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[Music]

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[Applause]

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[Music]

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welcome back to the ufo rabbit hole

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podcast i'm your host kelly chase

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today we begin a three-part series

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exploring the complex and if we're being

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honest utterly bizarre ufo lore that has

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grown up out of the ashes of world war

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ii

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but before we dive into that i think

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it's important to take some time to

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understand both the emergence of ufo

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lore and how belief systems emerge in

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general

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and i'll be honest this episode is

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probably the most challenging thing that

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i've ever had to write i'll warn you now

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that there are no easy answers in what

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follows there's no way to wrap it all up

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neatly with a bow

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this topic is both full of tantalizing

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patterns and frustrating inconsistencies

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it's messy and incomplete absurd and

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impenetrable

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studying the ufo phenomenon reminds me

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of looking through a kaleidoscope with

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each twist and turn new colors and

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structures emerge before falling apart

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to form new ones

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it's a riot of both randomness and

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symmetry

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and through observation of these ever

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shifting forms we can begin to guess at

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the internal mechanism that creates them

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but until we can bust it open and see

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what really lies beneath we have no way

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of knowing for sure how closely the

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models that we form in our mind mirror

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reality

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we may never be able to bust open the

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ufo phenomenon we may never know what

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really lies beneath its utterly baffling

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manifestations

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but it's important to our understanding

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of it that we absorb as much of it as we

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can and allow ourselves to sit with the

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disquiet of not being able to fully

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resolve what we see into one consistent

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narrative

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but before we begin i'd like to take a

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moment to give credit and express

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gratitude to dr diana walsh basulka for

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her book american cosmic

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i really struggled as i began to work on

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this series

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in thinking about things like the rise

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of nazi germany and the emergence of

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modern ufo lore i found myself coming

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back again and again to the idea of

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belief systems both how we shape them

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and how they shape us

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i felt instinctively that there was a

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larger story that i wanted to tell but

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it was hard to put my finger on exactly

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how to express it

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american cosmic provided that framework

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and helped to contextualize analyze and

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interpret ufo lore in a way that i

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hadn't before

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i cite the book a couple of times

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throughout this episode but i wanted to

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acknowledge that it had a major

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influence on the shaping of my

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understanding of the topic and by

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extension in shaping this episode as a

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whole

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in my opinion american cosmic is one of

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two books alongside ross colt hearts in

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plain sight that are absolute must reads

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for anyone new to the topic who wants to

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understand modern ufology

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if you'd like to dive deeper into some

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of the ideas explored in this episode i

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can't recommend those two books enough

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they're both linked in the episode

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description if you haven't read them yet

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and would like to check them out

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alright so let's dive into the episode

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before we begin to deconstruct the ufo

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lore surrounding nazi germany and world

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war ii

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i think it's important to first attempt

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to place it within its greater

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ontological context

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if you're not familiar with the term

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ontology is a branch of philosophy or

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metaphysics that deals with the nature

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of being it's the study of what is and

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of the underlying logical structure of

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reality

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we all exist and form our beliefs within

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the confines of different ontological

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frameworks

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what i mean by that is that we all have

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underlying beliefs that provide

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structure to our overall view of the

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world

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for instance you may or may not believe

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in god in the big bang in free will or

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in evolution

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and wherever you shake out on each of

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those things informs a lot about what

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you believe in general

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not to mention who you trust and who you

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hang out with and what you do with your

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life

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and your ontological framework isn't

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just formed by what you believe and

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don't believe but also by what you know

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and what you don't know

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the ontological framework of aristotle

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involved a created perfect static

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eternal universe with heavenly bodies

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that moved in perfectly circular orbits

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around the earth

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however modern ontological frameworks

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involve a messy heliocentric solar

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system on the far spiral arm of an

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unremarkable galaxy which itself is

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barely a grain of sand a near infinite

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universe that is hurtling at increasing

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speeds away from its center and

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expanding out into

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we don't know what exactly

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those are two very different reference

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points from which to decide what you

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believe about yourself and your place in

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the cosmos and based upon which one of

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those frameworks you're using you're

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likely to come up with a very different

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set of answers

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and that is the understanding that we

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need to bring to our exploration of ufo

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lore as we put it into cultural and

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historical context

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because to put it simply the 100 years

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leading up to world war ii were a time

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of unparalleled ontological chaos for

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humanity

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the events of this time period didn't

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just change the world but in many ways

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it fundamentally changed what it means

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to be human

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living in the new world that the 20th

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century created it can sometimes be hard

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to fully grasp how dramatically and

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quickly things changed in fewer than 100

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years we went from the earliest internal

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combustion engines to putting a man on

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the moon

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but this change isn't just about the

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rapid emergence of transformative

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technologies it's about something deeper

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as well

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it's not just about how we interact with

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our reality but what we think about it

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and about ourselves and about god

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in 1871 charles darwin published the

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descent of man which applied his

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revolutionary theory of evolution to

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humans describing how homo sapiens could

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have emerged naturally through

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biological adaptations and sexual

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selection

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but what does this mean for people who

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believe themselves to be intentionally

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and lovingly created in the image of god

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how does one even begin to process that

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then in 1916 einstein published his

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general theory of relativity effectively

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putting a nail in the coffin of

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traditional newtonian physics

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suddenly time and space weren't just the

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stage upon which we lived our lives but

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something bigger more complex and

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utterly foreign

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space and time we found were the same

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thing existing in one unified field

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composed of the very nothingness of

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empty space that is also somehow

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geometrically and predictably shaped by

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mass

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and in 1923 the world was introduced to

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the world of quantum strangeness causing

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us to question the very nature of our

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existence and showing us that at the

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most fundamental atomic level

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reality as we experience it is not

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always what it seems

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in only 52 years science had managed to

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seemingly pull the rug out from under

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the entire foundation of western thought

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and religious belief

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it's hard to truly grasp how strange and

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confronting these ideas must have been

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for the people at the time

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and though people today can certainly

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find a logical and coherent way to

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believe both in a loving creator god and

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an evolution the level of analysis and

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integration that would have been

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required from people of the time to get

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there would have been profound

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as a result many people looked on an

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alarm and dismay as science encroached

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further and further into the sacred

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realm of religion in explaining things

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that had once been the exclusive domain

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of the almighty

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while others when confronted with the

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seeming contradictions between

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scientific discovery and religious

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belief

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lost their faith entirely surrendering

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all that certainty to the new god of

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science

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and the more i learn the more i believe

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that it is this core ontological battle

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that is the true root of most of the

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conflicts of the 20th and 21st centuries

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from the world wars to the cold war to

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the culture wars

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all because around 100 years ago our

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world got flipped upside down and we

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haven't collectively figured out how to

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put it back together again

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so what is this conflict about exactly

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that's hard to define

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the fundamental problems and paradoxes

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that have arisen in the wake of our

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accelerating technological and

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scientific breakthroughs are as complex

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as the times that created them

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but it's important that we try to wrap

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our minds around it anyway

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so let's dive into it

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as science began to unlock more and more

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of the secrets of the universe many

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people particularly in the scientific

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community began to ascribe to some

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version of positivism

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positivism is a philosophical system

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that holds that anything that is real is

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governed by the laws of science and as

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such it rejects theism and metaphysics

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for positivists only factual knowledge

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gained through observation with the five

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senses is trustworthy

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if it can't be measured or observed it

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can't be proven and therefore at least

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in the scientific sense it doesn't

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really matter

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as you might imagine there were a lot of

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people who took issue with this idea

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even as it rose to prominence among the

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academic elite

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suddenly science wasn't just a

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methodology that could be used to

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understand the world around us but was

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being positioned as the sole legitimate

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arbiter of truth

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and through some clever semantics

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positivists were able to elbow out

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anyone who argued that there were things

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that science couldn't explain because by

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their own definition those things don't

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matter

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for many this felt like science wasn't

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just trying to erase god but to usurp

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him

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the rejection of that idea and the

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hostility against science and academia

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that it cultivated in a large segment of

285
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the population is something that we're

286
00:10:24,470 --> 00:10:20,880
still dealing with today

287
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and listen i love science i'm a big fan

288
00:10:28,949 --> 00:10:26,720
i come from an academic family all four

289
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of my parents have terminal degrees when

290
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i was growing up it was just assumed

291
00:10:34,630 --> 00:10:32,880
that i would go to college anything else

292
00:10:36,230 --> 00:10:34,640
would have been blasphemy

293
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when talking about what i wanted to be

294
00:10:41,030 --> 00:10:38,640
when i grew up my dad used to not so

295
00:10:43,269 --> 00:10:41,040
jokingly told me that i could be any

296
00:10:44,790 --> 00:10:43,279
kind of doctor that i wanted to be

297
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and even though i ultimately

298
00:10:50,230 --> 00:10:46,959
disappointed him in that i've always

299
00:10:51,790 --> 00:10:50,240
been firmly on hashtag team science

300
00:10:54,230 --> 00:10:51,800
but even i can admit that the

301
00:10:56,870 --> 00:10:54,240
anti-positivists have a point

302
00:10:59,190 --> 00:10:56,880
let's look at gravity as an example

303
00:11:01,269 --> 00:10:59,200
we have very accurate models of gravity

304
00:11:03,110 --> 00:11:01,279
but allow us to predict how it works and

305
00:11:04,470 --> 00:11:03,120
what will happen when gravity acts upon

306
00:11:06,710 --> 00:11:04,480
a certain object

307
00:11:08,949 --> 00:11:06,720
and those models work so well that we

308
00:11:10,790 --> 00:11:08,959
know the exact angle and velocity that a

309
00:11:12,630 --> 00:11:10,800
spacecraft needs to attain as it

310
00:11:14,630 --> 00:11:12,640
approaches the moon so that it will

311
00:11:15,670 --> 00:11:14,640
slingshot around it and come back to

312
00:11:18,069 --> 00:11:15,680
earth

313
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the slightest miscalculation could send

314
00:11:22,150 --> 00:11:20,160
our astronauts spinning off into space

315
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with no way to return

316
00:11:27,910 --> 00:11:24,800
however while we know how gravity works

317
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we still don't know why it works we can

318
00:11:33,670 --> 00:11:30,240
explain how objects with mass attract

319
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each other but we don't know why they do

320
00:11:38,949 --> 00:11:36,240
and this is true about a lot of things

321
00:11:41,190 --> 00:11:38,959
we know how an acorn grows into a tree

322
00:11:43,910 --> 00:11:41,200
and how rna converts the information

323
00:11:46,150 --> 00:11:43,920
stored in dna into proteins and how our

324
00:11:48,389 --> 00:11:46,160
observation of subatomic particles

325
00:11:50,870 --> 00:11:48,399
influences their behavior but we don't

326
00:11:52,790 --> 00:11:50,880
know why these things happen

327
00:11:54,790 --> 00:11:52,800
the positivist interpretation of this

328
00:11:57,030 --> 00:11:54,800
would be that although we don't know why

329
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these things happen that they are acting

330
00:12:01,670 --> 00:11:59,519
in accordance to set universal laws that

331
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we just don't understand yet

332
00:12:06,710 --> 00:12:03,760
the answer to why these things happen is

333
00:12:08,829 --> 00:12:06,720
knowable rational and discrete there is

334
00:12:11,670 --> 00:12:08,839
no mystery only our own

335
00:12:13,750 --> 00:12:11,680
ignorance but also as long as those

336
00:12:14,949 --> 00:12:13,760
mysterious forces are not measurable or

337
00:12:16,629 --> 00:12:14,959
observable

338
00:12:19,030 --> 00:12:16,639
scientists are free to entirely

339
00:12:20,870 --> 00:12:19,040
disregard their existence and only focus

340
00:12:23,269 --> 00:12:20,880
on what can be measured

341
00:12:25,269 --> 00:12:23,279
and i gotta tell you that doesn't sound

342
00:12:26,949 --> 00:12:25,279
super scientific to me

343
00:12:28,870 --> 00:12:26,959
virtually all of our greatest

344
00:12:30,870 --> 00:12:28,880
discoveries and quantum leaps forward in

345
00:12:33,829 --> 00:12:30,880
our understanding of the universe have

346
00:12:35,430 --> 00:12:33,839
started out as an unanswerable question

347
00:12:37,350 --> 00:12:35,440
if we go around throwing out all the

348
00:12:39,350 --> 00:12:37,360
questions we can't answer we're

349
00:12:41,350 --> 00:12:39,360
inevitably missing a big piece of the

350
00:12:44,150 --> 00:12:41,360
puzzle

351
00:12:47,030 --> 00:12:44,160
and by the 1930s we see the emergence of

352
00:12:49,110 --> 00:12:47,040
physicalism another philosophy that was

353
00:12:51,750 --> 00:12:49,120
as popular among academics as it was

354
00:12:53,910 --> 00:12:51,760
generally reviled by the masses

355
00:12:56,069 --> 00:12:53,920
physicalism is a more extreme form of

356
00:12:58,230 --> 00:12:56,079
materialism which holds that everything

357
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in reality is physical and arises from

