The UFO Rabbit Hole Podcast

The podcast is going to be on hiatus for a few more weeks as I work with the Ontocalupse team to wrap up production on our upcoming docuseries, The Beyond: UFOs & A New Reality, which is due out this summer.But I didn’t want to leave you hanging, so in the meantime, I’ve teamed up with Jay Christopher King to bring you guys a series of unreleased talks from the phenomenal Inquiry into Anomalous Experience and the Phenomenon conferences. In the second episode in this series, you’re going to hear what is one of my all-time favorite talks from Inquire Anomalous, which was given by Dr. Michael P. Masters this last December.Regular listeners of the show are already familiar with Mike Masters as the guy who, quite literally, wrote the book on the extratempestrial hypothesis. You can find links to that and all of Mike’s books in the episode brief. In his talk at Inquire Anomalous, Mike spoke publicly for the very first time about his own experiences of contact with non-human intelligences, including a very strange incident that occurred at the International UFO Congress in 2022. I was lucky enough to be present for this talk and to get to talk to Mike afterward, and I was absolutely blown away by his ability to speak so candidly about what he has experienced—and even more so by his bravery in stepping forward publicly. I’m deeply grateful to Mike for being willing to take that leap, and for inspiring me to do the same. If you’d like to watch the full video of this interview, that will be posted on the Inquire Anomalous YouTube channel next week. —————————————This episode is brought to you by The Experiencer Group. The Experiencer Group is a private online community dedicated to support, curiosity & community for people who’ve had anomalous events of all kinds. They hold regular support meetings for people who are processing anomalous experiences, book clubs, special guest speaker presentations, and more. You can learn more and sign up at tegmembers.com.—————————————EPISODE BRIEFNEW ON DREAMLAND: Exploring the Deep End of Consciousness and Contact Experiences with Dr. Michael MastersINQUIRE ANOMALOUS YOUTUBE CHANNELThe full video of this talk will be released on the Inquire Anomalous Youtube channel next week. Subscribe now and click the bell so you get the alert when it goes live.BECOME A PATRONPatrons get lots of great perks like early and ad-free episodes, access to the private The UFO Rabbit Hole Discord server, and twice-monthly Patron Zoom calls with Kelly Chase.Memberships start at just $5/month.GET THE BOOKGet a SIGNED COPYGet it on AmazonFOLLOWWebsiteTwitterFacebookBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-ufo-rabbit-hole-podcast--5746035/support.

Today, I’m bringing you something a little different. As most of you already know, my new media company, Ontocalypse Productions—headed up by myself, Jay Christopher King, and Jordan Flowers, is currently in the midst of completing our first docuseries due out this summer entitled The Beyond: UFOs & A New Reality. While we’re hard at work on that, posting for the podcast will be a little bit more sporadic over the next few weeks, but rest-assured that The UFO Rabbit Hole will be back to its regularly scheduled programming in June. And you’ll still be getting a couple more new episodes in the meantime, including part 2 of the Through The Looking Glass series before then. But while things are a little quieter around here, I thought it would be a great opportunity to bring you guys something special. That’s why I’m teaming up with Jay to bring you a series of never-before-released talks from his phenomenal Inquiry into Anomalous Experience & the Phenomenon conference series—or Inquire Anomalous for short. Regular listeners of the show have definitely heard me talk about Inquire Anomalous before. These have been my absolute favorite conferences to attend over the past few years. They’re small, intimate, and the all-star line up of speakers who are truly on the bleeding edge of anomalous studies makes it a truly unmatched experience. In this first talk presented by Inquire Anomalous, we’ll be hearing from Tim Gallaudet. Tim Gallaudet is a retired Rear Admiral in the U.S. Navy, and a career oceanographer. His former roles include serving as the Deputy Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), as well as the Oceanographer of the Navy. He’s also the former superintendent of the U.S. Naval Observatory. More recently, Admiral Gallaudet has made exciting contributions to the field of UAP studies, particularly in the realm of the too-often overlooked subject of USOs or Unidentified Submersible Objects. He recently released a new article through the Sol Foundation which is a must-read on the topic. You can find that linked int he episode brief below.—————————————This episode is brought to you by The Experiencer Group. The Experiencer Group is a private online community dedicated to support, curiosity & community for people who’ve had anomalous events of all kinds. They hold regular support meetings for people who are processing anomalous experiences, book clubs, special guest speaker presentations, and more. You can learn more and sign up at tegmembers.com.—————————————EPISODE BRIEFINQUIRE ANOMALOUS YOUTUBE CHANNELThe full video of this talk will be released on the Inquire Anomalous Youtube channel on Friday, April 5th. Subscribe now and click the bell so you get the alert when it goes live.BECOME A PATRONPatrons get lots of great perks like early and ad-free episodes, access to the private The UFO Rabbit Hole Discord server, and twice-monthly Patron Zoom calls with Kelly Chase.Memberships start at just $5/month.GET THE BOOKGet a SIGNED COPYGet it on AmazonFOLLOWWebsiteTwitterFacebookBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-ufo-rabbit-hole-podcast--5746035/support.

