Radio Misterioso

In the past few months, much has been made in certain quarters about the recent surfacing of slide film supposedly depicting dead aliens from the Roswell crash. The so-called “dream team” of researchers who are keeping their findings about these artifacts under wraps until they say that they can authenticate them conclusively have still not been forthcoming with any new information. Nick was on the show to discuss the recent hacking of his personal computer and online accounts by a mysterious person or group. The members of the Roswell research group were also affected. Nick reports that two years before the announcement of the existence of the slides, he was contacted by an individual asking how much he thought that the images were worth. The fact that this person went to UFO researchers rather than a more mainstream media outlet (or was rejected by them first) is telling. Nick and I both agreed that the slides, even if “authentic” would prove very little to those outside of the UFO research community. During the second half of the show we discussed Nick’s upcoming Men In Black book and how UFO study could most likely not reinvent itself to make any headway towards solving the mystery. It would also do little to gain mainstream respectability, which I contend is not worth the struggle. A fun talk with a lot of laughs from an old friend of mine and a singular voice on parnaormal topics.

My friend and former co-host Walter returned recently to discuss Secret Missions: The Hidden Legacy Of Old California, the fifth book in his “Empire of the Wheel” series concerning strange happenings in Southern California and the American Southwest. He informed us that early European explorers may have arrived in the area in the 17th century to search for a powerful symbolic object that Walter thinks was hidden here by the Knights Templar or their agents. He contends that he object that they may have been seeking was a weapon made of metal from a meteorite, which was supposed to possess great power. We started with a short history of Spanish conquest and the idea that conquistadors were often sent with explicit instructions to treat the native populations with respect. We also talked about which non-native civilizations may have first set foot in North America, and  accounts which cast doubt on the death of one of the most famous explorers of early California history and his burial location on one of the Channel Islands. For the last part of the show we turned to the subject of debates with critics and how to get through them in a civil manner as well as Walter’s extensive fiction writing.

RPJ joined us again to talk about the issues of putting on the Paradigm Symposium, but of course we soon slipped into a 2 1/2 hour conversation about UFOs, neolithic technology, and other little things like the meaning of existence. What is the true nature of UFOs and other paranormal phenomena, and how can we experience them directly, even on demand? Is debate among friends better than with adversaries? Is the wish for government UFO “disclosure” a dead end that stifles individual thought? How does one go about becoming obsessed with a subject and then writing about it? These were big questions with fun, if sometimes inconclusive answers. As Jim Moseley used to say “But so what?

Paul Kimball was on again a couple of months back and the show truly turned into a conversation with Paul asking me who would be on my personal Mount Rushmore of UFO Shame and Fame. We also delved into the saga of the MJ-12 documents and who might have faked them. While Paul is almost sure that Bill Moore had a hand in it for personal profit or ego or an effort to “shake the tree,” I seriously doubt this theory. Other subjects that came up were the pervasive presence of Ancient Aliens and what Steven Greer’s guards (or “goons” as Paul called them) did to him at the 2001 MUFON conference. We talked (in a theme that has become a staple of the show) about UFO study and what might be done to change it. I expressed my continuing opinion that it should be done away with so that something new could blossom. The phenomenon might even change as a result of a different point of view. Paul Kimball’s websites are The Other Side Of Truth and beyonderstv. He also says one of his other popular sites is Stantonfriededman.com, but I doubt that.

