Alien Abduction/Ancient Canals
Joining George Knapp in the first half of the show, legendary ufologist Budd Hopkins talked about his life and his pioneering investigation into the alien abduction phenomenon. Although he has been researching abductions over 30 years ago, Hopkins noted that he is still getting new cases and hearing from new abductees. "The abduction phenomenon is not dropping off or anything like that," he observed, "it's still, unfortunately, very active." On how best to unlock the mystery of UFOs, Hopkins opined that, rather than a strictly scientific or spiritual examination of the issue, "this is so complex a phenomenon that any way we can get at it is worth trying." Beyond just the enigmatic nature of UFOs, Hopkins contended that the abduction phenomenon is so troubling that "we're in a situation where we need every single thing we can get and every person with good ideas."
Reflecting on the nature of abductions, as a whole, Hopkins lamented that "the whole thing is a lot more ominous than I allow myself to think, when my thoughts go in that direction." Based on his extensive research into the UFO phenomenon and abductions in particular, he declared that "there's no way to say that 'they' have done good." Regarding the concept of disclosure, Hopkins theorized that acceptance of the UFO phenomenon will happen on a grassroots level and grow until the government is forced to say something about it. "Although, I don't know what that statement could be," he mused, since "the cards are all in the hands of the UFO occupants." Expressing hope for some "simple" solution to defending the human race against these nefarious visitors, Hopkins ultimately conceded that "this is not some sort of competition we're going to win." Over the course of his appearance, Hopkins also talked about famous abduction cases, his response to skeptics, and his experiences working with a variety of media outlets.
Ancient Canals
In the second half, pre-historic researcher John Jensen discussed evidence of canal systems that may have been built by an ancient civilization in the United States. Jensen explained that he first made this discovery while using Google Earth to research Civil War forts along the Mississippi River. It was then that he noticed an "eroded canal" beside a fort and, upon zooming the map view out, realized that it was merely a part of a much larger system of canals. In subsequent months, he uncovered over 250 sites which appear to have ancient canals, roads, or even strange symbols in the Earth. Rather than put forward a specific theory as to their origins, Jensen stressed that he is more focused on "'what is it' rather than 'why is it.'" Moving forward, he hopes for more on-site investigations of these formations in order to create a "time map" which will indicate the ages of these anomalies as well as when they were abandoned.
Jensen revealed that he has contacted "an array of individuals" from specializations such as archaeology, anthropology and geology, in the hopes of gaining some insight into these mysterious formations. Unfortunately, these attempts have been met with a "defining wall of silence" from academia. The lone response he did receive was from a graduate student who asserted that 100 percent of the canals were the result of oil exploration. A skeptical Jensen retorted that some of the canals have Cyprus trees "that appear to be quite large" growing in them, an attribute which would make modern origins for the formations "a little hard to explain." However, he was open minded about the possibility the formations could be modern and noted that he has already removed some sites where information has revealed their contemporary origins.
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