The Paracast Newsletter
December 15, 2024
www.theparacast.com
Paranormal Explorer Kevin J. Guhl Reveals Amazing Thunderbird Sightings and Other Phenomoena on The Paracast!
The Paracast is released every Sunday and available from our site, https://www.theparacast.com, your favorite podcast app, and the IRN Internet Radio Network. All episodes from 2022, 2023 and 2024 now feature better audio and fewer ads. We are also re-releasing some of our most popular classic episodes.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVEN'T SIGNED UP FOR THE PARACAST+ YET? PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO THE PARACAST+ SO YOU CAN SUPPORT THE SHOW AND ENJOY THE ULTIMATE PARACAST EXPERIENCE AT A SPECIAL LOW PRICE! 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 bonus podcast, After The Paracast, plus a special version of The Paracast with all the ads removed, when you join The Paracast+. We also offer a special RSS feed for easy updates of the latest episodes on your device. Episodes for subscribers to The Paracast+ are now released 24 hours earlier. Flash! Take advantage of our lowest rates ever! Act now! It's easier than ever to susbcribe! For the easiest signup ever, please visit: https://www.theparacast.plus
This Week's Episode: Gene and cohost Tim Swartz present Kevin J. Guhl, who leverages his experience as a professional journalist to investigate America’s strangest legends, uncovering glimmers of truth and insights into the bizarre characters and events woven into the tapestry of U.S. history. He chronicles the anomalous via highly researched articles on his website, www.ThunderbirdPhoto.com. Kevin published his first book, “ An Anthology of American Strangeness, Vol. 1: Thunderbirds, Lost Temples and Skeleton Ghosts,” in 2024. He possesses a passion for storytelling and is an award-winning reporter and has enjoyed a long career in PR. In addition, he has served as artist/writer for multiple long-running comic strips and his short stories have been published in various science fiction anthologies. Kevin is proud of his home state of New Jersey and resides in Jersey Devil territory. In addition to the Jersey Devil, this interview will cover some of the weird phenomena covered in his book, such as thunderbirds and other anomalous flying things and lost temples. Kevin will also talk about his interest in pop culture.
After The Paracast — Available exclusively for Paracast+ subscribers: Paranormal explorer Kevin J. Guhl returns to continue to discuss amazing phenomena, such as the incidents reported in his book, ““ An Anthology of American Strangeness, Vol. 1: Thunderbirds, Lost Temples and Skeleton Ghosts.” Speaking with Gene and cohost Tim Swartz, he will also discuss the growing possibility of UFO disclosure, with evidence of increased acceptance that there’s something real to the phenomenon. Kevin will also talk about his background, how he got involved in the world of the paranormal, along with his work in the “real world.” There will also be a pop culture discussion that includes Star Trek. Kevin leverages his experience as a professional journalist to investigate America’s strangest legends, uncovering glimmers of truth and insights into the bizarre characters and events woven into the tapestry of U.S. history. He chronicles the anomalous via highly researched articles on his website, www.ThunderbirdPhoto.com. Kevin is proud of his home state of New Jersey and resides, fittingly, in Jersey Devil territory.
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. And look for @theparacast on Bluesky Social, Facebook, Threads and X.
Droning On and On
By Tim R. Swartz
If you're living on the East coast of the U.S., the buzz word right now is "Drone." Since November 18, residents in New Jersey started reporting seeing mysterious aircraft flying around and hovering near military installations and critical infrastructure.
The aircraft appear to be unmanned drones, with sightings near the Picatinny Arsenal, a U.S. military facility, and President-elect Donald Trump's Bedminster golf course. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), in response, temporarily restricted drone flights over these locations. However, the drones have paid little attention to these restrictions and have continued to fly.
On Wednesday, the New Jersey State Police (NJSP) hosted briefings for mayors and state lawmakers. Those who attended the briefing didn’t learn much, but were promised that the drone sightings are being seriously investigated.
This did little to pacify Middletown Mayor Tony Perry, who said to reporters, “Unfortunately, now there are more questions than we have answers."
