Expanded Perspectives

On this episode of Expanded Perspectives the guys start the show talking about they're favorite Holiday drinks and then in Italy, the legend of La Befana is one that is popularly told around the time of the Epiphany. What does a Catholic holiday have to do with modern Paganism? Well, La Befana happens to be a witch. According to folklore, on the night before the feast of the Epiphany in early January, Befana flies around on her broom, delivering gifts. Much like Santa Claus, she leaves candy, fruit, or small gifts in the stockings of children who are well-behaved throughout the year. On the other hand, if a child is naughty, he or she can expect to find a lump of coal left behind by La Befana.

Then, Researchers at Oregon State have patented a new strain of seaweed that tastes like bacon when it's cooked. The seaweed, a form of red marine algae, looks like translucent red lettuce. It also has twice the nutritional value of kale and grows very quickly. Did we mention it tastes like bacon? According to Oregon State researcher Chris Langdon, his team started growing the new strain while trying to find a good food source for edible sea snails, or abalone, a very popular food in many parts of Asia. The strain is a new type of red algae that normally grows along the Pacific and Atlantic coastlines. Then, Kyle brings up two strange Humanoid sightings where in both cases they were wearing some sort of shinny one piece suits.

Then, Cam brings up an interesting account of a hunter spotting something in the woods otherworldly. The witness and his cousin were out hunting near Johnson City, TN and were sitting on the side of the wall of a rather large hollow which consisted of very thick underbrush and lots of evergreen. A larger valley then lead first to a clearing and then on to a supposed old Indian graveyard. All of the sudden they heard the brush in the hollow below rattling and they could tell that whatever was making the sounds was rather large. What appeared before them was a three horned man beast.

After the break Cam brings up some fascinating Gnome sightings from different parts of the world. The Gnome is one of a species of diminutive beings, usually described as shriveled little old men, that inhabit the interior of the earth and act as guardians of its treasures. Gnomes are very widespread species, known to a number of human races. Germans name them Erdmanleins, except in the Alpine areas, where they are called Heinzemannchens. In Denmark and Norway they are Nisse; Nissen is a Swedish variation. In Brittany they are called Nains. Tontti to the Finns and Foddenskkmaend is their name in Iceland. The Polish call they by the familar Gnom. Bulgaria and Albania, however, use Dudje. In Hungary, Yugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia, Gnomes are called Mano. The Dutch use Kabouter and the Belgian, Skritek. Switzerland and Luxembourg use the same name, Kleinmanneken, which means "littlemen." Domovoi Djedoes is used in western Russia.

Gnomes consist of a number of different types. The most common is the Forest Gnome who rarely comes into contact with man. The Garden Gnome lives in old gardens and enjoys telling melancoly tales. Dune Gnomes are slightly larger than their woodland breathren and choose remarkably drab clothing. House Gnomes have the most knowledge of man, often speaking his language. It is from this family that Gnome Kings are chosen. Farm Gnomes resemble their House brethen, but are more conservative in manner and dress. Siberian Gnomes have been more interbred than other Gnomes and associate freely with trolls. They are much larger than the other types and have an infinately more nasty nature. It is best never to evoke the ire of such Gnomes for they delight in revenge.

• Meet the Christmas Witch: La Befana is Santa’s Wine-Guzzling, Cheer-Spreading, Female Counterpart
• Researchers discover seaweed that tastes like bacon and is twice as healthy as kale
• Silver Suited Humanoids
• More Silver Suited Humanoids
• Three Horned Man Beast
• Gnome
• Goatman Flesh or Folklore with Nathan Couch
• Mecca Grade Estate Malt
• GAIA

All music for Expanded Perspectives is provided by Pretty Lights. Purchase, Download and Donate at www.prettylightsmusic.com.

• Pretty Lights vs. Led Zeppelin
• At Last I Am Free
• The Time Has Come
• Empty  Station

On this episode of Expanded Perspectives the guys start the show off talking about a person who had a very strange encounter with what appeared to be a 7ft tall monkey who was in control of an Owl with the face of person. Then, Dr. Hirotaka Sato, an aerospace engineer at Nanyang Technological University. Sato and his team are turning live beetles into cyborgs by electrically controlling their motor functions. Having studied the beetles' muscle configuration, neural networks, and leg control, the researchers wired the insects so that they could be controlled by a switchboard. In doing so, the researchers could manipulate the different walking gaits, speeds, flying direction, and other forms of motion. Essentially, the beetles became like robots with no control over their own motor functioning. Interestingly, though the researchers control the beetles through wiring, their energy still comes naturally from the food they eat. Hence, the muscles are driven by the insects themselves, but they have no willpower over how their muscles move.

