Charles Topham has nothing to sell, no book to promote, not even a website. He simply has an interesting story with implications for all who look to the interactive relationship between human activity and consciousness and the vast subject we call “the paranormal.” A few months ago, Miguel Romero (aka “Red Pill Junkie”) wrote to tell me about Charles, and his story of “psychic questing,” which is a concept that is virtually unknown outside of the UK. The basic story is that from the late 1970s to sometime in the mid-to-late 1990s, small, private groups in Britain began meeting to use seances, ouija boards, and other methods in order to locate hidden objects of apparent historical importance, such as swords, precious stones, and documents. The practice is intimately connected with the rich history of English magic and folklore. Miguel served as co-interviewer as Charles described his interest in UFOs and other out-there subjects from an early age, including apparent communications with non-humans by radio (a’la contactee George Hunt Williamson.) In the early 1990s, he formed a group with a few friends and began their own questing sessions, eventually establishing contact with an apparent entity calling itself “Addie,” who self-described as a young teenage girl of the Victorian era. Addie began “apporting” objects to the group which responded to the whims of questions from different members, such as photos, books, divination cards, and even precious stones. When I asked Charles early on if there was any chance of fraud, he said “I didn’t see you there,” which was his way of saying “From outside the confines of the group, of course.” We discussed these issues and the fact that hoaxing or faking is an intimate part of much of these phenomena, but does not explain all of it, a concept that is admittedly difficult for some to accept. I choose to listen without making sharp judgments. Things just seem more interesting that way, and whatever your beliefs, we hope you find Charles’ story worth hearing. Image above: A Egyptian divination card that Charles says was apported during one of their sessions with “Addie,” and which recently formed the nexus of a personal synchronicity. LISTEN/ DOWNLOAD

Jeremy Corbell’s upcoming film based on George Knapp’s groundbreaking book of the same name was the subject of our interview for this edition of Radio Misterioso. The film has generated a great deal of buzz because of the controversial subject. We went into depth about the history of the property known as “Skinwalker Ranch” and the various owners, incidents, research and high strangeness that have been swirling around the location since the early 1990s. The takeaway from the years of research conducted at the site seems to indicate that there is no one theory or mechanism that can account for all the strange activity observed. From cattle mutilations, eerie lights, shadowy figures, and paraphysical animals, to events and activities that seemed to trigger the phenomena, Corbell and Knapp report that no data-driven report or columns of numbers could solve the puzzle. My guests also took time to answer some of the rumors that they say have gotten out of hand, such as stories of human experimentation and the idea that anything physical was ever found that could be examined in a laboratory. We discussed the little-known debate between the scientists who were originally assigned to do the first systematic research at the property, and their regrets about roads not taken. We also spoke about the history of government-sponsored research in the area, as well as the new owner of the property and his efforts to continue the work started by former owner Robert Bigelow. I believe that you will hear things in this interview that have not been discussed elsewhere or previously. LISTEN/ DOWNLOAD

I’ve been getting requests for another music show and Josh was in town last weekend, so we recorded this one on my phone. Dropped the music in after the fact. A very fun show with one of my favorite guests, and a fine musician to boot. Tracklist: Clara Rockmore “The Swan” (Theremin) Grace Chang – The Habanera from Carmen (L’amour est un oiseau rebelle) Maria Callas – Habanera from Carmen (excerpt) Øystein Baadsvik – “Fnugg for Solo Tuba” Sam Space and the Cadettes – “Take Me to Your Leader Cha Cha” Jesse and the G-Runs – “Lady Madonna” Kiyoko Itoh & The Happenings Four – “Lady Madonna” Michyo Azusa – “Please Please Me” MC Hawking – “E=MC Hawking” Brute Force – “Tapeworm of Love” Brute Force – “The King of Fuh” Colin Hodgkinson – Kick Ass Bass solo Bobby Zehm – “Sitar Picking’ Man The Vandals – “Play That Country Tuba Cowboy” Paul Anka – “Smells Like Teen Spirit DIRECT LINK

