Tag Archives: paranormal

The Problem With Coast To Coast AM and George Noory

30 Jun

June 30, 2016

I make fun of Coast to Coast AM with George Noory a lot. A LOT. In case you don’t know the show, here is their own description:

Coast to Coast AM airs on more than 600 stations in the U.S., as well as Canada, Mexico and Guam, and is heard by nearly three million weekly listeners. With hosts George Noory, George Knapp (weekend), and guest weekend hosts, it is the most listened to overnight radio program in North America. A media phenomenon, Coast to Coast AM deals with UFOs, strange occurrences, life after death, and other unexplained (and often inexplicable) phenomena. Coast to Coast AM is overnight talk radio with daytime ratings.

What that leaves out is that it is not nearly as popular or respected as it was under Art Bell, who created it. It also leaves out that under George Noory the show has become a joke. You’ll see why soon.

Art Bell was a critical questioner and listener. He had as guests experts in major scientific fields as well as those involved in fringe paranormal research. But no matter who he had on, he asked probing and intelligent questions and did not let anyone who made outrageous claims go unchallenged. George is just the opposite. Not only is he himself ill-informed  about most of the topics he addresses, he rarely asks follow up questions and never, ever challenges a guest about anything said. Even callers with ridiculous claims are given a “gosh, wow!” by George. Ghost of Hitler got off a UFO and had a picnic with Bigfoot on your front lawn while you danced with pixies and made sandwiches? “That sounds like some afternoon. Do you think they chose you intentionally or do you live in a UFO hot spot?”

The big issue is that George is totally uncritical and unquestioning. He is open to anything and will never, ever say a negative word about anything or anyone.

I debunked a UFO claim on their Facebook page the other day.

C2C crap

I’m not an expert on UFOs. I’m just a guy with an interest in things who has read some books. Surely the host of Coast to Coast AM with George Noory, a “media phenomemon” who has been delving into the mysteries of the paranormal for 13 years, would be more knowledgeable than me. Surely someone on his staff would do some research on an alleged UFO photo before posting it on their website. Surely they wouldn’t be powned by a noob like me, right?

Nah, that’s giving them too much credit. No one checks anything. No one bothers. They put anything out there no matter how fake or stupid. (And you should really see some of the stupid stuff on their page.) I saw that photo and immediately knew it was fake. I recognized that UFO from one of the most famous pictures in all of UFOlogy. It is lifted from one of the McMinnville, Oregon photos from 1950.

mcminnville01

Not just a similar object, but the same exact photo. Same lighting. Same silhouette. Same everything except that the doctored photo is so badly done it is a lot blurrier. (To be fair, some of that blurriness came when I enlarged it. Go to their page for the original.) I saw their post, recognized the photo, googled “UFO over farm house” and found that picture in under 20 seconds. The giveaway that it is the exact image is the way the light- and possibly the grain of the photo- makes the left top edge of the object appear to be pointed. Look closely in the Facebook post, it’s there too. I didn’t need any computer skills, I used my own two eyes!

And if you think that it looks like something hanging from a wire, that’s the common claim of debunkers.

That picture dates back to 1950. It is over 65 years old and has been reprinted in books all over the world since then, not to mention the internet. But did the “media phenomenon” recognize it? Nope, no one even bothered to look into it for a second.  It took me to discover that it was a doctored picture? Way to go George Noory.

 

 

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Lying Awake With John Newly #11: Off-Topic

16 Jun

June 16, 2016

 

ANNOUNCER: This is Lying Awake with John Newly. Lying Awake airs seven nights a week from midnight to 5 am. This hour is sponsored by Markham Pharmaceuticals. And now, here’s your host, John Newly.

JOHN NEWLY: Hi! This is Lying Awake with John Newly and I’m proud to say that yes, that’s me, I’m John Newly. Always have been! And I always will be, thanks to Markham Pharmaceuticals. I’ve been taking their proprietary blend of cutting edge health products since they sponsored me last Tuesday, and let me tell you, my bowels have definitely noticed. We’ll be back after these words.

PROMO for WKAT charity tuxedo steaming. Have your tuxedo steamed to benefit feline fur loss.

COMMERCIAL for Big Bob Briscoe’s Breakfast Buffet and Car Wash. Free Eggs Benedict with every wash.

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JOHN NEWLY: And we’re back. Hello! In the studio with me is Monty McAndrews, noted oceanographer and researcher. We’ve been discussing his theory about the Loch Ness Monster and all sorts of ocean mysteries. Monty, the ocean is pretty salty, right? I once swallowed some seawater at the beach and it made me sick.

GUEST: That’s right. Most of the world’s bodies of water have rather high salinity counts.

JOHN NEWLY: You know, Inger Montenegro believes that the oceans were salted by ancient astronauts.

GUEST: Well John, we actually know quite a lot about the chemical composition of sea water and scientists have traced-

JOHN NEWLY: Wow, that’s great. Let’s go to the phones. Donny from Idaho, you’re first up on Lying Awake. Go ahead!

CALLER: Hi John.

JOHN NEWLY: Go ahead!

CALLER: Um, yeah. Hey, I was watching the Discovery Channel once. This was a lot of years ago.  And-

JOHN NEWLY: Monty? Do you watch the Discovery Channel?

GUEST: I’ve appeared on their network quite often, actually.

JOHN NEWLY: Man, that Shark Week is something. I bet for a guy in your field that’s like Christmas.

GUEST: I suppose, for some researchers, but sharks aren’t really my interest.

JOHN NEWLY: I bet they would be if you were swimming! Ha ha, let’s go back to the phones. Miranda from New York, you’re on with me, John Newly.

CALLER:  It’s still me, Donny. I want to ask a question.

JOHN NEWLY: Oh, I thought you did. Well, go ahead.

CALLER: Thanks. I was watching the Discovery Channel and-

Creature-From-The-Black-Lagoon-classic

JOHN NEWLY: Donny, we’re running out of time. We’re up against the clock. We’ve only a couple of minutes left. Fast Eddie? He’s my producer. Fast Eddie? How much time do we have left? Can you check?

(Indistinct)

JOHN NEWLY: That little? OK. Caller, please get to your question quickly so we have time to answer it before the commercial break. Go ahead, time is short. We want to be able to get you in. So go ahead. But remember- short!

CALLER: There was this submarine crew and they filmed way down deep. They saw just a hand. The camera didn’t capture the rest of it, just a hand. It looked like a webbed hand with claws. They tried to follow it but it passed by or swam by way too fast. Does your guest know about that? Is a thing like that possible? It looked like the gill man from the movie the Creature from the Black Lagoon.

JOHN NEWLY: I’ll give our guest, Monty McAndrews, a chance to answer, but Monty, I have to warn you, that there isn’t much time. Very little time. So how about Donny’s question? Creature from the Black Lagoon. Was that a great film or what?

GUEST: Well, I haven’t seen it in a long time.

JOHN NEWLY: Thanks for your call Donny. Monty, I love those old movies.

NOTE: THIS WAS BASED ON AN ACTUAL EXCHANGE FROM COAST TO COAST AM WITH GEORGE NOORY.

 

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