Astonishing Legends

When you hear the name, "The Grim Reaper," a very familiar image probably pops into your head. With the black robe and cowl, skeletal face and hands or the visage of a dour corpse, a threatening scythe, and hourglass at its last sands, this is the image the modern, western person thinks of when we personify death. But where did this visual come from? How do we know what death looks like? And since death has always been with us, isn't this image as old as that finality itself? One might think so, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Surely since there have been humans, we have wondered what becomes of us once we die, where do we go when we shuffle off this mortal coil, and how do we get there? What we have found is that yes, we have always created myths and put a face on death in order to help comprehend such an abstract and mysterious concept, but that face has morphed through the ages and varies by culture. In the ancient western world, the concept of a Grim Reaper was more of a psychopomp, a guide that tak

You might not believe in ghosts, but it would be difficult to ignore all the furtive and orchestrated actions that were going on throughout the years at 30 East Drive, which continue to this day. Certainly, in some famous poltergeist cases, incidents could have been manipulated to gain attention for the prankster. However, unless you're contending that pre-teens have somehow gained Hollywood Special Effects level skills in every case, then some of the more bizarre and baffling examples of poltergeist activity would be worthy of investigation. Then what exactly, are the defining factors between a run-of-the-mill poltergeist and other types of spirit activity? Is a poltergeist more paranormal than supernatural? What are the rules? There are theories that poltergeist activity may be a physical manifestation of intensely directed energy emanating from people, mostly youth. As "fringe" as that may seem, then in some cases it might possibly be explained by science one day, that is, if enough scientists would be wil

Poltergeists are all fun & games, that is until they try to strangle you.  The actions of whatever force was interacting with the Pritchard family at 30 East Drive in Pontefract, England had seemed playful in a way, albeit disturbing and churlish at times.  It seemed there was a primary personality that was the source of the mischief they were experiencing and so consistent were its stunts that the family became familiar with this presence they called "Fred."  However, no one really knows what someone or something is capable of until it gets angry.  The family saw another side to Fred, or The Black Monk, when it violently attacked the daughter Diane Pritchard on the stairs, leaving red marks on her throat.  But was this the doings of their ol' gadfly pal Fred, or something much more sinister?  Join us tonight as we examine this escalation of poltergeist activity at the house and try to analyze this darker, malevolent nature of the Black Monk. For more information on this episode visit our website!

The quote, "Guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days" is attributed to Benjamin Franklin. We assume the esteemed Mr. Franklin was speaking only of human guests, but it could also apply to the subject of tonight's show. Because the uninvited guest of 30 East Drive in Pontefract, England would prove to be more than an annoying visitor oblivious to hints or uncaring that they'd overstayed their welcome, it would show itself as a threat to the family's safety and sanity. In the mid-1960s and 70s, the Pritchard family who lived at that address experienced a visitor who was not only unwelcome but unseen, a capricious prankster whose sense of humor was offset by its sometimes vicious and violent power. Human beings have an astounding ability to endure hardships they are powerless against and eventually, this poltergeist presence came to be somewhat accepted, with the mother of the family, Jean, giving it the nickname "Fred." But what was this force in supernatural terms? Was Fred merely poltergeist energy

We met filmmaker Seth Breedlove at the Kent Stage for the 2018 Kent Paranormal Weekend symposium, where our first event was a screening of his film, The Mothman of Point Pleasant.  Needless to say, we were very impressed by his documentary on the subject and then later by Seth himself.  After a very pleasant chat in the lobby, we knew we had met a kindred spirit and had to get him on the show to discuss other works by his film production company, Small Town Monsters.  Tonight we discuss Seth's oeuvre of well-researched, fascinating and enjoyable documentaries, covering such topics as the Minerva Monster, the Beast of Whitehall, the Boggy Creek Monster, Mothman of Point Pleasant, Invasion on Chestnut Ridge, the Flatwoods Monster, and his latest, The Bray Road Beast, as well as several upcoming projects.  We'll find out what captivates him about each incident and the creatures at their centers, what it was like to actually explore these towns, and what he thinks might be happening with all this High Strangeness

Anyone who has experienced what is considered a paranormal event will tell you that it's not easy to tell others about what you had witnessed, especially if that experience was dramatic and significant.  Testimony about such things is often met with ridicule, scorn and sometimes violence by those who feel threatened by such challenges to their reality.  Therefore it takes no small amount of courage and resolution to tell your truth and stick to it.  Such are the qualities that we believe make up the mettle of tonight's guest, David "Dave" Davies.  Davies has had to endure bullying and beatings since he first described what he witnessed for himself and what his classmates had seen landing on the playground of the Broad Haven Primary School in Pembrokeshire, Wales in 1977.  For the 40 years since that close encounter, Davies has stood by his story with conviction and without embellishment or wavering, still ever willing to talk about his experience.  In fact, the sighting had made such an impact on him that he'