In today’s episode, I had the absolute honor of speaking with one of my personal intellectual heroes, Bernardo Kastrup. Bernardo Kastrup is the executive director of the Essentia Foundation. His work has been leading the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism, the notion that reality is essentially mental. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (with a focus in ontology and philosophy of mind) and another Ph.D. in computer engineering (with a focus in reconfigurable computing and artificial intelligence). As a scientist, Bernardo has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the 'Casimir Effect' of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). He has also had a 25-year career in high-technology, having co-founded parallel processing company Silicon Hive (which was acquired by Intel in 2011). Bernardo Kastrup is also the author of 11 books. I basically have an entire Kastrup shelf inmy office. His book, “Meaning In Absurdity: What Bizarre Phenomena Can Tell Us About the Nature of Reality” is, in my opinion, one of the most important books written on the UFO phenomenon. I can’t recommend it highly enough. Just a heads up before we begin—if you aren’t familiar with Kastrup’s thinking on analytic idealism, the first part of this interview might be a little challenging. If you stick it out, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how elegantly analytic idealism deals with some of the more mysterious aspects of the anomalous phenomena. If you’d like to learn more about analytic idealism, there are some great resources and videos that can walk you through it step-by-step. [Links in episode brief.]___________________NEW Class from Dr. James MaddenUnidentified Flying Hyperobject: UFOs, Philosophy, and the End of the WorldFour-week online class via ZoomWednesdays, March 27 – April 24 (skips April 10), 20247 – 9 pm ETLearn More About the ClassSign Up Now___________________EPISODE BRIEF[Links to videos on Analytic Idealism in Episode Brief]BECOME A PATRONPatrons get lots of great perks like early and ad-free episodes, access to the private The UFO Rabbit Hole Discord server, and twice-monthly Patron Zoom calls with Kelly Chase.Memberships start at just $5/month.GET THE BOOKGet a SIGNED COPYGet it on AmazonFOLLOWWebsiteTwitterFacebookTIMESTAMP00:00:30 Introduction00:04:35 How working with artificial neural networks at CERN led Bernardo to break with physicalism00:07:12 The difference between intelligence and consciousness00:08:36 Analytic idealism00:12:26 How does analytic idealism relate to the ideas of Donald Hoffman?00:14:38 If the world is mental, why doesn’t it behave like a dream?00:17:23 Bernardo’s UFO experience00:19:37 How UFOs repel our attention00:23:02 Memory and UFOs00:25:46 UFOs and analytic idealism00:30:09 Logic and finding meaning in absurdity00:35:11 The “call of the absurd” and the control mechanism00:39:27 How marketing and propaganda hijack the control mechanism00:42:47 Are “nuts and bolts” UAPs and high strangeness UFO encounters the same phenomenon?00:48:44 Bernardo’s ultraterrestrial hypothesis00:58:37 The rise of AI, NHIs, and the coming consciousness shiftBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-ufo-rabbit-hole-podcast--5746035/support.

This episode is going to be different, because for the first time I’m going to talk about something that I never thought I’d talk about publicly, which is my own anomalous experience and how it changed everything about my life and directly led to me starting this podcast.This is the story of my own highly subjective journey. I’m not asking you to believe anything that I’m saying. My own opinion about what happened to me has changed more times than I count, and I have no doubt that it will change again. My purpose in telling this story isn’t to convince you of anything, but rather to explore in as open and unflinching a way as possible, what it’s like to have an anomalous experience, and to use that as a way to discuss the many complex questions that these experiences raise.___________________NEW Class from Dr. James MaddenUnidentified Flying Hyperobject: UFOs, Philosophy, and the End of the WorldFour-week online class via ZoomWednesdays, March 27 – April 24 (skips April 10), 20247 – 9 pm ETLearn More About the ClassSign Up Now___________________EPISODE BRIEFTHE INSTITUTE OF NOETIC SCIENCESI want to thank the Institute of Noetic Sciences for their collaboration, generosity, and patience with me as I’ve worked on this story. You’ll see in episodes 2 and 3 of this series how exactly they became involved in the strange tale I’m about to tell. In my opinion the work that they are doing is some of the most important work being done in the world and is helping to lay the scaffolding for a new and emergent understanding of the nature of our reality, what it means to be human, and our place in this vast and dazzling cosmos.I hope that if you aren’t already familiar with IONS that you’ll take some time to explore their mission and their work. And if anything in this series speaks to you and you have a little extra give, please consider making a donation to help support IONS into the future.To make a gift, visit noetic.org/give.BECOME A PATRONPatrons get lots of great perks like early and ad-free episodes, access to the private The UFO Rabbit Hole Discord server, and twice-monthly Patron Zoom calls with Kelly Chase.Memberships start at just $5/month.GET THE BOOKGet a SIGNED COPYGet it on AmazonFOLLOWWebsiteTwitterFacebookBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-ufo-rabbit-hole-podcast--5746035/support.

