George Knapp was joined by strategic visionary Jim Channon, who talked about his role in the Army's research and development of psychic abilities. In the latter half of the conversation, he outlined breakthroughs that could guide our planet toward a brighter future. Channon, upon whom Jeff Bridges' character is based in the new film The Men Who Stare at Goats, remarked that he'd originally thought the movie about Army psychic studies was "blasphemy." However, after giving it some thought, he realized it was a rare opportunity to inform people about the work he'd done and acted as a consultant on the film.
In recounting how the development of psychic abilities began in the Army, he explained that he first noticed psychic skills emerging from the soldiers serving under him in Vietnam. Over time his troops would develop specialized skills such as a "feeler" who could sense bombs and "ear people" who could "tell whether a truck is coming at you or going away, at a mile and a half." It was only upon returning home that he recognized these abilities as paranormal and convinced his Army superiors to explore them further. The goal, he explained, was to "extend your range of awareness" on the battlefield in order to prevent conflict with the enemy.
He also detailed a number of societal changes which he believes would improve the world population. One such suggestion was a movement towards a web-based democracy, calling nationalized governments obsolete. "They're no longer helpful, they're actually the problem," Channon observed. On the contrary, he said, the Internet is where true democracy is taking place in contemporary times and that it is fueling an eventual shift towards a shared global identity amongst the world's populace. Other concepts he discussed included embracing simplicity, decentralizing governments into "bioregions," and having companies diversify their output in order to maintain jobs.
Rendlesham & Voronezh
During the 1st hour, Peter Robbins, co-author of Left at East Gate, discussed the latest news on the Rendlesham Forest UFO case as well as the infamous Voronezh UFO event that took place in the Soviet Union in 1989. Concerning Rendlesham, he refuted rumors circulating on the Internet that video from the Rendlesham event was going to be unveiled by his co-author Larry Warren. Robbins said the story is either "an error or some mischief making" and that Warren has no such footage.
On the subject of the Voronezh UFO event, he said that the remarkable encounter, which involved not just a landed UFO but also the subsequent emergence of some kind of entity, was "never given a chance in this country" as a result of a hasty dismissal by the mainstream media. Robbins will be giving presentations on the Voronezh case as well as media coverage of UFOs at the 7th Annual UFO Crash Retreival Conference, Nov. 6th to the 8th, in Las Vegas.