From Project Blue Beam to Abductions, Cattle Mutilations, and Fraudulent Conspiracy Theories

I had the pleasure of recently appearing on the Kidd and Friends Podcast, talking to host Christopher Perry about the double-edged fascination with conspiracy theories, especially UFO conspiracy theories. Check out the episode right here. With the government’s release of more UFO files (6 batches as of this writing), we have an ongoing appetite for information, speculations, and debates about the meaning of the phenomenon. This, of course, is understandable. If this phenomenon turns out to be something extraordinary—incontrovertible proof of extraterrestrial visitations, or contact with some form of interdimensional life forms—then it would be the greatest story in all of human history. I am actually baffled by those who have no interest in the topic at all, if they simply don’t care what might be behind the phenomenon.

So, in this discussion we dive into questions about conspiracy theories surrounding UFOs. And these are not merely theories about the Men In Black and retrieved flying saucers and extraterrestrial bodies. We talk about conspiracy theories alleging that quite contrary to the fear of suppressed UFO information, maybe the real conspiracy involves the creation of fake alien-contact stories. Instead of hiding aliens from the world, perhaps the conspirators are trying to make the world believe in nonexistent aliens. This is the crux of the Blue Beam conspiracy theory.

Then for an even more colorful dive into the realm where UFO sightings and conspiracy theories intersect, we look at fake conspiracies created by the U.S. Air Force that once drove a UFO investigator to a nervous breakdown. And have you ever wondered why the two major theories behind the cattle-mutilation mystery don’t make sense? Give us a listen right now and find out.

You can thank me later!

The Fascination With Aliens is Not Fading, and it Shouldn’t

It’s quite fascinating how much attention the issue of the U.S. government’s knowledge UFOs/UAPs is still garnering from serious media outlets and thoughtful pundits, and it is all taken seriously and presented as an issue worth studying and making the effort to understand. Certainly, some outlets are more interested in the story more than others. The cable new station News Nation has been taking almost daily deep dives into the issue, especially with the six batches of government UFO files that have been released since May. I am glad for this and I recently got the chance to have a couple of great conversations about the subject on two podcasts.

I first discuss the UFO issues and the way it is intertwined with conspiracism with Kevin Carney and Emanuel Petrescu on their Curious Pundits Podcast, and you can see it on YouTube at this link right here.

We also go into the history of the phenomenon, including the question of whether or not it is something much, much older than 1947 when pilot Kenneth Arnold made the first UFO report and the year when the infamous Roswell crash is alleged to have taken place. And certainly, this often crosses into the ancient astronaut theory and whether or not religions had been inspired by the misinterpretations of extraterrestrial contact by ancient man. Since the ancient astronaut theory gets very little respect by the community of historians—the theory essentially accepts a literal translation of ancient texts and offers no way of testing its claims and falsifying them—we do wonder about its plausibility. If there is something anomalous flying around in our skies today, can it stand to reason that the same phenomenon was present hundreds or even thousands of years ago? Sure it can. Although it is not something that can be tested in any way. Swearing an unequivocal belief in ancient aliens, therefore, is not a prudent move. 

However, do check out our discussion about the mystery airship phenomenon of the late 1890s, the peculiarities of the case, and why otherworldly craft might have looked like propeller driven oddities straight out of a steampunk novel.

The Summer of UFO disclosure!

                                                        
With all the excitement of the 4^th of July, some traveling I needed to do, and a great deal of writing on not one but two major book projects, getting back to my planned revitalizing of the blog has fallen by the wayside. However, I wanted to update it right now with a link to my recent guest turn on the Persuasion by the Pint podcast about the new Steven Spielberg UFO film, Disclosure Day. You can listen to our very in-depth discussion of cinematic aliens and allegedly real aliens right here.

 

As a little sneak peak of the episode, we look at the way the term “disclosure” seems to have entered the national lexicon and how mainstream news organizations are given to more and more coverage of the UFO phenomenon. This turn of events, we discuss, is overall positive. This is a decades-long mystery (maybe centuries-long if we consider the claims of the ancient astronaut proponents) that could possibly turn out to be the most significant event in human history. But, then again, the skeptics could turn out to be right and we have nothing more than misidentifications, hallucinations, unusual weather phenomena, and liars and hoaxes. I personally don’t think that the phenomenon comes down to misidentification and lies. I think there is a preponderance of evidence that the unidentified flying objects are something from outside of our world, but preponderance of evidence does not constitute proof that we are looking at extraterrestrial craft or interdimensional beings. The skeptical insistence that extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof is absolutely true. However, extraordinary proof will only be found through extraordinary research and investigation. With the government’s recent release of several batches of reports, videos, and photos of UFO sightings since the end of World War II, hopefully the extraordinary research will commence.

 

But we also talk about the worrisome problem of too many so-called whistleblowers presenting testimony after testimony of having seen that extraordinary proof of an alien presence on Earth, yet being unable to actually show the world that evidence. The whistleblower’s word alone, unfortunately, does not constitute proof. The whistleblower telling us that he heard from yet another whistleblower whose identity he can not reveal does not constitute proof either. But could all of these whistleblowers and mysterious insiders be a part of a much more complicated agenda. If none of these whistleblowers ever wind up producing anything significant, will the public interest in UFO investigations fade away again? And would that really be the best way to discredit and silence a movement?

 

But check out our discussion of these big questions and our analysis of Disclosure Day!

 

UFOs, Conspiracy Theories and when a Conspiracy Theory is a Conspiracy Fact

While I am swamped much more than usual, I'm happy to share this link to my appearance on Christopher Dessi's The Quantum Shift podcast. It was a fantastic way to discuss for an hour and a half the dividing lines between healthy skepticism and paranoia, real criminality and the abuse of power and privilege versus creative fantasies about the Illuminati and the New World Order. Moreover, it was great taking a deep dive into the UFO phenomenon that is dominating headlines again while remaining as baffling as it ever was.

So watch our discussion as we try and navigate our way through UFO sightings, alien cults, secret societies, government  misinformation, and I even give you a quick tutorial on how to create your own Do It Yourself Conspiracy where you, too, can build narratives about your "mysterious connections" to the Antichrist, aliens, the CIA, and ancient secret societies. 

You will never look at the conspiracy culture the same way again!

What is the future of cinema? Dead? Dying? Something else?

Is cinema dying? Evolving? Something in between? I was the guest on the Uncommon Conversations podcast over the summer and the episode just dropped. Grab a big collectors' popcorn bucket and listen to us talk about everything from streaming to spinoffs, sequels, prequels, reimaginings, and all the totally uninteresting Marvel post-credit sneak peeks.

Check right here for a link to the podcast.

Examining "Shattered Glass" on CineVerse

I show Shattered Glass in my media ethics class every year, but is it also great cinema? This compelling film just keeps getting more and more relevant with every passing year. As trust in mainstream journalism keeps eroding, this underrated, but excellent, film shows some of the reasons why. Check out our CineVerse discussion of what makes this one of the best journalism films ever made right here.

"Jaws" never jumped the shark!

Remember back when big summer movies used to be...what's the word I'm looking for? GOOD! When they used to be good! And "Jaws" is one of the best ones. Today is the 50th anniversary of the original summer blockbuster and we recently discussed it of the CineVerse show. Check it out at the link below.

https://www.cineversegroup.com/2025/06/across-half-century-jaws-never-jumped.html