Somewhere in the Skies - A STRANGE NEW WORLD with Mike Damante

Episode Date: March 30, 2020

On episode 154 of SOMEWHERE IN THE SKIES, Ryan is joined once again by author and journalist, Mike Damante. They discuss the current global pandemic and then dive in to several articles over at Damante's website, PunkRockandUFOs.com. It's a laid back conversation in a stressful time for humanity. So sit back, relax, and let's talk UFOs!  Watch the video version of this episode right now on the YouTube channel!  Ryan will be tentatively speaking at Contact in the Desert this Spring. (Pending COVID-19 guidelines) For tickets, CLICK HERE Patreon: www.patreon.com/somewhereskies YouTube Channel: CLICK HERE Official Store: CLICK HERE Order Ryan's Book by CLICKING HERE Twitter: @SomewhereSkies Instagram: @SomewhereSkiesPod Watch Mysteries Decoded for free at www.CWseed.com SOMEWHERE IN THE SKIES is edited by Jane Palomera Moore Opening Theme Song, "Ephemeral Reign" by Per Kiilstofte SOMEWHERE IN THE SKIES is part of the eOne podcast network. To learn more, CLICK HERE Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/somewhere-in-the-skies. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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For more information, visit cdc.gov slash COVID-19. This message brought to you by the National Association of Broadcasters and this station. This is Somewhere in the Skies with Brian Sprague. Mike DeMonte, welcome back to Somewhere in the Skies, my friend. How you doing? Oh, great, man. It's good to be back. You know, it's usually every time I come on and talk to you,

it's usually promoting something or, you know, you ask me to be on a guest or a panel. But I think this case, you know, it's, we have so much free time on our hands. And, you know, we could create content out of multiple things. So there's, you know, multiple things that we can discuss that are in the works and things that are currently going on in the, you know, the world of you have. foes and weird stuff. So I think it was a really good opportunity time. I always love talking me. We don't get to talk often in this. You know, we text every once in a while and, you know, but it's, it's always good to kind of have this conversation, you know, because you never know

when you're going to get the opportunity, if even again, to maybe meet in person. You know, like, who knows? Boy, man. Yeah. The world is very uncertain in many ways, right? Yeah. Well, I guess we might as well touch on it. I know everyone's sick of talking about it. I'm sick of hearing about it, but we have to. It's very important. It's omnipresent right now. COVID-19. So how are you dealing with this personally? And how do you think it's affecting the UFO world? You just wrote an article over a punk rock and UFOs. Everyone should go check that up about how this is affecting the UFO community. But in general, how are you personally doing?

How are you dealing with this? Everyone's dealing with it, their own ways. So yeah, give it to me straight. Yeah, I mean, personally, like I said, I'm a teacher full-time, so I don't have to worry about, you know, income coming in because we get paid regardless. So I'm blessed in that regards and not to worry about that. I mean, there's still things I have to do work related, which are right now kind of all in the works in terms of, you know, how we're going to be doing, providing online instruction and work for now. So it changes day by day. So everything's very preliminary and big. But I mean, in terms of like staying in, like, you know, I think people need to get over. It's not the end of the world. We still have. internet. It's not, you know, we have, it's not a natural disaster, you know, so if staying in is it's not a, you know, it's not a big deal. It could be much worse. It could be much worse. So yeah, you know, if I have to stay in to avoid people getting sick, it's for, you know, myself or other people, that's so big. You know, I think we have Netflix, we have books, you know, I have time of books. I'm practicing bass guitar. I've been, actually, I modified our little guest room into, like, a workout room. So, like, there's stuff to do, you know, and there's stuff to do like this, too.

There's things to. I think people, I think you're just really spoiled it in terms of, oh, God, I can't go out. I can't go on the beach. I can't do this. And it's like, you know, it's not a natural disaster. You know, you're still able to live within your realm. Right, right, exactly. And I, for anyone out there who's still going out in public gatherings, um, first of all, what is wrong with you? And so, not for you, but for everyone around you, just please, just, just go home. Just be safe, be healthy. Do it for that person. who is immune deficient or that person who has cancer or even the older demographic who seem to be suffering mostly from this, we now are hearing and learning that it's not just older people. A lot of younger people are getting infected and not doing so hot from it. So thinking you are invincible is no longer an option.

So that's just my little public service announcement. But like, how is this affecting the UFO world? Tell us a little about this recent article. come you're right. So I wrote a very simple short article just because I was thinking, you know, like all the stuff is breaking and there's some UFO research, you know, UFO researchers that were, you know, friends with that are really on top of this. And they have been for months. Chris Walford is one of them. And at first he was posting all this stuff and I was just kind of roll my eyes. I'm like, okay, let it just, you know, let it develop and we'll see it from there.

But I mean, he's been on top of it. And a lot of other people have been as well. So I decided to do the story because I was thinking, I was like, you know, this is going to affect a lot of people. I included yourself in the article because I know what you do for a living and I knew how you're going to be affected. I also knew how this is hopefully will open up some potential more people donating to your Patreon for that bonus footage right now too because people are going to have time to do things. You know, and people who are already supporters of fans of yours, I don't think they would mind paying during this time to help you out and to know like that, you know, get some really cool content. So I wrote the article for multiple reasons to kind of say, hey, look, there's some people in the UFO world who are doing this. you can maybe help them, but also, you know, it's affecting it this way, too. I'm trying to, what's that interview for that story?

Oh, Seth Bredelove, because this was right around on the trail of UFOs is supposed to come out. I mean, it's still coming out, but this is a great time to binge watch all of it as well. But, you know, obviously they had some festival appearances they had to cancel so that affected them. And I also look at, like, some of the larger articles that, you know, VICE, you know, MJ had two vice articles that were, you know, for us, for the UFO people, you're like, oh, wow, you know, those are big articles for us. But honestly, they got buried if you think about it.

terms of everything else going on, you know? The U.S. Army, to the stars, and the crada, that story, and then there was the Skidwalker Rancho. Like, that was like, oh, that's so cool. Here's the owner. Then it's like, oh, wait, there's all this coronavirus stuff. That kind of takes presence over it.

