By Tim Binnall
The Michigan UFO wave of 1966, the power of crystals, and near-death experiences were among the fascinating topics explored this past week on Coast to Coast AM. Meanwhile, at the C2C website, we told you about the first official Nessie sighting of 2026, an ill-advised opossum toss in South Carolina, and a purportedly possessed Dopey statue accidentally destroyed at a Mexican urban park. Check out our round-up of highlights from the past week ... In Coast You Missed It.
The power of crystals was in the spotlight on Tuesday night's program as author Nicholas Pearson discussed their energetic and mystical properties. Pointing to their structural perfection, he posited that their symmetrical composition allows them to bring order and clarity to the human psyche. He marveled at the enduring nature of crystals, noting that they have a cultural cache that stretches back millennia and around the world. During his appearance, Pearson also discussed psychic attacks and how crystals can be used to mitigate the factors that often allow for such sinister spells to arise and take hold.
A pair of iconic cryptids popped up in the news this past week, beginning with the legendary Loch Ness Monster, which may have been spotted by an American tourist. The intriguing incident saw a peculiar hump emerge from the waters of the Scottish site just a few hundred feet from witness Tony Inhorn's boat. His account and subsequent sketch of the creature were so compelling that his report has been recognized as the first official Nessie sighting of 2026. Meanwhile, in West Virginia, a pair of men working overnight at an industrial plant were stunned when they observed an eight-foot-tall hair-covered creature, believed to be Bigfoot, walking in front of a nearby warehouse.
Near-death experiences (NDEs) took center stage on Thursday night's program as former neurosurgeon Eben Alexander, MD, recounted his own journey to the 'other side' and his subsequent research into the mysterious phenomenon. He observed that the evolving scientific understanding of consciousness would seem to suggest that it can exist beyond the brain and specifically cited telepathy as a sign of such non-locality. Discussing the often-cited 'live review' that occurs during an NDE, he cited a study wherein a whopping 700 people detailed their experience of the phenomenon and how the vast majority reported that it was more vivid than the material world.
This past week featured two rather strange arrests that wound up making headlines. First, in Connecticut, cops busted a man for allegedly chasing after some kids while wearing an eerie silver Scream mask and brandishing a menacing-looking weapon. While his antics may have merely been a misguided prank, the man now faces several charges related to the unsettling incident. Later in the week, a South Carolina man was arrested for allegedly taking down a staggering number of mailboxes in a vandalism spree that stretched across three towns and, in one instance, threw the remains of a dead opossum on someone's porch, leading to the man being charged with felony littering of hazardous waste.
Sixty years ago, Michigan was gripped by a UFO flap that captivated the country. On Sunday night's program, Bill Konkolesky, the Michigan State Director for MUFON, discussed the 1966 wave of sightings that holds a significant place in flying saucer lore. He noted that the flap seemed to peak around the middle of March when hundreds, if not thousands, of people reported seeing unusual objects in the sky. The Michigan wave is undoubtedly best remembered for an incident wherein Dr. J. Allen Hynek, dispatched by Project Blue Book to investigate a particularly compelling sighting, infamously suggested that mysterious lights seen by a witness were caused by "swamp gas."
By far the most bizarre story of the week came by way of Mexico, where a purportedly possessed 'Dopey' statue was accidentally destroyed by a clumsy young man. The peculiar piece stood near a playground at the Bosque Venustiano Carranza urban park in the city of Torreón for decades. A longstanding urban legend surrounding the statue was that it would come to life in the middle of the night, prompting all manner of paranormal enthusiasts and thrill-seekers to visit the site, hoping to see the magical moment for themselves. This is undoubtedly what Axel Rosas was doing when he went to the park last week and climbed atop the delightful depiction of Dopey, which subsequently snapped at its base, sadly putting an end to the piece and the urban legend attributed to it.
Coast Insiders can check out all this week's shows as well as the last seven years of C2C programs in our enormous archive. Not a Coast Insider yet? Sign up today.