358
00:13:02,710 --> 00:13:00,560
physical matter and interactions

359
00:13:04,829 --> 00:13:02,720
so what does that mean exactly

360
00:13:07,750 --> 00:13:04,839
let's take the example of human

361
00:13:09,990 --> 00:13:07,760
consciousness mind-body dualists believe

362
00:13:12,230 --> 00:13:10,000
that mental processes are non-physical

363
00:13:14,069 --> 00:13:12,240
phenomena and that the physical body

364
00:13:16,150 --> 00:13:14,079
including the brain is distinct and

365
00:13:17,990 --> 00:13:16,160
separate from the mind itself

366
00:13:20,389 --> 00:13:18,000
for those who take this perspective the

367
00:13:22,389 --> 00:13:20,399
brain is the seat of consciousness but

368
00:13:24,389 --> 00:13:22,399
it behaves more like hardware or an

369
00:13:25,829 --> 00:13:24,399
antenna that allows the mind to interact

370
00:13:28,069 --> 00:13:25,839
with its surroundings through the

371
00:13:30,389 --> 00:13:28,079
physical body but consciousness doesn't

372
00:13:32,629 --> 00:13:30,399
need the body to exist

373
00:13:34,310 --> 00:13:32,639
physicalists on the other hand don't see

374
00:13:36,710 --> 00:13:34,320
any distinction between the mind and the

375
00:13:38,790 --> 00:13:36,720
body they believe that consciousness

376
00:13:40,870 --> 00:13:38,800
emerges from the physical and chemical

377
00:13:43,350 --> 00:13:40,880
interactions within the brain when the

378
00:13:45,189 --> 00:13:43,360
brain dies the consciousness dies they

379
00:13:47,350 --> 00:13:45,199
cannot exist without each other because

380
00:13:49,269 --> 00:13:47,360
they are the same thing

381
00:13:51,189 --> 00:13:49,279
so basically while positivists were

382
00:13:52,790 --> 00:13:51,199
making the argument that anything that

383
00:13:53,670 --> 00:13:52,800
can't be measured or observed doesn't

384
00:13:55,430 --> 00:13:53,680
matter

385
00:13:57,350 --> 00:13:55,440
physicalists argued that anything that

386
00:13:58,470 --> 00:13:57,360
can't be measured or observed doesn't

387
00:14:01,430 --> 00:13:58,480
exist

388
00:14:02,949 --> 00:14:01,440
and according to a 2009 study this is

389
00:14:05,990 --> 00:14:02,959
the view that is still held by the

390
00:14:07,910 --> 00:14:06,000
majority of philosophers today

391
00:14:10,310 --> 00:14:07,920
now who's right and who's wrong in this

392
00:14:12,310 --> 00:14:10,320
debate is a much larger conversation and

393
00:14:13,670 --> 00:14:12,320
honestly i'll probably devote an entire

394
00:14:14,629 --> 00:14:13,680
episode to this at some point in the

395
00:14:16,629 --> 00:14:14,639
future

396
00:14:18,389 --> 00:14:16,639
but for now all that really matters is

397
00:14:20,550 --> 00:14:18,399
that we understand the basics of the

398
00:14:23,030 --> 00:14:20,560
ideological battle that raged throughout

399
00:14:25,269 --> 00:14:23,040
the 20th century and that in many ways

400
00:14:27,350 --> 00:14:25,279
continues to this day

401
00:14:29,189 --> 00:14:27,360
i think it's also important to recognize

402
00:14:31,430 --> 00:14:29,199
in all of this that the questions at the

403
00:14:32,230 --> 00:14:31,440
heart of this conflict aren't modern at

404
00:14:33,750 --> 00:14:32,240
all

405
00:14:35,990 --> 00:14:33,760
rather they are the questions that

406
00:14:38,069 --> 00:14:36,000
humanity has always asked going back as

407
00:14:40,230 --> 00:14:38,079
far as we've kept records and probably

408
00:14:42,470 --> 00:14:40,240
from millennia before that

409
00:14:44,310 --> 00:14:42,480
in many ways the ability to formulate

410
00:14:46,230 --> 00:14:44,320
these questions and our never-ending

411
00:14:48,710 --> 00:14:46,240
quest for the answers are central to

412
00:14:50,069 --> 00:14:48,720
what it means to be human

413
00:14:52,150 --> 00:14:50,079
questions like

414
00:14:54,870 --> 00:14:52,160
was the universe created intentionally

415
00:14:56,790 --> 00:14:54,880
or did all of this arise by chance

416
00:14:59,590 --> 00:14:56,800
is there something after this life or do

417
00:15:01,670 --> 00:14:59,600
we cease to exist when our body dies

418
00:15:03,670 --> 00:15:01,680
is there such a thing as absolute right

419
00:15:05,590 --> 00:15:03,680
and wrong or is that just an illusion

420
00:15:07,750 --> 00:15:05,600
that makes it easier for us to coexist

421
00:15:09,509 --> 00:15:07,760
with each other in large groups

422
00:15:11,189 --> 00:15:09,519
do our lives have meaning or is that

423
00:15:12,790 --> 00:15:11,199
just the wishful thinking of beings

424
00:15:14,550 --> 00:15:12,800
unfortunate enough to be aware of their

425
00:15:16,790 --> 00:15:14,560
own mortality

426
00:15:18,550 --> 00:15:16,800
and while these questions aren't new the

427
00:15:20,069 --> 00:15:18,560
rapid progression of scientific

428
00:15:22,310 --> 00:15:20,079
breakthroughs that occurred in the

429
00:15:24,230 --> 00:15:22,320
lead-up to the 20th century and which

430
00:15:25,990 --> 00:15:24,240
reached a decisive crescendo by the

431
00:15:27,910 --> 00:15:26,000
mid-century with the splitting of the

432
00:15:30,629 --> 00:15:27,920
atom and the beginning of space

433
00:15:33,509 --> 00:15:30,639
exploration brought these long-simmering

434
00:15:34,949 --> 00:15:33,519
ideological battles to a boil

435
00:15:37,350 --> 00:15:34,959
riding high on all of these

436
00:15:39,350 --> 00:15:37,360
paradigm-shattering discoveries many in

437
00:15:41,189 --> 00:15:39,360
the scientific community and the public

438
00:15:43,110 --> 00:15:41,199
at large began to believe that it was

439
00:15:45,269 --> 00:15:43,120
only a matter of time before science was

440
00:15:46,710 --> 00:15:45,279
able to lay bare all of the mysteries of

441
00:15:49,749 --> 00:15:46,720
the universe

442
00:15:51,829 --> 00:15:49,759
in 1897 the physicist william thompson

443
00:15:53,910 --> 00:15:51,839
lord kelvin looked at all of the

444
00:15:56,069 --> 00:15:53,920
tremendous advancements in electricity

445
00:15:58,710 --> 00:15:56,079
astronomy and biology that marked his

446
00:16:00,949 --> 00:15:58,720
age and concluded there is nothing new

447
00:16:02,790 --> 00:16:00,959
to be discovered in physics now all that

448
00:16:04,550 --> 00:16:02,800
remains is more and more precise

449
00:16:06,389 --> 00:16:04,560
measurement

450
00:16:08,150 --> 00:16:06,399
which is a little embarrassing for him

451
00:16:09,990 --> 00:16:08,160
considering all of the breathtaking

452
00:16:12,230 --> 00:16:10,000
scientific discoveries from general

453
00:16:14,870 --> 00:16:12,240
relativity to quantum mechanics that

454
00:16:17,189 --> 00:16:14,880
would occur just a few short years later

455
00:16:19,749 --> 00:16:17,199
and yet despite the fact that each new

456
00:16:22,550 --> 00:16:19,759
discovery seemed to open a pandora's box

457
00:16:25,910 --> 00:16:22,560
of new questions this mindset remains

458
00:16:27,350 --> 00:16:25,920
the default for many people even today

459
00:16:29,189 --> 00:16:27,360
and although we've hopefully been

460
00:16:31,030 --> 00:16:29,199
humbled enough to recognize that the

461
00:16:33,350 --> 00:16:31,040
discoveries that we've made thus far are

462
00:16:35,269 --> 00:16:33,360
but a single drop in a universe full of

463
00:16:36,389 --> 00:16:35,279
oceans compared to what there still is

464
00:16:38,230 --> 00:16:36,399
to know

465
00:16:40,230 --> 00:16:38,240
many of us operate under the assumption

466
00:16:42,870 --> 00:16:40,240
that the ultimate nature of our reality

467
00:16:44,310 --> 00:16:42,880
is scientifically measurable or will be

468
00:16:47,269 --> 00:16:44,320
at some point

469
00:16:49,030 --> 00:16:47,279
and maybe it is i honestly don't know

470
00:16:52,150 --> 00:16:49,040
i don't think it's an inherently crazy

471
00:16:54,790 --> 00:16:52,160
assumption but it is undeniably an

472
00:16:57,030 --> 00:16:54,800
assumption and a big one at that

473
00:16:59,670 --> 00:16:57,040
and that assumption lies at the heart of

474
00:17:01,749 --> 00:16:59,680
this ideological conflict

475
00:17:03,110 --> 00:17:01,759
on the one side you have people who

476
00:17:05,270 --> 00:17:03,120
believe that we are more than our

477
00:17:07,669 --> 00:17:05,280
physical bodies that there is a divine

478
00:17:10,230 --> 00:17:07,679
order to the universe that our lives are

479
00:17:13,029 --> 00:17:10,240
inherently meaningful and that good and

480
00:17:15,270 --> 00:17:13,039
evil aren't philosophical abstractions

481
00:17:17,029 --> 00:17:15,280
but fundamental realities

482
00:17:18,789 --> 00:17:17,039
and on the other side are people who

483
00:17:20,630 --> 00:17:18,799
believe that we are no more than the

484
00:17:23,029 --> 00:17:20,640
chemical processes that take place in

485
00:17:24,710 --> 00:17:23,039
our brain that the universe arose out of

486
00:17:26,630 --> 00:17:24,720
randomness shaped by nothing but the

487
00:17:28,309 --> 00:17:26,640
fundamental laws of physics

488
00:17:30,549 --> 00:17:28,319
that our lives only have whatever

489
00:17:33,029 --> 00:17:30,559
meaning we give them and that good and

490
00:17:35,190 --> 00:17:33,039
evil are culturally relative constructs

491
00:17:37,669 --> 00:17:35,200
without inherent meaning

492
00:17:39,669 --> 00:17:37,679
the former is horrified by the emergence

493
00:17:41,750 --> 00:17:39,679
of a worldview that seems increasingly

494
00:17:44,070 --> 00:17:41,760
invested in denying the most essential

495
00:17:46,070 --> 00:17:44,080
aspects of our humanity based on a

496
00:17:47,510 --> 00:17:46,080
faulty assumption and a staggering level

497
00:17:50,070 --> 00:17:47,520
of hubris

498
00:17:51,590 --> 00:17:50,080
the latter is disdainful of what it sees

499
00:17:53,990 --> 00:17:51,600
as a dangerous attachment to

500
00:17:56,390 --> 00:17:54,000
superstition and religious thinking that

501
00:17:57,750 --> 00:17:56,400
they believe humanity must move past for

502
00:17:59,750 --> 00:17:57,760
the survival and advancement of our

503
00:18:01,510 --> 00:17:59,760
species

504
00:18:03,669 --> 00:18:01,520
and all you have to do is turn on the

505
00:18:05,430 --> 00:18:03,679
news to recognize that this is a war

506
00:18:07,830 --> 00:18:05,440
that still rages on in the form of the

507
00:18:09,510 --> 00:18:07,840
culture wars of our modern day

508
00:18:11,909 --> 00:18:09,520
but i'd caution you against thinking

509
00:18:14,390 --> 00:18:11,919
about this conflict in terms of sides or

510
00:18:17,110 --> 00:18:14,400
in terms of specific groups even as our

511
00:18:19,350 --> 00:18:17,120
minds automatically jump to do so just

512
00:18:21,190 --> 00:18:19,360
evoking the culture wars likely has many

513
00:18:23,590 --> 00:18:21,200
of you already choosing sides in your

514
00:18:25,669 --> 00:18:23,600
mind or at the very least knowing which

515
00:18:27,830 --> 00:18:25,679
side you'd be on by default

516
00:18:30,549 --> 00:18:27,840
but not only will this kind of tribalist

517
00:18:33,029 --> 00:18:30,559
thinking compromise our objectivity but

518
00:18:36,150 --> 00:18:33,039
as we'll see this collective crisis of

519
00:18:38,870 --> 00:18:36,160
faith is so pervasive so tenacious and

520
00:18:40,710 --> 00:18:38,880
so slippery that it defies all labels

521
00:18:42,710 --> 00:18:40,720
and boundaries

522
00:18:45,029 --> 00:18:42,720
this isn't about the conflict between

523
00:18:47,990 --> 00:18:45,039
any particular group or religion or

524
00:18:49,990 --> 00:18:48,000
ideology against any other it's about a

525
00:18:52,470 --> 00:18:50,000
collective set of questions that we keep

526
00:18:55,029 --> 00:18:52,480
asking ourselves frantically seeking to

527
00:18:57,430 --> 00:18:55,039
bridge the gap of this aching divide

528
00:18:59,430 --> 00:18:57,440
shouting all at once screaming over each

529
00:19:00,870 --> 00:18:59,440
other until no one can even remember the

530
00:19:04,230 --> 00:19:00,880
question anymore

531
00:19:06,150 --> 00:19:04,240
much less pause to hear the answer

532
00:19:08,789 --> 00:19:06,160
and in the midst of this ontological

533
00:19:11,830 --> 00:19:08,799
chaos something entirely new began to

534
00:19:14,710 --> 00:19:11,840
take shape a modern myth that was both

535
00:19:17,270 --> 00:19:14,720
technological and otherworldly

536
00:19:18,630 --> 00:19:17,280
both apparently physical yet somehow

537
00:19:21,029 --> 00:19:18,640
divine

538
00:19:23,029 --> 00:19:21,039
a new paradigm that challenges all of

539
00:19:25,110 --> 00:19:23,039
our preconceived notions about the very

540
00:19:27,270 --> 00:19:25,120
nature of our reality and our place

541
00:19:29,590 --> 00:19:27,280
within what feels like an increasingly

542
00:19:32,150 --> 00:19:29,600
infinite cosmos

543
00:19:34,630 --> 00:19:32,160
appearing in the skies revealing itself

544
00:19:37,110 --> 00:19:34,640
to common people from pilots to ranch

545
00:19:39,430 --> 00:19:37,120
hands while confounding all attempts at

546
00:19:41,590 --> 00:19:39,440
categorization or understanding by the

547
00:19:43,270 --> 00:19:41,600
brave few willing to climb down out of

548
00:19:44,950 --> 00:19:43,280
their ivory towers to confront the

549
00:19:46,870 --> 00:19:44,960
mystery head-on

550
00:19:50,070 --> 00:19:46,880
the events surrounding the emergence of

551
00:19:52,789 --> 00:19:50,080
the ufo phenomenon feel both undeniably

552
00:19:55,110 --> 00:19:52,799
modern and yet somehow ancient

553
00:19:57,270 --> 00:19:55,120
it speaks to us in riddles and allegory

554
00:19:59,430 --> 00:19:57,280
like the scriptures of old

555
00:20:01,909 --> 00:19:59,440
in many ways the phenomenon is like a

556
00:20:04,070 --> 00:20:01,919
rorschach test taking the shape of the

557
00:20:07,510 --> 00:20:04,080
mind that considers it

558
00:20:09,830 --> 00:20:07,520
some see our salvation others are doomed

559
00:20:12,149 --> 00:20:09,840
some see high technology while others

560
00:20:14,470 --> 00:20:12,159
see a psychological construct worn like

561
00:20:16,470 --> 00:20:14,480
a costume by a metaphysical intelligence

562
00:20:18,470 --> 00:20:16,480
beyond our understanding

563
00:20:20,789 --> 00:20:18,480
some see nothing at all

564
00:20:23,270 --> 00:20:20,799
and yet as the evidence mounts that this

565
00:20:25,990 --> 00:20:23,280
phenomenon is not just a projection or a

566
00:20:27,830 --> 00:20:26,000
fantasy but a reality that our species

567
00:20:28,870 --> 00:20:27,840
has been grappling with since the dawn

568
00:20:31,029 --> 00:20:28,880
of time

569
00:20:34,149 --> 00:20:31,039
we're left to wonder what all this might

570
00:20:36,470 --> 00:20:34,159
mean and what role humanity might play

571
00:20:38,070 --> 00:20:36,480
in a larger cosmic reality

572
00:20:40,549 --> 00:20:38,080
the shape of which we have yet to

573
00:20:46,800 --> 00:20:40,559
glimpse but which calls to us from just

574
00:23:37,909 --> 00:20:57,270
[Music]

