The Micah Hanks Program - Micah Hanks

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The USO Enigma: Maritime UAP Encounters | MHP 083120 Sep 01, 2020

Show notes

In 1970, zoologist and popular author Ivan T. Sanderson wrote, "it may come as somewhat of a shock... to learn that, by actual count, over 50 percent of all so-called 'sightings' of UFOs have occurred over, coming from, going away over, or plunging into or coming out of water. That this fact is known to officialdom is manifest from their official publications, but they seem to have left this aquatic factor out of their statistical analyses."

This week on The Micah Hanks Program, we examine maritime incidents from over the years involving unidentified objects observed at sea, and the implications for such sightings in terms of broader studies of the UAP issue.

Chapters in This Episode

Intro 0:00
News 8:34
O'Hare Incident Addendum 14:28
Segment: A.I. and Aliens 25:22
UFO Encounters at Sea 32:15
Part I: History 33:41
Part II: Wheels of Light 39:34
Interlude 47:04
Part III: Blue Book Reports of USOs 51:23
Part IV: NUFORC Calls About USOs 1:05:09
Part V: Russia's USO Files 1:20:15
Conclusion 1:30:32

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Marijuana test for stressed-out Warsaw Zoo elephants
Tests providing results in 20 seconds trialled at Heathrow
Humans Take Step Closer to 'Flying Cars'
Robot Boats Leave Autonomous Vehicles in Their Wake
Artificial Intelligence Validates 50 Exoplanets in Kepler Data
UNIDENTIFIED SUBMERGED OBJECTS
April 17, 1995. Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf
Robert Hendrickson, PhD. on Marine Light Wheels
AUDIO: Hotline Reports National UFO Reporting Center
Blue Book Reports by Ships at Sea: Report by A.F. Rullán
Paul Stonehill's notes on Russian UFOs around Water

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Incident at O'Hare: The Case File Reopened | MHP 082420 Aug 25, 2020

Show notes

In November 2006, something odd appeared in the late afternoon skies above one of the world's busiest airports.

More than a decade later, no simple explanation exists for what had been observed by a crew staff at O'Hare International Airport, which was described by those who saw it as a circular or disc-shaped object hovering over Gate C17. The story has become one of the most widely-discussed and often cited cases in modern times involving a multiple-witness observation of unidentified aerial phenomena and has been cited in countless books and articles on the UFO subject. This week on The Micah Hanks Program, we reopen the case files on the Chicago O'Hare UFO Incident and look at its implications for aviation safety.

Chapters in This Episode

Intro 0:00
News 4:17
Incident at O'Hare Part I: Introduction 20:57
Part II: Hilkevitch Reports 39:30
Second Hour 46:27
Part III: The Witnesses 49:52
Part iV: The Investigation 1:05
Conclusion 1:32

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NEWS: Mystery of Interstellar Visitor 'Oumuamua Gets Trickier
FDA Authorizes Convalescent Plasma As Emergency Treatment For COVID-19
First ever double hurricane could hit the Gulf of Mexico
The O'Hare UFO Incident
PRELUDE: The Truth Is Out There: Peter Davenport takes UFO reports seriously
ORIGINAL NUFORC REPORT: National UFO Reporting Center Entry for O'Hare Sighting
HISTORY: Chicago O'Hare International Airport UFO sighting occurred on November 7, 2006
Chicago Tribune: In the sky! A bird? A plane? A ... UFO?
FAA SKEPTICS: FAA skeptical of UFO report at O'Hare
NARCAP INVESTIGATES: "Report of a UAP and its Safety Implications over Chicago O'Hare"
WRAP: UFO Sightings Pose Danger to Aviation

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The Unidentified: Science and the Study of UAP | MHP 08.16.20 Aug 18, 2020

Show notes

This week on The Micah Hanks Program, after news and a segment that takes a deep look at what is currently known about the DoD's recent announcement about its UAP Task Force, we turn our attention to the efforts of the Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies, an organization comprised of scientists, former military, and others from various disciplines who are working to advance efforts toward the academic study of unidentified aerospace phenomena.

