The Micah Hanks Program

The Micah Hanks Program

By Micah HanksSociety & CultureScience
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The Micah Hanks Program episodes

  • 04.20.20. Death, Abduction and the UFO: A Modern Mythology

    In 1958, psychologist Carl Jung authored one of the most unusual essays of his entire lifetime. Titled Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth of Things Seen in the Skies, he both acknowledged the mytho-psychological components of the UFO mystery, while acknowledging that myths and symbols alone cannot be tracked on radar. But what does the study of the mythological element in UFO sightings tell us about the phenomenon, and maybe more importantly, ourselves?

    This week on the Micah Hanks Program, after news about the search for habitable planets and the newest discovery vindicating Einstein's theory of general relativity, we turn our attention to the work of one man who, after a lifetime of interest in the UFO subject, believes that the answer to this mystery may exist within ourselves.

    "Back in the 1960s, David Halperin was a teenage UFO investigator," his website states. "From 1976 through 2000, David taught Jewish history in the Religious Studies Department at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Now retired from teaching, he lives in North Carolina with his wife Rose." The author of five non-fiction books on Jewish mysticism and messianism, and "the coming-of-age novel" Journal of a UFO Investigator, David joins us to discuss his latest offering, Intimate Alien: The Hidden Story of the UFO this week on The Micah Hanks Program.

    Coronavirus Charities: If you are able, please consider supporting the following charities that are offering relief for those affected by the coronavirus pandemic:

    • No Kid Hungry Responds to Coronavirus
    • American Red Cross: Give Blood
    • Feeding America
    • Meals on Wheels
    • Homeless Shelter Directory

    Enjoy The Micah Hanks Program? Check out Micah's other podcasts here.

    Below are links to stories and other content featured in this episode:

    • Earth-Size, Habitable Zone Planet Found Hidden in Early NASA Kepler Data
    • Star's strange path around black hole proves Einstein right—again
    • "Mortality, Myth and the UFO" by David J. Halperin
    • David Halperin's Intimate Alien: The Hidden Story of the UFO

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    Sign up today and get access to the entire back catalog of The Micah Hanks Program, as well as "classic" episodes of The Gralien Report Podcast, weekly "additional editions" of the subscriber-only X Podcast, the monthly Enigmas specials, and much more.

    Like us on Facebook

    Follow @MicahHanks on Twitter

    Follow Micah on Instagram

    Visit Micah's Website and check out Our Podcast Page

    Music featured on The Micah Hanks Program includes songs composed by Caleb Hanks (The Clerk Chronicles), Decepticons (Dreamland, Start the Machine) and Micah Hanks. All songs are either in the public domain, Royalty Free, Creative Commons Attribution 3.0, or are used with permission of the creators. Please note that some links to books and other items on this page may feature Amazon Associate links.

    1 hr 54 min
  • 04.13.20. Interstellar: Visitors From Beyond

    In October 2017, a mysterious visitor was spotted by astronomers as it passed through our solar system. First believed to be a comet, the strange object was named 'Oumuamua, meaning 'scout' or 'first distant messenger.' Since its discovery, 'Oumuamua has continued to baffle scientists, displaying unusual acceleration and other capabilities that leave its identity and origins in question.

    This week on The Micah Hanks Program, after news and analysis of a recent string of UFO sightings around the Great Lakes (along with some pretty lazy reporting in that regard), we take a look back at the strange "Dancing Plague of 1518," and what modern science has to say about it. Finally, the heart of our discussion deals with the search for interstellar objects in our solar system, and whether evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence might be found in this way.

    Some have even proposed that 'Oumuamua might be an interstellar probe sent into space by some intelligent alien civilization, notably Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb, who drew some criticism for his proposal. We look at the scientific search for alien life, and the history of astronomers who spotted UFOs over the last several centuries in our exploration this week on The Micah Hanks Program.

    Coronavirus Charities: If you are able, please consider supporting the following charities that are offering relief for those affected by the coronavirus pandemic:

    • No Kid Hungry Responds to Coronavirus
    • American Red Cross: Give Blood
    • Feeding America
    • Meals on Wheels
    • Homeless Shelter Directory

    Enjoy The Micah Hanks Program? Check out Micah's other podcasts here.