575
00:23:42,070 --> 00:23:40,390
as we've discussed in previous episodes

576
00:23:44,310 --> 00:23:42,080
there is considerable evidence to

577
00:23:46,149 --> 00:23:44,320
suggest that the ufo phenomenon has been

578
00:23:48,310 --> 00:23:46,159
a part of the human experience for

579
00:23:49,510 --> 00:23:48,320
thousands of years and perhaps even

580
00:23:51,510 --> 00:23:49,520
longer

581
00:23:53,990 --> 00:23:51,520
and yet although the phenomenon itself

582
00:23:56,070 --> 00:23:54,000
may be ancient it's hard to deny that

583
00:23:58,310 --> 00:23:56,080
ufo lore as we know it today has a

584
00:24:00,710 --> 00:23:58,320
definitive beginning

585
00:24:02,789 --> 00:24:00,720
at some point the stories of mysterious

586
00:24:04,950 --> 00:24:02,799
lights and objects in the sky and of

587
00:24:07,190 --> 00:24:04,960
encounters with angelic or otherwise

588
00:24:08,870 --> 00:24:07,200
otherworldly beings shook off the

589
00:24:11,350 --> 00:24:08,880
interpretations of the past and

590
00:24:13,430 --> 00:24:11,360
coalesced around a new paradigm

591
00:24:15,510 --> 00:24:13,440
that of the ufo

592
00:24:18,230 --> 00:24:15,520
and although that sea change occurred

593
00:24:20,390 --> 00:24:18,240
over a number of years if not decades it

594
00:24:22,390 --> 00:24:20,400
all seems to be tightly centered around

595
00:24:24,630 --> 00:24:22,400
the events that occurred over just a few

596
00:24:26,470 --> 00:24:24,640
months in 1947

597
00:24:28,310 --> 00:24:26,480
just two years after the end of world

598
00:24:29,750 --> 00:24:28,320
war ii

599
00:24:31,590 --> 00:24:29,760
and it all began with what is

600
00:24:33,430 --> 00:24:31,600
traditionally considered to be the first

601
00:24:37,190 --> 00:24:33,440
modern ufo sighting

602
00:24:38,950 --> 00:24:37,200
on june 24th 1947 pilot kenneth arnold

603
00:24:40,470 --> 00:24:38,960
was flying in washington state on a

604
00:24:43,190 --> 00:24:40,480
business trip

605
00:24:44,870 --> 00:24:43,200
at that time a 5 000 reward was being

606
00:24:46,710 --> 00:24:44,880
offered in the search for a marine

607
00:24:48,070 --> 00:24:46,720
transport plane that had crashed near

608
00:24:49,909 --> 00:24:48,080
mount rainier

609
00:24:52,230 --> 00:24:49,919
five thousand dollars was equivalent to

610
00:24:54,230 --> 00:24:52,240
sixty five thousand dollars today so he

611
00:24:55,669 --> 00:24:54,240
decided to make a quick detour to fly

612
00:24:57,510 --> 00:24:55,679
through the area to see what he might

613
00:24:59,190 --> 00:24:57,520
find

614
00:25:01,669 --> 00:24:59,200
arnold's search didn't prove to be

615
00:25:03,750 --> 00:25:01,679
fruitful but as he was heading back east

616
00:25:05,269 --> 00:25:03,760
toward yakima washington he saw

617
00:25:07,510 --> 00:25:05,279
something strange

618
00:25:11,190 --> 00:25:07,520
a few minutes before 3 p.m as he was

619
00:25:13,190 --> 00:25:11,200
flying at around 9200 feet arnold saw a

620
00:25:15,750 --> 00:25:13,200
bright flashing light like the glint of

621
00:25:18,230 --> 00:25:15,760
sunlight reflecting off of a mirror

622
00:25:20,149 --> 00:25:18,240
30 seconds later he saw another series

623
00:25:23,190 --> 00:25:20,159
of bright flashes in the distance about

624
00:25:24,549 --> 00:25:23,200
20 to 25 miles away just north of mount

625
00:25:25,990 --> 00:25:24,559
rainier

626
00:25:27,510 --> 00:25:26,000
arnold initially thought that these

627
00:25:29,430 --> 00:25:27,520
flashing lights were some kind of

628
00:25:31,269 --> 00:25:29,440
reflection on his airplane's windows

629
00:25:33,350 --> 00:25:31,279
that were causing an illusion

630
00:25:35,430 --> 00:25:33,360
however he tried rocking his plane from

631
00:25:37,269 --> 00:25:35,440
side to side removing his glasses and

632
00:25:39,830 --> 00:25:37,279
even rolling down his side window and

633
00:25:41,110 --> 00:25:39,840
was quickly able to rule that out

634
00:25:43,029 --> 00:25:41,120
arnold saw that the lights were

635
00:25:45,750 --> 00:25:43,039
reflections glinting off what appeared

636
00:25:47,750 --> 00:25:45,760
to be metallic flying objects they flew

637
00:25:50,230 --> 00:25:47,760
in a long chain almost like a flock of

638
00:25:52,390 --> 00:25:50,240
geese but not only were they at too high

639
00:25:54,549 --> 00:25:52,400
in altitude for that to be plausible

640
00:25:56,549 --> 00:25:54,559
they were also flying far too fast to be

641
00:25:58,070 --> 00:25:56,559
geese or anything else that arnold had

642
00:25:59,830 --> 00:25:58,080
ever encountered

643
00:26:01,510 --> 00:25:59,840
doing some quick measurements arnold

644
00:26:03,190 --> 00:26:01,520
conservatively estimated that the

645
00:26:05,830 --> 00:26:03,200
objects were flying at speeds of at

646
00:26:07,990 --> 00:26:05,840
least 1200 miles per hour or nearly

647
00:26:09,830 --> 00:26:08,000
twice the speed of sound something that

648
00:26:11,669 --> 00:26:09,840
would have been impossible for any known

649
00:26:13,430 --> 00:26:11,679
aircraft at the time

650
00:26:15,909 --> 00:26:13,440
and they didn't look like any aircraft

651
00:26:19,830 --> 00:26:15,919
familiar to arnold either he described

652
00:26:22,390 --> 00:26:19,840
the craft as saucers discs pie pans or

653
00:26:23,350 --> 00:26:22,400
half moons as they were generally convex

654
00:26:25,430 --> 00:26:23,360
and thin

655
00:26:27,430 --> 00:26:25,440
they darted swiftly between the mountain

656
00:26:29,750 --> 00:26:27,440
peaks moving at speeds that would crush

657
00:26:31,669 --> 00:26:29,760
a human and flipped around erratically

658
00:26:33,430 --> 00:26:31,679
as they flew sometimes flipping up on

659
00:26:35,190 --> 00:26:33,440
their side so that they became almost

660
00:26:37,750 --> 00:26:35,200
invisible

661
00:26:39,990 --> 00:26:37,760
within days the story of arnold sighting

662
00:26:41,750 --> 00:26:40,000
was in newspapers around the world and

663
00:26:43,750 --> 00:26:41,760
while there is considerable debate about

664
00:26:45,909 --> 00:26:43,760
the true origins of the term flying

665
00:26:48,070 --> 00:26:45,919
saucer it's clear that the arnold

666
00:26:49,909 --> 00:26:48,080
sighting and the subsequent media blitz

667
00:26:51,909 --> 00:26:49,919
that ensued were responsible for

668
00:26:53,110 --> 00:26:51,919
popularizing both the term and the

669
00:26:54,710 --> 00:26:53,120
concept

670
00:26:57,269 --> 00:26:54,720
but it wouldn't take long for flying

671
00:27:01,190 --> 00:26:57,279
saucers to be back in the news

672
00:27:03,269 --> 00:27:01,200
just two weeks later on july 8 1947 the

673
00:27:05,669 --> 00:27:03,279
public information officer for the army

674
00:27:07,510 --> 00:27:05,679
airfield in roswell new mexico issued a

675
00:27:10,390 --> 00:27:07,520
press release stating that personnel

676
00:27:12,950 --> 00:27:10,400
from the 509th operations group had

677
00:27:15,590 --> 00:27:12,960
recovered a flying disc which had landed

678
00:27:17,590 --> 00:27:15,600
on a ranch near roswell new mexico

679
00:27:19,430 --> 00:27:17,600
that press release read

680
00:27:21,669 --> 00:27:19,440
the many rumors regarding the flying

681
00:27:24,230 --> 00:27:21,679
disc became a reality yesterday when the

682
00:27:26,549 --> 00:27:24,240
intelligence office of the 509th bomb

683
00:27:28,630 --> 00:27:26,559
group of the eighth air force roswell

684
00:27:30,710 --> 00:27:28,640
army airfield was fortunate enough to

685
00:27:32,950 --> 00:27:30,720
gain possession of a disc through the

686
00:27:34,710 --> 00:27:32,960
cooperation of one of the local ranchers

687
00:27:35,750 --> 00:27:34,720
and the sheriff's office of chavez

688
00:27:37,990 --> 00:27:35,760
county

689
00:27:40,310 --> 00:27:38,000
the flying object landed on a ranch near

690
00:27:42,630 --> 00:27:40,320
roswell sometime last week

691
00:27:44,549 --> 00:27:42,640
not having phone facilities the rancher

692
00:27:46,870 --> 00:27:44,559
stored the disk until such time as he

693
00:27:49,269 --> 00:27:46,880
was able to contact the sheriff's office

694
00:27:51,510 --> 00:27:49,279
who in turn notified major jessie a

695
00:27:53,750 --> 00:27:51,520
marcel of the 509th bomb group

696
00:27:55,510 --> 00:27:53,760
intelligence office

697
00:27:57,669 --> 00:27:55,520
action was immediately taken and the

698
00:27:59,590 --> 00:27:57,679
disc was picked up at the ranchers home

699
00:28:01,909 --> 00:27:59,600
it was inspected at the roswell army

700
00:28:04,789 --> 00:28:01,919
airfield and subsequently loaned out by

701
00:28:07,510 --> 00:28:04,799
major marcel to higher headquarters

702
00:28:09,590 --> 00:28:07,520
however by the next day the army had

703
00:28:11,669 --> 00:28:09,600
changed their story they claimed that

704
00:28:13,510 --> 00:28:11,679
what had been found wasn't a flying disc

705
00:28:15,750 --> 00:28:13,520
at all in fact it wasn't even an

706
00:28:18,630 --> 00:28:15,760
aircraft it was a weather balloon made

707
00:28:20,470 --> 00:28:18,640
of tin foil rubber scotch tape and thin

708
00:28:22,389 --> 00:28:20,480
wooden beams that had crash-landed at

709
00:28:24,389 --> 00:28:22,399
the ranch in roswell

710
00:28:26,630 --> 00:28:24,399
now i personally don't find it to be

711
00:28:28,710 --> 00:28:26,640
particularly plausible that high-ranking

712
00:28:30,149 --> 00:28:28,720
military officers would confuse a pile

713
00:28:32,470 --> 00:28:30,159
of materials that you could buy at a

714
00:28:33,430 --> 00:28:32,480
craft store for the wreckage of a flying

715
00:28:35,110 --> 00:28:33,440
disk

716
00:28:37,590 --> 00:28:35,120
and certainly if you dig into the

717
00:28:39,350 --> 00:28:37,600
