In the first half, space author and journalist Rod Pyle discussed the latest developments in the new space economy and humanity's movement into space, including the recent Space X test flight, Boeing Starliner test flight, the Chinese robot on the "far side" of the Moon, and NASA Mars samples. China, he announced, may conduct a crewed mission to the Moon in 2029, in tandem with the anniversary of the People's Republic of China, though America may also have a mission there in that time frame. SpaceX and Boeing were given money starting about 2010 to create privately built rockets and operate missions to the space station (ISS). While SpaceX has had much success in that regard, Boeing has run behind, and their recent Starliner capsule, which is currently docked at the space station, has encountered mechanical issues that have delayed the return of two NASA astronauts.
Zero gravity's effect on the human body, particularly for men, is a concern in long-duration space missions, Pyle pointed out. Problems include vision failure, cardiovascular issues, and bone density loss. Regarding Mars exploration, it will take several decades for humanity to establish a significant presence on Mars, and just to get there is a six to seven month trip. Most observers, he added, think it may not be till the mid to late 2030s at the earliest when humans first arrive on the Red Planet. Pyle also reported on a Florida family suing NASA as debris from the space station hit their house, narrowly missing their sleeping child.
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In the latter half, author Marc Hartzman took us on a journey through some of his favorite weird history stories. From Flat Earth theories and Victorian spiritualists to the ghost stories that have shaped our modern conception of the spirit world, each story was a fascinating tale. In 1921, an Illinois school principal named Wilbur Glenn Voliva preached his Flat Earth theory to a thousand grade school and high school students, along with the idea that the sun was actually much smaller and located only a few miles away from our planet. Hartzman then recounted the tale of Hugh Mansfield Robinson, a British doctor who claimed to be in telepathic communication with a Martian woman named Oomaruru, and how he tried to send her a telegram from a London radio tower in 1926.
He recalled the 1960 presidential campaign of UFO contactee Gabriel Green, who ran against Nixon and Kennedy on the "Space-Age" ticket. Hartzman delved into the "Great Moon Hoax" of 1835 when the New York Sun newspaper ran a series of articles about living creatures on the Moon that had been supposedly seen through an astronomer's telescope. The articles featured illustrations of "man-bats" and other exotic flora and fauna. He also spoke about the discovery of a never-before-seen scrapbook of the Rubber Skin Lady, a 1930s-era sideshow star.
During the last half-hour, George featured a replay from 2011 with author Brad Steiger discussing alien mysteries.

In the first half, retired entrepreneurs Ron Kardos and Bruce Licht told of how they reached out to thought leaders to discover why they believe in a higher power. Their book, Elevator Pitches for God (book trailer), features 70 one-page essays, and each has a different, personal take on the subject. Among the people featured in the book were (the late) Senator Joseph Lieberman, actress Mayim Bialik, talk show host Dennis Prager, law professor Alan Dershowitz, Ambassador David M. Friedman, and our own George Noory. Kardos & Licht pointed out that the project did not espouse any one religion and included responses from those of many faiths. In his essay, nuclear physicist Gerald Schroeder humorously commented that we know God exists because NASA has taken a picture of it. That is, in the timeline of space, we can see where there was nothing, and then something began, and light created it.
George Noory's account included his personal experience as a child in Fitchburg, MA, where he lived with his family in a multi-level home with a furniture store at the bottom. One night, while everyone was sleeping, a fire broke out in the furniture store, and smoke filled all the apartments above. George was awakened by a fireman who was in full gear. George then went and woke up his parents, and everybody made it safely out of the building. Afterward, George's parents thanked the fire chief for the fireman that first woke up George, but the chief responded, 'I don't know what you're talking about-- you were all out of the building before we even arrived.' George concluded that it was an act of God or one of his angels that woke him up and saved his family.
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In the latter half, psychic medium Cathy Nadal talked about her readings, radio show, and Wiccan practice, and paranormal investigator/entertainer Charles F. Rosenay delved into supernatural occurrences and ghost stories. Both specialize in paranormal investigations and making contact with the Other Side. Nadal shared her personal story of being a Wiccan colonel in the military, balancing spiritual and military life, as well as discussed her radio show "Bringing the Darkness to the Light" heard on 1490 WWPR in Tampa, Florida. She also talked about being certified with the Forever Family Foundation, an organization in Long Island where mediums are vetted and evaluated for their mediumistic evidence.
Rosenay spoke about hauntings and ghost stories in Connecticut that he's collected or investgated, as well as his Dracula tours in Transylvania. He detailed a strange occurrence at a tour he conducted in Dudleytown, CT, an abandoned settlement that is thought to be haunted. One of the tour patrons, a skeptic, appeared to be bored, but then everyone started pointing at him, as his hair suddenly stuck straight up in the air. There seemed to be no explanation behind the odd phenomenon. Nadal and Rosenay are participating in two upcoming events in the CT area: the Connecticut Witch Trials Festival (which celebrates the exoneration of witches), and the Paraconn Convention.

In the first half, Billy Walters shared his life story as one of the highest rollers, biggest spenders, and most dangerous sports gamblers. When he first moved to Las Vegas in the early 1980s, a lot of gambling was connected with organized crime and associated with various controversies, and now, all these years later, sports gambling is legal in the majority of the states, he pointed out. Walters explained how during the 1980s, he purchased a roulette wheel to take apart and study. He then used a program to analyze the activity of various roulette wheels, and confirmed potential biases and identified wheels with favorable odds for players. Using his knowledge, he won $3.8 million in a couple of days playing the roulette wheel at one of Steve Wynn's casinos in 1986.
Walters also described teaming up with a computer whiz named Mike Kent who developed the first computer software program using algorithms and data analysis to handicap sports betting. In order to break even on betting sports, you have to bet on 52.3% of winners, and Walters was winning 58% of the time, he revealed. Eventually, his success attracted the Mob, and Tony Spilotro (the main character in the movie "Casino" is based on him) tried to shake him down and get a cut of his profits. Walters and his wife promptly left town and only returned to Vegas after Spilotro had been murdered. After being profiled on a "60 Minutes" episode, in which he was critical of investing in the stock market and some specific companies, he was arrested on charges of insider trading and eventually served 31 months in prison.
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In the latter half, lawyer and anthropologist Petra Molnar discussed migration and human rights. She detailed how technology is being deployed by governments on the world's most vulnerable people and how borders are now big business. Molnar highlighted the need to prioritize human rights and dignity in the face of increasingly heightened conversations around immigration and border security. The issue of migration has turned into a complicated political hot potato, used to rile up the electorate, she noted, and yet those who seek political asylum have an international right to do so-- a legal underpinning that the US has agreed to.
One of the reasons people are forced to flee their home countries is because of actions of the West, including imperialism and warmongering, she asserted. The increasing use of surveillance and technology at the borders doesn't stop people from coming but forces them into more dangerous terrain and leads to more deaths, such as in the Sonoran desert in Arizona, she said. The global "border industrial complex" will spend around $68-70 billion in the coming years, she cited, and has become an arena for experimentation, such as using AI lie detectors and military-grade robot dogs. Molnar cautioned that such technologies, which start with border issues, may eventually be used on the citizenry in general.