Astonishing Legends

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Dyatlov Pass Update 1 Mar 09, 2019

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Most everyone familiar with the tragedy of Dyatlov Pass believes that whatever mysterious and strange event occurred, not all of the details have been shared by the Russian government. Tonight, we speak with Keith McCloskey, author of two books about the subject, "Mountain of the Dead: The Dyatlov Pass Incident" and "Journey to Dyatlov Pass: An Explanation of the Mystery" who has also traveled to the site for his research. We'll hear about his hypotheses and the current state of his efforts to petition the Russian courts to reexamine the case and declassify any previously unreleased information. We first spoke with Keith for our coverage on the Flannan Isles Lighthouse mystery and trust that he will bring the same diligent investigation and keen observations into solving this unfortunate riddle once and for all.
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Sarah and the Spider Woman Feb 24, 2019

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When people see horrific apparitions of a supernatural nature, what are they really seeing and what could be causing these images to appear? Could it be that the demons and terrors some people have witnessed sometimes come from a strange symptom of a rare medical condition? This seems to have been the case with tonight's guest, Sarah, who was seeing beings and elements more associated with demonic possession, a haunting or even a psychological disorder, rather than with a physiological illness. It might seem easy to say all supernatural occurrences are nothing but a byproduct of a medical ailment, but many people have also reported seeing and interacting with horrific specters similar to what Sarah was seeing, who have no medical issues. We are left to wonder then, on a case by case basis if seeing something supernatural is from a medical cause, a spiritual cause, or perhaps a combination of both.
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Gremlins Feb 17, 2019

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Our legends and folklore must begin somewhere, and if not from the creative imagination of a single individual then perhaps they are born from the collective experiences of a particular group. While it is difficult to trace the exact nascency of certain legends, we may be able to get a clearer idea of where a specific mystical being came to be known, the gremlin. The British pilots and aircrew of the Royal Air Force during the WWI and WWII eras began to experience baffling and inexplicable problems with their aircraft and missions. Wires that appeared to have been chewed through, sand particles found in machinery where none should be, punctures and damage that was incomprehensible were just some of the numerous mysterious problems they encountered. But with no known cause, blame fell to the gremlin a mischievous goblin-like entity said to inhabit the skies and aerodromes of the RAF and who delighted in causing trouble for airmen. Although rationality would suggest the gremlin was an invention of highly-stressed personnel looking for a comical and morale-boosting scapegoat for their problems, there are reports from veterans who claim to have seen these destructive imps in action. If true, then we must wonder if the creature creates the legend or if the legend creates the creature. Join us as we examine the discovery of a 20th-century folktale which just may be related to the ancient Wee Folk of nature.
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The Betz Sphere Part 4 Feb 10, 2019

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As we close this final chapter on the story of the Betz Sphere, we've all been given a rare and exclusive glimpse into what happens when an impossible object becomes known to the world. We've seen what can happen to a regular family that only sought to find answers about its purpose. We've seen how authorities and officials behave when they too are mystified about an item that most are satisfied to dismiss as discarded industrial junk; their public stance hiding personal and professional curiosity. We've seen how the news media tries to answer the questions we all have but falls short, leaving the real story untold and yet retold again and again with incorrect or incomplete information because that's all the public is allowed. Most importantly, we've all now seen inside this mystery but are once again reminded that when it comes to High Strangeness, the answers we receive we may not understand. In the end, what we can safely conclude is that the Betz Sphere may or may not have come from an alien world, but it was evidently created in a secret place the populace is not allowed to know.
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Bonus: Earhart's Plane Found? Update with Bill Snavely Feb 02, 2019

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82 years ago Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan vanished. Since then millions of dollars have been spent at the behest of countless researchers in an attempt to find her. In all of that time, only one of those researchers has found an aircraft. Our audience knows that researcher as Bill Snavely. He was a guest on our show back in May of 2018 and now he's back to report on what the team he assembled found on their first in-depth expedition to Buka.
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The Betz Sphere Part 3 Jan 28, 2019

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For something that many would claim was just a misplaced piece of industrial equipment, the Betz Sphere attracted a lot of serious attention, some official, some dubious and some a bit of both. Despite the initial vague or dismissive statements from the US Navy and noted scientists such as Dr. J. Allen Hynek that were reported by the news media, they were determined to continue seeking answers from it. The interest didn't stop with our government either, as mysterious foreign agents had shown up and expressed a keen interest in obtaining the orb. Subterfuge, manipulation both social and scientific, a disproportionate offer of a large sum of money, and even a possibly related assault all seem like a lot of effort to obtain an old discarded valve ball. Never before seen photos of the sphere posted with this episode on all of our social media.
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The Betz Sphere Part 2 Jan 20, 2019