Then, a video of a formation of UFOs that the witness claimed was chasing him was just one of the multiple sightings in and around Brandon, Canada, last week, according to various news reports. In fact, so many witnesses came forward that the UFO sightings made the local news. And when it was posted that said UFOs might have been flares from a military exercise, conspiracy theorists started floating the idea of another government cover-up. Local newspapers reported last week that comparisons of the multiple UFO sightings of a formation of glowing objects in the sky above Brandon, Canada, have been made to the 1997 incident now known as “The Phoenix Lights,”

After the break the guys have on friend of the show Ryan Sprague to discuss his new book "Somewhere In The Skies". Ryan Sprague is a professional playwright and screenwriter in New York City. He is also an investigative journalist specializing in the topic of UFOs. He has written for numerous publications, including Open Minds Magazine, Phenomena Magazine, and UFO Truth Magazine. Speaking on the UFO topic, he has been featured on ABC News, Fox News, The Science Channel, and recently became a regular on the Travel Channel's Mystery at the Museum. He is also the co-host for both the Into The Fray & UFOmodPod podcasts. His First book, Somewhere In The Skies: A Human Approach to an Alien Phenomenon, is now available via Richard Dolan Press. For more information please visit his website www.somewhereintheskies.com.

Thanks for listening to Expanded Perspectives! Don't forget to check out our sponsor Gaia.com. Have a great week!

• 7ft. Tall Monkey and an Owl with the Face of a Human in Miami
• Get ready for Cyborg Beetles, Real Insects That Are Controlled Like Robots
• Mass Witness sighting of UFOs over Canada
• Somewhere In The Skies Book
• Ryan Sprague's Website
• GAIA

• Pretty Lights vs. Led Zeppelin
• Finally Moving
• Empty Station
• Almost Familiar

On this episode of Expanded Perspectives the guys start the show off talking about how recently Egypt has unearthed a city more than 7,000 years old and a cemetery dating back to its first dynasty in the southern province of Sohag, the antiquities ministry has said. The find could be a boon for Egypt’s ailing tourism industry, which has suffered a series of setbacks since the uprising that toppled the autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011, but remains a vital source of foreign currency. The city is likely to have housed high-ranking officials and grave builders. Its discovery may yield new insights into Abydos, one of the oldest cities in ancient Egypt, the ministry said in a statement. Experts say Abydos was Egypt’s capital towards the end of the predynastic period and during the rule of the first four dynasties. The discovery was made 400 metres away from the temple of Seti I, a New Kingdom period memorial across the Nile from present day Luxor.

Then, space is still the final frontier, and as NASA scientists prepare to try and venture further into the solar system than humans have ever gone before there's a very important issue they want to solve — how to poop, pee and be on your period in space, without having to use a space diaper. That's right, astronauts have always looked cool in their super space gear as they prepared to be blasted into orbit, but all the while, every single astronaut has been stuck wearing a diaper during launches and landings. (When they reach space there are specially designed waste collection systems to use and of course on Earth there are gas station bathrooms galore.) This gets even more gross when you consider that astronauts often have to spend up to 10 hours in their spacesuits as they wait for the launch or prepare for re-entry, so they definitely have to use those diapers at some point. However, now NASA officials are trying to come up with a way to finally ditch the diaper, and they're asking for the public's help with the crowdsourced "space poop challenge" which is exactly what it sounds like — NASA wants you to help them figure out astronauts can do their business in space.

Then, Japanese businesses are finding they need to deal with increasing numbers of foreign visitors to Japan, and Panasonic thinks it has the answer: a megaphone that translates the user’s voices into multiple languages. The Megahonyaku, which is a reasonably good pun on the Japanese words for “megaphone” and “translation,” listens for Japanese input and plays back phrases in English, Chinese, and Korean. Then, Kyle brings up and unusual sighting a woman named Victoria D had one night while her and some friends drove through Cannock Chase, UK. They saw what appeared to be a large werewolf like creature.

After the break, Kyle brings up some lesser known alien abductions. Thanks for listening to Expanded Perspectives have a great week!

• Egypt Unearths 7,000 Year Old Lost City
• NASA Launches the Space Pool Challenge
• This Panasonic Megaphone Automatically Translates Commands Into Multiple Languages
• Red Eyed Beast in Cannock Chase
• Ozark Mountain UFO Conference 2017
• GAIA

All music for Expanded Perspectives is provided by Pretty Lights. Purchase, Download and Donate at www.prettylightsmusic.com.

