32: Great Balls of Fire

In the second part of our series on Charles Hoy Fort, we first return to the formative events of his adolescence that shaped his personality, career, and personal philosophies. Fort chronicled anecdotes from his youth in an unpublished manuscript titled Many Parts, written while in his 20s and of which only fragments remain. What can be gleaned from tales of his boisterous boyhood adventures, punctuated by harsh punishments from a strict father, is that it all instilled in Fort defiance of rules, dogma, and the expectations of hallowed establishments. He struggled to make sense of a childhood world that seemed rife with capricious events and outcomes, much as he later struggled to make sense of an adult world peppered with anomalous occurrences and their close-minded dismissal. We then examine Fort's journey from middle age to the end and his mindset towards and relationship with strange evidence. Just as he had been since he was a kid, Fort remained a collector. First of birds and rocks, then later stories of things that shouldn't happen yet still seemed to. And just as he had lost interest in labeling his natural finds in his teens, Fort perhaps lost interest in defining the enigmas he gathered and instead focused not on the labels and definitions but on the meaning and mechanics behind them. As much as Fort proved to be a "fly in the ointment" to hubristic scientists, critics, and clergy alike, his point was that the events themselves remained even more problematic, or as he wrote, "They will march." We must accept that the weirdness of our reality defies absolute conclusions. As we've also found with our research, any judgments on the impossible essentially boil down to belief. Or, as Fort summed up, "Here are the data. Make what you will, yourself, of them. . . . We have expressions: we don't call them explanations. We've discarded explanations with beliefs." If there is any conclusion we perhaps share with Charles Fort, it is this: if the paranormal and the supernatural genuinely exist, it certainly doesn't care what anyone believes. Visit our webpage for this episode for a lot more information!

10 Apr 20222h 2min

Perhaps most everyone listening to this show is familiar with the term "Fortean," meaning something related to the paranormal, the supernatural, or just generally strange phenomena. But where did that term come from? How did "Forteana" come to describe many of the topics we cover on the podcast? We owe that cognomen and a good deal of our inspiration for our reportage to the work of one man, Charles Hoy Fort. Fort (b. August 6, 1874 - d. May 3, 1932) was a journalist, author, and researcher best known for his collection of accounts of extraordinary incidents and bizarre phenomena. These reports and Fort's commentaries and speculations on them mostly ended up in four books: The Book of the Damned (1919), New Lands (1923), Lo!  (1931), and Wild Talents (1932). Within these volumes of nonfiction are found testimonies of rains of meat, frogs, blood, manna, black rain, and unbelievably large stones, poltergeists and spontaneous human combustion, vampires, animal mutilations, UFOs, and alien abductions – anomalies we're familiar with nowadays. Fort is also widely credited for coining the term "teleportation." However, there were likely no other compilations of these incredible tales in Fort's time or before, aside from local newspaper reports. For that reason alone, those of us who are fascinated by such subjects owe him a debt of gratitude. For over 30 years, Fort pored over magazines, books, newspapers, and scientific journals in New York and London libraries and had amassed thousands of notes on odd occurrences. By his own account, Fort would become discouraged by the futility of his endeavors and purpose and claimed to have tossed into the wind around 48,000 notes once while sitting on a park bench at The Cloisters in New York City. Yet his defiance at the dismissal or ridicule from contemporary scientists, or the mystification by religious thinking about these happenings, kept him working until the end. Fort's theories about the causes of such impossibilities would evolve or vacillate throughout his oeuvre, sometimes even within the same book. Whether speculating that the paranormal is the prank of some kind of "Cosmic Joker," to these aberrations being the vestigial byproducts of extraordinary primordial human survival skills, Fort remained compelled by their occurrences regardless. As suggested by the title, The Book of the Damned, Fort postulated that the facts of these cases were "damned" to be excluded by science. Yet no amount of scoffing from anyone would keep the data from these baffling events from proceeding – "they'll march" on, and so did Charles Hoy Fort. We're glad that they, and he, did. Visit our webpage for this episode for a lot more information!