Aerika Keith is one of the late Jim Keith’s daughters. Look him up, but what you need to know is: “Keith authored popular books on conspiracy topics, including Mind Control/World Control, Black Helicopters I and II, OK Bomb, Saucers of the Illuminati, Casebook on Alternative 3, Casebook on the Men In Black and many others and his views are considered unapologetically controversial. One of the underlying themes of Keith’s works is that the UFO phenomenon is, in fact, of entirely earthly origin and has its roots within a parallel program of technological development. Keith maintained a steadfast commitment to the earthly-origin theory, and he believed that there was a concerted effort to put forth the extraterrestrial hypothesis into the public consciousness.” If for only that last part, Keith is worthy of serious consideration and at this point, re-evaluation. My personal favorite was Saucers Of The Illuminati, which had an almost John-Keelian point of view of the UFO phenomenon. Kenn Thomas introduced Aerika (over facebook) and we all made a date to talk on the exact day that Jim passed away in 1999 (which we didn’t realize until Kenn pointed it out on the show.)  The talk ran the gamut from Jim’s writing to pharmaceutical coverups to cutting-edge comedy. Aerika also announced her plans to release some of her late father’s unpublished work. Enjoy.

Gorightly’s back again with a new book based on his custodial ownership of the original holy documents of the Discordian movement. The religion, founded in a Southern California bowling alley in 1957, was the first modern joke disguised as a religion, or was it? We talked about the history of the Discordians, Gorightly’s interaction with Discordian-affiliated luminaries like Robert Anton Wilson and Bob Newport, and its influence on the counterculture. Halfway through the program, I played the 1975 hit, “Convoy,” featuring Adam Gorightly singing under his CIA-assigned pseudonym, “C.W. McCall.” Photo of Gorightly as Rodin’s “Stinker” by Barbara Harris.

The third and final book in the Empire Of The Wheel series by my guest and former co-host Walter Bosley ties together all of the themes presented so far, and introduces some new evidentiary threads involving horror writer H.P. Lovecraft, the Zodiac Killer and the horrifying activities of a little-known serial killer of the 1920s. The events center around a rash of unsolved murders in the Inland Empire area of Southern California in the first years of the 20th century. In the course of his investigations, Walter believes that he also has found evidence that Harry Houdini was targeted for death by the Spiritualist movement because of Houdini’s relentless persecution of members who he claimed were taking advantage of bereaved relatives of the deceased. Walter also describes some strange shenanigans at the Secret Service archives and National Archives when he asked for a file from 1915, the period of the action in the books. This was the first time he mentioned this turn of events. Learn more at Walter’s site dedicated to the mystery.

When Patrick originally got in touch with me about his documentary, entitled “They Rode The Flying Saucers,” I was wary that he was another producer out to make a fun, kooky film about a bunch of stupid weirdos. How wrong I was. Connelly is serious about the movement, while not taking all the claims at face value, which is exactly my take. Patrick is even more protective of the contactee legacy than I am, and is well on the way to finishing a film composed of archival footage, vintage audio from the 1950s and ’60s, and most excitingly, animation done by Connelly himself. He showed me a little bit of his animation of the George Adamski 1952 meeting with his space brother friend Orthon. We discussed his film, opinions of contactees, fundamentalist skeptics, and our favorite documentary filmmakers, among many other things. We laughed a lot and I talked too much. Check out Patrick’s blog for more.

Aaron’s newest book is a collection of essays on many of the subjects we cover here on the show. I admitted up front that I hadn’t read all of the book, but Aaron was gracious about it and we dove right in. I guess neither of us really should have had any worries, as the show was great fun. Among other subjects, we delved into ufological stalkers, the de-evolution of UFO study into an “echo chamber,” and the infamous book “Trance Formation Of America” and its shocking indictment of beloved folk/ country singing star Boxcar Willie. When I asked what interested him in writing about the paranormal, Aaron eloquently said that he was basically “trying to restate the question in a more interesting way,” which might be the best description of why anyone writes about these subjects that I’ve heard in years.

Whatever your opinion is of unexplained animal mutilations in general and the work of Chris O’Brien in particular, his newest book Stalking The Herd is perhaps either the first or last you will need to read on the subject. In my opinion, it is exhaustive and well-balanced, afraid of neither the mundane or the truly bizarre. We discussed the history of cows and their relationship to humans. Chris mentioned the fact that countries with less consumption of beef have no record of cattle mutilations, even if they have a thriving beef industry. He also elaborated on the fact that many of the cases of unsolved animal deaths have historically seemed to cluster downwind from facilities that process and use uranium. These are only a couple of the subjects that came up during the wide-ranging conversation. With all this information, it is surprising that Chris has come to the conclusion that so far there is no one theory that seems to fit the mystery.