Today we are going to be continuing our Disclosure Field Guide series. As the disclosure narrative continues to unfold, this series seeks to offer a roadmap for those trying to make sense of just what exactly is going on in this strange and confounding moment in our human history. In the first episode, we talked about how to deal with the ontological shock of recognizing that the world that we live in is not what we were told, and how to get reoriented within that new paradigm. In part two, we’re going to go a step further by diving into the history and structure of the institutionalized secrecy that has kept the reality of the UFO phenomenon hidden in plain sight for decades. This episode was guest written by Mark Burchick. To find out more about Mark, click on the episode brief below. Follow Mark on Twitter.___________________NEW Class from Dr. James MaddenUnidentified Flying Hyperobject: UFOs, Philosophy, and the End of the WorldFour-week online class via ZoomWednesdays, March 27 – April 24 (skips April 10), 20247 – 9 pm ETLearn More About the ClassSign Up Now___________________EPISODE BRIEFBECOME A PATRONPatrons get lots of great perks like early and ad-free episodes, access to the private The UFO Rabbit Hole Discord server, and twice-monthly Patron Zoom calls with Kelly Chase.Memberships start at just $5/month.GET THE BOOKGet a SIGNED COPYGet it on AmazonFOLLOWWebsiteTwitterFacebookBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-ufo-rabbit-hole-podcast--5746035/support.

Content Warning: Sexual assault In this episode, I had the pleasure of sitting down with someone that I regard to be one of the best minds and brightest lights in this field, Whitley Strieber. Whitley Strieber is an author of both fiction and nonfiction books, perhaps the most famous of which is his pioneering 1987 book Communion, which detailed his experience of abduction that occurred in the winter of 1985. Since then, Whitley has made many other contributions to the field including his most recent book entitled Them, and the book Super Natural which he co-wrote with Jeffrey J. Kripal, both of which have been referenced several times on this podcast. Whitley is also the host of the long-running Dreamland podcast. You can find links to all of this and more in the episode brief.Whitley’s work has been instrumental to my thinking and growth in this space, and I’m so grateful for both his courage and generosity in sharing his time and his insights.___________________NEW Class from Dr. James MaddenUnidentified Flying Hyperobject: UFOs, Philosophy, and the End of the WorldFour-week online class via ZoomWednesdays, March 27 – April 24 (skips April 10), 20247 – 9 pm ETLearn More About the ClassSign Up Now___________________ EPISODE BRIEFMORE FROM WHITLEY STRIEBERBooks by Whitley StrieberDreamland PodcastUnknown CountryFollow Whitley on XMENTIONED IN THIS EPISODETerrible, Glorious, & Useful by Trevor ShikazeBECOME A PATRONPatrons get lots of great perks like early and ad-free episodes, access to the private The UFO Rabbit Hole Discord server, and twice-monthly Patron Zoom calls with Kelly Chase.Memberships start at just $5/month.GET THE BOOKGet a SIGNED COPYGet it on AmazonFOLLOWWebsiteTwitterFacebookBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-ufo-rabbit-hole-podcast--5746035/support.

In this, the first episode of 2024, I’m welcoming my dear friend, Jay Christopher King, back to the podcast. I know most of you are already familiar with Jay and his work, but for anyone who’s new here, Jay is the director of The Experiencer Group and the co-founder of the phenomenal Inquire Anomalous conference series in NYC. More recently, Jay and I have teamed up with our friend Jordan Flowers to found a new media company called Ontocalypse Productions. Under that banner we have already started production on our first docuseries called The Beyond: UFOs & A New Reality. If you haven’t seen the trailer for that project yet, you can find that below.In this episode, Jay and I are sharing our reflections on a new docuseries that was released this week called UFO Revolution, which we both were featured in. The series also stars Jeremy Corbell, George Knapp, David Grusch, Chris Sharp, Mike Masters, Richard Dolan, Ryan Graves, Garry Nolan, Avi Loeb, Tim Burchett, and many more. If you haven’t seen it yet, this 3-part series is available right now on the free streaming services, Tubi. See below.___________________NEW Class from Dr. James MaddenUnidentified Flying Hyperobject: UFOs, Philosophy, and the End of the WorldFour-week online class via ZoomWednesdays, March 27 – April 24 (skips April 10), 20247 – 9 pm ETLearn More About the ClassSign Up Now___________________EPISODE BRIEFFOLLOW JAY CHRISTOPHER KINGJay’s TwitterThe Experiencer GroupTEG TwitterIA TwitterUFO REVOLUTIONWatch TrailerWatch Series On TubiTHE BEYOND: UFOs & A NEW REALITYWatch TrailerBECOME A PATRONPatrons get lots of great perks like early and ad-free episodes, access to the private The UFO Rabbit Hole Discord server, and twice-monthly Patron Zoom calls with Kelly Chase.Memberships start at just $5/month.GET THE BOOKGet a SIGNED COPYGet it on AmazonFOLLOWWebsiteTwitterFacebookBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-ufo-rabbit-hole-podcast--5746035/support.

