Episodes

  • The Carman, Manitoba UFO Wave: Inside the RCMP Files

    The Carman, Manitoba UFO Wave: Inside the RCMP Files
    Nov 11 2026
    Send us Fan MailThe Carman, Manitoba UFO Wave: Inside the RCMP FilesSeason 5, Episode 5In the spring of 1975, residents around Carman, Manitoba, began reporting strange red lights over the prairie. Near Friendship Field, pilot and aircraft engineer Robert Diemert and his wife Elaine described a low, elongated red glow that passed without a sound. Then RCMP Constable Ian Nicholson, who had been taking witness statements, filed a sighting report of his own. He described a red oval with a separate white X visible behind it.Michael Ryan and Christine Scott revisit the wave through the original RCMP files, with Joy Ryan reading from the witness statements. They look at the accounts from Friendship Field, compare the different dates recorded in Irene and Sharon Bourgeois’s statements, and discuss a National Research Council letter identifying one photographed light as Jupiter. Christine also revisits Grant Cameron’s Charlie Red Star for a look at how the sightings drew people out onto the roads around Carman.Featured book review — Bernie O’Connor’s The Official History of Official UFO Magazine, Volume TwoChristine gives Bernie O’Connor’s second volume five out of five discs. The 304-page collection brings together selected articles from issues 7 through 12 of Official UFO, covering May 1975 through November 1976. The volume reproduces the material in colour and high resolution, including vintage ads. It features writers such as Jerome Clark, Kevin D. Randle, Raymond Fowler, Richard Hall and Don Berliner, with a foreword by Stan Gordon and a tribute to John Keel. It also includes Michael’s essay, “Confessions of a UFO Podcaster.”Christine and Michael discuss what the collection preserves from the golden age of UFO magazines, from the original layouts to the depth of the reporting. You can also watch Bernie talk about the magazine and the new volume on That Human Said What?Bernie O’Connor’s Volume Two on AmazonVolume One on AmazonWatch Inside Official UFO Magazine, our interview with Bernie O’ConnorEnter the UFO Talker Christmas drawWe’re giving away a copy of Bernie O’Connor’s Volume Two. To enter, email ufotalker@bell.net with Christmas in the subject line and include your name and mailing address in the body. Entries close Monday, December 21, 2026, at 2 p.m. Eastern time. We’ll announce the winner on our December 23 show.Email your Christmas draw entryAlso in this episodeUFO news. Michael updates the search for missing correspondence connected to the 1952 Catalina Island Boy Scout sighting and discusses Canadian House of Commons petition e-7920. Christine looks at commercial pilot Steve Frazer’s reports of unusual lights during night flights near Brussels.Listener shout-out. We visit Pembroke, Ontario, and talk about Schmecken Bakery’s caramelized onion and cheddar bagels, apple strudel and apple cider Bundt cake.From the archives. Joy recounts a reported 1956 encounter involving an RB-36H Peacemaker crew.Canadian civil aviation reports. Joy reads four reports entered in CADORS from October 26 through November 6, including the reported drone at 20,200 feet, GPS jamming reported by Virgin Atlantic Flight 141, suspected drone contact involving a Cessna near Vancouver, and a drone reported above an Air Canada flight departing Montréal.Events mentionedNovember 14, 2026 — David Paulides on Missing 411 Alaska. Arizona Heritage Center, Tempe, Arizona. Phoenix MUFON event informationDecember 3, 2026 — Let’s Talk UFOs: Canada and the Global UAP Story. Chrissy Newton and Daniel Otis at Pluto in Toronto, with a livestream option. Event details and ticketsFebruary 26–28, 2027 — CA UFO CON: Make Contact on the Bay. DoubleTree by Hilton, Burlingame, California. Conference information and ticketsEpisode sources and further readingGrant Cameron’s Charlie Red StarUFO Talker Season 5, Episode 4, with the earlier Catalina discussionHouse of Commons petition e-7920 on Canadian UAP reporting and oversightSchmecken Bakery on FacebookNew episodes of UFO Talker arrive every other Wednesday. Find That Human Said What? and our mini documentaries on UFO Talker Network. Visit ufotalker.ca, support the show through Buy Me a Coffee, or browse the UFO Talker merchandise shop.Female announcer: Joy RyanMale announcer: Andrew HelbigChristine Scott’s Centennial Books: 1230 Broad Street, Regina, SaskatchewanNational UFO Historical Records CenterSeason 5 is dedicated to the memory of Frank Thayer.Support the showTo buy UFO Talker merchandise follow this link here.Female announcer: Joy RyanMale announcer: Andrew HelbigThe National UFO Records Center link hereChristine Scott's Centennial Books 1230 Broad Street. Regina, Sask.
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    1 hr and 38 mins
  • Three Black Helicopters. One Was Silent - U.S. Army Veteran Derek Condit's Strange Encounter

