's true then he is as good at spinning a yarn as Vito Saccheri.

I like to think that, whatever you think of Ritzmann, he's not the sort of fellow to make things up. He's been in the UFO field for quite a long time and doesn't have a reputation for being deceptive.

 

[Hoffmeister]

Perhaps he is just really good at sounding trustworthy. Coming from a Sales background I know plenty of people who come across as absolutely genuine, but have caught them out in a dirty lie before. Perhaps he has even convinced himself that the accounts really happened. OR Perhaps it did all actually happen as he said, its these kinds of questions which make me like the 'Personal Experiences' shows the most in general.
I don't claim to know, and leave the door open for any possibility, but I will always tend to side with the more mundane explanation.

 

[Decker]

Hoffmeister,

Thank you for mentioning Dark Matters Radio as a couple of your all time favorite podcasts. For what it is worth, in your book of course, here are the facts for the Vito Saccheri episode show.

I conducted that interview on my old show "UFOs Tonite!" in late November of 1995. At that time Vito was known for this incident because of the Texas MUFON investigation that they were then conducting. As you heard on the interview Vito's buddy Lester was the guy that "turned Vito on" to George Leonard's book "Somebody Else is on the Moon." Like Vito said when he read Lester's copy he was certainly interested in the subject but wasn't quite sure what to make out of it.

Again, for what it is worth I accepted Vito's story because of a couple of things. Before Texas and Houston Mufon "screwed the pooch" because of someone that shot their mouth off while conducting this investigation, they had verified buildings and so on with what Vito had told them. His story was riviting of course, but it also rang very true to me while hearing it for the first time and then again after I listened to it now ... many-many times. From my own research I have been able to verify several things he told me then. I recently called Vito up and ask him to come back on my show for another interview. I can't yet say at this time if he will but it would be fascinating. As to loosing touch with his buddy Lester, at that time Lester was older than Vito ( by the way, the events took place in 1979 ) and was up in Houston from Venezuela. Lester worked for another corporation and Vito's outfit and Lester's were clients. At anyrate they fact that over time Vito lost touch with him didn't strike me as odd. Hell, over the years many buddies of mine that I was very close to at one time or another I lost touch with. It happens.

At anyrate I had to jump in here, I still think Vito's story holds the water as far as I am concerned. Again, for what it is worth.

Decker
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[Hoffmeister]

I'm not completely writing it off, and if I didn't think there was a chance that it was true it wouldn't interest me at all. I keep changing my mind about Vito, when I first heard it I was adamant that he must have been telling the truth. In time though, and after many listens, I have found myself with some doubts about it thats all...
He did seem to know about all the buildings, so it could be that he went to them to chase up the story but found nothing, and then told the story differently afterwards. This seems unlikely however as he wouldn't have gotten financial gain from it, and just disappeared back into nowhere afterwards so he wasn't using it to propel him onto the lecture circuit or anything.

 

[dyingsun]

I'm not completely writing it off, and if I didn't think there was a chance that it was true it wouldn't interest me at all. I keep changing my mind about Vito, when I first heard it I was adamant that he must have been telling the truth. In time though, and after many listens, I have found myself with some doubts about it thats all...
He did seem to know about all the buildings, so it could be that he went to them to chase up the story but found nothing, and then told the story differently afterwards. This seems unlikely however as he wouldn't have gotten financial gain from it, and just disappeared back into nowhere afterwards so he wasn't using it to propel him onto the lecture circuit or anything.

I find it hard to pick a single episode, but I agree with you that those you mentioned were excellent.
I'm just glad that Don and Gene and the respective shows are around, let's hope even more people listen to them and ignore the other crap 'shows' about the paranormal.

 

[Gareth]

#5 The Paracast – Jeff Ritzman experiences
August 8, 2006 Jeff Ritzmann | The Paracast — The Gold Standard of Paranormal Radio
Whatever you think of Ritzman (and I personally don't think much), this detailed account of his claimed experiences is chilling and well delivered. Biedny recently stated on another podcast that he thinks Ritzman made it all up, and I tend to agree, but if that's true then he is as good at spinning a yarn as Vito Saccheri.

Oh COME OON dude.

For one, Biedny did not state he thinks Ritzmann "made it all up". Thats a blatant misrepresentation and frankly I am confused why you would do this. I listened to that podcast with Biedny and said that while he thinks there is probably something to Jeffs experiences, he is also a little wary due to some personal stuff that went on between them. Specifically David claiming that Jeff misrepresented a key facet of their friendship to such an extreme degree that he (David) now has no choice but to reassess his opinion of Jeffs stories. i.e. in David's mind if Jeff can misrepresent one thing why not another? We only have one side to the story so we cant be sure if Jeff actually did do what David said he did. Maybe he did, maybe he didnt.... but thats beside the point.

And why do you think Jeff made it all up? Hes not making any money off his shit. Not self-promoting. See, I can say "I think Romanek made it all up" because I have some very serious reasons for thinking that. There are others, but the one that comes to mind is the bollock with his recent interview where he played a recording of some stupid shit and try to pass it off as a disembodied voice on the line telling him to "shutup".

