UFO Outsider's Guide

Hosted byRichard Syrett

UFO Outsider's Guide

About the show

Author James Abbott is a highly experienced researcher who has spent years studying the UFO mystery as an outsider. He joined guest host Richard Syrett to present all sides of the story, including some of the most important UFO cases, official projects, and reports on the subject, fascinatingly strange UFO characteristics, and possible explanations for UFOs, as well as the very best photo and video evidence of the phenomenon.

Ufology is in a rut, Abbott suggested, noting there are two types of people involved in the study: those who love a good conspiracy and do not care if it gets solved, and others who want to know what is really going on in the sky and call for scientific inquiry on the topic. "It's become so messy that there is no answer to it," he said, suggesting there has never been a government study carried out that was without agenda. Abbott tackled the core of the UFO conundrum which involves the visibility of UFOs: if they do not wish to be seen, why do they have so many lights on them?

"The [photographic] evidence for UFOs is unique because nobody believes it," Abbott continued. People tend to have a bias toward what they do not know and trust, and UFOs are well outside of the comfort zone for most, he explained. The first instinct is to dismiss or explain away UFO photos, Abbot noted. He commented on the skeptics' view of UFOs as mass delusion, which alleges a single media report of a UFO sighting will lead to a wave of other UFO sightings as people persuade each other they are real.

The Future of Classic Rock

First-hour guest, pop culture author Steven Hyden discussed what happens when classic rock reaches the precipice of old age. "Classic rock as a concept, it really didn't exist until it was invented as a radio format in the 1980s—that is what codified a certain generation of bands as being classic rock," he said, defining the period from the late 1960s through sometime in the 1990s. Hyden sees classic rock bands melding together as members pass away, retire, or get fired. As an example, he pointed to Lindsay Buckingham's firing from Fleetwood Mac and replacement by Mike Campbell, former lead guitarist of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Hyden sees the music of classic rock bands continuing as "these are really brands as much as bands." Hyden expects holographic concert experiences to allow concert goers to continue seeing classic rock bands perform long after they’re gone, and predicts audiences a hundred years from now will gather in concert halls to see a four piece band play the music of The Beatles, just like contemporary audiences attend orchestral performances of pieces by famous composers of eras past.

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