roswell case there is so much smoke that

718
00:28:41,909 --> 00:28:39,360
it feels impossible to believe that

719
00:28:43,590 --> 00:28:41,919
there isn't some sort of a fire here

720
00:28:45,590 --> 00:28:43,600
and yet i don't think that there is

721
00:28:46,789 --> 00:28:45,600
enough clear evidence to say for sure

722
00:28:48,870 --> 00:28:46,799
what happened

723
00:28:51,029 --> 00:28:48,880
what we can be relatively certain about

724
00:28:54,389 --> 00:28:51,039
is that something crashed in the desert

725
00:28:56,230 --> 00:28:54,399
outside roswell in july of 1947 and that

726
00:28:58,389 --> 00:28:56,240
the army has not been honest with the

727
00:28:59,909 --> 00:28:58,399
public about what that was and the

728
00:29:02,149 --> 00:28:59,919
reason that we can be so certain about

729
00:29:04,149 --> 00:29:02,159
that is that in the decades since the

730
00:29:06,310 --> 00:29:04,159
government has changed its story no

731
00:29:07,990 --> 00:29:06,320
fewer than three times about what really

732
00:29:10,070 --> 00:29:08,000
happened on that day

733
00:29:12,630 --> 00:29:10,080
whether any of those explanations is the

734
00:29:14,549 --> 00:29:12,640
actual truth is impossible to say

735
00:29:17,510 --> 00:29:14,559
but the changing story alone is enough

736
00:29:19,510 --> 00:29:17,520
to confirm a cover-up of something

737
00:29:22,230 --> 00:29:19,520
whatever happened at roswell it wasn't

738
00:29:24,149 --> 00:29:22,240
the end of the flying saucer craze

739
00:29:25,909 --> 00:29:24,159
thousands more sightings were reported

740
00:29:28,950 --> 00:29:25,919
in the months and years that followed

741
00:29:31,510 --> 00:29:28,960
and by 1950 just three short years after

742
00:29:33,750 --> 00:29:31,520
kenneth arnold made his report the first

743
00:29:36,310 --> 00:29:33,760
major motion picture about ufos was

744
00:29:38,549 --> 00:29:36,320
released titled the flying saucer

745
00:29:41,830 --> 00:29:38,559
solidifying the new paradigm of the disc

746
00:29:44,149 --> 00:29:41,840
shaped ufo in the public zeitgeist

747
00:29:46,310 --> 00:29:44,159
i find it strange not just that all of

748
00:29:48,470 --> 00:29:46,320
this happened so quickly but that it

749
00:29:52,070 --> 00:29:48,480
happened at all because as we've

750
00:29:54,149 --> 00:29:52,080
discussed this phenomenon was not new

751
00:29:56,230 --> 00:29:54,159
people had been reporting strange lights

752
00:29:58,789 --> 00:29:56,240
and craft in the skies from the very

753
00:30:00,789 --> 00:29:58,799
first sumerian texts up through the

754
00:30:02,630 --> 00:30:00,799
reports of the mysterious foo fighters

755
00:30:05,750 --> 00:30:02,640
during world war ii

756
00:30:08,310 --> 00:30:05,760
so what happened in 1947 wasn't a

757
00:30:10,870 --> 00:30:08,320
beginning so much as a seismic paradigm

758
00:30:13,430 --> 00:30:10,880
shift within an existing mythology

759
00:30:16,230 --> 00:30:13,440
in a very short period of time the very

760
00:30:19,510 --> 00:30:16,240
concept of unidentified aerial phenomena

761
00:30:22,070 --> 00:30:19,520
became synonymous with flying saucers

762
00:30:24,149 --> 00:30:22,080
this shift also seemed to cement another

763
00:30:27,190 --> 00:30:24,159
realignment that was already in process

764
00:30:28,549 --> 00:30:27,200
at the time which was equating ufos with

765
00:30:30,789 --> 00:30:28,559
technology

766
00:30:32,549 --> 00:30:30,799
whereas in the past people tended to

767
00:30:35,190 --> 00:30:32,559
assume that the bizarre things that they

768
00:30:37,190 --> 00:30:35,200
saw in the sky were gods angels or other

769
00:30:38,789 --> 00:30:37,200
mystical manifestations

770
00:30:41,110 --> 00:30:38,799
now they were presumed to be highly

771
00:30:42,710 --> 00:30:41,120
advanced technology whether it be human

772
00:30:47,510 --> 00:30:42,720
or otherwise

773
00:30:50,230 --> 00:30:47,520
it's also interesting to note that the

774
00:30:52,070 --> 00:30:50,240
rapid emergence of the flying saucer ufo

775
00:30:53,909 --> 00:30:52,080
into the public consciousness

776
00:30:55,430 --> 00:30:53,919
didn't necessarily coincide with the

777
00:30:57,830 --> 00:30:55,440
belief that these craft were

778
00:31:00,870 --> 00:30:57,840
extraterrestrial in origin

779
00:31:03,110 --> 00:31:00,880
in fact that idea tended to lag behind

780
00:31:04,950 --> 00:31:03,120
often being applied retroactively to

781
00:31:07,269 --> 00:31:04,960
sightings later on

782
00:31:09,750 --> 00:31:07,279
for example when kenneth arnold first

783
00:31:11,269 --> 00:31:09,760
saw the flying saucers at mount rainier

784
00:31:13,509 --> 00:31:11,279
he thought that they were most likely

785
00:31:15,350 --> 00:31:13,519
some sort of secret military technology

786
00:31:16,549 --> 00:31:15,360
belonging either to the us or the

787
00:31:18,549 --> 00:31:16,559
soviets

788
00:31:21,590 --> 00:31:18,559
it wasn't until a couple of weeks later

789
00:31:23,669 --> 00:31:21,600
that a man by the name of lg bernier

790
00:31:25,830 --> 00:31:23,679
became the first witness to publicly

791
00:31:28,630 --> 00:31:25,840
raise the possibility that these craft

792
00:31:29,990 --> 00:31:28,640
may be of extraterrestrial origin

793
00:31:32,149 --> 00:31:30,000
in a letter that he wrote to the

794
00:31:34,310 --> 00:31:32,159
portland oregon journal claiming to have

795
00:31:36,789 --> 00:31:34,320
seen similar craft flying near mount

796
00:31:39,110 --> 00:31:36,799
rainier just half an hour before arnold

797
00:31:41,269 --> 00:31:39,120
he said i believe it may be a visitor

798
00:31:43,350 --> 00:31:41,279
from another planet

799
00:31:45,430 --> 00:31:43,360
it wasn't until later that mr arnold was

800
00:31:47,509 --> 00:31:45,440
willing to admit his belief that if the

801
00:31:49,110 --> 00:31:47,519
flying saucers he saw weren't a secret

802
00:31:51,190 --> 00:31:49,120
military project

803
00:31:52,389 --> 00:31:51,200
then they were likely extraterrestrial

804
00:31:54,070 --> 00:31:52,399
in origin

805
00:31:55,669 --> 00:31:54,080
and while there were certainly many who

806
00:31:57,269 --> 00:31:55,679
shared that belief i think it's

807
00:32:00,149 --> 00:31:57,279
important to recognize that that

808
00:32:02,070 --> 00:32:00,159
correlation wasn't a given it took time

809
00:32:05,110 --> 00:32:02,080
for it to evolve into the de facto

810
00:32:07,750 --> 00:32:05,120
explanation for the ufo phenomenon

811
00:32:09,909 --> 00:32:07,760
even in the 1950 film the flying saucer

812
00:32:12,149 --> 00:32:09,919
the first ever film about the topic the

813
00:32:15,029 --> 00:32:12,159
disc shaped craft being pursued by both

814
00:32:17,029 --> 00:32:15,039
soviet and u.s spies is the invention of

815
00:32:20,070 --> 00:32:17,039
an american scientist

816
00:32:22,310 --> 00:32:20,080
so even as disc shaped ufos captured the

817
00:32:24,950 --> 00:32:22,320
public consciousness they still weren't

818
00:32:27,509 --> 00:32:24,960
synonymous with aliens and even once

819
00:32:29,830 --> 00:32:27,519
they became so it took even more time

820
00:32:31,509 --> 00:32:29,840
for the full ufo paradigm as we know it

821
00:32:34,470 --> 00:32:31,519
to take shape

822
00:32:36,310 --> 00:32:34,480
in fact it wasn't until 14 years later

823
00:32:38,710 --> 00:32:36,320
that what is widely considered to be the

824
00:32:40,389 --> 00:32:38,720
first reported alien abduction case

825
00:32:44,149 --> 00:32:40,399
occurred

826
00:32:45,909 --> 00:32:44,159
on september 19 1961 betty and barney

827
00:32:47,590 --> 00:32:45,919
hill were driving down a dark county

828
00:32:49,909 --> 00:32:47,600
road in new hampshire on their way home

829
00:32:52,789 --> 00:32:49,919
from a vacation in niagara falls when

830
00:32:54,710 --> 00:32:52,799
they noticed a strange light in the sky

831
00:32:56,950 --> 00:32:54,720
after stopping for a moment to observe

832
00:32:58,470 --> 00:32:56,960
it with binoculars it descended quickly

833
00:33:01,269 --> 00:32:58,480
and seemed to follow them as they got

834
00:33:03,110 --> 00:33:01,279
back into their car and began to drive

835
00:33:05,110 --> 00:33:03,120
the light came to hover just a hundred

836
00:33:06,070 --> 00:33:05,120
feet above them and the hills began to

837
00:33:07,830 --> 00:33:06,080
panic

838
00:33:10,470 --> 00:33:07,840
they heard a series of odd buzzing

839
00:33:12,870 --> 00:33:10,480
noises and then nothing when they came

840
00:33:14,870 --> 00:33:12,880
back to awareness they were 35 miles

841
00:33:16,710 --> 00:33:14,880
down the road with no recollection of

842
00:33:18,710 --> 00:33:16,720
how they'd gotten there

843
00:33:20,870 --> 00:33:18,720
the betty and barney hill case wasn't

844
00:33:22,950 --> 00:33:20,880
just the first alien abduction case but

845
00:33:24,549 --> 00:33:22,960
it seemingly set the blueprint for many

846
00:33:26,549 --> 00:33:24,559
of the abduction encounters that would

847
00:33:29,110 --> 00:33:26,559
follow as well as the public's

848
00:33:31,430 --> 00:33:29,120
perception of the phenomenon

849
00:33:33,350 --> 00:33:31,440
their reports of bright lights a disc

850
00:33:35,750 --> 00:33:33,360
shaped craft carrying humanoid yet

851
00:33:37,830 --> 00:33:35,760
distinctly otherworldly beings and

852
00:33:40,310 --> 00:33:37,840
missing time are some of the most common

853
00:33:42,149 --> 00:33:40,320
hallmarks of the phenomenon

854
00:33:44,070 --> 00:33:42,159
and after later undergoing hypnotic

855
00:33:46,630 --> 00:33:44,080
regression in an attempt to recover

856
00:33:48,230 --> 00:33:46,640
their lost memories the hills also claim

857
00:33:50,070 --> 00:33:48,240
to recall details of what you would

