Dark Matters Radio

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It is pretty much official … Dark Matters Radio is coming back to the airwaves January 18th, 2010 on CyberstationUSA. My show will run 5 nights a week from 10:00 PM till 12:00 AM Pacific Time and 1:00 AM till 3:00 AM … Monday thru Friday.

So, what am I trying to do? Well, one thing I do know something about is radio broadcasting. My preferred beat concerns those things that are different … weird … even bizarre, and that traditional radio usually refuses to touch. Back in 1991 when I first began broadcasting there were no radio shows that routinely took on those topics; even later than King of Late Night Talk Radio, Art Bell, was still doing political talk on satellite radio. I started out taking a close look at the UFO topic, and of course other topics crept into the mix … because they were STRANGE. Conspiracy topics are a fact of life and most talk show hosts (most, not all) really don’t know how to look at the topic. Same with UFOs, animal mutilations, and the tons and tons of related and assorted topics that get swept into the weirdness mix. Why do I think I am capable of tackling this mix?

To answer the above I guess I can start by pointing to my already established track record. Having been a cop, I automatically find myself looking beneath the surface when confronted with these topics, realizing that there are tons and tons of CRAP that you must be willing to wade thru before getting to the real jewels that might be there. A case in point is my interest in “vampirism” and assorted myths and stories surrounding the topic. While writing my novel “Past Sins” I looked into a reportedly real case from England, UK that went back to 1969-70 called “The Highgate Vampire Case.”  Now, the topic has always fascinated me, and why … I am not sure. But, suffice to say it does interest me so I decided to investigate whether there was really anything there that would suggest this case might be real. There were two factions involved out of the UK with this case and when one faction REALLY went after me, I REALLY DUG IN and went for it. It turned out to be total crap of course, but until I went and dug into it I was not willing to just dismiss it because it SOUNDED LIKE CRAP.  Many radio hosts who featured these Brits with their fantastic tales of supernatural boogey-men simply took these tales at face value and didn’t question the premise of supernatural boogey-men because they were either intimidated by these guys OR they didn’t want to lose the interview. Well, Bunky, … that ain’t me. I have always maintained that a radio broadcaster, like a print journalist, has a responsibility to his audience. Back in 1996-97, that became crystal clear with the story of the Hale-Bopp Comet and radio broadcast star Art Bell. Remember the mass suicide of the “Heavens Gate” cult? For several months Art beat the gong about a spaceship (allegedly following the Comet) and all kinds of crazy stuff that cumulated in March of 1997 when that crazy group of cultists committed suicide en-masse in San Diego. Everybody went after Bell, and even though I agreed that Art had not been responsible with this info, he had no culpability in the suicide. So, what should Art have done in my opinion? Well, I believe he should have kicked some of his guests in the ass and demanded proof when they made outrageous claims. But, Art was a showman and in this case it came back and bit him in the backside, instead of Art biting the outrageous guests in the butt. That’s why Dark Matters Radio is different, I have no problem calling someone to account when they abuse my common sense. I think my audience demands it.

See you on the 18th.

Vicki at CRN

The last several weeks I have been doing a job Vicki has been after me to do for some time. The job? I have stored in my garage about 6 or more years worth of radio shows I have hosted on cassette tapes. Going back to 1991, these shows deal with primarily the UFO subject but also many other topics that could be considered paranormal. But my interviews don’t stop there. For example I just digitzed an interview I conducted with Mr. Robert “Bob” Wise, the legendary film producer.

Mr. Robert Wise

If you love movies then I am sure you know Mr. Wise. When Wise started his career in film, he cut his teeth editing Orson Welle’s masterpiece film, “Citizen Kane.” Later he produced/directed such masterpieces as “The Day The Earth Stood Still”, and later films such as “The Desert Rats” with Richard Burton, “West Side Story”, “The Sound of Music”, “The Sand Pebbles” and he launched the Star Trek movie series with the first one “Star Trek-The Motion Picture”. A movie legend, there is no doubt.

