By Tim Binnall
Vampires, UFOs and aliens, and unlocking happiness were among the fascinating topics explored this past week on Coast to Coast AM. And, here at the C2C website, we told you about the discovery of a bizarre new method of snake locomotion, a cave painting believed to be the world's oldest drawing of an animal, and a racing pigeon's very strange saga which saw it sentenced to death and then granted a reprieve. Check out our round-up of highlights from the past week ... In Coast You Missed It.
A staple of Hollywood fare in recent years, vampires have been a part of folklore for hundreds of years. On Sunday night's program, supernatural explorer A.P. Sylvia discussed the rich history of these unnerving entities and how they were often believed to be the cause of disasters or disease. Concern over vampires during difficult times was so serious in places like Europe and the early United States, he explained, that people would actually exhume corpses in search of the deceased individual who may have been the source of such calamities.
In a testament to how Mother Nature holds many secrets, scientists were stunned this week to discover a previously unobserved and rather bizarre form of locomotion exhibited by a snake. The strange climbing technique, which was seen performed by a brown tree snake on the island of Guam, consists of the creature wrapping itself around a pole in a manner similar to a lasso and then slowly inching its way upwards. Amazingly, this was the first new form of snake movement to be documented in nearly 100 years.
The UFO phenomenon and the beings which may be behind it were a hot topic of conversation on several Coast programs this past week. First, on Monday night, lobbyist Stephen Bassett discussed his efforts to end government secrecy surrounding the enigmatic subject. Then, on Tuesday night's program, retired lawyer Terry Lovelace recalled his 1977 alien abduction experience while camping at Devils Den State Park in Arkansas. And, on Wednesday night, photojournalist Tim Swartz detailed eerie UFO encounters that involved what appeared to be time slips and mysterious diminutive entities.
A pair of fascinating pieces of artwork from the distant past made news this past week, beginning with a centuries-old sculpture of a woman that was found in a Mexican orchard. The remarkably well-preserved statue, experts say, likely depicted a powerful figure from the late Mesoamerican Postclassic period of around 500 years ago. Meanwhile, in a cave on an Indonesian island, researchers discovered a drawing of a pig which is believed to be a staggering 45,500 years old and constitutes the earliest depiction of an animal ever found.
During these troubling times, finding happiness is an understandably difficult challenge, but there are some techniques that can help one unlock that elusive feeling of joy. On Saturday night's program, clinical psychologist Dr. George Pratt provided advice on how to achieve such a state. He indicated that having an appreciation for things in life that give us meaning can alter the chemistry of the brain and make us more resilient in the face of tough situations. He also noted seven self-limiting beliefs, such as feeling unsafe or distrusting, that serve as blocks to happiness.
Easily the oddest story of the week came by way of Australia and centered around a racing pigeon that had purportedly flown all the way to the island nation from America. Becoming something of a viral sensation when its remarkable story was revealed, the bird's fate appeared to be sealed when Australian officials announced that they planned to euthanize the animal out of fear that it could be carrying diseases. However, in a twist worthy of a Hollywood film, it was subsequently revealed that the pigeon's tag identifying it as American was, in fact, a fake, sparing the animal's life and leaving us with far more questions than answers.
Coast Insiders can check out all this week's shows as well as the last five years of C2C programs in our enormous archive. Not a Coast Insider yet? Sign up today.