1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:11,080 The whole thing is so incredible. 2 00:00:11,640 --> 00:00:15,200 The whole story is so amazing, so remarkable. 3 00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:20,240 This is Los Angeles. 4 00:00:21,260 --> 00:00:22,920 This is black magic. 5 00:00:22,920 --> 00:00:30,840 This is the founding of NASA, of Jet Propulsion Laboratories. 6 00:00:32,540 --> 00:00:34,300 What isn't in this story? 7 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:40,360 The craters and mountains of our moon bear the names of giants of science, 8 00:00:40,980 --> 00:00:43,700 figures like Archimedes, Kepler, and Copernicus. 9 00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:48,420 There is also a crater honoring someone called Jack Parsons. 10 00:00:48,420 --> 00:00:53,860 There are some who would rather he had been forgotten. 11 00:00:55,300 --> 00:00:58,880 Perhaps that's why his crater is on the dark side of the moon. 12 00:01:01,120 --> 00:01:06,260 He was a maverick rocket scientist, okay? 13 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:11,440 He was also a maverick rocket scientist spiritually. 14 00:01:12,440 --> 00:01:16,420 This father of American rocketry was also an occultist, 15 00:01:16,420 --> 00:01:20,760 devoted to a path still widely misunderstood and feared. 16 00:01:21,340 --> 00:01:24,980 So the founding of modern rocket science 17 00:01:24,980 --> 00:01:30,700 is absolutely allied and connected with black magic. 18 00:01:33,480 --> 00:01:36,580 Only its detractors would call it black magic. 19 00:01:37,380 --> 00:01:40,260 For Parsons, this was his spiritual path, 20 00:01:40,440 --> 00:01:42,420 as it is for its initiates today. 21 00:01:42,420 --> 00:01:46,840 His scientific legacy continues. 22 00:01:47,740 --> 00:01:49,380 So does the puzzle of his death. 23 00:01:51,380 --> 00:01:56,040 On June 17, 1952, at 5.08 in the evening, 24 00:01:56,580 --> 00:02:00,260 a powerful explosion shook tranquil Pasadena, California, 25 00:02:00,260 --> 00:02:05,480 and so ended the life of 38-year-old Jack Parsons. 26 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:09,560 In life, Parsons was an enigma. 27 00:02:10,220 --> 00:02:12,960 His death reads like a Pulp Fiction mystery. 28 00:02:13,680 --> 00:02:14,720 Was it an accident? 29 00:02:15,720 --> 00:02:16,800 Was it suicide? 30 00:02:17,800 --> 00:02:18,720 Was it murder? 31 00:02:19,580 --> 00:02:21,780 Was it a strange occult ritual gone wrong? 32 00:02:21,780 --> 00:02:27,260 Each world of Parsons that Parsons inhabited has its own ending. 33 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:30,160 The occult world has him summoning up a demon. 34 00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:36,560 Perhaps his rocketry world has him perhaps making an accident 35 00:02:36,560 --> 00:02:38,420 from playing so fast and loose with his chemicals. 36 00:02:39,700 --> 00:02:42,260 His Los Angeles world has him being murdered 37 00:02:42,260 --> 00:02:46,040 in a kind of a film noir manner. 38 00:02:47,120 --> 00:02:50,040 The only way to unravel the mystery of his death 39 00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:53,520 is by finding a path through the labyrinth of his life. 40 00:03:00,060 --> 00:03:03,160 He was born on October 2, 1914, 41 00:03:03,640 --> 00:03:05,860 at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles. 42 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:09,440 Jack was just a nickname for the child 43 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:10,900 whose birth certificate reads 44 00:03:10,900 --> 00:03:13,520 Marvel Whiteside Parsons. 45 00:03:19,220 --> 00:03:21,520 When his parents moved here from the East, 46 00:03:21,820 --> 00:03:24,360 Los Angeles was in the midst of transforming itself. 47 00:03:26,860 --> 00:03:28,300 It was Tinseltown, 48 00:03:28,980 --> 00:03:31,780 the place where America would dream its dreams 49 00:03:31,780 --> 00:03:37,600 and where no dream would be too far-fetched. 50 00:03:39,440 --> 00:03:42,840 It was a city with a booming economy, 51 00:03:43,780 --> 00:03:45,140 a burgeoning population, 52 00:03:45,880 --> 00:03:47,320 and rampant corruption. 53 00:03:51,660 --> 00:03:54,160 His parents divorced in 1915. 54 00:03:54,960 --> 00:03:57,160 Infant Jack and his mother moved from here 55 00:03:57,160 --> 00:03:59,100 to live with her very wealthy parents 56 00:03:59,100 --> 00:04:01,060 in their mansion in nearby Pasadena. 57 00:04:01,060 --> 00:04:05,200 One has to take oneself back to the 1920s 58 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:07,600 when Pasadena was probably the most 59 00:04:07,600 --> 00:04:12,880 or the richest city in the United States. 60 00:04:15,100 --> 00:04:17,060 Surrounded by palatial dwellings, 61 00:04:17,520 --> 00:04:19,500 Lucky Jack was raised in privilege, 62 00:04:19,880 --> 00:04:22,780 the apple of the eye of a well-off, 63 00:04:22,980 --> 00:04:24,380 politically connected family. 64 00:04:24,380 --> 00:04:28,320 Down the street there were houses 65 00:04:28,320 --> 00:04:30,280 which were made to look like Algerian palaces. 66 00:04:30,840 --> 00:04:32,440 There were houses which looked like 67 00:04:32,440 --> 00:04:34,000 English sticky homes. 68 00:04:34,480 --> 00:04:37,620 There were all manner of different architectures 69 00:04:37,620 --> 00:04:38,300 going on there. 70 00:04:38,660 --> 00:04:40,940 And Parsons, being a young child in the 1920s, 71 00:04:40,940 --> 00:04:41,740 was brought up in this. 72 00:04:41,840 --> 00:04:42,800 Now, unfortunately, 73 00:04:42,880 --> 00:04:44,140 when the Great Depression came, 74 00:04:44,640 --> 00:04:46,200 his grandparents lost their fortune, 75 00:04:46,740 --> 00:04:48,000 and he was made destitute. 76 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:51,220 But he always retained this sense of fantasy 77 00:04:51,220 --> 00:04:52,800 of this world of possibility 78 00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:53,780 that surrounded him 79 00:04:53,780 --> 00:04:55,620 always remained, I think, in his mind. 80 00:04:57,700 --> 00:05:00,100 Infinite possibilities opened before him. 81 00:05:00,660 --> 00:05:02,000 Nothing seemed out of reach. 82 00:05:02,760 --> 00:05:05,040 Young Jack dreamed of space and rockets. 83 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:09,280 He would later say it was during this time 84 00:05:09,280 --> 00:05:10,800 he tried to summon the devil. 85 00:05:11,700 --> 00:05:14,140 And that one night, the devil came. 86 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:22,420 Perhaps frightened by this diabolic apparition, 87 00:05:22,940 --> 00:05:25,340 his occult endeavours soon took a back seat 88 00:05:25,340 --> 00:05:27,420 to his dreams of building rockets. 89 00:05:34,300 --> 00:05:35,580 At the time, in fact, 90 00:05:35,660 --> 00:05:37,260 the only place where rockets, 91 00:05:37,700 --> 00:05:39,640 as a scientific innovation, 92 00:05:40,300 --> 00:05:41,460 were actually discussed 93 00:05:41,460 --> 00:05:43,180 was in science fiction magazines. 94 00:05:44,260 --> 00:05:47,120 Now, Parsons thought that actually rocketry 95 00:05:47,120 --> 00:05:48,560 could take place in the real world. 96 00:05:48,740 --> 00:05:51,040 He and various other young men, 97 00:05:51,160 --> 00:05:53,020 literally in their late teens and early 20s, 98 00:05:53,080 --> 00:05:54,060 stretched across the world, 99 00:05:54,540 --> 00:05:56,640 were all looking into rocketry as a science. 100 00:05:56,940 --> 00:05:58,000 And they had all been spurred on 101 00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:00,900 by reading stories by Jules Verne and H.G. Wells 102 00:06:00,900 --> 00:06:03,440 and the pulp science fiction magazines, 103 00:06:03,580 --> 00:06:04,960 like astounding science fiction. 104 00:06:05,920 --> 00:06:08,580 And Parsons had always been, I guess, 105 00:06:08,640 --> 00:06:10,200 interested in traveling into, 106 00:06:10,740 --> 00:06:11,980 in leaving the world, 107 00:06:12,100 --> 00:06:15,320 into somehow escaping the world in which he lived. 108 00:06:15,320 --> 00:06:18,200 At Washington Junior High School, 109 00:06:18,480 --> 00:06:20,700 he made a lifelong friend in Ed Foreman. 110 00:06:21,360 --> 00:06:22,860 And the two of them would head off 111 00:06:22,860 --> 00:06:24,380 to nearby Arroyo Seco 112 00:06:24,380 --> 00:06:26,760 to launch their increasingly ambitious 113 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:28,000 homemade rockets. 114 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:35,120 And when the Great Depression comes in 1929, 115 00:06:35,660 --> 00:06:37,220 Parsons is 16, 17, 116 00:06:37,440 --> 00:06:39,520 he suddenly realizes he has to work 117 00:06:39,520 --> 00:06:41,440 to not only support his mother, 118 00:06:41,540 --> 00:06:42,480 but also his grandparents, 119 00:06:42,640 --> 00:06:44,440 who had lost everything in the crash. 120 00:06:45,100 --> 00:06:47,680 He worked from his late teens 121 00:06:47,680 --> 00:06:48,600 in a variety of, 122 00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:50,200 they were called powder companies, 123 00:06:50,440 --> 00:06:53,600 creating dynamite and gelignite 124 00:06:53,600 --> 00:06:57,860 in giant vats in these shanty-tan villages 125 00:06:57,860 --> 00:06:58,940 on the west coast. 126 00:06:59,480 --> 00:07:00,660 He's just doing donkey work, 127 00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:02,260 but all the time he's watching and listening 128 00:07:02,260 --> 00:07:03,580 and learning about explosives. 129 00:07:04,320 --> 00:07:05,800 And it was really through a process 130 00:07:05,800 --> 00:07:08,860 of experimentation that he came about 131 00:07:08,860 --> 00:07:11,380 working on rocketry as a science. 132 00:07:11,640 --> 00:07:14,400 It was very much steal some gunpowder 133 00:07:14,400 --> 00:07:15,860 or some dynamite from the factory, 134 00:07:16,260 --> 00:07:17,080 take it back home, 135 00:07:17,420 --> 00:07:18,240 go into the backyard, 136 00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:19,940 start fiddling around with it, 137 00:07:19,940 --> 00:07:21,480 and see what you can do with it. 138 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:23,320 By 1935, 139 00:07:23,780 --> 00:07:25,540 the self-taught Parsons and Foreman 140 00:07:25,540 --> 00:07:26,460 decided they needed 141 00:07:26,460 --> 00:07:28,080 greater scientific expertise 142 00:07:28,080 --> 00:07:29,760 if their experiments 143 00:07:29,760 --> 00:07:30,820 were to go any further. 144 00:07:32,120 --> 00:07:33,640 And there was no better place 145 00:07:33,640 --> 00:07:35,000 to find that expertise 146 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:37,740 than the California Institute of Technology. 147 00:07:39,040 --> 00:07:41,060 They were not greeted with open arms. 148 00:07:42,180 --> 00:07:43,720 Rockets were considered a subject 149 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:45,320 fit only for pulp fiction. 