I started broadcasting in 1991 on LA radio station KVEG with LA television and radio local legend, Jim Hawethorne.

Jim Hawthorne

Jim began his TV and radio career back in the early 50’s. He had retired but KVEG lured him back in the early 90’s where I met him one week when he invited Vicki, then I to guest on his show. Jim had an interest in UFOs and after I guested I started appearing weekly and brought interview guests in. Before 2 or 3 weeks passed we had a hugely popular Saturday night show. It was the end of January when Hawethorne decided he was tired of driving up from San Diego to do the show and he pulled the plug. I tried to interest KVEG in continuing with me but they had no interest since they didn’t know me. However one of the engineers at KVEG was a guy named Jim Roope and he worked at another media outlet, CRN. CRN stood for The Cable Radio Network, and it sent radio out over cable TV channels nationwide. They called me and I took a meeting with them. This ended up bringing me on the “air” once a week, first for only one hour and later expanding to two. I ended up broadcasting almost 6 years there and would have stayed if they had kept their promise to syndicate … which they didn’t. However while the show aired, it was a smash hit with the audience and they (the audience I mean) demanded their weekly fix of UFO news and views. Really rabid, you know?

A number of times the show was either delayed or even canceled because CRN had some kind of contract with, ya ready for this … Volleyball games!

Well if you could see it!

I had a couple of shows with some important guests scheduled that I had to delay or even cancel and that did piss me off. After this happened either the second or third time I snapped. So, how did I handle it? Well, I told my audience to send their thoughts and feelings to station management via their FAX machine one week, and the audience burned it up. I mean ..  really did burn it up. Ooo, was the Honcho guy, Mike Horn, pissed. He called me in and chewed on my ass for a bit which really did hit me the wrong way. So, the next show I started it out by telling the audience to NOT Call areacode 818-XXX-XXXX anymore and do NOT send anymore Fax’s to areacode 818-XXX-XXXX. Remember, do NOT CALL areacode 818-XXX-XXXX … PLEASE. The calls kept coming in … oh darn!

So, anyway, I have been turning these shows into digital for the computer age and now once again they are available to the listening public. Oh yea, there are some real Gems there. For example … the Fox Movie channel just ran (again) the film “The Sand Pebbles” starring Steve McQueen. Who directed this masterpiece? Why Robert Wise did.  Another show I recently pulled out is an interview with Roger Donaldson

Roger Donaldson

, an Australian director that I interviewed just before a new science fiction film premiered … “Species” which gave us Natasha Henstridge.  Now, I would have LOVED to interview her but never did manage that.

Oh Natasha!!

One show that I also just uploaded was with a friend of mine that passed away several years ago, Russ Estes. He along with Dr. William Cone appeared on the show one night talking about frauds and scam artists that inhabited the research field. (UFO research, not Global Warming … if you’re interested) and I recalled a real funny and raucous two hour jaunt we all enjoyed that evening. However I would be remiss if I also didn’t tell you that this show reminded me why I bailed out of UFO research … My God … it got tiresome wading through the BS day after day and week after week. And looking around at it today it is (IMHO) worse now than it was then. Stay safe and warm and what with the Holidays fast approaching … here is a wish that yours are filled with family and love. Keep those eyes pointing UP …

Best of DARK MATTERS to listen, click here!

The last couple of weeks I have been working on a “Honey-Do!” that my wife Vicki has been on me to do … for the last several years! With all my years of radio broadcasting, I have close to 10 years of radio shows on audio tapes stored in my garage. She has been on me to do SOMETHING with them. Okay Sweetie, I will digitize them … and now the damn things are in my home office. So .. I have been working on getting at least some of these things digital. Every day I have been working on, editing and uploading some of them to The Paracast. And I will be damned … some of these things are absolute GEMS!!! Yep, I will say it again … GEMS! To tell you the truth, I have forgotten how damn good some of these things are. Let me give you an example that is somewhat rather legendary today … the night I caused Phil Klass, internationally known UFO Skeptic … to blow up on my national show … screaming BullShit! BullShit! BullShit! 3 times.