Now do I accept everything that Jeff says at face value? i.e. do I accept that everything he has talked is representative of an "other"? And the answer to that is no. As in I have no way of knowing so I would be foolish to think as much. But I have seen or heard nothing to suggest to me that dude is "making it all up".

If there is something you know that maybe you feel I dont I would love to hear it. Please!

 

[Hoffmeister]

Well first of all, this thread was meant to be about my favourite podcasts, not a big discussion on my views. To be honest, my opinions are just that, my opinions. I am allowed to have them and i'm not trying to force them on anyone else.
Secondly, as for Davids view on Jeff maybe I need to relisten to it, but I took from it that David didnt believe Jeff anymore. If this is wrong then sorry, but again this discussion is not the point of the thread.
*
As for why do I not believe Jeff? Well for starters I'm not saying I don't, but if someone was to point a gun in my face and demand a yes or a no as to whether I thought he was either making it up, or convincing himself that it actually happened.... I would say "yes".
As for why?
I have always been of the opinion that people within this field are far too trusting of what people say. When I started my job in recruitment 6 years ago at the young age of 23, I used to believe that on the whole, most people were fairly normal, and tended to tell the truth. After 6 years of working very closely with a large number of people on a day to day basis, I am now of the opinion that 90% of people will regularly lie and cheat, or just talk complete nonsense as I have caught them out over and over again. The classic one is where my workers will take the day off work or not turn up to an interview*giving the excuse that their father has died or something similar. I can't tell you how many workers I have had whose fathers have apparently died 5 or 6 times over the last 5 years (we record every conversation we have with pweople so i go back and check)
Maybe you can call that a very pessimistic view of people, but from the evidence I have seen, it rings true.
So why do I have a hunch that what he said really didnt happen?
Well I don't know the bloke personally, I would expect that very few of us do, so I can only base my hunches (and thats all they are) on the 'facts' that I know.
The 'facts' are:
a) There has never been any evidence*for any of the paranormal occurences that appeared in this particular episode (i.e. wierd demon-like aliens, or the ability to teleport/skip time)
b) There is evidence to suggest that people make stuff up on a regular basis, sometimes without an immediately apparent motive. (I believe David suggested it could have been an attempt to seek attention)
*
The blokes who run that podcast have a long way to making themselves credible, but on their forum recently they have posted something that could well be evidence of Jeff lying about something else to do with the whole Emma Woods debacle. Personally I can't even be arsed to look into it too much but from the little I have seen it looks fairly convincing.
*
Anyway, they are just my opinions and I reserve the right to change them at any point.
The point of this forum thread was mainly to highlight the great podcasts that these brilliant shows have provided us with. I encourage people to make their own minds up about who is telling the truth or not.
*
*

 

[trainedobserver]

...I still think Vito's story holds the water as far as I am concerned.

One thing that puzzles me about TLP and artifacts on the moon is, with the great number of telescopes trained on the Moon each night, "Why haven't amateur astronomers published photos showing them?" Is it reasonable to assume that atmospheric effects and underpowered telescopes on Earth just can't produce the resolution necessary to see them?

 

[Paul Kimball]

I have always been of the opinion that people within this field are far too trusting of what people say.

100% correct.

 

[Decker]

One thing that puzzles me about TLP and artifacts on the moon is, with the great number of telescopes trained on the Moon each night, "Why haven't amateur astronomers published photos showing them?"

Well Observer .. they have many times over the years.

Is it reasonable to assume that atmospheric effects and underpowered telescopes on Earth just can't produce the resolution necessary to see them?

As a rule, yes. Unless you are speaking about professional equip. most amateur scopes simply do not have the power to see many of these aritifacts.

Decker
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[trainedobserver]

Was the DM show the only interview Vito Saccheri did on the subject? Did Mr. Saccheri "make the rounds?" How did the DM interview come about? I've never heard of the guy before this.

 

[Hoffmeister]

One thing that puzzles me about TLP and artifacts on the moon is, with the great number of telescopes trained on the Moon each night, "Why haven't amateur astronomers published photos showing them?" Is it reasonable to assume that atmospheric effects and underpowered telescopes on Earth just can't produce the resolution necessary to see them?

I think this question is often asked and a couple of reasons are usually put forth.
#1 The resolution wouldn't be high enough, i.e. the largest object you would be able to see would be a few hundred metre's wide ( i don't know what the figure is exactly but for examples sake)
#2 People have done so, and they have seen phenomena, although it mostly has amounted to being strange lights. There was one really interesting occasion where a large straight 'road' appeared and was seen by many observers on the earth, it then disappeared at a later date. I think on one of Dons old UFO tonight moon episodes (which can be found in his section of the forum), there was a clip from a TV broadcast about it, with Sir Patrick Moore if memory serves.

I'm guessing you could probably turn hubble to look at it, but with hubbles airtime already fully booked between all the 'more important' projects, its unlikely to happen.

 

[trainedobserver]

"Why haven't amateur astronomers published photos showing them?" ...Well Observer .. they have many times over the years.

