Physicist James McCanney and NASA astrobiologist Dr. David Morrison debated the merits of Immanuel Velikovsky's theories of a chaotic universe, which detail how the planet Venus passed by Earth before it came to its current position. Morrison noted that Velikovksy wasn't a scientist and his ideas displayed a basic lack of understanding of chemistry, physics, and astronomy.

While McCanney conceded that some of Velikovsky's ideas were clearly wrong, he argued that a number of his basic concepts held validity. Specifically he thought the scenarios of how a planet could be captured, and the rapid evolutionary changes associated with catastrophism were groundbreaking.

Velikovksy hinged his theories on the idea that global catastrophes had taken place in the last 6,000 years, yet Morrison said there is no evidence that such events took place during that time frame. McCanney countered that the dating of past events is difficult to pin down. A Fast Blast survey found 53% of the respondents put stock in the Velikovsky material, while 47% sided with Morrison's point of view.

Morrison was also critical of McCanney's notions about the electrical nature of the solar system. Dozens of instruments in space have found "no net charge in the solar wind," he said. A spacecraft is not grounded, so it can't measure its own electrical field, McCanney replied.

Earthquake Sensitive

First hour guest, earthquake sensitive Charlotte King discussed her unusual ability to predict seismic activity. Able to hear a range of tonalities that is normally outside the range of human hearing, she explained that when she hears a certain type of change in these sounds, it is indicative of a coming quake. Further, she continued, specific physical ailments such as migraine and backache also serve as prediction signals, and each geographical location has its own biological symptom. Interestingly, King claims that other sensitives from around the world display the same patterns.