150 00:07:48,260 --> 00:07:49,780 Eventually, they found 151 00:07:49,780 --> 00:07:51,000 at least a little support 152 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:51,880 for their research 153 00:07:51,880 --> 00:07:53,180 at Caltech's 154 00:07:53,180 --> 00:07:55,020 Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory. 155 00:07:58,320 --> 00:07:59,400 These two guys, 156 00:07:59,500 --> 00:08:01,440 without any real scientific training, 157 00:08:01,820 --> 00:08:03,120 turn up at Caltech one day 158 00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:05,940 and ask around, 159 00:08:06,240 --> 00:08:07,540 and they ask if anybody's 160 00:08:07,540 --> 00:08:08,760 doing anything in rocketry, 161 00:08:08,880 --> 00:08:09,300 and of course, 162 00:08:09,460 --> 00:08:10,400 they're laughed at. 163 00:08:12,340 --> 00:08:14,240 But then they happen 164 00:08:14,240 --> 00:08:15,300 to come under the wing 165 00:08:15,300 --> 00:08:16,680 of one of the mavericks 166 00:08:16,680 --> 00:08:17,940 of Caltech, 167 00:08:17,940 --> 00:08:19,320 Theodore von Karman, 168 00:08:19,720 --> 00:08:20,560 who was the professor 169 00:08:20,560 --> 00:08:21,340 of aeronautics 170 00:08:21,340 --> 00:08:22,340 at the time in Caltech. 171 00:08:24,040 --> 00:08:25,640 Van Karman introduced them 172 00:08:25,640 --> 00:08:27,160 to one of his graduate students, 173 00:08:27,280 --> 00:08:27,960 Frank Molina. 174 00:08:28,640 --> 00:08:29,480 Together, Foreman, 175 00:08:29,620 --> 00:08:30,480 Parsons, and Molina 176 00:08:30,480 --> 00:08:31,540 would become the nucleus 177 00:08:31,540 --> 00:08:33,200 of Caltech's rocketeers. 178 00:08:38,040 --> 00:08:39,740 With only moral support 179 00:08:39,740 --> 00:08:40,560 from the university, 180 00:08:40,560 --> 00:08:41,660 they were forced back 181 00:08:41,660 --> 00:08:42,680 to Arroyo Secco 182 00:08:42,680 --> 00:08:44,040 to continue their tests. 183 00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:45,440 Eventually, 184 00:08:45,820 --> 00:08:46,900 successful experiments 185 00:08:46,900 --> 00:08:48,100 would regain them admission 186 00:08:48,100 --> 00:08:48,900 to the campus. 187 00:08:52,580 --> 00:08:54,340 Professor Judith Goodstein 188 00:08:54,340 --> 00:08:55,980 is a historian of science 189 00:08:55,980 --> 00:08:57,600 and Caltech's archivist. 190 00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:03,040 After the successful test 191 00:09:03,040 --> 00:09:03,900 in the Arroyo, 192 00:09:04,120 --> 00:09:05,380 the rocketeers came back 193 00:09:05,380 --> 00:09:07,400 and were able to try out 194 00:09:07,400 --> 00:09:08,340 different techniques 195 00:09:08,340 --> 00:09:09,720 in this building. 196 00:09:09,980 --> 00:09:11,780 One of the most unsuccessful 197 00:09:11,780 --> 00:09:12,820 or most famous 198 00:09:12,820 --> 00:09:16,300 involved attaching to one end 199 00:09:16,300 --> 00:09:17,700 of a very long cord, 200 00:09:17,880 --> 00:09:19,260 a cord that was suspended 201 00:09:19,260 --> 00:09:20,280 from the third floor 202 00:09:20,280 --> 00:09:20,860 of this building 203 00:09:20,860 --> 00:09:21,680 to the basement. 204 00:09:22,100 --> 00:09:23,580 At the end of the cord 205 00:09:23,580 --> 00:09:25,380 was a small rocket engine 206 00:09:25,380 --> 00:09:26,520 and some fuel. 207 00:09:27,300 --> 00:09:27,900 Unfortunately, 208 00:09:28,280 --> 00:09:29,280 the fuel exploded 209 00:09:29,280 --> 00:09:31,040 and it was a combination 210 00:09:31,040 --> 00:09:33,160 of NO2 and alcohol 211 00:09:33,160 --> 00:09:34,220 and it left, 212 00:09:34,320 --> 00:09:35,860 beside a very large noise, 213 00:09:36,280 --> 00:09:37,620 it left a thin layer 214 00:09:37,620 --> 00:09:38,820 of rust over all 215 00:09:38,820 --> 00:09:39,480 of the equipment 216 00:09:39,480 --> 00:09:40,820 in the building 217 00:09:40,820 --> 00:09:42,220 and as a result, 218 00:09:42,420 --> 00:09:43,820 the rocketeers were banished 219 00:09:43,820 --> 00:09:44,780 from this building. 220 00:09:45,320 --> 00:09:45,960 Well, somehow, 221 00:09:46,200 --> 00:09:47,240 they managed to live 222 00:09:47,240 --> 00:09:49,120 pretty much a charmed life 223 00:09:49,120 --> 00:09:50,240 throughout all these explosions. 224 00:09:50,440 --> 00:09:51,520 There was one incident 225 00:09:51,520 --> 00:09:54,640 when they had been thrown out 226 00:09:54,640 --> 00:09:55,760 of the aeronautics building 227 00:09:55,760 --> 00:09:57,260 where their first experiments 228 00:09:57,260 --> 00:09:58,080 had taken place. 229 00:09:58,460 --> 00:09:59,440 So they'd been forced 230 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:02,360 to build a corrugated iron shed 231 00:10:02,360 --> 00:10:02,940 outside. 232 00:10:03,760 --> 00:10:04,960 And they were doing 233 00:10:04,960 --> 00:10:05,840 an experiment with a rocket 234 00:10:05,840 --> 00:10:07,240 in this corrugated iron shed 235 00:10:07,240 --> 00:10:10,260 when suddenly an explosion 236 00:10:10,260 --> 00:10:11,640 ripped through the shed 237 00:10:11,640 --> 00:10:12,900 throwing Parsons 238 00:10:12,900 --> 00:10:14,720 out of the shed 239 00:10:14,720 --> 00:10:15,360 onto the floor 240 00:10:15,360 --> 00:10:17,520 and sending these bits 241 00:10:17,520 --> 00:10:18,780 of incredibly sharp metal 242 00:10:18,780 --> 00:10:19,560 flying through the air, 243 00:10:19,660 --> 00:10:20,360 narrowly missing 244 00:10:20,360 --> 00:10:21,320 one of the members 245 00:10:21,320 --> 00:10:21,840 of the team. 246 00:10:22,520 --> 00:10:24,160 Now, that was about 247 00:10:24,160 --> 00:10:24,780 as close to death 248 00:10:24,780 --> 00:10:25,340 as they came. 249 00:10:25,460 --> 00:10:25,760 Somehow, 250 00:10:26,380 --> 00:10:27,840 through probably exuberance 251 00:10:27,840 --> 00:10:28,700 and sheer kind of 252 00:10:28,700 --> 00:10:29,720 youthful good luck, 253 00:10:29,920 --> 00:10:31,460 they managed to survive. 254 00:10:31,460 --> 00:10:35,820 Accidents led to our rocketeers 255 00:10:35,820 --> 00:10:36,600 being tagged 256 00:10:36,600 --> 00:10:37,840 the Suicide Squad. 257 00:10:38,460 --> 00:10:39,920 But despite the mishaps, 258 00:10:40,060 --> 00:10:40,820 their experiments 259 00:10:40,820 --> 00:10:42,240 were feeding the science fiction 260 00:10:42,240 --> 00:10:43,380 dreams of the era. 261 00:10:45,260 --> 00:10:46,560 And science fiction 262 00:10:46,560 --> 00:10:47,680 had a growing group 263 00:10:47,680 --> 00:10:48,260 of devotees. 264 00:10:49,260 --> 00:10:50,380 On the first and third 265 00:10:50,380 --> 00:10:51,560 Thursday of each month, 266 00:10:51,980 --> 00:10:52,880 chapter number four 267 00:10:52,880 --> 00:10:54,640 of the L.A. Science Fiction League 268 00:10:54,640 --> 00:10:56,340 met here at this landmark, 269 00:10:56,340 --> 00:10:57,860 Clifton's Cafeteria. 270 00:11:00,060 --> 00:11:01,060 Among the writers 271 00:11:01,060 --> 00:11:02,340 that gathered at Clifton's 272 00:11:02,340 --> 00:11:02,980 were the fathers 273 00:11:02,980 --> 00:11:04,400 of modern science fiction, 274 00:11:04,800 --> 00:11:07,160 like Robert Heinlein, 275 00:11:07,520 --> 00:11:08,240 Ray Bradbury, 276 00:11:08,460 --> 00:11:10,580 and a young Forrest J. Ackerman. 277 00:11:10,580 --> 00:11:15,080 Jack Parsons came to one meeting 278 00:11:15,080 --> 00:11:16,220 of the Los Angeles 279 00:11:16,220 --> 00:11:18,440 Science Fantasy Society. 280 00:11:18,640 --> 00:11:20,480 I remember him, 281 00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:23,220 who was a striking, 282 00:11:23,880 --> 00:11:25,060 black-haired, 283 00:11:26,060 --> 00:11:28,220 young individual. 284 00:11:28,940 --> 00:11:31,700 He mainly entertained us 285 00:11:31,700 --> 00:11:33,480 speaking about the potential 286 00:11:33,480 --> 00:11:36,020 of space travel. 287 00:11:36,020 --> 00:11:41,920 While L.A. Science Fiction 288 00:11:41,920 --> 00:11:43,000 writers and fans 289 00:11:43,000 --> 00:11:43,900 continued meeting 290 00:11:43,900 --> 00:11:44,720 twice a week 291 00:11:44,720 --> 00:11:46,320 in the surreal ambience 292 00:11:46,320 --> 00:11:47,720 of Clifton's Cafeteria, 293 00:11:48,480 --> 00:11:50,460 another of Parsons' 294 00:11:50,620 --> 00:11:51,920 boyhood enthusiasms 295 00:11:51,920 --> 00:11:53,280 was about to reawaken. 296 00:11:58,840 --> 00:12:01,260 Well, Parsons' other interest 297 00:12:01,260 --> 00:12:03,660 was, seems strange to us now, 298 00:12:03,780 --> 00:12:04,860 but in Los Angeles 299 00:12:04,860 --> 00:12:05,540 stories at the time, 300 00:12:05,720 --> 00:12:07,480 it wasn't quite as strange 301 00:12:07,480 --> 00:12:08,840 as it may seem to us 302 00:12:08,840 --> 00:12:09,640 looking back. 303 00:12:10,320 --> 00:12:11,680 Los Angeles was a hotbed 304 00:12:11,680 --> 00:12:13,140 of spirituality at the time. 305 00:12:13,880 --> 00:12:14,720 And he happened to come 306 00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:15,400 across this group 307 00:12:15,400 --> 00:12:17,560 called the Ordo Templi Orientis. 308 00:12:18,740 --> 00:12:21,020 That's the order 309 00:12:21,020 --> 00:12:21,960 of the Temple of the East. 310 00:12:23,540 --> 00:12:24,660 This organization 311 00:12:24,660 --> 00:12:25,780 had come to prominence 312 00:12:25,780 --> 00:12:26,540 under the leadership 313 00:12:26,540 --> 00:12:27,720 of the British magician 314 00:12:27,720 --> 00:12:28,780 Alastair Crowley. 315 00:12:29,480 --> 00:12:31,320 Crowley was no rabbit-out-of-the-hat 316 00:12:31,320 --> 00:12:32,160 type of magician. 317 00:12:32,160 --> 00:12:34,780 He very much believed 318 00:12:34,780 --> 00:12:36,940 he could use magic, 319 00:12:37,380 --> 00:12:38,520 a kind of old-time magic, 320 00:12:38,700 --> 00:12:39,340 to get in contact 321 00:12:39,340 --> 00:12:41,220 with forces 322 00:12:41,220 --> 00:12:43,680 on a different metaphysical plane 323 00:12:43,680 --> 00:12:44,540 to the reality 324 00:12:44,540 --> 00:12:45,300 in which we live. 325 00:12:46,120 --> 00:12:46,700 Alastair Crowley 326 00:12:46,700 --> 00:12:48,340 was many things. 327 00:12:48,460 --> 00:12:49,980 He was a poet, 328 00:12:50,660 --> 00:12:52,400 a mountain climber, 329 00:12:52,980 --> 00:12:54,260 a magician, 330 00:12:54,860 --> 00:12:55,640 a con artist, 331 00:12:55,640 --> 00:12:57,760 a charismatic leader. 332 00:12:58,340 --> 00:12:58,880 He was, 333 00:13:00,040 --> 00:13:01,020 as Somerset Maugham 334 00:13:01,020 --> 00:13:02,180 once rose of him 335 00:13:02,180 --> 00:13:03,240 because Somerset Maugham 336 00:13:03,240 --> 00:13:04,680 knew Crowley at the time, 337 00:13:04,740 --> 00:13:06,300 he said he was a fake, 338 00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:07,860 but not entirely a fake. 339 00:13:08,640 --> 00:13:09,400 Alastair Crowley 340 00:13:09,400 --> 00:13:13,260 is the most famous 341 00:13:13,260 --> 00:13:14,260 and the most infamous 342 00:13:14,260 --> 00:13:15,760 magician 343 00:13:15,760 --> 00:13:18,060 of the 20th century. 344 00:13:18,060 --> 00:13:20,480 He was infamous 345 00:13:20,480 --> 00:13:21,560 for reasons 346 00:13:21,560 --> 00:13:22,660 that today probably 347 00:13:22,660 --> 00:13:23,520 wouldn't make him 348 00:13:23,520 --> 00:13:24,940 very infamous. 