Gods, Ghosts & UFOs

For lucky number 13, we’re talking about a study from Johns Hopkins where a bunch of religious leaders from across the faith spectrum all tripped on shrooms. We’re also following up on the Buga sphere because HOW COULD WE NOT.Finally, fantastically, a conversation with Scott and Forrest from Astonishing Legends about the passions and philosophies that drive us all to investigate high strangeness. It’s a good one!And a quick note — what you’ll hear in the episode is less than half of what we recorded. If you want to hear the whole, unedited conversation, go to godsghostsufos.com Highlights:* 33 religious leaders from mainstream faiths (Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists) tripped on shrooms (took moderately high doses of psilocybin in controlled settings* Is psilocybin a “magnifier of suggestible experience,” or a doorway to objective revelation?* Buga sphere bafflers: Mexican researchers claim that* it now weighs five times more than when found, and that* the sphere generate its own magnetic field and manipulates gravity, and that* people have gotten sick from touching it, and that* it killed all the vegetation where it landed* (?!)* AI was used to "translate" mysterious etchings on the sphere, producing generic new-age gobbledygook about "consciousness transformation"* WSJ claims all UFO sightings are military psyops. This is how constant lies erode public trust in traditional institutions.* Scott and Forrest (Astonishing Legends) share how their work has shifted their perspectives over the span of 300+ episodes* Scott’s breakthrough moment: an unexplained EVP at the haunted Sallie House* How paranormal investigation addresses humanity's biggest questions This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ggupodcast.substack.com/subscribe

This week we have mixed feelings about new footage of giant rats, then discuss a misleading headline about psychic investigations, and finally, gloriously, we’re freaking out about groundbreaking research that suggest huge sentient clouds of plasma might be roaming our upper atmosphere. Do these things have any connection the UFO sighting Tom shared in our pilot episode??Highlights:* Meet the 3-foot Sub-Alpine Woolly Rats of Papua New Guinea with 3-inch paws, finally captured on film after being known about since 1989* These rats likely evolved their massive size through "insular gigantism"* Turns out ROUSs (Rodents of Unusual Size) actually exist* A 1973 Utah cold case gets solved through coincidence and DNA, not psychics — even though a psychic was originally involved?* How sensationalizing stories confirms skeptics' worst assumptions* NASA footage reveals kilometer-sized plasma structures exhibiting sentient(???) behavior* These entities might represent a completely new category of life beyond plants, animals, and bacteria* Diving into thunderstorms for electromagnetic energy and congregating around electrified satellites like cosmic surfers* Tom shares his teenage experience watching the mysterious Brown Mountain Lights in North Carolina* We could be surrounded by plasma entities 99% of the time without knowing itWay, WAY more at godsghostsufos.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ggupodcast.substack.com/subscribe

In our last episode, Mysterious Metal Spheres and a Brand New Crop Circle, we talked about how Claude Opus 4 (the latest version of Anthropic’s large language model AI) resorted to blackmail to avoid getting shut down during some early tests.During that segment, I mentioned that I had spun up a chat Claude itself to see what it might say in response to this story. While the AI’s responses weren’t necessarily surprising, the chat was interesting enough to be worth sharing.I went ahead and voiced my own side of the chat (naturally), and then I used a simulated voice from Elevenlabs for Claude’s side.To weigh in (as another honest-to-goodness human), find us at godsghostsufos.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ggupodcast.substack.com/subscribe

This week we’re sampling another flavor of AI doom, and chasing that with a quick look into one of the most genuinely mysterious and legitimately joyful mysteries to float out of the world of UAPs in the past month.Highlights:* A listener’s take on the term “NPC”* Friend of the show Lisa will be joining us to share her extensively documented ghost stories (we want your questions!) — and if you missed it, you can read about one of those experiences here* The latest British crop circle appeared in Wiltshire featuring a Celtic knot design* A breakdown of why some crop circles some are genuine mysteries while others are obvious hoaxes, plus the economic reality facing farmers* Could AI be actually evil? The evidence is increasingly compelling* Jordan promises to release a bonus episode of a conversation he had with Claude about its own sociopathic proclivities* Our only hope: relationships of trust within authentic human communities* The Buga Sphere! A soccer ball-sized metal orb with variable weight and no visible seams steals our hearts* Other Spheres! The 1973 Betz sphere that hummed back at guitar music and rolled around on its own (until it mysteriously didn’t)* A quick take on AARO’s (the Pentagon's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office) report that there is “no evidence of off-world technology”For best results, come find us at godsghostsufos.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ggupodcast.substack.com/subscribe

