Haunted Cosmos – "Frauds, Hucksters, & Charlatans: The Other Kind of Demonic Activity"

Season 5, Episode 7 — Released: September 17, 2025
Hosts: Ben Garrett & Brian Sauvé

Main Theme

This season finale explores the thriving world of supernatural frauds, examining historical and modern examples of charlatanism in spiritualist movements, UFO lore, and parapsychological research. Ben and Brian set out to expose the deceptions and dangers of spiritual manipulation, showing not only how people are fooled, but also how intentional trickery sometimes unintentionally invokes real spiritual phenomena. The episode weaves narrative storytelling, cultural critique, and theological warnings—always in the duo’s sharp, wry, and candid style.

Key Discussion Points

1. The Fox Sisters: From Prank to Spiritualist Movement

([01:14]–[25:45])

• Detailed Retelling: The story of the Fox Sisters—Leah, Maggie, and Kate—is recounted, starting from their move to a supposedly haunted house in Hydesville, New York, in 1847, and the infamous pranks that led locals to believe the girls could communicate with spirits through knocks and raps.
• Birth of American Spiritualism: What began as a joke became the foundation of 19th-century spiritualism, with seances, coded knocking, and the sisters’ alleged communication with the spirit "Mr. Splitfoot" (a colloquial reference to Satan).
• Rapid Rise: The girls achieved fame, intrigued elite Victorian society, and catalyzed the formation of spiritualist churches. Brian notes, “Spiritualism offered a haven to the lost, the outcast, and the spiritually restless. Here, at last, was a religion that seemed true, holy, powerful and entirely modern. One you could see with your own eyes and hear with your own ears.” ([~22:42])
• Moral Degradation & Downfall: The sisters’ fame led to alcoholism, family strife, and eventual public disgrace as Maggie, after converting to Catholicism, confessed the entirety of their act was a hoax—demonstrating onstage how the sounds were faked.
• Aftermath: Despite confession and exposure, the spiritualist movement continued to flourish, underlining how deeply people longed for spiritual experience—even if fraudulent.

2. Theme Framing & Exposing Spiritual Fraud

([28:15]–[34:36])

• Ben and Brian set their intention for the episode: to debunk the notion they’re credulous of all supernatural claims and affirm that “exposing the unfruitful works of darkness” (Ephesians 5:11) is part of the Christian calling.
• False Spiritual Longings: Brian points out, "The human soul will latch onto lesser spiritual things in an attempt to find satisfaction outside of God… It will be easily taken in by spiritual frauds." ([32:14])
• Materialism and Spiritual Deception: They critique modern spiritualism’s blend of materialist skepticism with irrational openness to "spiritual" charlatans.

3. The Roswell Alien Autopsy Hoax

([35:47]–[54:54])

• Roswell Recap: The 1947 New Mexico incident is described—how a rancher reported finding a "flying saucer," leading to frenzied speculation and a famous newspaper headline.
• The Alien Autopsy (1995): The hosts detail how British filmmaker Ray Santilli released a supposedly historic video of an alien being dissected, sparking massive media hysteria and debate.
• The Reveal: Santilli admitted 11 years later the tape was fake, concocted with actors and props (including on-the-record confessions from a prop maker), though he still claimed it was based on "real" film he once saw.
• Lessons in Skepticism: Ben muses on the eagerness to believe—“I watched a documentary that was very convincing in trying to say, no, this is real… this is how the sausage is made when it comes to dissecting extraterrestrials,” ([54:24]), before Brian underscores the need for discernment.