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With every paranormal event or object, there are the questions of how did this happen or what was this thing? But the equally important issue is, how would this affect me? Because when something seemingly impossible happens, we have no context unless it had interaction with somebody. It becomes meaningful when we ponder the implications to our own human experience. As much as the Betz Sphere created a scientific mystery it also created a family story. Tonight, we're fortunate to present an exclusive interview with a member of the Betz family who was there to witness the entire ordeal and who has generously agreed to share their family story and set the record straight. Someone or something secretive created this sphere and while its operation and purpose remain unknown to the public, how it became known to the world and how that affected their lives is their story alone.
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The Betz Sphere Part 1 Jan 14, 2019

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Sometimes people come into our lives that change everything. Sometimes that change can come from an object. In March of 1974, the Betz family of Fort George Island, Florida found such an object, while investigating their property for wildfire damage. It appeared to be a shiny steel ball, measuring 7.96 inches in diameter and weighing 21.34 pounds. Being a simple, yet so out-of-place item in the middle of nowhere, it caught the attention of the eldest Betz son Terry, who took it home as a souvenir. The family, and eventually the rest of the world, would soon learn that this was no ordinary metal ball. The sphere would demonstrate highly unusual properties, like rolling that would indicate self-guidance, vibrating and emitting high-pitched frequencies, and a strange magnetic quality. These actions would be witnessed not only by the family but by the military, scientists and news media, all eager to determine who made this thing and why. While most authorities would go on record as believing the sphere was human-made, all would admit that it was no doubt weird, and no group could come forward to claim it was positively theirs. In the end, it would not be the sphere so much that would change the lives of the Betz family, but the people who were interested in it. As one might expect, if you possess an item that breaks the laws of physics, some organizations will go to great lengths to acquire it.
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The Near-Death Experience Part 2 Dec 23, 2018

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Researchers have now documented thousands of personal accounts from Near-Death Experiencers. Logic would suggest that it's unlikely that all NDE stories are fabrications and that at least some of these experiences are real and accurately described. And if so, then examining the commonly experienced features of the NDE seem to indicate that these defining perceptions are universal, while remaining a uniquely relevant and personal occurrence to the individual. Most NDE experiencers have described sensations like being in a tunnel leading to a brilliant light, floating away from our bodies, reuniting with deceased friends and loved ones, of a peaceful and loving communion with a higher power, while some have described a hellish event. On the other hand, skeptics would argue that these features are standard because the human brain is the same for everyone. Some researchers have claimed to produce these sensations by external stimuli, such as electric current, extreme G-force, and psychoactive drugs, or conclude that these perceptions are merely scenes of a final movie played by a dying brain starved of oxygen. In the second part of our discussion of the Near-Death Experience with Richard Hatem, we discuss the points of this debate, and whether the skeptical viewpoint can fully explain the phenomenon or if it falls short of an explanation of the personal context of these experiences. At the heart of this debate is the question of whether consciousness is a product of the physical brain or if it can reside apart from the body. If consciousness exists independently of the brain and this could be scientifically proven, then the possibility of living beyond our physical world – the reality of an Afterlife, changes the debate and how we think about our own lives. Perhaps this is something that can never be proven, something we are not meant to know, but those that have gone through an NDE will tell you that it has changed them, usually for the better. To them, the NDE was a message, and whether a good or bad experience, it was a message of hope or a reminder that redemption is possible, and that a greater awareness awaits us. And what message could be better at the close of an old year and the beginning of a new one?
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The Near-Death Experience Part 1 Dec 16, 2018

Show notes

The question that every one of us has at least wondered about at some point in our lives, is not if UFOs and aliens exist, or where's Bigfoot, or even if ghosts are real (although that question is connected) but a question about the biggest mystery of all: "What happens to us after we die?" You may not care about the other unknowns, but death comes for us all, and whether or not there's an afterlife, we'll all know in due time. It's the grandest question there is, because it may lead to all other answers. Any evidence of an afterlife may seem beyond our view to most of us; however, there seems to be a great abundance of credible accounts from people who may have seen a glimpse of what awaits us on the Other Side. These people have either been in a state of "Clinical Death" or some unusual physical circumstance and upon recovering, claim to have experienced something known as a Near-Death Experience, or, an "NDE." Tonight, we sit down with our good friend, screenwriter Richard Hatem, who has studied the subject extensively, to discuss the fascinating and distinctive characteristics of the phenomenon. In Part One of our two-part series, we first look at the researchers, definitions and a few case studies of the NDE. Before you think you can dismiss these numerous anecdotes as coming only from a particular type of attention seeker, consider that these testimonies come from the believer, the agnostic and the atheistic alike, from people of all faiths and walks of life, with stories of striking similarity from every culture, and going back to when people first started dying. These Experiencers were all profoundly affected, their lives changed, and the commonalities of their experiences would suggest that this ultimate truth doesn't care what you believe, and indeed a reality beyond the one we know does exist.
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