THE PARACAST NEWSLETTER
September 13, 2015
www.theparacast.com
Gene and Chris Interrogated by Paracast Forum Members
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.
Announcing The Paracast+: We have another radio show, and for a low monthly or annual subscription fee, you will receive access to After The Paracast, plus a higher-quality version of The Paracast without the network ads, and chat rooms. NEW! We’ve added an RSS feed for fast updates of the latest episodes and we give free ebooks for long-term subscriptions. A Paracast+ video channel is coming soon. For more information about our premium package, please visit: Introducing The Paracast+ | The Paracast — The Gold Standard of Paranormal Radio.
Attention U.S. Listeners: Help Us Bring The Paracast to Your City! In the summer of 2010, The Paracast joined the GCN radio network. This represented a huge step in bringing our show to a larger, mainstream audience. But we need your help to add additional affiliates to our growing network. Please ask one of your local talk stations if they are interested in carrying The Paracast. Feel free to contact us directly with the names of programming people we might be able to contact on your behalf. We can't do this alone, and if you succeed in convincing your local station to carry the show, we'll reward you with one of our special T-shirts, and other goodies. With your help, The Paracast can grow into one of the most popular paranormal shows on the planet!
Please Visit Our Online Store: You asked, and we answered. We are now taking orders for The Official Paracast T-Shirt and an expanded collection of other specially customized merchandise. To get your T-Shirt now featuring our brand new logo, just pay a visit to our online store at http://store.theparacast.com/ to select your size and place your order. We also offer a complete lineup of other premium merchandise for your family, your friends and your business contacts.
About The Paracast: The Paracast covers a world beyond science, where UFOs, poltergeists and strange phenomena of all kinds have been reported by millions across the planet.
Set Up: The Paracast is a paranormal radio show that takes you on a journey to a world beyond science, where UFOs, poltergeists and strange phenomena of all kinds have been reported by millions. The Paracast seeks to shed light on the mysteries and complexities of our Universe and the secrets that surround us in our everyday lives.
Join long-time paranormal researcher Gene Steinberg, co-host and acclaimed field investigator Christopher O'Brien, and a panel of special guest experts and experiencers, as they explore the realms of the known and unknown. Listen each week to the great stories of the history of the paranormal field in the 20th and 21st centuries.
This Week's Episode: A special “turnabout is fair play” episode where four members of The Paracast forums question Gene and Chris about a variety of subjects, including their early introductions to the world of the paranormal. You’ll hear a lengthy description of a frightening encounter with strange beings, "stick men," when Chris was very young. This listener roundtable features Burnt State, ChrisJohnsen, Jeff Crowell and Ufology.
Chris O’Brien’s Site: Our Strange Planet
After The Paracast -- Available exclusively to Paracast+ subscribers on September 13:Gene and Chris present Part II of our “turnabout is fair play" episode with Burnt State, ChrisJohnsen, Jeff Crowell and Ufology. What about a hypnotherapy session that Christopher O’Brien underwent years ago, conducted by a pioneer in the field, which may or may not shed light on his sighting of possible “stick people” when he was six years of age? But does Chris really went to hear them after all these years? Chris also reveals some never-before-discussed facts about his life. Both Gene and Chris mention their various musical backgrounds; Chris continues to write and perform, but Gene gave it all up for reasons he cannot remember long ago. The conversation veers to MUFON, the Hanger 1 TV reality show, and other subjects. Chris explains why he’s somewhat more positive about the MUFON TV program. So are MUFON officials in close contact with Ray Stanfo rd? Will they succeed in convincing Stanford to make a large portion of his UFO evidence public after all these years? Chris is also questioned about some of the significant things he has learned from his ongoing investigations of paranormal events. He also offers a San Luis Valley Camera Project update. This episode will leave you wanting more.
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.
The “Spoonful of Sugar” Effect
By Gene Steinberg
So how do we get the public’s eyes off their iPhones, so they actually pay attention to what is going on in our skies? Indeed, are UFOs still being seen in large numbers around the world? After all, some people suggest that it’s mostly about things that happened long ago, and most or all current sightings are just misidentified conventional objects or phenomena.
Or maybe it’s the endless obsession over the Roswell crash.
The facts are otherwise: Unconventional objects are still being reported around the world. UFO researcher Chris Rutkowski continues to catalog large collections of sightings in Canada, MUFON’s database of recent sightings is regularly being expanded, and it’s clear that, whatever is causing the UFO mystery, it’s still around.