    Three Black Helicopters. One Was Silent - U.S. Army Veteran Derek Condit's Strange Encounter
    Oct 28 2026

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    Silent Black Helicopters, Prison Ghosts and Bigfoot: Derek Condit’s Encounters with High Strangeness

    Season 5, Episode 4 • October 28, 2026

    Three black helicopters pass overhead—but one reportedly makes no sound and produces no rotor wash. What did Derek Condit encounter while working the night shift outside a Washington State prison?

    Michael Ryan interviews author, U.S. Army veteran and former correctional officer Derek Condit about the experiences that drew him into the world of high strangeness. Derek describes mysterious spirals in the sky near the Washington State Reformatory, an unsettling encounter in the woods near his barracks in Germany, and the prison’s “Baker Unit Ghost.”

    He also recounts seeing an enormous, hair-covered figure cross a Washington highway in just three strides—an experience that changed his views about Bigfoot.

    If you would like to look at or purchase any of Derek Condit's books go here. If you would like to find out more about Derek Condit go to his website here.

    Also in this episode:

    • Michael investigates a possible connection between a newly released government UFO report from Catalina Island and a 1979 APRO Bulletin account describing a sighting reportedly witnessed by 300 Boy Scouts. Why do important details differ, and where are the letters and sketches listed in the government file?

    • Christine Scott discusses unusual lights filmed over West Kelowna and a heavily redacted FBI report describing a dark, triangular aerial object.

    • Upcoming UFO events in Edinburg, Texas, and Fredericton, New Brunswick. If you would like to find out more about the Edinburg UFO Festival go here. If you would like to find out more about the Fredericton UFO Conference and Holistic Fair go here.

    • Our listener shout-out visits Gimli, Manitoba, with a tempting stop at Sugar Me Cookie Boutique.

    • Our dramatized UFO Moment revisits a reported 1966 encounter at Nha Trang Air Base in Vietnam.

    • Joy presents Canadian Civil Aviation Anomalies from the October 12–23 CADORS reports, covering incidents that occurred in May, June and July.

    Were you at Camp Fox on Catalina Island in the summer of 1952, or do you have family letters, photographs or memories connected to the reported sighting? Contact UFO Talker at ufotalker@bell.net.

    Visit www.ufotalker.ca for more information.

    Please share, subscribe and help spread the word about UFO Talker.

    Support the show

    To buy UFO Talker merchandise follow this link here.
    Female announcer: Joy Ryan
    Male announcer: Andrew Helbig
    The National UFO Records Center link here
    Christine Scott's Centennial Books 1230 Broad Street. Regina, Sask.
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    1 hr and 50 mins
  • What Did Frame 300 Capture? The Cote UFO Photo/ Interview with Documentary Filmmaker Adam Pillon

    What Did Frame 300 Capture? The Cote UFO Photo/ Interview with Documentary Filmmaker Adam Pillon
    Oct 14 2026

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    What Did Frame 300 Capture? The Cote UFO Photo

    On September 4, 1971, a Costa Rican government mapping flight photographed something unexpected above Lake Cote. Nobody aboard reported seeing it, but one frame contained a mysterious disc-shaped image that would become the subject of decades of investigation.