Mayor Perry also said that the FBI is currently leading the investigation into the drone sightings, but was not at the meeting. “To not be there for this briefing was absolutely ridiculous, in my opinion."
It was revealed during the briefing that the NJSP deployed helicopters to chase after the drones, some appearing to be the size of a small car. Michael Melham, Mayor of Belleville Township, said in a video he posted on Facebook that the drones "operate in a coordinated manner."
"The lights are usually on and they’re blinking, but they do turn off at times, making it very difficult to detect. So when our state police helicopter has gotten close, lights go off and they go away. We do not know what make and model. We don’t know anything else about them.”
Throughout all this, the military has been strangely quiet about the drone outbreak, saying that it doesn't appear the drones pose any imminent threat. The Pentagon has said that the drones are not from an adversary or a foreign country, nor are they from the U.S. military. Considering the drones seems to possess characteristics beyond anything available to hobbyists, who then, is flying them?
The Colorado Drones
This recent outbreak of sightings is similar to the mysterious drones that flew over Colorado and other nearby states. Starting in December, 2019, law enforcement agencies in numerous rural counties in eastern Colorado and adjacent areas of Nebraska and Kansas received numerous reports of large drones flying in formations at night for a period of several weeks.
Considering the proximity of military installations, the “mystery drone” wave generated serious concern from at least two U.S. senators and Colorado’s governor. The activity soon drew the attention of regional and later national news media, as well.
Douglas D. Johnson, a volunteer researcher affiliated with the Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies (SCU), used the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to obtain hundreds of pages of emails and other related documents from the FAA and other federal agencies regarding the mystery-drone flap. The released documents revealed that the FAA was unable to determine the origin of the drones, but were confident they were not covert military activities.
One email from veteran Special Agent Michael Bumberger of the FAA's Law Enforcement Assistance Program (LEAP), dated January 5, 2020, said an FAA LEAP agent had spoken to sheriffs in 16 counties in Colorado and Nebraska and “each agency contacted advised at least one deputy has witnessed the activity.” The email went on:
“The activity reported occurs primarily between the hours of 1800 and 2200 MST and demonstrate the pattern of multiple “drones” flying a grid type pattern and remaining airborne for several hours at a time in less than optimum flying conditions (high winds and storm-like conditions). The number of drones reported operating at one time range from between two and 16 and appears to be approximately six-foot width and length. Flight time has been two to three hours continuous. All reports indicate flight is between 200 and 300 feet.”
There were also reports of drones operating in coordination with a "Big Drone" that was hovering over an area. This larger drone is said to remain in place while all the others fly around in close proximity. The large drone, as described, is about five to six feet in diameter with a cylindrical shape and a red light in front.
Since that time, there have been other drone incursions, especially over sensitive U.S. military installations. Between late February and early March of 2019, at Andersen Air Force Base on the Island of Guam, the base experienced repeated incursions by unmanned aircraft. The drones seemed to concentrate their attention on one area of the strategic base, the U.S. Army’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery that is tasked with defending the island from ballistic missile attacks.
The intruding craft were described as “quadcopter-like” vehicles with bright spotlights that flew from over the water and then across the North West Base area at not much higher than treetop level, about 20 to 30 feet above the ground. On a number of nights, the craft would make multiple incursions in the very early morning hours. They would show up, disappear, and then come back a few hours later.
More recently, between November 20 and 22, airspace around three U.S. airbases in the UK, RAF Mildenhall and RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk, and RAF Feltwell in Norfolk, experienced multiple drone incursions. In the village of Beck Row, Suffolk, which is situated next to RAF Mildenhall, residents reported brightly lit aerial vehicles hovering above their houses and over the base itself. Some of the drones were described as being large, triangle-shaped, and with extremely bright lights.
As with the New Jersey drones, the military has not been forthcoming on who is operating the drones, or why nothing is being done to stop them.
UFOs or Drones
The media has tried very hard to avoid calling these aerial intruders what they actually are, UFOs (or UAPs if you like). Granted, the objects haven’t exhibited the usual characteristics of UFOs, such as sudden and instantaneous acceleration for example. It has been assumed that the aircraft are drones, but actually their identification has been hindered by the fact that any structures are impossible to see due their bright lights. Nevertheless, they are still unidentified objects in the air, UFOs.
