I think Horan will attempt to overwhelm you with the facts of the case, pointing out unexplained events in the case narrative that his theories attempt to account for. Conspiracy theories tend to follow this pattern (i.e., the conspiracy theorist fills every gap with his theory). Assuming his theories don’t hold up, then your job will be to show that his explanation is not the only possible one.

If you argue with him on his level, you will be forced to present and justify alternate explanations for all the "holes" in the Zodiac narrative. This is how I end up approaching most claims of solutions to the ciphers: Generally speaking, the would-be solver has presented a solution but ignores the many others that also reasonably fit using the same approach. Horan’s theory can probably also be categorized this way, since there may be multiple rational explanations for each piece of evidence he highlights. But an idea about the Zodiac case is only truly useful if it is shown to be the *only* rational explanation (i.e., the Hardens’ key to the 408 is the only rational solution.) Otherwise, the idea can only be as good as all the others. If all Horan can do is show that his idea is as good as any of the others, then he hasn’t proven anything.

This is a scientific approach. An idea only holds weight if it survives the tests. But even so, many people don’t care about that. I once listened to a debate between astronomer Phil Plait and entertainer Joe Rogan. They debated over whether or not the moon landing was hoaxed. Rogan presented all the supposed "gaps" in the narrative and physical evidence on the moon landing, and Plait attempted to address them all. While Plait had the force of reality and evidence on his side, Rogan was much more aggressive and effective at pushing his message across because of his long experience as a broadcaster and stand up comedian. He also injected a lot of emotion into the topic, which listeners latch onto very readily. Be careful to not get too emotional when engaging with Horan. But then again, maybe the right kind of emotion makes listeners change their minds.

It’s going to be tedious work and I don’t envy you for it.

That’s an excellent point D. That puts you in hot water because the guy who is presenting BS is using facts to back it up. You can’t argue with those facts, because you agree with them but you also look less credible because you were beaten to the punch and can’t use the facts as your own argument, you just have to make up your own idea about an alternative scenario… and then you get two guys who are arguing hypothetical speculation and each one is equally valid even though one is totally bonkers.

You got it sort of easy Oranchak because no one can argue against math, but it’s hard to argue with conspiracies because the less evidence there is the more it proves the effectiveness of the conspiracy to the theorist.

Let’s hope that Morf get’s the first interview.

Destroy this kook.

You got it sort of easy Oranchak because no one can argue against math

You’d be surprised. People are pretty stubborn.

Good points D.

I also think he will use things Robert Graysmith wrote as evidence for a cover up. This is based on his blog that make absolutely no sense. But that is the gist I get from it.

Won’t really matter because Morf has and knows the FBI and police reports. Would be impossible for Graysmith to have authored and or altered those.

As a take on what I consider a variation on a conspiracy theme, I’d mention the following (if the opportunity presents itself): What the theorist almost always does is to attach undue significance to the inexplicable. If you put something – anything – under the microscope, there will be "holes" you cannot readily explain. This fact in itself doesn’t indicate that an effort has been made to make it so. What we’re looking at is a fifty year old jigsaw puzzle. Some pieces are missing. That doesn’t mean someone has gone out of their way to deliberately hide these pieces.

A particular point I would focus on (again, if the opportunity arises) is that Horan depends on perceived discrepancies between reports in order to make his theory work. A discrepancy between a police report and a newspaper report isn’t remarkable at all. Take a look at a randomly chosen article in the Chronicle (or the Examiner, or the Vallejo T-H) dealing with the Zodiac case. Chances are it’s loaded with factual errors and inaccuracies. That is telling in itself – and speaks clearly against some of Horan’s assumptions.

Anyway, I’m sure Morf will do just fine! Stick to the facts. And remind him that all the facts aren’t known – the latter isn’t suspicious in itself, quite to the contrary, it’s precisely what an intelligent person would expect, not least given that plenty of the SFPD material (in particular) hasn’t been released.

The show will be available on Monday night,9/8/14 at the following site:
http://thegenerationwhypodcast.com/

The show is recorded the night before with no call in lines etc

The show will be available on Monday night,9/8/14 at the following site:
http://thegenerationwhypodcast.com/

The show is recorded the night before with no call in lines etc

"You can do it! Kick him in his hairy balls!"

I would like to hear the show.Can radio stations be picked up and listened to fron the internet? Lol hopefully this is not a dumb question ed.

I would like to hear the show.Can radio stations be picked up and listened to fron the internet? Lol hopefully this is not a dumb question ed.

It appears it is a podcast, so it should be downloadable or streamed during content hours.

This is going to be like Bill Nye vs Ken Ham. Nice!

I thought this was worth a mention – and it’s pretty funny too:

http://stevehodel.com/2014/05/one-week- … ac-killer/

Now, one *cough* theorist accusing another *cough* theorist of playing dirty in this case (of all cases) is amusing in itself. But nevermind Hodel and Stewart: Scroll down to the comments and check out the contribution from Horan – and the response he gets from Wakshull, the QDE.

Wakshull seems to think there is no match between the printing of Z and that of Horan’s suspect. Only problem is that Wakshull has managed to conclude that a random minister who married Best and his wife wrote the Z letters, so he isn’t exactly a powerhouse of credibility to begin with. But Horan may, actually, have a point regarding what source material Stewart provided him with. Still, the fun part is that Wakshull seems to dismiss Horan’s guy in no uncertain terms…

I thought this was worth a mention – and it’s pretty funny too:

http://stevehodel.com/2014/05/one-week- … ac-killer/

Now, one *cough* theorist accusing another *cough* theorist of playing dirty in this case (of all cases) is amusing in itself. But nevermind Hodel and Stewart: Scroll down to the comments and check out the contribution from Horan – and the response he gets from Wakshull, the QDE.

Wakshull seems to think there is no match between the printing of Z and that of Horan’s suspect. Only problem is that Wakshull has managed to conclude that a random minister who married Best and his wife wrote the Z letters, so he isn’t exactly a powerhouse of credibility to begin with. But Horan may, actually, have a point regarding what source material Stewart provided him with. Still, the fun part is that Wakshull seems to dismiss Horan’s guy in no uncertain terms…

I think we can safely discredit Wakshull

Absolutely. His work for Stewart and his co-author/ghost writer is clearly irresponsible regardless of what sources they provided him with. If said sources are lacking in one way or another (and they clearly are), a responsible professional should simply state that he can’t reach any valid conclusions – and that is that.

What is funny about this is that Horan a) tries to get the less than credible Wakshull to endorse his own suspect and b) only succeeds in pi**ing Wakshull off, who then proceeds to undermine Horan’s claims.

If anybody wants to list some question for me to pose to Horan, or present some ideas that don’t seem to support his hoax theory, please PM them to me, and I will try to present them on the show for Horan to address.