The Paracast Newsletter
March 24 2024
www.theparacast.com
Bigfoot Investigator and Filmmaker Greg Ogles Reveals Amazing New Discoveries About These Creatures 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.
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 an enhanced version of The Paracast with the network ads removed, when you join The Paracast+. We also offer a special RSS feed for easy updates of the latest episodes on your device. 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: A main focus of this episode is Bigfoot as Gene and cohost Tim Swartz present Greg Ogles, who got into investigating Bigfoot in 2013 and is the founder of the Alabama Bigfoot Society. Initially he just wanted a diversion in his life as his profession can be quite stressful. Greg has hunted and fished all of his life so being in the woods in remote places was not new to him. In his regular life, he is the traffic analyst for the largest city in Alabama. As an analyst, he's trained in investigative techniques which he has translated over to investigating the unknown. So throughout the history of mankind, we have always been curious about the unknown, making new discoveries and trekking our way into the wilderness. Greg's first thoughts were to fully document all of his encounters. As a skeptic he thought there would be little film that he would have to edit. Then one cold day in Alabama, everything changed! His company is Relic films, a production company that seeks out the truth about America's greatest Legends and Myths. With the use of modern technology and the study of ancient Indian cultures he attempts to uncover the hidden truth about what is real and what is just a story.
After The Paracast — Available exclusively for Paracast+ subscribers on March 24: Bigfoot investigator and filmmaker Greg Ogles returns to talk with Gene and cohost Tim Swartz about possible efforts by these creatures to communicate with humans. What about possible intelligent behavior displayed by orbs? And is Bigfoot dangerous? What about cases of disappearing people, or people whose bodies are badly mutilated? Greg got into investigating Bigfoot in 2013 and is the founder of the Alabama Bigfoot Society. Initially he just wanted a diversion in his life as his profession can be quite stressful. He has hunted and fished all of his life so being in the woods in remote places was not new to him. Throughout the history of mankind, we have always been curious about the unknown, making new discoveries and trekking our way into the wilderness. Greg's first thoughts were to fully document all of his encounters. As a skeptic he thought there would be little film that he would have to edit. Then one cold day in Alabama, everything changed! Greg runs Relic films, a production company that seeks out the truth about America's greatest Legends and Myths. With the use of modern technology and the study of ancient Indian cultures he attempts to uncover the hidden truth about what is real and what is just a story.
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. Visit our new online shop for great branded merchandise at: https://www.theparacast.shop.
Remembering One of the Father’s of Ufology. Sort of.
By Gene Steinberg
As I look back over the years, I see that, although he didn’t know it, Major Donald Keyhoe was surprisingly influential on my life.
It all began in 1956. I was 11 years of age and visiting my brother’s apartment on Carroll Street in Brooklyn. Wally was at work at the time, and my mom was talking to his wife about, well, whatever. I wasn’t paying attention because a book in the living room, on a coffee table, caught my attention.
The title? “Flying Saucers From Outer Space” by Major Keyhoe.
To that point, I mostly regarded stories of possible life in outer space as play acting. I was a fan of those early sci-fi TV shows, such as Captain Video and his Video Rangers and Space Patrol.
But this book was factual, and as I casually paged through it, I began to read the early chapters.
I was hooked!
Major Keyhoe’s breezy style, filled with recreated conversations, kept me going as I discovered the amazing mystery of the flying saucers. Not to mention the possible reality behind the theory that they were indeed visitors from outer space.
I asked my sister-in-law, Rose, if I could borrow the book. It came from the Brooklyn Public Library, so it had to be returned to avoid fines. So she made me agree to return it, which I did by the way.
Now in retrospect this was all so curious. Over the years, I never saw any indication that Wally had any interest at all in the flying saucer mystery, or even sci-fi. It sounds peculiar in retrospect, but it almost seemed as if the book was deliberately placed on that coffee table so I would see it and want to read it.
My allowance was small, so I didn’t have much cash with which to buy more books, but I found a helpful collection at the nearest library branch. As I entered my teen years, I discovered yet another source, almost affordable, in the basement of the famous occult book store, Samuel Weiser. in Manhattan. It was filled with closeout titles of all kinds, overstocks, discontinued, even used. For $1.00 or so a copy, I began to collect a decent sized UFO library.
Now about Major Keyhoe: I was an eager reader of his subsequent books. The skills he developed as a fiction writer certainly carried over to his factual books. His military background gave him the veneer of credibility, not to mention a number of important sources of possible UFO sightings.