349 00:13:25,640 --> 00:13:26,780 But in his day, 350 00:13:26,940 --> 00:13:27,660 he was vilified 351 00:13:27,660 --> 00:13:29,840 as the wickedest man 352 00:13:29,840 --> 00:13:30,640 in the world, 353 00:13:31,380 --> 00:13:33,360 the man we'd like to hang. 354 00:13:33,600 --> 00:13:34,520 People accused him 355 00:13:34,520 --> 00:13:35,740 from everything 356 00:13:35,740 --> 00:13:37,180 from sodomy 357 00:13:37,180 --> 00:13:39,540 to cannibalism. 358 00:13:39,540 --> 00:13:42,340 Now, at times, 359 00:13:42,740 --> 00:13:43,920 he often used 360 00:13:43,920 --> 00:13:46,540 his self-proclaimed 361 00:13:46,540 --> 00:13:48,120 genius at magic 362 00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:49,820 to lead people astray, 363 00:13:49,960 --> 00:13:50,760 to take their money. 364 00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:51,860 But one can't 365 00:13:51,860 --> 00:13:52,700 condemn him entirely. 366 00:13:53,020 --> 00:13:53,920 He was a devil, 367 00:13:54,020 --> 00:13:54,620 but he was a devil 368 00:13:54,620 --> 00:13:55,640 with belief. 369 00:13:57,000 --> 00:13:58,340 And he was a man 370 00:13:58,340 --> 00:13:59,860 who was incredibly intelligent 371 00:13:59,860 --> 00:14:00,700 and had devoted 372 00:14:00,700 --> 00:14:02,020 his entire life 373 00:14:02,020 --> 00:14:03,000 to the study of magic. 374 00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:11,380 In January of 1939, 375 00:14:11,980 --> 00:14:12,620 Jack Parsons 376 00:14:12,620 --> 00:14:13,500 and his wife Helen 377 00:14:13,500 --> 00:14:14,620 found themselves 378 00:14:14,620 --> 00:14:15,200 participating 379 00:14:15,200 --> 00:14:16,780 in an unusual ritual 380 00:14:16,780 --> 00:14:17,240 which, 381 00:14:17,400 --> 00:14:18,400 they would later discover, 382 00:14:18,860 --> 00:14:19,520 was the central 383 00:14:19,520 --> 00:14:20,400 religious ceremony 384 00:14:20,400 --> 00:14:21,200 of Crowley's 385 00:14:21,200 --> 00:14:23,000 Ordo Templi Orientis. 386 00:14:23,640 --> 00:14:24,540 The order's lodges 387 00:14:24,540 --> 00:14:25,760 continue these practices 388 00:14:25,760 --> 00:14:26,340 today. 389 00:14:26,340 --> 00:14:34,780 This was the threshold 390 00:14:34,780 --> 00:14:35,980 of Parsons' initiation 391 00:14:35,980 --> 00:14:36,760 into the world 392 00:14:36,760 --> 00:14:37,800 of magical theory 393 00:14:37,800 --> 00:14:38,720 and practice. 394 00:14:39,780 --> 00:14:41,300 He would soon discover 395 00:14:41,300 --> 00:14:42,740 this was only one ritual. 396 00:14:43,520 --> 00:14:45,120 The magician has many tools 397 00:14:45,120 --> 00:14:45,920 and ceremonies, 398 00:14:46,620 --> 00:14:48,040 each with its own purpose. 399 00:14:51,080 --> 00:14:52,340 Some of the rituals 400 00:14:52,340 --> 00:14:55,060 that we perform 401 00:14:55,060 --> 00:14:55,980 as magicians 402 00:14:55,980 --> 00:14:56,460 are rituals 403 00:14:56,460 --> 00:14:57,300 of the pentagram 404 00:14:57,300 --> 00:14:59,580 which are elemental rituals 405 00:14:59,580 --> 00:15:00,320 and these are either 406 00:15:00,320 --> 00:15:01,300 banishings 407 00:15:01,300 --> 00:15:02,260 or invocations. 408 00:15:02,780 --> 00:15:03,460 A banishing 409 00:15:03,460 --> 00:15:04,680 essentially creates 410 00:15:04,680 --> 00:15:05,220 a clearing 411 00:15:05,220 --> 00:15:06,540 or a context, 412 00:15:06,760 --> 00:15:08,480 a balanced zero point 413 00:15:08,480 --> 00:15:09,220 if you will, 414 00:15:09,660 --> 00:15:11,280 whereby we then invoke 415 00:15:11,280 --> 00:15:12,660 or call in 416 00:15:12,660 --> 00:15:14,180 a particular energy 417 00:15:14,180 --> 00:15:16,480 into that area 418 00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:17,380 of possibility, 419 00:15:17,560 --> 00:15:18,440 what we refer to 420 00:15:18,440 --> 00:15:19,560 as chaos. 421 00:15:20,300 --> 00:15:21,660 We then invoke 422 00:15:21,660 --> 00:15:22,420 the energies 423 00:15:22,420 --> 00:15:23,400 of the gods 424 00:15:23,400 --> 00:15:25,460 who then compel 425 00:15:25,460 --> 00:15:26,660 certain spirits 426 00:15:26,660 --> 00:15:27,860 that are evoked 427 00:15:27,860 --> 00:15:28,780 to act 428 00:15:28,780 --> 00:15:29,680 as the agent 429 00:15:29,680 --> 00:15:30,300 of the magician. 430 00:15:30,300 --> 00:15:39,780 No doubt, 431 00:15:40,040 --> 00:15:40,520 the rejection 432 00:15:40,520 --> 00:15:41,820 of sexual hypocrisy 433 00:15:41,820 --> 00:15:42,840 in Crowley's enterprise 434 00:15:42,840 --> 00:15:43,700 was attractive 435 00:15:43,700 --> 00:15:44,460 to Parsons. 436 00:15:45,260 --> 00:15:46,600 But more than anything, 437 00:15:47,200 --> 00:15:47,900 he was excited 438 00:15:47,900 --> 00:15:49,600 by Crowley's explicit goal 439 00:15:49,600 --> 00:15:50,560 of harnessing 440 00:15:50,560 --> 00:15:51,780 the method of science 441 00:15:51,780 --> 00:15:52,620 to the aim 442 00:15:52,620 --> 00:15:53,280 of religion. 443 00:15:53,280 --> 00:15:56,840 This approach allowed 444 00:15:56,840 --> 00:15:57,700 for a psychological 445 00:15:57,700 --> 00:15:58,400 explanation 446 00:15:58,400 --> 00:15:59,580 of the magician's 447 00:15:59,580 --> 00:16:00,720 arcane ceremonies. 448 00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:04,340 This particular spirit 449 00:16:04,340 --> 00:16:07,060 has been known 450 00:16:07,060 --> 00:16:08,680 to be helpful 451 00:16:08,680 --> 00:16:10,760 in this kind of a thing. 452 00:16:12,020 --> 00:16:13,680 I evoke that spirit 453 00:16:13,680 --> 00:16:14,820 to visible appearance. 454 00:16:14,820 --> 00:16:19,440 And I know 455 00:16:19,440 --> 00:16:20,920 in my heart of hearts 456 00:16:20,920 --> 00:16:21,800 and when I'm writing 457 00:16:21,800 --> 00:16:22,720 in my diary 458 00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:23,780 at the end 459 00:16:23,780 --> 00:16:25,760 of this operation, 460 00:16:26,020 --> 00:16:27,540 I know it's a psychodrama. 461 00:16:28,100 --> 00:16:29,300 I know I'm dealing 462 00:16:29,300 --> 00:16:31,580 with things inside myself. 463 00:16:31,880 --> 00:16:32,820 I know the demon 464 00:16:32,820 --> 00:16:34,620 is my own shortcoming 465 00:16:34,620 --> 00:16:37,340 or psychic knot 466 00:16:37,340 --> 00:16:39,160 that I have to unravel. 467 00:16:39,160 --> 00:16:41,460 I realize it's all 468 00:16:41,460 --> 00:16:42,120 in my head. 469 00:16:43,280 --> 00:16:44,920 But during the ceremony 470 00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:45,660 itself, 471 00:16:46,600 --> 00:16:48,760 I play into it 472 00:16:48,760 --> 00:16:50,060 because it's an art form. 473 00:16:50,220 --> 00:16:52,560 It's a dramatic art form. 474 00:16:53,180 --> 00:16:54,200 And for the duration 475 00:16:54,200 --> 00:16:54,980 of the ceremony, 476 00:16:55,440 --> 00:16:56,700 that spirit is real. 477 00:17:00,740 --> 00:17:01,860 All in all, 478 00:17:02,120 --> 00:17:03,460 Caltech's academic board 479 00:17:03,460 --> 00:17:04,540 might still have been 480 00:17:04,540 --> 00:17:05,900 reticent to embrace 481 00:17:05,900 --> 00:17:07,660 the science of ritual magic. 482 00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:14,880 Of course, 483 00:17:14,920 --> 00:17:15,760 it would have been hard 484 00:17:15,760 --> 00:17:16,640 to see that, 485 00:17:16,740 --> 00:17:17,420 seeing Parsons 486 00:17:17,420 --> 00:17:19,340 attend one of the OTO's rituals. 487 00:17:19,960 --> 00:17:20,920 And you see people 488 00:17:20,920 --> 00:17:22,420 reciting these very 489 00:17:22,420 --> 00:17:24,320 purple prose like 490 00:17:24,320 --> 00:17:27,880 Osiris and Horus 491 00:17:27,880 --> 00:17:29,260 and calling on all the gods 492 00:17:29,260 --> 00:17:30,120 of ancient Egypt. 493 00:17:30,620 --> 00:17:31,440 And then seeing him 494 00:17:31,440 --> 00:17:32,180 kind of working hard 495 00:17:32,180 --> 00:17:32,620 on a rocket, 496 00:17:32,760 --> 00:17:34,160 it would obviously seem 497 00:17:34,160 --> 00:17:36,040 a little strange to us. 498 00:17:36,140 --> 00:17:37,200 But I don't think 499 00:17:37,200 --> 00:17:37,800 in his mind 500 00:17:37,800 --> 00:17:38,760 it was at all. 501 00:17:39,160 --> 00:17:43,060 Parsons was passionate 502 00:17:43,060 --> 00:17:44,420 about his rocket experiments 503 00:17:44,420 --> 00:17:45,480 as well as his 504 00:17:45,480 --> 00:17:46,800 magical explorations. 505 00:17:47,700 --> 00:17:48,640 For most people 506 00:17:48,640 --> 00:17:49,280 at the time, 507 00:17:49,740 --> 00:17:50,680 both were nothing more 508 00:17:50,680 --> 00:17:51,580 than fantasies 509 00:17:51,580 --> 00:17:52,560 and science fiction. 510 00:17:57,700 --> 00:17:59,060 All that would change 511 00:17:59,060 --> 00:17:59,700 with the outbreak 512 00:17:59,700 --> 00:18:00,700 of war in Europe. 513 00:18:00,700 --> 00:18:03,600 not even science fiction 514 00:18:03,600 --> 00:18:04,960 proved too far-fetched 515 00:18:04,960 --> 00:18:05,500 in the search 516 00:18:05,500 --> 00:18:07,080 for new military technologies. 517 00:18:09,120 --> 00:18:10,120 Caltech was approached 518 00:18:10,120 --> 00:18:10,740 by the government 519 00:18:10,740 --> 00:18:11,680 to develop something 520 00:18:11,680 --> 00:18:12,840 never before attempted. 521 00:18:13,580 --> 00:18:14,840 A device to help 522 00:18:14,840 --> 00:18:15,760 shorten the distance 523 00:18:15,760 --> 00:18:16,920 heavily loaded planes 524 00:18:16,920 --> 00:18:17,940 needed to take off 525 00:18:17,940 --> 00:18:19,080 in combat zones. 526 00:18:20,740 --> 00:18:22,420 Every other aeronautic group 527 00:18:22,420 --> 00:18:23,660 had said it was impossible. 528 00:18:23,660 --> 00:18:26,480 Van Karman thought 529 00:18:26,480 --> 00:18:27,560 the suicide squad 530 00:18:27,560 --> 00:18:28,380 might just have 531 00:18:28,380 --> 00:18:28,900 the answer. 532 00:18:29,900 --> 00:18:31,580 A rocket-assisted takeoff. 533 00:18:32,200 --> 00:18:33,160 Though they couldn't 534 00:18:33,160 --> 00:18:34,520 use the R word. 535 00:18:35,660 --> 00:18:36,980 Now in 1939, 536 00:18:37,860 --> 00:18:39,380 when they got 537 00:18:39,380 --> 00:18:40,360 a serious contract 538 00:18:40,360 --> 00:18:41,960 to do this kind of work, 539 00:18:42,800 --> 00:18:44,520 the word rocket 540 00:18:44,520 --> 00:18:46,300 was really not held 541 00:18:46,300 --> 00:18:48,100 in high repute. 542 00:18:48,100 --> 00:18:50,020 and people thought 543 00:18:50,020 --> 00:18:50,880 it was science fiction. 544 00:18:51,200 --> 00:18:52,000 And that's why 545 00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:53,560 they used the word jet. 546 00:18:54,620 --> 00:18:57,040 So it's the jet-assisted takeoff. 547 00:18:57,860 --> 00:18:59,440 For the suicide squad, 548 00:18:59,620 --> 00:19:00,380 it meant they were going 549 00:19:00,380 --> 00:19:00,980 to be paid 550 00:19:00,980 --> 00:19:02,180 for what they loved to do. 551 00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:03,900 And more than anything, 552 00:19:04,440 --> 00:19:05,860 they were for the first time 553 00:19:05,860 --> 00:19:07,180 being taken seriously. 554 00:19:12,480 --> 00:19:13,920 Soon, they were being taken 555 00:19:13,920 --> 00:19:15,360 so seriously, in fact, 556 00:19:15,560 --> 00:19:16,480 that when one of the most 557 00:19:16,480 --> 00:19:18,040 high-profile political trials 558 00:19:18,040 --> 00:19:18,880 in U.S. history 559 00:19:18,880 --> 00:19:19,820 made it to the courts, 560 00:19:20,160 --> 00:19:21,580 it was young Jack Parsons 561 00:19:21,580 --> 00:19:22,260 who was called 562 00:19:22,260 --> 00:19:23,440 as an expert witness. 