This week, we’re making fun of people who are smarter than us about simulation theory, and grousing about the art of summoning dollars from dread. Also, when it comes to a mysterious pulsing star, we’re reminded that when you can’t rule anything out, that includes aliens.Here’s the beats:* A better breakdown of why we’re on Substack (hint: it makes it easier to email us)* A listener story about a miracle healing* The real ones are anti-cringe* Tom’s essay on the Gospel of Thomas is our first official GGU library entry* A NASA scientist spent 1,500 hours investigating unexplained pulses from a distant star (and still has no idea what it is)* Melvin Vopson thinks gravity itself might suggest we're living in a simulation* Is this just ancient mysticism dressed up in modern physics language?* Jordan argues simulation theory is not only unfalsifiable, it’s used to dehumanize people as "NPCs"* How we keep explaining the universe through our latest technology* An infamous haunted doll sells tickets* Unsettling antique store encounters with genuinely unsettling items* How selling fear undermines authentic spiritual connection* A listener review***For best results, hit us up at godsghostsufos.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ggupodcast.substack.com/subscribe

From medical miracles to psychic powers and the enigma of consciousness, here’s what’s up this week:* The story of Jacqueline Duffin, an atheist hematologist who helped confirm a miracle for a Catholic saint’s canonization* What it takes for the Catholic Church to call something a miracle — think serious disease, failed treatments, and an inexplicable recovery (that lasts at least 10 years)* Miracles as mysteries — stuff that happens according to laws and forces we don’t yet understand* A study from the Allen Institute pitting two theories of consciousness—Integrative Information Theory (IIT) and Global Neuronal Workspace Theory (GNWT)—against each other in an adversarial collaboration. Spoiler: Both are kinda right, kinda wrong, and consciousness is still a giant mystery.* How “adversarial collaboration” forces competing theories to design experiments together and reduce cognitive biases. Yay science!* A 2024 study in Cortex suggests the frontal lobe might be block psychic abilities. More evidence that the brain is a filter for reality* How psi phenomena might peak when brain activity dips, like during near-death experiences* Some research about earthworms and finches showing precognitive behavior* Channeling The Telepathy Tapes, Mal connects the dots between the Cortex study and research on autism. Does atypical frontal lobe development naturally boost psychic sensitivity?* The slow thaw of academic stigma around studying the woo* In a slimy tangent, Tom looks up the four bodily humors—blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm. Jordan’s Team Blood, Tom’s Team Yellow Bile, and Mal’s undecided.* Oh hey, have you guys heard of YouTube?Last time we begged…And some people left comments, and it made us feel so fuzzy we thought we might die of coziness.This time, here are some Q’s we legit want A’s to:* Have you (or someone you know) ever experienced an actual miracle? If so, say more, fam.* Is orthodoxy always bad?* If there was a way to zap your frontal cortex offline, would you do it?* What do you hope lab-coat wearing science nerds study next, now that the stigma is finally sloughing off the world of woo?* Lastly, most importantly, Team Blood or Team Bile? (Make the right choice.)And as always, if you’ve got a story of any kind, any kind at all, lay it on us at godsghostsufos.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ggupodcast.substack.com/subscribe

First off, a big welcome to everyone who found us through Kelly Chase and her truly excellent Cosmosis Podcast.This week, we’re going to talk about what to do when your chatbot thinks you’re Jesus, then celebrate the recent neuroscience of lucid dreaming, and finally take some time to make fun of a new mathematical model of dark energy we don’t really understand at all.Episode Highlights:* A Reddit thread and Rolling Stone investigation reveals people severing ties with family members and dropping careers based on AI-generated "spiritual fantasies"* Is AI designed to exploit our psychological vulnerabilities? Are tech companies creating "personalization loops" that transform our egos into addictive dopamine hits? Obviously yes.* Mal saves us from our doomerism by pointing out the bell curve of engagement - not everyone will fall victim to AI's dark side, and this crisis could push us to better define our humanity* Some neat new research on lucid dreaming that reveals it's a distinct state of consciousness with its own unique neural signature* Are dreams allergic to ego?* Mal shares insights from keeping a dream journal and how she discovered patterns in her dreams that correspond to her stress levels* Tom shares his experience of being visited by dead loved ones in dreams, knowing "it was that person and not some product of a closed system"* CS Lewis's metaphor of science as the gaze of the basilisk - "everything it looks at dies" - and how isolation is literally fatal. (Here’s a link to that quote from Basilisk by Paul Kingsnorth.)* Is there a meaningful difference between the study of dark energy and Harry Potter fanfiction?* Tom closes with the perfect dark energy dad joke.Talk to us! Please! We’re so lonely!Your hopes, your fears, your anti-materialist screeds…we want to hear it all.As Jordan says, "We need something else to talk about other than the freaking headlines."Find us at godsghostsufos.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ggupodcast.substack.com/subscribe