    Michael Ryan interviews filmmaker Adam Pillon about his documentary, The Cote Photo, made with Megan Woomer. Adam shares the story behind the film, from researcher Esteban Carranza’s fascination with the photograph to meeting Sergio Loaiza, the cartographer who was aboard the mapping flight.

    They discuss the enormous nine-by-nine-inch film negative, Michael Strickland’s high-resolution drum scan, and what photographic analysis can—and cannot—tell us about the image. Beyond the technical questions, the conversation explores the people whose lives have been touched by UFO experiences and why their stories matter.

    Also in this episode:

    • Michael and Christine continue their discussion of Battelle, nonprofit research organizations, and questions about classified research and public access.
    • Christine looks at other UFO reports surrounding the famous 1967 Shag Harbour incident.
    • Strange lights over New Jersey turn out to have a musical explanation.
    • This week’s listener shout-out goes to Boylston, Massachusetts, with a tempting stop at Darby’s Bakery.
    • Our dramatized UFO moment revisits a sighting near Batawa, Ontario, and unidentified radar targets at Canadian Forces Base Trenton.
    • Joy presents Canadian aviation anomalies from CADORS reports, including unexplained collision avoidance warnings, navigation problems, and reported drone encounters.

    More information:

    If you would like more information on the Lake Superior Paranormal Convention click here.

    If you would like more information on the Halifax Paranormal Symposium click here.

    If you would like more information on Richard F. Haines and Jacques Vallée’s analysis of the Cote photograph in the Journal of Scientific Exploration click here.

    If you would like more information on Adam Pillon’s documentary, The Cote Photo, including how to watch it click here.

    New episodes of UFO Talker arrive every other Wednesday. Find That Human Said What? and our mini documentaries on YouTube at UFO Talker Network.

    Visit www.ufotalker.ca to learn more and support the podcast through Buy Me a Coffee.

    Season 5 is dedicated to the memory of Frank Thayer.

    Support the show

    To buy UFO Talker merchandise follow this link here.
    Female announcer: Joy Ryan
    Male announcer: Andrew Helbig
    The National UFO Records Center link here
    Christine Scott's Centennial Books 1230 Broad Street. Regina, Sask.
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    1 hr and 9 mins
  • The Secret Ruppelt Tape: Battelle's Hidden UFO Connection/ What was Project Stork?

    The Secret Ruppelt Tape: Battelle's Hidden UFO Connection/ What was Project Stork?
    Sep 30 2026

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    The Secret Ruppelt Tape: Battelle’s Hidden UFO Connection

    UFO Talker returns with the premiere episode of Season 5—and we are beginning the new season with one of our most revealing historical investigations.

    Michael Ryan and Christine Scott examine a remarkable recording from a confidential 1952 meeting featuring Captain Edward J. Ruppelt, the first director of the U.S. Air Force’s Project Blue Book. Rather than hearing Ruppelt speaking for the press or writing years later for the public, we hear him discussing the UFO problem directly with a largely military audience while the investigation was still unfolding.

    The recording reveals that the Air Force had already rejected several easy explanations for the UFO phenomenon. Ruppelt discusses reliable reports that remained unexplained, concentrations of sightings near sensitive locations such as Los Alamos, White Sands and Oak Ridge, and the reluctance of airline pilots to report unusual objects because they feared ridicule or damage to their careers.

    The most important clue comes when another participant asks Ruppelt about the Air Force’s relationship with the Battelle Memorial Institute. That brief exchange leads us into the largely forgotten story of Project STORK, Battelle’s scientific and intelligence work for the Air Force, and the statistical study that eventually became Project Blue Book Special Report No. 14.

    We also investigate the mysterious role of Battelle scientist Howard C. Cross and the January 9, 1953 memorandum later found in the files of Project Blue Book consultant Dr. J. Allen Hynek. That document shows Cross making recommendations about how the Air Force should investigate unidentified aerial objects—and what Project STORK should disclose to the forthcoming CIA scientific panel.