He also introduced a concept that has become all-too-familiar, that the agency investigating UFOs, Project Blue Book, was the front for a cover up. Inside the U.S. government was a silence group that managed the secret of the saucers, that they were indeed extraterrestrial.
Major Keyhoe thus became one of the country’s best-known disclosure advocates, as he attempted to convince his military friends to reveal the secret. He was sure we could handle the truth.
Later, he became head of a then-failing UFO group, the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP), and set its singular focus on lobbying the government to reveal what he said was the truth about ET’s presence on Earth.
Nine years after reading my first saucer book, I got to meet its author. During a long break on a train trip, I found myself in Washington, D.C. So I hightailed it to NICAP’s headquarters at 1536 Connecticut Avenue, NW, off DuPont Circle, to get the lay of the land.
A peculiar aspect of this location: The classic sci-fi film from 1951, “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” features a scene where the alien, Klaatu, is gunned down by the military near DuPont Circle. So curious.
Well, with time on my hands, I dropped in at NICAP, met the office manager, Assistant Director Richard Hall, and asked about Major Keyhoe. Hall explained that his boss wasn’t there every day. He’d just show up from time to time to catch up; he was expected that very day.
While I waited, Hall had me do a little volunteer work. I was directed to an office typewriter, with a collection of sightings that I briefly summarized.
Major Keyhoe showed up after a while and we had a brief conversation. I soon departed, and caught the train home.
So far so good.
Until the next time. A few months later, I returned to Washington, this time accompanied by three of my close friends who were also interested in the saucers. Two are familiar to listeners to The Paracast, Allen H. Greenfield and Rick Hilberg. Also on the trip was one of my friends from Brooklyn, Marty Salkind.
On the first day, we met Keyhoe at a diner near his home in Luray, Virginia. Allen wanted to speak with him on NICAP possibly having a relationship or at least an acceptance of the so-called “Middle Ufology” faction in the field. These were the people, such as myself and Greenfield, who had a wider, possibly more inclusive view about possible solutions to the mystery, such as an alternate reality.
The meeting was pleasant enough. Keyhoe seemed little interested in what we were doing, but we felt we made a good introduction to our views.
That’s before the controversy began.
The next day, our little group went over to NICAP’s Washington, D.C. headquarters, expecting a friendly reception. Instead, when I knocked on the front door, Hall opened it, stared at us, pointed his shaking finger at me and said, “You’re not welcome here!”
So what happened? It was one of those things that only seem to occur in the UFO field. Some time earlier, I had taken a job as Managing Editor of Jim Moseley’s Saucer News magazine. Hall and Jim essentially hated each other, and Keyhoe was none to friendly towards Jim. It was a case of guilt by association.
Disappointed and frustrated over the turn of affairs, our little group considered what to do next. We actually ended up calling the guy who, indirectly, helped some of us come together, and that was sci-fi and paranormal editor and publisher Ray Palmer. His phone number was listed, and we soon reached him from our hotel. He listened sympathetically to our plight, and promised to do something.
Which he did. In an issue of his Flying Saucers magazine published a short time later, Ray had written an article entitled, “No Investigations Can Actually Proceed,” in which he gave NICAP its just deserts.
Over the next few months, Jim became the unofficial head of a movement to oust Hall from NICAP, suggesting we make up some license plate stickers bearing the demand, “Hall Must Fall!”
That was then. All was soon forgotten as our lives took over and sent us in different directions. But I remained in touch with Allen and Rick.
A decade later, I had two interesting and quite unexpected encounters while attending a UFO conference in Fort Smith, Arkansas. One was a surprise meeting with Hall. I didn’t know what to expect, but he recognized me, smiled, shook my hand and let bygones be bygones.
I also had a pleasant meeting with Keyhoe, where I interviewed him for a supermarket tabloid. The article appeared a few weeks later, but not my check. After that issue was published, the magazine and its publisher folded with debts unpaid.
Indeed, if I can ever locate the text or the tape cassette recording on which it was based, I’ll post it.
As to Keyhoe, considering his vast influence in the early days of the modern UFO field, I sometimes wondered why his life story hasn’t been tackled in any serious way that I know about. Well, that has changed with the recent publication of the book, “Against the Odds: Major Donald E. Keyhoe and His Battle to End UFO Secrecy.”
We plan to have the author, Linda C. Powell, as a guest on The Paracast; it is scheduled for our March 31, 2024 episode. I am also anxious to read the book and reclaim some fascinating memories of the early days.
