In the first half, retired entrepreneurs Ron Kardos and Bruce Licht told of how they reached out to thought leaders to discover why they believe in a higher power. Their book, Elevator Pitches for God (book trailer), features 70 one-page essays, and each has a different, personal take on the subject. Among the people featured in the book were (the late) Senator Joseph Lieberman, actress Mayim Bialik, talk show host Dennis Prager, law professor Alan Dershowitz, Ambassador David M. Friedman, and our own George Noory. Kardos & Licht pointed out that the project did not espouse any one religion and included responses from those of many faiths. In his essay, nuclear physicist Gerald Schroeder humorously commented that we know God exists because NASA has taken a picture of it. That is, in the timeline of space, we can see where there was nothing, and then something began, and light created it.
George Noory's account included his personal experience as a child in Fitchburg, MA, where he lived with his family in a multi-level home with a furniture store at the bottom. One night, while everyone was sleeping, a fire broke out in the furniture store, and smoke filled all the apartments above. George was awakened by a fireman who was in full gear. George then went and woke up his parents, and everybody made it safely out of the building. Afterward, George's parents thanked the fire chief for the fireman that first woke up George, but the chief responded, 'I don't know what you're talking about-- you were all out of the building before we even arrived.' George concluded that it was an act of God or one of his angels that woke him up and saved his family.
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In the latter half, psychic medium Cathy Nadal talked about her readings, radio show, and Wiccan practice, and paranormal investigator/entertainer Charles F. Rosenay delved into supernatural occurrences and ghost stories. Both specialize in paranormal investigations and making contact with the Other Side. Nadal shared her personal story of being a Wiccan colonel in the military, balancing spiritual and military life, as well as discussed her radio show "Bringing the Darkness to the Light" heard on 1490 WWPR in Tampa, Florida. She also talked about being certified with the Forever Family Foundation, an organization in Long Island where mediums are vetted and evaluated for their mediumistic evidence.
Rosenay spoke about hauntings and ghost stories in Connecticut that he's collected or investgated, as well as his Dracula tours in Transylvania. He detailed a strange occurrence at a tour he conducted in Dudleytown, CT, an abandoned settlement that is thought to be haunted. One of the tour patrons, a skeptic, appeared to be bored, but then everyone started pointing at him, as his hair suddenly stuck straight up in the air. There seemed to be no explanation behind the odd phenomenon. Nadal and Rosenay are participating in two upcoming events in the CT area: the Connecticut Witch Trials Festival (which celebrates the exoneration of witches), and the Paraconn Convention.
News segment guests: Lauren Weinstein, Steve Kates