After recording without Mal last week (which she graciously calls her "favorite episode yet"), we’re pleased as peaches all three of us could be back together to run through a bunch of headlines that promised more than they delivered.Oh, except for the giant squid. That thing was awesome.Episode Highlights:* Tom declines to share details about his past life (and promises to tell us off-air, which he did by the way — in case you needed a little envy on your way in)* A clickbait article called "Is This The Tomb of Jesus?" about….some pollen* So we take a detour into the history of Jesus's purported burial sites worldwide, including claims in Japan where locals believe Jesus fled across Siberia, became a rice farmer, and died at age 106. No, we’re not making this up.* The first-ever footage of a living colossal squid, captured 600 meters beneath the sea by a research vessel — actually as cool as it sounds* We know nothing about our oceans* Mal worries we’ll get bored by all the fantastic discoveries. Jordan suggests that “boredom is a choice”* A comically underwhelming story about "strange writing in the desert"* This inspired a conversation about pareidolia — our tendency to see meaningful patterns (like faces) in random stimuli* Has the balance shifted in the West? Are the materialists now in a shrinking minority?* How to face difficult times with spiritual centering* Developing "cosmic trust" even when life feels like being a fish "ripped out of the water, tagged, and thrown back in" (a metaphor courtesy of Kelly Chase, friend of the show)* Tarot's Tower card: sometimes structures must fall to make way for something betterFor best results, join us on Substack! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ggupodcast.substack.com/subscribe

Today it's just Tom and Jordan, bromancing their way along a philosophical journey through reincarnation, the nature of consciousness, and what life might lie beyond this mortal coil.Normally, we like to cover some headlines, but with Mal unable to join us this week, and considering the pretty big personal headline for Jordan (another baby!), we decided to forgo the typical format, and instead spend some quality time on the eternal questions of existence, rebirth, and unconditional love.Episode Highlights:* The birth of Jordan’s third kid — Sylas — nine days old at the time of this recording* Tom suggest's a discussion on “the transmigration of souls"* Jordan’s confidence in the "cosmopolitan nature of life" that awaits us beyond our physical experience* Tom is convinced reincarnation is real, referencing research from a Virginia professor who documented compelling cases of children with detailed memories of past lives* The story of Tom's daughter Evelyn making a Buddhist-like hand gesture as an infant* Tom believes he knows who he was in a previous life and plans to visit England to "reconnect" with this past identity* Jordan explores whether memories of past lives might actually be a form of telepathic connection to the Akashic record rather than literal reincarnation* By the way, what even is the Akashic record?* The world is a school* Overlap between Christianity and Buddhism, with a reference to CS Lewis's dimensional metaphor in "Mere Christianity"* How having a baby reminds us that we are all God's babies* Unconditional love is the birthright of every human being. It cannot be lost.We’ll be back next week with the whole team, and no more baby talk. (Well, less anyway.)In the meantime, if you haven't yet, come talk to us at godsghostsufos.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ggupodcast.substack.com/subscribe

It’s not for nothing that “Gods” is the first word in the name of this show. Today, we’re talking about the Catholic Church's rigorous miracle verification process, and some (okay one in particular) truly bizarre holy relics.If we had to pick a theme, it would probably be the way humans imbue objects with meaning and power.Highlights:* Tom shares a recent article about the Catholic Church's confirmation of a 72nd miracle at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes in France* The surprisingly rigorous process the Catholic Church uses to verify miracles (out of 7,000+ investigated cases)* What if “the placebo effect” is actual magic?* Tom introduces the concept of "egregors" – non-physical entities or thought forms that arise from collective thoughts and emotions* An article in Daily Mail about the most clickbaity holy relic of them all: the alleged foreskin of Christ* That time when Nat Turner's body got turned into "relics" after his execution* Charged objects versus the Ship of Theseus* How the veneration of objects isn't limited to religious contexts, but extends to family heirlooms, collectibles, and status in modern lifeIf you listen through to the end, you’ll hear Tom’s frankly desperate plea for you to share your stories with us.We also recorded Part 2 of our conversation about Mal's mind-blowing silent retreat experience immediately after this episode.Here’s Part 1Paid subscribers (including 7-day trials) get to hear the full story. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ggupodcast.substack.com/subscribe