• Pretty Lights vs. Led Zeppelin
• Reel 11 Break 2
• Aimin At Your Head
• Lost And Found

This week on Expanded Perspectives the guys start the show off talking about how six years ago, divers discovered the oldest known stationary fish traps in northern Europe off the coast of southern Sweden. Since then, researchers at Lund University in Sweden have uncovered an exceptionally well-preserved Stone Age site. They now believe the location was a lagoon environment where Mesolithic humans lived during parts of the year. Other spectacular finds include a 9,000-year-old pick axe made out of elk antlers. The discoveries indicate mass fishing and therefore a semi-permanent settlement. 

Then, Medieval archer's 'unique quiver' and arrows with iron tips found in hole in a cliff, along with his wooden sarcophagus. Two local residents accidentally stumbled across the burial site, close to the village of Kokorya, which contains the bones of an adult man, his birch bark quiver, arrow shafts and iron arrow heads, intricate ornaments and utensils made from the roots of trees, as well as the remnants of silk ribbons. He is believed to be a warrior with a talent for archery who lived around the 13th to 15th century like the legendary outlaw Robin Hood in England. The archer is likely to have been held in respect, confirmed by the location of his burial and the care taken to send him into the next life with his arrows and 'sophisticated' quiver. It has pockets for different types of arrows, say scientists. Archeologists have not yet secured permission to open the wooden sarcophagus, although locals who found and looked inside confirm it contains bones, and it may also have the marksman's bow.

Then, Kyle brings up two bizarre Dogman sightings. One from 1951 near Eureka, California and other from 1972 near Muncie, Indiana. In both stories, the people who witnessed the strange creature were young, 8-10 years old. Both give similar descriptions like it being covered in hair, long dog like snout, body built like a large ape, in both cases it either growled or howled and in one of the sightings it appeared to be wearing clothes.

Then, in 1945, the FBI raided a warehouse in Los Angeles that was used for storage by the German Consulate. Among the files, they found a collection of 3x5-inch cards kept by the Nazi regime containing contact information for important people in LA. The cards included the names, addresses, and phone numbers of people in the entertainment industry, academia, and industry. And it serves as a terrifying reminder that the normalization of the Nazis in the 1930s provided cover for some very powerful people in the US to be friendly with genocidal maniacs.

After the break, Cam brings up some unusual sightings of strange orbs. Are they ghosts, spirits or something other worldly? Thanks for listening to Expanded Perspectives. Have a great week!

• Archaeologists Uncover 9,000-Year-Old Underwater Stone Age Settlement
• Burial Site of Siberian Robin Hood unearthed in Altai Repubic
• Dogman Sighting near Eureka, California 1951
• Dogman Sighting near Muncie, Indiana 1972
• The Nazis Kept a List of Powerful American Friends in Los Angeles, Including the Co-Founder of UCLA
• The Marfa Lights
• Brown Mountain Lights
• Gaia

• Pretty Lights vs. Led Zeppelin
• Up & Down I Go
• Fly Away Another Day
• Let The World Hurry By

This week on Expanded Perspectives the guys start the show off talking about how if you want a decent night’s sleep stop fiddling with your phone, researchers have warned. A US study has found that greater screen time, particularly at bedtime, is linked to disrupted sleep patterns - including taking a longer time to drop off. “The more screen time, the worse the quality of sleep,” said Gregory Marcus, co-author of the research from the University of California, San Francisco. The research ties in with a growing body of evidence that suggests that using electronic devices can get in the way of shut-eye.

Then, on a quiet day in March, 1966, seven eyewitnesses reported an unidentified flying object maneuvering over Livingston and Washtenaw counties in Michigan. But these were not just some crazy people who watched all this there were police officers, sherrif deputies and over a 100 other people. an official investigation declared it was an optical illusion created by swamp gas. But some say that's just what the government wanted us to believe. The even became known as the Great UFO Flap of 1966. Then, a man said he and his family members saw a dinosaur-like animal at a fishing spot in Florida. Then, Lon Strickler of Phantoms and Monsters recently posted an interesting interview a man did with a witness who describes what he saw at the famous Roswell Crash.