So it's like, you know, we had stories happening in the UFO role at the same time. But, you know, as much as we love UFOs, I mean, it takes a back seat to this, to, you know, these big stories. Oh, absolutely. And I, you know, I try to remind myself, like, yeah, It's fun to still talk about UFOs because at the end of the day, we need something to distract us. If we're watching CNN or Fox News 24-7, you're going to go crazy. You're going to become paranoid.

You're only seeing the negative effects of all this. And there are. There's a lot. This is scary. And it's dangerous and it's uncertain. But at the same time, I think a lot of us, you know, podcasters and YouTubers and all these people who generate content, this is their time to really shine because every. Everyone's home.

Everyone wants something to do with now the 24 hours of free time they've been given. So, yeah, I think it was cool that you highlighted that. And it does show that even in the UFO world, a lot of us have been affected in many ways by this. So you'll probably see some podcasts just sort of teeter away. And then you're going to see some coming up. And it's going to be an interesting time for creators, I think, for sure. But, yeah, speaking of creating, before we get to some of the other articles on punk rock and UFO, I want to maybe introduce you to some of my listeners who aren't familiar with your work,

maybe a little about each of the books that you wrote. So the first book, Punk Rock and UFOs, Cryptosology meets Anarchy, basically just looking at kind of what we study as an underdog science and how our belief systems accept some things, rebellion, as others. And the second book is definitely built on that idea. Punk Rock and UFOs, True Believers, kind of took that, but then looked at it through the lens of mythology and pop culture and religions and as well. Not only that, I also wanted to kind of give the average reader,

the person who's just picking this up, an idea of where we come from too. So, you know, I feature some of the people who research the stuff and their stories too, because for me, it was, I really wanted, the main point of true believers is making the connection between the average person and people in the UFO community. You just say, hey, look, this is why you should care, these people care, and maybe you should too. So that book had a lot of different goals to it was trying to set out and accomplish, but it was basically written to where the everyday person could pick it up, read it, digest it,

and get where the UFO researchers and the paranormal researchers, get where they're coming from, get how they started, and just to kind of find that commonality. And that kind of brings me to what I'm working on next, which is the third book, which hopefully finds a home soon. It's like you write a book,

I mean, you write a book before you know how it is, and you put it out and you're like, oh, good, it's out. And then afterwards, you're like, oh, man, I should have done that different or I come from a journalism background and you're used to a journalism when you're writing news. You know, you want to get all the news in there. Of course, but you also write concisely. You don't write extra wordily. You know, you want to be, you know, very straight to the point.

So my first few books were concise, but they were a little short. Like, I think the second one o'clock said it like under 170. So it's like, it's a light read. But what I'm working on now is like double that already. And it's not where it's not concise where it's, I'm writing about more things that, and I'm building upon more things. And I think as, as, you know, as we grow as researchers and writers, and you're always learning, you're constantly learning,

and you're seeing different sides to the paranormal stuff. And you start reading different books, and your mind really expands. And I'm like, man, where was, why wasn't I doing this when I wrote this book? So you kind of regret, oh, I wish I would have done that, you know, that there. So what I'm working on now, it's definitely, it's really kind of taking what the first two books did and really built on it. And I mean, I'll get into more detail. It's called, yeah, yeah, for sure.

It's the working title is called Stranger Than Fiction, which is one of the chapters in true believers, and it's based off a bad religion song. It's called Stranger Than Fiction. And it's really looking at how what we believe in and the stuff we study and how it truly is stranger than fiction. I'm using it to kind of draw parallels between fiction and nonfiction stuff that we've seen through the years, how, you know, we hate to say when, you know, we see people try to blur the lines in between. But the lines have been blurred since the beginning of time. You know, we just kind of, you know, we've just kind of lost track of that.

So the books are really looking at a lot of modern day pop culture and see where a stemming originated from. And I'm using a lot of examples of historical illusions. And it's really coming together very nicely. I spoke to a lot of different people that I didn't, the previous books are unaware of. And just researching in general, I was finding all these theories that were out there that, or academic theories too, that I really didn't help strengthen the arguments made in the book. And not the arguments, but the points. That's kind of where what I'm working towards now.

I think it's really cool because I think it's something where, once again, it's something where anyone can read it. Hey, you like stranger things? Cool, read this. Hey, you like comic books? This is right up your alley. Oh, you like UFOs? You like paranormal? Here, read this. It just has all of this in one. So we'll see. I mean, fingers crossed that it sees the light of day. But I just started randomly working on it probably, I'm trying to went a few months ago. And it just kind of snowballed where I was like, I was looking past some of my punk rock UFO's articles I've done since the last book. And I was like, if I was to write another book, Is there anything I can use in terms of people I've interviewed? And I was like, whoa, there's a lot of stuff I can use,

and then going with some of the stuff I've read since then, too, because, you know, like I said, we never stop learning. We're always discovering, you know, new books. And some of the researchers that we know, everyone's a while, I'll see them post, oh, I'm reading this book for the first time. And to me, I'm like, oh, wow, you're just reading that? But I'm like, I do the same thing, too. I'm just, you know, read for the first time this year,

passport to Higonia. And I should have read that years ago, you know what I mean? Welcome, yeah, welcome to my life, man. I've tried to make it through that book about three times now, but it's in Shock Valley. It's very hard to freeze through a Jacques Valley book. I breeze through it. Oh, good, good. I'm glad one of us, good.

The hard part to me, and this sounds weird, you're going to, like, probably find the opposite. I breeze through the folklore aspect of it, and then as soon as they got to the part where it was just like UFO sightings, that took longer for me to do. because it's basically just like detailing certain sightings. That's true, yeah. To me, that wasn't as exciting as the rest of the book. Like, it was so cool, and I think it helps, like,

in common, give it context, you know, the previous stories, but I thought the other part was just really fascinating. Oh, interesting. Oh, well, we'll definitely have to have you back on after you dissect that one for sure. But, no, I'm super excited, man. I've been waiting for sort of the, what would you call it, the third installment of the trilogy.

You're reaching trilogy level. That's awesome. Speaking of your articles, you just came out with another one recently that has to do with Jacques Valet. And this was with Rice University, Whitley Streber. What's going on with all this, man?