What’s abundantly clear to me, however, is that this is a mystery that still cries for a solution. It’s all so easy to accept the conventional wisdom that we are being visited by ET, and maybe that’s true. But believing, or suspecting, is not the same as proof of what UFOs really are. Despite multiple eyewitness accounts, photos and videos, radar returns, possible trace evidence, and perhaps direct contacts, there’s no final answer.
To the general public, people who follow the UFO saga are largely dismissed as “extraterrestrial believers.” Perhaps for most of you, but that’s far from a complete or accurate picture. But in this sound bite culture, it’s all too easy to come up with a snappy descriptive label that may have little to do with the facts.
Our reality show culture has brought with it certain expectations. One of the most famous – or infamous – presidential candidates happens to be a veteran of reality shows. I often wonder whether that outlandish character is serious, taking advantage of popular culture to get his message across, or is having a huge laugh at our expense. Maybe it’s a combination of all three.
When UFOs and other paranormal events are the subject of a TV show, it’s more reality show than documentary. A lot has to be covered in a compelling and entertaining fashion in 43 minutes, plus the ads, and the producers of such fare quite often take liberties. Events may be telegraphed to fit into the timeslot. There have to be cliffhangers to keep you watching thorough the commercial breaks. All right, I just fast forward past those interruptions, but I won’t use the word “annoying” since The Paracast has the usual number of commercial breaks too. Well, at least for those of you who haven’t subscribed to The Paracast+.
During the first season of one popular UFO reality show, Hangar 1, which hangs its credibility on the reputation of a major UFO group, MUFON, there were loads of complaints about its accuracy. Fabricated evidence was presented as genuine, and presentations of known cases were, shall we say, subjected to the docudrama treatment. It was hardly a way to learn the truth behind this mystery.
But during this week’s episode of After The Paracast, my co-host, Chris O’Brien, suggested that the second season of Hangar 1 has demonstrated a greater adherence to the facts. Maybe it’s about taking a “spoonful of sugar” approach, in which entertainment values are employed to acquaint people to the essence of the UFO enigma, and maybe interest them enough to look into it further.
At some point, however, you hope such people will actually spend the time necessary to read a few books on the subject, maybe even by authors with their feet on the ground, to learn what’s actually going on. If they opt to join MUFON and concentrate their reading to the organization’s monthly magazine, I suppose that’s all right. Most of the information is pretty straightforward, although there’s not a whole lot of in-depth coverage. No doubt shorter articles are necessary to pack as much material as possible into a limited number of pages.
The MUFON Journal is available in both print and digital editions, and perhaps if it joined the crowd and went all digital, the publisher would consider providing more extensive coverage of case histories and more detailed commentaries.
MUFON has a lot of talented, dedicated people who appear to be making genuine efforts to get to the bottom of the mystery. But their approach appears to be colored by the innate belief that UFOs are extraterrestrial, which inhibits a wider focus. Forget about tying together multiple paranormal mysteries into a unified theory, or at least considering the possibilities.
MUFON’s annual conferences have also included speakers who may be entertaining, but are hardly beacons of hope when it comes to learning something new about the phenomenon. I can mention a few names, but it’s just as easy for you to examine the rosters of recent events to see what I mean.
Indeed, a MUFON state affiliate recently planned to feature a presentation by the American representative of a controversial flying saucer contactee. We mentioned it on the show, and the guest, MUFON representative Margie Kay, did not seem to understand the case’s shady background, or that all or most of the fundamentals had been shown to be false years ago.
Chris and I wouldn’t presume to tell people what to do, but the guest agreed to look over the case in more detail. I emailed further evidence, including links to lengthy threads from The Paracast Community Forums on the topic. It didn’t take long for the guest to be disinvited.
One recent report revealed that there are far too many TV shows vying for diminishing audiences, as more and more people are cutting the cable/satellite cord and choosing more limited fare from streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu.
In the drive to grow an audience, TV networks and producers continue to set considerations of factual coverage aside in order to present provocative content. Cable TV news networks are not above such practices, and I’ll leave it to the reader to decide who the worst offenders might be.
In a bid to fill seats, some UFO convention sponsors too often go overboard in choosing guests with a following, all with little regard to their ability to present factual data.
To a limited degree, a little sugar-coating may help convey the essence of the UFO mystery. But when it becomes a “facts be damned” approach, it just makes it all the more difficult to figure out what’s truly going on.
Copyright 1999-2015 The Paracast LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy: Your personal information is safe with us. We will positively never give out your name and/or e-mail address to anybody else, and that's a promise!
