A New York Times best-selling author, a Harvard alum, and a UFO enthusiast all walk into a restaurant and the hostess asks “table for one?” Besides being a very poor attempt at a very bad joke, this week’s guest on The Malliard Report is in fact all three. On this episode, Jim welcomes the very talented Ben Mezrich. Ben takes the time to discuss the trials of being an up and coming writer, his fascination with UFOs, what inspires him, what his future goals look like, and much more.

Residing currently in Boston, and having grown up in Princeton, Ben graduated from Harvard in 1991 where he watched a lot of friends obtain almost instant success from careers in the financial industry. Slightly envious of his friends rapid affluence but not deterred, (It is easy to see how frustrating it can be, watching your buddies drive BMWs and Mercs while you are stuck on a regular diet of PB&J) Ben kept on keeping on and soon his perseverance paid off. Ben now boasts a writing career that spans nineteen years, sixteen books, and several major motion pictures that include 21 and The Social Network. While Ben has done some fiction pieces, he is mostly known for his non-fiction and his avant-garde, submersion approach to his research. This has often led him into some very precarious situations that include smuggling money and run-ins with Japanese mafia just to name a few.

Ben’s latest work focuses on the peculiarity of the 37th parallel and the fervent research compiled by Chuck Zukowski. Following up on reports of “shallow-focus” earthquakes in Virginia and Colorado and a theory that a potential underground tunnel system runs from at least Dulce, New Mexico all the way to Area 51 in Nevada, Chuck began to notice a pattern developing. These events and locations were all located on approximately the 37th parallel. Not one to chalk things up to coincidence, Chuck began to check to see what all sits on the 37th parallel, and an interesting list quickly came together that includes: San Jose California, Mono Lake California (home of numerous UFO sightings), Area 51 Nevada, US Naval Undersea Warfare Base – Hawthorne Nevada, Taos New Mexico (home of the Taos hum), Dulce New Mexico (rumored massive Deep Underground Base) Aztec New Mexico (UFO crash and recovery – 1948), Blanca Peak Colorado (UFO hotspot), Coffey County Kansas (cattle mutilations reported in 1897), Howell County Missouri (cattle mutilations reported – 1896), Piedmont Missouri (over 500 witnesses report UFO sightings), Cape Girardeau Missouri (UFO crash and recovery), Wytheville Virginia (mass UFO sighting reports) and the Greenbrier Virginia underground bunker (designed to house congress in times of war). Ben’s book follows Chuck in his relentless quest to find out the truth about this anomaly, and is currently in the works to be a full length film as well. (In which Ben admits that he would like to see Robert Downey Jr. play the main character.)

In keeping true with the “Fastest Hour in Paranormal Talk Radio” the show is over in what feels like no time at all, but not without hitting many other topics such as MUFON, disclosure, the oddities that surround Bigelow Aerospace, what inspires Ben, and so much more. Make sure to pick up one of Ben’s books at many different retailers, keep up to date with his latest projects (which includes the reintroduction of the wooly mammoth) on his website, and share The Malliard Report with those that you know!

Ben’s website: http://www.benmezrich.com/

Chuck Zukowski’s website: http://www.ufonut.com/

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