Conspiracies And Secret Societies: The Complete Dossier

Conspiracies And Secret Societies: The Complete Dossier
By Brad Steiger and Sherry Steiger
Publisher: Visible Ink Press (January 2006)
Pages: 539 – Price: $24.95

Ghostvillage.com author interview

Readers of the paranormal are no stranger to the name Steiger. For 50 years now Brad Steiger has been researching and writing about the unexplained. To date, he’s authored or co-authored over 150 books. Sherry Hansen Steiger has has been researching spirituality, health, and healing since the 1960s and has over 40 books to her credit. Team Steiger has two sons, three daughters, six grandchildren and a fascinating new book called Conspiracies and Secret Societies: The Complete Dossier. Ghostvillage.com caught up with the pair to ask them about the new tome.

How can we differentiate between a conspiracy, urban legend, and a coincidence?

Sometimes it is very difficult. The three rules of conspiracy theory are 1] Nothing happens by accident; 2] Nothing is as it seems; 3] Everything is connected. Sometimes a conspiracy dissolves into an urban legend, and sometimes what was thought to be an urban legend becomes a bona fide conspiracy theory. You know the old saying: You aren’t paranoid if they’re really after you.

A good example of an urban legend becoming a conspiracy is that of the old and trusted Proctor & Gamble company allegedly being run by a Satanic group. P&G had to go to court several times to sue their accusers for libel and to try to clear their name. It turns out that it was primarily a group of fundamentalist Christians interpreting P&G’s logo of Moon and Stars as symbols of Satanism and deciding to conduct a campaign against them. In spite of the fact that courts have ruled in favor of P&G many times and in spite of the millions that P&G has spent trying to counter the propaganda against them, you will still receive emails from sincere individuals claiming said that P&G is run by Satanists.

As you point out in your book, there have indeed been government conspiracies and cover-ups. Do you believe, in the end (even if that end takes many decades), the truth will eventually surface? Are governments and secret societies keeping records of the real truth someplace?

We may have gone past the point of no return. The Vietnam conflict created a division in this country that has never healed. The Pentagon Papers proved to even the most steadfast true believers that our government had been lying to us for years. The Cold War with its spy vs. spy vs. spy scenario sickened Americans to the point where they came to expect deceit and lies from their government. Since the early 1990s, the U.S. public has increasingly come to suspect manipulative forces working behind the scenes of the own government. Perhaps, some conspiracists concede, our elected officials themselves are unaware of the shadow agencies doing the biding of international conspiracies, such as the Illuminati and the New World Order. And, yes, probably all conspiracies have at their core some version of the truth.

After a specific conspiracy theory has reigned for many years and the truth does eventually get released, why do you think some people still hold on to a seemingly radical theory?

Those folks who fervently believe that no astronaut ever set foot on the moon will never be able to be persuaded that the whole “one step for mankind” scenario was not filmed on a Hollywood set. The same is true of those who believe that the senior citizens who gather at the neighborhood Masonic Temple are plotting the overthrow all of the world governments.

Many people are drawn to conspiracy theories because such explanations for certain very confusing events are reassuring. Conspiracies assure individuals that everything is connected, nothing happens by accident, and that there is some kind of order in the world. To be able to make some kind of sense out of the chaos in the world is one way of regaining a sense of some kind of control. So even if there are evil powers behind those conspiracies, at least there are explanations for what seems to be a continuing series of unexplainable events.

If extraterrestrials and UFOs are visiting Earth and certain governments know about it, do you think the general population would be ready for what the social and religious implications of that would mean?

We used to think so, but now we tend to doubt it. As we view the world scene, people seem more distrusting of other ethnic groups, other religious views, other political positions and any other way of viewing reality other than their own. God help any extraterrestrials who would attempt to establish overt contact with humans at this point.

Who shot U.S. President John F. Kennedy?

That’s an easy one. It was the CIA, the FBI, the Castro Cubans, the Mob, President L. B. Johnson, the Shadow Government, Gerald Ford, the Ku Klux Klan, the Jesuits, the Illuminati, the New World Order, the Pope, and someone named Lee Harvey something-or-other.

How long did it take to compile and write Conspiracies and Secret Societies: The Complete Dossier, and did you encounter any interference from any government agencies, religious organizations, or secret societies?

We have both been collectors of information about conspiracy theories and secret societies and their effects on society for many years, so in a very real sense, it has been a life-long pursuit. We had both accumulated voluminous files over the years, and through the course of our investigations into other matters, we had interviewed dozens of very unique individuals with access to specialized information.

Are there any conspiracy theories related to the cause of ghost sightings?

No. With millions of eye-witnesses to paranormal and spiritual phenomena down through the centuries, nothing could keep the reality of ghost sightings hidden from the world.

What was Brad and Sherry Steiger’s wedding song?

We enjoy many favorite songs, but our “theme” music is the march from Raiders of the Lost Ark, and our personal song is “Stand by Me,” because that is what we’ll always do — stand by each other in good times and in bad.

Thank you, Jeff, for allowing us this time with your large audience. Our Web site is www.bradandsherry.com. Once you access our website, you will also be able to link to our conspiracy and secret society blog.

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