The Paracast Newsletter
February 23, 2025
www.theparacast.com
Explore Spirit Photography, the Incredible World of Spiritualism and More with Shannon Taggart 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 and later 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 a return appearance from Shannon Taggart. She first became aware of Spiritualism as a teenager, when her cousin received a message from a medium that revealed details about her grandfather’s death. In 2001, while working as a photographer, she began taking pictures where that message was received, Lily Dale, New York, home to the world’s largest Spiritualist community—proceeding to other such communities as England’s Arthur Findlay College. Taggart expected to spend one summer figuring out the tricks of the Spiritualist trade. Instead, Spiritualism’s mysterious processes, earnest practitioners, and neglected photographic history became an inspiration. Her project evolved into an eighteen-year journey that has taken her around the world. In this interview, she also discusses the 11th Annual Symposium at Lilly Dale, NY, set for July 23, 2025 through July 26, 2025. Events include: Spoon Bending Party, with Shannon Taggart and guests, The Paranormal Object, with Jack Hunter, The Cinematic Séance: A History of Spiritualism and Film, with Murray Leeder, The Mystery of Gef the Talking Mongoose (really), with Christopher Josiffe, Richard Shaver: A Personal Mythology of Secret Caves and Ancient Rocks, with Doug Skinner, and much more. Her website: www.shannontaggart.com
After The Paracast — Available exclusively to Paracast+ subscribers: Photographer Shannon Taggart returns to talk with Gene and cohost Tim Swartz about such topics as the possible UFO connection with the afterlife, the curious case of Gef the Talking Mongoose, and possible evidence of psychic or spirit photography. Taggart has examined Spiritualism since she was a teenager, when her cousin received a message from a medium that revealed details about her grandfather’s death .It became a lifelong quest to explore the strange and the unknown. During this episode, she also talks about the forthcoming sequel to her book, Séance, a portrait of spiritualist communities across the US and Europe. Her plans also include the 11th Annual Symposium at Lilly Dale, NY, set for July 23, 2025 through July 26, 2025. Events include: Spoon Bending Party, with Shannon Taggart and guests, The Paranormal Object, with Jack Hunter, The Cinematic Séance: A History of Spiritualism and Film, with Murray Leeder, The Mystery of Gef the Talking Mongoose (really), with Christopher Josiffe, Richard Shaver: A Personal Mythology of Secret Caves and Ancient Rocks, with Doug Skinner, and much more. Her website: www.shannontaggart.com
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.
The All Talk Department
By Gene Steinberg
There is hope and then there is hope. And then there is hopeless.
For over 70 years, we have read and heard “ironclad” promises that real UFO disclosure is just behind the door. It’ll all happen any day now, or any year now — or any decade now. You can take that to the bank, but don’t be surprised if all you get is a “non-sufficient” response.
I mean, I often think it’s about crying wolf a little too often. While I appreciate the optimism, being optimistic doesn’t deliver promises. Indeed, the powers-that-be who investigate the phenomenon have time and time again given us the same excuses about their reality. It’s all something conventional, and there’s no evidence of any offworld origin.
So there may be other populated planets in the universe, but their inhabitants aren’t visiting us, at least not yet.Maybe sometime in the distant future.
It’s a sure thing that people haven’t stopped seeing UFOs. Sure, maybe we don’t see reports that are comparable to the sensational cases of the past, but that doesn’t mean it’s not happening. There are surely enough cases each and every year that cry out for solutions. Only solutions aren’t coming anytime soon, and maybe it’s true that they will never come.
But I am not attacking the messengers of disclosure who loudly proclaim vindication any time now. They may truly believe the truth is not only out there, but is destined to come out.
Then again, science is about repeatability. And repeating the same old claim without support, and no obvious resolution, doesn’t help resolve the situation.
In short, UFOs are out there. Untold numbers of people are seeing them, and, indeed I suspect that many haven’t even bothered to report their sightings. Perhaps it’s just some light in the sky that may flitter about a bit, and perhaps it’s something more significant, with lots of rapid movements, and perhaps a close approach.
But it’s not as if people are usually inclined to report it to someone. I’ve often cited the late researcher Stanton T. Friedman’s stories of asking the members of the audiences to his lectures as to whether they’ve seen a UFO. While a decent number of hands were raised (I don’t have exact numbers, but I’ll take his word for it), most hands went down when he asked how many actually reported it to anyone.
There could be many reasons. It may be a matter of not wanting to look bad to one’s family or friends, and woe be it that their employers learn about it. Perhaps the sighting was so insignificant that they accepted it as not terribly important. Perhaps the sighting made a huge impact to their psyche, and that might have its own nasty complications.
If you do care to make a report, where do you go? Probably not the government, at least not the bureaucrats for reasons I’ll explain shortly. Certainly a call to the local police might be a possibility, but it’s not as if they can do much about it if the UFO is no longer visible. Well, perhaps they’ve had other reports, but what do we expect them to do? Go alien hunting?
