About this episode
Christopher Funderburg and Martin Kessler explore the intersections of ufology, conspiracy theories, and the nature of truth in their discussion of 'Visitors from Lanulos'.
“I went to a different planet where the spacemen drink coffee and don't cheat on their wives.” Cryptozoologist Christopher Funderburg and parapsychologist Martin Kessler meet in an undisclosed location to perform a secret autopsy on Visitors from Lanulos, "a history book about something that never happened." Ostensibly the chronicle of Woodrow Derenberger, a West Virginian contactee who reported encounters with Indrid Cold and his extraterrestrial buddies from the galaxy of Ganymede, the book would extend apophenic red strings to Jacques Vallee, Carl Higdon, John Keel, Whitley Strieber and Barney & Betty Hill. Are these con artists, crackpots or genuine survivors? Asking questions like these, Chris and Martin examine how a person differentiates between truth and fantasy; how ufology relates to the function of language, engaging with hypotheticals and identifying the turning point for conspiracy theories in American culture. They both want to believe! The Pink Smoke on X:x.com/thepinksmoke Christopher Funderburg on X:x.com/CFunderburg Martin Kessler on X:x.com/MovieKessler
People in this episode
Host: The Pink Smoke
Guests: Christopher Funderburg, Martin Kessler
Topics covered
- ufology
- conspiracy theories
- truth vs fantasy
- cryptozoology
- extraterrestrial encounters
- language and communication
Keywords
- Visitors from Lanulos
- ufology
- conspiracy theories
- extraterrestrial
- cryptozoology
- Woodrow Derenberger
- Indrid Cold
- Jacques Vallee
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: Visitors from Lanulos
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