Give it to me, because when I first heard about this, it's like, what the hell? So, yeah, what is Rice University doing with these pretty prominent UFO people that we know of? So when I first heard of this,

you're like the first person that came to mind. I was like, man, Ryan would go crazy if he saw it, you know, about that. And I told you eventually too. So about, I'm trying to think I found out about this about a year ago. A couple years ago, I interviewed Jeffrey Criple for my book. He was the last person I interviewed for True Believers. He appeared in Brad Aver of his movie, Levin Saucers, and I was familiar with the name. And then when I realized that he lives in Houston, I was like, oh, man, I got to meet this guy.

I got an interview. And I met him in his office. I interviewed him. I was really cool. I got his book, and his book blew me away, Mutants and Mystics. And since then, I've developed a, a small friendship with him. You know, we keep in touch. And he invited me when was it, in November, when was it, in November, when Leslie Keen came to speak to his classes? And then, you know, like I said, we have email correspondence and, you know, which just kind of remained friendly.

And he invited me to talk to his class, which I did a few weeks ago at Rice, right before everything shut down because he teaches a class kind of based off his book, Mutants, and Mystic. So that was a real honor to kind of be invited to speak to his class. And I really think he is definitely one of the most underrated people in the field when it comes to this stuff. I mean, he really gets it. And, in effect, all these big names have his respect

and also are trusting him with these archives. That says something. So Professor Pryple's a great guy. And he told me about this kind of in passing last year. But he's very low-key about this stuff. Because to him, it's like, I mean, to us and we kind of geek out about it. He's like, oh, yeah, we're working on a paranormal conference

and Whitley Shriver and Jack Bowie are going to be here. And I'm just like, wait, what? I'm just like, oh, yeah, it's to watch the archives. I'm like, wait, what archives? like, oh, yeah, we're housing Whitley Shriver's letters. But that's all he said at the time because it was like, oh, I just have Whitley, Whitley Shriver's letters. So, I mean, he's collaborated with him.

He's been friends with Whitley for years. So I knew they were cool, but basically he has all the letters that Whitley Shriver sent to him, all the notes, all the correspondence. He just told me, oh, it's the striber letters. And then he was like, oh, yeah, it's a striber letter, is a jacquay. And I'm like, wait, what? So, yeah, he's just very nonchalant about this. And what I learned from working with his students on the article I did, you know,

He's like that with him too because he's just very like nonchalant about it. So after I spoke to his class, I did the article about the archives. I've known about this for over a year. I just he didn't want it being promoted yet because there's a lot of name, big names going. Like I said, Jacques-Ale, I mean, tentative. It's supposed to be in October, but who knows at this point? Right. I think it's going to be then.

But I mean, it's Jafelay, Whitley-Striber, Ed May, Diane Pesalka are all going to be there. Try to think who else? Leslie Keen's going to be there. I'm supposed to moderate a panel. I think I'm moderating Leslie Keen's panel, so which would be really cool. Fingers crossed, and this is all still going on. I know, man. So it's really cool because the library, the library of Rice is housing the archives.

And he has, the library has students who basically work as archivists. And that's why I basically, the point of the story was to like say, hey, this thing exists. This conference is happening. And here's kind of a little bit behind the scenes. And I come out of some photos. I mean, I really could have been there all day if I wanted to just because it's like there's so much stuff. And I really can't communicate this the easiest way, but it's like it's overwhelming. How much stuff is there?

What's there? And, you know, you saw, if you look through some of the photos, some of the photos are kind of vague, but it's like they have your Yeller's experiments. They have all the data, the raw data. They have the spoon he'd done. I think that's one of the photos I took. Okay. They have Ed May, who was a scientist for NASA.

They have his Stargate project stuff. Oh, yeah, yeah. It's crazy. And it's all, like, written on, like, like, paper. Some of it's typed up. So, like, what they're doing right now is they're, archiving it. They're doing it digitally. They're alphabetizing it. Like, there's so much stuff for them to go through. So I think that's why, you know, October is the goal. Yeah, like, what is there?

It's crazy to me. Like, when I was there that day, Shriver and Valet stuff was taking, like, sometimes they take them off-site to archive it, then they bring it back. So when I was there, the Bel-A and the street was missing, but one of the guys, like, hey, man, come back anytime in the summer, you can look at it. Who knows, that's up in here at this point. Yeah. But the stuff I was able to look at, I mean, there's some stuff that probably should have been, I'm trying to, I'm trying to say it was out of getting in trouble, but there's some stuff in there that, like, you would think that shouldn't be out of the open, you know what I mean? Yeah.

Because, like, the people who do you don't believe that the CIA, you know, did any of the remote view or telekinesis, I mean, it's there. I saw, I saw the data, I saw the experiments. I'm not trying to sound like I'm cool or special because I saw it because these college kids are looking at it every day when they're archiving it. And some of them are really into the stuff, like we are. And some of them are just kind of like interested in paranormal. Some of them are just students of, is of one of his classes. You're like, oh, okay, whatever, it's a job.

Like, some of them don't understand, like, how cool it is. And then others kind of geek out. So it's like, one of the guys I interviewed, I think that Cody said to me, it's like, yeah, it's a job. Every once in a while, he has to, like, stop in his tracks and like, okay, I need to look at this. Save now at Whole Foods Market. It's the summer splash event, with great everyday prices on 365 brand ground beef for the grill and ice cream for dessert.

They have yellow sales signs on ready-to-cook beef or chicken kebob to level up with savory marinate, spices and rubs, and complete your cookout with a crowd-pleasing cherry pie and their balsamic chicken salad, available at the prepared foods counter. Get Summer Splash Savings Now at Whole Foods Market. Yeah, they have no idea how lucky they actually are. Yeah, so what's happening at rice, it is a very comprehensive, very important archive for all these, all these people. I mean, like said, Shriver Valley, there's some of the telekinesis experiments, Edmay Stargate.

