What happened in this episode?
Jesse Michels interviews broadcaster and parapsychology researcher Jeffrey Mishlov, ranging from UFO lore to research claims about psychokinesis and survival of consciousness after death. Mishlov recounts his long association with Ted Owens, a self-styled “PK man” who claimed telepathic contact with “space intelligences” and the ability to influence weather and trigger UFO sightings. Mishlov describes receiving files on Owens after a purported drought-ending prediction in the 1970s, and says he studied Owens from 1976 until Owens’s death in 1987, maintaining an archive he claims includes 168 “demonstrations”.
A central, emotionally charged anecdote is Mishlov’s recollection of a Christmas Eve 1985 phone call in which Owens urged him to warn the US government not to launch the next space shuttle, followed by the Challenger disaster weeks later; Mishlov says he has no evidence of outside interference. He also makes uncorroborated, serious allegations that Owens could be vindictive and that harmful incidents, including deaths, followed disputes.
Beyond Owens, the discussion moves through remote viewing history and figures including Ingo Swann, Uri Geller and Andrija Puharich, with Michels pressing claims about intelligence-community interest in “psionic” abilities while Mishlov says he lacks privileged access. Mishlov also discusses his Bigelow Institute essay on evidence for post-mortem survival and says he is pursuing neuroimaging research related to a reported “two identities in one body” case. He adds that he helped create a new doctoral and master’s programme offering a parapsychology specialisation at the California Institute for Human Science.
