Where Did the Road Go? Exploring the Fringe...

This is not the review of one book, but of three. There are three volumes of Missing 411; Eastern United States, Western United States, and North America and Beyond. The first two, I believe were released together and were planned as one book, but there was too much information, so it was split in two. The first two were released in 2011, and the third in 2012.

What you have here is both fascinating and deeply disturbing. These are cases of missing people, which span for over 100 years, that have all disappeared in or around National Parks. Now, at first, that may not sound so strange, plenty of people get lost, attacked by wild animals, etc. Sure. These, however, are not those cases. These cases are baffling and perplexing. These people, and a good number of them children, disappear in circumstances that should not have led to a disappearance. People, out of sight for mere moments, never found again. Experienced hunters and hikers who disappear without a trace, or, worse yet, whose bodies are found in inexplicable places. Those found alive, don't seem to be able explain where they have been, and those that can relate something, just add to the mystery.

Make no mistake, David Paulides has fleshed out something that, until now, no one has noticed, no one has taken a serious look at, and if they have, they have not gone public with it. This is important work. And in these books, you will find no speculation, no attempt to wedge in any particular theory. David relates the facts from FOIA documents, newspapers, park records, Police reports, and occasionally those involved.

There are patterns here, and they make no real sense, but yet, there they are. Some examples; children often disappear with their dogs, trained Bloodhounds can't or won't track the victims, bad weather hits the region where the person has disappeared shortly afterwards, there are clusters of people in certain areas, spread out through decades, berries are often a factor (people disappear while picking or near berries, or are found by berry bushes), often people are found without clothing (but not molested in any way), often victims are found near swamps, creeks, or boulder fields, and, people will often be found in an area that has been searched thoroughly just previous to their discovery. In the 100's of cases in these books, you will find these patterns happening again and again. As I said, they make no sense, but this is not hearsay or legends, these are documented cases, with the information being gathered from official sources.

David is a former law office with 20 years of experience. This work is exhaustive and detailed, and put together in a way that defies any simple answers. These books record disappearances that have happened. There is no doubt here, and no easy explanations. The reporting here is done with no bias, just a record of the facts and an attempt to find patterns to these strange events. It's creepy. It's chilling. It makes me think twice about wandering alone in the woods, especially in certain places. It is something that needs more attention. One strange disappearance can be overlooked or explained away. Not three thick books filled with similar disappearances.

You need to read this. I am not sure what we know about our world today, can explain what is happening to the people in these books. Highly recommended and an essential volume of work.

You can find out more at: www.canammissing.com. Do not by the books from Amazon, you will be paying twice as much as you can on David's site.

Forgotten Civilization: The Role of Solar Outbursts in Our Past and Future is the latest work by Robert Schoch. Schoch is famous for proving greater antiquity of the Sphinx back in the 90's, and although his conclusions are not accepted by mainstream archaeologists, he is supported by other geologists almost 100%. This book brings a lot of things together, for one he tells the story of his work on the Sphinx, and the backlash that his legitimate and proven conclusions caused for him. One of the arguments he heard against the greater age of the Sphinx (5000+ and probably over 10,000 years old) is that there are no advanced cultures at such an early date in our history who could have built such a structure. Well, enter Gobekli Tepe, a recently discovered site in Turkey, dated 10,000 to 12,000 years old, and the dating is undisputed by mainstream scientists. Schoch explores this very ancient site, and what it may ultimately mean. He also explores the deep mysteries of Easter Island and a possible deciphering of the Rongorongo script that has never been satisfactorily decoded.

Then he changes gears and moves out to our Sun, and the way solar outbursts may have affected our past, and how they could affect our future. He lays out the evidence for a solar outburst so powerful that it may have ended the ice age, and the culture that may have thrived at that time. He expands on what we currently know, what damage smaller outbursts have done to our modern world, and what a bigger one is capable of.

In the end, he explores the problems with modern science, and new research that may eventually overturn the dominant paradigm in many fields. He talks of the evidence of psychic abilities, the power of water, problems with current dating methods and their connections to solar cycles, and much more. It is a very enlightening read, even for someone up on the latest discoveries.

Robert writes in a very complete, and easy to read maner. I found that many times, what he was talking about would bring something to mind, and I would wonder if he is aware of it, often to find him addressing that very question in the following paragraphs. All of his sources are notated, and there is an extensive bibliography. The book itself seems to be a very interesting connection point of Robert's previous work, drawing together geology, archaeology, science, and very cutting edge ideas. Schoch's personality also comes through beautifully in his writing. It is very personal, while maintaining it's scientific integrity.

If you are interested in our distant past, and whether an advanced civilization once existed that was wiped from our memory, then this is a must read. And it is something that should interest you, because if it happened to them, it could happen to us. As safe in our modern world as we may feel, the sun could tear it all away from us in an instant, and we would be back to the caves. Perhaps literally. Knowing what happened at the end of the last ice age may better allow us to prepare for our long term survival.

