Coast to Coast AM Sept 27th 2009
George Knapp welcomed author and paranormal investigator Christopher O'Brien, who discussed the legendary tricksters of mythology and how these entities may be manifesting in a myriad of ways that contemporary society describes as "paranormal." According to tradition, he said, tricksters are amoral entities whose main function is to both break down the status quo and to introduce "novelty and change into a static system." As its name suggests, the trickster is more often mischievous rather than evil, drawing confusion from those who encounter it. Having examined the historical descriptions of tricksters in cultures throughout the world, O'Brien uncovered one prevailing trend: that the entity possessed the ability to shape shift. Based on that observation, he theorized that the trickster may be behind many of the staples of the paranormal world such as cattle mutilations, elementals like fairies and dwarfs, and even UFOs. Rather than an entity, per se, O'Brien speculated that the trickster is a force within the collective unconscious that takes on different characteristics depending on the culture observing it. He noted the bizarre airship wave of the late 1800's as a potential case of the trickster in action.