Potty Mouth Phil

It was January 25, 1995 and Phil, Dwight Schultz and I were discussing the UFO topic and I corrected Phil (you will have to listen to the show) when he exploded on the air. By the way, I was right, he was wrong and he never did apologize before he slung off his mortal coil. This really bothered me considering how I saved Phil from a drunk at a MUFON conference in 1990. (The drunk was big, mean and Phil was small and old. Go Figure …)

Dr. Bruce Maccabee used to go over to CIA (yeah, that CIA) and brief interested CIA folks on the UFO subject, cases and who knows what else and I got him on the air to explain to all the UFO folks why. (By the way, most folks that follow UFO things will tell you that what Bruce did was an absolute no-no.)

Chummy with the Spooks

And I might add that getting Bruce to give a good solid answer to some of my questions was tough!

Another stellar show was with Chuck DeCaro (which I just uploaded) formerly a Special Correspondent with CNN. Chuck was the guy that helped launch UFOs back into the national spotlight with his 4 part series on CNN (in 1985) on the Bentwaters UK case. This was an American Air Base (USAF) that housed nuclear weapons and over several days around Christmas of 1980 the base was not only overflown by UFOs but one or more allegedly landed right outside the base. A huge story that still is discussed in UFO circles.

DeCaro

Author William Bramley of “The Gods of Eden” fame was on to discuss his book. (and his book was great!)

Another memorable program was with researcher Lars Hansson who was not only noted for his JFK research but many other areas where suspected government hanky-panky was apparent. Lars did a number of programs with me.

Making a point

Going through the shows I just mentioned really made me somewhat nostalgic, I will admit. I miss doing live radio these days. If you drop by the Paracast to listen to any of the shows I put up I think you will see why.

When Dwight Schultz and I broadcast together, we had one hell of a good time and the audience loved it. Later Dwight went on to do a political show “Howlin’ Mad Radio” a take off of his character “Howlin Mad Murdock” from “The A-Team”, and he is funny as hell as well as sharp as a razor. “I pity the fool! that crosses swords” with Mad Man Murdock. I saw Dwight almost bring skeptics to tears on my shows … when he got fired up. Yep, I do miss those days ….

So, if you want to check it out go to DarkMattersRadio

and pick out a show and listen. I think you will enjoy it. Till next time, keep those eyes on the skies!

Me & Dwight Schultz

Yesterday I had my buddy Rich Sarradet drop over to do a short opening on a past “classic” episode of UFOs Tonite!, my former radio program I hosted for about 6 years. The show “aired” on the Cable Radio Network and went “coast to coast.” Over those years we did a hell of a lot of shows that covered the spectrum of those “weird” things that the mainstream wouldn’t touch with your 10 foot pole. The highest percentage of shows dealt with the UFO subject but we also covered lots of conspiracy related things. I state, as a matter of pride, that I was doing “Art Bell” type stuff at least a year or two before Bell started his wildly popular show “Coast to Coast.” Art was still doing political talk on satellite radio when I was doing UFO stuff. Art however, back in the very early days, interested billionaire Bob Bigelow in his show and he started on a big station over in Las Vegas. He launched …. and the rest, as they say, is history.

Now, back in those days my wife and I were the sole publishers, and of course owned UFO Magazine along with Vicki’s partner, Sheri Stark. We busted some damn big stories, stories that often had national security implications. We were doing a whole hell of a lot of national media along the way, Television shows like “A Current Affair, Encounters, Larry King Live, NBC Nightly News, MSNBC, CNN, Mo Gaffney, Oprah”, buddy if they talked about the UFO subject, we were there. Major Hollywood feature films also used us … and I mean used. Back when “Fire In The Sky” was opening, I was the “prize” that a bunch of British film fans got … I squired them down to Snowflake, Az. to the spot where Travis Walton was allegedly abducted by a UFO. When “ID 4” opened, Vicki and I were featured speakers at Rachel, Nv. when the state changed their highway to the ET Highway out by Area 51. All the big stars plus the Nevada Governor were there. Not only did we cover this in UFO Magazine but also on my national radio show. The folks that tuned in were “rabid” to get their weekly fix of UFO related matters. And … we interviewed anybody and everybody that had “anything to do with the subject!” Hell, I married my wife on my radio show in December of 1993. My audience loved that one!