    Was Battelle simply providing independent scientific assistance, or could its long history of classified government research have placed it much deeper inside the UFO mystery than the public realizes? There is no proof that Battelle was deliberately used to conceal UFO information, but its involvement raises important questions about private contractors, missing records and investigations conducted beyond the reach of the original Project Blue Book office.

    This Season 5 premiere also includes UFO news, Canadian civil-aviation anomaly reports from CADORS, an important announcement about UFO Talker coming to 101.3 FM CJAI Island Radio, and details about the podcast’s new every-other-Wednesday release schedule.

    The entire fifth season of UFO Talker is dedicated to the memory of Michael’s journalism professor and mentor, Frank Thayer. The episode also remembers respected Canadian UFO researcher Harry Tokarz. Read Project Blue Book Special Report No. 14 here The Anomalous Coalition is here. The Link for the UFO Experiencer meetup in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia is here.

    Listen to UFO Talker every Saturday night at 10:00 p.m. on 101.3 FM CJAI Island Radio.

    Visit: https://www.ufotalker.ca
    Email: ufotalker@bell.net
    YouTube: Search UFO Talker Network

    Support the show

    To buy UFO Talker merchandise follow this link here.
    Female announcer: Joy Ryan
    Male announcer: Andrew Helbig
    The National UFO Records Center link here
    Christine Scott's Centennial Books 1230 Broad Street. Regina, Sask.
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    1 hr and 57 mins
  • Season 5 UFO Talker Trailer

    Season 5 UFO Talker Trailer
    Sep 23 2026

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    UFO Talker Returns for Season 5

    For more than four years, UFO Talker has explored UFO reports through research, investigation, and conversations with the people closest to the stories. Michael Ryan and Christine Scott look for compelling cases that deserve a closer look, including accounts you may not have heard before.

    In Season 5, we’ll bring you more witness interviews, new guests, and the questions that keep these cases open. Join us as we follow the evidence and let the people involved tell their stories.

    Subscribe now so you won't miss a single episode.

    Support the show

    To buy UFO Talker merchandise follow this link here.
    Female announcer: Joy Ryan
    Male announcer: Andrew Helbig
    The National UFO Records Center link here
    Christine Scott's Centennial Books 1230 Broad Street. Regina, Sask.
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    1 min
  • The Forgotten UFO Investigator: William Steinman, Aztec and White Sands/ Author Frank Thayer on the Evidence and the Mystery