563 00:19:25,840 --> 00:19:27,360 In a story as strange 564 00:19:27,360 --> 00:19:27,940 as ours, 565 00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:29,340 no one should be surprised 566 00:19:29,340 --> 00:19:30,760 at unlikely coincidences. 567 00:19:31,880 --> 00:19:32,940 A year earlier, 568 00:19:33,100 --> 00:19:34,040 concerned citizens 569 00:19:34,040 --> 00:19:34,800 had approached 570 00:19:34,800 --> 00:19:35,640 Clifford Clinton, 571 00:19:36,120 --> 00:19:37,760 a man known for his honesty 572 00:19:37,760 --> 00:19:38,920 and social conscience. 573 00:19:39,580 --> 00:19:41,260 They wanted to enlist his aid 574 00:19:41,260 --> 00:19:42,240 in doing something 575 00:19:42,240 --> 00:19:43,660 about the massive corruption 576 00:19:43,660 --> 00:19:44,560 at City Hall. 577 00:19:48,040 --> 00:19:49,740 This indeed was the same man 578 00:19:49,740 --> 00:19:50,860 who owned the cafeteria 579 00:19:50,860 --> 00:19:52,240 where the science fiction 580 00:19:52,240 --> 00:19:52,960 buffs met. 581 00:19:56,760 --> 00:19:57,780 For his trouble, 582 00:19:58,100 --> 00:19:58,880 Clinton ended up 583 00:19:58,880 --> 00:19:59,460 in a wheelchair 584 00:19:59,460 --> 00:20:00,160 when his home 585 00:20:00,160 --> 00:20:00,900 was dynamited. 586 00:20:02,100 --> 00:20:03,420 That didn't stop him. 587 00:20:04,140 --> 00:20:05,160 He had already hired 588 00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:05,840 Harry Raymond, 589 00:20:06,080 --> 00:20:07,140 a private investigator. 590 00:20:09,740 --> 00:20:10,560 Raymond's investigation, 591 00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:11,140 however, 592 00:20:11,220 --> 00:20:12,340 came to a sudden halt 593 00:20:12,340 --> 00:20:13,300 when a car bomb 594 00:20:13,300 --> 00:20:14,880 almost killed him as well. 595 00:20:20,220 --> 00:20:21,620 There was strong evidence 596 00:20:21,620 --> 00:20:22,900 that Captain Earl Canette, 597 00:20:23,160 --> 00:20:24,380 head of police intelligence, 598 00:20:24,520 --> 00:20:25,180 was responsible 599 00:20:25,180 --> 00:20:26,080 for the bombings. 600 00:20:27,800 --> 00:20:28,100 Canette, 601 00:20:28,260 --> 00:20:28,840 along with two 602 00:20:28,840 --> 00:20:29,820 of his detectives, 603 00:20:29,880 --> 00:20:30,420 was arrested. 604 00:20:32,220 --> 00:20:33,260 More importantly, 605 00:20:33,620 --> 00:20:34,720 if they were found guilty, 606 00:20:34,980 --> 00:20:35,880 the trail would lead 607 00:20:35,880 --> 00:20:37,640 straight to Mayor Shaw's office. 608 00:20:37,640 --> 00:20:41,820 Parson's reconstructed 609 00:20:41,820 --> 00:20:42,200 the bomb 610 00:20:42,200 --> 00:20:42,920 from fragments 611 00:20:42,920 --> 00:20:43,580 at the scene. 612 00:20:44,560 --> 00:20:45,440 Evidence from the crime 613 00:20:45,440 --> 00:20:46,560 provided all the clues 614 00:20:46,560 --> 00:20:47,040 he needed 615 00:20:47,040 --> 00:20:48,320 to determine the identity 616 00:20:48,320 --> 00:20:49,800 of the explosive mixture. 617 00:20:51,060 --> 00:20:51,980 The jurors 618 00:20:51,980 --> 00:20:52,560 couldn't help 619 00:20:52,560 --> 00:20:53,360 but be impressed 620 00:20:53,360 --> 00:20:54,280 when he replicated 621 00:20:54,280 --> 00:20:54,980 the device 622 00:20:54,980 --> 00:20:56,300 and demonstrated 623 00:20:56,300 --> 00:20:57,900 its devastating results. 624 00:21:03,500 --> 00:21:04,440 Parson's testimony 625 00:21:04,440 --> 00:21:04,980 was key 626 00:21:04,980 --> 00:21:06,000 to sending Canette away 627 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:07,020 for ten years. 628 00:21:08,560 --> 00:21:09,420 Shaw became 629 00:21:09,420 --> 00:21:10,160 the first mayor 630 00:21:10,160 --> 00:21:11,060 in U.S. history 631 00:21:11,060 --> 00:21:11,660 tossed out 632 00:21:11,660 --> 00:21:12,320 in a recall. 633 00:21:13,800 --> 00:21:14,320 Some say 634 00:21:14,320 --> 00:21:15,100 that it was here 635 00:21:15,100 --> 00:21:15,780 that Parsons 636 00:21:15,780 --> 00:21:16,740 sowed the seeds 637 00:21:16,740 --> 00:21:17,400 of his own 638 00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:18,540 fiery destruction. 639 00:21:26,440 --> 00:21:27,520 Basking in the glow 640 00:21:27,520 --> 00:21:29,020 of his newfound recognition, 641 00:21:29,740 --> 00:21:30,660 Parsons was no doubt 642 00:21:30,660 --> 00:21:31,840 pleased to take a shot 643 00:21:31,840 --> 00:21:33,000 at City Hall's corruption. 644 00:21:34,260 --> 00:21:35,080 All his life, 645 00:21:35,200 --> 00:21:36,620 Parsons had been outraged 646 00:21:36,620 --> 00:21:37,620 by society's 647 00:21:37,620 --> 00:21:38,340 hypocrisy, 648 00:21:38,660 --> 00:21:39,240 dishonesty, 649 00:21:39,400 --> 00:21:40,060 and repression. 650 00:21:42,800 --> 00:21:44,220 It was another bond 651 00:21:44,220 --> 00:21:44,740 that he felt 652 00:21:44,740 --> 00:21:45,320 with Crowley 653 00:21:45,320 --> 00:21:46,600 and one of the reasons 654 00:21:46,600 --> 00:21:49,000 that on February 15, 1941, 655 00:21:49,840 --> 00:21:51,080 Jack and Helen Parsons 656 00:21:51,080 --> 00:21:52,480 joined Crowley's ranks. 657 00:21:52,480 --> 00:22:06,260 Crowley had announced 658 00:22:06,260 --> 00:22:07,260 a new age, 659 00:22:07,260 --> 00:22:08,460 an age governed 660 00:22:08,460 --> 00:22:09,500 by a new law, 661 00:22:09,960 --> 00:22:10,420 Philema, 662 00:22:10,920 --> 00:22:11,960 do what thou wilt. 663 00:22:13,460 --> 00:22:14,420 For Crowley 664 00:22:14,420 --> 00:22:15,280 and the Thelemites, 665 00:22:15,560 --> 00:22:16,520 this wasn't a call 666 00:22:16,520 --> 00:22:17,180 for anarchy. 667 00:22:17,180 --> 00:22:18,960 It was a demand 668 00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:19,820 on each person 669 00:22:19,820 --> 00:22:21,400 to discover their true will, 670 00:22:21,400 --> 00:22:23,000 their deepest calling, 671 00:22:23,460 --> 00:22:23,940 and the right 672 00:22:23,940 --> 00:22:24,880 to carry it out 673 00:22:24,880 --> 00:22:25,860 without the interference 674 00:22:25,860 --> 00:22:26,560 of others. 675 00:22:27,560 --> 00:22:28,780 This was not just magic 676 00:22:28,780 --> 00:22:30,160 to transform your life, 677 00:22:30,520 --> 00:22:31,800 but magic to change 678 00:22:31,800 --> 00:22:32,440 the world. 679 00:22:33,620 --> 00:22:34,700 If do what thou wilt 680 00:22:34,700 --> 00:22:35,940 is the whole of the law, 681 00:22:36,320 --> 00:22:37,280 then Crowley's message 682 00:22:37,280 --> 00:22:38,160 also said, 683 00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:39,960 love is the law, 684 00:22:40,440 --> 00:22:41,760 love under will. 685 00:22:41,760 --> 00:22:46,100 It was a social message 686 00:22:46,100 --> 00:22:47,220 that Parsons endorsed 687 00:22:47,220 --> 00:22:48,940 as do modern Thelemites. 688 00:22:50,880 --> 00:22:52,040 It's obvious 689 00:22:52,040 --> 00:22:53,760 that we are in need 690 00:22:53,760 --> 00:22:56,040 of a great social change. 691 00:22:56,620 --> 00:22:57,660 We are obviously 692 00:22:57,660 --> 00:22:58,600 in need 693 00:22:58,600 --> 00:23:00,180 of a paradigm shift 694 00:23:00,180 --> 00:23:01,420 of the highest order 695 00:23:01,420 --> 00:23:03,320 in order to move us 696 00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:05,140 into a way of being 697 00:23:05,140 --> 00:23:06,940 that is completely beyond 698 00:23:06,940 --> 00:23:08,080 where we could possibly 699 00:23:08,080 --> 00:23:09,800 imagine things to be, 700 00:23:10,240 --> 00:23:11,680 a world of fullness, 701 00:23:11,760 --> 00:23:14,640 a world of abundance, 702 00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:17,280 a world of peace 703 00:23:17,280 --> 00:23:18,400 and harmony 704 00:23:18,400 --> 00:23:19,780 and joy 705 00:23:19,780 --> 00:23:21,020 and pleasure 706 00:23:21,020 --> 00:23:24,740 that just does not exist now. 707 00:23:25,360 --> 00:23:26,660 And in order to do this, 708 00:23:26,740 --> 00:23:28,460 we have to really release 709 00:23:28,460 --> 00:23:29,440 and let go 710 00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:30,560 of the way 711 00:23:30,560 --> 00:23:31,920 we have existed 712 00:23:31,920 --> 00:23:34,180 and find a new way of being. 713 00:23:34,680 --> 00:23:35,460 And for me 714 00:23:35,460 --> 00:23:36,780 and many of my brothers 715 00:23:36,780 --> 00:23:37,440 and sisters, 716 00:23:38,040 --> 00:23:39,140 Thelema exists 717 00:23:39,140 --> 00:23:41,740 as that paradigm shift. 718 00:23:41,760 --> 00:23:44,140 and Sir Alistair Crowley. 719 00:23:44,340 --> 00:23:45,180 Parsons embraced 720 00:23:45,180 --> 00:23:45,780 the challenges 721 00:23:45,780 --> 00:23:47,100 of this strange new world 722 00:23:47,100 --> 00:23:48,320 he found himself in 723 00:23:48,320 --> 00:23:50,400 just as he had always delighted 724 00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:51,200 in the challenges 725 00:23:51,200 --> 00:23:52,140 of his rocketry. 726 00:23:52,380 --> 00:23:53,560 ...are and are to come. 727 00:23:54,120 --> 00:23:54,920 May their essence 728 00:23:54,920 --> 00:23:55,500 be here, 729 00:23:55,580 --> 00:23:56,000 present, 730 00:23:56,440 --> 00:23:56,840 potent, 731 00:23:57,200 --> 00:23:57,640 puissant 732 00:23:57,640 --> 00:23:58,820 and paternal. 733 00:23:58,880 --> 00:23:59,880 Soon after Parsons 734 00:23:59,880 --> 00:24:00,640 joined the order, 735 00:24:00,780 --> 00:24:01,760 the suicide squad 736 00:24:01,760 --> 00:24:02,600 informed the army 737 00:24:02,600 --> 00:24:03,020 they would have 738 00:24:03,020 --> 00:24:04,160 a working Jato ready 739 00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:05,100 in a few months. 740 00:24:05,100 --> 00:24:07,340 but the week 741 00:24:07,340 --> 00:24:08,100 before a pilot 742 00:24:08,100 --> 00:24:08,660 would put them 743 00:24:08,660 --> 00:24:09,320 to the test, 744 00:24:09,700 --> 00:24:10,760 the rockets exploded. 745 00:24:15,760 --> 00:24:17,220 No one could understand 746 00:24:17,220 --> 00:24:17,880 what had suddenly 747 00:24:17,880 --> 00:24:18,580 gone wrong. 748 00:24:19,860 --> 00:24:23,260 If they couldn't solve 749 00:24:23,260 --> 00:24:23,820 the problem, 750 00:24:24,100 --> 00:24:24,660 they might lose 751 00:24:24,660 --> 00:24:25,200 their funding 752 00:24:25,200 --> 00:24:27,160 and a test pilot 753 00:24:27,160 --> 00:24:28,200 would almost certainly 754 00:24:28,200 --> 00:24:29,160 lose his life. 755 00:24:29,160 --> 00:24:38,740 The stakes were high. 756 00:24:39,260 --> 00:24:40,480 These were weapons of war. 757 00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:42,500 Could jet-assisted takeoff 758 00:24:42,500 --> 00:24:43,660 ever be made to work? 759 00:24:44,200 --> 00:24:44,920 If Parsons 760 00:24:44,920 --> 00:24:45,480 couldn't solve 761 00:24:45,480 --> 00:24:45,940 the mystery 762 00:24:45,940 --> 00:24:47,160 of the exploding Jatos, 763 00:24:47,700 --> 00:24:48,820 the dream was doomed. 764 00:24:48,820 --> 00:24:54,720 On August 12th, 1941, 765 00:24:55,260 --> 00:24:56,440 rocket-assisted takeoff 766 00:24:56,440 --> 00:24:56,960 was used 767 00:24:56,960 --> 00:24:57,840 for the first time 768 00:24:57,840 --> 00:24:58,580 to help a plane 769 00:24:58,580 --> 00:24:59,460 get off the ground. 