858
00:33:52,630 --> 00:33:50,080
immediately recognize as a typical

859
00:33:54,710 --> 00:33:52,640
abduction case including lying on a

860
00:33:56,870 --> 00:33:54,720
table or bed surrounded by strange

861
00:33:58,789 --> 00:33:56,880
beings and being forced to undergo

862
00:34:01,029 --> 00:33:58,799
medical procedures many of which were

863
00:34:02,149 --> 00:34:01,039
bizarrely and undeniably sexual in

864
00:34:04,630 --> 00:34:02,159
nature

865
00:34:06,710 --> 00:34:04,640
and so here again with alien abduction

866
00:34:09,030 --> 00:34:06,720
we have this case where a phenomenon

867
00:34:10,710 --> 00:34:09,040
seemingly springs out of nowhere with

868
00:34:12,470 --> 00:34:10,720
one reported incident quickly

869
00:34:14,629 --> 00:34:12,480
multiplying into hundreds and then

870
00:34:17,270 --> 00:34:14,639
thousands until it becomes a modern day

871
00:34:19,589 --> 00:34:17,280
myth an archetype that is woven into our

872
00:34:21,990 --> 00:34:19,599
shared memory and consciousness

873
00:34:24,869 --> 00:34:22,000
but like with ufos if you break the

874
00:34:27,270 --> 00:34:24,879
phenomenon down into its component parts

875
00:34:30,550 --> 00:34:27,280
what we now commonly refer to as alien

876
00:34:32,869 --> 00:34:30,560
abduction wasn't a new phenomenon either

877
00:34:35,669 --> 00:34:32,879
though it had undeniably taken on a new

878
00:34:38,069 --> 00:34:35,679
shape stories of bright lights that come

879
00:34:40,230 --> 00:34:38,079
down from the sky being taken by strange

880
00:34:42,310 --> 00:34:40,240
beings being subjected to strange

881
00:34:43,829 --> 00:34:42,320
tortures and procedures that were often

882
00:34:46,310 --> 00:34:43,839
sexual in nature

883
00:34:47,990 --> 00:34:46,320
being returned having lost time

884
00:34:50,790 --> 00:34:48,000
all of these are stories that we can

885
00:34:52,950 --> 00:34:50,800
find throughout recorded human history

886
00:34:55,829 --> 00:34:52,960
so the betty and barney hill incident in

887
00:34:58,390 --> 00:34:55,839
1961 didn't mark the beginning of a new

888
00:34:59,829 --> 00:34:58,400
phenomenon but rather was the moment

889
00:35:02,470 --> 00:34:59,839
when the paradigm shift in our

890
00:35:04,550 --> 00:35:02,480
interpretation of these events occurred

891
00:35:07,109 --> 00:35:04,560
from that point forward what was once

892
00:35:09,430 --> 00:35:07,119
commonly attributed to demons angels

893
00:35:11,750 --> 00:35:09,440
fairies and other supernatural beings

894
00:35:13,270 --> 00:35:11,760
was now ascribed to flesh and blood

895
00:35:15,190 --> 00:35:13,280
extraterrestrials

896
00:35:17,109 --> 00:35:15,200
and the nature of this phenomenon went

897
00:35:19,589 --> 00:35:17,119
from one that was metaphysical in nature

898
00:35:22,310 --> 00:35:19,599
to one that was technological

899
00:35:24,470 --> 00:35:22,320
so why do i bring all of this up i bring

900
00:35:27,510 --> 00:35:24,480
it up because as we talk about the lore

901
00:35:29,109 --> 00:35:27,520
surrounding ufos and nazi germany what

902
00:35:30,950 --> 00:35:29,119
we're really talking about is the

903
00:35:32,790 --> 00:35:30,960
emergence of a myth

904
00:35:34,630 --> 00:35:32,800
which to be clear doesn't mean that

905
00:35:35,510 --> 00:35:34,640
we're not also talking about something

906
00:35:37,670 --> 00:35:35,520
real

907
00:35:40,710 --> 00:35:37,680
i'd argue that most if not all of our

908
00:35:42,390 --> 00:35:40,720
myths are based in some kind of reality

909
00:35:44,950 --> 00:35:42,400
there's a reason that these stories are

910
00:35:47,510 --> 00:35:44,960
recorded and passed down there's reasons

911
00:35:49,990 --> 00:35:47,520
why they endure for millennia

912
00:35:51,750 --> 00:35:50,000
and in the case of ufos we have plenty

913
00:35:54,230 --> 00:35:51,760
of evidence to suggest that something

914
00:35:56,230 --> 00:35:54,240
significant did happen during world war

915
00:35:59,349 --> 00:35:56,240
ii and in the lead-up to the emergence

916
00:36:01,109 --> 00:35:59,359
of the modern ufo phenomenon in 1947 and

917
00:36:03,190 --> 00:36:01,119
that the united states government was

918
00:36:05,270 --> 00:36:03,200
taking this very seriously as an issue

919
00:36:09,109 --> 00:36:05,280
of national security

920
00:36:11,190 --> 00:36:09,119
on july 26 1947 just weeks after the

921
00:36:13,190 --> 00:36:11,200
arnold and roswell incidents the

922
00:36:14,390 --> 00:36:13,200
national security act was signed into

923
00:36:16,710 --> 00:36:14,400
law

924
00:36:17,990 --> 00:36:16,720
this monumental piece of legislation

925
00:36:19,910 --> 00:36:18,000
called for the restructuring of the

926
00:36:21,589 --> 00:36:19,920
department of defense including the

927
00:36:23,990 --> 00:36:21,599
creation of the national security

928
00:36:26,230 --> 00:36:24,000
council the creation of the air force as

929
00:36:28,950 --> 00:36:26,240
its own entity separate from the army

930
00:36:31,030 --> 00:36:28,960
and the creation of the cia

931
00:36:33,829 --> 00:36:31,040
granted this was at the dawn of the cold

932
00:36:35,829 --> 00:36:33,839
war and in the aftermath of world war ii

933
00:36:36,950 --> 00:36:35,839
from which a host of airborne technology

934
00:36:39,030 --> 00:36:36,960
had been born

935
00:36:41,030 --> 00:36:39,040
and so one doesn't really need the

936
00:36:43,030 --> 00:36:41,040
sudden appearance of flying saucers to

937
00:36:44,950 --> 00:36:43,040
plausibly explain the national security

938
00:36:46,390 --> 00:36:44,960
act of 1947.

939
00:36:48,550 --> 00:36:46,400
it makes a lot of sense within the

940
00:36:50,069 --> 00:36:48,560
context of its day and these are moves

941
00:36:52,950 --> 00:36:50,079
that the united states likely would have

942
00:36:55,190 --> 00:36:52,960
made regardless and yet the timing does

943
00:36:57,030 --> 00:36:55,200
feel a bit fortuitous

944
00:36:58,870 --> 00:36:57,040
however regardless of whether or not the

945
00:37:01,430 --> 00:36:58,880
signing of the national security act was

946
00:37:04,310 --> 00:37:01,440
a direct reaction to the ufo phenomenon

947
00:37:06,150 --> 00:37:04,320
just two months later in september 1947

948
00:37:08,550 --> 00:37:06,160
general nathan twinning penned a now

949
00:37:09,910 --> 00:37:08,560
famous letter about the flying discs

950
00:37:12,390 --> 00:37:09,920
that were being reported around the

951
00:37:14,550 --> 00:37:12,400
country writing that the craft were

952
00:37:15,829 --> 00:37:14,560
something real and not visionary or

953
00:37:17,990 --> 00:37:15,839
fictitious

954
00:37:19,829 --> 00:37:18,000
he described them as being metal discs

955
00:37:21,990 --> 00:37:19,839
and said that they displayed astounding

956
00:37:23,430 --> 00:37:22,000
capabilities such as seemingly

957
00:37:25,910 --> 00:37:23,440
impossible rates of climb and

958
00:37:28,150 --> 00:37:25,920
maneuverability and the ability to evade

959
00:37:30,150 --> 00:37:28,160
when detected leading him to believe

960
00:37:32,630 --> 00:37:30,160
that they were being controlled manually

961
00:37:36,230 --> 00:37:32,640
or remotely with the strong implication

962
00:37:37,990 --> 00:37:36,240
being that this was intelligent control

963
00:37:39,990 --> 00:37:38,000
general twinning was a former combat

964
00:37:41,270 --> 00:37:40,000
pilot and a world war ii commander as

965
00:37:43,750 --> 00:37:41,280
well as serving as the head of the

966
00:37:45,349 --> 00:37:43,760
united states air material command

967
00:37:47,349 --> 00:37:45,359
it would be hard to think of a source

968
00:37:49,910 --> 00:37:47,359
that could be more credible or less

969
00:37:52,150 --> 00:37:49,920
given to flights of fancy or hysteria

970
00:37:54,230 --> 00:37:52,160
it's very difficult to make the argument

971
00:37:56,069 --> 00:37:54,240
that this letter represents anything

972
00:37:58,310 --> 00:37:56,079
less than his best understanding of the

973
00:38:00,230 --> 00:37:58,320
situation based on the data that would

974
00:38:01,910 --> 00:38:00,240
have been available to an officer of his

975
00:38:03,829 --> 00:38:01,920
rankin station

976
00:38:05,829 --> 00:38:03,839
and it was this letter from twinning

977
00:38:08,390 --> 00:38:05,839
that recommended a detailed study of

978
00:38:11,349 --> 00:38:08,400
ufos leading to the beginning of project

979
00:38:13,349 --> 00:38:11,359
sign in december of that same year

980
00:38:15,190 --> 00:38:13,359
less than six months after the arnold

981
00:38:17,270 --> 00:38:15,200
and roswell incidents we have the

982
00:38:19,030 --> 00:38:17,280
creation of the first official program

983
00:38:21,349 --> 00:38:19,040
to study ufos

984
00:38:23,829 --> 00:38:21,359
so despite the overall context of the

985
00:38:25,670 --> 00:38:23,839
cold war it's hard to deny that at least

986
00:38:27,750 --> 00:38:25,680
some of the major moves that the united

987
00:38:29,829 --> 00:38:27,760
states government was making was in

988
00:38:32,470 --> 00:38:29,839
direct response to the emergence of the

989
00:38:34,950 --> 00:38:32,480
ufo phenomenon

990
00:38:37,109 --> 00:38:34,960
project sign became project grudge which

991
00:38:39,829 --> 00:38:37,119
became project blue book but their

992
00:38:41,510 --> 00:38:39,839
mission remained the same to investigate

993
00:38:44,710 --> 00:38:41,520
and many would argue to intentionally

994
00:38:47,430 --> 00:38:44,720
debunk reported ufo encounters

995
00:38:50,230 --> 00:38:47,440
the program went on to study over 12 000

996
00:38:53,349 --> 00:38:50,240
cases in the years between 1947 and its

997
00:38:55,910 --> 00:38:53,359
termination in december of 1969.