So many popular culture misconceptions abound with stories of UFO sightings; that it's always some farmer, alone in his fields when an unidentified flying object appears. The "hayseed farmer" is an easy target to dismiss with ridicule and hubris. Sure, sometimes it is a farm, as it was in 1977 at the Coombs family farm in southern Wales, but it is far from the norm. And it wasn't a singular farmer who witnessed a UFO then, prominent townsfolk and a group of schoolchildren also saw bizarre craft and phenomena during a series of events that would become known as the Broad Haven incident. The Coombs family would also go on to experience High Strangeness that would rival the happenings at Skinwalker Ranch. If you still think that remote farms are still the most likely places for such incredible tales to emerge, you might be surprised that schoolyards also seem to be just as common for alien interactions, with notable cases happening all over the world, in countries like Australia, Zimbabwe, and Russia. Decades la

On January 23, 1974, villagers in the community of Llandrillo in the Edeirnion area of Denbighshire, northern Wales, experienced a tremendous jolt and noise a little after 8:30 p.m., akin to a magnitude 3.5 earthquake.  Highly strange, colored lights were seen over the surrounding hills at the same time.  Another unusual occurrence was that the British Military was immediately on the scene as if they were tracking the "geological event" in real time.  The official Ministry of Defence conclusion was that the event was caused by a simultaneous earthquake and meteor impact, with the meteor being the cause of the freakish light show.  However, a meteor impact that would cause a shock of that magnitude would have left a visible crater, which was not found.  And of course, there were reports by witnesses on the scene of the military carting off bodies and wreckage.  Does this sound familiar to you?  It did enough to some tabloid papers at the time who dubbed it, "The Roswelsh Incident."  What's your conclusion?

Many people enjoy a good mystery.  However, mysteries often leave us slightly disturbed and unsettled, because we're also always searching for answers and when we look for answers, we're sometimes comforted the most by the simplest explanations.  With the case of the Flannan Isle Lighthouse Keepers, most are willing to accept that a massive "Rogue Wave" swept the three men into oblivion.  But what if meteorological science matched against clues left from the scene could show that this theory may not be the most plausible?  What if several simple, yet extreme events combined to plunge this mystery into the depths of the unexplained?  Join us tonight as we interview Keith McCloskey, author of the book, The Lighthouse: The Mystery of the Eilean Mòr Lighthouse Keepers.  We'll discuss his in-depth research into the case and the possibility that the simplest explanations, while the easiest to accept, are often not where the real truth lies submerged. For more information on this episode visit our website!

In 1899, construction on the Flannan Isles lighthouse was completed, perched atop Eilean Mòr, one of the highest points in the Outer Hebrides off the western coast of Scotland. It would soon experience its first tragedy and an enduring mystery. For several days, it's light could not be seen and on December 15, 1900, the ship Archtor documented this concern in its log while heading to port in Leith. However, 11 days would pass before the lighthouse tending ship Hesperus would be able to dock at Eilean Mòr due to foul weather, for which the area is well-known. What they discovered, or rather, didn't discover, would lead to one of the biggest mysteries of this enchanted region. Serious storm damage was evident on the island, but nothing seemed amiss inside the lighthouse itself except for the fact that the three lighthouse keepers had vanished and would never be seen again.   For more information on this episode visit our website!

Something or someone of great importance and influence had convinced and motivated these neolithic hunter-gatherers to put their way of life on hold and come together as a group to undertake such a tremendous project as Göbekli Tepe. This is likely the first time hundreds of prehistoric peoples had formed an organized collective in order to build a religious sanctuary. The work would've taken years to accomplish and the temple would be built upon for many centuries more. The result of this work is believed to have spurred civilization as we know it today. But what beliefs or legends could have generated such a monumental task?  In Part Three of our series, we examine the hypotheses put forth in Andrew Collins' book, Göbekli Tepe, Genesis of the Gods: The Temple of the Watchers and the Discovery of Eden. With his comprehensive and detailed research, Collins goes beyond the boundaries of interpretation where Processual archaeologists would not stray. Could the memory of a global, natural catastrophe which nearl

What we've learned so far about Göbekli Tepe, is what it appears to be, which is that it is possibly the world's oldest sacred temple.  We think we know who built it: a collective of hunter-gatherers, who had not yet learned the skills of farming.  We also think we know approximately when.  But the answers to the questions of how and why and what did it all mean to these Neolithic peoples may not be so easily obtained.  In fact, since the 1960s at least in American archaeology, a debate still rages as to how far and by what methods archaeologists should proceed to interpret what they have dug up.  How closely should archaeology be tied to anthropology, how much informed speculation about their beliefs should be allowed and by whom?  Processual and Post-processual archaeology are two schools of thought within the field that currently define this debate.   Tonight we take a closer look at the art, the architecture, and the symbolism from Göbelki Tepe, and what it's lead archaeologist, Klaus Schmidt, thought abo

