Somewhere in the Skies - The Truth Is Out There with the Guilty Pleasure Podcast

Episode Date: September 18, 2017

On episode 23 of SOMEWHERE IN THE SKIES, Ryan sits down at The Nerdist School in Los Angeles to talk with Amanda Salvatore and Jackie Rae Aubel of The Guilty Pleasure Podcast. Each week, the ladies bring on guests to discuss their guiltiest of pleasures, and they grill Ryan on his most guilty obsession; The X-Files. In one of the longest-running science fiction series in network TV history, FBI special agents investigate unexplained, mind-bending cases known as "X-Files." Though the government is convinced that the outlandish reports are false, conspiracy theorist Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and realist Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), for most of the series, stop at nothing to prove that "the truth is out there." Amanda, Jackie, and Ryan navigate their way through the insanely complex alien conspiracy throughout the series, the steamy sexual tension between Mulder and Scully, and where the show is heading when it returns for an eleventh season in early 2018. The truth is in this episode, and you have been given top secret access to listen now. TRUST NO ONE!  Guest Bios: Jackie Rae Aubel is a writer, comedian, and producer based in Los Angeles. She has studied improv and sketch comedy at the Upright Citizen's Brigade (NY), the People's Improv Theatre (NY) and the Nerdist School (LA). For the past 5 years, she's written, produced and directed both live and scripted comedy. She's currently a writer and actor on the Nerdist School house sketch team, 'The Vanities'. She is also co-host and producer of the 'Guilty Pleasure Show' on Project Alpha and the 'Guilty Pleasure Podcast' on the Nerdist School Network. Amanda Salvatore recently moved from her beloved New York to the ever sunny LA. She's loving her time here, but not so surprisingly misses Dollar Slice (specifically 99 Cent Express Pizza on 43rd and 8th). She used to sing and "dance" in musicals for many years but decided that writing jokes was a way more sensible life choice. She has studied improv and/or sketch writing with UCB, IO West, The Magnet, and The Nerdist School. She is a part of the improv group, The Vanities. This episode is brought to you by HelloFresh. To learn more and to receive 50% of your first box, visit www.HelloFresh.ca and use the promo code: SOMEWHERE50 To become a SOMEWHERE IN THE SKIES patron, visit www.patreon.com/SomewhereSkies Website: www.somewhereintheskies.com Email: [e-mail] Twitter: @SomewhereSkies Order Ryan's Book by CLICKING HERE Opening Theme Song, "Ephemeral Reign" by Per Kiilstofte Episode Edited by Jane Palomera Moore SOMEWHERE IN THE SKIES is produced by THIRD KIND PRODUCTIONS, in association with Antica Productions 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

Hey guys, Ryan Sprague 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 page. To contribute and to learn more, visit www.patriot.com backslash SomewhereSkies. Thank you for your support. And now on with the show.

This is Somewhere in the Skies with Ryan Sprague. You can deny all the things I've seen, all the things I've discovered, but not for much longer. Because too many others know what's happening out there. And no one, no government agency has jurisdiction over the truth. If you don't recognize that music, I honestly don't know where you've been for the past decade and a half. Get ready. Because this is going to be a very molder and scully episode. You've been warned. It may come as no surprise to any of you out there that the X-Files is my lifeblood.

I don't think a day goes by without me quoting Fox Mulder for no good reason, or even just putting an episode on in the background to get through the day. First world problems, I know. For the longest time, I watched the show as it aired every Friday night on Fox, but I had nobody to talk about it with. It was a secret ceremony I held every week as I'd followed these two FBI agents on their adventures in investigating UFOs, aliens, ghosts, monsters, and everything in between. It was my dreams and aspirations playing out on the small screen. I wanted to believe I was Fox Mulder. And to be honest, I've come further in the same.

making that dream come true than I ever thought I would. Granted, I don't work for the FBI, nor am I unraveling a grand conspiracy of men and aliens, working together to both enslave and hybridize humanity. Or am I? I digress. The X-Files was most certainly, my guilty pleasure. And this week, I was fortunate enough to sit down at the acclaimed nerdist school, right here in Los Angeles, and speak with Amanda and Jackie, the hosts of the Guilty Pleasure.

podcast. You can find their show on all major podcast outlets and at nerdist school.com. For the bulk of the conversation, we talked all about X-Files and my work in the field of euphology. I then turn the tables on them towards the end and get their thoughts on UFOs, the paranormal, and their favorite conspiracy theories. It was a lighthearted but heavy crossover episode, where we all just may have changed one another's minds on these deeply complex phenomena. But either way, it was a fun navigation through one of the most successful television shows of all time and proved once again that the truth has and always will remain out there. I hope you enjoy this episode with Amanda and Jackie of the Guilty Pleasure Podcast.

Trust no one. Well, except me. You can trust me. Enjoy the episode. So, Ryan, welcome to the podcast. Thank you. Thank you for having me. Oh, my gosh. I've been in L.A. for a week.

So to already be doing something like this, I feel like, oh, it's always going to be like this. I'm going to end up at the nerdist school with really cool people who host an awesome podcast. I love that. Yeah, well, it's a good, we're the welcoming committee. We are, especially from the New York, the New York side. We're like, oh, you're a New Yorker moving to L.A. for the first time, come be on our podcast. And also calm down. Yeah, yeah.

Calm down. You are way too exciting. Take it down to a six. Oh, before we do that, I did I give you guys these. Oh, my God, gifts. Gifts. Gifts, do we get gifts? I gave me gifts.

Yes. Guys, it's a book. You can't see it, but we'll definitely post it. It's called Somewhere in the Sky. A human approach to an alien phenomenon by Ryan Sprigg. Sprague. Yep, you got it. Nice.

Sproog, Sprague. Sprague. Prague with an S. This is a book. Yeah. And stickers. Oh, my gosh. I put sentences together and someone was dumb enough to make it into a book.

Thank you. You ropedooped them real well. Thank you so much for this. Look at your badass picture in the back. You look so legit. Yeah, right. Look at that. I think that was a good hair day.