998
00:38:58,069 --> 00:38:55,920
given those facts i personally don't

999
00:39:00,230 --> 00:38:58,079
find it to be at all plausible that the

1000
00:39:02,710 --> 00:39:00,240
emergence of the modern ufo phenomenon

1001
00:39:04,390 --> 00:39:02,720
was just mass hysteria fueled by cold

1002
00:39:06,550 --> 00:39:04,400
war paranoia

1003
00:39:08,470 --> 00:39:06,560
something real was going on

1004
00:39:10,470 --> 00:39:08,480
but as we try to understand what that

1005
00:39:13,750 --> 00:39:10,480
was we need to put everything that we

1006
00:39:15,670 --> 00:39:13,760
know about it into its proper context

1007
00:39:18,069 --> 00:39:15,680
over these next couple of episodes we'll

1008
00:39:18,950 --> 00:39:18,079
be talking about ufo lore from world war

1009
00:39:20,550 --> 00:39:18,960
ii

1010
00:39:22,710 --> 00:39:20,560
but what we would consider to be the

1011
00:39:24,870 --> 00:39:22,720
first modern ufo sighting didn't happen

1012
00:39:28,069 --> 00:39:24,880
until almost two years after the end of

1013
00:39:30,069 --> 00:39:28,079
the war and happened 5 000 miles away

1014
00:39:32,310 --> 00:39:30,079
and even then it took time for this new

1015
00:39:34,470 --> 00:39:32,320
paradigm to fully develop and coalesce

1016
00:39:36,470 --> 00:39:34,480
around the popular concept of ufos that

1017
00:39:39,349 --> 00:39:36,480
we're familiar with today

1018
00:39:41,109 --> 00:39:39,359
so major themes and narratives of ufo

1019
00:39:43,589 --> 00:39:41,119
lore from world war ii

1020
00:39:45,430 --> 00:39:43,599
sprung up years and even decades later

1021
00:39:48,230 --> 00:39:45,440
and then were retroactively applied to

1022
00:39:50,069 --> 00:39:48,240
the interpretation of historical events

1023
00:39:52,390 --> 00:39:50,079
which doesn't mean that there is no

1024
00:39:53,430 --> 00:39:52,400
correlation between that lore and actual

1025
00:39:54,950 --> 00:39:53,440
events

1026
00:39:56,790 --> 00:39:54,960
it just means that when we're talking

1027
00:39:59,349 --> 00:39:56,800
about confronting a phenomenon that is

1028
00:40:01,430 --> 00:39:59,359
so far outside of our understanding

1029
00:40:03,349 --> 00:40:01,440
we need time to process and interpret

1030
00:40:05,670 --> 00:40:03,359
those things before we're able to attach

1031
00:40:07,430 --> 00:40:05,680
labels and narratives to them

1032
00:40:09,750 --> 00:40:07,440
and this is typical of the way that

1033
00:40:11,349 --> 00:40:09,760
major paradigm shifts occur

1034
00:40:12,309 --> 00:40:11,359
going back to an example that we've used

1035
00:40:13,990 --> 00:40:12,319
before

1036
00:40:16,069 --> 00:40:14,000
even though albert einstein was the

1037
00:40:18,470 --> 00:40:16,079
singular mind behind his general theory

1038
00:40:20,790 --> 00:40:18,480
of relativity the model of the universe

1039
00:40:23,670 --> 00:40:20,800
that it suggested was such a paradigm

1040
00:40:25,670 --> 00:40:23,680
shift that einstein refused for years to

1041
00:40:27,670 --> 00:40:25,680
accept the full implications of what his

1042
00:40:29,670 --> 00:40:27,680
own math suggested

1043
00:40:32,069 --> 00:40:29,680
this was because for basically all of

1044
00:40:34,150 --> 00:40:32,079
recorded human history up to that point

1045
00:40:36,829 --> 00:40:34,160
humans believed themselves to be living

1046
00:40:39,349 --> 00:40:36,839
in a static never-changing and eternal

1047
00:40:41,510 --> 00:40:39,359
universe and yet the general theory of

1048
00:40:43,349 --> 00:40:41,520
relativity predicted a universe that was

1049
00:40:44,470 --> 00:40:43,359
expanding rapidly outward from its

1050
00:40:45,910 --> 00:40:44,480
center

1051
00:40:47,670 --> 00:40:45,920
refusing to believe this could be

1052
00:40:49,670 --> 00:40:47,680
possible einstein created the

1053
00:40:51,349 --> 00:40:49,680
cosmological constant which was

1054
00:40:53,190 --> 00:40:51,359
basically just a method to fudge the

1055
00:40:54,790 --> 00:40:53,200
numbers to make them conform to what he

1056
00:40:56,950 --> 00:40:54,800
thought was true

1057
00:40:58,630 --> 00:40:56,960
it wasn't until edwin hubble showed that

1058
00:41:01,030 --> 00:40:58,640
the light from distant galaxies was

1059
00:41:02,790 --> 00:41:01,040
redshifted away from the earth proving

1060
00:41:05,109 --> 00:41:02,800
once and for all that the universe was

1061
00:41:07,589 --> 00:41:05,119
expanding but he realized he'd been

1062
00:41:09,270 --> 00:41:07,599
wrong all along

1063
00:41:11,030 --> 00:41:09,280
when humans are confronted with

1064
00:41:12,950 --> 00:41:11,040
challenging new ideas that shake the

1065
00:41:15,109 --> 00:41:12,960
very foundations of our existing belief

1066
00:41:17,510 --> 00:41:15,119
structures we can't absorb it all at

1067
00:41:19,829 --> 00:41:17,520
once there is a period of adjustment

1068
00:41:21,829 --> 00:41:19,839
discovery and interpretation that occurs

1069
00:41:23,910 --> 00:41:21,839
as our entire ontological framework

1070
00:41:25,349 --> 00:41:23,920
realigns itself to allow for this new

1071
00:41:27,109 --> 00:41:25,359
information

1072
00:41:29,030 --> 00:41:27,119
and when we're talking about a case like

1073
00:41:31,990 --> 00:41:29,040
that of einstein and the cosmological

1074
00:41:33,829 --> 00:41:32,000
constant that process can be tough

1075
00:41:35,670 --> 00:41:33,839
but at least in that case there was some

1076
00:41:36,550 --> 00:41:35,680
kind of solid foundation from which to

1077
00:41:38,230 --> 00:41:36,560
work

1078
00:41:40,630 --> 00:41:38,240
there was einstein's theory as a

1079
00:41:43,270 --> 00:41:40,640
theoretical and mathematical basis which

1080
00:41:45,750 --> 00:41:43,280
predicted an expanding universe and then

1081
00:41:49,349 --> 00:41:45,760
eventually we had solid observable data

1082
00:41:51,349 --> 00:41:49,359
from hubble to back it up with ufos we

1083
00:41:53,589 --> 00:41:51,359
have no such thing

1084
00:41:54,710 --> 00:41:53,599
we have myths and legends we have

1085
00:41:57,270 --> 00:41:54,720
stories

1086
00:41:59,750 --> 00:41:57,280
we have an excruciatingly slow trickle

1087
00:42:01,430 --> 00:41:59,760
of heavily redacted and incomplete data

1088
00:42:03,829 --> 00:42:01,440
from world governments that have

1089
00:42:06,069 --> 00:42:03,839
maintained a strict code of secrecy and

1090
00:42:08,150 --> 00:42:06,079
outright lies around this topic that

1091
00:42:09,510 --> 00:42:08,160
they've gone to extremes to keep hidden

1092
00:42:11,589 --> 00:42:09,520
from the public

1093
00:42:12,870 --> 00:42:11,599
and we have the rising tide of voices

1094
00:42:14,230 --> 00:42:12,880
from people claiming to have had

1095
00:42:16,309 --> 00:42:14,240
encounters with these strange

1096
00:42:19,349 --> 00:42:16,319
technological objects and mysterious

1097
00:42:21,510 --> 00:42:19,359
humanoid beings that come from the sky

1098
00:42:23,349 --> 00:42:21,520
to really examine the ufo lore

1099
00:42:25,750 --> 00:42:23,359
surrounding world war ii

1100
00:42:27,589 --> 00:42:25,760
we need to be able to hold two seemingly

1101
00:42:28,710 --> 00:42:27,599
conflicting realities in our mind at

1102
00:42:31,349 --> 00:42:28,720
once

1103
00:42:34,150 --> 00:42:31,359
we need to recognize both these stories

1104
00:42:36,470 --> 00:42:34,160
likely have some basis in reality

1105
00:42:38,950 --> 00:42:36,480
and that the stories themselves are by

1106
00:42:40,230 --> 00:42:38,960
their very nature partially or entirely

1107
00:42:42,710 --> 00:42:40,240
fabricated

1108
00:42:44,790 --> 00:42:42,720
an amalgamation of various ideas

1109
00:42:47,109 --> 00:42:44,800
interpretations and narratives that were

1110
00:42:48,390 --> 00:42:47,119
applied retroactively to historical

1111
00:42:50,950 --> 00:42:48,400
events

1112
00:42:53,750 --> 00:42:50,960
i'd argue that this lore is both true

1113
00:42:55,829 --> 00:42:53,760
and not true it points us toward the

1114
00:42:57,190 --> 00:42:55,839
truth but provides no way for us to

1115
00:42:59,510 --> 00:42:57,200
arrive there

1116
00:43:01,510 --> 00:42:59,520
and the stories it contains reveal as

1117
00:43:03,589 --> 00:43:01,520
much about the people telling them as it

1118
00:43:05,270 --> 00:43:03,599
does about the phenomenon itself

1119
00:43:07,910 --> 00:43:05,280
perhaps more so

1120
00:43:11,190 --> 00:43:07,920
and so that's why i refer to world war

1121
00:43:13,829 --> 00:43:11,200
ii ufo lore and ufo lore in general as a

1122
00:43:15,430 --> 00:43:13,839
myth while also firmly believing that it

1123
00:43:18,309 --> 00:43:15,440
correlates to real world events and

1124
00:43:20,069 --> 00:43:18,319
phenomena and that ufos are quite

1125
00:43:21,670 --> 00:43:20,079
literally real

1126
00:43:23,270 --> 00:43:21,680
both can be true

1127
00:43:25,030 --> 00:43:23,280
and i believe that it's critically

1128
00:43:28,550 --> 00:43:25,040
important that we bring this level of

1129
00:43:30,390 --> 00:43:28,560
nuance to our understanding of the topic

1130
00:43:33,030 --> 00:43:30,400
and then there are those who go a step

1131
00:43:34,630 --> 00:43:33,040
further from regarding ufo lora's myth

1132
00:43:36,870 --> 00:43:34,640
and question whether the emergence of

1133
00:43:39,109 --> 00:43:36,880
the modern ufo phenomenon might be the

1134
00:43:41,109 --> 00:43:39,119
beginning of a new religion

1135
00:43:42,309 --> 00:43:41,119
i'll admit to initially struggling with

1136
00:43:44,309 --> 00:43:42,319
this idea

1137
00:43:46,390 --> 00:43:44,319
after all if there's anything that

1138
00:43:48,710 --> 00:43:46,400
modern ufology has attempted to do it's

1139
00:43:50,069 --> 00:43:48,720
to distance itself from the tinfoil hat

1140
00:43:52,309 --> 00:43:50,079
stereotypes

1141
00:43:54,710 --> 00:43:52,319
the stigma attached to the topic causes

1142
00:43:57,190 --> 00:43:54,720
many to steer clear of the more woo and

1143
00:43:59,190 --> 00:43:57,200
mystical aspects of the phenomenon for

1144
00:44:00,710 --> 00:43:59,200
fear of being seen as crazy

1145
00:44:02,390 --> 00:44:00,720
i'll admit to falling prey to that

1146
00:44:05,270 --> 00:44:02,400
instinct myself

1147
00:44:07,430 --> 00:44:05,280
after all here i am for the second time

1148
00:44:10,069 --> 00:44:07,440
starting off a new series with an entire

1149
00:44:12,390 --> 00:44:10,079
episode focused solely on offering

1150
00:44:14,390 --> 00:44:12,400
evidence in context not just to frame

1151
00:44:15,589 --> 00:44:14,400
the topic that is the actual subject of

1152
00:44:17,510 --> 00:44:15,599
the series

1153
00:44:19,030 --> 00:44:17,520
but to justify talking about that

1154
00:44:21,109 --> 00:44:19,040
subject at all

1155
00:44:23,589 --> 00:44:21,119
yes we're going to talk about nazis and

1156
00:44:26,230 --> 00:44:23,599
ufos in antarctica and atlantis and

1157
00:44:28,230 --> 00:44:26,240
secret alien bases and the moon landing

1158
00:44:30,950 --> 00:44:28,240
but i'm not crazy guys i swear and

1159
00:44:33,190 --> 00:44:30,960
here's a 10 000 word essay on why so

1160
00:44:35,510 --> 00:44:33,200
yeah i wasn't crazy about the idea of

1161
00:44:38,390 --> 00:44:35,520
the ufo phenomenon being the basis of a

1162
00:44:40,470 --> 00:44:38,400
new religion it smacks a bit too much of

1163
00:44:42,470 --> 00:44:40,480
cults and whatever it is that dr stephen

1164
00:44:45,109 --> 00:44:42,480
greer is peddling these days

1165
00:44:47,589 --> 00:44:45,119
however after reading dw pisoka's

1166
00:44:48,829 --> 00:44:47,599
spectacular book american cosmic i've

1167
00:44:51,829 --> 00:44:48,839
come around on that

1168
00:44:53,349 --> 00:44:51,839
idea pasulka is a professor of religious

1169
00:44:55,349 --> 00:44:53,359
studies at the university of north

1170
00:44:57,750 --> 00:44:55,359
carolina wilmington and chair of the

1171
00:44:59,829 --> 00:44:57,760
department of philosophy and religion

1172
00:45:01,510 --> 00:44:59,839
so as you might expect she approached

1173
00:45:03,670 --> 00:45:01,520
her investigation into the ufo

1174
00:45:05,190 --> 00:45:03,680
phenomenon as an academic looking to

1175
00:45:06,710 --> 00:45:05,200
understand the appearance of a new

1176
00:45:08,230 --> 00:45:06,720
belief system

1177
00:45:10,950 --> 00:45:08,240
she wasn't looking to assess the

1178
00:45:12,870 --> 00:45:10,960
validity of the belief in ufos itself

