The Firesign Theatre/ Expedition for ETs

Hosted byJimmy Church

The Firesign Theatre/ Expedition for ETs

About the show

In the first hour, actor Phil Proctor joined Jimmy Church (email) to discuss his life in entertainment and work in the legendary comedy troupe, The Firesign Theatre. Proctor recounted how the troupe, made up of members with astrological fire signs, got its start on radio in the mid-1960s. "When we were doing our stuff, it was during the youth revolution, it was the anti-Vietnam War demonstrations... not unlike where we are now," he said. The group built a following by releasing records which allowed them to get uncensored content into homes and college campuses. "We were doing something entirely new when it came to the creation of comedy records," Proctor noted. He also shared the true story about how he and fellow Firesign Theatre alum Peter Bergman survived the Golden Dragon Massacre.

Next, adventurer and television host Josh Gates reflected on ancient mysteries and his recent global quest for evidence of life beyond our planet filmed for Expedition Unknown: Hunt for Extraterrestrials. "The thing I came away from first and foremost is total believing that it is impossible now that we are alone in the universe," he said, pointing out there are numerous exoplanets in the Goldilocks Zone which may have life on them. Gates commented on advanced aspects of ancient civilizations, such as their understanding of the heavens and engineering knowledge. "There are things that ancient people did what we can't do today," he noted. Gates revealed there are many more incredible things just waiting to be uncovered at the Giza Plateau in Egypt. "There's stuff under the ground they've already indentified they haven't started working on," he said. Gates also shared a creepy experience he had in a forest in Japan where many have gone to commit suicide.

Open Lines followed in the second half of the program. Kerry in DeLand, Florida, suggested life may be rare or not exist at all in the universe because conditions necessary for it to arise are almost impossible. According to Kerry, conditions on a planet must be stable for billions of years and it cannot be located in a binary or trinary star system. There are not many conducive places for life "when you start subtracting those stars down to getting to one like ours," Kerry said. Joe from Burbank, California, told Jimmy the Great Pyramids in Egypt are more impressive in person than in photos, and the stones from which they are built are remarkably large. "These blocks even on their side are massive," he said, noting only an extreme athlete could climb a pyramid to the top. Theresa in Gulfport, Mississippi, expressed her belief that we are not alone in the universe. She credited this to her WW2 veteran father who told stories of flying objects in the skies over Saudi Arabia that were not terrestrial military craft.

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