No list of questions was needed for this fun and informative talk with one of the most unique researchers active today. This show was classic Radio Misterioso (which means I talked a lot more than I should have) but Micah is one of those people who makes me think a lot about why we’re all interested in this UFO stuff. We opened with a discussion of the Malaysian Airlines mystery. We then looked at the classic case known as the “Battle Of Los Angeles,” and reports of a “butterfly”-shaped object in the sky during this WWII-era incident. One of my favorite parts of this show was our extended talk about the problems with UFO reports and data-gathering, and how it should be much more extensive with regards to witnesses’ backgrounds and follow-up interviews. We also delved into the abduction/ DMT connection. At the end of the show, I asked Micah about his favorite movies and books, only some of which are UFO-related.

Almost everyone would agree that reports of humanoid entities are far more interesting than lights in the sky. For our second go-around, Albert started with a list of his more intriguing cases from this year. Then I asked him about Bigfoot entities seen in the vicinity of UFO sightings. We continued with a discussion of how more humanoid reports have been coming in during the last few years, and how that may be due to Rosales having a place to actually report them. After we talked about one of Albert’s own experiences, we discussed some of  the strangest cases he knows of, which are labeled “type x” – a literal X-File. We also had a lengthy discussion about so-called “repeater” cases, which used to be anathema to large UFO groups. One of the most famous is Charles Hickson from the Pascagoula abduction. I agree with Albert when he says that the weirder the story, the more believable it probably is. Albert’s site is Humanoid Sighting Reports and Journal of Humanoid Studies.  

If you don’t know about this case, read up before listening. The short version is that two women and a small boy encountered a strange, hovering object on a lonely road in East Texas on the night of December 29th 1980. Soon afterwords, a group of military-type helicopters surrounded the object and the group flew slowly out of sight. After the incident, the witnesses appeared to suffer varying degrees of effects from what appeared to have been ionizing radiation. What my guest Curt Collins is doing is trying to get past both the misinformation that has been propagated by UFO investigators as well as the attempts of fundamentalist skeptics to explain it away as a hoax or misidentification. What emerges is a tale of selective attention and beliefs leading the investigations (or lack of them.) Collins is very careful to keep from falling into any set theory, and keeps his investigation open-ended. More can be seen at his excellent site Blue Blurry Lines.

Nick was in town a few weeks ago and joined me to talk about his new book (which is the title of this post) as well as many, many other subjects. The book deals with government files on many famous people and makes the point that what we are not allowed to see tells us a great deal about what is publicly released. I sort of apologize for the fact that we were both drinking beer during the show. This is probably the only interview you will ever hear where Nick is occasionally possessed by a chicken. Really. The subject of weirdos at UFO conventions came up, as well as occult issues, the illusion of time, a strange missing person story with little-known contactees and a lot of other things that we have never mentioned on his other appearances on the show.

For our second conversation, RPJ and I continued with our faint condemnation of large UFO groups, and the pros and cons of abduction research. I bought up the seeming rise of fundamentalist skeptics in sheep’s clothing as popular UFO study slumbers through a fallow period, and we discussed the possible reasons that a strain of self-righteous skepticism has attracted hipster culture. RPJ asked me about meeting Jacques Vallee and John Keel and we discussed our favorite whiskies and bourbon. We got back on track with cultural differences in humanoid sightings and the strange Voronezh UFO occupant case. Much more to like in this segment. RPJ will be on again without a doubt. The translation of the lyrics to the Cafe Tacuba song “Zopilotes,” played at the end of the show is in RPJ’s article here.