'Transformation 2026,' Whitley Strieber on drone wave and NHI interest in souls | Reality Check

Ross Coulthart explores untold stories using a fact-based approach to address various topics, from unidentified aerial phenomena to other mysteries that often go unreported. In this week’s episode, Ross sits down with Whitley Strieber, author of "Communion," "Breakthrough" and the newly released "Transformation 2026," to walk through what four decades of encounters have taught him about nonhuman intelligence and the human soul. Strieber describes his earliest experience, the entities he believes are "hungry" for the accumulated experiences a soul carries and the moment he realized his son was caught up in the same phenomenon. Ross presses him on the questions that have followed him since "Communion" landed in 1987, including why he abandoned fiction, whether the beings are manipulating him and how he reconciles the early trauma with his current, more open stance. Their conversation turns to General Art Exon and what Strieber learned from him about Roswell, the 80-year coverup and the families connected to Wright-Patterson, who carried pieces of the story forward. The episode closes on the current drone wave, which Strieber suspects may be part of the phenomenon's effort to push human consciousness toward something it cannot yet name.Listen to Whitley Strieber’s Podcast: “Dreamland”: https://open.spotify.com/show/4WBySjuxLiQ9xetvTmLRkM#WhitleyStrieber #Transformation2026 #nonhumanintelligenceCREDITSHost: Ross CoulthartExecutive Producer: Andy GipsonEditorial Producer: Meagan MedickSegment Producer: Christine JenkinsonAssociate Producer: Will TomasiResearch Producer: Rob JonesEditor: Anthony DiasioOn "Reality Check," NewsNation Special Correspondent Ross Coulthart takes a fact-based approach to tackle everything from unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs) to mysteries often missing from the headlines. More Reality Check: https://www.newsnationnow.com/podcasts-newsnation/reality-check-with-ross-coulthart/ Email your questions to RealityCheck@NewsNationNow.com NewsNation is your source for fact-based, unbiased news for all Americans. More from NewsNation: https://www.newsnationnow.com/ Get our app: https://trib.al/TBXgYpp Find us on your screen: https://www.joinnn.com/CHAPTERS:00 Intro2:10 Meet Whitley3:30 Whitley discusses his first experience8:30 Spiritual connection to the phenomena13:06 NHI interest in the soul24:15 Whitley’s out-of-body experience30:20 Shifting perspectives over time36:35 Whitley's perspective on his experiences38:00 Whitley’s conversations with General Art Exon about Roswell42:18 Why is the U.S. gov’t engaged in a coverup?48:09 Why does Whitley keep writing?53:59 Will Trump be a disclosure president?55:38 Whitley’s son’s experiences1:02:26 Mysterious disappearances1:06:53 Final thoughts