770 00:25:02,980 --> 00:25:04,960 The misnamed Jato worked, 771 00:25:05,160 --> 00:25:05,780 but there was still 772 00:25:05,780 --> 00:25:06,820 a problem to solve. 773 00:25:07,720 --> 00:25:09,220 Without a more stable fuel, 774 00:25:09,620 --> 00:25:10,840 Jatos would never be more 775 00:25:10,840 --> 00:25:12,500 than a dangerous curiosity. 776 00:25:12,500 --> 00:25:32,220 With the Japanese attack 777 00:25:32,220 --> 00:25:33,020 on Pearl Harbor, 778 00:25:33,300 --> 00:25:34,540 the U.S. entered the war 779 00:25:34,540 --> 00:25:35,120 and the pressures 780 00:25:35,120 --> 00:25:36,400 on the suicide squad 781 00:25:36,400 --> 00:25:37,340 only increased. 782 00:25:42,500 --> 00:25:45,100 They desperately needed 783 00:25:45,100 --> 00:25:46,040 to solve the mystery 784 00:25:46,040 --> 00:25:47,280 of the exploding Jatos. 785 00:25:49,580 --> 00:25:50,140 Again, 786 00:25:50,340 --> 00:25:52,020 Parsons' infallible intuition 787 00:25:52,020 --> 00:25:53,320 led him down paths 788 00:25:53,320 --> 00:25:53,940 no one else 789 00:25:53,940 --> 00:25:55,080 had ever dreamed of taking. 790 00:25:57,660 --> 00:25:59,340 A road right to a new 791 00:25:59,340 --> 00:26:00,540 and improved fuel 792 00:26:00,540 --> 00:26:01,600 that would usher in 793 00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:02,520 the space age. 794 00:26:04,620 --> 00:26:05,920 No one was laughing 795 00:26:05,920 --> 00:26:07,240 at the rocketeers now. 796 00:26:12,500 --> 00:26:15,440 Among the companies 797 00:26:15,440 --> 00:26:16,480 Jack and his colleagues 798 00:26:16,480 --> 00:26:17,880 created were Aerojet 799 00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:18,880 and JPL, 800 00:26:19,220 --> 00:26:20,640 the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 801 00:26:21,480 --> 00:26:22,640 or as some called it, 802 00:26:22,960 --> 00:26:24,380 the Jack Parsons Lab. 803 00:26:25,340 --> 00:26:26,280 JPL is built 804 00:26:26,280 --> 00:26:27,240 on Arroyo Seco 805 00:26:27,240 --> 00:26:28,260 where Jack and Ed 806 00:26:28,260 --> 00:26:28,820 had started. 807 00:26:29,520 --> 00:26:30,700 It remains a giant 808 00:26:30,700 --> 00:26:31,460 in the industry. 809 00:26:41,120 --> 00:26:42,160 There are those 810 00:26:42,160 --> 00:26:42,540 who say 811 00:26:42,540 --> 00:26:42,960 that it was 812 00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:44,100 this very success 813 00:26:44,100 --> 00:26:44,860 that spelled 814 00:26:44,860 --> 00:26:45,400 the doom 815 00:26:45,400 --> 00:26:46,680 of Jack Parsons. 816 00:26:51,340 --> 00:26:51,820 Now, 817 00:26:52,260 --> 00:26:53,700 with government regulation 818 00:26:53,700 --> 00:26:55,200 came a whole host 819 00:26:55,200 --> 00:26:55,720 of scientists 820 00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:56,760 from chemistry, 821 00:26:56,960 --> 00:26:57,540 from physics 822 00:26:57,540 --> 00:26:58,320 who were brought in 823 00:26:58,320 --> 00:26:59,600 to really start 824 00:26:59,600 --> 00:27:00,900 building more and more 825 00:27:00,900 --> 00:27:02,300 rockets for the government. 826 00:27:02,960 --> 00:27:04,080 And when they stepped in, 827 00:27:04,140 --> 00:27:04,700 they realized 828 00:27:04,700 --> 00:27:05,520 that Parsons 829 00:27:05,520 --> 00:27:06,280 and his colleagues, 830 00:27:06,700 --> 00:27:07,560 although they had started 831 00:27:07,560 --> 00:27:08,560 this whole thing off, 832 00:27:08,620 --> 00:27:09,400 although they had started 833 00:27:09,400 --> 00:27:10,040 rocketry off 834 00:27:10,040 --> 00:27:10,680 and they had given it 835 00:27:10,680 --> 00:27:11,180 as impetus 836 00:27:11,180 --> 00:27:11,940 when nobody else 837 00:27:11,940 --> 00:27:12,860 was interested in it. 838 00:27:13,280 --> 00:27:13,900 They just weren't 839 00:27:13,900 --> 00:27:14,600 the sort of people 840 00:27:14,600 --> 00:27:15,780 to work within 841 00:27:15,780 --> 00:27:16,780 a government agency. 842 00:27:17,480 --> 00:27:17,660 You know, 843 00:27:17,740 --> 00:27:18,400 Ed Foreman, 844 00:27:18,540 --> 00:27:19,340 Jack Parsons' friend, 845 00:27:19,400 --> 00:27:20,020 would turn up, 846 00:27:20,080 --> 00:27:20,680 kind of bloodied 847 00:27:20,680 --> 00:27:21,260 from his latest 848 00:27:21,260 --> 00:27:22,320 motorcycle crash. 849 00:27:22,780 --> 00:27:23,880 Jack Parsons would turn up 850 00:27:23,880 --> 00:27:24,780 and start fooling around 851 00:27:24,780 --> 00:27:25,880 with all sorts of explosives 852 00:27:25,880 --> 00:27:26,720 he wasn't meant to. 853 00:27:26,720 --> 00:27:28,680 So, slowly but surely, 854 00:27:28,680 --> 00:27:29,580 the powers that be 855 00:27:29,580 --> 00:27:31,120 started squeezing 856 00:27:31,120 --> 00:27:32,120 the original members, 857 00:27:32,260 --> 00:27:33,020 the original founders 858 00:27:33,020 --> 00:27:33,620 of rocketry 859 00:27:33,620 --> 00:27:34,620 in the United States 860 00:27:34,620 --> 00:27:35,260 out. 861 00:27:36,160 --> 00:27:36,960 They were just seen 862 00:27:36,960 --> 00:27:37,660 as a liability 863 00:27:37,660 --> 00:27:39,340 to what would eventually 864 00:27:39,340 --> 00:27:40,560 become the military-industrial 865 00:27:40,560 --> 00:27:41,080 complex. 866 00:27:42,160 --> 00:27:43,260 And Parsons, 867 00:27:43,780 --> 00:27:45,740 with his previous 868 00:27:45,740 --> 00:27:46,820 kind of friendships 869 00:27:46,820 --> 00:27:47,860 with communists, 870 00:27:48,380 --> 00:27:49,340 with his interests 871 00:27:49,340 --> 00:27:50,180 and membership 872 00:27:50,180 --> 00:27:51,700 of a religious cult, 873 00:27:52,360 --> 00:27:53,420 was all too easy 874 00:27:53,420 --> 00:27:54,560 to squeeze out 875 00:27:54,560 --> 00:27:55,100 of the business. 876 00:27:55,700 --> 00:27:56,520 He challenged 877 00:27:56,520 --> 00:27:57,640 conventional thinking. 878 00:27:57,640 --> 00:27:58,820 He challenged 879 00:27:58,820 --> 00:28:00,980 conventional social thinking. 880 00:28:01,360 --> 00:28:02,640 And the social mores 881 00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:03,680 of the time then 882 00:28:03,680 --> 00:28:05,480 were different from today. 883 00:28:05,660 --> 00:28:06,800 And as we know today, 884 00:28:07,440 --> 00:28:08,480 people are uncomfortable 885 00:28:08,480 --> 00:28:09,640 with alternative lifestyles. 886 00:28:11,720 --> 00:28:12,600 Helen Northrup 887 00:28:12,600 --> 00:28:14,200 was Parsons' first wife. 888 00:28:14,860 --> 00:28:16,120 They had met in Pasadena 889 00:28:16,120 --> 00:28:17,280 at a church dance 890 00:28:17,280 --> 00:28:18,520 and soon after 891 00:28:18,520 --> 00:28:18,960 were married, 892 00:28:19,060 --> 00:28:19,300 I think, 893 00:28:19,380 --> 00:28:21,040 when Parsons was 894 00:28:21,040 --> 00:28:22,460 in his early 20s, 895 00:28:22,500 --> 00:28:23,220 20, 21. 896 00:28:23,220 --> 00:28:25,400 And the two 897 00:28:25,400 --> 00:28:26,080 had stayed together. 898 00:28:26,200 --> 00:28:27,180 This was before Parsons 899 00:28:27,180 --> 00:28:28,300 was interested in magic 900 00:28:28,300 --> 00:28:29,080 or the occult. 901 00:28:30,060 --> 00:28:31,040 And they had had 902 00:28:31,040 --> 00:28:32,260 a happy life 903 00:28:32,260 --> 00:28:33,040 for the first few years 904 00:28:33,040 --> 00:28:33,680 in Pasadena. 905 00:28:35,180 --> 00:28:36,840 But then Parsons 906 00:28:36,840 --> 00:28:37,480 got involved 907 00:28:37,480 --> 00:28:38,280 in the OTO 908 00:28:38,280 --> 00:28:39,760 and the occult life. 909 00:28:40,420 --> 00:28:42,300 And when he started 910 00:28:42,300 --> 00:28:44,380 suggesting they sleep around 911 00:28:44,380 --> 00:28:45,600 and have an open relationship, 912 00:28:46,180 --> 00:28:49,000 Helen was slightly 913 00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:50,020 nonplussed by this. 914 00:28:50,260 --> 00:28:50,800 But nevertheless, 915 00:28:50,800 --> 00:28:51,960 she went along with it. 916 00:28:52,920 --> 00:28:54,600 While Parsons went off 917 00:28:54,600 --> 00:28:55,220 sleeping with many 918 00:28:55,220 --> 00:28:56,360 of the OTO's characters, 919 00:28:57,800 --> 00:28:58,860 Helen ended up 920 00:28:58,860 --> 00:28:59,640 with the head 921 00:28:59,640 --> 00:29:00,720 of the OTO at the time 922 00:29:00,720 --> 00:29:01,620 who Parsons would later 923 00:29:01,620 --> 00:29:02,880 supplant, Wilfred Smith. 924 00:29:03,540 --> 00:29:04,660 So Parsons led 925 00:29:04,660 --> 00:29:06,260 a very open, 926 00:29:06,660 --> 00:29:07,780 alternative lifestyle 927 00:29:07,780 --> 00:29:09,120 in the 30s 928 00:29:09,120 --> 00:29:10,000 and it wasn't 929 00:29:10,000 --> 00:29:10,860 the thing to do. 930 00:29:11,420 --> 00:29:12,760 Now, things weren't 931 00:29:12,760 --> 00:29:13,660 helped by the fact 932 00:29:13,660 --> 00:29:15,140 that at the same time 933 00:29:15,140 --> 00:29:15,920 as Parsons was sleeping 934 00:29:15,920 --> 00:29:16,580 with other people, 935 00:29:16,660 --> 00:29:17,360 he was also sleeping 936 00:29:17,360 --> 00:29:17,880 with Helen's 937 00:29:17,880 --> 00:29:18,540 younger sister, 938 00:29:18,920 --> 00:29:19,140 Betty. 939 00:29:20,460 --> 00:29:21,820 It was, you know, 940 00:29:21,880 --> 00:29:22,420 it was a pretty 941 00:29:22,420 --> 00:29:23,520 messy household 942 00:29:23,520 --> 00:29:24,160 at the time. 943 00:29:25,560 --> 00:29:27,020 And although 944 00:29:27,020 --> 00:29:27,780 they remained 945 00:29:27,780 --> 00:29:28,700 on cordial terms, 946 00:29:28,780 --> 00:29:29,360 there was something 947 00:29:29,360 --> 00:29:31,620 between Jack and Helen 948 00:29:31,620 --> 00:29:33,320 which was never resolved. 949 00:29:34,120 --> 00:29:34,620 And this was 950 00:29:34,620 --> 00:29:35,300 this relationship 951 00:29:35,300 --> 00:29:36,000 with the sister. 952 00:29:36,440 --> 00:29:36,860 She thought that 953 00:29:36,860 --> 00:29:38,160 was a bridge too far. 954 00:29:38,280 --> 00:29:38,920 You can sleep around 955 00:29:38,920 --> 00:29:39,460 with other people 956 00:29:39,460 --> 00:29:40,440 but not with my sister. 957 00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:42,680 But anyway, 958 00:29:42,800 --> 00:29:44,060 Parsons divorced Helen 959 00:29:44,060 --> 00:29:45,320 and Helen took up 960 00:29:45,320 --> 00:29:45,740 with the head 961 00:29:45,740 --> 00:29:46,340 of the OTO, 962 00:29:46,680 --> 00:29:47,340 Wilfred Smith. 963 00:29:50,660 --> 00:29:51,980 It seems unlikely 964 00:29:51,980 --> 00:29:52,620 that Crowley 965 00:29:52,620 --> 00:29:53,080 would have had 966 00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:54,100 any moral problem 967 00:29:54,100 --> 00:29:55,280 with these goings-on. 968 00:29:56,000 --> 00:29:56,480 However, 969 00:29:56,620 --> 00:29:57,680 he certainly didn't want 970 00:29:57,680 --> 00:29:58,520 his life's work 971 00:29:58,520 --> 00:29:59,480 reduced to a 972 00:29:59,480 --> 00:30:00,540 wife-swapping club. 973 00:30:03,660 --> 00:30:04,620 Crowley removed 974 00:30:04,620 --> 00:30:05,880 the head of the L.A. Lodge 975 00:30:05,880 --> 00:30:06,740 and replaced him 976 00:30:06,740 --> 00:30:07,320 with Jack. 977 00:30:07,880 --> 00:30:08,980 In their correspondence, 978 00:30:09,240 --> 00:30:10,220 Crowley often referred 979 00:30:10,220 --> 00:30:11,500 to Jack as his son, 980 00:30:12,340 --> 00:30:13,200 just as Jack 981 00:30:13,200 --> 00:30:14,200 called him father. 