Spectral Skull Session

In light of an uptick in witch-hunting vigilantism in Papua New Guinea, Dane takes a moderate stance on anti-witchcraft laws, arguing that while extra-judicial killings are always wrong, it is acceptable to prosecute certain kinds of witchcraft. He also discusses the strange case of the Belarussian anti-government activist, Roman Protasevich, who prophesized his own capture by government forces in a dream. The episode ends rebutting science guy, Neil deGrasse Tyson's latest attack on the hypothesis that UFOs are extraterrestrials, in an article that recently appeared on CNN.com.

Information regarding the upcoming Pentagon report on UFOs and their threat to U.S. national security has been leaked to the New York Times. Meanwhile, the conversation about the proximate origins of these mysterious craft has shifted towards the Earth's oceans. Dane reviews what we know about the Pentagon report and the rapidly changing nature of the UFO conversation.

**Note: This episode erroneously claims the entire Pentagon report was leaked in NYTs. In reality, information about the report was leaked and there is no evidence that the full report has been released. We apologize for the mistake***

UFO mania is reaching a fever pitch in advance of a highly anticipated U.S. governmental report, due June 1st. The pending briefing on UFOs and their possible threat to U.S. national security has millions asking whether 2021 could be the year America's military discloses the reality of extraterrestrials to the public. In this episode, Dane argues that the very fact that Congress demanded this report from the military and intelligence communities heralds a monumental shift

in U.S. policy on UFOs. After reviewing evidence that the U.S. military committed to UFO secrecy in the 1950s at the behest of civilian leadership which was itself paranoid about potential Soviet subversion, Dane predicts what the upcoming report will and won't say about UFOs.

We are told that civilization is in the late stages of transitioning from an era of superstition to one of rationality. According to this, the story of disenchantment, the U.S., Europe, and the larger post-industrialized world have passed through dark ages of widespread belief in magic, gods, demons, and spirits and into a glorious period of faith only in science and matter. But, in his 2017 book, "The Myth of Disenchantment," Dr. Jason Josephson Storm, Professor of Religion at Williams College, gives the lie to this fable. Storm argues this story is plainly false - belief in the supernatural and paranormal is utterly normal in the U.S., Europe, and Japan. Furthermore, the narrative of a decline in paranormal and supernatural belief is essentially a re-telling of one of the most ancient pieces of European mythology: the fabulous tale of the end of the era of the miraculous. In this episode, Dane reviews Dr. Storm's book and explores some of the darker vicissitudes of European intellectual history to reveal the degree to which a handful of ideologues have sold us all on a false narrative about "progress" as entailing a rejection of belief in the paranormal, occult, and supernatural. In doing so, these intellectuals have only, inadvertently, perpetuated one of the most ancient myths of the European-influenced world - the myth of disenchantment.

Dane starts the spring holiday weekend early, discussing Frazer's speculation that the Celts practiced human sacrifice; examining Harry Reid's claim that the Russians are behind the UFOs swarming America's navy; and calling for humans and Sasquatches to quit their feuding and fly together in peace.

Irish fairy tales can be surprisingly dark and macabre. These stories hint at a complex and parallel world populated by beings who are more often hostile than sympathetic to human aims. But what are the creatures euphemistically denominated as the "Good People"?

After sifting through layers of lore, Dane proposes that Irish fairy myths constitute a unified account of various empirical and social phenomena. Recalling philosopher Thomas Kuhn's notion of a scientific paradigm, Dane argues that the Good People need not exist to be real; as a central postulate in a unified worldview, the reality of Good People is a function of the explanatory power that belief in them confers.

Putin's cryotherapy machine, Pentagon 'confirms' a pyramid-shaped UFO, the growing popularity of modern witchcraft, a lost book of the bible recovered? Dane reviews major stories related to news of the weird.

Watch out, debunkers, weirdos are on the march to reclaim the banner of skepticism! In this session, Dane sits down with Dr. Everett Fulmer, a professor of philosophy and expert on the history and philosophy of skepticism, to discuss what it REALLY means to be a skeptic. As Dr. Fulmer explains, traditionally, skeptics were profound thinkers who discovered  compelling reasons for doubting the very possibility of humans ever acquiring certain knowledge. These free spirits developed razor-sharp arguments that challenge the Enlightenment view of rationality as the one true path to objective truth, even to this day. Tracing the roots of skepticism to Plato's Academy and the struggle against the ancient Stoics, Dr. Fulmer outlines the personal stories and public beliefs of history's greatest skeptics – from a man with the unfortunate first name “Sextus,” to an Italian monk who was executed after publicizing warnings about the apocalypse.

The second half of the show explores the risks and benefits of skepticism for lovers of the strange and unexplained: Is skepticism the key to tranquility? Can we doubt the material world's existence without getting run over by that truck in which we refuse to believe? Could it help UFOtwitter chill out? Or will skepticism plunge those who study it into madness?

If you dabble with weird ideas and turn away from mushy thinking, then this session will be red meat for you. We think through the philosophy of universal doubt in an episode that could make you question not just whether you ever knew anything about skepticism, but whether you have ever known ANYTHING at all!

The Pacific Ocean is fast becoming a new locus of mystery. Dane reviews news stories with a focus on the Pacific region, including: Are the Chinese building flying microwaves?; America's FAA complains of a 'drone-a-puloza'; UFOs swarm Guam; the Japanese military moves to secure the home of their precious underwater pyramid. 

At the end of the episode, Dane outlines the dark possibility that much of this activity may be blamed on a "sino-wunderwaffen' - a CCP superweapon weapon - that would threaten U.S. naval supremacy. On a more hopeful note, Dane countenances the Pacific as a theater for Earth's first "double-cold-war". There may be two stand-offs taking place simultaneously. One stand-off would be between the United States and China. The second stand-off would be between humanity and an irate aquatic civilization based somewhere beneath the Pacific ocean.

It is a strange fact that some of America's top scientists and engineers spend long hours studying the suspected remains of crashed flying saucers. In her book, "American Cosmic: UFOs, Technology, Religion," Dr. Diana Pasulka reports from inside this community of talented Americans obsessed with alien spacecraft. She also argues that, following the lead of their technogentsia, ordinary Americans are falling under the sway of a new popular religion devoted to extraterrestrials. Because Dr. Pasulka is chair of philosophy and religion at the University of North Carolina Willmington, we must take her incredible claims with the utmost seriousness. Is Dr. Pasulka a lucky scholar who beat the public to alien disclosure? Has she stumbled into the midst of a new "scientific" cult? or is she a pawn in our government's cynical quest to control a budding new form of spirituality? If you listen to this episode, you will be able to decide for yourself whether aliens, angels, demons, madness (or none of the above) now obsess the hearts and minds of America's most capable researchers. This is a rare episode at the crossroads of the future of the United States and the salvation of our own immortal souls!