Man has told stories around the campfires since the beginning of time. We have told each other tales that have gone from daily survival to the beyond normal experience. However, it is only in the last two hundred years that our stories have reached out beyond our little planet and questions what is out there.

What Do I like to Read?

I like reading how our current ideas stack-up against an imagined future. The best stories feel like they question current situations by taking them to the extreme. Maybe the story takes on a world changing event and then tells how our society reacts to it and makes it fit. Some of my favorite examples are: I Robot by Isaac Asimov and The Dune series by Frank Herbert.

So What is it?

Science fiction is not just about space ships and the future. To me it is about where we are going and how we get there. The best of it wrestles with ethicality and the potential of humanity’s role. Of course survival plays into it as well. Authors of science fiction must understand that the science is important to help readers envision the worlds we learn about. The enjoyment comes from the adventure the characters have and the technologies they use.

-Ron

This Week’s Podcast:

This week is a science fiction themed show. We have aliens whose pottery is essential to their society, a time experiment gone wrong and a listener’s true story tale about orbs that saved the day. You can listen to this podcast on Thursday at Ron’s Amazing Stories, download it from iTunes, stream it on TuneIn Radio or listen to it on your radio Saturday night at 6pm Eastern time. Check your local listing or find the station closest to you at this link.

The Calendar:

August 31 – Rope Of Sand – (RAS297)
September 07 – RAS – Memory Lane #1
September 14 – Science Fiction Week – RAS298
September 21 – Detective Week – RAS299
September 28 – The Horror Express #18 – UFOs (Note: In Jeopardy due to Irma)
October 05 – Old Time Horror W/Jim Harold – (RAS300)

There have been many moving speeches given over the years. I am no expert on this subject, but when I was flipping through the news archives I came across this one given by General Douglas Macarthur on April 19, 1951.  A little more than a week before, President Harry S. Truman had relieved him as commander of U.S. forces fighting in Korea. MacArthur had publicly challenged Truman’s leadership by threatening to attack China directly—a strategy that the U.S. feared would spark a wider war. MacArthur’s dismissal was not popular. Americans revered him as the mastermind of the victorious Pacific campaign in World War II. A quarter million people filled the National Mall to cheer the war hero. After summarizing his 52-year Army career he concluded his speech by recalling a line from a West Point barracks song: Old soldiers never die, they just fade away.

I will have an excerpt from this speech in this week’s podcast. I knew that I could not play the entire thing, but I want you guys to be hear it for yourself.  If you look at the problems that still plague us today from North Korea and China one is left to wonder if MacArthur was right some 65+ years ago.

If you would like to listen to the entire speech for yourself you can click below or listen to the closing five minutes in the podcast. The full speech It just over an hour in length but, it is from another time and place

-Ron

This Week’s Podcast:

On the podcast this week we will have the ‘Old Soldiers Never Die’ speech, A western from the OTR series Gunsmoke, Three emails from you guys and of course another Five Minute Mystery. You can listen to this podcast on Thursday at Ron’s Amazing Stories, download it from iTunes, stream it on TuneIn Radio or listen to it on your radio Saturday night at 6pm Eastern time. Check your local listing or find the station closest to you at this link.

The Calendar:

August 03 – He #17 – Out Of Body
August 10 – You Were Wonderful – (RAS294)
August 17 – The MUFON Story – (RAS295)
August 24 – Western Week – (RAS296)
August 31 – Science Fiction Week – (RAS297)

What is an out-of-body experience? The certified and verified definition is: An out-of-body experience (OBE or sometimes OOBE) is an experience that typically involves a feeling of floating outside one’s body and, in some cases, the feeling of perceiving one’s physical body from a place outside one’s body.

I think that is a pretty poor definition, and because of this Jason and I decided to do an episode on the subject. While you wait for the Horror Express podcast to publish, here are my thoughts on the subject.

Let’s start off with what I think should be the definition of a OOBE: They are eerie sensations, more common than one might think. For example: A man describes feeling a shadowy figure standing behind him, then turns around to find no one there. A woman feels herself leaving her body and floating in space, then looking down on her corporeal self. These experiences are often attributed by those who have them as being paranormal. However, neuroscientists tell us they can be induced by delivering a mild electric current to specific spots in the brain.

It is true! A zap to a brain region called the angular gyrus has resulted in a sensations that the patient described as hanging from the ceiling, looking down at their body. In another test electrical current produced an uncanny feeling that someone was behind the patient and was intent on interfering with their actions. These are confirmed experiments. Follow this link to learn more.

So does that mean that all OBE’s are induced? I have to say the jury is still out on that one, but this may help to explain at least some of these experiences.

This Week’s Podcast:

On the podcast this week we have The Horror Express #17 – This maybe the most diverse podcast we done yet. Not only do we talk about the out-of-body experience, Jason interviews Larry Hunter, who asked God to show him Hell!  Also, we have an OTR story from Boris Karloff and of course we answer emails and comments from you guys! You can listen to this podcast this Thursday at The Horror Express, download it from iTunes, stream it on TuneIn Radio or listen on your radio Saturday night at 6pm Eastern time. Check your local listing or find the station closest to you at this link.

The Calendar:

June 29 – C-Chute – (RAS290)
July 06 – Replay Cypherus Canyon With Jim Harold
July 13 – Tale From Development Hell – (RAS291)
July 20 – Stagecoach Stop – (RAS292)
July 27 – The Weldt – (RAS293)
August 03 – Out Of Body  – (HE16)

On Ron’s Amazing Stories last time I announced that we had run out of the Five Minute Mysteries. You guys sent in a number of requests to keep the program going and start over. On this week’s podcast I will make an announcement about the show’s fate, but for this blog I thought I would tell the Five Minute Mystery story.

The Five Minute Mysteries were aired on the Mutual Broadcasting System from 1947 to 1950. The shows were produced and syndicated to individual local radio stations. They in turn would insert advertising for local merchants or trade the advertising announcements for goods, services or prizes awarded to listeners. Musical interludes were inserted with enough time for a local announcer to present the advertiser’s message and wrap things up with other local information.

Each show featured mini-mystery dramatized with actors, organ music and sound effects. Solutions to each mystery could be suggested by a panel of listeners and studio guests. The panelists sometimes shared a common background; for example, on the April 14, 1949 program amateur sleuths were given the opportunity to solve the crime.

Cast members included Jackson Beck, Staats Cotsworth, Michael Fitzmaurice, Timmy Hyler, Abby Lewis, Frank Lovejoy and Ian MacAllister. Organist Rosa Rio provided the music.

It has been amazing to me how popular this segment has become on Ron’s Amazing Stories. Also, I have to admit that I enjoy coming up with the fake advertisements each week. Although there have been few times when I really do promote a real product or service.

-Ron

This Week’s Podcast:

The podcast this week answers the question, “What about the Five Minute Mysteries?” Also, we have an OTR tale that stars Boris Karloff and a listener’s tale from Mitch in North Carolina. You can listen to this podcast on Thursday at Ron’s Amazing Stories, download it from iTunes, stream it on TuneIn Radio or listen to it on your radio Saturday night at 6pm Eastern time. Check your local listing or find the station closest to you at this link.

The Calendar:

June 29 – C-Chute – (RAS290)
July 06 – Replay Cypherus Canyon With Jim Harold
July 13 – Mitch in Raleigh’s Near Death Experience (RAS291)
July 20 – (RAS292)
July 27 – (RAS293)
August 03 – (RAS294)