Where Did the Road Go? Exploring the Fringe...

This is actually an early book from Andrew Collins, re-released a few years ago. Overall, WELL worth the read. We'll start with the negatives, though. The typeset in the book is horrible. The font is tiny, and there is a lot of extra space. The photos, which play such a part in the research also look pretty bad. Finally, being that so much of it is recounting details of research, you can find yourself getting a bit tired of drudging through some of the text.

As for positives, however, the material is fantastic. He starts off talking about William Reich's Orgone Energy Theory, and the various experiments conducted. This ties in to some of their experiments later on. He follows that we fascinating research on Crop Circles. At this point, most Crop Circles are fakes, but there are some that are not known to be fake, and he goes back on the history of the subject, all the way back to the middle ages. The thing that he finds most interesting is the unusual effects that are experiences inside the crop circles, whether that be increased radiation traces, or physical symptoms that even the most skeptical people can suffer.

He poses a theory. That there is something in the field of energy of the earth, which in certain locations, can be a sort of window area, where other dimensions can overlap. He suggests that certain areas where crop circles are made are prone to this type of bleed through, and that somehow the crop circle amplifies it.

Beyond that, he then reviews Paul Devereux's Earth Lights research, which shows a correlation between fault lines and paranormal or UFO encounters. When he overlays this data with Crop Circles, he sees more possible correlations. And finally, he explores the nature of the earth below various ancient sites, to see of there is something they share, that may, again, enhance this energy.

After working through these various pieces, they then conduct 2 experiments based on these theories, using a lot of sensitive instruments, Geiger counters, IR Photography, and various other tools. They combine that with various locations, and ancient sights, orgone accumulators, and a host of meditations. This is the part of the book that drags the most. And it doesn't help that there is nothing that definitively proves or disproves anything. Collins is a good researcher, he doesn't jump at any anomaly and claim it proof. He looks for patterns, and they do find some intriguing ones to be present. There are also some really interesting personal experiences that he relates from the experiments.

I believe, not just based on his research, but also on my personal experiences, that he may be on to something. This has brought light unto some very strange things that have happened to me over the years, as Collins seems to do with many of his books. His work suggests that what we see as UFO's and mysterious lights in the sky, may not only be real, but far stranger than most people imagine. As with John Keel, his work leans towards an Ultra-Terrestrial explanation for these things. Collins admits to being an ardent believer in the nuts and bolts UFO theory for many years, but now has seen enough to suspect that our conscious minds play as much a part in their manifestation as the beings themselves.

If you want an open minded and original piece of work, this is it. But, as I said, it is a bit of a chore to work your way through. If you are serious about exploring these connections, though, read this.

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Communion was one of the two books back in the late 80's that brought the face of the grey alien into popular culture. Strieber took a lot of heat for his story, from both sides of the tracks. Believers in the Extra-Terrestrial Hypothesis attacked him for claiming that he didn't believe that was necessarily the answer, and, of course, the closed minded skeptical community attacked him for suggesting that something like this may be real.

For the record. I believe his story. I believe he is telling the truth as he knows it. I read this originally back when it came out, and felt that after 20 years, I should re-read it and see how I felt about it from my current perspective. My feelings haven't changed. This was an important book. It made people more comfortable about talking about their own experiences. Whitley approaches this with common sense and skepticism. He spends a lot of time trying to see if his experiences were somehow caused by hallucinations or medical issues, like temporal lobe epilepsy, which they were not. Even at this early point, though, he realizes that dealing with the UFO Phenomenon, literally challenges our view on what reality is. As I read this, I got the feeling of someone painting a painting, representing their normal life, while all the while another painting was being painted underneath, and only a crack reveals it's existence. And as that crack is widened, more of the painting underneath, this hidden world, comes into awareness. It was always there, and we have no idea how it got there without us knowing. It's disturbing. And enlightening. If you are interested in the paranormal and have never read this classic piece of work, you should. It is as valid today as when it was published. It is pure, straight to the point, and free of any kind of agenda. As Whitley takes your through his awaking into what happened to him, you can feel what an impact it had on him. As strange as it all may sound, I am sure it was 1000 times worse for him.

I do plan on reading, at very least, Transformation again as well, as I think that had even more of an impact on me than this did.

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I had wanted to read John Keel's Jadoo: The Astounding Story of One Man's Search into the Mysteries of Black Magic in the Orient for a very long time. Out of print, and sometimes hard to find, I finally picked up a reasonably priced copy of it. Running roughly 250 pages, it is one hell of an interesting read. Keel is known, of course, most famously for The Mothman Prophecies, and overall as a UFOlogist. But this book is before all that. Published in 1957, this was his debut, and chronicles his life traveling around the Middle East in search of unusual stories. He delves into the secrets of snake charmers and mystics. He learned the rather interesting Indian Rope Trick. He searches for a Yeti in the mountains near Tibet. He does all this by the seat of his pants, with almost no money, and encounters plenty of problems. It's a very entertaining read, and through it all, despite his overall skepticism, he finds some truly unexplainable things out there. At the same time, you can really feel what he is describing, from the squalor of certain areas, to the majesty of others. It's a look at another culture that you don't often see from our world.

In short, if you like Keel's style, his frank, and humorous approach, you will like Jadoo, and I would highly recommend tracking down a copy.

Below is a home movie that he took of the snake charmers he talks about in the book... Kind of interesting that it exists, especially since he had to sell all his equipment to have money to live on shortly after this. Would love to see more footage from the events in the book.

Micah has done a wonderful job of focusing on an aspect of phenomenon that no one has properly dealt with in the past. Parts have been mentioned by such notable authors as John Keel, but Keel only dealt with small aspects of the whole phenomenon. Likely, there are many causes to the cases and events that Micah outlines in this book, and he presents many possibilities.

