Episode 410: After Contact (in the Desert)

This week Byron, Sam, and Kelly return from Contact in the Desert—the sprawling, sun-drenched gathering in Palm Springs where the leading minds (and hearts) in UAP research, consciousness studies, and high strangeness come together to explore the unknown.   Helmed by Captain Ron Janix and his team, this annual conference defies easy categorization: part symposium, part spiritual retreat, part carnival of the anomalous. But what stood out most in our first year there? The human connection—unexpected, unguarded, and deeply kind. Nearly every conversation was marked not by shouting or smug certainty, but by curiosity, generosity, and mutual respect.   Leave Us a Message! ⇒ 1-833-374-4489 (1-833-FRIGHT9)  Patreon ⇒ https://www.patreon.com/frightday  TikTok ⇒ https://www.tiktok.com/@frightdaypodcast Spotify ⇒ https://open.spotify.com/show/14ioP0zfFczK8hKPsDUmko?si=gmznX6rgSgmCp8u9tpDwZg Website ⇒ https://www.frightday.com/ Apple Podcasts ⇒ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/frightday/id951360425 Instagram ⇒ https://www.instagram.com/frightday/ X ⇒ https://x.com/frightday Media Inquiries ⇒ byron@frightday.com Chapters: 0:00 Intro 1:58 Reporter vs Researcher 3:45 Day One 4:27 Can You Eat in an Uber? 7:30 Guest Spotting & Time in the Lobby Bar 8:52 Bolts vs Woo: Handling Conspiratorial Leanings 13:11 Whitley Strieber’s Reflections on Communion, Trauma, and Transformation 19:15 D.U.M.B.s to DNA 24:27 Psionics 26:23 Marc D’Antonio’s balance of warmth, skepticism, and science 30:45 USO Debate 36:24 Emergency Evacuation 39:24 Podcasts in the Desert 42:21 Jeremy Corbell is PARANOID 46:19 Skywatching  51:57 CITD Changed Us! 55:29 Mitch Randall, & Ross Coulthart Keynote 59:34 Dean Alioto's Alien Perspective and James Fox's Program 1:01:45 Jesse Michels & Allen Town 1:03:04 Rogan, Gino of the Why Files 1:05:16 Last Podcast in the Desert 1:07:18 Two Hour Uber, Fourteen Hour Layover 1:19:14 Mysterious Caller... Sam reflected on the profound kindness of strangers, finding a deeply human community in the heart of the weird. Kelly kept stumbling into conversations about faith, politics, fear, and hope—each one unfolding with rare grace. Byron, the perennial skeptic, did his best to stay open, but did his intentions win out over his involuntary production and journalistic instincts? Contact in the Desert Website ⇒ https://contactinthedesert.com/home/about-the-show/ Captain Ron’s Beyond Contact ⇒ ​​https://www.coasttocoastam.com/guest/ron-janix/  Dean Alioto Watch The Alien Perspective ⇒ https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/the-alien-perspective/umc.cmc.4kghab9qmb0ky8k7gn9670v48 Watch The Alien Perspective Part II ⇒ https://tv.apple.com/gb/movie/the-alien-perspective-part-ii/umc.cmc.78zroqmf3pd2wfaba4n2nm82h Filmography ⇒ ​​https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0019665/?ref_=nmbio_ov_bk Website ⇒ https://www.deanaliotodirector.com/ Whitley Strieber Whitley Strieber’s Unknown Country ⇒ https://unknowncountry.com/ James Fox The Program & more ⇒ https://tv.apple.com/us/person/james-fox/umc.cpc.