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Above all, this was a fun book to read. Paul is a good storyteller, and can flesh out his experiences and theories in a very entertaining way. This is not about hard science and proving the paranormal. This is about experiences, and the bigger picture. Throughout this book, you get to know Paul a bit. His personality shines through, and he is not shy with his opinions. The essence of the idea here is that the paranormal, in it's many facets, is a work of art of a higher intelligence. That may sound a bit odd, but as you read through, and Paul clarifies what he means by art, it makes more and more sense. In this sense, art is communication. Paul covers ghosts, UFO's, shadow people, synchronicity, alternate universes, the observer effect, reincarnation, and much more. It all kind of interweaves.

Paul discusses his TV show, Ghost Cases, and suggests that ghosts are not what the general consensus believes. He has some pretty fascinating experiences, and you get to follow through his mindset and how it leads to this bigger idea. Throughout it all, you will also get a bit of more obscure history thrown in here and there. He covers an array of synchronicities that happened to him over a short period of time, and what it meant to him. Interpretation is key in the paranormal. And this is a fresh and thought proving way to view it. There is a chapter on time travel, for example, that serves as much as anything, as a thought experiment, and suggests some new ideas.

Overall, if you are interested in the paranormal, and have a somewhat open mind, pick up this book. You will likely enjoy it. If nothing else, it may get you thinking about things in a different way.

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There are plenty of UFO books out there. More than you can probably count. Most of them do not offer anything new, if they offer anything at all. The majority of them are stuck in the extra-terrestrial paradigm. Through the years, there have been books in the field that stand out, notably the work of people like Jacques Vallee, John Keel, John Mack, Whitley Strieber, etc. The people who were willing to try and truly understand the phenomenon.

I believe that Lightquest from Andrew Collins belongs on that list. Is it the definitive book that clearly explains everything? No. We may never have that. But this book, may very well be a step in the right direction. Expanding primarily on the work of another novel researcher, Paul Devereux, Andrew proposes that what we see as space ships, fairies, etc, are really plasma formations. This is not a new idea, although it is not a well known theory, where Collins differs, is he proposes a definite intelligence behind the phenomenon. He suggests a combination of altered states of consciousness, and what he calls a 'bubble reality' to explain what is happening to people who come in close contact with these plasma intelligences. He starts the book by debunking Roswell, the flagship of the ET Hypothesis. Following that, he explores areas that have earth lights, probable plasma formations, that show up regularly, such as Marfa, Texas. He then takes it deeper into UFO territory and explores encounters and how strange they really get. He deals with cutting edge science to try and understand what we may really be experiencing, rather than what it looks like on the surface.

Like all of his books, he shares information you will not find anywhere else. He shares some personal accounts and some never before published accounts that support his theory. He even, at the end, takes a look at the Rendlesham case.

All throughout, as he explores 'window areas', UFO hotspots, and why they may be such, he also gives you tips if you wish to visit them yourself, and where you are most likely to see something. Personally, I have been a fan of Andrew Collins for a long time now, and the majority of his books have had to do with archaeology and lost civilizations, but there are a few exceptions, like this. He has never disappointed me. He always has something worthwhile to share when he authors a book, and with the number he has out, that is quite impressive. This one is around 400 pages, detailed, well written, easy to read, and just packed with information. There is even a brief Q&A section at the end just to clarify some of the points in the book.

If you are at all interested in the UFO Phenomenon, you owe it to yourself to read this book. Even if you disagree with his overall theory, I can almost guarantee you will get something out of it of value.

You can find out more about Andrew Collins at his official website.

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Many years ago I picked up a couple of beat up copies of books by Immanuel Velikovsky at a used book store. I knew the name, but not much else. I figured maybe one day I would read them. Around 2012, I had become very interested in The Electric Universe theory and thunderbolts.info has become a favorite site of mine. They often mention Velikovsky, enough so that I finally sat down and read "Worlds in Collision".