It's one of the person, I forgot his name. It's in the story. I'm just drawing blanks right now. But there's just so much stuff that's going to be there. I really think, I mean, Rice University is a very prestigious university. And it's also a very sought after school for students to go to as well. But I think this is going to make a destination for people, visitors. I mean, this is going to be open to the public.

You know, so I think for anyone who comes into Houston who's into this stuff, I think they're going to want to go to Rice University and check this stuff out, considering it's going to be open to the public eventually. That's the goal. So I just talked on them. sorry I just kind of rambled on. But yeah, that's what they're doing. That's awesome.

I mean, I'm like sitting here just drooling. They like to go there and actually see this stuff. Well, I'm excited. And like we said, hopefully all things consider when things start to get a little better that people can get out there and see that. Because I think that is a treasure trove alone. Well, you are dropping articles like crazy, man. You drop one literally hours before we are recording. this right now. And you did an article about NDEs near death experiences and paranormal beliefs and

everything. This was pretty cool. I mean, this was the sort of punk rock or cryptozoology paranormal side of your website. We're moving away from UFOs, maybe, maybe, but how belief systems work and all this. So could you tell us a little about this most recent article that you wrote? This is fascinating. Yeah, so when I was researching for the book, I was looking at different academic takes on paranormal. And the more I study this, it's like there's so many connections we can make from everything, from UFOs. And when Leslie Keane was here and she did her, you know, you just met with her recently too. I know she was on the show. And one of the things I asked her, you know, is this a logical next step from UFOs to near-death experiences?

And that's, I think, a question that needs to be asked because there's so much parallels between everything we study and that and life after death, consciousness. It's like it's all one thing. And this is something I've heard for many people, you know, Professor Pryple's other one, he's like, they're all connected. And he's very nonchalant about it too. He's like, oh, this is all the same thing. I mean, so many of the people that we respect kind of feel the same way too. It's all one phenomenon.

What that is we still don't know. But I think the more we kind of look into it, it's like this is all connected somehow. So when I was looking into some of the theories and hypothesis people were coming up with, the name came up of Gregory Hsujan and I looked him up and he's done two books. about the afterlife and near-death experiences. And knowing with that, he was quoted in quite a few of the academic papers I was reading. And he does a really good job of explaining some of these theories. One of them is called a drawing a blank right now.

But there's two different hypotheses on how people culturally interpret experiences. And one of the, a guy named David Hufford, basically, it's the old hag thing, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. You heard that, right? How it's called one thing. China is called another thing. Yeah, and David Chusen had a really good take on that. So I wanted to interview him just because for my book, but I was like, you know what?

The NDE thing, you know, I just wrote an article about that with Leslie Keene. You just had a run recently. So this stuff is still kind of in the UFO news sort of kind of, because the paranormal stuff and the UFO stuff is really kind of merging together as we see a lot more these days. So it's all kind of one under the same umbrella. So I interviewed, I emailed it months ago, about a couple months ago, but he was out of town and he finally got the answers back to me. But he was really cool, really nice. He's on vacation. And he has a punk rock background somehow, too.

I don't know how. I mean, he didn't tell me, but he was like, oh, yeah, I like punk rock. This is funny because, I mean, he has a bunch of different PhDs as well. So he's really interesting because he really has a really good take on the paranormal and near-to-experience and how it cross-culturally connects. But he's also very, he looks at it very skeptically, too. It's like, okay, these are people's beliefs. It doesn't necessarily mean it's proof.

So I think he looks at it very objectively. One of the things he said in the interview was, you know, he tends to question everything. And it's like, man, that's one of the first things I learned in journalism is you should question everything. Right. So, yeah, that article just came out today. And I think it's a good read because right now people need stuff to read and it probably take a while to read because it's funny.

Like, when you interview people, when I interview you or academics, like, it's funny because I'm usually, like, you interview people too, but you do it where it's like on a podcast or on a video. I know sometimes you interviews and you do stories for Rogue Planet. But do you ever notice when you and some like other people give quotes, you all write novels? And I don't mean that as a bad thing. But it's, you know what I mean? It's like when you're not used to constantly writing it.

So like every time you interview like in print somebody like in the academic world, they always take something because they write you novels. Yeah. The answers are very long. But your answers are long because they're very well thought out. And like you answer like the question and the question, which is a, it's just a. of the talent, you know what I mean?

Oh, well, I was, I was going to say I come from a playwriting background and you can't shut us up and start writing dialogue. So that, I'm going to go with that over having very good, talented things. Well, no, like you said, like, you do on-air stuff too. You know how it works. Yeah, absolutely. So anytime you usually interview people in academia, when you ask for quotes, you know, when I think they ask for quotes, you know, I'm thinking in a journalistic way, like, you know,

a few sentences, talk. Yeah. Yeah, but they reply back with like three paragraphs per question. Yeah, what do you do in that case? I mean, how can you summarize something an academic says in like a concise way? I wouldn't even know where to begin. Well, it all depends on the context of the article. This one was like a Q&A format.

So it was easy. I put it all his answers in there. But for the book, because I'm using some of those quotes in my book too, I mean, I'm kind of trying to copy edit and do it where you're not changing what they say. You just make it more concise and pick and choose what you can use here. Hey, y'all. Ryan Spreck here. As you all know, the Somewhere in the Sky's podcast is always free to consume, but it isn't free to create.

That's why I've started the Somewhere in the Sky's Patreon campaign. On a monthly basis, you give what you think the show is worth. You'll be helping the show continue, grow, and to be something truly communal. And remember, there are rewards for each level of contribution, and the list is only growing. So please, help Somewhere in the Skies now by becoming a patron to contribute, and to contribute, And to learn more, visit www. www. patreon.com backslash somewhere skies. Thank you for your support.

And now on with the show. But yeah, that story just kind of fell into my lap today because you got back to me with the questions yesterday. Well, I definitely suggest people check that one out. Like you said, I think these worlds are really starting to become much more malleable when it comes to connections and everything. And one group who's done that really well, I think, I'm kind of shameless promoting them right now is the guys over a planet weird and the girls over at planet weird.