27 Mars 20222h 7min

In tonight's Part Two of our series, we continue with the "Why?" of Tiwanaku and Pumapunku. As in, why was it all built? Why did Tiwanaku society spend so much effort and resources on it, and what did it mean to them? We then transition to the "How?" such a monumental architectural and cultural feat could be accomplished. What craftsmanship skills and construction technology did they possess to erect structures that continue to baffle present-day archaeologists and engineers? Could an organic technique of creating geopolymers, or essentially a type of concrete, explain the precise geometric shapes attained? Or was it a combination with a lost art of stone softening and shaping to achieve such exact tolerances? Perhaps they were just some of the best stonemasons in the world, with modern-quality chisels, drills, saws, and generations of labor at their disposal? And how did they come by their craft, through observation of nature and technical evolution, or some otherworldly source? We'll ask our good friend, Chemical Engineer Dr. Chris Cogswell, Ph.D., of The Mad Scientist Podcast, about the theoretical possibilities of ancient formulations as it applies to material sciences and their implications. Finally, we'll speculate on hypotheses and one aspect of the Tiwanaku enigma that is no less important than studying its stones – the legends and the beliefs that sparked its creation. For it is the folklore and spirituality of a culture that echoes through the ages, adding wonder about the mystery of Pumapunku. Visit our website for a lot more information on this episode!

14 Mars 20223h 43min

We’ve all heard of the mystical and wondrous ancient civilizations of Mesoamerica and South America: The Maya, Olmecs, Aztecs, and the Inca.  But one culture that developed on the southern end of Lake Titicaca in present-day western Bolivia near the border with Peru left behind ruins so monumental they continue to intrigue archaeologists and spark hypotheses of anachronistic, advanced technologies.  The Inca referred to Lake Titicaca as their origin place.  The culture that evolved in the region became known as Yaya-Mama, or “Father-Mother,” for the sculptures depicting dualistic Male-Female opposites.  The remains of the capital city for this society are now known as Tiwanaku, one of the most significant archaeological sites in South America.  Beginning as a small village in the BCE period, Tiwanaku grew to an enormous metropolis for its time.  Peaking around 700 to 1000 CE, with a population near 40,000 and as many as 500,000 people settling in the high plains valley, what remains is a little over one and a half square miles of artifacts such as impressively carved stone gates and monolith statues, artisan ceramics, and quality metalwork.  But perhaps the most awe-inspiring remnants are found at a particular spot within Tiwanaku called Pumapunku.  Translating as “Gate of the Puma,” archaeologists define Pumapunku as a ceremonial and elite residential complex constructed in the typical fashion of a sunken court surrounded by plazas and ramps, sitting on a terraced platform mound.  Yet what makes Pumapunku stand out from other similarly designed sites is the sophisticated masonry of its massive stone blocks ranging in size from 30 to 130 tons.  Baffling as it is to imagine how these stones may have been quarried and moved great distances, it’s even more unaccountable how the Tiwanaku were able to cut the blocks so precisely they fit like interlocking puzzle pieces.  This feat has some guessing the lost techniques were known only to them or even guided by otherworldly visitors.  With construction beginning between 500 and 600 CE and rebuilt over the following centuries, the city would fall just as mysteriously, sometime around 1000 CE.  Whether from natural disaster, withering from internal strife, or some violent end, Pumapunku and Tiwanaku leave us with one of the world’s great archaeological enigmas.  Tonight, we unearth the artifacts and culture of a city once known by the Aymara people of the Bolivian Andes as “stone in the center,” meaning the center of the world. Visit our website for a lot more information on this episode!

28 Feb 20222h 9min

In part two of our conversation with Remote Viewing instructor Lori Lambert Williams, we'll discuss what is known about how the process works and what is still unknown.  Including how the practice can get your non-local consciousness to work with your subconscious and how it can improve your daily life.  We'll also explore the mechanics and procedure of a Controlled Remote Viewing session.  Lori relays anecdotes and answers to frequently asked questions, such as about her successes and the types of challenges that a professional remote viewer must overcome when viewing operational targets.  Ultimately, if you believe that Remote Viewing doesn't work and that somehow the Stanford Research Institute was able to fool its CIA and DIA overseers in 23 years of repeatable demonstrations of its effectiveness, it doesn't matter to anyone who's tried it.  Perhaps an apropos response would be that of Sir William Crookes when asked to explain the psychic abilities of D. D. Home, responding, "I didn't say it was possible, I said it happened!"  Maybe a more relevant and profound observation comes from physicist Russell Targ near the end of his banned TED Talk about Psi and Remote Viewing, saying that you can use it to find your car keys, find a parking space, or make money in the Stock Market.  But in his opinion, the most important thing Remote Viewing can do for you is to discover who you are. Visit our website for a lot more information on this episode!