September 13, 2015
www.theparacast.com
Gene and Chris Interrogated by Paracast Forum Members
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.
Announcing The Paracast+: We have another radio show, and for a low monthly or annual subscription fee, you will receive access to After The Paracast, plus a higher-quality version of The Paracast without the network ads, and chat rooms. NEW! We’ve added an RSS feed for fast updates of the latest episodes and we give free ebooks for long-term subscriptions. A Paracast+ video channel is coming soon. For more information about our premium package, please visit: Introducing The Paracast+ | The Paracast — The Gold Standard of Paranormal Radio.
Attention U.S. Listeners: Help Us Bring The Paracast to Your City! In the summer of 2010, The Paracast joined the GCN radio network. This represented a huge step in bringing our show to a larger, mainstream audience. But we need your help to add additional affiliates to our growing network. Please ask one of your local talk stations if they are interested in carrying The Paracast. Feel free to contact us directly with the names of programming people we might be able to contact on your behalf. We can't do this alone, and if you succeed in convincing your local station to carry the show, we'll reward you with one of our special T-shirts, and other goodies. With your help, The Paracast can grow into one of the most popular paranormal shows on the planet!
Please Visit Our Online Store: You asked, and we answered. We are now taking orders for The Official Paracast T-Shirt and an expanded collection of other specially customized merchandise. To get your T-Shirt now featuring our brand new logo, just pay a visit to our online store at http://store.theparacast.com/ to select your size and place your order. We also offer a complete lineup of other premium merchandise for your family, your friends and your business contacts.
About The Paracast: The Paracast covers a world beyond science, where UFOs, poltergeists and strange phenomena of all kinds have been reported by millions across the planet.
Set Up: The Paracast is a paranormal radio show that takes you on a journey to a world beyond science, where UFOs, poltergeists and strange phenomena of all kinds have been reported by millions. The Paracast seeks to shed light on the mysteries and complexities of our Universe and the secrets that surround us in our everyday lives.
Join long-time paranormal researcher Gene Steinberg, co-host and acclaimed field investigator Christopher O'Brien, and a panel of special guest experts and experiencers, as they explore the realms of the known and unknown. Listen each week to the great stories of the history of the paranormal field in the 20th and 21st centuries.
This Week's Episode: A special “turnabout is fair play” episode where four members of The Paracast forums question Gene and Chris about a variety of subjects, including their early introductions to the world of the paranormal. You’ll hear a lengthy description of a frightening encounter with strange beings, "stick men," when Chris was very young. This listener roundtable features Burnt State, ChrisJohnsen, Jeff Crowell and Ufology.
Chris O’Brien’s Site: Our Strange Planet
After The Paracast -- Available exclusively to Paracast+ subscribers on September 13:Gene and Chris present Part II of our “turnabout is fair play" episode with Burnt State, ChrisJohnsen, Jeff Crowell and Ufology. What about a hypnotherapy session that Christopher O’Brien underwent years ago, conducted by a pioneer in the field, which may or may not shed light on his sighting of possible “stick people” when he was six years of age? But does Chris really went to hear them after all these years? Chris also reveals some never-before-discussed facts about his life. Both Gene and Chris mention their various musical backgrounds; Chris continues to write and perform, but Gene gave it all up for reasons he cannot remember long ago. The conversation veers to MUFON, the Hanger 1 TV reality show, and other subjects. Chris explains why he’s somewhat more positive about the MUFON TV program. So are MUFON officials in close contact with Ray Stanfo rd? Will they succeed in convincing Stanford to make a large portion of his UFO evidence public after all these years? Chris is also questioned about some of the significant things he has learned from his ongoing investigations of paranormal events. He also offers a San Luis Valley Camera Project update. This episode will leave you wanting more.
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.
The “Spoonful of Sugar” Effect
By Gene Steinberg
So how do we get the public’s eyes off their iPhones, so they actually pay attention to what is going on in our skies? Indeed, are UFOs still being seen in large numbers around the world? After all, some people suggest that it’s mostly about things that happened long ago, and most or all current sightings are just misidentified conventional objects or phenomena.
Or maybe it’s the endless obsession over the Roswell crash.
The facts are otherwise: Unconventional objects are still being reported around the world. UFO researcher Chris Rutkowski continues to catalog large collections of sightings in Canada, MUFON’s database of recent sightings is regularly being expanded, and it’s clear that, whatever is causing the UFO mystery, it’s still around.