And there's like several people who made several comments about it in the back. I love that. I cannot wait to read this. This is so cool. I had no idea that you were, I think you were the first published author on the podcast. Oh, wow. Well, I only thought it was appropriate for what we'll be talking about today. It is very appropriate.

Speaking of which, what is your guilty pleasure? My guilty pleasure is the X-Files. Do do do-do do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do. I'm glad you guys did that. Whenever I talk on, like, I've done news stations and broadcast and stuff, and every time I come on to talk about UFO seriously, they put the X-Files music behind it. Well, there you go. We're not that cool to have it, but yeah, it's your intro music, basically, right?

Every time you enter a room, you ask that someone play it on their phone. Yeah, yeah. Hey, Ryan, can you get me a glass of water? Do do, do, do, do, do as he's walking in with the water. Be, boo, boo, boo, boo, do, do, do. Anyway, so how did you get into? I mean, here's the thing is that I've known Ryan for a while. And we work together in New York and now you're here, et cetera,

etc. And you've, from since I've known you, which is a while now, you've always been interested in UFOs, extraterrestrial, aliens, that sort of a thing. How were you introduced to the X-Files? And was that something that sparked it? Or has this always been like a lifelong passion? It's kind of been a lifelong passion. The X-Files came into my life at a very interesting time. I had had my own personal UFO sighting. What? Like six months before I saw the first episode of The X-Files. Oh, shit.

So I was, I'm dating myself now. I was 12, I want to say, in upstate New York. And I was fishing off a dock with my parents. And I, it was nighttime. And I saw these three white lights reflecting off of the water first. So naturally I look up. And I see the three white lights. I couldn't see any sort of like structure machine, if you will, but I couldn't see the stars behind what I was seeing.

And it was just kind of floating over the water, silent, completely silent. I could just hear like the water hitting the dock. So I start yelling for my dad who's inside our hotel to come out. And as he's coming out, the thing starts floating over the water towards Canada, the border of Canada. and my father did see the tail end of what I saw. Oh, wow. And he told me, you know, it was just a plane. It was just a plane, Ryan, calm down.

But even at 12, I knew that whatever it was, it was not like any sort of plane I'd seen or heard before. I'm not saying it was alien, but it was alien. But I saw what I saw. I saw what I saw, yeah. And I was terrified, and that kind of led to obsession. I started taking out book after book in the library about UFOs. and Bigfoot, Lachness Monster,

whatever I could get my hands on. And serendipitously, I guess, it was the same year I saw my first episode of The X-Files. Oh, crazy. Yeah, which was, I believe, 1996. The show premiered in 93. But the first episode I saw was in 96. Cool.

Very cool. And what was your... I mean, that's crazy. Not that you are crazy, but that's like a nutso experience. Like, that would blow... my freaking mind. That would be

incredible. That's awesome. I also think it's really cool though that you got your dad to see it and then effectively felt like no I wasn't having a weird little kid hallucination.

Right. There was something there and I love how quick your dad. I think that's just like the dichotomy between parents and kids with your dad is just very quick to be like it's a plane, it's a plane. You're like, that's not a plane.

I've seen planes in my 12 years on this earth and that was no plane. Let me tell you, there's long 12, years. I knew a lot about aviation. Also, right? Well, planes make a very distinct sound. I grew up right by LaGuardia Airport and so, you know, like, I

know what a plane like sounds and looks like because they were always flying over my backyard. And if this was super silent, that sounds very much not like a plane. Completely silent. Yeah. I didn't hear a thing. Like I said, it was just the water, like hitting the dock. That was it. Did you catch any

fish? That night I was unsuccessful. Okay. Yeah. So, got to ask the hard questions here. Yeah. You know? So did you seek out the X-Files or did you just kind of see it on TV? And then you were like, okay, is that my alley? Yeah.

So it's kind of a depressing story. Tell it. Great. How I first saw the X-Files. This was an episode called Quagmire. I don't know if you guys know that one or have seen it, but it was about like a Loch Ness monster, creature, a sea monster that they were investigating. And so I was 12. Roller skating was a big thing back then.

We would go every Friday to the skate in place in Syracuse, New York. All the cool kids were there. All the cool kids, yeah. So my parents went out for the night, and my friend's parents were going to come pick me up. You know, there's a group of like five of us that would go every week. They forgot me. No. Either they forgot me or they straight up just didn't want me to go.

You were Kevin McAllister. I was, yeah. So I'm home alone. Thank you. and my friends never showed up to get me and I was just like, what am I going to do now? Baby Ryan. So I turned the TV on and, you know,

it was 8 o'clock on a Friday night, Fox, and the show came on that I'd never heard of and that opening, you know, and the UFO. The UFO, that weird face. That weird face. That creepy face. I'm not a fan of that face.

I saw that face and I was like, no. Yeah. Yeah. So when I saw the UFO, that's when I kind of was like, oh, this is, I got to watch this. And it's pretty scary. It's been hiding at the bottom of a lake for centuries. Friday. Close the lake. Close it down. It's coming to the surface. That was him, Scully. It's definitely not safe to go back in the water. It looks like it's coming straight at us.

And smiles. Friday at 9.8. Central. I mean, it was about a sea monster, but this. thing was like pulling people under the water and beheading people and it was gross. Yeah. It was unlike anything I'd seen on TV before. And you were hooked. I was hooked after that. How did you, how did you, how did you see the other episode, like the previous episodes? Were they in syndication yet? Not at that point. Not at this point. I was watching week to week just like everyone else. This is obviously before like syndication and streaming and all that. So I was kind of living it as it was is happening at that point.

Yeah. And you were just following it. I was following it. And when I saw that there was not only these monster of the week sort of things where they go out and investigate a ghost or a monster, there was this overarching story, this mythology of this huge grand alien conspiracy. So what do, so for people, my mother, who've never seen this show, how would you describe the X-Files? Yeah, yeah, we should probably give a ClifNotes version. So the X-Files is two FBI agents, one a firm believer in the paranormal, the unexplained UFOs, and one a super skeptic. So we have Dana Scully, who is hired to debunk these cases, known as the X-Files.