As with past UFO flaps, the authorities will probably start saying the drones are actually conventional aircraft that have been misidentified by witnesses who have been caught up in the “drone hysteria.”
John Kirby, White House National Security Communications Advisor, said on Thursday, December 13, that, “Using very sophisticated electronic detection technologies provided by federal authorities, we have not been able to – and neither have state or local law enforcement authorities – corroborate any of the reported visual sightings.”
In other words, “Nothing to see here folks, it’s just swamp gas, weather balloons, or the Planet Venus. Just go about your lives and don’t worry about the strange, unexplainable things going on above your communities.”
Where have we heard this all before?
Tim R. Swartz is an Indiana native and Emmy-Award winning television producer/videographer, and is the author of a number of popular books including The Lost Journals of Nikola Tesla, Gef the Talking Mongoose, and is a contributing writer for such books as, Brad Steiger's Real Monsters, Gruesome Critters, and Beasts from the Darkside, and Real Ghosts, Restless Spirits and Haunted Places. His most recent books, along with author Sean Casteel are Weird Time – Exploring the Mysteries of Time and Space, and Mimics - The Others Among Us.
As a photojournalist, Tim Swartz has traveled extensively and investigated paranormal phenomena and other unusual mysteries in such diverse locations as the Great Pyramid in Egypt to the Great Wall in China. He has worked with major television networks both national and international.
He has appeared on the documentary “The Myth of Tesla,” as well as The History Channels programs "Ancient Aliens,” “Evidence," "Ancient Aliens: Declassified,” "The UnXplained,” and the History Channel Latin America series "Contacto Extraterrestre.”
His articles have been published in magazines such as Mysteries, FATE, Strange, Atlantis Rising, UFO Universe, Flying Saucer Review, Renaissance, and Unsolved UFO Reports. Tim is also the co-host of The Paracast with Gene Steinberg: www.theparacast.com. His website is: www.weirdtimebook.com.
Copyright 1999-2024 The Paracast Company. 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!
December 15, 2024
www.theparacast.com
Paranormal Explorer Kevin J. Guhl Reveals Amazing Thunderbird Sightings and Other Phenomoena on The Paracast!
The Paracast is released every Sunday and available from our site, https://www.theparacast.com, your favorite podcast app, and the IRN Internet Radio Network. All episodes from 2022, 2023 and 2024 now feature better audio and fewer ads. We are also re-releasing some of our most popular classic episodes.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVEN'T SIGNED UP FOR THE PARACAST+ YET? PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO THE PARACAST+ SO YOU CAN SUPPORT THE SHOW AND ENJOY THE ULTIMATE PARACAST EXPERIENCE AT A SPECIAL LOW PRICE! 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 bonus podcast, After The Paracast, plus a special version of The Paracast with all the ads removed, when you join The Paracast+. We also offer a special RSS feed for easy updates of the latest episodes on your device. Episodes for subscribers to The Paracast+ are now released 24 hours earlier. Flash! Take advantage of our lowest rates ever! Act now! It's easier than ever to susbcribe! For the easiest signup ever, please visit: https://www.theparacast.plus
This Week's Episode: Gene and cohost Tim Swartz present Kevin J. Guhl, who leverages his experience as a professional journalist to investigate America’s strangest legends, uncovering glimmers of truth and insights into the bizarre characters and events woven into the tapestry of U.S. history. He chronicles the anomalous via highly researched articles on his website, www.ThunderbirdPhoto.com. Kevin published his first book, “ An Anthology of American Strangeness, Vol. 1: Thunderbirds, Lost Temples and Skeleton Ghosts,” in 2024. He possesses a passion for storytelling and is an award-winning reporter and has enjoyed a long career in PR. In addition, he has served as artist/writer for multiple long-running comic strips and his short stories have been published in various science fiction anthologies. Kevin is proud of his home state of New Jersey and resides in Jersey Devil territory. In addition to the Jersey Devil, this interview will cover some of the weird phenomena covered in his book, such as thunderbirds and other anomalous flying things and lost temples. Kevin will also talk about his interest in pop culture.