Dean Radin, Ph.D., is a prominent figure in the field of parapsychology, known for his extensive research and publications on psychic phenomena. As the chief scientist at the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) and author of influential books such as "The Conscious Universe" and "Entangled Minds," Radin has played a pivotal role in investigating and promoting the scientific understanding of psi phenomena, including telepathy, clairvoyance, and psychokinesis. His work, characterized by its interdisciplinary approach and rigorous statistical analysis, has significantly contributed to the academic and public discourse on the legitimacy and implications of psychic experiences. Radin's efforts have been instrumental in advocating for the open-minded and scientific exploration of these often-controversial subjects within the broader context of consciousness studies.Before joining the research staff at IONS in 2001, he held appointments at AT&T Bell Labs, Princeton University, University of Edinburgh, and SRI International. Dr. Radin is author or coauthor of hundreds of technical articles, some 125 peer-reviewed journal articles, four dozen book chapters, and four best-selling, popular books. Links are in the episode brief if you want to learn more.___________________NEW Class from Dr. James MaddenUnidentified Flying Hyperobject: UFOs, Philosophy, and the End of the WorldFour-week online class via ZoomWednesdays, March 27 – April 24 (skips April 10), 20247 – 9 pm ETLearn More About the ClassSign Up Now___________________EPISODE BRIEFDONATE TO IONSIONS scientific research and free programs are entirely funded by generous gifts from members and donors. Make a gift today at noetic.org/give.BECOME A PATRONPatrons get lots of great perks like early and ad-free episodes, access to the private The UFO Rabbit Hole Discord server, and twice-monthly Patron Zoom calls with Kelly Chase.Memberships start at just $5/month.GET THE BOOKGet a SIGNED COPYGet it on AmazonFOLLOWWebsiteTwitterFacebookBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-ufo-rabbit-hole-podcast--5746035/support.

For today’s episode, I had the honor and the privilege of sitting down with someone who has been the driving force behind some of the most important breakthroughs in the UFO disclosure movement, journalist and author Leslie Kean.Along with journalists Ralph Blumenthal and Helene Cooper, Kean is responsible for the now historic 2017 article in The New York Times entitled Glowing Auras and ‘Black Money’: The Pentagon’s Mysterious U.F.O. Program that first revealed the existence of that program to the public. And in June of 2023, she teamed up with Ralph Blumenthal once again for another history-making piece in The Debrief about the stunning claims made by high-ranking intelligence official-turned-whistleblower. David Grusch, about the existence of secretive crash retrieval programs that are in possession of craft of non-human origin. Just those two articles alone are enough to earn her an unchallenged spot on the Mount Rushmore of disclosure, but they hardly represent the totality of her work in the field. On top of writing countless articles, Leslie is also the author of the book UFOs: Generals, Pilots, and Government Officials Go on the Record as well as the book Surviving Death: A Journalist Investigates Evidence for an Afterlife. `I’ll have all of that and more linked up in the episode description so you can check it out.Later this week on December 9th, Leslie will be co-hosting the fourth meeting of the Inquiry Into Anomalous Experience and the Phenomenon conference series in New York City alongside organizer Jay Christopher King and James Iandoli. Speakers include Diana Walsh Pasulka, Tim Gallaudet, Michael Masters, Paul H. Smith, Peter Skafish, and Josh Cutchin. A surprise guest speaker was just announced, as well—pilot and Nimitz incident witness Alex Dietrich.In-person tickets for this conference are currently sold out, but a limited number of livestream tickets are still available.___________________NEW Class from Dr. James MaddenUnidentified Flying Hyperobject: UFOs, Philosophy, and the End of the WorldFour-week online class via ZoomWednesdays, March 27 – April 24 (skips April 10), 20247 – 9 pm ETLearn More About the ClassSign Up Now___________________GET LIVESTREAM TICKETS HEREAn Inquiry Into Anomalous Experience and the Phenomenon conference series in NYCDec. 9, 2023EPISODE BRIEFBECOME A PATRONPatrons get lots of great perks like early and ad-free episodes, access to the private The UFO Rabbit Hole Discord server, and twice-monthly Patron Zoom calls with Kelly Chase.Memberships start at just $5/month.GET THE BOOKGet a SIGNED COPYGet it on AmazonFOLLOWWebsiteTwitterFacebookBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-ufo-rabbit-hole-podcast--5746035/support.