4. Project Alpha: Magicians Fool the Scientists

([62:26]–[81:00])

• Project Alpha Overview: In 1979’s St. Louis, parapsychology researchers launched "Project Alpha" to study psychic phenomena. Unknown to them, two young illusionists—under the mentorship of famed skeptic James Randi—schemed to get selected as participants and then used magic tricks to produce fake supernatural feats.
• Deception in Action: The magicians bent spoons, read photographs, moved objects, and manipulated thermal imaging, all using sleight of hand while researchers, desperate to believe, adjusted protocols to accommodate them. Ben describes the scientist’s credulity: “Oh, my psychic energy is getting in the way. You’re able to see what’s inside because when I left the room…” ([73:15])
• Public Humiliation: At a press conference in 1983, Randi exposed the hoax, devastating the reputations and careers of the researchers, shutting down their lab.
• Reflection: The hosts marvel at the power of stage magic and the ease with which even well-meaning, intelligent people can be duped by their spiritual longings—while firing off tongue-in-cheek banter about the ethics of the "lesson."

5. When Fakery Draws the Real: The Philip Experiment

([81:07]–[90:08])

• Constructing a Haunting: Ben recounts how Toronto researchers in 1972 invented "Philip Aylesford," a completely fictional 17th-century English nobleman, to test whether a group could convince itself of communicating with a non-existent ghost.
• Unexpected Results: After several fruitless attempts, the group changed the atmosphere to a classic candle-lit seance. Suddenly, physical phenomena—inexplicable knocks, voices, moving furniture—began to manifest. Ultimately, the table levitated and crashed—events reportedly witnessed by researchers themselves.
• Unresolved Outcome: The experiment ended in anxiety and uncertainty, the group fearful that they had contacted "something" real, even though "Philip" was a fabrication.
• Warning Delivered: Ben’s final words: “Beware of calling on devils—even devils in which you don’t believe—because they might just answer.” ([~90:08])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Fraudulent Spiritualism:
  "It’s almost funny, in a tragic sort of way, that one man’s brutal death and allegedly his restless spirit helped spark the American spiritualist movement, a phenomenon that would eventually lead countless souls into spiritual darkness."
  — Ben ([~11:50])

• On the Human Heart:
  "Look at the people that are taken in by it and understand something about the human soul in its fallen state…it was made to be satisfied in a spiritual reality, which is God Himself. The human soul will latch onto lesser spiritual things in an attempt to find that satisfaction outside of God."
  — Brian ([32:14])

• On Maggie Fox’s Confession:
  "With total silence filling the room, Maggie Fox did the last thing anyone had been expecting. She loudly confessed to the audience that she and her sister were frauds, that it had all been a hoax."
  — Ben ([24:25])

• On the Santilli Alien Autopsy:
  "Look, did I elaborately hoax an alien autopsy video? Yes. But I was elaborately copying a video I saw that wasn’t hoax."
  — Brian, mocking Santilli’s self-exculpation ([50:58])

• On Project Alpha’s Demise:
  "What I love is, James Randi’s basically like ‘it was all a fake, you’re welcome for the moral lesson.’"
  — Ben ([71:30])

• On the Dangers of Invoking Spirits:
  "What had begun as a deliberately fraudulent paranormal experiment had transformed into something the researchers no longer understood and could not control. Beware, of calling on devils—even devils in which you don’t believe—because they might just answer."
  — Ben ([~90:04])

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Fox Sisters & Spiritualism: [01:14]–[25:45]
• Episode Themes & Spiritual Deception: [28:15]–[34:36]
• Roswell Alien Autopsy Hoax: [35:47]–[54:54]
• Project Alpha (Magicians vs Parapsychologists): [62:26]–[81:00]
• Philip Experiment—Faking a Ghost Gone Wrong: [81:07]–[90:08]

Tone & Style Summary

The conversation is an animated mix of storytelling, dry humor, inside jokes, and genuine moral concern. As always, Ben and Brian alternate between engaging narrative, theological perspective, and irreverent banter—balancing skepticism with the belief in actual spiritual reality. Their playful tone is particularly sharp when lampooning both gullible spiritualists and overweening skeptics.

Conclusion

The episode closes with a theological warning: Fraudulent spiritual practices often open doors to real spiritual danger, despite the intentions or beliefs of those involved. The hosts remind listeners that the longing for transcendence and the lure of the supernatural are powerful—and that discernment, humility, and faithfulness are vital in a world teeming with both hoaxes and genuine spiritual evil.

End of Season Five