After The Paracast — Available exclusively for Paracast+ subscribers: Paranormal explorer Kevin J. Guhl returns to continue to discuss amazing phenomena, such as the incidents reported in his book, ““ An Anthology of American Strangeness, Vol. 1: Thunderbirds, Lost Temples and Skeleton Ghosts.” Speaking with Gene and cohost Tim Swartz, he will also discuss the growing possibility of UFO disclosure, with evidence of increased acceptance that there’s something real to the phenomenon. Kevin will also talk about his background, how he got involved in the world of the paranormal, along with his work in the “real world.” There will also be a pop culture discussion that includes Star Trek. Kevin leverages his experience as a professional journalist to investigate America’s strangest legends, uncovering glimmers of truth and insights into the bizarre characters and events woven into the tapestry of U.S. history. He chronicles the anomalous via highly researched articles on his website, www.ThunderbirdPhoto.com. Kevin is proud of his home state of New Jersey and resides, fittingly, in Jersey Devil territory.
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. And look for @theparacast on Bluesky Social, Facebook, Threads and X.
Droning On and On
By Tim R. Swartz
If you're living on the East coast of the U.S., the buzz word right now is "Drone." Since November 18, residents in New Jersey started reporting seeing mysterious aircraft flying around and hovering near military installations and critical infrastructure.
The aircraft appear to be unmanned drones, with sightings near the Picatinny Arsenal, a U.S. military facility, and President-elect Donald Trump's Bedminster golf course. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), in response, temporarily restricted drone flights over these locations. However, the drones have paid little attention to these restrictions and have continued to fly.
On Wednesday, the New Jersey State Police (NJSP) hosted briefings for mayors and state lawmakers. Those who attended the briefing didn’t learn much, but were promised that the drone sightings are being seriously investigated.
This did little to pacify Middletown Mayor Tony Perry, who said to reporters, “Unfortunately, now there are more questions than we have answers."
Mayor Perry also said that the FBI is currently leading the investigation into the drone sightings, but was not at the meeting. “To not be there for this briefing was absolutely ridiculous, in my opinion."
It was revealed during the briefing that the NJSP deployed helicopters to chase after the drones, some appearing to be the size of a small car. Michael Melham, Mayor of Belleville Township, said in a video he posted on Facebook that the drones "operate in a coordinated manner."
"The lights are usually on and they’re blinking, but they do turn off at times, making it very difficult to detect. So when our state police helicopter has gotten close, lights go off and they go away. We do not know what make and model. We don’t know anything else about them.”
Throughout all this, the military has been strangely quiet about the drone outbreak, saying that it doesn't appear the drones pose any imminent threat. The Pentagon has said that the drones are not from an adversary or a foreign country, nor are they from the U.S. military. Considering the drones seems to possess characteristics beyond anything available to hobbyists, who then, is flying them?
The Colorado Drones
This recent outbreak of sightings is similar to the mysterious drones that flew over Colorado and other nearby states. Starting in December, 2019, law enforcement agencies in numerous rural counties in eastern Colorado and adjacent areas of Nebraska and Kansas received numerous reports of large drones flying in formations at night for a period of several weeks.
Considering the proximity of military installations, the “mystery drone” wave generated serious concern from at least two U.S. senators and Colorado’s governor. The activity soon drew the attention of regional and later national news media, as well.
Douglas D. Johnson, a volunteer researcher affiliated with the Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies (SCU), used the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to obtain hundreds of pages of emails and other related documents from the FAA and other federal agencies regarding the mystery-drone flap. The released documents revealed that the FAA was unable to determine the origin of the drones, but were confident they were not covert military activities.
One email from veteran Special Agent Michael Bumberger of the FAA's Law Enforcement Assistance Program (LEAP), dated January 5, 2020, said an FAA LEAP agent had spoken to sheriffs in 16 counties in Colorado and Nebraska and “each agency contacted advised at least one deputy has witnessed the activity.” The email went on:
“The activity reported occurs primarily between the hours of 1800 and 2200 MST and demonstrate the pattern of multiple “drones” flying a grid type pattern and remaining airborne for several hours at a time in less than optimum flying conditions (high winds and storm-like conditions). The number of drones reported operating at one time range from between two and 16 and appears to be approximately six-foot width and length. Flight time has been two to three hours continuous. All reports indicate flight is between 200 and 300 feet.”