Today, I bring you something truly special. In this episode we’re welcoming Diana Walsh Pasulka back to the show to discuss her groundbreaking new book, Encounters: Experiences with Non-Human Intelligences. Encounters is a worthy and deeply challenging follow-up to American Cosmic, which we’ve talked about extensively on this show. I hope you’ll all read it, because we’ll definitely return to those ideas again and again.I want to say ahead of time that this episode is going to be a little less accessible than the content I usually release here, and that is intentional. Diana has been doing the podcast circuit to support the launch of Encounters, and there have been some really phenomenal interviews going into the specifics of the book. In particular, I recommend her recent appearances on Somewhere In The Skies and That UFO Podcast—both did a great job of diving into the characters and experiences portrayed in the book, and they are worth your time.Hardcore listeners of the show will know that, over the last year, my thinking around the subject of UFOs has been deeply influenced by Plato’s Cave, and particularly by a somewhat radical read on what it has to teach us that was first introduced to me by Diana and frequent guest of the show, James Madden. It was actually in one of Diana’s classes on UFOs and the Cave where I first met Jim, and eventually struck up a friendship. And I’ve spent the last 18 months processing and integrating the things I’ve learned from them both. I’m profoundly grateful for what that process has opened up to me, not just in terms of my understanding of the phenomenon, but with regard to the meaning and possibilities inherent in human experience.On November 27th, Jim will also be releasing his first book on the UFO topic titled Unidentified Flying Hyperobject: UFOs, Philosophy, and the End of the World which is being published by my new publishing house, Ontocalypse Press. Back in October, I had the absolute pleasure of finishing up the edits on Jim’s book, while simultaneously reading an advance copy of Diana’s and I was fascinated by the interplay between the ideas in both. I found myself thinking that the episode that I really wanted to make with regard to both of these phenomenal books would be one that didn’t involve me, and in which Diana and Jim were given free reign to explore a conversation on their own. Luckily they agreed, and the result is the stunning conversation that I have the privilege of sharing with you today.This episode is definitely challenging, but for those of you who’ve been following along on this journey, you’re in for a real treat. I have links to both Jim and Diana’s books in the episode brief so you can get your hands on those if you haven’t already. In my opinion these are two of the best and most important books about the UFO phenomenon published in recent memory, and both are destined to be classics of the field.___________________NEW Class from Dr. James MaddenUnidentified Flying Hyperobject: UFOs, Philosophy, and the End of the WorldFour-week online class via ZoomWednesdays, March 27 – April 24 (skips April 10), 20247 – 9 pm ETLearn More About the ClassSign Up Now___________________ EPISODE BRIEFMORE FROM DIANA WALSH PASULKAEncounters: Experiences with Non-Human IntelligenceAmerican Cosmic: UFOs, Religion, TechnologyTwitterMORE FROM JAMES MADDENUnidentified Flying Hyperobject: UFOs. Philosophy, and the End of the WorldThinking About Thinking: Mind and Meaning in the Era of Techno-NihilismSubstackTwitterGET LIVESTREAM TICKETS: An Inquiry Into Anomalous Experience & The PhenomenonDec 9, 2023Featuring: Diana Walsh Pasulka, Michael Masters, Tim Gallaudet, Paul H. Smith, Josh Cutchin, Peter Skafish, and Leslie Kean.BECOME A PATRONPatrons get lots of great perks like early and ad-free episodes, access to the private The UFO Rabbit Hole Discord server, and twice-monthly Patron Zoom calls with Kelly Chase.Memberships start at just $5/month.GET THE BOOKGet a SIGNED COPYGet it on AmazonFOLLOWWebsiteTwitterFacebookMUSICTheme: Cabinet of Curiosities by Shaun FrearsonBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-ufo-rabbit-hole-podcast--5746035/support.

After months of work, its finally time to share with you all what I've been working on. Welcome to the Ontocalypse.Learn more about Ontocalypse Productions:Website: ontocalypse.comTwitter/X: @ontocalypseEmail: info@ontocalypse.com___________________NEW Class from Dr. James MaddenUnidentified Flying Hyperobject: UFOs, Philosophy, and the End of the WorldFour-week online class via ZoomWednesdays, March 27 – April 24 (skips April 10), 20247 – 9 pm ETLearn More About the ClassSign Up Now___________________Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-ufo-rabbit-hole-podcast--5746035/support.

Today we welcome James Madden back to the show. As “spooky season” draws to a close, I didn’t want to miss the chance to explore some of the darker themes that have been inspiring both Jim’s recent work, and our ongoing conversation about the nature of the UFO phenomenon—specifically the paranoia that comes from our uncanny encounters with things that lie just beyond the limits of our own personal caves. You can find Jim’s most recent musings on his substack in a piece entitled Specters of the Thinking Machine: The Uncanny Suggestion of the Non-human within the Human, which I have linked up in the episode brief. In this episode we’ll be exploring the themes of that article, as well as exploring a work that has become something of a touchstone for me in my exploration of the darker contours of the UFO phenomenon, the phenomenal docuseries, Hellier.___________________NEW Class from Dr. James MaddenUnidentified Flying Hyperobject: UFOs, Philosophy, and the End of the WorldFour-week online class via ZoomWednesdays, March 27 – April 24 (skips April 10), 20247 – 9 pm ETLearn More About the ClassSign Up Now___________________EPISODE BRIEFFOLLOW JAMES MADDEN GET THE BOOK: Unidentified Flying HyperobjectSubstackTwitterWATCH HELLIERBECOME A PATRONPatrons get lots of great perks like early and ad-free episodes, access to the private The UFO Rabbit Hole Discord server, and twice-monthly Patron Zoom calls with Kelly Chase. Memberships start at just $5/month.GET THE BOOKGet a SIGNED COPYGet it on AmazonFOLLOWWebsiteTwitterFacebookMUSICTheme: Cabinet of Curiosities by Shaun FrearsonBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-ufo-rabbit-hole-podcast--5746035/support.