    Below are links to stories and other content featured in this episode:

    • Medieval shrine discovered in mysterious UK cave
    • Yeah, Those Weren't UFOs Over Cleveland Last Weekend, But It'd Be Cool If They Were
    • UFOs or Lanterns? Flying Objects Seen in the Night Sky Over US Cities
    • Danse Macabre: Strange and Deadly "Dancing Plagues"
    • The Dancing plague of 1518
    • A forgotten plague: making sense of dancing mania
    • 'Oumuamua and Interstellar Visitors from Beyond
    • "Interstellar Comet 2I/Borisov Appears to Have Broken in Half"
    • In Depth: Nasa Science Page for 'Oumuamua
    • Have Aliens Found Us? A Harvard Astronomer on the Mysterious Interstellar Object 'Oumuamua
    • On `Oumuamua by Abraham (Avi) Loeb, Harvard University (Nov 5, 2018)
    • The Case for Cosmic Modesty | Abraham (Avi) Loeb
    • Abraham 'Avi' Loeb - Alien Intelligences
    • Monstrator: The Odd, Ephemeral Mystery Object That "Dropped Anchor" in 1762
    • The Curious History of Earth's Long-Sought "Second Moon"
    • The Strange, Sordid History of the 'Black Knight Satellite'
    • Expect More Interstellar Visitors Like 'Oumuamua
    • Should Earthlings Chase 'Oumuamua Into Interstellar Space?
    • Homo Galacticus: How Space Will Shape The Humans of The Future

    BECOME AN X SUBSCRIBER AND GET EVEN MORE GREAT PODCASTS AND MONTHLY SPECIALS FROM MICAH HANKS.

    Sign up today and get access to the entire back catalog of The Micah Hanks Program, as well as "classic" episodes of The Gralien Report Podcast, weekly "additional editions" of the subscriber-only X Podcast, the monthly Enigmas specials, and much more.

    Like us on Facebook

    Follow @MicahHanks on Twitter

    Follow Micah on Instagram

    Visit Micah's Website and check out Our Podcast Page

    Music featured on The Micah Hanks Program includes songs composed by Caleb Hanks (The Clerk Chronicles), Decepticons (Dreamland, Start the Machine) and Micah Hanks. All songs are either in the public domain, Royalty Free, Creative Commons Attribution 3.0, or are used with permission of the creators. Please note that some links to books and other items on this page may feature Amazon Associate links.

    1 hr 44 min
  • 04.06.20. Black Triangles Over Belgium

    On the night of March 30, 1990, a Belgian gendarmerie placed a call to the Control Reporting Station at Glons to report a sighting of an unidentified flying object. The craft had three lights that could be seen changing colors from red to yellow to green, and within the hour a pair of F-16s had been dispatched to attempt to intercept the object, in what would become one of the most widely-discussed black triangle UFO incidents of all time.

    This week on The Micah Hanks Program, we lead off with news about a stellar alignment that has recently had some stargazers wondering about the planet Venus, as well as how the current pandemic is preventing some astronomers from keeping tabs on the most perplexing object to pass through our planetary neighborhood since the enigmatic 'Oumuamua. Also, why is the coronavirus being blamed for UFO sightings around the world, especially in Belgium?

    The end of March saw the 30th anniversary of one of the highest-profile UFO incidents of the last century, which occurred during a wave of similar black triangle UFO sightings over parts of Belgium. The intercept attempt that unfolded was just one of many such incidents involving large, often triangular-shaped objects that were observed by reputable members of law enforcement and government over Belgium. To this day, the origin of the unusual black triangle UFO craft remains in question, which leaves the events that occurred in Belgium's airspace among the most unusual—and convincing—in the larger inventory of modern UFO sighting reports. We look back on this unusual series of events and their lasting implications for UFO research, all on this week's edition of The Micah Hanks Program.

    Coronavirus Charities: If you are able, please consider supporting the following charities that are offering relief for those affected by the coronavirus pandemic:

    • No Kid Hungry Responds to Coronavirus
    • American Red Cross: Give Blood
    • Feeding America
    • Meals on Wheels
    • Homeless Shelter Directory

    Enjoy The Micah Hanks Program? Check out Micah's other podcasts here.