There were also reports of drones operating in coordination with a "Big Drone" that was hovering over an area. This larger drone is said to remain in place while all the others fly around in close proximity. The large drone, as described, is about five to six feet in diameter with a cylindrical shape and a red light in front.
Since that time, there have been other drone incursions, especially over sensitive U.S. military installations. Between late February and early March of 2019, at Andersen Air Force Base on the Island of Guam, the base experienced repeated incursions by unmanned aircraft. The drones seemed to concentrate their attention on one area of the strategic base, the U.S. Army’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery that is tasked with defending the island from ballistic missile attacks.
The intruding craft were described as “quadcopter-like” vehicles with bright spotlights that flew from over the water and then across the North West Base area at not much higher than treetop level, about 20 to 30 feet above the ground. On a number of nights, the craft would make multiple incursions in the very early morning hours. They would show up, disappear, and then come back a few hours later.
More recently, between November 20 and 22, airspace around three U.S. airbases in the UK, RAF Mildenhall and RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk, and RAF Feltwell in Norfolk, experienced multiple drone incursions. In the village of Beck Row, Suffolk, which is situated next to RAF Mildenhall, residents reported brightly lit aerial vehicles hovering above their houses and over the base itself. Some of the drones were described as being large, triangle-shaped, and with extremely bright lights.
As with the New Jersey drones, the military has not been forthcoming on who is operating the drones, or why nothing is being done to stop them.
UFOs or Drones
The media has tried very hard to avoid calling these aerial intruders what they actually are, UFOs (or UAPs if you like). Granted, the objects haven’t exhibited the usual characteristics of UFOs, such as sudden and instantaneous acceleration for example. It has been assumed that the aircraft are drones, but actually their identification has been hindered by the fact that any structures are impossible to see due their bright lights. Nevertheless, they are still unidentified objects in the air, UFOs.
As with past UFO flaps, the authorities will probably start saying the drones are actually conventional aircraft that have been misidentified by witnesses who have been caught up in the “drone hysteria.”
John Kirby, White House National Security Communications Advisor, said on Thursday, December 13, that, “Using very sophisticated electronic detection technologies provided by federal authorities, we have not been able to – and neither have state or local law enforcement authorities – corroborate any of the reported visual sightings.”
In other words, “Nothing to see here folks, it’s just swamp gas, weather balloons, or the Planet Venus. Just go about your lives and don’t worry about the strange, unexplainable things going on above your communities.”
Where have we heard this all before?
• • •
Tim R. Swartz is an Indiana native and Emmy-Award winning television producer/videographer, and is the author of a number of popular books including The Lost Journals of Nikola Tesla, Gef the Talking Mongoose, and is a contributing writer for such books as, Brad Steiger's Real Monsters, Gruesome Critters, and Beasts from the Darkside, and Real Ghosts, Restless Spirits and Haunted Places. His most recent books, along with author Sean Casteel are Weird Time – Exploring the Mysteries of Time and Space, and Mimics - The Others Among Us.
As a photojournalist, Tim Swartz has traveled extensively and investigated paranormal phenomena and other unusual mysteries in such diverse locations as the Great Pyramid in Egypt to the Great Wall in China. He has worked with major television networks both national and international.
He has appeared on the documentary “The Myth of Tesla,” as well as The History Channels programs "Ancient Aliens,” “Evidence," "Ancient Aliens: Declassified,” "The UnXplained,” and the History Channel Latin America series "Contacto Extraterrestre.”
His articles have been published in magazines such as Mysteries, FATE, Strange, Atlantis Rising, UFO Universe, Flying Saucer Review, Renaissance, and Unsolved UFO Reports. Tim is also the co-host of The Paracast with Gene Steinberg: www.theparacast.com. His website is: www.weirdtimebook.com.
Copyright 1999-2024 The Paracast Company. 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!