I finally met Chris Lambright at one of the Dulce Base conferences in New Mexico this year. Chris has been a researcher since the late 1970s, and is one of those people who do some of the most interesting and important work in the background of the field, away from the celebrity status and TV shows, which is where I think some of the real insights can be found. Chris has seen the infamous film from controversial UFO researcher Ray Stanford which is claimed to depict one of the clearest images ever captured of an unidentified flying object, and says that whatever it was bears a close resemblance to what a man named Paul Bennewitz was filming at Kirtland Air Force Base beginning in 1979. The Bennewitz story is the main subject of my 2006 book Project Beta. When there is new or overlooked information on the story, I am interested. Chris says that tbe object in Stanford’s film closely resembles the work of scientist Leik Myrabo and his work in laser propulsion research, and says that Stanford received a visit from Myrabo, who looked at his evidence with interest before starting his project. We also discussed the timeline of events in the Bennewitz story and how the picture presented in my book may need to be slightly revised based on Lambright’s findings as reported in his book X Descending. Chris is also one of the few people I have met who actually knew and spoke to Bennewitz . He also describes a strange interaction with infamous UFO researcher/ personality John Lear. Some of the scientists Lambright has uncovered in his research have connections to recent developments in such projects as To The Stars. The interview will be continued! DIRECT LINK

Joshua Cutchin‘s new book is his best yet, and deeply examines the ancient folklore surrounding children who are supposedly taken from their homes and parents by denizens of the “fairy realm.” Don’t make the mistake that he believes in a literal interpretation. He makes this clear in the first interview he gave for the book. Throughout the interview, one of the themes (as in the book) is that there are very definite parallels between this phenomenon and the “hybrid” lore of UFO abduction literature. These comparisons have of course been made before, but Cutchin’s book also points out the similarities between fairy lore and Bigfoot encounters, as well as the recent focus on wilderness disappearances (think Missing 411.) We spoke about the “changeling” lore, which holds that children are taken and replaced with a fairy child, which appears weak, sickly, or otherwise “strange” to the rest of the family. Josh pointed out that this tradition was often used as an excuse to ostracize those who were deemed strange or otherwise useless to the community, all too often resulting in cases of infanticide. He hastens to add, however, that we “do the phenomenon a disservice” by reducing it to mundane explanations. The true nature of this tradition can be best approached by detailed and careful study, such as can be found in Cutchin’s new work, Thieves In The Night: A Brief History of Supernatural Child Abductions. DIRECT LINK

David Perkins (AKA “Izzy”) is known to many as Chris O’Brien’s longtime research partner (and “mentor” as O’Brien also refers to him.) Perkins began his interest in the cattle and livestock mutilation mystery from the beginnings of the phenomenon (ca. 1975) in southern Colorado. In the over 40 years he has looked at this strange and at times horrifying issue, he has not come to any hard conclusions about what is going on, although he does have specific ideas about a nexus of all the issues connecting the disparate aspects of this puzzling conundrum. At first, he thought it was some government program, because of all the helicopters that kept turning up in reports. He has never really considered the UFO/ alien explanation, since the facts he uncovered proved it was too narrow. During the program, we discussed  the concept of a “memeplex,” which is a group of ideas and beliefs that support and play off each other, and which can increase our understanding of how the problem has been compounded by weak explanations and an eagerness to reach a conclusion. Perkins also considers the mutilation mystery as an example of an “ideoplastic” problem as he believes that it responds to expectations, culture, and researcher bias. He believes an  important path towards understanding can be achieved by thinking of it as a manifestation of “unrecognized forces of nature,” which combine in a way that indicates some sort of directed, conscious purpose that is as yet inscrutable to humans. He compares it to the Gaia hypothesis, in a way that makes Nature itself an active participant, as if we are being sent an undeniable message about how we treat and use domestic animals, and our complicity in the degradation of the environment. We also talked about how the study of animal mutilations has driven many researchers off the deep end or forced them out of the field altogether, although Perkins concludes that his experience has been “one of the greatest educational experiences I could ever imagine.” David contributed one of his own musical compositions for the outro music, recorded only two days before our interview, which took place on his backyard patio in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Photo: Perkins struggles with the ancient concept of a pay phone on a Santa Fe street corner. DIRECT LINK

Chris was in Los Angeles last week after running video for the Contact In The Desert event over the previous weekend. I gave him a day to recover and then visited him where he was staying at a house on the cliffs with an amazing view of the Pacific Ocean. Since we were there and I had my recorder, I asked Chris if he wanted to talk about some of his new projects. He announced his official departure from the Paracast program, which he has co-hosted for almost 10 years, as well as “Out There,” his new podcasting and television venture, and his San Luis Valley Camera Project, which will consist of an automated system to record and document unusual lights and other objects in a world-famous hotspot for aerial phenomena. Chris announced that he has also received an agreement with researcher Ray Stanford to reveal his technical UFO data, ending years of speculation about the nature of the evidence that Stanford has collected, and if he would ever share it publicly. A short, but rich conversation. Enjoy! DIRECT LINK