    Below are links to stories and other content featured in this episode:

    • Look up! Venus and Pleiades star cluster are putting on a rare evening show
    • COVID-19 Shutdown May Obscure Mysteries of Cracked Interstellar Comet
    • Coronavirus to blame for record number of UFO sightings in Belgium
    • Elon Musk on making the Starlink Satellite Constellation
    • Lambrechts, P. "Report concerning the observation of UFOs in the night from March 30 to March 31, 1990."
    • Leclet, Renaud. THE BELGIAN WAVE OF 1989-1992 A neglected hypothesis.
    • Deighton, Ben. "Belgian hit UFO image was polystyrene, says forger."
    • Dunning, Brian. "The Belgian UFO Wave."
    • Wilfried de Brouwer at the National Press Club, Washington, in 2011
    • UFOs: Generals, Pilots, and Government Officials Go on the Record by Leslie Kean

    BECOME AN X SUBSCRIBER AND GET EVEN MORE GREAT PODCASTS AND MONTHLY SPECIALS FROM MICAH HANKS.

    Sign up today and get access to the entire back catalog of The Micah Hanks Program, as well as "classic" episodes of The Gralien Report Podcast, weekly "additional editions" of the subscriber-only X Podcast, the monthly Enigmas specials, and much more.

    Like us on Facebook

    Follow @MicahHanks on Twitter

    Follow Micah on Instagram

    Visit Micah's Website and check out Our Podcast Page

    Music featured on The Micah Hanks Program includes songs composed by Caleb Hanks (The Clerk Chronicles), Decepticons (Dreamland, Start the Machine) and Micah Hanks. All songs are either in the public domain, Royalty Free, Creative Commons Attribution 3.0, or are used with permission of the creators. Please note that some links to books and other items on this page may feature Amazon Associate links.

    1 hr 50 min
  • 03.30.20: Strange Survivors and Credible Cryptids

    This week on The Micah Hanks Program, as we celebrate National Doctor's Day, we send a special thank you to doctors everywhere for their work in the midst of the current pandemic, along with hearing what advice a certain time-traveling Doctor had to pass along in light of current events. We then shift our attention to the news, and a quick check-in from Ryan Sprague of the Somewhere in the Skies podcast, who updates us on the current situation in New York.

    Then we are joined for the rest of the program by Oné R. Pagan Ph.D., a biologist at West Chester University, Pennsylvania and author of books that include Strange Survivors: How Organisms Attack and Defend in the Game of Life, which looks at the unusual ways that organisms adapt to their environments in order to survive. In addition to survival mechanisms, we also get into the discussion of living fossils like the coelacanth, as well as animals like the Tasmanian tiger which many believe could still exist. We also look at what Pagan calls "credible cryptids" such as the Orang Pendek, a variety of small, hairy hominin alleged to exist in the remote jungles of Sumatra, all on this week's edition of The Micah Hanks Program.

    Coronavirus Charities: If you are able, please consider supporting the following charities that are offering relief for those affected by the coronavirus pandemic:

    • No Kid Hungry Responds to Coronavirus
    • American Red Cross: Give Blood
    • Feeding America
    • Meals on Wheels
    • Homeless Shelter Directory

    Enjoy The Micah Hanks Program? Check out Micah's other podcasts here.

    Below are links to stories and other content featured in this episode:

    • History of National Doctors' Day
    • Doctor Who has broadcast a heartwarming "emergency transmission" to help us through the Coronavirus pandemic
    • Elon Musk says he'll have 1,200 ventilators ready to deliver this week
    • New genetic editing powers discovered in squid
    • The Bald Scientist: Official Blog of Oné R. Pagan
    • Strange Survivors: How Organisms Attack and Defend in the Game of Life

    BECOME AN X SUBSCRIBER AND GET EVEN MORE GREAT PODCASTS AND MONTHLY SPECIALS FROM MICAH HANKS.

    Sign up today and get access to the entire back catalog of The Micah Hanks Program, as well as "classic" episodes of The Gralien Report Podcast, weekly "additional editions" of the subscriber-only X Podcast, the monthly Enigmas specials, and much more.

    Like us on Facebook

    Follow @MicahHanks on Twitter

    Follow Micah on Instagram

    Visit Micah's Website and check out Our Podcast Page

    Music featured on The Micah Hanks Program includes songs composed by Caleb Hanks (The Clerk Chronicles), Decepticons (Dreamland, Start the Machine) and Micah Hanks. All songs are either in the public domain, Royalty Free, Creative Commons Attribution 3.0, or are used with permission of the creators. Please note that some links to books and other items on this page may feature Amazon Associate links.

    1 hr 49 min
  • 03.23.20. Outbreak: The Disease Detectives

    On this edition of The Micah Hanks Program, after news and listener emails pertaining to strange things in our skies, we have an odd question about pandemics in mind: how are outbreaks like UFO flaps, and why do some similarities exist between the two?