Major Mulder, I'm Dana Scully. I've been assigned to work with you. Oh, isn't it nice to be suddenly so highly regarded? So who did you take off to get stuck with this details, Scully? Actually, I'm looking forward to working with you. I've heard a lot about you. Oh, really? I was under the impression that you were sent to spy on me. Cases that the FBI either have never solved or it's just a little too fringe for them, they give them to Agent Fox Mulder, who used to be a profiler for the FBI. He was known for arresting one of the most famous serial killers at the time. But, as time went on, he got into all this UFO stuff.

We find out that as a child, his sister was supposedly abducted by aliens. It sent him on this lifelong course to not only find his sister, but find out the truth about aliens. So, again, Scully is brought in to debunk all of these cases, give a scientific answer for them, and Mulder is there to say, it's aliens, it's this, it's that. So you have a really interesting dichotomy between these two main characters, and every week, they would investigate a new X-File. And they investigate it for nine, ten, ten seasons now. Wow. Yeah. It's, I haven't, I never watched the show before knowing that we were going to be doing this podcast. And I saw my first episode yesterday. I saw the pilot, the second episode. And then I just watched this morning another episode that you sent me the, I forget what the title is. I can find it or I could describe it to you. You'll know what it is. But that pilot, but that pilot, episode. It's great. Holy cruddle.

Very 90s, right? Well, first of all, it's very 90s, because it was the 90s. I know. Scully's fashion choices are quite a bit. Gorgeous woman. Gorgeous. Those shoulder pads, man. I'm surprised you could clear most doorways with those shoulder pads. I was like, actually, my boyfriend Max was watching it with me a little bit while he was playing on his phone. And I was like, I was like, who wears that anymore to their job? Like, especially if you're like going in, I guess, She had like a skirt on with heels and stuff. I'm like, you're in the field.

Yeah, what are you doing? Yeah, what are you doing? You're going to have to chase an alien. Well, maybe she heard she was like my librarian chic will like maybe keep me undercover. Right. Right. I think it's the second episode where you see her running like full speed in heels. In heels.

So, I mean, apparently she can do it. She can. She knows what's up. I do love that pilot, though. I actually watched The X Files for the first time a couple of months ago when it was on Netflix. And it's always, I stayed very, very far away from it as a child because I'm a little scaredy cat. And I thought that it was very scary. And then someone was like, you know, it's kind.

There's a little, there's a few. It is a little scary, but it's not like as terrifying as I thought it was. But overall, I was very impressed by like the setup and the writing. I thought it was a really, um, unique idea. I love like these types of supernatural shows, like supernatural. And, um, it's, I just really enjoy like discovering that mythology and, and, um, playing with it in a very like real kind of modern way. And I also like how a lot of the episodes,

they never really find out what happens. Right. Because we as the viewers are granted this extra view into what's actually happening, but they can never truly explain it. That's a good point. It reminds me a lot of like Doogie Houser in the sense that every episode of Doogie Houser

would start with him writing in his diary on his like old eight-bit computer or whatever. And for this one, you would have Scully or Mulder introduce the case. And then by the end, like, give sort of their, I guess their debriefing of what it was. And you're right. They always remained unexplained. It was very rare that they ever solved a case through science or through pseudoscience or even through, you know, metaphysics or the mystical, whatever, what have you. They just, it remained elusive throughout the whole series.

And I think that's kind of what kept it going. You can't, I guess, I mean, as like writing a show from that standpoint, you can't really put a pin in it every episode because then that takes away from searching and trying to find out the truth once you kind of solidify something. Does that make sense? Like if it doesn't stay mystical and it doesn't stay elusive, then I feel like it's harder to keep that going. Keep each episode being like, what's going to happen next? Are they going to find out? Are they, what are they going to find? The pilot episode, watching the pilot episode, I was like, aliens are real.

And Scully, get on it. Like, what the fuck? And then the next episode, she's like, I still don't bore on it. I'm like, what the fuck? You just saw, like, all that crazy shit just happened. Like, do it. And then I watched the other one, which is on season four or three. And it's like the, you said it was like a sillier one.

Yeah. where the government is abducting people. That one. And I was like, you're still, you still don't believe we're in like season four. I think actually kind of going back to Scully, I think that's such an interesting like character trait she has. Because I think it really reflects on humanity as a whole because as humans we so often put ourselves in denial, not necessarily about the supernatural, but about things that we see with our own freaking eyes because they mess with our worldview or they mess with what we want to be true. So even though you see it with your playing out, like with your eyes, like it actually happened.

You're like, no. It could have been this. It could have been that. Like she tries to explain it. And sometimes she's just like, I can't explain it. But it's not that. Yes. But it's like he's, but Mulder's making the most sense.

Because I don't want to believe it. Is that why you came down here to prove that it wasn't true? No, I came down here because you asked me to. Why can't you be honest with me? What do you want me to say? That you're right, that I believe it. Even if I don't? I mean, is that what you want?

Is that what you think I want to hear? No. You can believe what you want to believe, Scully. But you can't hide the truth from me, because if you do, then you're working against me and yourself. It's interesting. In the beginning, when the show first started, it was so in your face that Mulder would experience these things.

He would see the UFO. He would see a group of aliens in some abandoned warehouse. And Scully would always come in at the last second when it disappears. Now, that got a little ridiculous as the series went on. It was like, come on. Seriously. She can't fall every time. Every time.

He sees it and she doesn't. But as the show goes on, they gave Scully more agency. They give this character more to work with in terms of. And New Balance sneakers so she wouldn't trip and fall. Get her out of those heels. Come on. Podcast is sponsored by New Balance. 90s was not the best time for feminism, I would say, in terms of that.

So constantly making her, the character to have to rescue or it was clear that not only the writers, but Jillian Anderson was like, no, this isn't what I signed up for. Like, you wanted a strong female character. Let's do that. Let's make her complex, complicated. So it's pretty interesting. I don't know if you guys know what happened during the, it was either the first season or

the second season. Julian Anderson got pregnant. And this put like a huge roadblock in the show. They weren't sure what to do. like, well, I'm going to have to leave for like to have the baby, all of this. And they're like, this show just became huge. The first season was one of Fox, one of their biggest successes of all time. And they're like, oh, my God, what are we going to do?

