Msgr. Stephen J. Rossetti, Ph.D., is the President of the St. Michael Center for Spiritual Renewal and a research associate professor at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. A licensed psychologist and the author of several books, he discussed his participation in hundreds of exorcisms. With his background as a psychologist, he was initially called in to evaluate cases to determine whether strange behaviors were due to mental illness rather than demonic possession. Genuine occurrences of possession, he explained, are marked by signs of preternatural abilities, like when the afflicted person has knowledge they couldn't possibly know, or exhibits superhuman strength. The best way to learn the ropes in the exorcism ritual is from an experienced priest or senior exorcist, he detailed, but it's most important "to trust in Jesus," which protects against Satan and related entities.
In some cases, he's seen eerie and inexplicable phenomena such as a person's eyeball turning totally black, or taking on the look of a serpent's yellow eye. In a recent incident, a possessed woman coughed up a 2.5-inch steel bolt that could not have been in her stomach, he recalled. Unusual bruises or scratches are sometimes seen on the afflicted, he added, such as when a man woke up with 2 ft. long claw marks running across his back. While most don't have to worry about dealing with demons, Rossetti said he encourages people to keep "sacramentals" in their house, like blessed crosses and holy pictures. He offers an app (Google/IOS) that contains prayers, including those delivered by exorcists.
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Professor of journalism at Northwest Missouri State University, Jason Offutt, is the author of several books on paranormal topics. In the latter half, he talked about time travel, which he deals with in his new science-fiction novel. One of the things he finds especially intriguing about time travel is that scientists have seriously considered that it might be possible someday. One theory is that such travel won't occur until a time machine is actually invented so that we won't see people from the future coming back to the past until after the technology has been created. He recalled accounts of 'Mad Man' Marcum (featured on various Art Bell shows back in the 1990s), who claimed to invent a time machine. Offutt met with him, and he told him about some of his experiments, such as when he placed a grapefruit in the machine, and it vanished and then re-appeared outside in the parking lot.
Offutt said he was impressed by elements in the John Titor time travel story, such as how the time machine made use of mini black holes. Another alleged account (which may be more of a yarn) involved a group of scientists who conducted experiments in New Jersey's Pine Barrens, and were said to open up another dimension or parallel Earth that they traveled to and never returned. He related this to John Keel's theory that certain "window areas" or alternate dimensions can intersect with ours, and that various anomalous creatures like Mothman and the Black Eyed Kids could move between these realms. Perhaps certain prescient writers like Morgan Robertson (author of 1898's "The Wreck of the Titan") can look into different or future realms, Offutt pondered.
News segment guests: Howard Bloom, Mish Shedlock