1179
00:45:15,030 --> 00:45:12,880
but instead was focused on how it

1180
00:45:17,750 --> 00:45:15,040
emerged and how this emergence mirrored

1181
00:45:20,230 --> 00:45:17,760
the emergence of traditional religions

1182
00:45:22,710 --> 00:45:20,240
in american cosmic she draws a powerful

1183
00:45:24,870 --> 00:45:22,720
parallel between ufos and the mystical

1184
00:45:26,710 --> 00:45:24,880
encounters between humans and the divine

1185
00:45:27,910 --> 00:45:26,720
which serve as the basis of belief

1186
00:45:30,550 --> 00:45:27,920
systems

1187
00:45:32,390 --> 00:45:30,560
these encounters called hierophanies

1188
00:45:34,550 --> 00:45:32,400
occur when the world of the sacred the

1189
00:45:36,550 --> 00:45:34,560
mystical and the unknown breaks through

1190
00:45:38,470 --> 00:45:36,560
the veil of our reality

1191
00:45:40,470 --> 00:45:38,480
the burning bush from the story of moses

1192
00:45:41,910 --> 00:45:40,480
and the star of bethlehem are examples

1193
00:45:43,670 --> 00:45:41,920
of hierophanies with which you are

1194
00:45:45,750 --> 00:45:43,680
probably already familiar

1195
00:45:47,750 --> 00:45:45,760
but the term can refer to any instance

1196
00:45:49,109 --> 00:45:47,760
of the sacred being made manifest in the

1197
00:45:51,109 --> 00:45:49,119
physical realm

1198
00:45:53,510 --> 00:45:51,119
and within that manifestation is an

1199
00:45:55,030 --> 00:45:53,520
incomprehensible paradox created by the

1200
00:45:56,550 --> 00:45:55,040
fact that the sacred has been made

1201
00:45:58,710 --> 00:45:56,560
manifest at all

1202
00:46:01,030 --> 00:45:58,720
and in manifesting itself the sacred

1203
00:46:03,430 --> 00:46:01,040
becomes in many ways limited taking on

1204
00:46:06,309 --> 00:46:03,440
the shape of its physical conduit and in

1205
00:46:08,309 --> 00:46:06,319
doing so it both reveals and obscures

1206
00:46:10,309 --> 00:46:08,319
its own divine nature

1207
00:46:11,750 --> 00:46:10,319
and so while i may have been initially

1208
00:46:13,990 --> 00:46:11,760
resistant to the framing of the

1209
00:46:15,670 --> 00:46:14,000
emergence of ufo lore as the emergence

1210
00:46:18,069 --> 00:46:15,680
of a new religion

1211
00:46:19,990 --> 00:46:18,079
once i let go of my preconceived notions

1212
00:46:21,670 --> 00:46:20,000
about what that might mean and just

1213
00:46:23,750 --> 00:46:21,680
looked at the argument from a purely

1214
00:46:24,790 --> 00:46:23,760
academic point of view i could see our

1215
00:46:27,589 --> 00:46:24,800
point

1216
00:46:30,150 --> 00:46:27,599
especially writes an american cosmic

1217
00:46:32,550 --> 00:46:30,160
the history of religion is among other

1218
00:46:35,109 --> 00:46:32,560
things a record of perceived contact

1219
00:46:37,190 --> 00:46:35,119
with supernatural beings many of which

1220
00:46:40,150 --> 00:46:37,200
descend from the skies as beings of

1221
00:46:41,670 --> 00:46:40,160
light or on light or amid light

1222
00:46:43,430 --> 00:46:41,680
when you strip away the different layers

1223
00:46:45,670 --> 00:46:43,440
of meaning and interpretation from the

1224
00:46:47,270 --> 00:46:45,680
events themselves and just look at how

1225
00:46:48,870 --> 00:46:47,280
they are described by those who bear

1226
00:46:51,030 --> 00:46:48,880
witness there isn't much to

1227
00:46:52,710 --> 00:46:51,040
differentiate the modern ufo phenomenon

1228
00:46:54,630 --> 00:46:52,720
from the ancient experience of gods

1229
00:46:56,790 --> 00:46:54,640
descending from the heavens

1230
00:46:59,670 --> 00:46:56,800
and pasulka is not alone in framing the

1231
00:47:02,550 --> 00:46:59,680
ufo phenomenon in this way

1232
00:47:04,790 --> 00:47:02,560
in 1959 famed swiss psychiatrist and

1233
00:47:07,750 --> 00:47:04,800
founder of analytical psychology carl

1234
00:47:09,510 --> 00:47:07,760
young published his book flying saucers

1235
00:47:12,069 --> 00:47:09,520
a modern myth of things seen in the

1236
00:47:14,630 --> 00:47:12,079
skies on this very topic

1237
00:47:16,950 --> 00:47:14,640
in it he wrote we have here a golden

1238
00:47:17,990 --> 00:47:16,960
opportunity of seeing how a legend is

1239
00:47:21,510 --> 00:47:18,000
formed

1240
00:47:23,589 --> 00:47:21,520
and in 1969 godfather of modern ufology

1241
00:47:27,109 --> 00:47:23,599
jacques villa published passport to

1242
00:47:30,230 --> 00:47:27,119
magonia on ufos folklore and parallel

1243
00:47:32,069 --> 00:47:30,240
worlds in which he examined over 900

1244
00:47:34,549 --> 00:47:32,079
credible sightings of unidentified

1245
00:47:36,630 --> 00:47:34,559
aerial phenomena over the previous 100

1246
00:47:38,710 --> 00:47:36,640
years and made the case that these

1247
00:47:41,430 --> 00:47:38,720
encounters follow the same patterns as

1248
00:47:43,510 --> 00:47:41,440
folklore and religious tradition

1249
00:47:46,549 --> 00:47:43,520
so if we're willing to look at the ufo

1250
00:47:48,630 --> 00:47:46,559
phenomenon as a hierophany it gives us a

1251
00:47:50,870 --> 00:47:48,640
new way to understand the emergence of

1252
00:47:52,950 --> 00:47:50,880
modern ufo lore and how these

1253
00:47:55,670 --> 00:47:52,960
bewildering encounters with mysterious

1254
00:47:57,990 --> 00:47:55,680
objects in the sky transform into more

1255
00:48:00,150 --> 00:47:58,000
complex belief structures

1256
00:48:02,390 --> 00:48:00,160
in her book basulka writes

1257
00:48:04,150 --> 00:48:02,400
in the history of religions a contact

1258
00:48:06,630 --> 00:48:04,160
event is followed by a series of

1259
00:48:09,430 --> 00:48:06,640
interpretations and these usually are

1260
00:48:11,510 --> 00:48:09,440
followed by the creation of institutions

1261
00:48:13,030 --> 00:48:11,520
such interpretive communities are often

1262
00:48:15,030 --> 00:48:13,040
called religions or religious

1263
00:48:16,790 --> 00:48:15,040
denominations

1264
00:48:18,950 --> 00:48:16,800
let's take the example of the emergence

1265
00:48:20,790 --> 00:48:18,960
of christianity to better understand how

1266
00:48:22,710 --> 00:48:20,800
this looks in practice

1267
00:48:24,470 --> 00:48:22,720
for literally hundreds of years after

1268
00:48:26,790 --> 00:48:24,480
the events of the new testament

1269
00:48:28,470 --> 00:48:26,800
christianity existed primarily as an

1270
00:48:30,630 --> 00:48:28,480
underground movement

1271
00:48:33,190 --> 00:48:30,640
it was actively suppressed by elites of

1272
00:48:35,030 --> 00:48:33,200
the time who saw the fantastical claims

1273
00:48:37,510 --> 00:48:35,040
of these radical new believers as being

1274
00:48:39,750 --> 00:48:37,520
both too bizarre to be believed and also

1275
00:48:41,430 --> 00:48:39,760
fundamentally dangerous

1276
00:48:43,430 --> 00:48:41,440
the result was a splintering of

1277
00:48:45,430 --> 00:48:43,440
communities and interpretations of the

1278
00:48:47,349 --> 00:48:45,440
events as secretive and insular

1279
00:48:48,870 --> 00:48:47,359
christian sex emerge

1280
00:48:50,870 --> 00:48:48,880
these interpretations were then

1281
00:48:52,630 --> 00:48:50,880
retroactively applied by the writers of

1282
00:48:54,790 --> 00:48:52,640
the gospels the earliest of which

1283
00:48:55,910 --> 00:48:54,800
weren't written until 50 to 100 years

1284
00:48:57,750 --> 00:48:55,920
later

1285
00:48:59,270 --> 00:48:57,760
it wasn't until the year 380 that

1286
00:49:01,270 --> 00:48:59,280
christianity became the official

1287
00:49:02,750 --> 00:49:01,280
religion of the roman empire

1288
00:49:05,030 --> 00:49:02,760
as the religion became more

1289
00:49:06,870 --> 00:49:05,040
institutionalized it began to coalesce

1290
00:49:08,790 --> 00:49:06,880
around the ideas that we would recognize

1291
00:49:10,630 --> 00:49:08,800
as modern christianity

1292
00:49:12,549 --> 00:49:10,640
up until that time there are a wide

1293
00:49:13,670 --> 00:49:12,559
variety of beliefs and interpretations

1294
00:49:16,309 --> 00:49:13,680
of the stories surrounding the

1295
00:49:18,470 --> 00:49:16,319
historical jesus that differed wildly

1296
00:49:20,390 --> 00:49:18,480
across different faith communities

1297
00:49:22,390 --> 00:49:20,400
even the divinity of jesus was not

1298
00:49:23,990 --> 00:49:22,400
universally agreed upon until hundreds

1299
00:49:26,150 --> 00:49:24,000
of years later

1300
00:49:27,990 --> 00:49:26,160
but even the institutionalization of

1301
00:49:30,470 --> 00:49:28,000
christianity didn't stop it from

1302
00:49:32,470 --> 00:49:30,480
continuing to shift and evolve its

1303
00:49:34,870 --> 00:49:32,480
doctrines were shaped and influenced by

1304
00:49:37,270 --> 00:49:34,880
the church by governments and kings by

1305
00:49:39,510 --> 00:49:37,280
philosophers and poets and through the

1306
00:49:41,670 --> 00:49:39,520
emergence of new media technologies from

1307
00:49:43,990 --> 00:49:41,680
the printing press to the internet

1308
00:49:45,430 --> 00:49:44,000
wherever one finds religious belief

1309
00:49:47,750 --> 00:49:45,440
you'll find people with a vested

1310
00:49:49,510 --> 00:49:47,760
interest in shaping it with motivations

1311
00:49:51,750 --> 00:49:49,520
ranging from the altruistic to the

1312
00:49:54,309 --> 00:49:51,760
downright evil

1313
00:49:56,150 --> 00:49:54,319
in many ways modern ufology looks a lot

1314
00:49:58,069 --> 00:49:56,160
like early christianity

1315
00:50:00,390 --> 00:49:58,079
it's a movement that exists mostly

1316
00:50:01,990 --> 00:50:00,400
underground those who take the ufo

1317
00:50:03,829 --> 00:50:02,000
phenomenon seriously have been

1318
00:50:05,750 --> 00:50:03,839
stigmatized and marginalized by the

1319
00:50:06,950 --> 00:50:05,760
government the media and mainstream

1320
00:50:09,109 --> 00:50:06,960
academia

1321
00:50:10,309 --> 00:50:09,119
who see their beliefs as both dangerous

1322
00:50:12,390 --> 00:50:10,319
and absurd

1323
00:50:13,829 --> 00:50:12,400
and just like with early christian sex

1324
00:50:15,750 --> 00:50:13,839
there are seemingly infinite

1325
00:50:17,349 --> 00:50:15,760
interpretations of exactly what the

1326
00:50:20,069 --> 00:50:17,359
phenomenon might be

1327
00:50:21,990 --> 00:50:20,079
interpretations that continue to evolve

1328
00:50:25,030 --> 00:50:22,000
being informed by everything from pop

1329
00:50:26,710 --> 00:50:25,040
culture to the emergence of new data

1330
00:50:28,790 --> 00:50:26,720
of the early ufologists who were

1331
00:50:30,950 --> 00:50:28,800
studying this phenomenon at a high level

1332
00:50:33,030 --> 00:50:30,960
during the mid-20th century as it was

1333
00:50:35,190 --> 00:50:33,040
emerging in its modern form

1334
00:50:37,750 --> 00:50:35,200
few are still with us

1335
00:50:39,950 --> 00:50:37,760
like the apostles their testimony is a

1336
00:50:41,670 --> 00:50:39,960
rare yet imperfect glimpse into the

1337
00:50:43,990 --> 00:50:41,680
incomprehensible events that they

1338
00:50:45,109 --> 00:50:44,000
observed first second and even third

1339
00:50:47,030 --> 00:50:45,119
hand

1340
00:50:49,109 --> 00:50:47,040
and despite their outward rejection of

1341
00:50:51,829 --> 00:50:49,119
it the government and by extension the

1342
00:50:54,230 --> 00:50:51,839
media has shown a vested interest in

1343
00:50:55,990 --> 00:50:54,240
shaping the narrative of ufo lore

1344
00:50:57,910 --> 00:50:56,000
presenting alternate theories and

1345
00:51:00,230 --> 00:50:57,920
explanations for the phenomenon from

1346
00:51:02,309 --> 00:51:00,240
swamp gas to little green men

1347
00:51:05,030 --> 00:51:02,319
many of which bear little resemblance to

1348
00:51:06,470 --> 00:51:05,040
the actual records of these events

1349
00:51:08,069 --> 00:51:06,480
and with the slow trickle of

1350
00:51:09,750 --> 00:51:08,079
acknowledgement coming from the highest

1351
00:51:11,829 --> 00:51:09,760
levels of our government over the last

1352
00:51:14,630 --> 00:51:11,839
few years acknowledging the reality of

1353
00:51:16,630 --> 00:51:14,640
the ufo phenomenon it feels as though we

1354
00:51:19,030 --> 00:51:16,640
may be moving into a new phase in the

1355
00:51:20,950 --> 00:51:19,040
emergence of this belief system

1356
00:51:22,630 --> 00:51:20,960
similar to the adoption of christianity

1357
00:51:24,950 --> 00:51:22,640
is the official religion of the roman

1358
00:51:27,510 --> 00:51:24,960
empire it appears that the government