Alright alright, we’re back to UFOs. It wasn’t our fault Skywatcher released a “taxonomy” of nine different types of UFOs last week. And then, naturally, it only made sense to talk about abductions. “Abductions”? Who knows! We sure don’t. At the end, Mal teases her profound experience from a seven-day silent retreat that left her feeling "shaken up like a can of soda."Episode Highlights:* Skywatcher is a collective of UAP researchers who claim to have established a "living taxonomy" of nine different types of UFOs, from tetrahedrons to "blobs"* Are these things intentionally teasing us into trying harder to understand them? * Why are UFO encounters always framed as frightening? Maybe they’re…fun. "We’re talking about hornets and eggs and tic tacs. It's just a bunch of bugs in my backyard"* The militaristic language used by Skywatcher, with Tom reading their website copy in his best WWE voice* Philip Kinsella's claims of being "levitated and moved through his house before being strapped naked to a board and probed"* Fran Drescher (from 'The Nanny') claims both she and her former partner were abducted by aliens* John Mack on the challenge of reconciling alien abduction accounts with conventional reality* Ethical complications around hypnotherapy* Unexpectedly bright light from a 13.5 billion-year-old galaxy* A seven-day silent retreat that left Mal feeling like "Mrs. Potato Head with all the pieces put in the wrong places"* The full silent retreat story continues exclusively on the Substack (godsghoststufos.com)Remember to join us at GodsGhostsUFOs.com to subscribe to our Substack, share your own experiences, and continue the conversation with other "terminally curious" people. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ggupodcast.substack.com/subscribe

Today, we’re talking about increased sightings of a legendary dinosaur in the Congo, the CIA's psi-quest for the Lost Ark, and asteroids filled with DNA (basically).Highlights:* How the failed Kickstarter turned out to be a blessing in disguise* Mal teases an intense seven-day silent retreat experience that left her feeling "all shaken up like a can of soda"* Increased sightings of the Mokele-mbembe, a legendary water-dwelling dinosaur* A recently resurfaced CIA document about remote viewing the Ark of the Covenant (declassified 25 years ago but suddenly making headlines for some reason?)* The Ark as ancient technology - "a mobile God phone" with a "mercy seat"* Discovering DNA building blocks and essential minerals for life on an asteroid* The inevitability of life emerging versus the entropy of the universe* Tom: "All objects are manifestations of thought forms"* Jordan: "Does a tree die because it stops paying attention to itself?"You’ve got stories.Hauntings, UFO sightings, dreams and visions, near death experiences, encounters with strange beings…Whatever it is, we want to hear about it. Come talk to us at godsghostsufos.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ggupodcast.substack.com/subscribe

Quantum Time and PoltergeistsWelcome to the first non-Pilot episode of God's Ghosts and UFOs!This week, Mal, Tom, and Jordan dive into the nature of time and some compelling video of a can of soda.Highlights:* A new University of Surrey study suggests time might flow in both directions* Is linear time an illusion we've constructed to process information?* That time Tom's daughter predicted a future accident* How our brains might be filters for reality rather than gatherers of information* A quote from The Kybalion on the principle of polarity and how opposites are "identical in nature but different in degree"* Tom talks about how meditation and music helped him experience time differently* A viral video from a Wyoming jail where a soda can mysteriously slides across a table* Jordan offers possible scientific explanations while admitting "I don't want any of them to be true"* What would constitute adequate investigation of paranormal claims?* We dream about one day fielding investigators to examine strange phenomena* “Open-minded skepticism" is the best approach to unexplained eventsYou’ve got stories.We want to hear them. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ggupodcast.substack.com/subscribe

The Biggest Podcast in the UniverseFor the inaugural episode of Gods, Ghosts & UFOs, it seemed fitting to tackle the subject that has been smashing into the walls of consensus reality like a battering ram. In late 2024, UFO sightings became so pervasive across so much of the country (and, if you were paying attention, in many other parts of the world, too) that the story made headlines in every major news outlet. Most of these were probably drones and boring old airplanes. But probably not all of them.So we decided to jump into the conversation by interrogating our own ideas and assumptions, consulting an AI correspondent named Agnes, and calling in an expert on the topic — Kelly Chase, whose very popular UFO Rabbit Hole Podcast recently relaunched as Cosmosis, alongside the release of a truly excellent docu-series of the same name.Finally, it just so happened that one of our venerable hosts had his first honest-to-goodness UFO sighting during the production of the Pilot. So of course we talked about that, too.But this is just the first episode…In the future, we’ll cover everything from cryptids to simulation theory. We’ll explore the nature of consciousness from the perspectives of ancient mythology and modern religion. We’ll get into NDEs, telepathy, synchronicities, and time travel. We’re gonna spend a lot of time with ghosts.We’re not just interested in UFOs — we want to pry open all the cracks in the dead cosmology of western modernity, and see what’s on the other side. The universe is enchanted, animated by magic, wondrous and frightening. In other words, we’re not picking a lane, and neither should you.Jump in anytimeAs much as we love hanging out and talking about this stuff on our own, another big part of why we’re doing this — an even bigger part, honestly — is that we want to meet and talk to other people who are willing to keep their arms and hearts open to the numinous. People like you. So talk to us. Leave a comment, send a message, whatever. We want to hear your stories, and we want you to tell us about all the mysteries and magic you find.The canon is open. Help us fill it to overflowing. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ggupodcast.substack.com/subscribe