    To look at these questions, and how science applies to both scenarios, we are joined by retired epidemiologist Thomas Glass, Ph.D., an expert on outbreaks whose Ph.D. in medical sociology was obtained at Duke University. Over the last three decades, Glass has held faculty positions in epidemiology at Yale, Harvard and Johns Hopkins. Dr. Glass joins us both to share his interest in the building current interest in the UFO topic, as well as to lend his expertise with regard to the current coronavirus pandemic situation. With so much news building on public concerns about the coronavirus, Dr. Glass brings an informed message of hope--not hype--that presents both an engaging and interesting discussion of the current global pandemic situation.

    When an outbreak occurs, how do viruses spread, and what kinds of factors do epidemiologists watch for as the situation unfolds? And why are there similarities between how an epidemiologist investigates and outbreak, and how UFO researchers investigate some sightings reports? We look at all of these questions, and more on this week's edition of The Micah Hanks Program.

    Enjoy The Micah Hanks Program? Check out Micah's other podcasts here.

    Below are links to stories and other content featured in this episode:

    • The Fragment of an Ancient Lost Continent Has Been Discovered Off The Coast of Canada
    • Astronauts Share Insightful Tips On Self-Isolation During Coronavirus Pandemic
    • Thomas Glass, Ph.D. An epidemiologist's perspective on the COVID-19 pandemic
    • More from Thomas Glass: Recommended Steps for Preparation
    • Top 10 Everyday Precautions to Reduce Risk of Infection
    • Are You in a Higher-Risk Group?
    • The Household Go-Kit
    • A Handy Glossary of COVID-19 Terms and Definitions

    BECOME AN X SUBSCRIBER AND GET EVEN MORE GREAT PODCASTS AND MONTHLY SPECIALS FROM MICAH HANKS.

    Sign up today and get access to the entire back catalog of The Micah Hanks Program, as well as "classic" episodes of The Gralien Report Podcast, weekly "additional editions" of the subscriber-only X Podcast, the monthly Enigmas specials, and much more.

    Like us on Facebook

    Follow @MicahHanks on Twitter

    Follow Micah on Instagram

    Visit Micah's Website and check out Our Podcast Page

    Music featured on The Micah Hanks Program includes songs composed by Caleb Hanks (The Clerk Chronicles), Decepticons (Dreamland, Start the Machine) and Micah Hanks. All songs are either in the public domain, Royalty Free, Creative Commons Attribution 3.0, or are used with permission of the creators. Please note that some links to books and other items on this page may feature Amazon Associate links.

    1 hr 56 min
  • 03.16.20. Bodies of Evidence: Death of the Sasquatch

    For centuries, there have been stories about large, manlike animals in the Pacific Northwest and other remote parts of America. The creature known as Sasquatch or Bigfoot has long been searched for, but meager physical evidence has left its existence in question. Hence, many skeptics and advocates alike have proposed that only one thing will ever settle the debate: a body.

    After catching up on news, we feature an update on the coronavirus this week, looking at its origins, and what scientists know about it as concerns about the virus spread. Then after getting caught up on listener emails, we turn our attention to the controversial question of killing Sasquatch. Many would dismiss the idea entirely based on the presumption that the creature is only a myth, but concerns over would-be Sasquatch hunters have resulted in legislation being passed in places like Skamania County, Washington, as a public safety measure. Even those who don't believe in Sasquatch can see how laws "protecting" the creature may be a good idea... but in the unlikely event that a body was ever discovered, what would that mean for science, and how would state and local government respond?

    Even more unusual is the question over whether bodies of unidentified, manlike creatures actually have been recovered in the past, and lost. Claims of Sasquatch killings have been made for years, and yet no physical remains have been recovered. Is it time to close the book on hopes for the creature's existence, or is the merit to the idea of continuing the search... and even killing one, if it's necessary to prove they're out there? We weigh all of these questions on this week's edition of The Micah Hanks Program.

    Enjoy The Micah Hanks Program? Check out Micah's other podcasts here.