DARK MATTERS FORUM

Just after the wedding!

To be honest, I had forgotten over the years how many feathers we ruffled. I reported here that in this past year the great folks over at the Paracast, Gene Steinberg and David Biedny offered me a forum to post these past shows so listeners today can hear them. I began posting them with explanations of what the show was about. A few months ago one of the Paracast forum users dropped me a note asking me about a show he just had heard with interviewer Greg Bishop, and his show Radio Misterioso, where Greg had interviewed a friend of mine, Rich Sarradet. Part of this interview involved a show I had done on UFOs Tonite! with Rich and another guy, Michael Younger. Now this is a weird story.

Younger, by all accounts, had some kind of intelligence connection. At the time I must say I was very suspicious of him, but he had some kind of access to some very sensitive information. Now, allow me to regress for just a second. I have been asked too many times to count if during all the years that Vicki and I did UFO Magazine and UFOs Tonite!, if we were ever threatened by anyone. I always told the questioner that never to my knowledge did anybody do that. (And I always wondered why considering some of the stories we broke and covered.) However, as I was to later discover, we were monitored by … someone. The night I did the show with Richard Sarradet and Michael Younger there was a guy in the parking lot taking photos of all the folks going into CRN for my show, and it was later discovered he was a private detective allegedly working for Lockheed. Huh? I mean like WTF??

One show I did with national security concerns was about the DSP satellite system that for decades was keeping the U.S. safe from missile attack. This satellite array, from 22,000 miles in space continuously looks for missile attack by scanning the infra-red range. These satellites are so sensitive that they have (reportedly) the ability to “see” your bar-b-que burning in your back yard. So, why was I interested? Well a story we broke concerned the DSP detecting UFOs entering the atmosphere of the planet from deep space and being tracked by NORAD. The codeword for these UFOs? FASTWALKERs. My guests on that show were two AeroJet employees who worked on the DSP systems, Lee Graham and Ron Regehr. Later I broke a story on Graham when the FBI and the AFOSI ran a “sting” on him, exposing Graham to classified information he did not have clearance for, in an attempt to get him fired and perhaps prosecuted. His crime in their eyes? He was running a campaign of filing Freedom of Information Act requests in an attempt to get the U.S. government to open up on UFO related matters. Do you remember what the big G always claims? UFOs have never had any national security implications…. oh sure and Obama’s health care won’t raise taxes. Sure ….

I never did discover what the real story was behind Michael Younger. He is dead now, reportedly the LAPD found his body by some rail road tracks here in the LA area. So I had Rich over to record a opening monologue to introduce this show that I just uploaded. A couple of days ago I uploaded the Lee Graham and Ron Regehr show also. Actually there are quite a few shows over on the Paracast to hear. Interested? If so here is the link to the Dark Matters forum and the shows are listed. As always, remember to keep those eyes to the skies … till next time!

DARKMATTERS FORUM You will find all the shows at this link.

I started radio hosting back in 1991 and found it fascinating. Interviewing folks about many different subjects was a kick and I got a chance to meet people from many different fields. Past and present Government officials, Hollywood directors, actors, UFO researchers, folks on the cutting edge of conspiracy research, hell I was like a kid in a candy store.

Don-UFOs Tonite!