Greg and Dana Newkirk, Connor Randall, Carl Fifer, all these guys came out with Helier, season two. And I know it's going back a little bit, but you did write a review of season two of Hellyer. And I'd love to sort of revisit that with you for a moment about your personal thoughts on this show, how they mix the supernatural, the paranormal with the euphonauts and the connections that they came up with. And also the way that sort of paranormal television is going, this is unlike anything we've really seen before is what these guys have done.

I think Seth Bredlove is sort of doing the same thing where they're taking the reins and saying, you know, forget about these huge networks with the restrictions. Like, let's do solid in investigations and research. So, yeah, I guess, give us what you got? What did you think of Hellier Season 2? and what do you think about this sort of new movement for independent paranormal television? I think, well, I'll start with the new movement of independent paranormal television because

years, not years, months ago, I did this really big, comprehensive article about how media is portraying UFOs in terms of what we see in like in television. I got quotes from a lot of big name, you know, producers who work on, you know, some of them who work for CW, some of them who work for A&E, some other production people. But I also wanted to get the independent voices, too. And I interviewed Seth and Greg Newkirk as well. And just to have that balance. I really worked hard on that article because I wanted to have a lot of perspective

because there are two sides to it. But I mean, I think definitely what the DIY aspect that Seth and Greg Newkirk are doing is just amazing. I was blown away by everything they do. And when I watched Hellyer Season 1, I was like, what is this? This is amazing. And I think season two really blew my mind. They were referencing books that I had that I hadn't read that I saw reference to other places. And there's just so many connections that Hellier makes.

And I'm not trying to exaggerate it, but I think in terms of tying paranormal UFOs, I think this is going to be when it's all said and done. I think it's going to be a very important piece of the puzzle. I think, I think Hellier, in my opinion. Like for me, and I'm not just saying this because I really enjoyed it. I mean, yeah, I was blown away by it. And I had the opportunity to meet Greg about a month ago. he was in Houston for a film festival and I got to meet him and I had to have dinner with him and he's such a nice guy and I'm glad to call him a friend now but even before that you know I was like man like I want to meet this dude like I want to like you know pick his brain just because about the show of stuff not just you know the behind the scene stuff but like you know what it was like and he was great talking to me he's such a nice nice nice guy um so all the success that they're getting is well deserved but in terms of the things that they're hitting on you know I was playing this around in my head and it'd be like it'd be impossible to hoax some of some of this

because you'd have to read every book on all these subjects, somehow make it connect, and then somehow have this element of investigation to it. So, like, to me, I mean, it's a mind-blowing show. And I remember when I was watching it, like, there's sometimes, like, where I watched it, I was getting uncomfortable, like, man, should I be watching this? Like, I'm my part of something, like, larger.

And, like, the Green Man stuff was crazy because, like, it's everywhere now. And when I was talking to Greg, when I had dinner with him, I was like, dude, I was just watching Sabrina. season three and Green Man's the main villain. Pan is like showing up everywhere in pop culture. It's just like a weird thing. And I remember I was in Mutant Semistics, Professor Criple's book. He references this book at Adorpha, which I have that I've never read,

but I'm just sitting my bookshelf collecting dust until now. Now I'm actually going to start reading it. And when they referenced that in Hellyer, I was like, holy shit, this is my honor goes. Oh, totally. I was like, holy shit. I can't like, because it's. It's a very obscure book.

It really is. But I mean, this is a fictional book, but it's in the 1800s is talking about the Greek goddess of the earth in Kentucky and goblins and these white beings in Kentucky. Like, who would think to write about that in Kentucky then? You know what I mean?

Right. So there's so many parallels that it draws. And it really got me inspired. Like, I mentioned hellier all the time out of people. I'm like, dude, you have to watch it. Before spring break, we had a day of work. I teach full time. we had a development day, but we were able to teach the teachers something, but we had no kids.

I did a little lesson on UFOs and paranormal, and I talked for about 15 minutes just about hellier, because I thought, you know what, if I'm going to get weird, I'm going to throw them the weirdest stuff. And then one of my coworkers, really cool, but she's also, you know, I would never ever expect her to buy any of this. She's like, yeah, you know what you said about, you know, the goblins and stuff. She's like, growing up in Mississippi, you know, that's the Appalachian area. She's like, I used to see little trolls on the farm. And my cousin's, you see him too. And I'm like, I would never expect for a million years to come up and tell me this story.

So it's kind of mind-blowing. And so what I'm writing now in the book, there's a lot of, in the book I'm running, there's a lot of Hellyer-ish stuff, a lot of my own personal theories and the least. Because it really, it tied into a lot of stuff that I was reading separate to Hellyer and some other theories I had too. Like, there's just so many parallels. So I think Hellier is going to be massively important. I know that sounds like an over-exaggeration, but I think for the people that I get it,

you know, it's important. Yeah, it's like that meme that goes around. If you know, you know. Yeah. I think that's very true. I think anyone who watches Hellier gets this sense of now being a part of it in their own unique ways, their own personal ways. They start making synchronities and connections,

which are deeply personal things to begin with, and how it might lay in this big scheme of things. And I think when I had Connor and Greg, on the show, they felt as though they were being initiated into something bigger than them. And I feel like every person who sees this show is now initiated as well, whether you want to be or not, or whether you believe you are or not. So yeah, I'm excited to see where it goes. I know they're already getting so many new leads after the second season came out. So I'm sure we haven't seen the last of Hellier and the last of what the new perks are up to. So I'm looking forward to whatever

it comes next to them. One thing I was going to add to that, well, two little things. I just kind of thought about the second ago. When you said how they're kind of initiating, they felt like, you know, being initiated, you know, what if, and this kind of just popped in my head, you know, like how like the book encounter or something in UFO? What if this is like a modern version of that? That's a really good point.

Yeah. Would you mind actually describing that to my listeners? I would many people know what the book initiation actually is, yeah. So it's this idea where you're specifically drawn to a book for a reason. in terms of uithology it's kind of like there's a reason why you're reading that specific book at that time yeah at that time yeah it's weird because like when I first time I read that I didn't think about it for a minute and I was like wait did I have something like that I think we all happen at some point I know your sighting was what sparked you know your interest but for me

I was interested in this before I saw something and then my siding made me want to like re-investigated again but I just remember why was I drawn to those books at such a young age so it's really fascinating. And then another thing I was going to add to that, which I just forgot was talking about book initiation. We will connect these dots. Book initiation. Hellier, watching it.