In 1963, archaeologists from the University of Chicago and Istanbul University examined a site known by locals as Göbekli Tepe, or "Potbelly Hill."  They dismissed the site at the time as merely a medieval cemetery due to the numerous slabs of stone thought to be grave markers.  However, in 1993, German archaeologist Klaus Schmidt, who was doing work at another Neolithic site in nearby Nevalı Çori, heard about the report and decided to investigate it for himself.  What Schmidt and his team would eventually discover would turn out to be one of the most astounding, mysterious and important archaeological discoveries in history.  Laying just below the surface was the earliest known sanctuary structure ever built by humans.  Somehow, a group of prehistoric hunter-gathers had managed to quarry massive slabs of stone from nearby outcroppings, some weighing as much as 7 to 10 tons with lengths of up to 18 feet.  They then moved them hundreds of feet into numerous circular configurations.  This was done without the u

One of the highlights of our appearance at the Kent Paranormal Weekend was participating in our very first Ghost Hunt!  The event took place at the Kent Stage in Kent, Ohio which was first built in 1927 and since then has continued to host concerts, films, and various performances.  The theater is also host to a cast of characters who were once somehow connected to this historic theater and whose spirits remain there.  We explored the most haunted areas of the theater and tried our hand at documenting spirit activity, guided by experienced paranormal investigators Theresa Argie & Cathi Weber, known as The Haunted Housewives, Ray "Gooz" Goosby, Jeff and Susie from the North Canton Paranormal Detectives team, and theater owner Richelle Charlton.  One of the techniques we tried is trying to capture an "EVP" or an instance of Electronic Voice Phenomena, which some claim could be evidence of communication with the spirit world.  Electronic Voice Phenomenon are said to occur when a question is asked aloud in a

Of all the hypotheses of what happened to Amelia Earhart and her Electra 10-E, William "Bill" Snavely, Jr.'s may be the only one that starts with a found plane and traces her route backward towards her last known contact point. Operating on a hunch that due to low fuel, Earhart may have decided to turn back to a viable landing strip, which would have taken her directly over the path of Buka Island, east of Papua New Guinea. While in Buka searching for clues, Snavely received a tip that an airplane had crashed in 1937 and still lays submerged off the coast in 100' of water. According to Snavely, only roughly 30% of Earhart's route has been searched and has yielded nothing, so why not search the remaining 70%? Taking that approach has found a plane that so far, matches the description of Earhart's Electra. If an expedition could be mounted to identify this plane more thoroughly, could it be that one of the greatest mysteries of the 20th Century will be solved once and for all? For more information on this ep

If Resurrection Mary is just an Urban Legend, merely another variation of the "Vanishing Hitchhiker" then her story is a common one, with similar descriptions found in folklore all over the world. If she is a spirit, then she's also not alone, because it seems people of every country have come forward with testimony of meeting a real "Lady in White." If these ladies are a myth, or if they're real, or some combination of both, why are they so universally elemental? Why is she so primal? Do we see her because of the folklore, or is there folklore because we've seen her? But whether spirits or an archetypal legend, what these women are eternally searching for is something lost, like a child or a future taken away too soon. What they want is to return to a happier time when all was right with their world, to return home, wherever and whatever that home may be, so they may finally rest in peace.   For more information on this episode visit our website!

How many reported sightings of a particular ghost would it take before you started to believe that perhaps people were indeed interacting with something supernatural? Hundreds? Over a thousand? But you're looking for proof, you say. Well, what would be convincing proof for you? What about mysterious, spectral handprints melted and scorched into bronze bars that have resisted repair and coverup? Tonight in Part Three of our series, we examine the possibility that Mary may have left her indelible mark not only on the front gates of Resurrection Cemetery but also in the imaginations of Chicagoans ever since.   For more information on this episode visit our website!

As you delve into the legend of "Resurrection Mary," you'll soon notice that the stretch of Archer Avenue from Resurrection Cemetery to the Willowbrook Ballroom is not the only piece of land that seems haunted, nor is it haunted just by "Mary."  It seems the entire locality has a supernatural quality to it, enough that Chicago's "Southwest Siders" have dubbed it "The Archer Triangle," in reference to the more famous one near Bermuda.  But what is it about this region that spurs so many reports of paranormal activity?  Is it the legacy of ancient Native American activity, the numerous cemeteries located here, or Ley lines and waterways?  Is it all an imagined coincidence or is there a more sinister force at play?  Tonight, we take a more thorough look at Mary's favorite haunts and examine why the spirits of the area appear to be so restless. For more information on this episode visit our website!

Legend has it, that sometime in the late 1920s or early '30s, a young couple was enjoying an evening of dancing at the Oh Henry Ballroom, later renamed the Willowbrook Ballroom & Banquets, located southwest of Chicago, IL. After an argument, the woman stormed out, deciding she'd rather walk home than spend another minute with her boyfriend. As she walked along Archer Avenue on a wintery night, she was struck and killed by a hit and run driver. Her bereaved parents buried her at nearby Resurrection Cemetery in the white ballgown and shoes in which she died. Ever since, people have reported either dancing with or giving a ride to a hauntingly beautiful young woman, with long blonde hair and blue eyes, dressed in a white gown, who at some point vanishes from their midst. Accounts of these spectral encounters have been so numerous over the years that the legend of "Resurrection Mary" is perhaps Chicago's most famous and beloved ghost story.  For more information on this episode visit our website!

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