ESOTERIC AMERICA;

In the latter half of Sunday's program, author Bill Birnes discussed the often unspoken esoteric history of the United States as well as how the government secretly studied psychic phenomena and mind control techniques. He detailed how psychics have been advisors to various presidents throughout history, including Lincoln's use of a trance medium during his time in the White House. "We have so much psychic power from our 19th century presidents," Birnes marveled, noting that FDR reported hearing the footsteps of Lincoln and even seeing the ghost of former president Franklin Pierce as well. Occupants of the White House using psychics for insight has continued into the modern era, he said, including then-first lady Hilary Clinton employing a trance medium to contact the spirit of Eleanor Roosevelt in order to glean advice on how to navigate her husband's unfolding scandal. Regarding the government's clandestine research into mind control, Birnes shared the story of Candy Jones , famed wife of radio host Long John Nebel. He explained that Jones would wake up screaming in the middle of the night and spoke in an strange voice. Under the advice of friends, Nebel had her undergo hypnosis to see if they could determine what was causing these episodes. Via this technique, they learned that Jones had been programmed by the government to have an alternate personality which could serve as a secret agent and assassin. Through treatment, Jones' doctors were able to merge this personality with her 'real' one and dispel the subliminal programming. While government tinkering with mind control appears to have ended, Birnes theorized that such research may have unwittingly created a thread where the chaos induced in the original subjects gave way to modern day copycats.