What’s abundantly clear to me, however, is that this is a mystery that still cries for a solution. It’s all so easy to accept the conventional wisdom that we are being visited by ET, and maybe that’s true. But believing, or suspecting, is not the same as proof of what UFOs really are. Despite multiple eyewitness accounts, photos and videos, radar returns, possible trace evidence, and perhaps direct contacts, there’s no final answer.
To the general public, people who follow the UFO saga are largely dismissed as “extraterrestrial believers.” Perhaps for most of you, but that’s far from a complete or accurate picture. But in this sound bite culture, it’s all too easy to come up with a snappy descriptive label that may have little to do with the facts.
Our reality show culture has brought with it certain expectations. One of the most famous – or infamous – presidential candidates happens to be a veteran of reality shows. I often wonder whether that outlandish character is serious, taking advantage of popular culture to get his message across, or is having a huge laugh at our expense. Maybe it’s a combination of all three.
When UFOs and other paranormal events are the subject of a TV show, it’s more reality show than documentary. A lot has to be covered in a compelling and entertaining fashion in 43 minutes, plus the ads, and the producers of such fare quite often take liberties. Events may be telegraphed to fit into the timeslot. There have to be cliffhangers to keep you watching thorough the commercial breaks. All right, I just fast forward past those interruptions, but I won’t use the word “annoying” since The Paracast has the usual number of commercial breaks too. Well, at least for those of you who haven’t subscribed to The Paracast+.
During the first season of one popular UFO reality show, Hangar 1, which hangs its credibility on the reputation of a major UFO group, MUFON, there were loads of complaints about its accuracy. Fabricated evidence was presented as genuine, and presentations of known cases were, shall we say, subjected to the docudrama treatment. It was hardly a way to learn the truth behind this mystery.
But during this week’s episode of After The Paracast, my co-host, Chris O’Brien, suggested that the second season of Hangar 1 has demonstrated a greater adherence to the facts. Maybe it’s about taking a “spoonful of sugar” approach, in which entertainment values are employed to acquaint people to the essence of the UFO enigma, and maybe interest them enough to look into it further.
At some point, however, you hope such people will actually spend the time necessary to read a few books on the subject, maybe even by authors with their feet on the ground, to learn what’s actually going on. If they opt to join MUFON and concentrate their reading to the organization’s monthly magazine, I suppose that’s all right. Most of the information is pretty straightforward, although there’s not a whole lot of in-depth coverage. No doubt shorter articles are necessary to pack as much material as possible into a limited number of pages.
The MUFON Journal is available in both print and digital editions, and perhaps if it joined the crowd and went all digital, the publisher would consider providing more extensive coverage of case histories and more detailed commentaries.
MUFON has a lot of talented, dedicated people who appear to be making genuine efforts to get to the bottom of the mystery. But their approach appears to be colored by the innate belief that UFOs are extraterrestrial, which inhibits a wider focus. Forget about tying together multiple paranormal mysteries into a unified theory, or at least considering the possibilities.
MUFON’s annual conferences have also included speakers who may be entertaining, but are hardly beacons of hope when it comes to learning something new about the phenomenon. I can mention a few names, but it’s just as easy for you to examine the rosters of recent events to see what I mean.
Indeed, a MUFON state affiliate recently planned to feature a presentation by the American representative of a controversial flying saucer contactee. We mentioned it on the show, and the guest, MUFON representative Margie Kay, did not seem to understand the case’s shady background, or that all or most of the fundamentals had been shown to be false years ago.
Chris and I wouldn’t presume to tell people what to do, but the guest agreed to look over the case in more detail. I emailed further evidence, including links to lengthy threads from The Paracast Community Forums on the topic. It didn’t take long for the guest to be disinvited.
One recent report revealed that there are far too many TV shows vying for diminishing audiences, as more and more people are cutting the cable/satellite cord and choosing more limited fare from streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu.
In the drive to grow an audience, TV networks and producers continue to set considerations of factual coverage aside in order to present provocative content. Cable TV news networks are not above such practices, and I’ll leave it to the reader to decide who the worst offenders might be.
In a bid to fill seats, some UFO convention sponsors too often go overboard in choosing guests with a following, all with little regard to their ability to present factual data.
To a limited degree, a little sugar-coating may help convey the essence of the UFO mystery. But when it becomes a “facts be damned” approach, it just makes it all the more difficult to figure out what’s truly going on.
Copyright 1999-2015 The Paracast LLC. 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!