And that completely changed the entire course of the show for the next 10 seasons. Oh, really? Yeah, they worked it into the script. And in the second season, they had her get abducted by aliens. Oh, shit. Really? Yeah. And that's why she's pregnant?

Is she pregnant with an alien baby? There's something else I need to tell you. Something that I need for you to keep to yourself. Make a hard time explaining it or believing it. This episode is brought to you by Netflix. Most valuable promotions in Netflix are hosting a blockbuster triple headliner Saturday, May 16th. Rhonda Rousey returns to face fellow woman's MMA pioneer Gina Carrano in the main event. Plus Comane's Nate Diaz versus Mike Perry

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At least that's what the show was eluding to and you sort of start to learn more as the series goes on. What happens to the baby? I don't want to... You can spoil it. You can spoil it. Spoiler alert. Okay, okay. So many, many seasons later, she ends up, I mean, not many seasons, she has the baby on the series,

and it turns out to be some sort of alien human hybrid with these superpowers. It can move things with its mind, this, that, this that. It got a little crazy as the series goes on. They kept the kid there? Was she like, I guess this is my kid now? No, she ends up giving it up for adoption. And did she tell them, like, in the paperwork being like, it's an alien baby? Father, alien.

Imagine how that would go over at the adoption agency. Yeah, somebody would be into it. Also, your baby has alien DNA, so you're going to have to work that in this diet. Did the baby look like a human, and it just, like, had these supernatural powers? Yeah. Gotcha. It was totally human. Nothing really stood out about it, yeah.

So she gets abducted. Yep. She comes back, what, after a couple episodes, and she's pregnant? Is she like three months pregnant, six months pregnant? Is she showing? So in the television show, she's showing. Jackie has her hand to the side. Right in the rib.

Like in her rib cage, like that's where the baby is. Your baby grows in your ribs, right? That's where alien babies growls. It's in the Bible, whatever. She had a hunchback. It's like, I think I'm pregnant. Yeah, she's got like this lump. They open it up.

It's an alien baby. That's how they do it up there. What do you do for alien baby showers? Is all the decoration green glow in the dark? It's green. It's all like day glow with black lights. It's like a Spencer's Gifts. That's what it is.

Spenser's gift themed baby shower. You couldn't have brought a better describe it. Yeah, Spencer's Gifts. It's Spencer's Gifts like in the back where the posters are. And the Lod Lampes. And the Lever Lampes. The Mushin posters. The Lava Lamps and the Neon signs.

There's definitely like a stairway to heaven. You know what I mean? I don't know why. It just goes with the theme, you guys. But I'm trying to remember how. they sort of worked it in. I know they get rid of the kids. It was one of those like almost Virgin Mary things where she gets abducted and comes back

pregnant. So then you've got more time to work with, oh my God, what happened? How did I get pregnant? I, you know, I've never, I haven't been with anyone. I'm too busy at work investigating ghosts and UFOs. And having steamy, steamy sexual tension with my co-agent. So steamy. We'll definitely get into that.

I want to because I was like from the beginning. Yeah. You were a shipper? I was definitely a shipper on that. Like, get on it. Mulder, you know that proper surveillance requires two pairs of agents, one pair we're leaving the other after 12 hours. Article 30, paragraph 8.7.

This isn't about doing it by the book. This is about you not having slept for three days. Mulder, you're going to get sloppy and you're going to get hurt. It's inevitable at this point. A request for other agents to stake out to us would be denied. To them, we have no grounds. Well, then I'll stay. here, you go home. Fox.

And I even made my parents call me Mulder. Mulder. Mulder, I wouldn't put myself on the line for anybody but you. If there's an iced tea in that bag, could be love. Must be fate, Mulder. Rupier. Well, that brings up a good point, too. Now, this was also the time where message boards were big when this show came out.

Oh, God. So you had people saying week to week about the X-Files. I was like, what are they going to get together? Or you should talk about this or you should talk about that. And the writers have come forward and admitted that episodes were made, were created directly from people on the message boards, giving them, you know, ideas of what to write about or what they would like, what they didn't like about the show.

And it was one of the first times in, I believe, television history where, like, the internet and message boards where the fans were truly a part of the show, which was really cool. Yeah. Yeah. And that's like a common thing now where people be like, bring the show back.

We love it. Yeah. I think actually we'll just like sidebar and then we'll go right back into the X-Files, but my theory about the Game of Thrones ending that just took place is that it was completely like just fan-driven. Fan-riven.

Like it was all things that fans wanted to see. Yeah. Which I don't know, was kind of like on Game of Thrones like. But anyway, I digress. A show I've never seen, unfortunately. it either. If you watch it, I recommend you watch it. I watched it. I tried to watch it

a couple years ago and I failed and then I tried again with subtitles and then I was in. You know what? I do subtitles for a lot of things. Because they all freaking mumble and they're British accents and they all got weird ass names and there's like a cast of 50 people and so it

actually really helps because I'm being like this guy has like eight names but you're calling him by this name and he's not on screen. It's really hard to like kind of follow those plot points. That's my recommendation for the show. That being said, that being said, I'm going to go start it right after this. That being said, it's like, what, 70 hours of television you have to dedicate your life to? So like, I can do it. I can do it. I believe in myself. Take a moment. You know, I can do like, I was thinking about it because it is a show that I

am interested in watching. And it does seem like it would be right up my alley. I love all that kind of stuff. And I was like, you know what? An hour a day, you know? That's all you get home. And then you'll be caught up for next summer and then you can get wrapped up in all the nonsense. really get into the whole rigamarole of the whole thing. Yeah. But back to sexual tension, you guys. Do they? Do they? Don't they? Do they or don't they? So this is something that was throughout the entire show where you always thought they were going to.

And it's tough. It's tough. Because they form such a strong bond throughout this series, having experienced like the most weird, crazy. Can I swear on your? Yeah, of course. all the time. The craziest shit you can possibly think of, life-altering things together. I can't imagine, like, a relationship becoming stronger after having experienced things like that. So I think a lot of people hoped it wouldn't happen.