The main gist of Velikovsky's theory is that Venus started life as a comet, and within historical times. It was ejected from Jupiter around 1600 B.C. when a larger mass collided with the gas giant, and it had close encounters with both Earth and Mars before settling into it's current location. Velikovsky was a Russian born psychoanalyst, and a friend and contemporary of Einstein. When this book was published in 1950 it ignited a huge controversy. First of all, he was writing outside of his field. Second, he was contradicting accepted science at the time. Third, he was using ancient texts to support his theory, especially the Bible. None of this sat well with the scientific establishment of the time. It got worse, when various predictions he made, Venus would be hot, not cold as mainstream science believed, for example, turned out to be correct. In fact, the majority of what Velikovsky predicted seems to have been accurate. The attacks on him are astonishing, and have been covered in many other books. Carl Sagan made a special point of trying to take down Velikovsky, and many feel that he was successful. However a clear, unbiased look at what Sagan did, reveals that he actually failed to disprove Immanuel's theory, and that it was more of a hit job than anything else. Back to the book. It is a fascinating read. It was a best seller when it came out, and has held it's own for a long time after. It is well written, and detailed. And, yes, he does take passages from the bible to support his theory. However, he finds equating passages from other parts of the world to substantiate this. If one text says the sun stood still in the sky, he looks for, and finds, other texts from the same time period, from other parts of the world, that say the same thing. He shows that Venus is not mentioned by any cultures prior to a certain point, approximately 1600 B.C. He shows that it flew erratically around the heavens, and was a fearsome thing in the sky. He shows that it had a comet's tail, and was often referred to as comet's were. It is a stunning piece of work. I was pretty blown away when I got done. This book, however, was published in 1950. What I wanted to know was, has anything in our current understanding of science and history been found that soundly defeats Velikovsky's work? It seemed like a massive undertaking.

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Velikovsky's "Worlds in Collision" was published in 1950. I had read it for the first time in 2012. I was intrigued, but what I wanted to know was, has anything in our current understanding of science and history been found that soundly defeats Velikovsky's work? It seemed like a massive undertaking. Enter Laird Scranton...

Just about the time I was asking these questions, Laird Scranton published The Velikovsky Heresies, and hey, guess what, it is a book that answers that very question about how the theory has held up. From interviews I have heard with Laird, he went into this book with no bias one way or another. He did the research, took the main parts of Velikovsky's theory and searched to find out whether they stand or fall. For the most part, the theory has been more vindicated than debunked. Of course, when dealing with events of the distant past, it is hard to ever know for certain, but Laird, step by step, takes apart Velikovsky's theory and shows the current science that seems to support it (for example, we now know that Venus seems to still have the remnants of what seems to be a comet's tail!). It is a brilliant piece of work by it's own right, and my only complaint would be that I managed to read through it in about a day. There is a lot packed into the 130+ pages that make up this book, however. No theory is ever completely right, and of course that very much applies to Velikovsky, but Laird shows how much of the theory has held up over the 62 years since it was first published. It is impressive. You can easily read Laird's book without ever reading World's in Collision. I would, however, recommend reading both to get a more complete understanding of a theory that one day may completely change the way we look at our own solar system and planetary origins.

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This is fascinating, well written, and thoroughly researched. What the Author suggests is that many, if not all, of the passage grave sites in the UK are aligned to various astronomical features. Mainstream archaeology only looks for solar alignments, but James shows that many of these sites are linked to lunar phenomenon, as well as constellations. In particular he draws attention to the connections to the star Sirius.

He spends the first part of the book relating the alignments of the different sites, and showing how each is unique. In the second part of the book he discusses the artwork and it's connections to astronomical arrangements. The third part, he explores the theories of others who have preceded him in this work. Finally, in the last part, he explores his own connections and what they may mean.

This is a short, fairly easy read, although a bit dry at the start, it is interesting all the way through. Despite being an easy read, it is not a work of speculation, it is based on research and fact, and is presented as such. Only at the very end does Mr. Swagger allow himself to speculate a bit, and even that seems rather reserved. An enjoyable and recommended read.

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The Secret Tradition of the Soul is a magnificent piece of work. Like poetry flowing through the ideas that Patrick presents, drawing down the outline of ineffable things. You go on a journey here, exploring different concepts of Soul, Spirit, Ego, Reality, Consciousness, Afterlife… Otherworld. He brings to life the concept of the Daimonic, it’s influence on us, it’s reflection, it’s path. Our path. The Soul that we should connect to, but often in our modern world, do not. At a bit over 200 pages, this is densely written, in that it contains a great deal of information, exploration, and wisdom. He traverses the archetypes of mythology, the images of the shaman, and the disconnect of our material, ego-driven world. He does so, though, with a balance and grace that inspires when you read. It made me feel good to read this. That is the simplest way to put it. Patrick does a wonderful job of outlining the interplay of Soul and Spirit, and how they differ. It starts off a little dry, but it does need to accommodate you to its ideas. By halfway through, it’s hard to put down, yet hard to read too much of at once as it often needs to sink in. He travels down different paths to the afterlife, from Near Death Experiences, to Tribal beliefs to spirit communication. Jung’s ideas run throughout, as do mythological themes. It is actually hard to write about this book. It is a deep piece of work, bordering on art. It is rejuvenating, and I couldn't recommend it higher, at least if something deep and philosophical doesn't scare you away…

