Author Maurice Cotterell, Wednesday night's guest, believes ancient civilizations such as the Mayans may have had knowledge, particularly about our cosmology, that surpasses ours. "Maya means illusion," Cotterell said, explaining that the Mayans knew that the most important things you couldn't see, such as spirit. He believes they became extinct around 750 AD (as they themselves predicted) due to magnetic changes on the sun, which caused atmospheric problems that reduced their fertility.

The reason the Mayan calendar ends in 2012, still remains somewhat mysterious to Cotterell. According to his calculations the next magnetic flip of the planet may not be until the year 4360. However he speculated that the Mayans may have been aware of conditions that could lead to massive volcanic eruptions in 2012 which would in effect create "a global winter," killing off most life.

Cotterell also discussed his latest book The Lost Tomb of Viracocha where he examined Incan pyramids in Peru and deciphered the pictograms on them. Viracocha, according to Cotterell's reading, was the name of a great spiritual teacher akin to Jesus who had the ability to heal. Cotterell also connected ancient civilizations across time and continents, in their shared worship of the sun as a central force. "In a simple sense if you look at the sun's rays coming down, they describe a pyramid shape as they strike the earth, and (the word) pyramid comes from pyrotechnic or a funeral pyre-- the pyramid represents the fire in the sky-- the sun on earth," he explained.

War Analysis

John M. Curtis, director of a West Los Angeles think tank and a specialist in understanding spin and propaganda, commented on war developments during the first hour of Wednesday's show. He called threats of an army of suicide bombers coming from all over the Middle East, the "last gasp of dying regime."