Over the years I’ve done 4 different gigs with now I suppose over 10 years on the air. My first show was called UFOs Tonite! that ran on the Cable Radio Network. That ran from about 1991 until 1996. It was coast to coast carried on cable television companies. I finally had a falling out with station management because they had continually broke their promise that the show would be syndicated. The fans didn’t care, they loved it. One funny incident happened when my show was pre-emptied because of a “VOLLEY BALL” tournament. Being a smart ass the next week I told my audience to send FAXes to the station Fax machine if they had a complaint, and they burned the damn thing up. The guy that ran CRN chewed on my ass about that, so still being a smart ass I then told my audience that they should no longer FAX anything to areacode 818 and then I gave the number about 4 or 5 times. I don’t think they appreciated my sense of humor!

The next gig was called STRANGE DAZE. It ran on the Liberty Works Radio Network. This show ran for about 7 months, 5 nights a week until the network ran out of money. It was a new start-up effort and the guys in charge didn’t quite know how to pull it off.  Big Bummer.

Later, I was to start a new show on satellite called Dark Matters Radio. You know, all those stories that run “under the radar” that straight media usually doesn’t cover.

I have tons of shows in the can, so to speak. If you want to hear some unusual radio with some very fascinating topics that I did, you can right now! Gene Steinberg of the Paracast gave me my own forum where I am currently uploading shows today. As a matter of fact I just uploaded one that I did with George Knapp, KLAS Channel 8 TV in Las Vegas, back in March of 2007.

George Knapp

A fascinating show. If you don’t know who George is, have you ever heard of the top secret Area 51 story out in Nevada? Well, almost everybody has heard of it by now and George was the guy that broke that story all the way back in 1988. He is also the guy that introduced a guy by the name of Bob Lazar. Google it.

Bob Lazar

At anyrate, go to The Paracast and click on the link to hear the show. Actually I have several programs there that will blow your mind, like the Vito Saccheri Moon special. Gotta get the word out don’t you know. And in the meantime, remember to keep looking up!!

Let’s get one thing straight from the onset … UFOs are real. If you look up and see something in the sky that you can not identify, that is a UFO. UFO does NOT mean aliens or spaceship, got that?

The real question should be, are ANY UFOs … someone else’s technology? Someone that ain’t from around here! (here means Earth.) Got that?

For better than 20 years, this is what I did. Back in the day, back when I was the Director of Research for UFO Magazine, I investigated and researched the question of UFOs and  cases looking for proof that at least some of these things were ( or might be ) somebody else’s technology. Confused yet? God knows, I think I still am … confused that is. Over those years I came across SOME cases that caused my hair to stand on end, and some cases that caused me to break down in uncontrollable laughter. Yes, the field was that huge … wonder on one side and hilarity on the other. You see, we tried to be ( we at UFO Magazine .. a publication begun by my wife and still publishing today without us) the clearinghouse for the real and the unreal. Being a former policeman, I had little time for the bullshit artists ( lots of them ) or the woo-woo factor. ( You know, the aliens are coming here to save us from … us. They want to teach us a better way, the aliens hate war so we should get rid of the army, not militarize space, wear flowers in our hair, save the whales, love a dolphin, pray to the fairies … oh yeah, and send $50 bucks when you get done reading this!)

The bullshit artists and the woo-woo bunch didn’t like me so much, and in the spirit of being absolutely UPFRONT, I thought they were Full Of It … to the eyebrows and higher. It made an interesting 20 years.  And, lest I forget, the other bunch, the Skeptics, were full of shit too. Not all of them to be sure, just most of them. Why, you ask, would I say that? Simply because it’s the dishonesty of their positions.

I do not have the space here in this post to lay it all out, but in time I will using additional posts. Lets simply take one example. (And God knows, I have MANY – MANY of them!)

I will assume that if you are reading this blog, you have at least a partial understanding and knowledge of the UFO field. Philip J. Klass, for years the spokesman of the Skeptical side of things, was the bug-a-boo Skeptic confronting so many UFO cases in the press and on the TV.

Ol

I knew Klass fairly well, and as matter of fact, I saved Klass from a drunk UFO Bubba in Pensacola, Florida at the 1990 MUFON Symposium. (The guy was drunk, big and mean and Klass was old, small and helpless. Hell, I never liked big guys picking on little guys anyway.)