    Below are links to stories and other content featured in this episode:

    • NEWS: Something strange is going on with the North Star
    • Paleontologists from Argentina present a "South American Yeti" of more than 10,000 years ago
    • Dead Sea Scrolls at the Museum of the Bible are forgeries, investigators say
    • Dead Sea Scroll Conference Has Been Postponed
    • COVID-19: Chinese foreign ministry spokesman pushes coronavirus conspiracy theory
    • Inside China's campaign to blame the U.S. for the coronavirus pandemic
    • Scientists 'strongly condemn' rumors and conspiracy theories about origin of coronavirus
    • Why Coronavirus Is Turning People Into Hoarders: A Q&A on the Psychology of Pandemics
    • SASQUATCH: To Kill or to Capture Bigfoot: The Great Cryptozoological Debate
    • If You Spot Bigfoot, Should You Shoot Him?
    • Is It Legal to Shoot Bigfoot?
    • Killing Sasquatch: The Debate Between Law, Science, and Conservation
    • Darren Naish on the Strange Case of the Minnesota Iceman

    BECOME AN X SUBSCRIBER AND GET EVEN MORE GREAT PODCASTS AND MONTHLY SPECIALS FROM MICAH HANKS.

    Sign up today and get access to the entire back catalog of The Micah Hanks Program, as well as "classic" episodes of The Gralien Report Podcast, weekly "additional editions" of the subscriber-only X Podcast, the monthly Enigmas specials, and much more.

    Like us on Facebook

    Follow @MicahHanks on Twitter

    Follow Micah on Instagram

    Visit Micah's Website and check out Our Podcast Page

    Music featured on The Micah Hanks Program includes songs composed by Caleb Hanks (The Clerk Chronicles), Decepticons (Dreamland, Start the Machine) and Micah Hanks. All songs are either in the public domain, Royalty Free, Creative Commons Attribution 3.0, or are used with permission of the creators. Please note that some links to books and other items on this page may feature Amazon Associate links.

    1 hr 47 min
  • 03.09.20. Operation Saucer: Incident at Colares

    In 1977, panic had struck the northern coast of Brazil. Many residents on the island of Colares and nearby locales like Belém were reporting nighttime observations of strange lights in the sky, which often cast bright beams of light toward individuals that left burns, unusual markings, and other physical effects.

    The reports became so concerning that local officials requested aid from the Brazilian Air Force, who spent four months between 1977 and 1978 investigating the unidentified flying objects appearing over the island. The program, dubbed Operação Prato or "Operation Saucer", resulted in four pieces of film footage depicting one of the objects, along with hundreds of photographs representing unusual illuminations and aerial objects in the skies above Northern Brazil. The files were later released by the Brazilian National Archives, and comprise what some feel to be one of the most comprehensive government UFO studies in all history.

    We examine this unusual period in Brazilian history, the "attacks" by UFOs that were allegedly occurring at that time, and what the government response to the affair had been on this week's edition of The Micah Hanks Program.

    Enjoy The Micah Hanks Program? Check out Micah's other podcasts here.

    Below are links to stories and other content featured in this episode:

    • Rendlesham Forest: UFO 'sighting' becomes legend like King Arthur
    • Archaeologists Find Mythical Man-Monster in English Cesspit
    • Space Force's 2021 budget plan is heavy on satellites and launch
    • The Official Search For UFOs That Attacked Brazilians With 'Light Beams' In 1977
    • Physician compelled by Brazilian Air Force to lie about UFOs
    • Brazil Releases Files on 1977 UFO Flap

    BECOME AN X SUBSCRIBER AND GET EVEN MORE GREAT PODCASTS AND MONTHLY SPECIALS FROM MICAH HANKS.

    Sign up today and get access to the entire back catalog of The Micah Hanks Program, as well as "classic" episodes of The Gralien Report Podcast, weekly "additional editions" of the subscriber-only X Podcast, the monthly Enigmas specials, and much more.

    Like us on Facebook

    Follow @MicahHanks on Twitter

    Follow Micah on Instagram

    Visit Micah's Website and check out Our Podcast Page

    Music featured on The Micah Hanks Program includes songs composed by Caleb Hanks (The Clerk Chronicles), Decepticons (Dreamland, Start the Machine) and Micah Hanks. All songs are either in the public domain, Royalty Free, Creative Commons Attribution 3.0, or are used with permission of the creators. Please note that some links to books and other items on this page may feature Amazon Associate links.

    1 hr 52 min
  • 03.02.20. Ghosts in the Sky: Mystery Aircraft of Area 51

    This week, biologists are excited about what might be a unique protein found inside an ancient meteorite, which could have tremendous implications not just for alien life, but also raises questions about the origins of life here on Earth. Astronomers have also located what is believed to be evidence for the biggest explosion ever found in the cosmos, and an unusual, anaerobic life form that lives in the living tissue of another aquatic creature.

