The Basement: John B. Alexander | Roswell, MJ-12, Skinwalker: The Colonel Who Was There

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The Why Files: Operation Podcast 3h 34m 3 speakers 7 chapters transcribed 1 month ago
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What happened when Colonel Alexander filmed a voodoo fire ceremony in West Africa?

Shannon Maldonado 0:00
I founded Ornot in 2013. I think the best thing about Shopify is that we can practice business without technical skills. We can manage the company's background and front-end and sell online. If Shopify was a bicycle equipment, I think it would be a bicycle itself. That way things are managed and our business is managed in Shopify. Start a free trial at shopify.com.
The Why Files: Operation Podcast 0:30
Today, we're sitting down with Colonel John Alexander. He commanded Green Berets in Vietnam, ran advanced weapons concepts at Los Alamos, and pioneered the military's non-lethal weapons program. He also threw spoon-bending parties for army generals, sponsored a scientist whose lab levitated scrap metal, and was the first investigator to spend a night on Skimwalker Ranch. And none of it was a hobby. It was work.
Unknown 0:52
A night at Skywalker Ranch? You couldn't get me to spend a lunch there. That place has demons that make the crab cat look cuddly. Today we're... Fear the crab cat!
The Why Files: Operation Podcast 1:02
Today we're covering the army's psychic warfare years, the voodoo fire ceremony he filmed in West Africa, and why a man with a file full of things that can't happen isn't worried about dying. And at one point he mentions that he could beat a polygraph, but he couldn't fool his own white blood cells. That one's gonna bug me for a while.
Unknown 1:19
They can never polygraph me. No pulse points, no fingers, no sweat glands. I'm untestable, baby.
The Why Files: Operation Podcast 1:26
You confess to things nobody asked about.
Unknown 1:29
Allegedly.
The Why Files: Operation Podcast 1:30
Once we wrap up, I'll pop back in and break down our conversation. Let's go down to the basement.
The Why Files: Operation Podcast 1:41
Colonel John Alexander, welcome to the basement. Great to be here, I think.
Colonel John B. Alexander 1:46
I didn't do it. I wasn't there. I don't know anything about it.
The Why Files: Operation Podcast 1:50
We're going to have fun. I want to start somewhere no one does. You're in a village in West Africa in the middle of a voodoo ceremony. Cameras are rolling, and the shaman, what, takes a fire to his face? What happened?
Colonel John B. Alexander 2:02
Oh, no, it's much more than that. This was, we were attending a voodoo ceremony, and this particular case, the shaman himself came out. Now, he picks up a flaming torch and puts it in his mouth and, you know, throws it. Now, what's really interesting was when it was my camera, by the way, that was rolling, and at distance, like we're sitting right now, this is not a long ways away, and yes, it's hot. I mean, there's definitely heat. Got long chin whiskers that don't singe. Now, this also went on, and they brought out two young boys, probably about 10 or so, and the shaman goes... and passing the power and say, well, they can't, you know, they haven't got the full range yet. But they would stand in the fire, sit in the fire, eat the fire.
Colonel John B. Alexander 2:59
Yeah, it defies everything you know about thermodynamics. They also say, well, they have some magical asbestos substance or something. You've got to understand, these are people who look up to dirt and poverty.
The Why Files: Operation Podcast 3:15
Right.
Colonel John B. Alexander 3:16
That they have some exotic materials or something. They did have a long history as to how that came about. But it just defies the rules. There's no doubt about that.
The Why Files: Operation Podcast 3:29
What was the ceremony for? They're lighting fire.
Colonel John B. Alexander 3:32
Us. No, this was, we were with a small group and they were doing it for us. But this is something they do all the time.
The Why Files: Operation Podcast 3:42
Only the shaman can do that? Or what I'm getting at is can we all learn that power?
Colonel John B. Alexander 3:49
That is a question that's hard to say. There's obviously a period of training and introductions. Like I said, with the boys, he was passing the power and said they've only got so much. We saw a number of them do this. The back story is that this goes back to the days of slavery. And these were people that we were in Benin at the time. We were in both Togo and Benin, but in that area in West Africa. And, you know, most of the slaves were actually captured by Africans in that. And one of the things that had happened is that they had been captured. Most of the people were put in one of these corrals, which was then set on fire and burned alive. After that, there were a few survivors who had been outside and said they made a deal with the fire gods that if, you know, they would honor them in return for protection.

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