“Please answer True or False to the following statements: ‘As a child, a lot of my time was spent in a world of self-created fantasy.’ ‘As a child, I felt that I had a guardian angel.’ ‘When I was a child, I was very psychic.’ ‘When I was a child, I nearly died’.”
-- Questions from Dr. Kenneth Ring’s Omega Project Childhood Experience Inventory

Listeners of this podcast know: near-death experiences are awesome -- and alien abductions suck. One is rapturous; the other nightmarish. But what if, at their core, they aren’t so different? What if only certain kinds of people have these experiences? And what if, behind their wildly different theatrical trappings, both experiences are imparting the same message: the earth is drifting toward doom, and there’s only so much time left to course-correct before everything goes up in flames?

Dr. Kenneth Ring’s ground-breaking 1992 work The Omega Project dives straight into these questions. For the first time ever, a study is conducted to determine if there is an “experiencer type” – and an attempt is made to define who is prone to having these kinds of encounters. And in true 1990’s fashion, the book anticipates the coming millennium with a mixture of chilling dread and paper-thin hope. Thirty-four years later, we’re still here. But does that mean the angels and aliens are wrong and we’re safe? Or are they just working on a far longer timeline?

It’s January 1997, and Richard has been sent to Baltimore, Maryland with one task: convince Richard Gere to star in The Mothman Prophecies. Writing the script was one thing -- but wooing a Hollywood star? That’s not really in his wheelhouse. How much say do you ever have in your own success – or failure? And how do you know what moves to make when the result could make or break your career -- and the future remains stubbornly unclear?

Notes & Links

Buy The Omega Project by Kennth Ring, PhD HERE.

Support RHPB on Patreon HERE!
Celebrate 2026 with 26% off all RHPB merch with offer code RHPB26! CLICK HERE and the discount is pre-applied!

Need help with your personal writing projects? Richard is here to help! Get 20% off when you mention RHPB! https://www.richardhatem.com/

The Cumin Club – delicious, easy, authentic Indian cuisine delivered right to your door. Use offer code RHPB to get 30% off on EVERY ORDER! https://www.thecuminclub.com/

“It appeared that in a single day Janet had levitated, traveled out of her physical body, made a book go through the wall from one room to another and caused a heavy cushion to travel from a closed room onto the roof. It did not sound possible, but five different people were certain it had all happened.” – Guy Lyon Playfair, This House Is Haunted

How can a thing be true and false at the same time? Frightening and funny? Scary and dull? Real and unreal? How can something be itself -- and its own opposite? Easy: it’s a poltergeist.

For over two years the Hodgson family in Enfield, England were plagued with a poltergeist that simultaneously played by – and broke – all the rules of poltergeistery. As usual, there were cries of fraud from the very beginning. And as usual, there were dozens of witnesses to phenomena that could have no earthly explanation. Psychic investigators Guy Lyon Playfair and Maurice Grosse spent hundreds of hours living with the Hodgson’s and documented everything that went on in their house. But what happens when an avalanche of evidence breeds nothing but more skepticism? And what do you do when the very word “poltergeist” seems suddenly too small to describe a display of supernatural effects so vast that the case has been called the greatest haunting in history?

In 2009, Richard, his wife Susan, and their three children moved into a house in Pasadena, California that promises to be the culmination of all of Richard’s dreams. But that’s not exactly how it works out. They say haunted houses are fueled by the stress and anxiety of the families who live inside them. But if that’s true, isn’t every house a haunted house? For Richard, beyond the dark charm of the bookshelf lined office, the eternal glow of the private wet-bar – and the strange melancholy allure of the swimming pool hidden behind the black, vine-covered fence… lies the truth of every house, every family and every dream that stays hauntingly just out of reach.

Buy This House Is Haunted By Guy Lyon Playfair from Bookshop.org HERE.

Support RHPB on Patreon HERE!

Celebrate 2026 with 26% off all RHPB merch with offer code RHPB26! CLICK HERE and the discount is pre-applied!

Need help with your personal writing projects? Richard is here to help! Get 20% off when you mention RHPB! https://www.richardhatem.com/

The Cumin Club – delicious, easy, authentic Indian cuisine delivered right to your door. Use offer code RHPB to get 30% off on EVERY ORDER! https://www.thecuminclub.com/

“This is not going to be edited. It's just me and a microphone talking about my journey with this (UFO) topic and where I'm at. There are many of you who have asked: ‘When's the show coming back?’ I just kind of want this to be the end of it all. This podcast is never coming back.” –- Rob Kristoffersen, on the final episode of “Our Strange Skies”

On February 28th, 2026, UFO expert Rob Kristoffersen abruptly ended his extremely popular podcast “Our Strange Skies.” In a candid, intimate and largely improvised 21-minute monologue, he explains why. When I heard it, I was so blown away I knew I had to talk to him – and then I decided to bring all of you in on the conversation.

Most podcasts don’t end – they just stop. But Rob decided to address his reasons for leaving podcasting by talking frankly about the rarely discussed challenges and demands of the medium. For anyone who has ever tried podcasting, you’ll hear your own story here. For those of you who are podcast fans, you’ll get a rare and surprising look behind the curtain at what makes podcasting so alluring –– and so heartbreaking.

In our conversation, Rob and I discuss “paranormal fatigue”; how COVID changed podcasting for the better -- and worse; the end of the “little guy podcast” and the rise of celebrity-casts; paranormal “comfort food” podcasts – and the biggest question facing podcasters: are we all just “Patreon whores”? Finally, Rob gives us a peek at what he’s up to now and what’s next for him in terms of exploring even newer avenues for creative expression.

NOTES & LINKS

Follow rob on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/yerguyrob/

Check out Rob’s Substack “Foolology” here
https://foolology.substack.com/

Support RHPB on Patreon here! https://patreon.com/RichardHatem?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink

Celebrate 2026 with 26% off all RHPB merch with offer code RHPB26! CLICK HERE and the discount is pre-applied!https://richardhatem-shop.fourthwall.com/promo/RHPB26

Need help with your personal writing projects? Richard is here to help! Get 20% off when you mention RHPB! https://www.richardhatem.com/

The Cumin Club – delicious, easy, authentic Indian cuisine delivered right to your door. Use offer code RHPB to get 30% off on EVERY ORDER!
https://promocode.to/the-cumin-club/rhpb-92t