982 00:30:17,440 --> 00:30:18,840 His growing involvement 983 00:30:18,840 --> 00:30:20,220 in what is often dismissed 984 00:30:20,220 --> 00:30:22,120 as a black magic sex cult 985 00:30:22,120 --> 00:30:23,620 did more than raise 986 00:30:23,620 --> 00:30:24,400 some eyebrows. 987 00:30:27,700 --> 00:30:28,920 Before too long, 988 00:30:29,080 --> 00:30:29,940 Parsons was under 989 00:30:29,940 --> 00:30:30,740 police scrutiny, 990 00:30:31,360 --> 00:30:32,360 both for his alleged 991 00:30:32,360 --> 00:30:33,500 communist sympathies 992 00:30:33,500 --> 00:30:34,960 as well as these other 993 00:30:34,960 --> 00:30:36,320 questionable activities. 994 00:30:40,220 --> 00:30:44,960 by the time of his death, 995 00:30:45,220 --> 00:30:46,640 Parsons' FBI file 996 00:30:46,640 --> 00:30:48,040 covered hundreds of pages. 997 00:30:52,120 --> 00:30:53,060 Jack's dreams 998 00:30:53,060 --> 00:30:53,940 were coming true, 999 00:30:54,200 --> 00:30:55,580 but not as he had expected. 1000 00:30:57,500 --> 00:30:58,880 His beloved rockets 1001 00:30:58,880 --> 00:30:59,780 weren't taking man 1002 00:30:59,780 --> 00:31:00,460 into space, 1003 00:31:00,660 --> 00:31:01,400 but had become 1004 00:31:01,400 --> 00:31:02,320 one more way 1005 00:31:02,320 --> 00:31:03,120 of blowing up 1006 00:31:03,120 --> 00:31:03,660 your neighbor. 1007 00:31:05,380 --> 00:31:07,060 The science fiction version 1008 00:31:07,060 --> 00:31:07,980 was doubtless 1009 00:31:07,980 --> 00:31:08,800 more attractive. 1010 00:31:10,800 --> 00:31:11,360 So, 1011 00:31:11,520 --> 00:31:12,140 Parsons really got 1012 00:31:12,140 --> 00:31:13,040 started getting involved 1013 00:31:13,040 --> 00:31:14,380 in the science fiction 1014 00:31:14,380 --> 00:31:15,300 writing world, 1015 00:31:15,820 --> 00:31:16,860 and he was invited along 1016 00:31:16,860 --> 00:31:17,720 to kind of meetings 1017 00:31:17,720 --> 00:31:18,760 of science fiction writers. 1018 00:31:18,880 --> 00:31:19,720 He swapped stories, 1019 00:31:20,220 --> 00:31:21,360 and in a couple of books, 1020 00:31:21,680 --> 00:31:22,780 there are kind of 1021 00:31:22,780 --> 00:31:23,680 romantic clefts 1022 00:31:23,680 --> 00:31:26,860 of Parsons. 1023 00:31:27,040 --> 00:31:28,120 There are depictions 1024 00:31:28,120 --> 00:31:28,760 of Parsons 1025 00:31:28,760 --> 00:31:29,880 in science fiction books. 1026 00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:30,720 One of the books 1027 00:31:30,720 --> 00:31:31,960 written by a writer 1028 00:31:31,960 --> 00:31:33,120 called Anthony Bauscher 1029 00:31:33,120 --> 00:31:35,620 called Rocket to the Morgue 1030 00:31:35,620 --> 00:31:36,420 has an eccentric 1031 00:31:36,420 --> 00:31:37,180 rocket scientist 1032 00:31:37,180 --> 00:31:38,140 who ultimately 1033 00:31:38,140 --> 00:31:38,960 tries to destroy 1034 00:31:38,960 --> 00:31:39,660 his own invention 1035 00:31:39,660 --> 00:31:41,320 and blows himself up 1036 00:31:41,320 --> 00:31:42,740 in a very prophetic 1037 00:31:42,740 --> 00:31:45,160 style for Parsons' own end. 1038 00:31:46,260 --> 00:31:46,700 But so, 1039 00:31:46,800 --> 00:31:47,680 not only was he 1040 00:31:47,680 --> 00:31:48,640 a fan of science fiction, 1041 00:31:49,120 --> 00:31:49,660 he was a friend 1042 00:31:49,660 --> 00:31:50,120 of the writers 1043 00:31:50,120 --> 00:31:50,900 of science fiction, 1044 00:31:51,320 --> 00:31:51,940 he was inspired 1045 00:31:51,940 --> 00:31:52,640 by science fiction 1046 00:31:52,640 --> 00:31:53,380 to build his rockets, 1047 00:31:53,900 --> 00:31:54,660 and he was also 1048 00:31:54,660 --> 00:31:55,460 a character in the 1049 00:31:55,460 --> 00:31:56,100 very science fiction 1050 00:31:56,100 --> 00:31:56,620 he loved. 1051 00:31:56,620 --> 00:31:57,960 He met this fellow 1052 00:31:57,960 --> 00:32:00,320 named L. Ron Hubbard, 1053 00:32:00,520 --> 00:32:01,080 a prolific 1054 00:32:01,080 --> 00:32:02,520 science fiction writer 1055 00:32:02,520 --> 00:32:04,940 at that time, 1056 00:32:05,080 --> 00:32:05,800 and they got 1057 00:32:05,800 --> 00:32:06,780 to be good buddies, 1058 00:32:07,240 --> 00:32:09,040 Parsons and Hubbard. 1059 00:32:11,340 --> 00:32:12,420 It was through 1060 00:32:12,420 --> 00:32:13,120 science fiction 1061 00:32:13,120 --> 00:32:14,000 that they had met, 1062 00:32:14,380 --> 00:32:15,160 but Hubbard would 1063 00:32:15,160 --> 00:32:15,960 in a few years 1064 00:32:15,960 --> 00:32:17,020 go beyond fiction 1065 00:32:17,020 --> 00:32:18,540 to found Dianetics, 1066 00:32:19,080 --> 00:32:20,100 and what was to become 1067 00:32:20,100 --> 00:32:20,740 one of the most 1068 00:32:20,740 --> 00:32:21,340 controversial 1069 00:32:21,340 --> 00:32:22,340 of modern religious 1070 00:32:22,340 --> 00:32:22,940 movements, 1071 00:32:23,780 --> 00:32:24,540 Scientology. 1072 00:32:24,540 --> 00:32:28,720 Parsons at the time 1073 00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:29,920 was living 1074 00:32:29,920 --> 00:32:31,240 in a grand old house 1075 00:32:31,240 --> 00:32:33,000 on South Orange Grove Avenue 1076 00:32:33,000 --> 00:32:34,420 where he had grown up, 1077 00:32:34,780 --> 00:32:35,560 and he was renting out 1078 00:32:35,560 --> 00:32:36,220 these different rooms 1079 00:32:36,220 --> 00:32:36,780 to all people 1080 00:32:36,780 --> 00:32:37,700 he found interesting. 1081 00:32:39,080 --> 00:32:40,240 Now, when Hubbard 1082 00:32:40,240 --> 00:32:41,080 came to live there, 1083 00:32:41,660 --> 00:32:43,720 they began practicing 1084 00:32:43,720 --> 00:32:44,420 magic together, 1085 00:32:44,600 --> 00:32:46,020 but as the general rule 1086 00:32:46,020 --> 00:32:46,580 of the house 1087 00:32:46,580 --> 00:32:47,340 was Crowley's, 1088 00:32:47,380 --> 00:32:47,960 do what thou wilt, 1089 00:32:48,040 --> 00:32:48,540 shall be the whole 1090 00:32:48,540 --> 00:32:49,040 of the law, 1091 00:32:49,040 --> 00:32:50,220 and as open 1092 00:32:50,220 --> 00:32:50,960 relationships 1093 00:32:50,960 --> 00:32:52,660 were generally, 1094 00:32:52,860 --> 00:32:53,160 you know, 1095 00:32:53,940 --> 00:32:55,060 said to be okay 1096 00:32:55,060 --> 00:32:55,760 by Crowley, 1097 00:32:57,100 --> 00:32:58,320 Hubbard ended up 1098 00:32:58,320 --> 00:32:59,720 sleeping with Betty, 1099 00:32:59,840 --> 00:33:01,360 and despite Crowley's creed, 1100 00:33:01,700 --> 00:33:02,340 Parsons couldn't 1101 00:33:02,340 --> 00:33:03,320 restrain his jealousy. 1102 00:33:06,000 --> 00:33:07,520 Parsons tried desperately 1103 00:33:07,520 --> 00:33:08,380 to rise above 1104 00:33:08,380 --> 00:33:09,640 the emotional turmoil 1105 00:33:09,640 --> 00:33:10,880 and maintain his friendship 1106 00:33:10,880 --> 00:33:11,780 with both Betty 1107 00:33:11,780 --> 00:33:12,480 and Hubbard. 1108 00:33:14,700 --> 00:33:15,900 They were even doing 1109 00:33:15,900 --> 00:33:17,520 magical experiments 1110 00:33:17,520 --> 00:33:18,020 together, 1111 00:33:18,020 --> 00:33:19,940 and there's evidence 1112 00:33:19,940 --> 00:33:23,300 of it with Parsons' writings 1113 00:33:23,300 --> 00:33:24,800 and that L. Ron Hubbard 1114 00:33:24,800 --> 00:33:25,900 was a scribe 1115 00:33:25,900 --> 00:33:27,960 while Parsons is doing 1116 00:33:27,960 --> 00:33:29,520 black magic ritualism 1117 00:33:29,520 --> 00:33:30,600 and so on, 1118 00:33:30,660 --> 00:33:33,100 and there is L. Ron Hubbard's 1119 00:33:33,100 --> 00:33:33,980 scribbling, 1120 00:33:34,340 --> 00:33:35,180 looking to see 1121 00:33:35,180 --> 00:33:36,900 if the Thelemic masters 1122 00:33:36,900 --> 00:33:37,720 have come in 1123 00:33:37,720 --> 00:33:38,480 and whether these 1124 00:33:38,480 --> 00:33:39,720 ectoplasmic beings 1125 00:33:39,720 --> 00:33:40,980 and these demonic beings 1126 00:33:40,980 --> 00:33:41,660 have arrived. 1127 00:33:42,460 --> 00:33:43,020 To Jack, 1128 00:33:43,120 --> 00:33:44,540 the most important conjuring 1129 00:33:44,540 --> 00:33:45,300 that he and Hubbard 1130 00:33:45,300 --> 00:33:46,000 would undertake 1131 00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:46,640 must have been 1132 00:33:46,640 --> 00:33:47,360 the summoning up 1133 00:33:47,360 --> 00:33:48,620 of a replacement Betty, 1134 00:33:49,120 --> 00:33:50,240 an elemental spirit 1135 00:33:50,240 --> 00:33:51,420 in the guise of a woman. 1136 00:33:52,240 --> 00:33:52,960 Some of Parsons' 1137 00:33:53,080 --> 00:33:54,140 other magical rituals 1138 00:33:54,140 --> 00:33:55,220 involved sex, 1139 00:33:55,680 --> 00:33:56,680 and who or what 1140 00:33:56,680 --> 00:33:57,860 would be a better partner 1141 00:33:57,860 --> 00:33:59,120 than a magical creature? 1142 00:33:59,800 --> 00:34:01,100 Parsons and his elemental 1143 00:34:01,100 --> 00:34:02,240 would then not just 1144 00:34:02,240 --> 00:34:03,400 summon up some demon. 1145 00:34:03,960 --> 00:34:05,060 They were going to cause 1146 00:34:05,060 --> 00:34:06,460 a goddess to incarnate, 1147 00:34:06,920 --> 00:34:07,980 the goddess Babylon. 1148 00:34:07,980 --> 00:34:10,200 In Alistair Crowley's system, 1149 00:34:10,360 --> 00:34:11,760 there's the beast 666, 1150 00:34:12,280 --> 00:34:13,300 and there's Babylon. 1151 00:34:14,020 --> 00:34:17,600 Babylon is sort of 1152 00:34:17,600 --> 00:34:19,620 the dark female goddess. 1153 00:34:20,580 --> 00:34:21,860 Parsons saw this force 1154 00:34:21,860 --> 00:34:24,240 as like the necessary next step 1155 00:34:24,240 --> 00:34:25,720 for human evolution 1156 00:34:25,720 --> 00:34:26,740 was to bring about 1157 00:34:26,740 --> 00:34:29,160 this Babylon force on Earth. 1158 00:34:29,160 --> 00:34:34,760 All of this was perplexing, 1159 00:34:34,960 --> 00:34:36,340 not just to the uninitiated, 1160 00:34:36,540 --> 00:34:37,820 but also to many of Parsons' 1161 00:34:38,000 --> 00:34:39,120 colleagues and friends. 1162 00:34:39,900 --> 00:34:41,400 Crowley himself didn't approve. 1163 00:34:41,760 --> 00:34:43,560 He thought Jack was losing his way. 1164 00:34:47,480 --> 00:34:48,880 Parsons returned to the desert 1165 00:34:48,880 --> 00:34:50,760 and received the Book of Babylon, 1166 00:34:51,320 --> 00:34:52,780 which he saw as an extension 1167 00:34:52,780 --> 00:34:53,940 of Crowley's revelation. 1168 00:34:53,940 --> 00:34:57,440 If Crowley was, 1169 00:34:57,580 --> 00:34:58,240 in his challenge 1170 00:34:58,240 --> 00:35:00,140 to Christian lies and hypocrisy, 1171 00:35:00,500 --> 00:35:01,420 the great beast, 1172 00:35:02,600 --> 00:35:04,200 Parsons would declare himself 1173 00:35:04,200 --> 00:35:05,320 the Antichrist. 1174 00:35:08,820 --> 00:35:11,380 On January 18, 1946, 1175 00:35:11,980 --> 00:35:13,300 having returned from the desert 1176 00:35:13,300 --> 00:35:14,220 and the evocations 1177 00:35:14,220 --> 00:35:15,460 of the elemental spirit, 1178 00:35:16,420 --> 00:35:18,200 he found Marjorie Cameron 1179 00:35:18,200 --> 00:35:18,960 at his door. 1180 00:35:18,960 --> 00:35:24,640 His elemental was, 1181 00:35:24,740 --> 00:35:25,520 as he dreamt, 1182 00:35:25,980 --> 00:35:26,680 red-haired, 1183 00:35:27,120 --> 00:35:27,800 green-eyed, 1184 00:35:28,160 --> 00:35:29,000 there was no doubt 1185 00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:29,680 in his mind, 1186 00:35:29,740 --> 00:35:30,600 he wrote to Crowley, 1187 00:35:31,140 --> 00:35:32,460 I have my elemental. 