June 13, 2002: Shamanism - Hank Wesselman

Art Bell welcomes anthropologist Dr. Hank Wesselman, who has spent over 30 years conducting field research on human origins in East Africa's Great Rift Valley. Their conversation spans from the precise science of potassium-argon dating to the discovery of Ardipithecus, a fossil creature that may represent the long-sought missing link between apes and humans. Wesselman recounts a memorable 18-hour flight where he systematically dismantled a creationist missionary's worldview using physical evidence.

The discussion shifts to the transformational community, a growing movement of roughly 50 million Americans who believe in alternate realities and an underlying field of power connecting all things. Wesselman shares Polynesian creation myths describing humanity arriving as "seeds of light" from across the universe, accompanied by spiritual guardians. He connects these traditions to fossil evidence of early Miocene apes dating back 18 million years.

Wesselman then reveals his own spontaneous altered-state experiences in the Ethiopian desert during the 1970s, where a colleague witnessed him floating over camp at night. He describes encountering a tall, featureless, dark silhouette during a later visionary episode, a figure matching what thousands of listeners have reported as shadow people, and one found in rock art worldwide.