In 2019, a caravan of women and children was ambushed by masked gunmen on a stretch of road in northern Mexico controlled by the Sinaloa drug cartel. The attackers killed nine people and gravely injured five more. The victims were members of the LeBaron and La Mora communities - fundamentalist Mormons whose forebears broke from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and settled in Mexico when their religion outlawed polygamy in the late 19th century. Investigative journalist Sally Denton joined George Knapp in the first half of the show to discuss her book, The Colony, which tells the complex story of the LeBaron clan spanning the first polygamist emigrations to Mexico through the LeBarons' internal blood feud in the 1970s, and an unforgettable account of sisterhood that can flourish in polygamist communities.
"I couldn't separate what happened to them... from the historical context of how they got there - why they were there," Denton admitted. Polygamy was a doctrine followed by members of the LDS Church in the 1800s in Salt Lake City. Denton, who does not practice Mormonism, has a direct link to the polygamous Mormon sect she writes about in her book through her ancestors who were polygamy-practicing Mormons in the 19th century. For Mormons of that time, the doctrine of polygamy was an important tenet to building the Kingdom of God on earth, she explained. When it became clear Utah would become a state in the 1890s and had to outlaw polygamy as a requirement for statehood, true believers left for Mexico, Denton reported. They wanted to find a place where they could continue practicing their beliefs outside of the reach of the US government, she noted.
------------------------------------------------
The world is watching as the United States Congress looks into the UAP (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena) sightings. Veteran Australian investigative journalist Ross Coulthart has been researching the UFO topic for almost as long as George Knapp. They joined forces during the second half of Saturday's program for a detailed conversation on the phenomenon, breaking down the latest news and analysis of the emerging revelations of UFOs and why they're here. "There's still that stigma that's attached to the phenomenon, and I don't think it's legitimate," Coulthart admitted, noting part of the reason so many in the media remain skeptical about UAP is because of decades of deliberate disinformation by US intelligence agencies. He called for the release of hundreds of dramatic videos taken by pilots and other sightings which cannot be prosaically explained.
The Pentagon has admitted the phenomenon is a genuine mystery and should be investigated, Coulthart continued. "I speak routinely to people in Australian intelligence and defense who freely admit to me the phenomenon is real," he added. The military in the US, Australia, and other nations around the world have tracked anomalous objects on radar and other sophisticated detection systems, and pilots have reported seeing craft. According to Coulthart, UAP must be investigated because of the potential such objects pose to national security and flight safety. He lamented the Australian government's decision not to conduct further research into UAP as the public has a right to know. "No one can give me a good reason for why the public can't be told," Coulthart said. Coulthart also discussed his 'Need To Know' documentary with Bryce Zabel.
Knapp's News 8/27/22
George Knapp shares a number of recent news items of interest, including an examination of the companies which collect the most data from users, a piece on the legendary "Welsh Atlantis," and an article on NASA's longest-operating mission - The Voyager probes.
- "Cosmics" and "Phantoms": Ukrainian Independent Study Reveals Observations of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena
- Google Tracks 39 Types of Private Data, the Highest Among Big Tech Companies
- A Medieval Map Has Revealed the Location of a Lost 'Atlantis,' Study Says
- Nearly all marine species face extinction if greenhouse emissions don't drop: study
- NASA's oldest probe, Voyager 2, is turning 45 at the solar system's edge