But then again, you see, you have certain episodes of the show where you see how lonely each character is in their personal lives, outside of the office, outside of what they do. And you're like, oh, just get together. Why did they assign me to you in the first place, Mulder, to debunk your... work to rein you in to shut you down but you saved me as difficult and as frustrating as it's been sometimes your goddamn strict rationalism and science have saved me a thousand times over you kept me honest you made me a whole person i owe you everything scolene you owe me nothing just get together you're already all you're already like in motels in right you know the sticks of america right just get on it yeah you know what i mean and i mean it was the first step

where Scully comes in and she's got like these weird. That was horrifying. Oh, my God. I was like, yeah. Here it is. Oh, my God. Already. It's their first case together.

Yeah. And they, you know, she trusts her partner enough to be like, okay, I'm just going to lift my shirt up and show you this. She came in like, she had the robe on. She was in underwear and I was just like, good for you. This is going to happen. And then he just like, but the candlelight. I was like, yeah, of course when the lights are around. But they don't.

They don't. They don't. They don't. They don't. And as I understand, they don't get together throughout the entire show. It never happens. It never does. Well, so I'm sure you guys know, the nine seasons were kind of like the X-Files, the official X-Files, with two movies interspersed between. And we got a season 10 last year, a miniseries. We're getting a full season 11. Now, in the last season of the show, they do get together. They finally gave the shippers what they wanted.

And then you come to find out that the baby is actually... Mulder was abducted at one point in the series. Scully was abducted. This baby is theirs. No, come on. And it kind of just... The original series ends that way with them on the run from the government. They've exposed this huge...

conspiracy that the aliens are working with, this shadowy government. I could definitely go into more specifics of BDV2. And the series ends with them just in bed holding each other. It's extremely touching, heartwarming. And then when this season 10 came back last year, a lot of years have passed. Everything's changed. And we see that their relationship couldn't stand the test of time. And they're separated at this point.

So now we're back to square one. where hopefully they'll reconnect, come back together. And it feels so good. Mulder had to go to therapy for sex addiction. He did. He didn't realize. No, there's a fun fact about Mulder too. He is a...

You mean David Dacophony or Molder? Got it. Which, they're strikingly similar. But Molder is actually a porn addict in the X-Files. No. And you get glimpses of this throughout the series. He has, like, prostitutes leaving messages on his answering machine.

Yep, 90s. So 90s. Or he has, you know, a bill comes in the mail and it's all, you know. Sex lines or something. Which is kind of just doing, maybe David Dukephani, this is my theory from hearing those four sentences you just said. Research doing method acting has to meet up with, you know, some phone sex line stuff as well as like watch a ton of porn. And it's a spiral-y, it's a downward spiral from there. I feel like every actor or writer has used that excuse far too much.

Totally. Yeah, yeah. So let's talk a little bit about how your love of the X-Files affected your life. Yeah. So, like, did you share this like of the show with your friends, or did it kind of like separate you from them? Like, how did it kind of come through in your day-to-life? I mean, you wrote a book about aliens. Yeah.

So I'm very fascinated to see. You dedicated your life to UFO. and extraterrestrial. I think people like me are kind of the closest it comes to an actual like euphologist, they sort of call it, which is an interesting term.

But between the show and my personal interest in UFOs and aliens, no, I did not share it with many people for most of my life. You know, as an adolescent, school took over, sports, girls, everything, you know, that a young person experiences.

And this weird, fringe topic was always kind of in the background. I would research it without anyone knowing. I would watch the X-Files and not have anyone to talk about it with unless I like snuck down onto America online and got on the message boards. X-Files fan, 1996. Oh, my God. Please, what was your, what was your, what was your screen name? Is that it? A screen name? Are you ready for this one? I'm so ready. So this is what I wanted on my license plate. if I ever get a car again, it was the letter I, M, four UFOs. Nice.

Yeah. Yeah, you're pro UFO? I'm still waiting. I'm still waiting for that day to happen. And I know someone probably has it already. You'll be able to get a vanity plate, I'm sure. Hopefully. So it was kind of, it was like a guilt.

It was a real guilty pleasure. You didn't really talk about it. Did you feel like if you talked about it, you would be looked at differently? There's a big ridicule factor when it comes to this. You look at anyone who reports an actual. UFO sighting or the way the news media handles it. And it's always with a smirk or a side-eyed glance or they put the X-Files music behind it. And that bothered me. You know, as a kid, you're very persuaded. You didn't want to be different. You didn't, you wanted to fit in. So that ridicule

factor did affect me. I didn't talk about it with anybody for a really long time. I would say not until college or so when I sort of grew into myself and became comfortable is when I started shouting it from the rooftops and being like, hey, UFOs are pretty cool, they're super awesome, and everyone should look into it.

And that's when I really got heavily into it. I started seeking people out and interviewing them about having seen a UFO or claimed to have been abducted by aliens or even seeing a ghost, like going into the more paranormal and supernatural realm. And that really sparked my interest in furthering that. I started writing essays about it or submitting to these alternative magazines and writing about it.

And it kind of snowballed from there. And then that's kind of the culmination of the book. It's hundreds of people who I've interviewed about having seen UFOs or claimed alien abduction. And I mean, these are everyday people. Yeah. They're teachers, their doctors, their law enforcement. So these aren't like crazy backwoods people who were drunk seeing a light in the sky and saying it was an alien. These people experienced something.

They couldn't explain. It was unidentified. And it changed their lives. And that's kind of what I wanted to encapsulate is how something like this can affect your life and change your life and make your life and make your entire outlook on reality or what you thought the world was, how it can make it change. Yeah. What's one of the most fascinating? Or eerie, like, what was the big, like, out of all the interviews you've had, or if it's one of your own personal experience, what story, like, really resonates you when, like, kind of revisits your mind often? Yeah. So there's one story in the book where it's between a mother and her two daughters. This is in Michigan. And they lived near Lake Michigan, and they had a sighting of, like, a triangular UFO over their home. And what really really.

called my attention is when I interviewed each of the women individually, because I always want to get like a personal story and see how they correlate, it was fascinating because each of them described what they saw completely differently, like how it physiologically affected them or psychologically affected them, which I thought was really cool. So the mother, she saw the triangle and she said that she felt euphoric when she saw it. Like it was super calm and peaceful. and completely silent. And then I talked to her daughter, and she said, no, I felt like threatened. I felt like we were about to get invaded by something.

