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In 1986, accusations of child abuse emerged from a daycare serving military families at the Presidio of San Francisco. Authorities eventually investigated reports involving dozens of children, several of whom were reportedly diagnosed with chlamydia.

The case became even darker when a child identified Michael Aquino, a decorated Army psychological-operations officer who openly practiced black magic and founded the Temple of Set. Army CID retained Aquino as the subject of serious alleged offenses, but he was never criminally charged.

While the investigation was still active, the daycare burned in a fire the FBI suspected was arson. The prosecution against daycare supervisor Gary Hambright later collapsed, adults refused to cooperate, and the statute of limitations expired.

In this episode of The 99th Meridian, we investigate what happened at the Presidio, why the ritual allegations were dismissed as “Satanic Panic,” and whether the greatest protection the perpetrators received was convincing the public that organized occult abuse could never be real.

Had some audio issues while recording, so apologize for any weirdness that comes through

Welcome to The 99th Meridian.

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In the summer of 1984, the quiet Long Island town of Northport became the center of one of the most disturbing crimes of the decade.

Seventeen-year-old Ricky Kasso, known locally as the “Acid King,” had developed a reputation for heavy drug use, fascination with Satanism, and increasingly bizarre behavior. Then his friend Gary Lauwers disappeared.

Weeks later, police uncovered Lauwers’ body in the woods.

According to investigators and witness accounts, Kasso had brutally attacked Lauwers while demanding that he profess his love for Satan. Kasso later reportedly interpreted the call of a crow as a sign of Satan’s approval. Within days of his arrest, Kasso was dead, found hanging in his jail cell.

The murder exploded into national headlines and became one of the defining stories of the emerging Satanic Panic. But almost immediately, two competing explanations emerged. Was Gary Lauwers murdered in an actual Satanic ritual, or was this primarily a drug-fueled killing wrapped in occult imagery by a group of disturbed teenagers? Even the Suffolk County district attorney eventually emphasized drugs as the underlying motive, while acknowledging the ritualistic elements of the crime.

In this episode of The 99th Meridian, we trace Ricky Kasso’s descent into drugs and occult fascination, the murder of Gary Lauwers, the strange events surrounding the crime, and the media storm that followed. Then we ask the deeper question: even if the sensational claims of organized Satanic cult activity were exaggerated, does that mean the spiritual forces Kasso was deliberately invoking should be dismissed?

Welcome to The 99th Meridian.

Sources and full show notes: https://www.the99thmeridian.com/

Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, & every major Podcast app by searching for: The 99th Meridian.

If you enjoyed this episode, please consider giving me a like & subscribe.

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In 1946, rocket scientist Jack Parsons and science-fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard carried out a series of occult rituals in Pasadena, California, that became known as the Babalon Working.

Parsons was already deeply involved in Aleister Crowley’s Thelema and the Ordo Templi Orientis, but the Babalon Working pushed his occult practice into much stranger territory. He believed Babalon, the Scarlet Woman of Thelemic tradition, was a real spiritual intelligence that could be contacted and ultimately brought into physical manifestation.

The operation began with Parsons attempting to summon an “elemental mate” who could serve as his Scarlet Woman. Over the following days, Parsons recorded violent winds, unexplained knocking, strange lights, apparent physical disturbances, and alleged spiritual communications. Then, shortly after declaring the ritual complete, Parsons met Marjorie Cameron, a red-haired woman he quickly became convinced had been brought into his life through the Working. From there, the ritual escalated.

Parsons and Cameron began performing sexual magick intended to invoke Babalon, while Hubbard acted as Parsons’ seer and scribe. Parsons later claimed to receive a new revelation called Liber 49, or The Book of Babalon, and came to believe that he had assisted in the “birth” of a supernatural force that would eventually be “loosed on the world.”

In this episode of The 99th Meridian, we trace the Babalon Working from its occult roots through the rituals themselves and into the bizarre aftermath involving Aleister Crowley, L. Ron Hubbard, Marjorie Cameron, the Moonchild concept, Parsons’ financial collapse, and his eventual death in a laboratory explosion.

Was the Babalon Working simply the product of obsession, coincidence, and occult psychology?

Or did Jack Parsons actually make contact with something?

Welcome to The 99th Meridian.

Sources and full show notes: https://www.the99thmeridian.com/

Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, & every major Podcast app by searching for: The 99th Meridian.

If you enjoyed this episode, please consider giving me a like & subscribe.

And if you REALLY liked it, consider giving me a 5 STAR Rating on your favorite podcast app!

Questions? Have a story to share? A story you want covered? Email me at the99thmeridian@gmail.com

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