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!
March 24 2024
www.theparacast.com
Bigfoot Investigator and Filmmaker Greg Ogles Reveals Amazing New Discoveries About These Creatures 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.
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 an enhanced version of The Paracast with the network ads removed, when you join The Paracast+. We also offer a special RSS feed for easy updates of the latest episodes on your device. 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: A main focus of this episode is Bigfoot as Gene and cohost Tim Swartz present Greg Ogles, who got into investigating Bigfoot in 2013 and is the founder of the Alabama Bigfoot Society. Initially he just wanted a diversion in his life as his profession can be quite stressful. Greg has hunted and fished all of his life so being in the woods in remote places was not new to him. In his regular life, he is the traffic analyst for the largest city in Alabama. As an analyst, he's trained in investigative techniques which he has translated over to investigating the unknown. So throughout the history of mankind, we have always been curious about the unknown, making new discoveries and trekking our way into the wilderness. Greg's first thoughts were to fully document all of his encounters. As a skeptic he thought there would be little film that he would have to edit. Then one cold day in Alabama, everything changed! His company is Relic films, a production company that seeks out the truth about America's greatest Legends and Myths. With the use of modern technology and the study of ancient Indian cultures he attempts to uncover the hidden truth about what is real and what is just a story.
After The Paracast — Available exclusively for Paracast+ subscribers on March 24: Bigfoot investigator and filmmaker Greg Ogles returns to talk with Gene and cohost Tim Swartz about possible efforts by these creatures to communicate with humans. What about possible intelligent behavior displayed by orbs? And is Bigfoot dangerous? What about cases of disappearing people, or people whose bodies are badly mutilated? Greg got into investigating Bigfoot in 2013 and is the founder of the Alabama Bigfoot Society. Initially he just wanted a diversion in his life as his profession can be quite stressful. He has hunted and fished all of his life so being in the woods in remote places was not new to him. Throughout the history of mankind, we have always been curious about the unknown, making new discoveries and trekking our way into the wilderness. Greg's first thoughts were to fully document all of his encounters. As a skeptic he thought there would be little film that he would have to edit. Then one cold day in Alabama, everything changed! Greg runs Relic films, a production company that seeks out the truth about America's greatest Legends and Myths. With the use of modern technology and the study of ancient Indian cultures he attempts to uncover the hidden truth about what is real and what is just a story.
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. Visit our new online shop for great branded merchandise at: https://www.theparacast.shop.
Remembering One of the Father’s of Ufology. Sort of.
By Gene Steinberg
As I look back over the years, I see that, although he didn’t know it, Major Donald Keyhoe was surprisingly influential on my life.
It all began in 1956. I was 11 years of age and visiting my brother’s apartment on Carroll Street in Brooklyn. Wally was at work at the time, and my mom was talking to his wife about, well, whatever. I wasn’t paying attention because a book in the living room, on a coffee table, caught my attention.
The title? “Flying Saucers From Outer Space” by Major Keyhoe.
To that point, I mostly regarded stories of possible life in outer space as play acting. I was a fan of those early sci-fi TV shows, such as Captain Video and his Video Rangers and Space Patrol.
But this book was factual, and as I casually paged through it, I began to read the early chapters.
I was hooked!
Major Keyhoe’s breezy style, filled with recreated conversations, kept me going as I discovered the amazing mystery of the flying saucers. Not to mention the possible reality behind the theory that they were indeed visitors from outer space.
I asked my sister-in-law, Rose, if I could borrow the book. It came from the Brooklyn Public Library, so it had to be returned to avoid fines. So she made me agree to return it, which I did by the way.
Now in retrospect this was all so curious. Over the years, I never saw any indication that Wally had any interest at all in the flying saucer mystery, or even sci-fi. It sounds peculiar in retrospect, but it almost seemed as if the book was deliberately placed on that coffee table so I would see it and want to read it.
My allowance was small, so I didn’t have much cash with which to buy more books, but I found a helpful collection at the nearest library branch. As I entered my teen years, I discovered yet another source, almost affordable, in the basement of the famous occult book store, Samuel Weiser. in Manhattan. It was filled with closeout titles of all kinds, overstocks, discontinued, even used. For $1.00 or so a copy, I began to collect a decent sized UFO library.
Now about Major Keyhoe: I was an eager reader of his subsequent books. The skills he developed as a fiction writer certainly carried over to his factual books. His military background gave him the veneer of credibility, not to mention a number of important sources of possible UFO sightings.