And it was unbearably loud. So it was really interesting to me that these people were looking at the same thing, but having completely different experiences. So that one really stuck with me. And I've come across that a lot with individuals who've claimed to have seen these things. So people have, are there other, instances where people were telling you of the same instance but experiencing it completely different. Yes.

And do you feel like that discredits it? Or is it just like that is an element of coming in close contact with one of these things? I think it is. I think like the subtitle of the book says, it's a very human experience. And we, memory is faulty. We all experience things completely different. And I think it has something to do with that, whatever these people are seeing. I'm not saying it's aliens from another planet.

It's literally something unconventional and that they can't explain in that moment, that it affects each of them differently. I don't think it discredits them. Having interviewed hundreds and hundreds of people, I can tell you, some people are just bad shit crazy. Some people are delusional. And some people make it up. They just make it up. They think it's going to give them notoriety or something. But then there are those cases, which I,

firmly believe in the book are those people who genuinely saw something and experienced it and it changed a life. What are some ways that you can kind of like differentiate between those types of people, like the ones that are delusional or just making stuff up versus people that have a very genuine response to your questions? I think a lot of it has to do with following up with people. Like someone can tell you a story and you never talk to them again. So what do I have to go on with that?

So with a lot of these people, I will go back time and time again and try to trip them up. Try to, you know, say, oh, so it happened in October, but it actually happened in August. You know, just not trying to deceive them, but just trying to see how accurate it is, how honest they can actually be with me. I mean, I'm no lie detector by any means. I don't have any credentials to say, like, this is what it was. They're telling the truth. I go on gut instinct, I think, with a lot of these people. And I remember talking to one woman who claimed to have been abducted by aliens,

and I met with her in a diner with her husband. And she was so scared to, like, come forward and tell me this story. And she was, like, gripping her husband's hand so tight and, like, shaking and crying. And he's just, like, supporting her and saying, like, you can do it, you can do it. And I'm like, whoa. Like, not only does she believe this happened to her, he believes her and supports her in it. So right there, no matter what happened to her, it could have been anything. These people firmly believe that these things have happened to them.

And I'm not going to take that away from them. I'm going to take their story. I'm going to get it out there and let the public decide, I guess. You're like a hybrid of Mulder and Scully, I feel like. Yeah, a Mully. A Mully. You're a Scholar. You're definitely a sculler.

You're definitely a scolder. Because I think you're coming at it from a very, I don't want to say like reasonable place, but like you're coming from like a very honest place. And, you know, you've had your experience. And I think that opens your eyes to what other people may have experienced and really being empathetic towards these people. I think so. I think, you know. But also being like reasonable about it. Yeah.

You know what I mean? Like you're really taking it like these are, this is the story. These are the facts. who's to say what it was. Not everybody was there, but this is, you know, I'm listening to this story and I'm seeing someone be truly honest with me or, you know, seems to be. Well, a lot like Scully, I think it's, if I'm going to say that, if I'm going to write a book about UFOs or even like talk to these people about it, I think you have sort of a responsibility

to bring only the most credible things forward and not try to, and know, these people who might be delusional or whatnot. So I think you have, your job isn't to prove that it was aliens. Your job is to prove that it was anything but aliens. So then when that's the only answer left, that's when you really have to look at it and be like, what is going on? 99% of UFO sightings can be explained firmly, like in some prosaic conventional way. But there's always that 1%, and that's kind of what I'm looking at,

and other people who are interested are looking at, that 1% of these things that just cannot be explained and continue to perpetuate and happen. That's freaking wild. That's wild. What do you think about the future of X-Files? I feel like there's movies and there's other seasons coming out. Where do you think that the, I guess, franchise is going? Yeah, so it's interesting.

Between the end of season 9, which we believed was going to be the end of the X-Files, it was a completely different America, different world that we were released. living in. What year was it? It was 2002? Yes, very different. Yeah. Yeah.

It's different from 2016. Exactly. And within that series, those nine seasons, it was this whole grand conspiracy of aliens that they were working with this shadow government, like I said, to like, they were going to come invade Earth no matter what. There was no question. Like, look, we're vastly more intelligent than you. We're going to come here.

Deplete your resources, do it we're going to do. We will save some of you, and that's this, like, shadow government. So then this is, like, the conspiracy that Mulder is trying to unravel throughout the series. I've learned to pretend over the past nine years. To pretend that my victories mattered only to realize that no one was keeping score. To realize that liars do not fear the truth if there are enough liars, that the devil is just one man with a plan but evil. True evil is a collaboration of men,

which is what we have here today. If I am a guilty man, my crime is endearing to believe that the truth will out and that no one lie can live forever. I believe it still. Much as you try to bury it, the truth is out there.

Greater than your lives, the truth wants to be known, you will know it. It'll come to you as it's come to me. faster than the speed of light. You may believe yourselves, rid of your headache now. Maybe you are, but you've only done it by cutting off your own heads.

That ended, and it didn't happen. The show ended, and this invasion didn't occur. So then the show comes back almost a decade later. And like we said, it's a completely different world now. So they had to kind of explain that when they brought the show back. like what is the world we live in now? So what they went with is a conspiracy of men, that aliens were never actually a part of this.

This was all a what they call like a false flag operation where we create a fake enemy to then do what we want with our military, with our government, to get what they want to make sure that the people highest up are benefiting from it. And we'll create an enemy, whether it's a rival country or a faction of America that people don't agree with. Some sort of enemy to make it be like, look, this is what we're going to put our money into now to fight this. So in the new series, it's now a conspiracy of men.

Now this whole thing, Mulder is trying to unravel the government that's created this fake alien thing throughout history. So there's no aliens in this now? Like, wait. Apparently. apparently, but then there is, but there isn't. See, the show never... The show is never clear. God, God damn it.