In the first episode of this series, we dive into the mystery of the ranch and plot our path forward. We discuss:🛸 What John Keel saw as the biggest blunder of ufological investigation (and how to avoid it)🛸 The conversation that convinced Jacques Vallée that science will never provide the full answer on UFOs (and how to proceed anyway)🛸 The reason Brandon Fugal says there may be a “precognitive, sentient, non-human intelligence” on the ranch🛸 The 6-Layer Model of Anomalous Phenomena (Vallée & Davis)🛸 The Control Mechanism (Vallée)🛸 Window Areas (Keel)🛸 The UFO as Hyperobject (James Madden)🛸 And much more___________________NEW Class from Dr. James MaddenUnidentified Flying Hyperobject: UFOs, Philosophy, and the End of the WorldFour-week online class via ZoomWednesdays, March 27 – April 24 (skips April 10), 20247 – 9 pm ETLearn More About the ClassSign Up Now___________________EPISODE BRIEFBECOME A PATRONPatrons get lots of great perks like early and ad-free episodes, access to the private The UFO Rabbit Hole Discord server, and twice-monthly Patron Zoom calls with Kelly Chase. Memberships start at just $5/month.GET THE BOOKGet a SIGNED COPYGet it on AmazonFOLLOWWebsiteTwitterFacebookMUSICTheme: Cabinet of Curiosities by Shaun FrearsonBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-ufo-rabbit-hole-podcast--5746035/support.

I’m so excited about today’s episode because I think it’s been a long time coming. This episode isn’t about UFOs, per se, but it is about something that often happens to people when they begin looking into this topic—or other topics that challenge our consensus reality—which is the sudden appearance of profound synchronicities. I hear from dozens of listeners of the podcast everyday, and one of the things that people reach out to me about most is to tell me that after they started listening to the podcast they suddenly started encountering strings of bizarre and improbable synchronicities in their lives. I’ve heard that exact thing from more people than I could ever get back to—and if you’re one of those people, I just want you to know that I’ve heard you, and I wanted to do an episode about this very phenomenon that I hope can serve as sort of roadmap in beginning to understand and integrate what synchronicities are and how you can best ride the wave of the improbable in your own lives. And I couldn’t think of anyone better to join me in this conversation than today’s guest—the woman who literally wrote the book on strange coincidences—Sharon Hewitt Rawlette. I’ve been lucky enough to meet Sharon and hear her speak at two different conferences in the last year—both December’s Inquire Anomalous conference in NYC, and Rice University’s Archive’s of the Impossible in May—and both times I was blown away by the depth and ingenuity of her thinking. Sharon has the ability to make complex ideas easy to grok, and every time I hear her speak I walk away with a new perspective and understanding. I’ll link up both of those talks in the episode description if you’d like to check them out.Sharon Hewitt Rawlette is a philosopher who writes for both popular and scholarly audiences on the topics of consciousness, anomalous experience, ethics, and spirituality. Before launching her career as an independent writer and researcher, she earned her PhD in philosophy from New York University. She currently serves on the board of the Bigelow Institute for Consciousness Studies as well as being a supporting researcher for the International Centre for Reincarnation Research. She has published four books and in 2021 was named a runner-up in the Bigelow Institute for Consciousness Studies essay contest for her essay “Beyond Death,” on the best evidence for the survival of human consciousness after permanent bodily death.The book that we’ll be referencing today is Sharon’s book entitled The Source and Significance of Coincidences. And if you have any interest in this topic, I really can’t recommend this book enough. Sharon attacks this topic from every conceivable angle, and the extensive table of contents makes it an invaluable reference tool when you want to dig a little deeper into strange coincidences that occur in your own life. [links in episode brief]___________________NEW Class from Dr. James MaddenUnidentified Flying Hyperobject: UFOs, Philosophy, and the End of the WorldFour-week online class via ZoomWednesdays, March 27 – April 24 (skips April 10), 20247 – 9 pm ETLearn More About the ClassSign Up Now___________________EPISODE BRIEFBECOME A PATRONPatrons get lots of great perks like early and ad-free episodes, access to the private The UFO Rabbit Hole Discord server, and twice-monthly Patron Zoom calls with Kelly Chase. Memberships start at just $5/month.GET THE BOOKGet a SIGNED COPYGet it on AmazonFOLLOWWebsiteTwitterFacebookMUSICTheme: Cabinet of Curiosities by Shaun FrearsonBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-ufo-rabbit-hole-podcast--5746035/support.

Today we welcome Christopher Sharp back to the show. Chris is the founder and editor-in-chief of Liberation Times, and has been one of a small handful of independent journalists who has been doggedly pursuing the UFO disclosure story in Washington D.C. over the past few years. While most of the mainstream media is asleep at the wheel, Chris has been churning out high-quality journalism analyzing all aspects of this profound and historic story. Over the past several weeks since the historic hearing in front of the House Oversight Committee, I’ve seen a lot of confusion and a lot of concern in the community about the status of disclosure, with many worrying that all momentum has been lost. The revelations by David Grusch were so shocking and so incendiary that I think many have been baffled by the relative quiet that has followed. I think for those who aren’t familiar with the vast complexities of how revelations like this are processed through the massive, multi-trillion dollar organization of the US government it’s easy to fear that this lull means that disclosure is dead.That’s why this felt like the perfect time to bring Chris back on the show to help to frame all the latest regarding disclosure, what’s going on behind-the-scenes, and what still might be on the horizon. Chris is working this story day in and day out and as you’ll hear directly from him—reports of the demise of disclosure have been greatly exaggerated.___________________NEW Class from Dr. James MaddenUnidentified Flying Hyperobject: UFOs, Philosophy, and the End of the WorldFour-week online class via ZoomWednesdays, March 27 – April 24 (skips April 10), 20247 – 9 pm ETLearn More About the ClassSign Up Now___________________EPISODE BRIEFSUPPORT CHRIS SHARP & LIBERATION TIMESBECOME A PATRONPatrons get lots of great perks like early and ad-free episodes, access to the private The UFO Rabbit Hole Discord server, and twice-monthly Patron Zoom calls with Kelly Chase. Memberships start at just $5/month.GET THE BOOKGet a SIGNED COPYGet it on AmazonFOLLOWWebsiteTwitterFacebookMUSICTheme: Cabinet of Curiosities by Shaun FrearsonBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-ufo-rabbit-hole-podcast--5746035/support.

