In the first half of Friday's program, science writer and journalist Louisa Oakley Green spoke about her work researching psychic and paranormal realms. Green said she was introduced to the psychic world by her husband and his family, and became sold on the phenomena after an extraordinary occurrence at her father's funeral. During the memorial service an older minister lost his train of thought and Green's husband described seeing her father's spirit standing there with arms crossed, tapping his foot, and looking impatient, she recalled. A week later her brother-in-law admitted seeing her father's ghost at the memorial exactly as Green's husband had described him, she added.
Green shared the frightening account of a young girl who witnessed something sinister living in the basement of her family's house in northern England. After losing a dare to her brother, the girl reluctantly descended into the basement without a flashlight where she encountered a dark figure sitting on a box, she disclosed. On another occasion the girl reported seeing the dark figure again, this time with a dead woman in his arms, Green continued. Research uncovered that former owner Mark Thomas had brutally murdered his girlfriend and buried her in the basement, she said.
Green referenced the work of Dr. Diane Powell (author of The ESP Enigma: The Scientific Case for Psychic Phenomena), who theorized the brain and nervous system act like an antenna to pick up on psychic-type energies. Someone who is psychic will be more sensitive to this energy, Green explained, noting how the ability often runs in families. She shared a story about cat psychically communicating with its owners, commented on death bed lucidity and the location of consciousness, and discussed a past lives study conducted at The Division of Perceptual Studies at UVA. In half of the cases, the participating children could provide details of past lives which could be verified, she pointed out. "There was no way for them to know about the person whose past life that they were talking about," she said.
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The remainder of the show featured Open Lines. Betty in Fullerton, California, told George about strange call she received on the night of her cousin's funeral. According to Betty, the call started with white noise followed by a man's voice saying, "I am happy here" and "Why won't you talk to me?" Betty believes she received an actual phone call from her dead relative. A caller from West Palm Beach, Florida, talked about the naturally-occurring dimethyltryptamine (DMT) in our systems, how it gets amplified by ayahuasca, and, despite opening up our consciousness, can be dangerous to do based on one's state of mind. Frank in Sparks, Nevada, admitted he has been having what he thinks are past life experiences. "The other night I woke up and I saw an image of Wyatt Earp standing by my bed," he said. Frank indicated he was born on the day Earp's common law wife, Josephine Marcus, passed away, and suggested he may be Marcus reincarnated.
News segment guest: Christian Wilde / Peter Davenport