Just leave it where it was. Just leave it. I like the idea that there's aliens. I know it was so simple. I like the idea, too, don't make it... It was so simple. That's a bummer. I mean, I fucking...

I'm sorry. I just hate it when people, like, when they drudge up stuff. I mean, I know people were excited for The X-Files. I'm sure you was a diehard film. We're like very excited for you. But like, are you kind of disappointed by that? Just like, what? It almost negates all nine seasons.

Oh, my God. Yeah. Yeah. It was a huge slap in the face to people who followed the show for so long. Yeah. Now, in terms of where it's heading now, you do have to wonder if they're still going to stick with that. Was this just, you know, Mulders believed for so long but never gotten that truth that was out there? He never got it.

So, like, is he just giving up at this point and saying, oh, whatever, it's just humans, fine. Maybe we'll see a resurgence in that, that maybe it was alien. and he's going to start to believe again. Who knows? Who knows where the show is going? Jeez, Louise. That's a bummer. It's a real bummer.

Because now I would just go back to the pilot and all those teenage kids getting abducted. And then you're like, no, it's just the government. Just the government. Sorry that you all died. Yeah. So then going back to Scully's like incredibly weird impregnation story. Yeah.

How is it like part alien? So then we're supposed to believe that the government abducted Molder and then abducted Scully and then put their stuff together, put it back in Scully. And so weird. And mix it with aliens. Why? Why is my biggest question. Yeah. Like, why would that even happen?

Also, a question about the baby is the baby. So how did the alien DNA get into the baby if it's his baby and her baby? Why is it not just like a normal baby? A lot of people who've claimed actual alien abductions have claimed that when they were taken aboard these craft, that the women they were experimented on and they had eggs taken from them. Men have said that they've had semen extracted from them and that it was used for this hybridization between humans and aliens. So in the show, that's kind of what they're going for. They were both abducted. this baby was made between Mulder, Scully, and some alien DNA as well.

Sure. And now you've got this superhuman hybridization happening on the planet without anyone knowing. So they're like, while they're coming to invade the planet, they're also creating this hybrid alien and human to now take over the planet. That's kind of what I went with. It's little out there, but the show's done much crazier things. Yeah, for sure. I just feel like I'm picturing an alien at a computer on a message board being like, what if we did this, you guys? Let's ship them together.

If they're not going to do it on their own, let's make it happen. Enter. And they were like, let's abduct them. I'm really fascinated by the abduction stories because I feel that's interesting. So they actually, so people who have claimed that they've been abducted and you've spoken to them, they say that they were present for and like aware during this experimentation. when their return, is it like no time has passed? Like what are...

Yeah, they lose the time? Yeah, that's a big aspect of it. It's missing time, which has been written about a lot. Even people who just see UFOs claim to have had missing time, where they just maybe 10, 20 an hour has just passed and they don't know where it went. They saw it, and then they get home and they're like, what? Wait, there's no way that could have happened.

No, in terms of abductions, yeah, people, there was a case in the 70s where a guy was abducted in front of six other witnesses. They saw this happen. They saw a craft come down, shoot a beam at this dude. He gets like, you know, he's on the ground. They think he's dead. They bolt. And he's missing.

So everyone in this town assumed that these guys murdered this guy and they're covering it up with this stupid alien story. They take lie detector tests claiming to have that what they saw. was what happened. They all passed with flying colors. And then the dude shows up. He shows up up like on the side of a road and he has the same exact story as them, but doesn't remember what happened after he got hit with that beam of light. He's then put under hypnotic regression and this whole alien abduction thing starts to come forward. Yeah. Jeez. Yeah. Dang. So we have about 10 minutes left and I know that you wanted to do some questions for us. I believe at the end of the day.

Yes. I want to give you your time. Yeah, I want to give you your time. This has never happened on the Guilty Pleasure podcast. We're so excited. Awesome. So I as well have a podcast called Somewhere in the Skies, all about UFOs, aliens, where I bring on researchers who look into this stuff. Scientists, academics, everyone you can think of, everyone in every walk of life, just to talk about it, what they think about it, what they believe.

So I kind of wanted to turn the tables on you guys, do a little interview. if you sish, if you wouldn't mind. Cool. Yeah, that's cool. Yeah. So what do you guys, are you guys into this at all when you knew that I was coming in to talk about not just X-Files, but the fact that I legitimately seriously study UFOs? I would be a little hesitant at first. I mean, we've known each other for a while. Yeah, I know. I knew. Yeah. That I'm not actually crazy. Yeah, well, you know. Yeah. But what are your thoughts on the whole UFO topic? You know what? Like, honest, like, I'm thinking of this. I was like very,

um, cognizant of any pre biases that I had in my mind as you were talking. Um, and I was just like, like as you're talking about like these eyewitness accounts, I'm probably like my immediate reaction is to go like, yeah, right.

But at the same time, I've never really given it any thought other than like, it's never really crossed my mind. Like I said, I love supernatural stuff. I've always been more inclined to listen to people's like creepy experiences, like ghost stories, paranormal stuff.

I can kind of get, bit more on board with. But to that effect, I really have no, like, discernible opinion, and I don't think you're crazy. I think you're very much then. I was like, no. I was like, I don't think you're crazy. It's just, it's fascinating because I've never, I've never spoken with someone who's been so open about it. So, I mean, I have no opinion. I think that's my final answer. Cool. Hey, that's all I can answer. I love it. Yeah, I guess I'm, I'm on the same page as you are, Jackie, with I've always been intrigued by people's experiences, specifically with like alien, UFO or like spiritual ghost situations.

And I think there is, I think the way that you talk about it is like a really healthy way of talking about it. Like just looking at like the facts that you're given and I don't want to say healthy. I don't know how to like not sound like a dick right now. But, like, I trust your opinion and I trust you as a human. So I think that, yeah, I think that, I mean, it just makes it like having, I mean, the universe is so big. It's just so big. Yeah. Like, I don't think there's not people out there.