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Graham Hancock never ceases to impress me. That is not an easy task, and Supernatural, again, does the trick. I wasn't sure what I was getting into with this book, I had read very little about it, but knew that it had little to do with his previous works. One of the things that I admire about Graham is that he approaches things so open, with respect and wisdom. A sense of wonder is always present. He never gets so caught up on a theory that he starts losing his balance, he is very aware that he may change his mind further on down the road as more information comes to light. This is what is lacking in so much paranormal and fringe work. This piece starts off a bit slow, working its way through the various cave art around Africa and Europe, and discussing the various theories on what they mean. Where he goes from there is fantastic. I have always held that there are strong connections between the fairy faiths, UFO’s, angels and demons, etc., as well as occult experiences. However, I had never thought to add into that Shamanic and trance experiences. Graham manages to strip back yet more of the disguise, and show the connections between them all (not so much on the occult side of things, though). It expands on the ideas of researchers like Jacques Vallee, and manages to tie in even more of the puzzle. At no point does he, however, present you with a set theory or idea. He is not someone to push things, and that continues here. Graham explores the various ideas and research conducted on altered states of consciousness, and pokes around in some DNA theories, and tries to show, more than anything, the connections, and possible correlations between what seem like widely separated subjects. Also, not one to sit by and use other people’s work as a substitute for direct experience, he travels to see said cave paintings, just as he dove on undersea ruins, and traveled to lost cities for past books. He also experiments with various mind altering drugs, in order to really understand what he is writing about. His experiences and conclusions make it all the more valuable. Once again, he antagonizes the dogmatic, however unintentional, in an honest and open exploration of ideas. It’s something that science as a whole could benefit from. You don’t have to agree with anything he concludes here, or anywhere else, but he pursues his course with honesty and integrity. He is open minded and logical. He doesn’t shun science, but isn’t afraid to speculate, either. Well worth the hefty read. You may walk away with a new way of looking at the world...

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There are people who feel that science and the paranormal cannot co-exist, usually forgetting that many things were paranormal until explained by science. In today's world, talk of things like Alien Abductions and Near Death Experiences often get one ridiculed by people who are more, scientific. In DMT, The Spirit Molecule, Dr. Strassman proceeds in a completely scientific manor to investigate the effects of DMT on various volunteers. The results though, may help to identify certain mechanisms that may be involved in such ridiculed events such as Alien Abductions. Make no mistake, this is not a New Age book. Dr. Strassman is an accredited and peer reviewed scientist, who did not set out to deal with the subjects that he eventually did. Like any good scientist, he followed the data. It led him to very surprising places.

DMT Experiences, although often unique, also have certain common qualities to them. One of them is meeting ‘beings’, and experiencing some of what happens in an Alien Abduction. Dr. Strassman, as much as he seems to have resisted it, eventually had to admit that the experiences did not bear the markings of being just an hallucination. The fact that DMT occurs naturally in the body, being secreted by the Pineal Gland, makes it even more interesting. The book itself is very well, written, very scientific, and quite enjoyable. Just reading about all the hoops he had to jump through to get to do the research in the first place is amazing.

It has made me wonder about paranormal experiences in new ways. For example, anyone who studies UFO’s seriously will point out that DMT can’t explain multiple witness sightings, radar tracking, and physical traces. But what if we are dealing with two different things. What if the only connection between the odd lights in the sky and the alien abduction scenario is that whatever causes the ‘physical’ UFO, sets off a release of DMT in the observer, who then has an internal experience? I think this could be a potential breakthrough in the study of UFO’s. It doesn’t explain what causes the lights, but if whatever does, affects people in the right way, it may lead to an encounter that is not ‘of’ those lights. Like a heavy wind blowing open a door you didn’t know was there. The wind and the room beyond may not be directly related, but one unlocked the other. It could also be that the beings that are contacted via DMT are also trying to come here, and they do so in what appear to us as UFO’s (and possibly other unexplained phenomena).

I have never been sure what to make of implants in UFO abduction cases, but people in DMT studies receive implants. There is no physical implant in these people, but plenty of abductees have claimed to have found physical implants right where they say they were implanted. Some of these implants, when removed, seem to be, at the very least, odd. Now, as I said, I am not sure what to make of this. There isn’t enough conclusive evidence one way or another, but I would say that Dr. Strassman’s research into DMT may be a very important clue in understanding the UFO Phenomenon, as well as consciousness and the human condition in general.

If any of this even vaguely interests you, I highly recommend picking up a copy of this book. You can look at it as DMT causing hallucinations or as DMT tapping into another realm, either way, the book is very interesting and opens up all new avenues of questions. Personally, I believe that it retunes us to another world. How much so probably depends on the situation and amount of DMT received, either naturally or by design. Dr. Strassman uses the analogy of the brain as a television, tuned by default to ‘channel normal’. DMT tunes it to other wavelengths.

I would like to thank Dr. Rick Strassman for the courage to see this study through and the strength it took him to actually get to do it. If you read this, you will understand what I mean. His research may have broken new ground in various fields, but only time will tell.