    We then turn our attention toward the topic of mystery aircraft and secretive black budget programs that the U.S. military has allegedly been involved with for decades. The history of spy planes and secret aircraft since the end of WWII begins at Area 51, the secret test facility at Groom Lake, Nevada, which has attained near-mythical status over the years for the rumors about UFO-like aircraft developed there. However, among the known kinds of aircraft that were built and flown out of the facility were the U-2 spy plane and its successor, the SR-71 Blackbird.

    Since the SR-71 was decommissioned in 1990, many aerospace experts and UFO buffs alike have wondered what other kinds of top-secret, experimental aircraft might have been developed there over the years. Further questions surround reports of eerie, massive flying wings and "black triangles" seen in the skies over parts of the American southwestern deserts and various other locales. The Pentagon has maintained that no such aircraft exist... but if so, how can we account for the hundreds of sighting reports, which have led to investigations by organizations ranging from the Federation of American Scientists, to Robert Bigelow's National Institute for Discovery Science? Our deep-dive this week takes us beyond "Deep Black" as we go in search of answers behind the enduring mystery aircraft of Area 51.

    Enjoy The Micah Hanks Program? Check out Micah's other podcasts here.

    Below are links to stories and other content featured in this episode:

    • Boom! Scientists spot the biggest known explosion in the universe
    • Scientists Claim to Have Found The First Known Extraterrestrial Protein in a Meteorite
    • Unique non-oxygen breathing animal discovered
    • Archived Link to the Federation of American Scientists "Mystery Aircraft" Page
    • President Reagan's State of the Union Speech 2/4/86
    • Jack Northrop and the UFO-Lookin' Flying Wings
    • From the Archives: "America's New Top Secret Aircraft"
    • "The Top-Secret Warplanes of Area 51" by Bill Sweetman (2006)
    • Mystery Booms Caused by Supersonic Aircraft
    • Aurora: The Pentagon's Secret Hypersonic Spyplane (Mil-Tech Series)
    • Black Jets: The Development and Operation of America's Most Secret Warplane
    • Area 51 - Black Jets: A History of the Aircraft Developed at Groom Lake, America's Secret Aviation Base

    BECOME AN X SUBSCRIBER AND GET EVEN MORE GREAT PODCASTS AND MONTHLY SPECIALS FROM MICAH HANKS.

    Sign up today and get access to the entire back catalog of The Micah Hanks Program, as well as "classic" episodes of The Gralien Report Podcast, weekly "additional editions" of the subscriber-only X Podcast, the monthly Enigmas specials, and much more.

    Like us on Facebook

    Follow @MicahHanks on Twitter

    Follow Micah on Instagram

    Visit Micah's Website and check out Our Podcast Page

    Music featured on The Micah Hanks Program includes songs composed by Caleb Hanks (The Clerk Chronicles), Decepticons (Dreamland, Start the Machine) and Micah Hanks. All songs are either in the public domain, Royalty Free, Creative Commons Attribution 3.0, or are used with permission of the creators. Please note that some links to books and other items on this page may feature Amazon Associate links.

    1 hr 45 min
  • 02.24.20. The Hynek Report: UFOs, Radar & Close Encounters

    This week, we lead off with news about artificial intelligence, and the passing of an influential NASA mathematician, Katherine Johnson, before turning our attention to Project Blue Book, the U.S. Air Force study of UFOs, and its scientific consultant J. Allen Hynek.

    During the early years of the Air Force's UFO investigations, Hynek, a professor of astronomy at Ohio State University, was tasked with lending his scientific knowledge as the astronomical consultant to programs like Project Blue Book.

    As noted at the website of the Center for UFO Studies (which Hynek founded in 1973), "At first, Dr. Hynek was skeptical of the whole UFO business, but after examining hundreds of UFO reports by credible witnesses, he became convinced UFOs were worthy of serious study." Even for years after the close of Project Blue Book, Hynek would continue to pursue answers to the UFO mystery, instituting a system of classification comprising Nocturnal Lights, Daylight Discs, Radar Cases, and three different levels of "Close Encounter," the most rare and controversial of all the UFO sighting types. We explore all of these, as well as what Hynek had to say about Project Blue Book and his participation with it, on this edition of the podcast.

