On November 15 at 9:00 PM, I will be the guest of Micah Hanks on The Gralien Report radio show to discuss the theory of supergeometry presented in Behind the Cosmic Veil. Mr. Hanks program is known for reporting on the unusual and unexplained, from Bigfoot and UFO sightings to the recent flap of severed, sneakered feet washing up on the Northwestern shores of Canada. Any news on the fringe that the mainstream establishment nervously sweeps under the rug is fair game here (which is why I suppose I’m a good fit!). This is an excellent opportunity for me to explain how supergeometric theory is able to address observable anomalies across a wide variety of unexplained phenomena.

To here the program live, go to www.ustream.tv/channel/micah-hanks to catch the Ustream similcast. You can also go to www.gralienreport.com/radio-show/, scroll down to the listing for November 15, and click on that link to download the podcast (once it’s posted). Please note that this is a three-hour show, and that my interview will not be until the second hour.

This will be an interesting and challenging forum because of the diversity of subjects covered by this program, so hold on to your hats!

I’m pleased and honored to announce that I will be discussing Behind the Cosmic Veil with Mark A. Keyes, director of the Pennsylvania Paranormal Association, as a guest on his radio program Paranormal Science, which is broadcast on WILK 103.1 FM in Wilkes-Barre, PA on Sunday evenings at 8:00 PM. This interview is scheduled for broadcast in this time slot on Sunday, November 13.

Many of you will be familiar with Mark’s exceptional research organization, which has been featured numerous times on Discovery’s paranormal series The Haunted shown on its Animal Planet cable channel. The PPA is dedicated to the highest standard of professionalism and scientific inquiry in a field that is too often tarnished by sensationalism and unsubstantiated claims. It should be a very enlightening discussion.

If you are not in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton listening area, the program is simulcast worldwide on the Internet. Turn your browser to www.theppa.net, and click on one of the “Paranormal Science” white logos. This will bring you to the radio program’s home page, where you’ll find a large, blue oval “LISTEN LIVE” button. Click on that, and it will take you to another page that will load the player and the program automatically.

You won’t want to miss this show, as we’ll be expanding in greater detail on several important topics presented in the book. 

Where is the Skeptic?

The skeptic is a true ally to anyone proposing answers to controversial subjects. Skeptics are a test for the quality of an argument, and for extraordinary claims and evidence. An informed skeptic will help you refine out all inaccuracies and irrelevancies so that you can arrive at a pure, intellectually honest and sound position. With such a refined position, even a skeptic can be swayed. The role of the skeptic is both noble and necessary.

Unfortunately, I fear there are fewer and fewer real skeptics. Instead I see more deniers masquerading under the more legitimate guise of a skeptic. These are two very different mindsets. The skeptic will listen to and consider valid argument and weigh evidence. You may not sell him, but he is sellable. The denier doesn’t really care what you have to say—to the denier, each statement merely presents a target at which he can throw his stones. It’s like a graffiti writer whose goal is to make his mark, and cares little for the bus on which he sprays his paint can.

Most of us have encountered them. There’s no having a meaningful exchange with them, no matter what the subject. They’ll throw out whatever refutation comes to their minds, even if it’s not exactly relevant or contradicts what they previously said. That’s why such an exchange has the feel of intellectual schizophrenia. The skeptic will pause and consider were he ever to personally witness an apparition or a miraculous event. The denier will submit himself to a complete physical and psychological examination to find out what’s wrong with him. The goal of the skeptic is to arrive at truth—the agenda of the denier is far more personal and dogmatic.

I’ve often found that deniers have little to offer in the way of contemplative or independent ideas. They seem to derive a feeling of power by parroting the establishment view. It’s about security in numbers and a sense of empowerment. They’re often more akin to a gang member with his “boys” behind him (i.e., the establishment view), trolling through the alleys of chat rooms and forums in search of victims to assault. But, also like the hoodlum, when you take the gang away, they really have very little of their own.

Of course, there are those deniers who fearfully defend their personal notion of reality, flailing wildly at any contrary fact that threatens to invade in the hope of striking it a mortal blow. You can’t have an intelligent exchange with an inanimate wall either.

Sadly, we as a society are partially to blame. We have allowed the term skeptic to be hijacked by those to whom this honorable title really doesn’t belong. Over time, we have been lulled into accepting skepticism and denial as the same. They are not. Maybe someday we will collectively correct this mistake.

So hail the skeptic as your friend and partner, but shun the denier. Tag the deniers as such and move on, unless you really feel you’re qualified to expose them for what they are, and if taking on that thankless challenge is a worthy investment of your time and effort.

There was a young lady in flight
Who could travel much faster than light
She set out one day
In a relative way
And returned home the previous night

This famous limerick came to mind when I read about reports last week that a CERN team (European Organization for Nuclear Research) had clocked neutrinos traveling faster than light. All the news services picked it up, and presented it with banners that this may refute Einstein’s theories and/or prove the possibility of time travel.

Of course, the emphasis was on the sensationalism, not the science. I’m now seeing entries in paranormal and religious forums rife with speculations about how this new “evidence” supports a number of strange theories.

But I wouldn’t put my money down yet. The truth is that the vast majority of the scientific community believes these findings are anomalous and won’t hold up to careful scrutiny. Some feel that the announcement was premature and irresponsible. And this time, it’s not a case of the establishment rejecting data out of hand that might threaten the current system.

Here’s why. Newtonian physics came increasingly under question as experiments into the nature of energy produced an ever-growing body of inconsistent data. But the opposite has held true for Einstein’s relativity in that ensuing experiments have consistently verified his theories, sometimes in unexpected ways (including the speed of light as the uppermost limit of space-time). Just earlier this year, a space probe confirmed yet another of Einstein’s predictions about the gravitational field of a rotating body. There was a report about ten years ago from another facility about faster-than-light observations that were later proved mistaken. Relativity works, and works really well.

Neutrinos are very mysterious and elusive particles that are extremely difficult to measure, let alone clock. They have no charge, and so do not interact with electromagnetism, which is the predominant force in the universe. This allows them to pass through solid matter virtually unhindered. They are, however, affected by the weak nuclear force, but have to pass extremely close to a proton to fall under its influence, and it’s primarily by this rare interaction that we are even able to detect them.

Supernova 1987A released both photons and neutrinos, but both particles were detected on earth at about the same time. Were we to apply the CERN discrepancy to this event, the neutrinos would have preceded the photons by about three years. Relativistic equations that predict sublight observations to great precision are anchored in no small part on the speed of light being the top cosmological velocity. A higher speed would throw these off, meaning that we’ve been using faulty math all these years that somehow produced the correct answers!

Faster than light? As one writer put it, not so fast. More than likely it will be one of those reports that just fade into obscurity. And of course, it’s refutation will unlikely be carried in the major news outlets because it’s not exciting, disruptive or otherwise sensational. Just as was the case with the previously mentioned discredited superluminal observation of a decade ago, or when the 700-year-old carbon dating on the Shroud of Turin turned out to be taken from a medieval patch hand-woven into the original fabric, you’ll have to dig to find the story. 

Behind the Cosmic Veil is now in stock again at the New Vision Press eStore page. Amazon should be re-stocked in the next few days. Thanks again for your understanding. Also, please excuse the odd look of the book thumbnail image on the eStore and Amazon pages--it will be corrected shortly.

We've made a six-cent price increase to bring the cost of the book above the $25 required by Amazon for its free supersaver shipping, which will save you money.