Today, we have a very special guest on the show, Dr. Jeffrey Kripal. Dr. Kripal is an esteemed scholar and author in the study of religion, focusing particularly on the esoteric, mystical, and paranormal dimensions of human experience. He serves as the J. Newton Rayzor Chair in Philosophy and Religious Thought at Rice University. He is the author of several phenomenal books including The Superhumanities, Mutants & Mystics, Super Natural (which he co-authored with Whitley Strieber), and The Flip.___________________NEW Class from Dr. James MaddenUnidentified Flying Hyperobject: UFOs, Philosophy, and the End of the WorldFour-week online class via ZoomWednesdays, March 27 – April 24 (skips April 10), 20247 – 9 pm ETLearn More About the ClassSign Up Now___________________EPISODE BRIEFBECOME A PATRONPatrons get lots of great perks like early and ad-free episodes, access to the private The UFO Rabbit Hole Discord server, and twice-monthly Patron Zoom calls with Kelly Chase. Memberships start at just $5/month.GET THE BOOKGet a SIGNED COPYGet it on AmazonFOLLOWWebsiteTwitterFacebookMUSICTheme: Cabinet of Curiosities by Shaun FrearsonBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-ufo-rabbit-hole-podcast--5746035/support.

In this episode we welcome back my dear friend and friend of the show, Dr. James Madden. This is the third episode that we’ve done together, and I’m sure that it won’t be the last. My interviews with James Madden have become some of my most downloaded episodes, and so I know you guys love hearing from him. And I love talking to him, so we’re just going to keep doing it. The deeper we dive into the phenomenon, the more necessary it becomes to not just interrogate what we think, but how we think—and to find new frameworks to help us do so. A philosophical approach gives the means to do that. And I’ve been so grateful to Jim for how generous he’s been with his time and his thoughts as we navigate these deeper waters. As you all know, over the past several months Plato’s Cave has become a central touchstone of this podcast. It’s an idea I keep returning to, again and again, because as my own trip down the rabbit hole continues, I continue to find new insights within it. And so today, with Jim as our guide, we’re going to return to the Cave, armed with the new ideas we’ve developed over these past several months, and see what new revelations might reveal themselves.With this episode we’ll also be returning to our discussion of Whitley Strieber’s groundbreaking new book, Them, which we discussed in the last episode. Strieber’s decades of deep research and thinking on the topic of non-human intelligence as well as his own ongoing contact experiences have led him to develop a nuanced, challenging, and at times unsettling, understanding of “the others”—including how they operate at the fringes of our awareness and what they might ultimately be trying to tell us.___________________NEW Class from Dr. James MaddenUnidentified Flying Hyperobject: UFOs, Philosophy, and the End of the WorldFour-week online class via ZoomWednesdays, March 27 – April 24 (skips April 10), 20247 – 9 pm ETLearn More About the ClassSign Up Now___________________ EPISODE BRIEFBECOME A PATRONPatrons get lots of great perks like early and ad-free episodes, access to the private The UFO Rabbit Hole Discord server, and twice-monthly Patron Zoom calls with Kelly Chase. Memberships start at just $5/month.GET THE BOOKGet a SIGNED COPYGet it on AmazonFOLLOWWebsiteTwitterFacebookMUSICTheme: Cabinet of Curiosities by Shaun FrearsonBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-ufo-rabbit-hole-podcast--5746035/support.