1188 00:35:33,360 --> 00:35:34,560 Fiery and subtle, 1189 00:35:35,020 --> 00:35:36,280 determined and obstinate, 1190 00:35:36,580 --> 00:35:37,680 sincere and perverse, 1191 00:35:37,980 --> 00:35:39,580 with extraordinary personality 1192 00:35:39,580 --> 00:35:40,480 and intelligence. 1193 00:35:41,900 --> 00:35:42,800 She participates 1194 00:35:42,800 --> 00:35:43,680 in his sex magic, 1195 00:35:44,100 --> 00:35:44,820 but not because 1196 00:35:44,820 --> 00:35:45,760 she believes in it. 1197 00:35:46,180 --> 00:35:46,960 At first. 1198 00:35:46,960 --> 00:35:49,160 Meanwhile, 1199 00:35:49,320 --> 00:35:50,280 Parsons' relationship 1200 00:35:50,280 --> 00:35:50,960 with Hubbard 1201 00:35:50,960 --> 00:35:53,120 became increasingly complex. 1202 00:35:55,120 --> 00:35:57,200 He tried to convince Parsons 1203 00:35:57,200 --> 00:35:59,040 to invest his money 1204 00:35:59,040 --> 00:36:01,560 in a project 1205 00:36:01,560 --> 00:36:02,600 to go and buy yachts 1206 00:36:02,600 --> 00:36:03,080 in Miami 1207 00:36:03,080 --> 00:36:04,040 and sail them around 1208 00:36:04,040 --> 00:36:06,000 through the Panama Canal 1209 00:36:06,000 --> 00:36:06,700 and then sell them 1210 00:36:06,700 --> 00:36:07,340 in Los Angeles. 1211 00:36:07,940 --> 00:36:08,860 And Parsons had invested 1212 00:36:08,860 --> 00:36:09,960 his entire fortune 1213 00:36:09,960 --> 00:36:11,400 gained from his rocketry work 1214 00:36:11,400 --> 00:36:11,940 and so on 1215 00:36:11,940 --> 00:36:13,340 in this company. 1216 00:36:14,240 --> 00:36:15,260 But no sooner 1217 00:36:15,260 --> 00:36:16,320 had Hubbard gone to Miami 1218 00:36:16,320 --> 00:36:17,080 to buy the boats 1219 00:36:17,080 --> 00:36:18,780 that he started refusing 1220 00:36:18,780 --> 00:36:20,500 to return Parsons' calls 1221 00:36:20,500 --> 00:36:22,880 and it was pretty clear 1222 00:36:22,880 --> 00:36:23,480 at that point, 1223 00:36:23,600 --> 00:36:25,100 at least witnesses 1224 00:36:25,100 --> 00:36:26,000 at the time say, 1225 00:36:26,540 --> 00:36:28,440 that Hubbard had ran off 1226 00:36:28,440 --> 00:36:29,200 with not only 1227 00:36:29,200 --> 00:36:30,000 with Parsons' girlfriend 1228 00:36:30,000 --> 00:36:30,880 but with his money. 1229 00:36:32,520 --> 00:36:33,460 In a cable, 1230 00:36:33,640 --> 00:36:34,240 Crowley wrote, 1231 00:36:34,520 --> 00:36:35,340 suspect Ron 1232 00:36:35,340 --> 00:36:36,760 playing confidence trick. 1233 00:36:38,040 --> 00:36:38,880 Jack Parsons, 1234 00:36:39,100 --> 00:36:39,680 weak fool, 1235 00:36:40,240 --> 00:36:41,160 obvious victim, 1236 00:36:41,540 --> 00:36:42,520 prowling swindlers. 1237 00:36:42,520 --> 00:36:44,280 hearing this, 1238 00:36:44,480 --> 00:36:46,140 Parsons used his last few dollars 1239 00:36:46,140 --> 00:36:47,080 to get to Miami. 1240 00:36:49,780 --> 00:36:50,700 Hubbard and Betty 1241 00:36:50,700 --> 00:36:52,140 had bought three yachts. 1242 00:36:53,760 --> 00:36:54,880 Parsons tracked one of them 1243 00:36:54,880 --> 00:36:56,180 down to a public dock. 1244 00:36:59,660 --> 00:37:00,740 He went to court 1245 00:37:00,740 --> 00:37:02,380 and obtained a temporary injunction 1246 00:37:02,380 --> 00:37:04,080 to stop the sale of the yachts. 1247 00:37:04,080 --> 00:37:08,320 Four days later, 1248 00:37:08,460 --> 00:37:09,540 Parsons received a call 1249 00:37:09,540 --> 00:37:10,220 from the marina 1250 00:37:10,220 --> 00:37:11,400 that one of the yachts 1251 00:37:11,400 --> 00:37:11,960 had sailed. 1252 00:37:14,840 --> 00:37:16,100 Parsons didn't give up. 1253 00:37:16,640 --> 00:37:17,820 He turned to magic. 1254 00:37:20,920 --> 00:37:22,300 In his hotel room, 1255 00:37:22,680 --> 00:37:24,260 he performed this invocation 1256 00:37:24,260 --> 00:37:26,200 of the spirit Barzhebal. 1257 00:37:26,260 --> 00:37:27,420 Wherein I shall set up 1258 00:37:27,420 --> 00:37:28,980 thy throne of justice. 1259 00:37:30,100 --> 00:37:30,820 Barzhebal. 1260 00:37:32,020 --> 00:37:32,660 Barzhebal. 1261 00:37:34,020 --> 00:37:34,780 Barzhebal. 1262 00:37:36,280 --> 00:37:37,120 Barzhebal. 1263 00:37:37,900 --> 00:37:39,480 Barzhebal, come forth 1264 00:37:39,480 --> 00:37:41,860 and manifest beyond the bars, 1265 00:37:42,260 --> 00:37:43,520 forth from the palace 1266 00:37:43,520 --> 00:37:45,220 of seraphic stars. 1267 00:37:45,420 --> 00:37:46,480 Come, O thou, 1268 00:37:46,900 --> 00:37:47,840 Barzhebal, 1269 00:37:48,180 --> 00:37:49,540 the spirit of Mars. 1270 00:37:50,060 --> 00:37:51,840 Come, I unbind thee 1271 00:37:51,840 --> 00:37:53,060 from the chains of hell. 1272 00:37:53,060 --> 00:37:54,120 He later wrote Crowley, 1273 00:37:54,260 --> 00:37:55,580 At the same time, 1274 00:37:55,700 --> 00:37:56,780 as far as I can check, 1275 00:37:57,520 --> 00:37:58,580 his ship was struck 1276 00:37:58,580 --> 00:37:59,800 by a sudden squall 1277 00:37:59,800 --> 00:38:00,560 off the coast, 1278 00:38:00,980 --> 00:38:03,540 which ripped off his sails 1279 00:38:03,540 --> 00:38:05,200 and forced him back to port. 1280 00:38:05,440 --> 00:38:06,380 Where, of course, 1281 00:38:06,800 --> 00:38:07,980 Jack was waiting for them. 1282 00:38:10,880 --> 00:38:12,460 So, whether it was due 1283 00:38:12,460 --> 00:38:13,540 to luck or to magic, 1284 00:38:14,020 --> 00:38:15,300 Parsons managed to retrieve 1285 00:38:15,300 --> 00:38:16,640 his money, 1286 00:38:16,740 --> 00:38:17,640 if not his friendship 1287 00:38:17,640 --> 00:38:18,300 with Hubbard. 1288 00:38:21,440 --> 00:38:22,680 As with all things, 1289 00:38:22,680 --> 00:38:23,440 there is more than 1290 00:38:23,440 --> 00:38:24,180 one interpretation 1291 00:38:24,180 --> 00:38:25,300 of these events. 1292 00:38:26,260 --> 00:38:27,200 In 1969, 1293 00:38:27,540 --> 00:38:28,820 the Church of Scientology 1294 00:38:28,820 --> 00:38:30,280 revealed that Hubbard 1295 00:38:30,280 --> 00:38:30,900 had been sent 1296 00:38:30,900 --> 00:38:32,020 by the U.S. military 1297 00:38:32,020 --> 00:38:33,600 to infiltrate the cult 1298 00:38:33,600 --> 00:38:35,100 that Parsons was part of. 1299 00:38:35,100 --> 00:38:38,540 He was on a mission 1300 00:38:38,540 --> 00:38:40,660 from naval intelligence, 1301 00:38:40,660 --> 00:38:42,480 say, the Church of Scientology, 1302 00:38:42,480 --> 00:38:44,500 to destroy black magic 1303 00:38:44,500 --> 00:38:45,040 in America 1304 00:38:45,040 --> 00:38:46,460 and save the reputation 1305 00:38:46,460 --> 00:38:47,620 of this wonderful woman, 1306 00:38:47,920 --> 00:38:48,080 Betty. 1307 00:38:51,920 --> 00:38:53,420 Whatever the explanation, 1308 00:38:53,840 --> 00:38:54,620 there is no doubt 1309 00:38:54,620 --> 00:38:55,900 that it was a time of changes 1310 00:38:55,900 --> 00:38:57,080 for all concerned. 1311 00:38:57,080 --> 00:39:00,460 The next month, 1312 00:39:00,460 --> 00:39:02,080 Betty and Hubbard married. 1313 00:39:04,240 --> 00:39:05,460 On October 14th, 1314 00:39:06,260 --> 00:39:07,460 Parsons married Cameron. 1315 00:39:08,340 --> 00:39:09,580 His elemental had proven 1316 00:39:09,580 --> 00:39:10,480 to be much more 1317 00:39:10,480 --> 00:39:11,120 than a partner 1318 00:39:11,120 --> 00:39:12,980 in some sex magic rituals. 1319 00:39:12,980 --> 00:39:16,320 With Cameron, 1320 00:39:16,540 --> 00:39:18,000 as with L. Ron Hubbard, 1321 00:39:18,800 --> 00:39:19,980 Jack found people 1322 00:39:19,980 --> 00:39:22,240 that understood him 1323 00:39:22,240 --> 00:39:23,060 to a certain degree 1324 00:39:23,060 --> 00:39:25,520 and welcomed his 1325 00:39:25,520 --> 00:39:29,360 explorations 1326 00:39:29,360 --> 00:39:30,760 or experimentations 1327 00:39:30,760 --> 00:39:31,600 in magic. 1328 00:39:31,860 --> 00:39:33,360 So he found in Cameron 1329 00:39:33,360 --> 00:39:35,460 someone that would go with him 1330 00:39:35,460 --> 00:39:36,740 to this place 1331 00:39:36,740 --> 00:39:37,740 that he was seeking 1332 00:39:37,740 --> 00:39:38,620 to go magically. 1333 00:39:38,620 --> 00:39:42,920 Cameron gained a reputation 1334 00:39:42,920 --> 00:39:43,660 as an artist 1335 00:39:43,660 --> 00:39:45,280 and in the 50s and 60s 1336 00:39:45,280 --> 00:39:46,260 would become important 1337 00:39:46,260 --> 00:39:47,580 in the L.A. beat scene. 1338 00:39:54,620 --> 00:39:55,180 Unfortunately, 1339 00:39:55,500 --> 00:39:56,620 the two weren't terribly suited 1340 00:39:56,620 --> 00:39:57,240 to each other. 1341 00:39:57,780 --> 00:40:00,100 Parsons was very fragile 1342 00:40:00,100 --> 00:40:01,160 mentally at the time, 1343 00:40:01,880 --> 00:40:03,000 having been excluded 1344 00:40:03,000 --> 00:40:03,680 from so many 1345 00:40:03,680 --> 00:40:05,280 of his core interests. 1346 00:40:06,280 --> 00:40:07,840 And Cameron wasn't one 1347 00:40:07,840 --> 00:40:10,000 to, or she rather 1348 00:40:10,000 --> 00:40:10,920 entered into the spirit 1349 00:40:10,920 --> 00:40:11,640 of do what they will, 1350 00:40:11,720 --> 00:40:12,200 shall be the whole 1351 00:40:12,200 --> 00:40:12,580 of the law, 1352 00:40:12,700 --> 00:40:13,400 with more vigor 1353 00:40:13,400 --> 00:40:14,580 than Parsons ever had. 1354 00:40:15,360 --> 00:40:16,380 She ended up 1355 00:40:16,380 --> 00:40:18,420 running down to Mexico, 1356 00:40:19,280 --> 00:40:21,640 sleeping with a matador 1357 00:40:21,640 --> 00:40:23,100 down in Mexico somewhere. 1358 00:40:23,240 --> 00:40:25,100 And Parsons realized 1359 00:40:25,100 --> 00:40:25,820 that he hadn't just 1360 00:40:25,820 --> 00:40:26,240 conjured up, 1361 00:40:26,320 --> 00:40:26,480 you know, 1362 00:40:26,500 --> 00:40:27,240 his perfect wife, 1363 00:40:27,280 --> 00:40:27,800 he'd conjured up 1364 00:40:27,800 --> 00:40:29,160 this woman who was 1365 00:40:29,160 --> 00:40:31,040 going to push him 1366 00:40:31,040 --> 00:40:31,580 to the limits 1367 00:40:31,580 --> 00:40:32,320 of his sanity. 1368 00:40:34,620 --> 00:40:35,820 In 1947, 1369 00:40:35,820 --> 00:40:38,100 the latest FBI investigation 1370 00:40:38,100 --> 00:40:39,060 led to Parsons 1371 00:40:39,060 --> 00:40:39,860 being declared 1372 00:40:39,860 --> 00:40:41,660 an undesirable employee 1373 00:40:41,660 --> 00:40:43,480 for national defense work. 1374 00:40:44,240 --> 00:40:45,220 It left him 1375 00:40:45,220 --> 00:40:46,760 almost unemployable. 1376 00:40:49,260 --> 00:40:50,900 It took two years, 1377 00:40:51,080 --> 00:40:51,600 but things were 1378 00:40:51,600 --> 00:40:52,640 starting to look up. 1379 00:40:53,380 --> 00:40:54,520 Jack's security clearance 1380 00:40:54,520 --> 00:40:55,120 was returned 1381 00:40:55,120 --> 00:40:56,580 along with his back pay. 1382 00:40:57,340 --> 00:40:58,560 Then he was approached 1383 00:40:58,560 --> 00:40:59,660 by the emerging state 1384 00:40:59,660 --> 00:41:00,240 of Israel 1385 00:41:00,240 --> 00:41:01,540 to help them start 1386 00:41:01,540 --> 00:41:02,560 a rocket program. 1387 00:41:05,760 --> 00:41:06,760 At the time, 1388 00:41:06,880 --> 00:41:07,700 Parsons was working 1389 00:41:07,700 --> 00:41:08,520 for Howard Hughes 1390 00:41:08,520 --> 00:41:09,600 Aircraft Company. 