Utah County Funds Paranormal Conference; Plus: Hancock's Netflix Series

​I have had to take on additional work due to rising costs, and that has left me with less time to write blogs recently. However, I want to briefly make note of two important developments that are worthy of note. First, next month Graham Hancock is getting a splashy eight-episode Netflix series to present his false claim that a lost Atlantis-like civilization was destroyed by a comet at the end of the last Ice Age. The series is dishonestly framed around the notion of Hancock as a truth-teller locked in battle wih a blinkered “academia,” a favorite theme of Hancock’s since his Fingerprints of the Gods phase. Hancock will be appearing on Joe Rogan’s podcast on the day of release to promote the series, in which Rogan also appears. I imagine I’ll have something to say about the show when it debuts on Nov. 11.

​I also want to direct your attention to Jack Brewer’s shocking investigation into PhenomeCon, a paranormal convention promoting The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch and its various paranormal “mysteries.” Brewer discovered that Uintah County, Utah funds the conference and owns its trademarks but does not make clear that the conference is a government-sponsored event working hand-in-glove with TV ufologists. Tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars went into the pockets of luminaries such as Travis Taylor, George Knapp, and the company owned by Dragon, the security guard from the Skinwalker Ranch TV show—all while the conference operated at a deficit. Knapp, of course, is a Nexstar TV journalist with KLAS-TV Las Vegas and is in ethically dicey territory once again, accepting money from a government entity overseeing the very ranch he claims to be reporting neutrally on.
 
The whole lengthy article is worth your time to read.