Topic: Ray Palmer

Brad Steiger reminisces about meeting Ray Palmer, the influential editor of Amazing Stories and founder of Fate magazine. They discussed the "Shaver Mystery," involving Richard Shaver's claims of a subterranean slave race called the Dero. Steiger links these accounts to ancient Hindu and Roman mythologies regarding civilizations living within the Earth's crust.

Greg Carlwood reflects on the value of interviewing elder researchers like Brad Steiger who lived through pivotal events like the 1947 Roswell incident. He discusses the transition of media from landlines to digital podcasting and defends his choice to focus on biographical anecdotes rather than just reading story collections. Carlwood also addresses listener feedback regarding the timing of his paranormal episodes.

The 1947 UFO phenomenon, sparked by Kenneth Arnold's sighting, is linked to a network of science fiction writers and occultists. Ray Palmer, a prominent magazine editor, collaborated with Arnold on "The Coming of the Saucers" and maintained ties with L. Ron Hubbard and Jack Parsons. This intersection suggests a direct connection between the birth of the "flying saucer" meme and the occult interests of the era's leading sci-fi figures.

The hosts discuss the influence of Richard Shaver, who wrote about subterranean civilizations in the 1940s before the modern UFO era began. Shaver's accounts in Amazing Stories magazine predicted themes of abduction, underground bases, and disc-shaped craft. The segment notes how Kenneth Arnold's 1947 sighting of "skipping saucers" solidified the saucer shape in the public consciousness, which entities then seemingly adopted.

The origin of the "Shaver Mystery" is detailed, beginning with Richard Shaver's claim that he heard voices while using a high-voltage welding gun. These voices allegedly belonged to subterranean beings who mocked surface dwellers and discussed their genetic experiments. Editor Ray Palmer eventually published and embellished Shaver's letters, turning them into a sensation within the science fiction community.

The conversation shifts to the "Shaver Mystery" published by Ray Palmer in pulp magazines like Amazing Stories. Richard Shaver claimed to receive signals from an underground civilization of "Deros" or detrimental robots. Fred Chrisman was a frequent letter writer to these publications, claiming his own encounters with these entities in Burma.