After the break Kyle brings up the unusual story of the Jersey Devil. Ask people who live near the Pine Barrens of New Jersey if they actually believe in the Jersey Devil and you'll get a bunch of half-answers Those who say they do say it with a little smirk, those who don't believe in the creature still hesitate a little before giving a definitive "no." The Jersey Devil is a mythical horned beast that is to the woods of the Atlantic City area as bigfoot is to rural north California. It's one of the country's most enduring legends; stories of the Jersey Devil predate the United States itself.

Thanks for listening to Expanded Perspectives, have a great week!

• Want a good night's sleep? Spend less time with your phone, say scientists
• Great UFO Flap of 1966
• Nessie-Like Creature Spotted in Florida
• Witness of the Roswell Crash
• The Jersey Devil
• The Pinelands Horror: The Story of the Jersey Devil
• The Jersey Devil book 
• Gaia

All music for Expanded Perspectives is provided with permission by Pretty Lights. Purchase, Download and Donate at www.prettylightsmusic.com.

• Pretty Lights vs. Led Zeppelin
• Color of my Soul
• Can't Stop Me Now
• Kanye West All of The Lights Remix

On this episode of Expanded Perspectives we talk with documentary film maker Seth Breedlove about his latest movie "The Boggy Creek Monster". As well as some of his previous movies "The Minerva Monster" and "The Beast of Whitehall". These documentary films are all made by "Small Town Monsters". Small Town Monsters is an independent film series that explores lost and bizarre history around the United States. In addition to film, STM is also merchandise, and other media devoted to this same subject matter.

The legend of the Boggy Creek Monster has long captivated the people of Fouke, Arkansas, a little town about 150 miles outside of Little Rock. It is said that Fouke is the first place that this cryptid was spotted. According to legend, the Boggy Creek Monster stands between seven and eight feet tall on two feet and weighs close to 300 pounds. Its chest, legs and arms are covered with thick, long hair.

The first reported sightings go all the way back to 1834, when it is said that the large, hairy “wild man” was roaming in Arkansas. In the 1900s, sightings around Fouke became more frequent with residents spotting the monster more than 40 times in 1997 alone. It has been suggested that the animal is nocturnal, but a hunter reported a sighting in broad daylight in the Sulfur River WIldlife Area near Fouke in 2000.

The Boggy Creek Monster has been subject of at least four different films, beginning with 1973’s The Legend of Boggy Creek. This movie, centered around Bobby Ford’s supposed encounter with the beast, played in drive-in theaters around the country and introduced millions to the legend that had never heard of this creature before. Mostly shot on location in Fouke, with additional scenes filmed in Texarkana and Shreveport, Louisiana, the film also served as a major economic boost to the region; many cast members were locals or nearby college students.

The famous encounter that the film is based on occurred in 1971. Bobby and Elizabeth Ford claimed that the Boggy Creek Monster attacked their home late on the night of May 1. The monster, Elizabeth said, reached through her screen window, but was chased away by Bobby and Dan, his brother, who had just returned from a hunting trip. Unsatisfied, the monster returned shortly after midnight and tossed Bobby to the ground, the Fords say. Bobby was taken to the St. Michael Hospital in Texarkana and treated for large gashes across his back; he was suffering from mild shock when he arrived, according to newspaper reports (there were several papers covering the legend around this time). No traces of blood were found on the Ford’s home, but three-toed footprints were found near the house, scratches found on the porch, and damage sustained to a window and the house’s siding.

Thanks for listening to Expanded Perspectives!

• Small Town Monsters
• The Minerva Monster
• The Beat of Whitehall
• The Boggy Creek Monster
• The Beast of Boggy Creek book by Lyle Blackburn
• SasWhat? Podcast 
• Gaia

All music for Expanded Perspectives is provided by Pretty Lights. Purchase, Download and Donate at www.prettylightsmusic.com.

• Pretty Lights vs. Led Zeppelin
• The Time Has Come
• Starlit Skies
• Future Blind

On this episode of Expanded Perspectives the guys start off talking about how recently while sifting through the remains of an Iron Age burial plot dating from 400 to 450 B.C. in what is today Germany, Bettina Arnold, an archaeologist and anthropologist at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and others uncovered a cauldron that contained remnants of an alcohol brewed and buried with the deceased. So she decided to team up with Milwaukee's Lakefront Brewery to re-create the ancient brew, using a recipe inspired by evidence collected from the archaeological remains.