Joining us to discuss the SCU is board member Rich Hoffman, who holds a BA in Organizational Communications from Wright State University. He is an Information Technology consultant and strategist. He has been a defense contractor for over 20 years working primarily for the Army Materiel Command HQ with a variety of companies. Rich has over 54 years of experience in Investigations and research into the UFO subject and has served as Director of Investigations, Star Team Manager, and Director of Strategic Projects as well as State Director in MUFON and other organizations. In our discussion, we explore the SCU's analysis of the Navy's UAP videos, as well as other prior existing videos of purported UAP.

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Pentacle: Anatomy of a Coverup | MHP 08.10.20. Aug 11, 2020

Show notes

It was the summer of 1967, and Jacques Vallee was feeling troubled. A young French computer scientist living in America, Vallee had been tasked with one of the most unusual jobs anyone could imagine: assisting astronomer J. Allen Hynek with the review of reports collected by the United States Air Force about unidentified flying objects.

It was also the summer of 1967 that Vallee first uncovered a document that both fascinated, and greatly concerned him "because of the new light it throws on the key period of the Robertson Panel and of the classic Report#14," he would later write. "It is stamped in red ink 'SECRET – Security Information.' It is dated 9 January 1953. It is signed by a man I will call Pentacle."

What this secret memorandum appeared to detail was "the fact that prior to the top-level 1953 Robertson Panel meeting somebody had not only listed but analyzed thousands of UFO cases on behalf of the United States Government." This week on The Micah Hanks Program, we look at the strange history of this elusive and concerning the document, its eventual release, and the controversy that has surrounded it in the decades since it became publicly available.

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John Keel and the Men in Black | MHP 08.03.20. Aug 05, 2020

Show notes

During the 1960s, American author and UFO researcher John Keel had a problem: it involved reports of Men in Black, the mysterious strangers in dark suits said to appear after UFO sightings and intimidate witnesses.

So who were these ominous observers of the UFO phenomenon? Could some of them have been government agents—possibly investigators with the U.S. Air Force during the years of Project Blue Book? Or are stories of "Men in Black" really just folklore that managed to build up around some of the unusual characters that ran in UFO circles throughout the 1960s? We explore these questions, along with recent news on this week's edition of The Micah Hanks Program.

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Signs of the Times: The UFO Controversy in the Media | MHP 07.27.20. Jul 28, 2020

Show notes

"For more than a decade," reads the latest in a series of New York Times articles on UFOs that have appeared since late 2017, a shadowy Pentagon UFO program "has been conducting classified briefings for congressional committees, aerospace company executives and other government officials," according to officials and documents associated with the program.

That isn't all the recent New York Times piece reported on, however; of far greater interest had been the mention of Senate briefings related to crashes of purported "off-world vehicles not made on this Earth."

The response to the piece wasn't quite what it had been to previous New York Times articles covering UFOs over the last few years, and if anything, controversy ensued almost immediately. This week on The Micah Hanks Program, we break down the story, and observe the public reaction that resulted in so many divided opinions. Then later in the program, we are joined with additional perspectives from writer, podcaster and UFO commentator Jason McClelland of Rogue Planet, who shares his take on what went wrong, and how reporting on the UFO subject can be managed better in the future.

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Strange Effects of UFO Encounters | MHP 07.20.20. Jul 21, 2020

Show notes

In December 1967, Maryellen Kelley felt an electric shock go through her body as she stood outside her home in Mohomet, Illinois, watching an orange UFO pass overhead. She was later stricken with a headache, and the skin on her hands, face, and legs reddened as if burned. In October 1973, trucker Eddie Webb was blinded for several days after a bright light struck him while driving along a stretch of highway in eastern Missouri late one night. In May 1967, prospector Stephan Michalak was blasted by hot air or gas as he approached a strange, landed aircraft, which suddenly shot into the sky.