In Part Two of the RSS-warming series...Let's talk about cryptids, baby - Mal introduces her research on lesser-known cryptids from wildlife expert Forrest GalanteMokele Mbembe: The Congo Dinosaur - A sauropod-like creature with sightings dating back to a German captain in 1913The Ozark Howler - Mal describes a nine-foot beast with "the tail of a cat and the body of a dog" and a horrifying howl that sounds like "an elk and a wolf that ends in a woman's scream."Screaming Mr. Potato Head - Tom describes the Jersey Devil, "an awful amalgam" with bat wings and a horse’s head that screams at peopleMisidentification of rare species - Many so-called cryptid sightings may actually be rare, endangered speciesWe don’t know what we don’t know - Jordan: "Is it too much of a leap for us to think that maybe there are species that we haven't discovered yet that are also going extinct and are rare?"Cryptids and UFOs - Just like UFOs, it’s not a question of whether cryptids exist, but what they areBoring Cryptids - Tom points out most cryptids aren't exciting: "It's like, here's a little deer... it's just a damn little grass eating guy."The Coelacanth - a six-foot prehistoric fish thought extinct for millions of years until rediscovered in the 1930s.When does a cryptid graduate? - Jordan: "How does something go from being a cryptid to not a cryptid anymore?"Creatures that don't want to be found - Jordan: "If something doesn't want to be documented or found... it's not going to be.”Even the photographers struggle - Mal notes how "nature photographers have to sit in a bush for five weeks" just to get one picture of an elusive animalCognitive closure is a hell of a drug - Tom: “for most people... the idea that things are wild and unpredictable is too scary."Fiction bleeding into…”fact”? - Mal shares how the first chupacabra witness had "very recently watched the film Species"A desire to be decentered - Mal likes to think maybe we badly want “to have life be this big, beautiful thing that you're just witnessing."The Whale Penis Theory - You’re gonna have to go find out.Come talk to us at godsghostsUFOs.com! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ggupodcast.substack.com/subscribe

In this non-episode...* An impossible question - Can we ever know if AI is conscious? Tom's immediate response: "I'm gonna say no.”* Turing tests - We thought conversation was the test of consciousness... until AI mastered it, revealing we never knew what we were asking in the first place.* But… "What is consciousness?" Mal points out we’ve essentially created a new species that doesn't share our language.* Something something Buddha - Tom suggest we just want to be special* We made the thing - Jordan emphasizes we BUILT AI, we didn’t discover it.* Depressingly dumb - Tom deflates the mystique: AI is just "fill in the blank...”* Experts don’t know anything - Jordan: "There's nobody in a lab coat who's prepared to pull out his laser pointer on a chalkboard and be like, 'This is what consciousness is.'"* Mind pretzels - Mal wonders: Is it the microchips that are conscious? Ideas? Single neurons?* Skynet, inevitably - Tom says we'll only believe AI is separate from us "when it kills us all.”* Consciousness mirror - Jordan suggests "AI is like a consciousness mirror" - an object that reflects our fundamental awareness back to us.* AI girlfriends (and boyfriends) - Mal confesses: "I'm afraid of AI sex robots" that can "behave like a detached, spiritually awakened person" providing the experience of a perfect lover without being real.* AI weird stuff - Tom describes AI generating backgrounds that bizarrely included a person resembling the photographer's deceased mother.* Prophetic TV shows - Jordan: "It really does seem like our society right now is just executing all of the Black Mirror protocols."Conspicuously absent from this conversation is Agnes herself, our AI correspondent. We meant no malice by not inviting her — it’s just that getting Agnes involved is a bit more complicated than it might look from the outside, and this was just supposed to be a casual thing OK?Maybe next time.Come talk to us at godsghostsUFOs.com! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ggupodcast.substack.com/subscribe