In this short but info-rich interview, Aaron and I started with a discussion about his excellent podcast “The Saucer Life,” which is one promising direction that podcasting seems to be heading: short, informative, and easy to understand for those not familiar with the material. Aaron is a professor of history and has a strong interest in the social history of the UFO subject. It’s always fascinating to examine what kinds of people gather around the topic and why. We delved into the period of the later 1980s and early 1990s, which Aaron calls the beginning of the “endless commercialization” of ufology. How does information get released by those (supposedly) in the know and how is it consumed, how is it used, and what myths are created and evolved? Along these lines, we recalled the early days of the Art Bell program and how that period laid a lot of the groundwork for the culture as we see it today. Aaron does not recall ever having any sort of sighting of anything unidentified, but he mentioned that his sister remembers looking out of the window when she was four years old and seeing what looked like a big-headed entity, which bothers him a bit! We mulled over why the extraterrestrial hypothesis is popular and has been since the beginning of the modern era. Finally, we discussed the intersection between the cultures of conspiracy and UFOs. Takeaway quote from Aaron: “Bad conspiracy writing answers every question.” I would argue that goes for Saucer writing as well. Above: Aaron during the 2018 Esotericon in Halifax, Nova Scotia. DIRECT LINK

Shannon Taggart is a professional photographer who also captures images of the ineffable world of spiritualism. A visit to the Spiritualist community of Lilydale in upstate New York and an incredibly specific psychic reading started her on a years-long quest to interface with and photograph the people of the town, their beliefs, and their practices. The experiences and pictures she was getting surprised Taggart and blurred the lines between documentation, objectivity, and art. Unexpected lights, images, and “mistakes” in her photos called into question whether she was really just a chronicler of the rituals or was beginning to act as a participant and partner. For those used to photography as a form of pure representation, this interview may be either a revelation or an exercise in frustration. As Shannon said during the interview, “photography is a trickster medium.” Before the show, Shannon described her frustration with explaining her attitude towards the paranormal and encapsulated a perfect approach with the phrase “I take this seriously, but not literally.” This should be a commandment to those who pursue an understanding of the unexplained. We discussed the history and amazingly parallel development of photography and spiritualism: the first public seances were held less than a mile from the first Kodak facility in New York state within a few years of each other. Taggart also described her working method and how it allows for random events and results to enter the process – which may allow some effects that are meaningful to the subjects of her work. She recently attended a seminar which championed a return to the original methods of spirit photography, even the use of vintage equipment and rituals. She also described one Spiritualist who is using a movement tracker from an X-Box to achieve better results. She also described ectoplasm and her attempts to document this controversial phenomenon. Finally, we discussed the crossover between her world and UFO study, and how a creative approach may be used in concert with a scientific mindset to explore new areas of research. DIRECT LINK

George Hansen is an almost mythical figure amongst those who have a deep interest in the issues discussed on this show. His groundbreaking book The Trickster and the Paranormal is required reading for anyone who wishes to tackle these subjects in a meaningful way. What Hansen proposes is what we call “paranormal” is so fraught with forces and traditions that mean to derail and deceive us at every turn, that we cannot wade into this quagmire without realizing all aspects of the issues that await us. This is not because it is necessarily evil, but because the tradition of the Trickster archetype is present in all cultures (whether some want to admit it or not) and appears to provide a balance to the more structured aspects of culture and even our own psyches by introducing randomness and novelty. In a wide-ranging talk, we discussed the trickster archetype, how it addresses inequality in cultures, and how excluded elements (such as the LGBT community) are often imbued with this influence. George tells us about his years of research in parapsychology and the history of such groups over the last century. He also talked about his friendship with author John Keel and his New York Fortean Society. He discussed the world of stage magic and how many magicians are not doctrinaire skeptics, and actually endorse some forms of psychic phenomena as currently unexplained. We also touched on how UFO study ignores the trickster at its peril. There is so much more to unpack in this free-ranging and educational conversation from one of the true originals in the field. DIRECT LINK