    The Forgotten UFO Investigator: William Steinman, Aztec and White Sands/ Author Frank Thayer on the Evidence and the Mystery
    Sep 16 2026
    Send us Fan MailTHE FORGOTTEN UFO INVESTIGATOR: WILLIAM STEINMAN, AZTEC AND THE SECRETS OF WHITE SANDSThis week’s summer rerun is a very personal episode for host Michael Ryan.Our guest is the late Dr. Frank Thayer—author, UFO researcher, professor emeritus at New Mexico State University and co-author of The Aztec UFO Incident. Long before appearing on UFO Talker, Frank was Michael’s journalism professor and mentor at Centennial College in Toronto. The lessons Frank taught him about journalism, writing and searching for the truth have remained with Michael throughout his career.Since this interview was originally recorded, Frank Thayer passed away on June 28, 2026, at the age of 86. In recognition of Frank’s lasting influence, the entire upcoming fifth season of UFO Talker will be dedicated to his memory.In this interview, Frank discusses William Steinman, the determined but largely forgotten researcher who investigated the alleged 1948 UFO recovery near Aztec, New Mexico. Steinman followed the trail left by Frank Scully’s controversial 1950 book, Behind the Flying Saucers, travelled to New Mexico and located what he believed was the Aztec recovery site.Frank describes Steinman as an intelligent, fact-based and tireless researcher who continued defending his conclusions until the end of his life. According to Frank, Steinman possessed additional information that never appeared in his published work, and his collection of research papers may have been lost following his death.The conversation also explores Steinman’s correspondence with Dr. Robert Sarbacher, including Sarbacher’s statements about scientists who may have been connected to classified UFO crash-recovery work. Frank recounts claims that Steinman was warned against publishing his research, suffered professionally after doing so and later believed he was being watched.Frank also explains why he considered the alleged Aztec recovery potentially even more significant than Roswell. Unlike the badly damaged object reportedly recovered near Roswell, the Aztec craft was said to have arrived largely intact, with 16 bodies allegedly discovered inside. Frank discusses the extensive work undertaken by Scott and Suzanne Ramsey to locate witnesses and determine how such a large craft could have been transported from the mesa to Los Alamos.The discussion then moves to the mysteries surrounding White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. Frank recounts reports of unidentified objects flying alongside experimental missiles, a landed translucent craft, automobile engines stopping beneath a hovering object, unusual V-2 missile incidents and other disturbing stories associated with the restricted military range. Some of these accounts remain unverified, but together they form a fascinating and little-known chapter of UFO history.Highlights include:William Steinman’s investigation of the alleged Aztec UFO recoveryWhy Frank Thayer believed Steinman deserved greater recognitionSteinman’s important correspondence with Dr. Robert SarbacherClaims that Steinman was warned not to publish his findingsThe possibility that Steinman’s unpublished research archive was lostWitness testimony associated with the alleged Aztec recoveryHow an intact craft could reportedly have been transported to Los AlamosUFOs allegedly observed near missiles tested at White SandsStrange aircraft and missile incidents in southern New MexicoFrank’s friendship with Stanton FriedmanFrank’s years teaching journalism at Centennial CollegeHis memories of teaching future Canadian comedy legend John CandyThe story behind the traditional journalism sign-off “30”At the conclusion of the interview, Michael explains that the number “30,” heard at the end of every UFO Talker episode, has always been a quiet tribute to Frank and everything he taught him. In traditional journalism, “30” signalled the end of a transmitted news story—confirmation that there were no additional pages to follow.Appropriately, Frank delivers the final words of this episode himself:“30. That’s a wrap.”Frank Thayer will be deeply missed, but his voice, his work and the knowledge he passed on to generations of students will continue.Visit: www.ufotalker.caEmail: ufotalker@bell.netListen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music.Keep watching the skies.From the UFO Talker Summer “Best Of” Repeat SeriesSeason 2, Episode 9Originally aired November 1, 2023Support the showTo buy UFO Talker merchandise follow this link here.Female announcer: Joy RyanMale announcer: Andrew HelbigThe National UFO Records Center link hereChristine Scott's Centennial Books 1230 Broad Street. Regina, Sask.
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    45 mins
  • UFOs Over Pickering Nuclear Power Station: Police and Ambulance Crews Witness the Unknown

    UFOs Over Pickering Nuclear Power Station: Police and Ambulance Crews Witness the Unknown
    Sep 9 2026

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    This week on the UFO Talker Podcast, we return to one of the most intriguing—and largely forgotten—chapters in Ontario UFO history: a series of unidentified objects reported over and around the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station during the mid-1970s.

    Michael Ryan examines the work of Southern Ontario UFO researcher Dennis Prophet, a former member of the Royal Air Force who became deeply involved in UFO investigation after having his own sighting in 1974. Prophet converted a 1974 Dodge van into a mobile UFO-observation vehicle and privately published a rare booklet titled The Amazing West Hill–Pickering Sightings.

    Among the incidents recorded by Prophet was a remarkable event on February 4, 1975, when CHOO Radio music director and private pilot Andy Parks reportedly saw as many as twelve UFOs near the Pickering nuclear station. Parks brought a radio news crew to the area, where the objects were also reportedly observed by three Ajax-Pickering ambulance drivers, a Durham Regional Police officer and other witnesses.

    The episode also examines additional reports of bell-shaped objects over Scarborough and Pickering, including an incident in which five objects remained visible for several hours. One witness described a smaller disc apparently emerging from beneath one of the larger objects.

    Michael connects these historical cases with more recent efforts to uncover information about UFO reports near Canadian nuclear facilities, including investigative journalist Daniel Otis’s attempts to obtain records from Ontario Power Generation.