That's something to that. What was it? Well, here's my little gremlin, while we're at it. Very cool. Adorable, adorable baby. Oh, here's what it was. In episode, I think it's I don't remember the episode but it's the episode where they mentioned

an adorpha and the lead they got regarding that was actually from one of Professor Cryple's students he sent that to the hell of your guys and he said he's like yeah I was the one who did that he wants to try to book them in the festival in November hopefully because he's like we follow each other

social media's like oh yeah I saw you met with Greg I love to have him he's like oh yeah I was the one who sent them I'm like whoa like mind blown So it goes to show you that, like, there's some college students who were watching this and who were able to kind of draw these connections and some of these obscure books. Yeah. Well, that's pretty cool, man. Again, worlds colliding.

I love it. Well, all right, we got to move to the elephant in the room, not COVID, but Tom DeLong. So much has happened since you and I last talk in terms of to the Stars Academy and everything Tom DeLong is doing. all the tweets that he deletes after like eight hours. So where do you, Mike DeMonte, one of the biggest blink fans I know. I know the feeling, my man, I grew up with them. Angels in Airwaves is awesome. Where do you stand today to the stars?

We got, like you mentioned earlier, we got the whole crowd of thing. Now they're working with the U.S. Army, which makes a lot of people really hesitant about what are the real motivations behind all this. So what do you think, man? Where do you stand in 2020 today when it comes to what to the stars promised or even what their mission statement said and what they're doing today, I guess? It's a big loaded question, but yeah, take your time. No, I mean, so I think it's the same how I felt then. You know, I think we're up supportive of their efforts. These things are going to take time. Is everything that we expect going to happen? Probably not.

But, you know, people don't understand how small they really are. It is a really small operation. And people don't get that. They think because of who's involved, you know, that it is just a giant cash machine and there's so many people working. And that's really not the case. One of the things, I mean, like I said, my opinion really hasn't changed. Just whatever's going to happen, I think's going to happen. And people, he's not realized, too, that everything Tom Belanche tweets is not to the

stars work. You know, it's not like an official thing. And people don't get that. They go off the rails. I just about what he was deleting it. Oh, Tom wants a new world order. And it's like, dude, that's not what he said. And so it's just crazy how people, like, here's the thing.

A lot of people in the UFO community, they don't, they don't follow Tom before this. I've covered his career, like, you know, when I was a music journalist of the Connoist, I know how Tom, so he's, he's been doing this stuff for years regarding music. So now it's about UFO. He's saying. Yeah, so people take what he's saying his word. You know, he said years ago that Angel and Ivers is going to be the biggest band in the world, okay?

I mean, obviously, it hasn't happened, but, like, he, no one was crucifying him for that, like, like, you know, some of the people in the UFO community are over his, you know, his idealistic tweet about, you know, having a one nation. I mean, this isn't new. Go back to listen to some of the Angels and Airways lyrics. Go back to listen to even some of the Blake songs. I mean, these themes exist in those songs. So nothing he's saying is new.

It's just, it's new to some people. But I'll do share a couple of stories that kind of gives me more of a perspective on how so the stars kind of uses stuff. And this is back in September, I think. Yeah, so September. Angel and Airways was doing their show in Austin. And I went up for, obviously, I mean, I'm a big fan. And I did the meet and greet stuff before the show.

And I was able to give Tom my book. And yeah, he was cool. It was nice. And later on at the show, Steve Justice was there. I was like, oh, my God, Steve Justice. It's like crazy. In a rock show, that's pretty. Yeah.

And, like, I mean, a lot of the Two the Stars crew was there. Like, Tom's assistant was there for a few other people. And I spoke to Steve Justice for a few minutes. And, you know, he was really nice. And the thing I told him was like, hey, look, I'm a journalist. I'm not an investor because, you know, there'd be a conflict of interest. And he was really, like, understanding of that. And he was very supportive of the support that they get through the UFO community.

One thing, I was able to draw a distinction, though, at the same time, there's a reason why they're so separate from it. And I think when you're, and it's not like an arrogance thing or a cockiness thing, but it's like, think about their background, where they come from, all the people, you know. And I'm not saying that, you know, UFO community is like bottom feeders. And that's not what I'm saying at all. But the thing about it, I mean, they don't necessarily for what their goal is, their goal is to kind of is a more mainstream thing.

You know, if they don't need our support 100%. You know, I mean, it's nice to have it. But I think that's a reason why if you look at who they do press to, there's a reason why they only deal with mainstream media outlets. You know, if they really wanted to, you know, they could come on your podcast. They could grant me an interview, you know, if they really wanted to extend that olive branch. But I don't think they're doing it in a way that's being, like, vindictive or, like snobby. I think it's just like, look, we don't, you know, we just want to reach, you know,

these mainstream outlets and then kind of go from there. Or we could do the, the, the, the, the black vault route and then just bash Louis Alzando until he has to come on and defend himself. It's an approach. It's an approach. What can I say? Hey, and I love you, John Greenlee. I'm not trying to, I know, I'm not trying to take shots. You know what I mean, though. But it's like, you know, and then I got more of respect to back in December, they came, they played in Houston. And I met Tom again before the show. And I asked if he had my book.