Klass and I had a number of confrontations over the years. One such confrontation took place in Denver, Colorado about 1992. It was hosted by Mike Corbin of ParaNet and Klass and I debated the reality of the UFO field. Okay, so far so good, but then Klass tried to smear a dead guy, Frederick Valentich, a civilian Australian pilot, that disappeared during a UFO encounter over the Bass Strait.

When this topic was raised during the debate, Klass tried to smear Valentich as a “drug smuggler” evading the authorities. His “proof”? Valentich ( according to Klass ) had four ( 4 ) life preservers on board his aircraft! I lit into Klass like “white on rice.” Phil was also sneaky as I found out. Years before I came on the UFO scene Phil had contributed to the downfall of a brilliant scientist, Dr. James McDonald.  The following is from Wikipedia.

“McDonald engaged in an often savagely adversarial relationship with aviation journalist and skeptic Philip J. Klass, who argued in his first book that nearly all UFOs can be explained by ball lightning[5]. At first, the duo exchanged cordial letters on the subject. Klass was rather guarded in his application of the plasma theory at the time, and McDonald agreed that it might explain a small portion of UFO reports. However, Klass quickly expanded his hypothesis arguing that most if not all UFOs, and even cases of alleged alien abduction, could be explained as plasmas. McDonald thought this was absurd, and offered a detailed rebuttal against Klass’s thesis[6]. Many observers—even those skeptical of UFOs—concluded Klass lacked even a basic understanding of the theories he proposed[7]
In late 1967, McDonald secured a modest grant from the Office of Naval Research in order to study cloud formations in Australia. While in Australia, McDonald conducted some UFO research on his own time. Klass mounted an extended, concerted campaign against McDonald, arguing that he had squandered government funds. The ONR responded by announcing that they knew of McDonald’s UFO interests and had no objections to his personal hobbies. The University of Arizona came to McDonald’s defense, announcing that McDonald’s UFO research was done on his own time, and had no adverse impact on his regular teaching and research duties at the university.
Klass then demonstrated that McDonald was spending at least small sums of government research funds on UFO research, and the ONR, apparently fearing controversy, decided to no longer fund McDonald’s cloud research.”
Later, because of this and also because of testimony McDonald gave to the US Congress, his marriage began to falter. McDonald’s life spun out of control and he began to plot his own suicide. After one failed attempt he was successful on the next attempt. Klass continued on for years on his merry crusade against “subversive and dangerous” thinking.

Now, please allow me to relate one final example of the dishonesty of Phil Klass. While broadcasting my show UFOs Tonite! in January of 1995, I had Klass on as a guest and the discussion became somewhat heated. First it concerned the Roswell Crash, and Klass claiming that Army Air Corp Intelligence Officer, Major Jesse Marcel, was trying to “win” a $3,000. “reward” that some unknown newspaper was offering for “proof” of a flying saucer! When I called Klass on that, he threatened to hang up the phone in the middle of the show. ( touchy, eh? ) Later we were discussing the infamous Washington DC 1952 overflights, Phil claimed that the Air Force was so dis-interested, that it took them about an hour to get aircraft there to check out the UFOs. When I corrected him and told him it was because the Air Force was re-surfacing the runways Klass began screaming “BULLSHIT” on the air. 3 times he screamed it!  When I called him on it he became embarrassed and hung up in mid-show. That was the last time I ever spoke to Klass.

Klass died August 9, 2005. The “skunk” left the garden party. ( Phil often described himself as a Skunk at the UFO garden party.) I will say this, he left an impression on all who knew him.
I left UFO research in January of 2007, perhaps more on that later. I suppose my point to you is that the UFO “thing” is vastly complex, not easily understood and one must have the patience of Job. (You know, the guy in the bible.) There is more to it than meets the eye, but I will leave that for another day. So, remember to
Keep looking up and I will catch you the next time around!