    Enjoy The Micah Hanks Program? Check out Micah's other podcasts here.

    Below are links to stories and other content featured in this episode:

    • Artificial intelligence yields new antibiotic
    • Katherine Johnson, NASA mathematician depicted in 'Hidden Figures,' dies at 101
    • Interview with NASA Pioneer and "Computer" Katherine Johnson
    • The Hynek UFO Report at Internet Archive
    • The Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS)
    • Project Blue Book resources at the National Archives
    • FBI Files related to Project Blue Book

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    Sign up today and get access to the entire back catalog of The Micah Hanks Program, as well as "classic" episodes of The Gralien Report Podcast, weekly "additional editions" of the subscriber-only X Podcast, the monthly Enigmas specials, and much more.

    Like us on Facebook

    Follow @MicahHanks on Twitter

    Follow Micah on Instagram

    Visit Micah's Website and check out Our Podcast Page

    Music featured on The Micah Hanks Program includes songs composed by Caleb Hanks (The Clerk Chronicles), Decepticons (Dreamland, Start the Machine) and Micah Hanks. All songs are either in the public domain, Royalty Free, Creative Commons Attribution 3.0, or are used with permission of the creators.

    1 hr 54 min
  • 02.17.20. The Real X-Files: Inside the Government's UFO Program

    On this special edition of The Micah Hanks Program, after opening news pertaining to astronomy and the search by scientists for extraterrestrial life, we are joined by freelance investigative reporter Lt. Tim McMillan, who recently published an article in Popular Mechanics which gives us the most complete perspective to-date of the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP), a mysterious Pentagon program that studied unexplained aerial phenomenon. McMillan gives us new details about the program's former director, Luis Elizondo, and his involvement with the Pentagon effort to study UAP, as well as the role of Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS), which had been subcontracted for the study. More importantly, McMillan explains why much of what the program entailed has been kept off-the-books and had been intended to remain that way.

    Then in hour two, we are joined by a pioneer in the field of UFO research, Bruce Maccabee Ph.D., a physicist and researcher whose investigations into UFOs began in the 1960s. Over the ensuing decades, he worked not only to apply science to UFO investigations, but also in appealing to the government for information it has on the topic of unidentified flying objects. This led to Maccabee's acquisition of FBI files, popularly known as the Bureau's "Flying Saucer File", which Maccabee calls "The Real X-Files."

    The name is more than just a play on the popular 1990s television program The X-Files, however. As Maccabee notes, several of the files in the trove of documents he obtained from the FBI decades ago contained the label "Security Matter-X", which Maccabee notes had indicated there was information contained therein which might be deemed "unreliable"... in this case, pertaining to UFOs. We discuss Maccabee's history of research into the phenomenon, and what they mean more broadly for UFO studies, and the U.S. government's involvement in them over the decades.

    Enjoy The Micah Hanks Program? Check out Micah's other podcasts here.

    Below are links to stories and other content featured in this episode:

    • Nobody knows what's going on with nearby supergiant star Betelgeuse
    • Astronomers to sweep entire sky for signs of extraterrestrial life
    • Scientists theorize that space aliens may already be here, but we don't recognize them
    • Popular Mechanics: "Are UFOs Real? Inside the Pentagon's Secret UFO Program" by Tim McMillan
    • Chasing The Coyote's Tail: The Official Blog of Lt. Tim McMillan
    • The Official Website of Dr. Bruce Maccabee, UFO Researcher and Physicist
    • The FBI-CIA-UFO Connection: The Hidden UFO Activities of USA Intelligence Agencies

    BECOME AN X SUBSCRIBER AND GET EVEN MORE GREAT PODCASTS AND MONTHLY SPECIALS FROM MICAH HANKS.

    Sign up today and get access to the entire back catalog of The Micah Hanks Program, as well as "classic" episodes of The Gralien Report Podcast, weekly "additional editions" of the subscriber-only X Podcast, the monthly Enigmas specials, and much more.

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    Music featured on The Micah Hanks Program includes songs composed by Caleb Hanks (The Clerk Chronicles), Decepticons (Dreamland, Start the Machine) and Micah Hanks. All songs are either in the public domain, Royalty Free, Creative Commons Attribution 3.0, or are used with permission of the creators.

    1 hr 48 min

About The Micah Hanks Program

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The Micah Hanks Program is a weekly podcast that covers science and the mysteries of our universe. Taking a critically-minded approach to the study of our world, each week Micah presents commentary…

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