1359
00:51:30,390 --> 00:51:27,520
may be realigning itself after years of

1360
00:51:32,230 --> 00:51:30,400
denial and secrecy to finally say yes

1361
00:51:33,670 --> 00:51:32,240
this is real

1362
00:51:35,829 --> 00:51:33,680
there are lots of different theories

1363
00:51:37,910 --> 00:51:35,839
about why they may be doing this but

1364
00:51:40,230 --> 00:51:37,920
without getting too conspiratorial about

1365
00:51:42,230 --> 00:51:40,240
it i think it's reasonable to assume

1366
00:51:44,710 --> 00:51:42,240
that at least part of the motivation for

1367
00:51:46,710 --> 00:51:44,720
doing so is to take a more active role

1368
00:51:49,270 --> 00:51:46,720
in the shaping of how this phenomenon is

1369
00:51:51,510 --> 00:51:49,280
interpreted by the public at large

1370
00:51:53,750 --> 00:51:51,520
after all wherever you find a potent

1371
00:51:55,349 --> 00:51:53,760
belief system there are powerful forces

1372
00:51:56,309 --> 00:51:55,359
that have a vested interest in shaping

1373
00:51:58,150 --> 00:51:56,319
it

1374
00:52:00,630 --> 00:51:58,160
but i want to be clear that what i'm

1375
00:52:02,950 --> 00:52:00,640
arguing here is not the idea that either

1376
00:52:04,630 --> 00:52:02,960
christianity or modern ufo lore are

1377
00:52:06,309 --> 00:52:04,640
entirely fabricated

1378
00:52:08,390 --> 00:52:06,319
i only want to make the point that

1379
00:52:10,390 --> 00:52:08,400
encounters with the sacred the divine

1380
00:52:13,270 --> 00:52:10,400
and the unknown can have a profound and

1381
00:52:15,190 --> 00:52:13,280
transformational effect on humanity both

1382
00:52:17,190 --> 00:52:15,200
individually to those who experience it

1383
00:52:18,950 --> 00:52:17,200
directly and then eventually on the

1384
00:52:21,109 --> 00:52:18,960
greater public consciousness as these

1385
00:52:23,670 --> 00:52:21,119
events are interpreted and reinterpreted

1386
00:52:25,829 --> 00:52:23,680
over hundreds if not thousands of years

1387
00:52:28,150 --> 00:52:25,839
and understanding the processes by which

1388
00:52:31,190 --> 00:52:28,160
this happens gets us a little bit closer

1389
00:52:34,069 --> 00:52:31,200
to understanding the phenomenon itself

1390
00:52:35,829 --> 00:52:34,079
and speaking of the phenomenon itself

1391
00:52:38,710 --> 00:52:35,839
there's something about the reframing of

1392
00:52:41,109 --> 00:52:38,720
the ufo phenomenon as a hierophany that

1393
00:52:42,549 --> 00:52:41,119
once i fully absorbed it about knocked

1394
00:52:44,950 --> 00:52:42,559
me off my feet

1395
00:52:46,790 --> 00:52:44,960
and that is the fact that unlike the

1396
00:52:49,910 --> 00:52:46,800
events which lit the spark of early

1397
00:52:52,390 --> 00:52:49,920
christianity with the ufo phenomenon we

1398
00:52:54,470 --> 00:52:52,400
are beginning to have actual data that

1399
00:52:56,870 --> 00:52:54,480
speaks directly to both the reality of

1400
00:52:58,950 --> 00:52:56,880
the events and their inscrutable and

1401
00:53:02,069 --> 00:52:58,960
profound effects on those experiencing

1402
00:53:04,549 --> 00:53:02,079
them in april of this year the pentagon

1403
00:53:06,630 --> 00:53:04,559
declassified and released over 1500

1404
00:53:07,750 --> 00:53:06,640
pages of documents related to ufo

1405
00:53:10,470 --> 00:53:07,760
research

1406
00:53:11,990 --> 00:53:10,480
and their contents were startling even

1407
00:53:13,190 --> 00:53:12,000
for many of those within the ufo

1408
00:53:15,510 --> 00:53:13,200
community

1409
00:53:17,910 --> 00:53:15,520
according to these documents encounters

1410
00:53:20,390 --> 00:53:17,920
with ufos have reportedly left americans

1411
00:53:23,270 --> 00:53:20,400
suffering from radiation burns

1412
00:53:25,589 --> 00:53:23,280
brain and nervous system damage and even

1413
00:53:28,230 --> 00:53:25,599
unaccounted for pregnancy

1414
00:53:29,829 --> 00:53:28,240
i know dude let's just take a minute to

1415
00:53:33,990 --> 00:53:29,839
breathe and acknowledge the what the

1416
00:53:38,230 --> 00:53:35,589
okay

1417
00:53:40,870 --> 00:53:38,240
and lou elizondo the former director of

1418
00:53:42,790 --> 00:53:40,880
the pentagon's shadowy ufo program has

1419
00:53:44,950 --> 00:53:42,800
begun talking about these biological

1420
00:53:47,270 --> 00:53:44,960
effects which he calls the sixth

1421
00:53:49,510 --> 00:53:47,280
observable in more detail

1422
00:53:50,630 --> 00:53:49,520
and what he has to say is equally

1423
00:53:52,630 --> 00:53:50,640
stunning

1424
00:53:55,670 --> 00:53:52,640
on a recent episode of earth files with

1425
00:53:57,829 --> 00:53:55,680
linda molten howe he said the following

1426
00:53:59,829 --> 00:53:57,839
quote it's not at all surprising to me

1427
00:54:01,670 --> 00:53:59,839
that the human organism if it gets too

1428
00:54:03,430 --> 00:54:01,680
close to something can absolutely

1429
00:54:04,870 --> 00:54:03,440
experience adverse biological

1430
00:54:07,270 --> 00:54:04,880
consequences

1431
00:54:09,589 --> 00:54:07,280
now here's the interesting part there is

1432
00:54:11,910 --> 00:54:09,599
also some preliminary data to suggest

1433
00:54:13,190 --> 00:54:11,920
that some individuals actually report

1434
00:54:15,109 --> 00:54:13,200
the opposite

1435
00:54:17,750 --> 00:54:15,119
so rather than having some negative

1436
00:54:19,910 --> 00:54:17,760
biological consequence now you suddenly

1437
00:54:21,430 --> 00:54:19,920
have someone who is a piano virtuoso

1438
00:54:24,710 --> 00:54:21,440
who's never sat in front of a piano

1439
00:54:26,710 --> 00:54:24,720
before or who now becomes super artistic

1440
00:54:29,030 --> 00:54:26,720
or seems to have some sort of extra

1441
00:54:31,109 --> 00:54:29,040
sensory capabilities or talents now if

1442
00:54:33,190 --> 00:54:31,119
you will a sixth sense

1443
00:54:34,870 --> 00:54:33,200
whereas before they didn't

1444
00:54:36,230 --> 00:54:34,880
i'll link that episode up in the episode

1445
00:54:38,710 --> 00:54:36,240
description

1446
00:54:41,270 --> 00:54:38,720
so what's clear is that we're not just

1447
00:54:43,510 --> 00:54:41,280
talking about visions or sleep paralysis

1448
00:54:45,910 --> 00:54:43,520
here we're not talking about a purely

1449
00:54:47,670 --> 00:54:45,920
psychological phenomenon we're talking

1450
00:54:51,349 --> 00:54:47,680
about something that has real and

1451
00:54:53,030 --> 00:54:51,359
measurable effects in the physical world

1452
00:54:55,349 --> 00:54:53,040
interestingly one of the things that

1453
00:54:57,750 --> 00:54:55,359
originally got dr pasulka interested in

1454
00:54:59,829 --> 00:54:57,760
the ufo phenomenon was her previous work

1455
00:55:02,470 --> 00:54:59,839
focused on the history and metaphysics

1456
00:55:04,470 --> 00:55:02,480
of the catholic concept of purgatory for

1457
00:55:06,390 --> 00:55:04,480
those who aren't familiar purgatory is

1458
00:55:08,950 --> 00:55:06,400
where souls go who aren't perfect enough

1459
00:55:11,270 --> 00:55:08,960
to get into heaven in purgatory these

1460
00:55:12,950 --> 00:55:11,280
souls go through a state of purification

1461
00:55:14,789 --> 00:55:12,960
that allows them to eventually gain

1462
00:55:16,950 --> 00:55:14,799
entrance into heaven

1463
00:55:18,829 --> 00:55:16,960
in the 12th and 13th centuries

1464
00:55:21,349 --> 00:55:18,839
philosophers debated the existence of

1465
00:55:23,270 --> 00:55:21,359
purgatory they spoke of highly credible

1466
00:55:25,430 --> 00:55:23,280
witnesses who claimed to have seen these

1467
00:55:27,109 --> 00:55:25,440
trapped souls as well as producing

1468
00:55:28,950 --> 00:55:27,119
physical evidence of their presence

1469
00:55:29,990 --> 00:55:28,960
including things like burn marks on

1470
00:55:32,470 --> 00:55:30,000
tables

1471
00:55:34,549 --> 00:55:32,480
basulka began to recognize parallels

1472
00:55:37,190 --> 00:55:34,559
between these testimonies and not of

1473
00:55:38,950 --> 00:55:37,200
people who claim to have ufo encounters

1474
00:55:41,349 --> 00:55:38,960
after attending a conference featuring

1475
00:55:42,390 --> 00:55:41,359
speakers who were ufo experiencers she

1476
00:55:44,390 --> 00:55:42,400
writes

1477
00:55:46,230 --> 00:55:44,400
they described some of the same things

1478
00:55:49,030 --> 00:55:46,240
that i had observed in my research in

1479
00:55:51,670 --> 00:55:49,040
catholic history shining aerial discs

1480
00:55:54,470 --> 00:55:51,680
flames and orbs and especially how these

1481
00:55:56,870 --> 00:55:54,480
experiences transformed their lives

1482
00:55:59,270 --> 00:55:56,880
these experiencers interpreted these as

1483
00:56:00,950 --> 00:55:59,280
spiritual or religious events

1484
00:56:03,030 --> 00:56:00,960
they either fractured their traditional

1485
00:56:05,270 --> 00:56:03,040
religious belief systems or more

1486
00:56:07,430 --> 00:56:05,280
commonly caused them to reinterpret

1487
00:56:09,349 --> 00:56:07,440
their traditions through a biblical ufo

1488
00:56:11,829 --> 00:56:09,359
framework in which they viewed biblical

1489
00:56:13,349 --> 00:56:11,839
and historical religious events as ufo

1490
00:56:14,309 --> 00:56:13,359
events

1491
00:56:16,470 --> 00:56:14,319
so

1492
00:56:18,950 --> 00:56:16,480
where does all of this leave us

1493
00:56:21,270 --> 00:56:18,960
what are we to make of all of it

1494
00:56:23,109 --> 00:56:21,280
to be honest i don't know

1495
00:56:25,270 --> 00:56:23,119
and as we look back through the long

1496
00:56:27,510 --> 00:56:25,280
sweep of human history we begin to

1497
00:56:30,470 --> 00:56:27,520
recognize that the ufo phenomenon though

1498
00:56:33,750 --> 00:56:30,480
undeniably modern appears to be in many

1499
00:56:35,349 --> 00:56:33,760
ways the continuation and evolution of a

1500
00:56:38,390 --> 00:56:35,359
phenomenon that has been part of the

1501
00:56:40,950 --> 00:56:38,400
human experience for thousands of years

1502
00:56:43,670 --> 00:56:40,960
but did it evolve or did we

1503
00:56:46,069 --> 00:56:43,680
again i don't know and i often wonder if

1504
00:56:48,150 --> 00:56:46,079
we as humans get to know

1505
00:56:50,390 --> 00:56:48,160
perhaps our utter bewilderment in the

1506
00:56:52,710 --> 00:56:50,400
face of this phenomenon is intrinsic in

1507
00:56:54,950 --> 00:56:52,720
some way to the human condition or to

1508
00:56:56,630 --> 00:56:54,960
the phenomenon itself

1509
00:56:59,349 --> 00:56:56,640
jacques-vallee has argued that the

1510
00:57:01,430 --> 00:56:59,359
absurdity and impenetrability of the ufo

1511
00:57:03,990 --> 00:57:01,440
phenomenon is an intrinsic part of its

1512
00:57:05,190 --> 00:57:04,000
very nature and that it may in fact have

1513
00:57:08,309 --> 00:57:05,200
a purpose

1514
00:57:11,190 --> 00:57:08,319
in other words it's a feature not a bug

1515
00:57:13,750 --> 00:57:11,200
he writes quote contact between human

1516
00:57:15,430 --> 00:57:13,760
recipients and the ufo phenomenon occurs

1517
00:57:16,309 --> 00:57:15,440
under conditions controlled by the

1518
00:57:18,630 --> 00:57:16,319
latter

1519
00:57:20,870 --> 00:57:18,640
its characteristic feature is a constant

1520
00:57:22,789 --> 00:57:20,880
factor of absurdity that leads to

1521
00:57:25,030 --> 00:57:22,799
rejection of the story by the upper

1522
00:57:27,270 --> 00:57:25,040
layers of a target society and an

1523
00:57:30,230 --> 00:57:27,280
absorption at a deep unconscious level

1524
00:57:32,470 --> 00:57:30,240
of the symbols conveyed by the encounter

1525
00:57:35,030 --> 00:57:32,480
so is this the control mechanism of

1526
00:57:37,349 --> 00:57:35,040
which ville writes and what is the

1527
00:57:39,910 --> 00:57:37,359
nature of the intelligence behind it is

1528
00:57:41,349 --> 00:57:39,920
it divine extraterrestrial or something

1529
00:57:44,069 --> 00:57:41,359
else entirely

1530
00:57:46,069 --> 00:57:44,079
and what are its intentions for humanity

1531
00:57:47,990 --> 00:57:46,079
again i don't know

1532
00:57:50,390 --> 00:57:48,000
but what's clear is that there are no

1533
00:57:52,950 --> 00:57:50,400
easy answers here and to get at the

1534
00:57:55,510 --> 00:57:52,960
truth of the ufo phenomenon we must be

1535
00:57:57,270 --> 00:57:55,520
willing to dive ever more deeply into

1536
00:57:58,920 --> 00:57:57,280
the heart of the mystery

1537
00:58:04,720 --> 00:57:58,930
until next time