In each of the UFO cases described here, witnesses claimed to have suffered strange physical effects in the aftermath of their encounters. However, there is perhaps no incident in the history of UFO research that involves physical effects suffered by witnesses more well known than the famous Cash Landrum affair, involving two Texas women who developed a number of odd symptoms following a nighttime encounter with a bright, hovering object outside of Dayton, Texas. But what to odd incidents like these help us learn about the unidentified aircraft described by such witnesses, and do they offer any clues about the technologies behind them? We explore these questions this week on The Micah Hanks Program.

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Incident at Stephenville | MHP 07.13.20. Jul 14, 2020

Show notes

It was shortly after 6 PM on January 8, 2008, when witnesses Mike Odom, Lance Jones, and Steve Allen first noticed a series of bright, flashing lights passing through the sky. The lights appeared to be at an estimated 3500 feet, spanning a distance of close to half a mile across the portion of the sky they covered.

The "ship," as the trio later referred to the spectacle, passed silently through the sky overhead, moving quickly in the direction of nearby Stephenville, Texas. At one point, the lights appeared to shift from two horizontal lines into an odd, vertical orientation. Shortly afterward, the men also saw a pair of F-16 fighter jets pursuing the object as it moved in the direction of then-president George W. Bush's texas residence. Days later, however, the U.S. Air Force would claim the unidentified lights had been their own jets conducting a routine training exercise.

However, there is compelling evidence that there might have been more going on over the town of Stephenville in January of that year. This week on The Micah Hanks Program, we go in search of answers behind this odd incident, which remains one of the strangest and most compelling UFO events of the modern era.

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Crash-Retrieval Syndrome: Legend of the Crashed Saucers| MHP 07.06.20. Jul 08, 2020

Show notes

In July 1947, something crashed on a sprawling ranch outside the town of Roswell, New Mexico. The wreckage was discovered by the property owner, Mac Brazel, who reported it to the U.S. Army Air Force: shortly thereafter, newspapers ran the sensational headline "RAAF Captures Flying Saucer on Ranch in Roswell Region." The rest, as they say, is history.

However, the real history of alleged UFO crashes, and their later recovery by the military, goes much deeper than the famous Roswell UFO Incident. This week, we look at claims that a forthcoming New York Times article will explore the idea of UFO crash/retrievals, and whether the idea is purely legendary or has some basis in fact. We then revisit famous FBI memos that discuss alleged flying saucer wreckage, and how one UFO researcher traveled the country speaking with witnesses who claimed to have firsthand knowledge of military recovery of these alleged crashes.

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The UAP Task Force and the Hunt for Zero Point | MHP 06.29.20. Jun 30, 2020

Show notes

"The [Senate Intelligence] Committee supports the efforts of the Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon Task Force at the Office of Naval Intelligence to standardize collection and reporting on unidentified aerial phenomenon, any links they have to adversarial foreign governments, and the threat they pose to U.S. military assets and installations."

This passage appeared in a recent Senate Intelligence Committee report on an appropriations bill initiated by Florida Senator and former Republican presidential hopeful Marco Rubio. Although it isn't the first we have heard about a "multi-agency task force" in government that deals with UFOs, it is certainly the first time Senators have referred to it while calling for an unclassified report on unidentified aerial phenomena, drawing from multiple different branches of government to assess their possible implications and even threat potential. Joining us to discuss this is MJ Banias and Tim McMillan, who reported on the development for Motherboard, who will give us key details about the proposed bill, and whether the public will actually see an unclassified report on UAP in the coming months.

Then for the remainder of the program we are joined by veteran aviation journalist Nick Cook, author of The Hunt for Zero Point. Cook is a Former Senior Aviation Editor of Jane's Defence Weekly. He is the recipient of four Journalism Awards from the Royal Aeronautical Society in the Defence, Business, Technology, and Propulsion categories, and he shares with us his stories about strange meetings, odd disappearances, and his pursuit for futuristic aerospace technologies over the years.

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