The Adventures of Ben Davidson & the Raiders of the Lost Worlds, Part 2
It was called the “old” Valley of the Sun, the former domicile of Ben & Kat Davidson near Albuquerque, New Mexico. Between 2014 and 2019, they together embarked on a romantic adventure that took them on travels in their Mobile Observatory Tour RV to attend and then eventually to speak at sundry alt-science conferences. Unconnected to a college or university, they toured the country like evangelists listening to the speakers and then, because he had a stage presence, began to share their own analysis and vision.
“Alt-science” should be distinguished from “pop-science” in that the leaders are usually credentialed experts in a respective field of science, but are protagonists who have become marginalized by the “Establishment” for various reasons, either because their views were not considered “accepted” or because of some internal conflict which caused a separation.
The hey-day of alternative science was Art Bell’s nationally-syndicated, overnight talk radio program: Coast2CoastAM. That is where luminaries such as James McCanney, Robert Felix, and Wal Thornhill were launched to prominence. Art Bell was known to air some pretty crazy stuff, but if his guests had credentials, he was sure to make it known to his audience. Very often, they were well-credentialed but with a story to tell and a book to sell.
Catastrophism, whether natural or man-made, was a big chunk of the subject matter. McCanney, of course, was an expert on comets. Felix was on ice ages and Thornhill on electrical storms in space.
The Davidson’s met and conferenced with Robert Felix, who for two decades maintained a website that debunked Global Warming science.
They also met and conferenced with Thornhill’s Thunderbolts Project group which boasts a long-time membership of scientists and academics that continues to this day to challenge the gravity-only dogmas of neo-Newtonian physics.
Talk radio gave way to the Internet and its social media platforms as the principal ways of communicating with the general public. The Davidson’s grew up with this media-form and armed with the thick skin that only a boy from Pittsburg could have, Ben began to challenge the claims of Establishment science.
At first, it was the false data and interpretive errors of Global Warming dogma that he challenged, but then, he began to understand that climate change was real. He discovered it wasn’t man-made but rather, it originated in the Sun. He launched into an investigation of solar science and from that effort, he and Kat, now with children, began to produce books, textbooks, and children’s books to explain the solar connection with Earth weather and disasters.
He encountered the research of Douglas Vogt and his spectacular nova-cycle doctrine. Although Ben did not agree with some features of Vogt’s scenario, he did pick up the mantle to become the preeminent spokesman of solar nova science. By the mid-2020s, the Davidson’s were settled now in the “New” Valley of the Sun in the high country of Colorado called “Observers’ Ranch.” Instead of traveling to conferences, they would host them. Offering a study center and campground for not only “alt-science” seekers but “alt-right” survivalists, serious observers can take the next step in preparation.
After all, you do want to survive this disaster, don’t you?
JWS, 1/17/26