And he did. And he says, yeah, I've read through. I haven't read the whole thing. And I brought up that I interviewed Kevin Day and Sean Cahill. He's like, yeah, keep up the good work. And what I got from that was is that they're aware of what we're all doing. They may not acknowledge it all the time. They're aware of what we're all doing, but it doesn't change the trajectory of what they're doing,

if that makes sense. Yeah, totally. Again, I think what people have to understand is this is one. company. This is one perception of the phenomenon. And Tom has his own personal beliefs, aside from what to the stars is doing. So I think you bring up a good point. To the stars is one way to approach these phenomena and these ways of doing it. Can they reach the mainstream unlike most of us? Yeah, of course they can. But that doesn't change the fact that there's so many UFO researchers out there doing their own work, continuing to interview

witnesses. It's not like these Navy Tic Tacs are the only UFO sightings that have happened. People are still having UFO settings all over the world. So I think you're right. I think it's good to remember, you know, Tom DeLong doesn't owe us anything and also vice versa. We're all in this for answers for ourselves. So if you're an investor, that's a whole different story. If you don't feel like you're getting what you paid for, a whole different story. But Tom DeLong does not owe the UFO community anything in my personal opinion. Yeah, and I see that. It's weird because I know those interactions with Steve and the two with Tom

and the early parts of the fall really kind of put to the stars, I mean, in terms of their trajectory in the perspective. Because this whole time I've been trying to get, you know, to talk to some of them to no avail. Even though it's like, man, I've had relationships with, you know, in the past with some of the handlers, it's like, well, why can't I get this interview now? And it's frustrating for me as a journalist. It's like, look, man, I used to work for, you know,

There's a top four media organization. Now I run this little log, but it's like, hey, look, I'm legit. Hey, look at me. You know, it's kind of like that. You know, you get kind of frustrated. But at the same time, though, it's like, look, I'm not Vice. I'm not Washington Post, you know, not CNN, not New York Times. So I think a lot of people in the FO community, it's kind of like a bloat of their ego, too.

Like, hey, why won't you talk to us, you know? And it's like, I wish they would. But at the end of the day, you know, their goal is is beyond that. You know, it's these mainstream media outlets. When they do press, they don't do press often. They really don't. of times it's done through news releases too, which a lot of companies and organizations do. The goal of those news releases that they send out that they do on their website or they email

people on the mailing list is to basically just say, hey, this news is out there. Then journalists can take that right on it and then pursue a story from there. So that's the goal of those news releases. And I think that's the magic that they do a lot of their press, quote unquote press through those news releases. Right. And I think, no, I was just going to say they, and they only come out with a press release or a story when something has happened.

When something big is going to, you know, shake the foundation of UFO research or discoveries they've made. So, yeah, I think it's good. If we're just getting these, like, tiny teases like Tom had done for so long, that's when people get frustrated. I think now they've made a concerted effort to be like, if we have nothing to say, why the hell say it? So, yeah, we know when we see a new... official to the star's statement on something, something big probably happened. So, yeah. Yeah, and I think part of that, too, is, you know, maybe they're not allowed to say something, say something yet. You know, there's any results in yet, no, or maybe we can't publish us yet.

I mean, people have to have to realize these things don't happen overnight. And I know it's not happening as fast as some people would like, but it's like, I'd rather have them be accurate than first, if that makes sense. Oh, absolutely. So it's like, let them do their thing. We have so many other things to occupy ourselves in the meantime. Unidentified season two is shooting now, so hopefully we'll have that, you know, to hold us over. Maybe some of the results will be in that show, and people may want to bash them for using a TV show as the outlet to present this information. Well, so be it. It's on a history channel.

It's on a mainstream network, you know? Yeah, where are you going to reach the most people and get it out? And honestly, like, anything they do, whether they mean to or not affects us as UFO researchers, for the good. I mean, I can't tell you how many people have reached out to me after seeing unidentified or after reading the New York Times article by Leslie King. It's astounding the amount of people who came to us and were now looking for answers when they didn't give a crap about UFOs only a month before that. So these things do have a trickle effect. And if you're not sitting down having a beer with Tom DeLong, that's a whole different story. But what he's doing is affecting our work, whether we like it or not.

So I love it. I love, I still support everything they do. And like you as a podcaster or a quote unquote UFO journalist, I too want to remain objective. So no, I have no stake in the company. If it goes away, so be it. If it stays awesome. I can't wait to see what they come out with next. but it's definitely provided us with enough chatter online, Mike.

And I want to ask your opinion on this. Hashtag UFO Twitter. Now, this has become kind of an official thing. Just like most things, it started from the ground up, and people started using it as a hashtag when they're talking about UFOs. But it's like now this new movement, and it's got a big following. So I got to ask your opinion, having taken part in a, like, almost like a video about UFOs. Twitter, what it is, what it represents.

I too just contributed a video to their next installment. What do you make of this? Hashtag UFO Twitter. What's going on on there? And do you think it's good, bad, somewhere in between? Yeah, what do you think? There's some people who are really good at it. Danny Silva is always really good on tweeting Joe Mergia.

There's quite a few players that are really pushing the conversation. UFO Jesus. So yeah, taking part of that video was pretty cool just to kind of see what everyone thinks about it. And when I said in the video, it's like, there's two sides of it. There's the really cool side where people are able to talk about this subject and share stories. And then there's the bad side where there's this negativity, you know, which is just kind of reflective of the UFO community in general, you know, I mean, of this constant infighting. So at one point, it kind of creates more infighting and then put it also creates some friendships along the way. So, I mean, I think it's just like any, you know, Twitter, you know, like NBA Twitter or hockey Twitter, you know what I mean, or like anything that people follow, you know, there's going to be the good and the bad. But I mean, I think it's just like any, you know, It's just another outlet of the community. I'm thinking, like, if I'm somebody who, let's say, if I work for the history channel or I work for to the stars, I don't think I'm going to be looking too much over UFO

Twitter in terms of the saying in terms of like the discourse of moving rings forward. Because it's, like I said, there's a lot of things that would personally turn me away if I was looking at that, you know, just some of the behaviors and some of the constant fighting. So I think it's cool that some of us researchers get involved in it. Every once a while, like, I'll chime in. I try to do less of that than I used to just because it's like, I noticed, like, the people who do podcasts and websites and articles and stuff, I think, you know, a lot of times we have our fingers tied in that.

Sometimes I think it's good. Sometimes I think when we're bored, it's cool to kind of engage in UFO Twitter and have these conversations. But I think it's other times, hey, let's do work and then let our work speak for themselves, then people can make conversations based off the work. I think that's really cool, too, when one of us does work and that it becomes a conversation piece. I think that's a really good aspect of UFO Twitter. You see these big threads. And I think that's definitely a positive for sure.