Yes, there are a number of sightings made by police officers, but, again, all they can do is collect evidence or eyewitness testimony. What do they do next?
Even if you can find someone to talk to — or write to — what’s happening next? More excuses.
Sure, there are UFO organizations that are happy to take your report. Chief among these is the National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC) still run by Peter Davenport. You can file a report at their site (File a UFO Report | NUFORC). There’s also a lot of useful information about objects or phenomena often mistaken for something strange.
Long and short is that there is no charge for this service. NUFORC does have a phone number where you can report recent sightings. And yes, they do accept donations, but it’s not as if the pitches are as front and center as they are with some other organizations.
But what happens then? Well, it’s all recorded in an online database stored in categories and searchable. But it’s not as if NUFORC will send someone to your home or office to investigate the sighting. It’s also not at all certain that there’s a whole lot of effort to examine the data and try to come up with answers. But if you’ve seen a possible UFO, it might be a way to see if others have made similar reports.
There’s also the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON), which has been around since 1969, where it was formed as a splinter group from another UFO group, Aerial Phenomena Research Organization (APRO).
APRO is long gone. MUFON, however, goes on and on, but it seems more interested in selling services, including memberships, investigator courses and publications. There’s also an annual symposium that helps MUFON to evangelize the popular theory that we are being visited by extraterrestrials. It’s not at all certain that other views are getting much attention. In any case, you can report a sighting, and there’s a separate section focusing on possible abductions or other contacts with “non-humans.” If you’re lucky, they might even dispatch a field investigate to gather more information about your sighting.
But what about the Feds? Well, in the U.S. there’s the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), as awkward a title as one might devise. But there are no direct methods to collect sightings. People in the military should report UAPs “through their command or service.” For civilian pilots, contact air traffic control. For the general public: “We will announce when a reporting mechanism is available for others to use.” But I’m not holding my breath.
Long and short, there’s little real evidence that anything meaningful is being accomplished towards resolving the endless UFO mystery. Sure, AARO is, by its existence, helping to encourage serious scientists to investigate the phenomenon without losing possible grants or suffering other negative impacts. That’s a good thing.
But is any of this going to take us closer towards getting some useful answers?
All right, we have those alleged UFO/UAP whistleblowers, such as David Grusch. But he seems to have essentially vanished from the scene after making bold claims about alleged crashed UFOs, alien bodies and other evidence in the government’s possession. So it seems these whistleblowers are indeed blowing something, but it’s mostly smoke.
And, so far at least, that’s the way it is.
Copyright 1999-2025 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!
February 23, 2025
www.theparacast.com
Explore Spirit Photography, the Incredible World of Spiritualism and More with Shannon Taggart 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 and later 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 a return appearance from Shannon Taggart. She first became aware of Spiritualism as a teenager, when her cousin received a message from a medium that revealed details about her grandfather’s death. In 2001, while working as a photographer, she began taking pictures where that message was received, Lily Dale, New York, home to the world’s largest Spiritualist community—proceeding to other such communities as England’s Arthur Findlay College. Taggart expected to spend one summer figuring out the tricks of the Spiritualist trade. Instead, Spiritualism’s mysterious processes, earnest practitioners, and neglected photographic history became an inspiration. Her project evolved into an eighteen-year journey that has taken her around the world. In this interview, she also discusses the 11th Annual Symposium at Lilly Dale, NY, set for July 23, 2025 through July 26, 2025. Events include: Spoon Bending Party, with Shannon Taggart and guests, The Paranormal Object, with Jack Hunter, The Cinematic Séance: A History of Spiritualism and Film, with Murray Leeder, The Mystery of Gef the Talking Mongoose (really), with Christopher Josiffe, Richard Shaver: A Personal Mythology of Secret Caves and Ancient Rocks, with Doug Skinner, and much more. Her website: www.shannontaggart.com
After The Paracast — Available exclusively to Paracast+ subscribers: Photographer Shannon Taggart returns to talk with Gene and cohost Tim Swartz about such topics as the possible UFO connection with the afterlife, the curious case of Gef the Talking Mongoose, and possible evidence of psychic or spirit photography. Taggart has examined Spiritualism since she was a teenager, when her cousin received a message from a medium that revealed details about her grandfather’s death .It became a lifelong quest to explore the strange and the unknown. During this episode, she also talks about the forthcoming sequel to her book, Séance, a portrait of spiritualist communities across the US and Europe. Her plans also include the 11th Annual Symposium at Lilly Dale, NY, set for July 23, 2025 through July 26, 2025. Events include: Spoon Bending Party, with Shannon Taggart and guests, The Paranormal Object, with Jack Hunter, The Cinematic Séance: A History of Spiritualism and Film, with Murray Leeder, The Mystery of Gef the Talking Mongoose (really), with Christopher Josiffe, Richard Shaver: A Personal Mythology of Secret Caves and Ancient Rocks, with Doug Skinner, and much more. Her website: www.shannontaggart.com
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.
The All Talk Department
By Gene Steinberg
There is hope and then there is hope. And then there is hopeless.