The book starts off with what Keel focused on, the Ghost Rockets over Sweden at the end of WWII, and what they may or may not have been. These missiles were seen often, and no adequate explanation yet exists. After exploring other cases around the world, Micah moves on to the Cold War era, and some cases which may have been real missiles or rockets but covered up for political reasons. Also included are cases of anomalous rockets being seen.

After this we move on to the more modern era, and especially the missiles seen in connection with TWA Flight 800. He also explores other similar cases from the same area before and after the main event. Near the end of the book, he deals with ways that these events are recorded officially, and speculates about what some of the explanations may be. At the end of the book, he compiles a chronological list of sightings from post WWII to present.

Overall a very well written book, exploring an aspect of anomalous phenomenon that is interesting and under investigated, both in the UFO community and outside of it.

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This is an interesting, if a touch too short, book. Aaron approaches the topic of the paranormal from a unique and personal level. He takes a very grounded approach in analyzing the paranormal, UFO’s, and the culture around it. He pulls back the curtain on some of the more absurd elements of the fringe. His view of ghosts is refreshing, his telling of his own experiences amusing, and his dissecting of the UFO Phenomenon’s stranger personalities is enlightening. He explores perspective, and the effect of language and translation on our view of things. He tackles the strange world of Exopolitics, and even gives Roswell a knock around. Although short, there is a lot packed into the 130 or so pages here. This is an easy, enjoyable read, and so very different from the majority of what is out there dealing with the paranormal and connected subjects. Sometimes subtle, but always relevant. Highly recommended.

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We are joined here by Aaron Gulyas and Mike Clelland, and we discuss the history of the UFO Phenomenon. The conversation, however, only makes it up to the 1950's, so we will be doing a part 2 to this conversation. We start back with Ancient Aliens, and then move forward exploring different ideas, theories and events, to try and widen the view of what the whole UFO Phenomenon really is. 

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A teacher, historian, and writer (generally in that order), Gulyas received his BA in History from Hanover College in 1998 and promptly went to work for the state of Indiana assessing disability insurance claims. Wearing out his welcome in the civil service within a year or so, he shifted to the thrilling world of proofreading. Realizing he was only really good at history, he returned to school and was awarded an MA in United States History from Indiana University-Indianapolis in 2003. He then moved into teaching, eventually landing at Mott Community College, where he has taught since 2006.

Gulyas's first book, Extraterrestrials and the American Zeitgeist: Contact Tales since the 1950s was published in May 2013 by McFarland Books. His newest book is The Chaos Conundrum, a collection of essays on the paranormal, religion, spirituality, an the atemporal, published by Redstar Books. In Fandom's Shadow, a 50th anniversary retrospective of Doctor Who, Fandom, and its relationship to geography and time, was published in September, 2013 by Deserted Moon Press.

He contributed the introduction to Posthuman Blues: Dispatches From a World on the Cusp of Terminal Dissolution, a collection of writings by the late Mac Tonnies edited by Paul Kimball.

You can find more by Aaron at his website: www.ajgulyas.com or follow him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/aaronjohngulyas.

Mike, in his own words... "I was born in 1962 in the suburbs of Detroit. Even during my pre-kindergarten years I was a skilled illustrator, and most of what I would draw was goofy and cartoony. Curiously, the stuff I would draw in elementary school looks a lot like my drawing style now.

I was deeply influenced by MAD magazine, and that is still evident in my work today. I need to thank Mort Drucker, Sergio Aregones and Jack Davis for shaping my style. I also need to thank R. Crumb, who I discovered a little bit later in life.

In 1981 I moved to New York City, where I went to NYU Film School for one year. I was all too aware that I was a lousy student, and I dropped out and began working as a free-lance illustrator and art director for advertising agencies.

In the winter of 1986/87 I spent the season as a ski bum in Jackson Hole Wyoming. This experience would make it very difficult to fully embrace my urban career when I returned to New York. I eventually moved out west permanently in 1991, and this move paralleled the advent of the fax machine and Federal Express. These revolutionary tools allowed me to do illustration work anywhere I wanted, and I was still dealing with clients back in The City. All of this became much easier with the internet.

Once out west I began doing book illustrations and teaching for an outdoor school.

It was around 2005 or so when I felt a sort of oppressive need to look into some odd life events, stories and memories that I had denied had any importance. Little by little I realized that I simply could no longer ignore those memories and their implications.

The catalyzing event was a profoundly strange synchronicity involving a bottle of sunblock. From that point on, it felt like the floodgates were opened up.

Let me also add that the initial years of my self exploration have not been easy. The act of trying to peer into my own unknown life events has been enormously challenging. I became a shaky recluse, locked in a spiraling tape loop of insecurity and self-doubt. Presently, things have been a little less difficult, but it's by no means easy. The act of digging like this is no simple undertaking, it’s been hard work. The truth for me is that I simply have to go down this road, no matter what the consequences. It seems I am being pulled ever forward by some unknown force. This might be my own higher self, or it might be something interacting with me from outside my being, I truly don’t know. What I do know is that this new chapter of my life has been profoundly interesting."

You can find Mike's work on his blog; hiddenexperience.blogspot.com. 

We talk with Peter Robbins about the current state of the UFO world, and Ryan Sprague joins us for a bit to share what is going on at the UFO Congress 2015. 

Peter is known for his work on the Rendlesham Forest UFO case, and is a regular guest on the show.

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On the last show of our second year, Micah Hanks and Jim Harold join us for a discussion about the value of Skeptism in the paranormal.

The two of them host The Paranormal Report, Jim also hosts The Paranormal Podcast and Campfire Stories. You can find all of this at JimHarold.com. Micah is the host of The Gralien Report, The Micah Hanks Show, and Middle Theory. Check him out at the gralienreport.com.

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