1391 00:41:11,200 --> 00:41:12,660 In preparing his report 1392 00:41:12,660 --> 00:41:13,360 for the Israelis, 1393 00:41:13,720 --> 00:41:14,680 he asked a secretary 1394 00:41:14,680 --> 00:41:15,700 at Hughes Aircraft 1395 00:41:15,700 --> 00:41:16,280 to type up 1396 00:41:16,280 --> 00:41:16,720 some of his 1397 00:41:16,720 --> 00:41:17,620 handwritten notes. 1398 00:41:19,820 --> 00:41:21,220 This led to accusations 1399 00:41:21,220 --> 00:41:22,260 of espionage, 1400 00:41:22,560 --> 00:41:23,160 and the FBI 1401 00:41:23,160 --> 00:41:24,460 moved to prosecute. 1402 00:41:27,940 --> 00:41:28,380 Cameron, 1403 00:41:28,640 --> 00:41:29,540 hearing of his troubles, 1404 00:41:29,540 --> 00:41:31,020 returned to be with him. 1405 00:41:31,760 --> 00:41:32,540 It would take 1406 00:41:32,540 --> 00:41:33,580 another two years 1407 00:41:33,580 --> 00:41:34,240 for the charges 1408 00:41:34,240 --> 00:41:34,900 to be dropped. 1409 00:41:36,240 --> 00:41:37,300 But this ordeal 1410 00:41:37,300 --> 00:41:38,240 had robbed Jack 1411 00:41:38,240 --> 00:41:39,640 of more than just time. 1412 00:41:42,160 --> 00:41:43,240 He was reduced 1413 00:41:43,240 --> 00:41:44,400 to making 1414 00:41:44,400 --> 00:41:47,160 explosive squibs 1415 00:41:47,160 --> 00:41:48,360 for Hollywood films. 1416 00:41:49,480 --> 00:41:50,300 So that's how 1417 00:41:50,300 --> 00:41:51,100 the man who founded 1418 00:41:51,100 --> 00:41:52,160 the American rocketry 1419 00:41:52,160 --> 00:41:56,380 complex ended his life 1420 00:41:56,380 --> 00:41:58,140 as a special effects designer. 1421 00:41:59,540 --> 00:42:02,580 As interesting 1422 00:42:02,580 --> 00:42:03,580 as a rocket program 1423 00:42:03,580 --> 00:42:04,540 in Israel sounded, 1424 00:42:05,000 --> 00:42:05,780 nothing was certain. 1425 00:42:06,860 --> 00:42:08,080 In any case, 1426 00:42:08,540 --> 00:42:09,540 Israel could wait. 1427 00:42:10,480 --> 00:42:11,680 Now free to travel, 1428 00:42:12,120 --> 00:42:12,800 Cameron and Jack 1429 00:42:12,800 --> 00:42:13,840 decided to first 1430 00:42:13,840 --> 00:42:14,880 go to Mexico. 1431 00:42:16,880 --> 00:42:18,200 They were planning 1432 00:42:18,200 --> 00:42:19,900 to leave the country. 1433 00:42:20,180 --> 00:42:21,240 They were going to Mexico, 1434 00:42:21,800 --> 00:42:23,000 Cameron and Jack. 1435 00:42:23,000 --> 00:42:26,380 and Cameron went out 1436 00:42:26,380 --> 00:42:28,160 to gas up the car. 1437 00:42:29,760 --> 00:42:31,160 While Cameron was out, 1438 00:42:31,520 --> 00:42:32,160 Jack went to fill 1439 00:42:32,160 --> 00:42:33,120 a last-minute order 1440 00:42:33,120 --> 00:42:34,100 from a movie studio 1441 00:42:34,100 --> 00:42:34,960 that needed some 1442 00:42:34,960 --> 00:42:36,300 special effects explosives. 1443 00:42:39,480 --> 00:42:40,600 The last person 1444 00:42:40,600 --> 00:42:41,680 to see Parsons alive 1445 00:42:41,680 --> 00:42:43,780 was his lodger 1446 00:42:43,780 --> 00:42:45,380 who lived in the same building 1447 00:42:45,380 --> 00:42:46,340 as Parsons Laboratory. 1448 00:42:46,980 --> 00:42:48,320 His name was Greg Gansey. 1449 00:42:48,940 --> 00:42:50,160 Now, Gansey recalls 1450 00:42:50,160 --> 00:42:51,640 going down into the garage 1451 00:42:51,640 --> 00:42:52,980 where Parsons did 1452 00:42:52,980 --> 00:42:54,840 his chemical work 1453 00:42:54,840 --> 00:42:56,140 and seeing Parsons 1454 00:42:56,140 --> 00:42:57,440 stirring various pots 1455 00:42:57,440 --> 00:42:59,520 and clicking various funnels. 1456 00:43:00,720 --> 00:43:02,940 And he said to Parsons, 1457 00:43:03,100 --> 00:43:04,140 in a jocular tone, 1458 00:43:04,220 --> 00:43:05,180 whatever you do, Jack, 1459 00:43:05,240 --> 00:43:06,040 don't blow us up. 1460 00:43:07,000 --> 00:43:08,020 And the last words 1461 00:43:08,020 --> 00:43:09,180 he remembers Parsons saying 1462 00:43:09,180 --> 00:43:11,020 as Greg walked up the stairs 1463 00:43:11,020 --> 00:43:11,840 back to his apartment 1464 00:43:11,840 --> 00:43:12,720 was, don't worry, 1465 00:43:13,060 --> 00:43:14,420 everything's okay. 1466 00:43:14,420 --> 00:43:20,260 then Greg Gansey, 1467 00:43:20,340 --> 00:43:21,060 the next thing Greg Gansey 1468 00:43:21,060 --> 00:43:22,020 remembers is a giant 1469 00:43:22,020 --> 00:43:23,320 explosion taking place. 1470 00:43:23,480 --> 00:43:24,240 He's in his apartment 1471 00:43:24,240 --> 00:43:24,740 upstairs. 1472 00:43:25,380 --> 00:43:26,420 The grand piano 1473 00:43:26,420 --> 00:43:27,380 he has in his apartment 1474 00:43:27,380 --> 00:43:28,760 is lifted off the ground 1475 00:43:28,760 --> 00:43:29,980 and shatters to the ground. 1476 00:43:30,260 --> 00:43:31,260 He rushes downstairs 1477 00:43:31,260 --> 00:43:33,220 and with his colleague, 1478 00:43:33,220 --> 00:43:34,500 they find Parsons 1479 00:43:34,500 --> 00:43:35,600 on the floor. 1480 00:43:36,000 --> 00:43:36,660 But somehow, 1481 00:43:36,840 --> 00:43:37,880 Parsons was still alive. 1482 00:43:38,920 --> 00:43:40,100 They call for the ambulance. 1483 00:43:40,520 --> 00:43:41,160 The police came. 1484 00:43:42,380 --> 00:43:43,100 Parsons was taken 1485 00:43:43,100 --> 00:43:43,740 into our hospital 1486 00:43:43,740 --> 00:43:44,640 but his injuries 1487 00:43:44,640 --> 00:43:45,300 were too severe 1488 00:43:45,300 --> 00:43:48,000 and he died within an hour. 1489 00:43:49,380 --> 00:43:50,280 Now, curiously enough 1490 00:43:50,280 --> 00:43:53,180 to add even more tragedy 1491 00:43:53,180 --> 00:43:53,760 to the day, 1492 00:43:54,520 --> 00:43:56,100 once Parsons' mother, 1493 00:43:56,220 --> 00:43:56,960 who was still alive, 1494 00:43:57,060 --> 00:43:59,520 was told that Parsons had died, 1495 00:44:00,360 --> 00:44:02,080 she took an overdose 1496 00:44:02,080 --> 00:44:02,980 of sleeping pills 1497 00:44:02,980 --> 00:44:04,080 and killed herself. 1498 00:44:05,020 --> 00:44:06,400 So she died three hours 1499 00:44:06,400 --> 00:44:07,120 after her son. 1500 00:44:08,600 --> 00:44:11,300 It was a, well, 1501 00:44:11,440 --> 00:44:12,120 a very strange 1502 00:44:12,120 --> 00:44:12,920 and tragic day. 1503 00:44:13,100 --> 00:44:14,780 um, in Pasadena. 1504 00:44:16,540 --> 00:44:17,100 Now, 1505 00:44:17,380 --> 00:44:18,960 why did he die? 1506 00:44:20,960 --> 00:44:22,220 Many still refuse 1507 00:44:22,220 --> 00:44:22,800 to believe 1508 00:44:22,800 --> 00:44:24,100 the official explanation 1509 00:44:24,100 --> 00:44:24,840 that his death 1510 00:44:24,840 --> 00:44:26,440 was just a tragic accident. 1511 00:44:29,520 --> 00:44:30,520 To the mystery 1512 00:44:30,520 --> 00:44:31,500 of Parsons' death, 1513 00:44:31,620 --> 00:44:32,240 some answer, 1514 00:44:32,400 --> 00:44:34,060 perhaps with tongue-in-cheek. 1515 00:44:34,060 --> 00:44:35,640 We thought, well, 1516 00:44:35,640 --> 00:44:40,860 possibly Parsons conjured up 1517 00:44:40,860 --> 00:44:42,940 a fire devil 1518 00:44:42,940 --> 00:44:45,020 with all of these 1519 00:44:45,020 --> 00:44:46,600 explosives around 1520 00:44:46,600 --> 00:44:47,900 and that's what was, 1521 00:44:48,320 --> 00:44:50,640 what blew him up. 1522 00:44:52,640 --> 00:44:54,340 Others argue it was murder 1523 00:44:54,340 --> 00:44:55,720 at the hands of a cop 1524 00:44:55,720 --> 00:44:57,340 Parsons had sent up River. 1525 00:44:57,340 --> 00:45:00,080 was that explosion 1526 00:45:00,080 --> 00:45:01,280 in which he died 1527 00:45:01,280 --> 00:45:02,740 the result of 1528 00:45:02,740 --> 00:45:05,080 that detective 1529 00:45:05,080 --> 00:45:06,540 gaining vengeance 1530 00:45:06,540 --> 00:45:07,880 on Jack Parsons. 1531 00:45:07,880 --> 00:45:10,880 The cops he had helped 1532 00:45:10,880 --> 00:45:11,500 send away 1533 00:45:11,500 --> 00:45:12,620 had been found guilty 1534 00:45:12,620 --> 00:45:13,820 of exactly that, 1535 00:45:14,600 --> 00:45:15,540 blowing up people 1536 00:45:15,540 --> 00:45:16,640 who got in their way. 1537 00:45:18,880 --> 00:45:19,780 One of them, 1538 00:45:20,320 --> 00:45:21,120 Captain Canette, 1539 00:45:21,500 --> 00:45:22,280 had been released 1540 00:45:22,280 --> 00:45:22,920 from prison 1541 00:45:22,920 --> 00:45:24,320 a few days earlier. 1542 00:45:24,320 --> 00:45:27,480 Cameron always believed 1543 00:45:27,480 --> 00:45:28,980 that Howard Hughes 1544 00:45:28,980 --> 00:45:30,600 was behind Jack's death, 1545 00:45:31,500 --> 00:45:32,740 believe it or not, 1546 00:45:32,920 --> 00:45:33,560 and, uh, 1547 00:45:34,200 --> 00:45:34,660 which is, 1548 00:45:34,820 --> 00:45:35,500 could be plausible. 1549 00:45:38,040 --> 00:45:39,380 Jack had been working 1550 00:45:39,380 --> 00:45:40,120 for Hughes. 1551 00:45:40,620 --> 00:45:41,320 He'd been fired 1552 00:45:41,320 --> 00:45:41,940 for removing 1553 00:45:41,940 --> 00:45:43,260 classified documents. 1554 00:45:44,180 --> 00:45:45,200 Did Parsons possess 1555 00:45:45,200 --> 00:45:46,260 industrial secrets 1556 00:45:46,260 --> 00:45:47,320 that were too valuable 1557 00:45:47,320 --> 00:45:48,520 to have knocking about? 1558 00:45:49,840 --> 00:45:51,600 Could similar concerns 1559 00:45:51,600 --> 00:45:52,320 have motivated 1560 00:45:52,320 --> 00:45:53,540 a political assassination? 1561 00:45:54,320 --> 00:45:57,240 Military intelligence 1562 00:45:57,240 --> 00:45:58,180 must have been worried 1563 00:45:58,180 --> 00:45:59,240 about this loose cannon 1564 00:45:59,240 --> 00:46:00,120 leaving the country, 1565 00:46:00,500 --> 00:46:01,320 given the secrets 1566 00:46:01,320 --> 00:46:02,360 he had in his head. 1567 00:46:05,760 --> 00:46:07,060 One can't be certain, 1568 00:46:07,320 --> 00:46:07,760 but I think 1569 00:46:07,760 --> 00:46:08,760 that's just as well. 1570 00:46:10,460 --> 00:46:11,420 One may lean 1571 00:46:11,420 --> 00:46:12,200 towards the accident, 1572 00:46:12,400 --> 00:46:13,000 but I don't think 1573 00:46:13,000 --> 00:46:13,800 one needs to actually 1574 00:46:13,800 --> 00:46:14,980 make any final conclusions 1575 00:46:14,980 --> 00:46:16,020 about Parsons' death. 1576 00:46:19,120 --> 00:46:20,400 One thing is certain. 1577 00:46:21,100 --> 00:46:22,240 Some years earlier, 1578 00:46:22,380 --> 00:46:23,180 Parsons had, 1579 00:46:23,260 --> 00:46:24,300 with uncanny force, 1580 00:46:24,320 --> 00:46:25,680 written to Crowley, 1581 00:46:25,880 --> 00:46:27,620 Babylon is incarnate 1582 00:46:27,620 --> 00:46:28,660 on the Earth today, 1583 00:46:29,200 --> 00:46:30,580 awaiting the proper hour 1584 00:46:30,580 --> 00:46:31,620 of her manifestation. 1585 00:46:32,780 --> 00:46:33,900 And in that day, 1586 00:46:34,280 --> 00:46:35,840 my work will be accomplished, 1587 00:46:36,240 --> 00:46:37,920 and I will be blown away 1588 00:46:37,920 --> 00:46:38,920 upon the breath 1589 00:46:38,920 --> 00:46:39,900 of the fire. 1590 00:46:39,900 --> 00:46:52,300 Beechers on TV 1591 00:46:52,300 --> 00:46:55,200 tell me I'm living wrong, 1592 00:46:55,200 --> 00:46:59,380 but I've tasted the lips 1593 00:46:59,380 --> 00:47:01,640 of sweet Babylon. 1594 00:47:01,640 --> 00:47:03,260 and I will open up on me, 1595 00:47:03,380 --> 00:47:06,080 I will probably be tried to be satisfied 1596 00:47:06,440 --> 00:47:06,640 by my health 1597 00:47:06,640 --> 00:47:08,000 and then I will know 1598 00:47:08,000 --> 00:47:28,560 двигat