My google superpowers have failed me. I can find a few things that seem to be from the book but I really can't find much else that shows anything of significance. Of course there are the numerous examples of NASA photos with obvious airbrushing or blurring that do seem highly suspicious. The one photo of the "dish" is pretty good but when I look at it something about the objects luminosity and shadow seem wrong.

It is a historical fact that people have reported seeing various strange things on the moon from the Earth but I have yet to find real compelling photographs online. Just more indistinct shapes and odd lights. I've heard several people discuss the huge high-resolution photos of the moon showing structures and what have you but I've yet to see one.

My jury is still out on this subject. I think if you accept the premise that we are being visited by space travelers it is easy enough to see the logic in those visitors using the Moon as a base or simply exploiting its natural resources. It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest however to find out that the structures were built by ancient humans from a previous civilization that met its end somehow. I think we probably have reached this level of civilization or greater in the past only to be thrown back into the stone-age by disease, war, or natural disaster, maybe more than once. I can't really support that notion other than circumstantially but it seems a good possibility. Imagine how incredibly useful a message from such a civilization could be if we stumbled upon the remains of their installations on the moon. Something beyond the, "Be nice to one another and don't make a mess." type of Space Brother message, something useful like, "Don't mess with nuclear fission. See what it did to us?" might be a little late at this point but you get the idea.

It is a fascinating subject and look forward to hearing more about it.

Don, when are you going to come out with your TLP information?

 

[Hoffmeister]

It is a historical fact that people have reported seeing various strange things on the moon from the Earth but I have yet to find real compelling photographs online. Just more indistinct shapes and odd lights. I've heard several people discuss the huge high-resolution photos of the moon showing structures and what have you but I've yet to see one.

M

I have heard high resolution shots discussed too, and yet I still have never seen one of these photos, only grainy shots that don't give a clear image either way. If i did see one, it would go a long way to convincing me.

 

[trainedobserver]

I'm guessing you could probably turn hubble to look at it, but with hubbles airtime already fully booked between all the 'more important' projects, its unlikely to happen.

I remember hearing or reading somewhere that Hubble isn't suited to look at the moon. I don't know if this had to do with orbital mechanics or the type of lenses that are in the thing.

Also, with the Chinese, Japanese, India, and god knows who else sending probes to the moon you would think they would have produced and exploited any sensational photos that they may have taken by now. A world-wide conspiracy of silence seems a bit of stretch. Certainly if China could run a head line like, "USA lied about Moon", "America hides the truth about the Moon!", etc., etc. they would in a heart beat. But perhaps I am being naive about the whole thing.

The biggest strikes against the whole business are Hoagland and Lear's input into the whole matter. I've become convinced over the years that neither of those guys can be taken seriously to the point when they say something I instantly think the opposite of whatever they said must be true. I have to fight the feeling in an attempt to stay objective.

 

[Hoffmeister]

The biggest strikes against the whole business are Hoagland and Lear's input into the whole matter. I've become convinced over the years that neither of those guys can be taken seriously

Amen to that, Lear in particular needs to wake up and smell the straight-jacket!

 

[Decker]

Was the DM show the only interview Vito Saccheri did on the subject? Did Mr. Saccheri "make the rounds?" How did the DM interview come about? I've never heard of the guy before this.

Vito may have done one or two other interviews but I really do not recall at this point. After the fiasco with someone at MUFON shooting their mouth off about their investigation of Vito's claims and NASA he withdrew from the whole lunar thing. I called Vito a few months ago, actually twice, and requested we do another show. He was pretty hesitant because of business things he is currently working with that include some Govt. contracts. Will he ever do anymore on this? Right now I have no idea.

Decker
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[trainedobserver]

He was pretty hesitant because of business things ...

The fact that the guy is reluctant to talk about it and hasn't made a name of himself through the faux-reality lecture circuit promoting his story or a book he has written makes this story even more compelling in my view.

 

[Brian Now]

I listened to the Vito interview tonight. That was a great show! You can tell it was 15 years ago by the total lack of references to email, the web, texting, and terrorism! Weird to hear people talk from a time when none of that stuff mattered that much.

Anyway, Vito definitely seems legitimate, and like others have said he hasn't seemed to try and sell his story in the since he came out. Of particular interest to me was how he reacted emotionally when he saw the transcripts in the library. It all started sinking in at that moment, and they bolted out of there. I'm not sure I wouldn't have stayed, but I think I can imagine how he felt faced with the reality of something like this.

Also, with the Chinese, Japanese, India, and god knows who else sending probes to the moon you would think they would have produced and exploited any sensational photos that they may have taken by now. A world-wide conspiracy of silence seems a bit of stretch.

That's a good point. China might keep it secret as total control is their usual MO. Japan might be too close to the US and succumb to some nudging or bribery, but India would probably spill it if they found stuff. Why haven't they though?
There were some articles, some tabloid-like stuff, on the internet a year or so ago about just that...India finding structures on the moon. But it was such bad writing that it had almost no "ring" of truth to it at all.