Christopher Lee-Jenkins is an academic with a PhD in mathematics and a fascination with esotericism and ufology that began with numerous mysterious experiences in his childhood. In the first half, he joined Connie Willis (info) to share details of his curious encounters and expansive perspectives. As a child, he saw an extremely vivid half-face in the clouds resembling the head of a Greek statue. Later, while studying philosophy in college, he realized the face looked almost exactly like an illustration of the philosopher Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855). He also talked about his long-term bouts of sleep paralysis that were centered around a female presence, and a strange interaction with an owl, which Connie compared to alien abduction reports.
As a tenured professor, Lee-Jenkins talked about the difficulty of seriously addressing such things as the paranormal, UFOs, ghosts and Bigfoot, as academia doesn't generally consider these topics worthy of study. "It seems the only thing that can...make some headway now in mainstream academia is the idea of consciousness or sentience," he added. In his writings, he explores themes such as the emergence of gravitation from exotic 4D spacetimes and other anomalous phenomena in math and physics.
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Vince Ynzunza, an independent filmmaker and the producer of the YouTube series Pacific NorthWEIRD, is passionate about the bizarre happenings and history of the Northwest. In the latter half of the conversation, he shared intriguing stories about cryptids and inexplicable events in the region. His initial interest in offbeat events was sparked at the McMinnville, Oregon UFO festival, a unique blend of serious UFO discussions and lighthearted fun. The Pacific Northwest has a rich history of unusual activity and the locals are accepting of these legends and reports, he said.
Bigfoot is big business in a lot of ways in Northwest, he continued, and "any gift shop you go into, there's going to be just countless pieces of Bigfoot merchandise." Ynzunza recalled the long-standing feud between early Bigfoot researchers Ray Wallace and Rant Mullens, and delved into a bizarre case of a mysterious blob-like jelly that rained down in the town of Oakville, OR, on several occasions and made people sick. There was conjecture that it might have been some type of bioweapon as the substance reportedly contained white blood cells. He also described sightings of the Batsquatch, a winged creature with a wolf-like face, yellow eyes, and blue fur. Ynzunza is one of the producers of the upcoming Chehalis Flying Saucer Party, in which Connie Willis will be one of the guest speakers.