Then,a remarkable 7,000-year-old megalithic site that served as an astronomical observatory has been found in Muduma village in Telangana, India. The discovery has been hailed as one of the most significant archaeological findings in India over the last few decades. According to Times of India, the team of archeologists described it as  ''the only megalithic site in India, where a depiction of a star constellation has been identified''. The ancient observatory dates to 5,000 BC and the researchers believe that it is the earliest astronomical observatory discovered in India and perhaps even in the whole of South Asia. The site consists of around 80 huge menhirs (standing stones), which are 3.5 – 4 meters tall. There are also about 2000 alignment stones, which are 30-60cm tall. According to experts, no other excavation site in India has so many menhirs concentrated in such a small area. The maximum concentration of menhirs is located in the central portion of the monument.

Then, a person relayed an interesting sighting they had in California to Lon Strickler at Phantoms and Monsters. According to the eye witness the creature looked very similar to the paintings of the “Ropen” of Indonesia. I would estimate it had about a 3-5 ft. wingspan. It was light tan, all leathery skin, and the most astonishing thing was that it had no feathers! I could see the wrinkles & texture of its skin moving over its bones as it flew. The eyes were very large, round eyes, and it appeared to be young, or at least I had that impression because of its size and some of its features, like the tail and the bump on the back of its head were not as developed as those depicted of adult Ropen/Pterosaurs.

Then, pupils at a school in Austria were evacuated because a rock they had on display was giving off radiation. The rock turned out to be a lump of uranium, the metallic element that is used to produce atomic bombs. Alarmingly, the uranium was giving off thousands of millisiverts of radiation into the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart School in Salzburg - a lot higher than what is given off naturally.

Then, after the break Cam brings up the mysterious Texas Killing Fields. In 1986, the battered body of 13-year-old Krystal Jean Baker was found dumped under an interstate bridge in Chambers County, Texas. She had been beaten, raped and strangled to death, but it took 26 years for her killer to be brought to justice. Kevin Edison Smith, the man who choked the life out of the innocent girl, was convicted of her murder and sentenced to life without parole. The 45-year-old was spared the death penalty because investigators believed he may have been involved in the some of the other unsolved murders that have occurred in a 50-mile desolate area between Houston and Galveston dubbed the 'Highway of Hell'. Since the 1970s, more than 30 young women have mysteriously disappeared or been found murdered along Texas’ Interstate 45, in what has become the state’s most notorious killing spree. A mile from I-45, lies the 25-acre patch known as 'The Killing Fields', where the bodies of four young women have been found. Detectives have described the remote area as a perfect dumping ground for a serial killer, which has made investigating the cases so difficult. Thanks for listening to Expanded Perspectives.

• 2,500 Years Ago, This Brew Was Buried With The Dead; A Brewery Has Revived It
• Scientists Discover that Megalithic Site in India is Oldest Ancient Observatory in South Asia
• Bay Area Pterosaur
• School evacuated after rock in display in classroom was actually radioactive URANIUM
• The Mystery of the Texas Killing Fields

All music for Expanded Perspectives is provided by Pretty Lights. Purchase, Download and Donate at www.prettylightsmusic.com.

• Pretty Lights vs. Led Zeppelin
• Done Wrong
• The Time Has Come
• Halloween Funtime

On this episode of Expanded Perspectives the guys start off the show talking about how Australian researchers have discovered that peptides contained in the milk of Tasmanian devils can kill some of the most deadly bacterial and fungal infections, including golden staph. Then, Russian researchers have stumbled on the site of this lost weather station, along with a handful of wartime relics from the 1940s. Among the artifacts discovered on the island are objects bearing Nazi insignia and swastikas. Most importantly for the researchers, many of the items also appear to be marked and dated to give further confirmation that this is the real deal.

Then, Cam re-tells a terrifying experience one camper had in Michigan with what is believed to be a Bigfoot like creature. Then, a recent article claims the Earth faces another ICE AGE within 15 years as Russian scientists discover that the Sun is cooling. Experts say that solar activity as low as it currently is has not been seen since the mini-ice age that took place between 1645 and 1715 – a period known as the Maunder Minimum where the entire Thames froze over. A new model has allowed experts to predict solar activity with more accuracy than ever before and it suggests that magnetic activity will fall by 60 per cent between 2030 and 2040.

Thanks for listening to Expanded Perspectives. Please rate and write us a review on iTunes. You can email your stories to us a [email protected]. or you can call us at 817-945-3828. Have a great week!

All music for Expanded Perspectives is provided by Pretty Lights. Purchase, Download and Donate at www.prettylightsmusic.com.

• Pretty Lights vs. Led Zeppelin
• The Time Has Come
• So Much In The Dark
• Up and Down I Go