December 1, 1999: The Coming Tokyo Earthquake - Peter Hadfield | Missouri Sightings - Peter Davenport
The investigation proved frustrating as the mental health facility refused to share information even with law enforcement. Art explains the impossible choice between doing a five-hour live radio show and remaining vigilant against a potential intruder, ultimately choosing safety over broadcasting. He shares the story to illustrate the real dangers faced by public figures who discuss controversial topics.
Hadfield discusses seismic research predicting a major earthquake in Tokyo, examining the geological evidence and Japan's preparedness. Davenport returns with updates on the Missouri UFO sightings, where airline pilots encountered unidentified objects at high altitude. The episode also touches on the Jonathan Reed alien encounter case, including new photographic negatives being submitted for independent analysis.
Key Moments
Eyewitness describes silent triangle over Columbia, Missouri: Just hours before airtime, Martha George and her family watched a huge, silent triangular craft drift just above the treetops north of Columbia, Missouri. She describes three bright lights, a central red light, and beams of light from each side.
Witness David Palmer freezes as triangle passes overhead: Amy's fiance David Palmer describes being directly underneath the craft, paralyzed with fear as a yellow center light and a red ring like Christmas lights rotated around the triangle, even as the object turned in ways no airplane could.
Hadfield warns of magnitude 8.1 quake near Tokyo: Geologist-journalist Peter Hadfield outlines the seismic threat: an expected magnitude 8.1 quake about 80 miles west of Tokyo, roughly 30 times bigger than the recent Nevada 7.0, with damage estimates approaching one trillion dollars.
The black box beneath Tokyo: Hadfield relays a senior Japanese seismologist's warning that the geology directly under Tokyo is essentially unknown -- a black box -- and that historic sub-capital quakes have caused localized devastation that today would hit the world's third largest financial center.
Tokyo quake could trigger global recession: Hadfield walks through how Japanese repatriation of capital after a megaquake -- pulling out of US Treasuries, Canadian bonds and equities to fund uninsured rebuilding -- could spike interest rates, crater bond prices, and tip the world into a multi-year recession.