Yeah. If they're people or if they're not, if it's like, you know, critters and ice or like whatever, I definitely think that there are other, there's other life outside of this, this universe, of course. Mathematically. Mathematically. Mathematically. I mean, like, Carl Sagan. Like, let's just, you know what I mean? But I, and also there's a part of me who's like, yeah, yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Like, why not? I'm kind of under the, I'm under the assumption when it comes to this stuff that prove to me it's not real. Like, I'm totally open to it. Yeah. Like, I've been studying it for half my life. And I can tell you right now, I'm still extremely skeptical that any of this has to do with aliens.

Yeah. But prove to me that it's not aliens. And I'm totally fine with that. Same with ghosts. Same with blockness monster. I definitely think there's some like funky, like paranormal shit that like goes down in our day to day. And I think that like as humans who are so self-consumed with our own things, we probably don't notice it as much. I think some people maybe are more attuned to that kind of paranormal than other people are.

But I mean when you think about it like it's so interesting when people have like these bias. about certain beliefs that aren't necessarily rooted in fact, but like I was raised Catholic and I'm like, I was taught for like quite a few years that someone rose from the dead. Yeah, and like saved your soul. And saved my, died for my sins, although I wasn't even thought. A blip. Thousands of years, thousands of years in the future. And then came back was like, you know, I know you guys killed me, but I think we're, let's

give this a second shot. Yeah. Let's give it. Let's give this a second go. It's like breaking up with like, it's like she just broke up with an abusive spouse and then three days later was like, one more chance. I'll give you 40, 40 more days. I'll give you. You got 40 days.

And then his dad came and was like, we're packing up your shit and I'm taking you back home. You fuck this up now. Well, I guess my second question for you guys would be then the X-Files deals a lot with conspiracy. Are there any conspiracies that you guys really buy into? you're like, oh, totally, you know, like that's absolutely happening. I'm a 9-11 truth. Okay, I'm not. I'm not.

I'm not. I'm not. No, no, no, no, no. Conspiracy theories. You know what? I'll say this very confidently. I've gotten a lot more involved in government in the last year for obvious reasons. If I think that the people who are in charge of my life and my country are secretly doing some shady-ass shableness.

And they are doing shady shit. I know there's people there doing shady shit. But if I think that there's like these grand conspiracy theories, like I don't think I could, I can't deal with it. Like it, that would just emotionally, I can't handle it right now. You know what I mean? I think people that are really involved in conspiracy theories, and if someone out there are listening is, you know, let us know about it.

Like, I'd love to hear it. But like, that's you. That's fine. I personally cannot take that on. I cannot take this on. Like, yeah. There's a bunch of, there's like all sorts of theories. I feel like there's, I'm, I, like, JFK.

Like that to me, I'm like, there is some crazy, that's not it. Yeah. Like that wasn't it. Like that's something, there's something else. And for whatever reason, I actually, I think it was my mother who's like, she said this one. So I was like, oh, girl, get it. She was like, I don't think Marilyn Monroe had a drug overdose or anything like that.

She's like, I think she knew too much and they killed her. And I was like, ooh. That's interesting. She's like, there's, she was like, I think that she knew too much. Well, she actually, she was one of the proponents to get the truth about UFOs out to the public and was trying to get JFK to do this when he was in office to bring the truth forward about whatever we knew. At that time, the government was officially investigating UFOs. It's called Project Flu Book. And then when it came forward that she was going to, you know, do this.

Use her platform. Use her platform to, like, bring forth UFO disclosure. Yeah. She died. She died before JFK, right? Yeah. Yes. Oh, gosh.

American history is not the thing. Yeah. Maybe. Maybe not. Yeah. That's just what my mom said once. And I was. Or she's still alive.

Or she's still alive just like Ellen. With Tupac and. I know this, yeah. And Walt Disney's frozen somewhere. Yeah, for sure, for sure. But I think other conspiracy theories, you know, I don't really follow it. Yeah. You know what I mean?

Well, it's a slippery slope, like you said. Like, it's a lot to take on. It can run your life and make you miserable. Like, you wouldn't trust anyone at that point. Yeah, I would get too paranoid. Yeah. I do have faith in my government that at the core, they want the best for the public. but they will do some stuff to make sure, again,

that the status quo remains status quo, that the people making the money are making the money, and that things continue to go into their benefit. Exactly. So, like, I could never, if someone was trying to argue with me that, like, vaccines were caused by the government to call it, like, I'm like, no.

Like, I can't, like, no. I cannot even with that. I can't even with that. I can't even with that. Like, I can't. But, yeah, it's, it's, It's crazy. Like, there's only, as a person, like, you can really truly only control, like, how you react to things, and you can only really construct your own life.

So to think about things that are completely out of your control are very, it's maybe not the best use of your time. Yeah. And I think that's the biggest fear with a lot of people who don't believe in aliens or UFOs. It's completely out of their control. It's something. It also discredit so many things that, like, you've come to find comfort in, like, religion.

or us being by ourselves and also like all of a sudden we're not the smartest. Yeah. And we're not the top of the food chain anymore. Everything would change. If we were told there is an alien presence coming to our planet or has been here. Then the government's been lying to us for 50, 60 years. Yeah. Then what do you do?

Like you said, religion would change. The economy would change. The military would change. Everything would be impacted by, I think, this big, found question that so many people are interested in, but are too afraid to ask. Yeah. So I'm going to keep asking and keep getting scared shitless when I come closer to an answer, I think.

Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. That was great. I really enjoyed this chat. Do you have any other questions or is that it? So you have a podcast called Somewhere in the Skies. You also have a book that now Amanda and I are the proud owners of.

Is there anything else that you want to plug? No, that's it. The podcast is every week. You can find it at Somewhere in the Sky's. Thisguise.com. It's like you guys on all major podcast outlets. And, yeah, all my work can be found there, somewhere in the skies. com.

Nice. Thank you so much, Ryan. Thanks so much, Ryan. Thanks for having me. This is a blast. You got it. We had a blast. Do, do, do, do, do, do.

Creepy face. Creepy wavy baby. Somewhere in the skies is produced by third kind productions in association with Antica Productions and the Antica Podcast Network. To learn more, visit Antica. Productions.com.