    Also in this episode, Christine Scott reviews The Man Who Mastered Gravity by Paul Schatzkin. The book explores the mysterious life and work of physicist and inventor Thomas Townsend Brown, his experiments involving electrogravitics, his classified military connections and his important place in UFO history as one of the founders of NICAP.

    The episode also features the dramatic 1976 UFO encounter of Joseph Robichaud near Richibucto, New Brunswick, along with a roundup of Canadian civil-aviation reports involving unidentified objects.

    Why have unidentified objects been reported near nuclear facilities for so many decades—and what might still remain hidden in government and corporate files?

    This “Best Of” rerun was originally aired on January 24, 2024, as Season 2, Episode 21 of the UFO Talker Podcast.

    Support the show

    To buy UFO Talker merchandise follow this link here.
    Female announcer: Joy Ryan
    Male announcer: Andrew Helbig
    The National UFO Records Center link here
    Christine Scott's Centennial Books 1230 Broad Street. Regina, Sask.
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    46 mins
  • What Happened to Captain Thomas Mantell? His Grandson, Terry Mantell, Discusses the Unresolved UFO Encounter

    What Happened to Captain Thomas Mantell? His Grandson, Terry Mantell, Discusses the Unresolved UFO Encounter
    Sep 2 2026

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    What Did Captain Thomas Mantell Chase? An Interview With His Grandson, Terry Mantell

    This week, UFO Talker returns to one of the most important—and tragic—cases from the early history of the UFO phenomenon.

    Originally released as Season 1, Episode 21, on January 18, 2023, this episode features an in-depth interview with Terry Mantell, grandson of Captain Thomas F. Mantell.

    On January 7, 1948, military personnel at Godman Army Airfield in Kentucky observed an unidentified object in the sky. Captain Mantell, a decorated Second World War pilot serving with the Kentucky Air National Guard, was asked to investigate while flying a P-51 Mustang near the area.

    Mantell climbed in pursuit of the object, but his aircraft crashed near Franklin, Kentucky. He was only 25 years old. The case made headlines around the world and became one of the earliest and most consequential military UFO encounters in American history.

    Terry Mantell discusses the man behind the famous case: a courageous D-Day pilot, husband and father whose family spent decades searching for answers about his death. We examine Mantell’s distinguished wartime service, his extensive flying experience and the profound effect his loss had on his wife, children and mother.

    The episode also explores:

    • The official timeline of the January 7, 1948, encounter.
    • The numerous military personnel who observed the object from the Godman control tower.
    • Mantell’s final reported radio transmissions.
    • Conflicting accounts of why his two wingmen ended their climb.
    • The absence of statements from those wingmen in the released Air Force documents.
    • Early claims that Mantell had been pursuing the planet Venus.
    • The later theory that the object was a classified Skyhook balloon.
    • Questions concerning whether any Skyhook balloon was actually launched that day.
    • The controversial 1996 account of control-tower witness Quentin Blackwell.
    • Blackwell’s claim that Mantell ordered his wingmen to return for aircraft with “hot guns.”
    • His description of an enormous structured object with what appeared to be observation windows.
    • The Mantell family’s belief that important information was withheld from them.

    This episode does not claim to provide a definitive identification of the object. Instead, it examines the contradictions, missing testimony and unanswered questions that have prevented the Mantell Encounter from being comfortably resolved.

    At the heart of the story is a family that lost a son, husband and father while he was serving his country—and which is still waiting for answers.

    Originally broadcast: January 18, 2023
    Original episode: Season 1, Episode 21
    Summer “Best Of” repeat release: September 2, 2026

    Visit www.ufotalker.ca for more information.

    Listen to UFO Talker on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and other major podcast platforms.

    Support the show

    To buy UFO Talker merchandise follow this link here.
    Female announcer: Joy Ryan
    Male announcer: Andrew Helbig
    The National UFO Records Center link here
    Christine Scott's Centennial Books 1230 Broad Street. Regina, Sask.
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    1 hr and 1 min