13 Feb 20222h 32min

We're honored and excited to present a conversation with our good friend and Remote Viewing sensei Lori Lambert Williams. Lori first started studying Remote Viewing back in 1996, mentored by her now longtime friend, Lyn Buchanan. Lyn was one of the original members of the military unit of Viewers created in 1972 at the Standford Research Institute by physicists Russell Targ and Hal Puthoff and sanctioned as Project Stargate by the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency. With Lyn's tutelage and enthusiastic blessing, Lori has become one of only a few certified instructors with a long professional and practical experience history. While adept in its various forms and applications such as Associative Remote Viewing and Extended Remote Viewing, Lori's emphasis is the technique of Controlled Remote Viewing, generally defined as "the controlled use of one's intuitive ability through a structured written protocol." Her latest book, Boundless: Your How-To Guide to Practical Remote Viewing, Phase One, is a thoroughly accessible and enjoyable easy-to-use manual for anyone to begin their journey in learning the process. In part one of our discussion, we'll cover Lori's experience with the practice, its guiding principles and concepts, and how it may be used to improve your daily life. Perhaps just as mind-bending as the verified result is that Remote Viewing is a skill that anyone can learn regardless of how much psychic ability you believe you possess. The most skeptical are often shocked and amazed by the success of their first attempt. Visit our website for a lot more information on this episode!

30 Jan 20221h 42min

One of the most baffling, disturbing, and popular subjects we've ever covered on the show is the mystery of Skinwalker Ranch. The groundbreaking book Hunt for the Skinwalker was the source for most of our research. And this is why we're honored and excited to discuss the follow-up book Skinwalkers at the Pentagon: An Insiders' Account of the Secret Government UFO Program, with two of its authors, Colm A. Kelleher, Ph.D., and George Knapp. Colm Kelleher is a biochemist specializing in cell biology and, since the early 1990s, has focused his work initially in the fields of cancer research and immunology. George Knapp is an investigative journalist based in Las Vegas, Nevada, whose probing into the secrets of Area 51 and related paranormal phenomena have garnered him accolades and authority for his 30 years of reporting. It's also secured him a recurring role for the past 12 years as a guest host for the legendary Coast to Coast AM radio program. Both men were tapped early on by hotel magnate and aerospace industrialist Robert Bigelow to lend their talents to his National Institute for Discovery Sciences (NIDS). The goal was to apply bona fide scientific study to the High Strangeness experienced on the Sherman property in northeastern Utah, now known popularly as "Skinwalker Ranch." With their sequel Skinwalkers at the Pentagon, Kelleher, and Knapp, along with James T. Lacatski, D. Eng. have revealed the startling connection between the Defense Intelligence Agency's Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP) and its investigation into troubling interactions with military operations such as the infamous "Tic Tac video" and universal, trickster-like paranormal actors. Government investigators found that simply visiting the Ranch could spur UFO sightings, poltergeist activity, frightening visits from Shadow Beings and cryptids, and most chillingly, the encounters would follow them and spread like a contagion to family members and even their neighborhoods. From tonight's discussion, we can conclude that far from each phenomenon being unrelated, everything may very well be connected. And that implication is a profound shock to our complacent reality because there's nothing any of us can do about it. For a lot more information on this episode, visit our website.

16 Jan 20222h 20min

We at Astonishing Legends love… well... legends of course, and myths, and traditions. The first two often lead to the latter. But none of it, no story we've ever come across or covered, happens in a vacuum. The one constant connection between all of it, which matters most to us, is people. And so continuing on with a new tradition of our own, we'd like to present another Astonishing All-Star Holiday Special. It's time to congregate with great friends, share stories and ideas, and reflect on things that keep us searching for answers in a spirit of wonder and imagination. Once again, we're joined by our paranormal cadre, in alphabetical order: Micah Hanks, Jim Harold, Richard Hatem, Rob Kristoffersen, a special segment from our own Tess Pfeifle, and our most cherished guest, YOU. As we relax and enjoy this new tradition of a virtual year-end party. Please keep in mind that as everything is connected, so is everyone, in a profound and meaningful way. We are all in this together, and none of us have to face it alone. Visit our website for a lot more information on this episode.

24 Dec 20212h 51min