He also introduced a concept that has become all-too-familiar, that the agency investigating UFOs, Project Blue Book, was the front for a cover up. Inside the U.S. government was a silence group that managed the secret of the saucers, that they were indeed extraterrestrial.
Major Keyhoe thus became one of the country’s best-known disclosure advocates, as he attempted to convince his military friends to reveal the secret. He was sure we could handle the truth.
Later, he became head of a then-failing UFO group, the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP), and set its singular focus on lobbying the government to reveal what he said was the truth about ET’s presence on Earth.
Nine years after reading my first saucer book, I got to meet its author. During a long break on a train trip, I found myself in Washington, D.C. So I hightailed it to NICAP’s headquarters at 1536 Connecticut Avenue, NW, off DuPont Circle, to get the lay of the land.
A peculiar aspect of this location: The classic sci-fi film from 1951, “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” features a scene where the alien, Klaatu, is gunned down by the military near DuPont Circle. So curious.
Well, with time on my hands, I dropped in at NICAP, met the office manager, Assistant Director Richard Hall, and asked about Major Keyhoe. Hall explained that his boss wasn’t there every day. He’d just show up from time to time to catch up; he was expected that very day.
While I waited, Hall had me do a little volunteer work. I was directed to an office typewriter, with a collection of sightings that I briefly summarized.
Major Keyhoe showed up after a while and we had a brief conversation. I soon departed, and caught the train home.
So far so good.
Until the next time. A few months later, I returned to Washington, this time accompanied by three of my close friends who were also interested in the saucers. Two are familiar to listeners to The Paracast, Allen H. Greenfield and Rick Hilberg. Also on the trip was one of my friends from Brooklyn, Marty Salkind.
On the first day, we met Keyhoe at a diner near his home in Luray, Virginia. Allen wanted to speak with him on NICAP possibly having a relationship or at least an acceptance of the so-called “Middle Ufology” faction in the field. These were the people, such as myself and Greenfield, who had a wider, possibly more inclusive view about possible solutions to the mystery, such as an alternate reality.
The meeting was pleasant enough. Keyhoe seemed little interested in what we were doing, but we felt we made a good introduction to our views.
That’s before the controversy began.
The next day, our little group went over to NICAP’s Washington, D.C. headquarters, expecting a friendly reception. Instead, when I knocked on the front door, Hall opened it, stared at us, pointed his shaking finger at me and said, “You’re not welcome here!”
So what happened? It was one of those things that only seem to occur in the UFO field. Some time earlier, I had taken a job as Managing Editor of Jim Moseley’s Saucer News magazine. Hall and Jim essentially hated each other, and Keyhoe was none to friendly towards Jim. It was a case of guilt by association.
Disappointed and frustrated over the turn of affairs, our little group considered what to do next. We actually ended up calling the guy who, indirectly, helped some of us come together, and that was sci-fi and paranormal editor and publisher Ray Palmer. His phone number was listed, and we soon reached him from our hotel. He listened sympathetically to our plight, and promised to do something.
Which he did. In an issue of his Flying Saucers magazine published a short time later, Ray had written an article entitled, “No Investigations Can Actually Proceed,” in which he gave NICAP its just deserts.
Over the next few months, Jim became the unofficial head of a movement to oust Hall from NICAP, suggesting we make up some license plate stickers bearing the demand, “Hall Must Fall!”
That was then. All was soon forgotten as our lives took over and sent us in different directions. But I remained in touch with Allen and Rick.
A decade later, I had two interesting and quite unexpected encounters while attending a UFO conference in Fort Smith, Arkansas. One was a surprise meeting with Hall. I didn’t know what to expect, but he recognized me, smiled, shook my hand and let bygones be bygones.
I also had a pleasant meeting with Keyhoe, where I interviewed him for a supermarket tabloid. The article appeared a few weeks later, but not my check. After that issue was published, the magazine and its publisher folded with debts unpaid.
Indeed, if I can ever locate the text or the tape cassette recording on which it was based, I’ll post it.
As to Keyhoe, considering his vast influence in the early days of the modern UFO field, I sometimes wondered why his life story hasn’t been tackled in any serious way that I know about. Well, that has changed with the recent publication of the book, “Against the Odds: Major Donald E. Keyhoe and His Battle to End UFO Secrecy.”
We plan to have the author, Linda C. Powell, as a guest on The Paracast; it is scheduled for our March 31, 2024 episode. I am also anxious to read the book and reclaim some fascinating memories of the early days.
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!