But for me, I think UFO Twitter is cool. I don't engage in as much as I probably used to or even at all. I mean, every once in a while, I guess I'll chime in. I don't know if I'll use the hashtag. But I think it's cool. I think a lot of people involved in it are good dudes. So, yeah. Yeah, yeah.

They're passionate. That's the word I would use. And we need more of that. I mean, before UFO Twitter happened, before to the stars happen, I'm going to be honest, the UFO field is boring as shit. and we're talking about Roswell and Rendell Shum. And don't get me wrong, like those are my favorite cases

and the case history is what we thrive on. But we were always looking for something new to shake things up and I think it's happened. And when that shift happens, you do start to see a lot of the older guard, as it were, start to get a little hesitant. And like, what is this? What's going on?

Not in my backyard, sort of better. But we love them. And I think if the younger people can build off of the research that came before them, that's all we can ask for. And there are some really good conversations going on over on UFO Twitter. So I definitely suggest people check that out. Well, to sort of wrap things up, Mike, I got to bring it back to, unfortunately, COVID-19 and what we're dealing with with this global pandemic.

Optimistically, we make it out of this clearly not unscathed, but we find a way to get through these things. We always do. Coming out on the other side of it, do you think this is going to affect people's beliefs or the way they interact or just the human condition coming out of something unprecedented that we haven't seen before? Where do you think will be as a race, the human race,

in terms of looking at the alien question after all of this? It's a big, broad question, but I'd love to get your question. where can we even begin to ask that question? Hey, I like your new RAP 4. Thanks, yours too. What does Ravs stand for anyway? To me, it's the remarkably advanced vehicle. Really? To me, it's the runway approved vehicle for its amazing style.

What about remarkably adaptable vehicle because of its versatile cargo space? Or really admired vehicle? Oh, or really awesome vehicle. It really is the recreational activity vehicle. The stylish 2026 Toyota Rapp. 4 Limited. What's your rap for? Man, that's such a really important question. I mean, you look at it like, you know,

how does humanity react in the face of strife, you know? I mean, just look, I mean, you see people band together during natural disasters and acts of terrorism. I think this is no different. I think there needs to be obviously more solidarity amongst the people.

A lot of that comes from our leadership in this country. There's no reason why Florida beaches should be open. I live in Houston. which is the fourth largest city. As of right now, there's no lockdown yet. And I think people get scared to the word lockdown. Lockdown doesn't mean you can't leave your house. It just means you can only leave for important things like groceries and doctors appointments, you know.

So I think people get kind of scared about that, you know, but it's just, I'm worried because a lot of people are putting the idea of the economy over people's lives. And the economy has potential to rebound. We have the money. You can put $1.5 trillion in the Wall Street. You can help out the people. You know, what I was really, I'm not sure when this is running. But, you know, I was saying today was I was reading today was they may be pressure to send people back to work in like two weeks just to get the economy going again, which would just really end up costing probably in the long run it's going to cost the economy more.

And more people are going to be in the hospital, more people are going to be dying. So it's like, what do we value as a society? Do we value money or do we value life? So, you know, that's kind of like, it's weird because it's like it's showing, you know, greed is showing its ugly head right now. You know, like, do you have people, you know, the people who are staying in, you know, doing it for the people with the immune problems and for the older people. like that's great, you know, but then you also have the people who, like, who are in charge who are not, you know, not doing what needs to be done. So it's frustrating that at this time people could still be greedy.

They could still be ignorant. They could still not see the big picture. So how we come out of this, I don't know. I just hope we do, you know, so things could kind of normalize and we learn anything. You know, I think we need to learn how to better deal with this in the future. And yeah. Yeah. It's a good point.

You know, we've seen some memes going around and conspiracies running. rampant and you know there's probably a little truth to everything here and there but uh it's dangerous when it comes to conspiracies um so yeah i i feel the same way i think just do what needs to be done and that's to stay in and to be healthy be smart and um look that person next door to you that person below you that person across the street they're all suffering right now like you are so you're not the only one out of work that's what i want everyone to I'm out of work for God knows how long, but so is the person next to me and the person next to me. So I think you're right.

If we can find inspiration in our leadership and work together on this and show some alien civilization that we as a planet can come together when it comes to something this globally affecting, hopefully they'll welcome us into the Galactic Federation, I guess. I hope so. I hope so, too, man. Well, Mike, this has been extremely refreshing. I needed this. You needed this. We all need to just keep doing this, having conversations, talking about the stuff we love, which is always UFOs.

And I have no doubt that somehow, some way, we will get through this and we'll be having these UFO conversations more and more as time goes on. For all my listeners and viewers, where can we find everything you're up to, man, and what's going on with you? Yeah, punkrock and UFOs.com. I'll be still be doing stories here and there. I don't know what's in the works yet. But yeah. And I said hopefully the third books, change of them fiction. Hopefully this summer, just trying to find a good home for it. So as soon as I find a home, hopefully it'll be out. See ya. Well, I got to thank you again for coming on somewhere in the skies. And we'll talk to you soon.

Thank you. It's always a pleasure of being on here. So yeah, appreciate it. That's it for this week's episode. Again, check out all of Mike Demontes work over at punk rock and UFOs.com. If you haven't already, please take a moment to subscribe, rate, and review someone in the skies on Apple Podcasts, your Android apps, or wherever you get the show. It helps us gain visibility and find new listeners. Thank you for your support. This week's interview with Mike Demonte is also available in video format. Make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel to watch it now. Just search for the Ryan Sprague channel to watch.

You can find us on Twitter at SummerSkies and Instagram at SomewhereSkies pod. If you haven't already, check out the bonus episode featuring some of the leading paranormal UFO and esoteric podcast hosts and researchers out there and how they are dealing with the current global pandemic. Check that out right now on the main feed. Lastly, if you'd like to share a personal UFO story with me or to contact me, head on over to the official website and use the contact tab. That's at somewhere in the skies.com. Pending any coronavirus, I will see you here next week. Please stay safe and be well.

And as always, keep your feet on the ground, but never stop searching somewhere in the skies. Somewhere in the Skies is produced by third-kind productions in association with the Entertainment One Podcast Network. To learn more, visit Entertainment Onepodcast.com.