#20 - Pete Kelsey

In this episode, Angus talks with Pete Kelsey—AEC veteran, reality-capture leader, and founder of VCTO Labs—about building survey-grade, photorealistic models that turn complex places into actionable narratives for conservation, planning, and prime-time storytelling. From the Air Force Academy Chapel and Glen Canyon Dam to the Moai and USS Arizona, Pete explains why "story first, tools second" became his north star—and how lidar, photogrammetry, and tight control transform public understanding of place. Eventually, the conversation heads into geospatial forensics for television: Expedition Bigfoot and The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch. At the Patterson–Gimlin site, perspective matching on scan-tied geometry yielded a defensible height for "Patty," opening the door to deeper biomechanical study. At the ranch, GPS misbehavior across phones, survey GNSS, aircraft, and drones—plus "impossible" lidar returns—raises a provocative hypothesis: time-related effects. It's a candid, nuts-and-bolts look at balancing credibility with entertainment while keeping the measurement honest—and why rigor matters when reality gets weird.