For over 70 years, we have read and heard “ironclad” promises that real UFO disclosure is just behind the door. It’ll all happen any day now, or any year now — or any decade now. You can take that to the bank, but don’t be surprised if all you get is a “non-sufficient” response.
I mean, I often think it’s about crying wolf a little too often. While I appreciate the optimism, being optimistic doesn’t deliver promises. Indeed, the powers-that-be who investigate the phenomenon have time and time again given us the same excuses about their reality. It’s all something conventional, and there’s no evidence of any offworld origin.
So there may be other populated planets in the universe, but their inhabitants aren’t visiting us, at least not yet.Maybe sometime in the distant future.
It’s a sure thing that people haven’t stopped seeing UFOs. Sure, maybe we don’t see reports that are comparable to the sensational cases of the past, but that doesn’t mean it’s not happening. There are surely enough cases each and every year that cry out for solutions. Only solutions aren’t coming anytime soon, and maybe it’s true that they will never come.
But I am not attacking the messengers of disclosure who loudly proclaim vindication any time now. They may truly believe the truth is not only out there, but is destined to come out.
Then again, science is about repeatability. And repeating the same old claim without support, and no obvious resolution, doesn’t help resolve the situation.
In short, UFOs are out there. Untold numbers of people are seeing them, and, indeed I suspect that many haven’t even bothered to report their sightings. Perhaps it’s just some light in the sky that may flitter about a bit, and perhaps it’s something more significant, with lots of rapid movements, and perhaps a close approach.
But it’s not as if people are usually inclined to report it to someone. I’ve often cited the late researcher Stanton T. Friedman’s stories of asking the members of the audiences to his lectures as to whether they’ve seen a UFO. While a decent number of hands were raised (I don’t have exact numbers, but I’ll take his word for it), most hands went down when he asked how many actually reported it to anyone.
There could be many reasons. It may be a matter of not wanting to look bad to one’s family or friends, and woe be it that their employers learn about it. Perhaps the sighting was so insignificant that they accepted it as not terribly important. Perhaps the sighting made a huge impact to their psyche, and that might have its own nasty complications.
If you do care to make a report, where do you go? Probably not the government, at least not the bureaucrats for reasons I’ll explain shortly. Certainly a call to the local police might be a possibility, but it’s not as if they can do much about it if the UFO is no longer visible. Well, perhaps they’ve had other reports, but what do we expect them to do? Go alien hunting?
Yes, there are a number of sightings made by police officers, but, again, all they can do is collect evidence or eyewitness testimony. What do they do next?
Even if you can find someone to talk to — or write to — what’s happening next? More excuses.
Sure, there are UFO organizations that are happy to take your report. Chief among these is the National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC) still run by Peter Davenport. You can file a report at their site (File a UFO Report | NUFORC). There’s also a lot of useful information about objects or phenomena often mistaken for something strange.
Long and short is that there is no charge for this service. NUFORC does have a phone number where you can report recent sightings. And yes, they do accept donations, but it’s not as if the pitches are as front and center as they are with some other organizations.
But what happens then? Well, it’s all recorded in an online database stored in categories and searchable. But it’s not as if NUFORC will send someone to your home or office to investigate the sighting. It’s also not at all certain that there’s a whole lot of effort to examine the data and try to come up with answers. But if you’ve seen a possible UFO, it might be a way to see if others have made similar reports.
There’s also the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON), which has been around since 1969, where it was formed as a splinter group from another UFO group, Aerial Phenomena Research Organization (APRO).
APRO is long gone. MUFON, however, goes on and on, but it seems more interested in selling services, including memberships, investigator courses and publications. There’s also an annual symposium that helps MUFON to evangelize the popular theory that we are being visited by extraterrestrials. It’s not at all certain that other views are getting much attention. In any case, you can report a sighting, and there’s a separate section focusing on possible abductions or other contacts with “non-humans.” If you’re lucky, they might even dispatch a field investigate to gather more information about your sighting.
But what about the Feds? Well, in the U.S. there’s the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), as awkward a title as one might devise. But there are no direct methods to collect sightings. People in the military should report UAPs “through their command or service.” For civilian pilots, contact air traffic control. For the general public: “We will announce when a reporting mechanism is available for others to use.” But I’m not holding my breath.
Long and short, there’s little real evidence that anything meaningful is being accomplished towards resolving the endless UFO mystery. Sure, AARO is, by its existence, helping to encourage serious scientists to investigate the phenomenon without losing possible grants or suffering other negative impacts. That’s a good thing.
But is any of this going to take us closer towards getting some useful answers?
All right, we have those alleged UFO/UAP whistleblowers, such as David Grusch. But he seems to have essentially vanished from the scene after making bold claims about alleged crashed UFOs, alien bodies and other evidence in the government’s possession. So it seems these whistleblowers are indeed blowing something, but it’s mostly smoke.
And, so far at least, that’s the way it is.
Copyright 1999-2025 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!