Today’s episode is an important one, because it’s going to lay the groundwork for a lot of the things that we’re going to be discussing moving forward. In the weeks and months to come, this is an episode that I’ll likely be referring back to often. And that’s because today we’re diving into an article written by two heavyweights of ufology that serves not only as an essential framework to support our understanding of the complexities and nuances of the UFO phenomenon, but that also—in a very real way—helped to lay the foundation for the recent push for UFO disclosure. In short, it’s not only important that we take the time to really understand the ideas presented in this article—but to understand where it fits into the history of modern ufology. The paper to which I’m referring is Incommensurability, Orthodoxy, and the Physics of High Strangeness: A 6-Layer Model for Anomalous Phenomena written by Jacques Vallée and Eric Davis. Most people will already be very familiar with those names, but just in case they are new to you, you can find links to their bios and other work in the episode brief. What is so significant about this paper is that it seeks to create a framework by which we can begin to analyze and integrate the parts of UFO encounters that rarely make it into sci-fi media, and even more rarely make it into serious discussions about the phenomenon itself—which is the undeniable and pervasive occurrence of events and effects that are traditionally relegated to the realms of high strangeness and the paranormal. If there’s nothing else that you take away from this episode it should be this—encounters with UFOs and non-human intelligence are much, much weirder than you've probably been led to believe.___________________NEW Class from Dr. James MaddenUnidentified Flying Hyperobject: UFOs, Philosophy, and the End of the WorldFour-week online class via ZoomWednesdays, March 27 – April 24 (skips April 10), 20247 – 9 pm ETLearn More About the ClassSign Up Now___________________ EPISODE BRIEFBECOME A PATRONPatrons get lots of great perks like early and ad-free episodes, access to the private The UFO Rabbit Hole Discord server, and twice-monthly Patron Zoom calls with Kelly Chase. Memberships start at just $5/month.GET THE BOOKGet a SIGNED COPYGet it on AmazonFOLLOWWebsiteTwitterFacebookMUSICTheme: Cabinet of Curiosities by Shaun FrearsonFeatured Song: Jacques Vallée by _shipTIMESTAMPS00:00:32 Introduction00:06:53 Problems with the SETI and UAP Paradigms00:07:25 —SETI & The Assumption of Mediocrity00:12:19 —Anthropocentric Bias in SETI00:14:54 —Anthropocentric Bias in Ufology00:16:27 The Need For A Unified Approach To UAP Studies00:20:01 The Six Layers of UAP Analysis00:20:30 —Layer I: Physical00:21:45 —Layer II: Anti-Physical00:23:00 —Layer III: Psychological00:29:53 —Layer IV: Physiological00:32:19 —Layer V: Psychic00:34:19 —Layer VI: Cultural00:37:10 Possible Nature of UAP Technology00:39:48 The Incommensurability Problem00:45:42 Semiotics00:51:35 High Strangeness & The Abduction Problem00:54:12 Conclusions00:56:23 Garry Nolan and Talking To Ants01:00:26 Whitley Strieber and “The Visitors In the Trees”01:12:42 Jacques Vallée by _shipMUSICTheme: Cabinet of Curiosities by Shaun FrearsonFeatured Song: Jacques Vallée by _shipBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-ufo-rabbit-hole-podcast--5746035/support.

This week’s episode barely felt like work because this week I sat down with my dear friend, and one of my favorite people, Jay Christopher King. Jay is the cofounder and director of The Experiencer Group, a private online community dedicated to support, curiosity & community for people who’ve had anomalous events of all kinds. He is also the co-founder of the phenomenal Inquire Anomalous conference series in NYC along with James Iandoli.___________________NEW Class from Dr. James MaddenUnidentified Flying Hyperobject: UFOs, Philosophy, and the End of the WorldFour-week online class via ZoomWednesdays, March 27 – April 24 (skips April 10), 20247 – 9 pm ETLearn More About the ClassSign Up Now___________________EPISODE BRIEFBECOME A PATRONPatrons get lots of great perks like early and ad-free episodes, access to the private The UFO Rabbit Hole Discord server, and twice-monthly Patron Zoom calls with Kelly Chase. Memberships start at just $5/month.GET THE BOOKGet a SIGNED COPYGet it on AmazonFOLLOWWebsiteTwitterFacebookMUSICTheme: Cabinet of Curiosities by Shaun FrearsonBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-ufo-rabbit-hole-podcast--5746035/support.

In the third and final chapter of the Waking Up Inside The Cave series we explore emerging theories with regards to the nature of reality and consciousness that have the potential to fix what’s broken with “the official story of everything”. Specifically, we’ll be looking at the work of Jefrey Kripal, Robert Lanza, and Donald Hoffman.___________________NEW Class from Dr. James MaddenUnidentified Flying Hyperobject: UFOs, Philosophy, and the End of the WorldFour-week online class via ZoomWednesdays, March 27 – April 24 (skips April 10), 20247 – 9 pm ETLearn More About the ClassSign Up Now___________________EPISODE BRIEFBECOME A PATRONGET THE BOOKGet a SIGNED COPYGet it on AmazonFOLLOWWebsiteTwitterFacebookMUSICTheme: Cabinet of Curiosities by Shaun FrearsonTIMESTAMPS00:00:30 Introduction00:04:33 A New Paradigm Emerges00:09:52 The Flip00:13:41 —Triggering The Flip00:14:18 —The Impact Of The Flip00:14:56 —Where the Traditional Materialist View Fits00:15:46 —Full Disclosure00:17:17 Biocentrism00:20:35 —The Goldilocks Universe00:22:42 —If A Tree Falls In The Forest Does It Make A Sound?00:29:55 —Where Is The Universe?00:34:58 —The Participatory Universe & Quantum Mechanics00:36:21 —Space-Time Is Not Fundamental00:43:13 The Case Against Reality00:44:06 —How Evolution Hides The Truth00:46:33 —The Interface Theory of Perception00:48:22 —Objects As Mental Constructs00:49:48 —Space-Time Is Doomed00:50:42 Putting It All Together00:50:55 —Recognizing Our Uber-Umwelt00:57:29 —Consciousness—Not Space-Time—Is Fundamental01:00:59 ConclusionBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-ufo-rabbit-hole-podcast--5746035/support.