The What If? Podcast

One of the most famous UFO sightings in the history of the United States happened on March 13th, 1999 in Phoenix, Arizona. It's been one of the cases at the forefront of contemporary UFO conversations ever since. A number of bright lights, resembling a massive craft, were seen by thousands of Arizonians that night, and photographic and video evidence was collected. Air Force pilots, retired cops,...

Many mammals and species around the world have giant ancestors. From Megalodon to Titanoboa, sharks and snakes had ancestors that were double or triple their size... so then couldn't the same be true for humans? This week on The What If? Podcast, we explore that exact possibility—that we have preceding humanoid ancestors that are, well... BIG. From burial mounds in the midwest, to Giant Gingers in...

WE ARE GOING TO BE SOOOOO FAMOUS! This week, we're cooking up a highly questionable plan to game the system and launch our music careers. We also discuss a Bulgarian playlist maker that used 1,200 Spotify accounts to generate more than $1,000,000 in revenue.  Join us on Patreon for an extra episode this week.   Have an idea for an episode?  Leave us a voicemail at (612) 246-4614 OR send us an emai...

Spencer survived LA. Ryan survived Minnesota. And we’re back this week to talk about a whole lot of stuff for catchin’ up on. MAINLY: What if we went to the Grammys? What if Jose Canseco abducts us? What if Cardi B is a cryptid? What if Post Malone is Bigfoot What if UFOs descended over Chicago? WHAT IF WE DON’T EVEN KNOW ANYMORE? This week is all over the place, but we promise it’s worth the ding...

Conspiracies, inventions, futuristic visions, alien communication - it's as if legendary inventor and physicist Nikola Tesla was designed in a lab to be a topic on The What If? Podcast. This week we dive into the life and times of Tesla, and tell the story of his fabled, strange, cryptic and fascinating career. His time in Serbia, traveling to the United States to war with competitor and inventor...

In the mid '90s reports of a strange creature killing livestock and sucking their blood travelled across Puerto Rico. Animals would be found dead in the morning, with three puncture wounds in their chest, and no blood in their bodies. Then came the sightings of beast unlike no other. Reports of how it look vary, but the death it leaves behind does not. What is happening here? Are aliens testing fa...

When we asked for listener feedback on the creepy things their kids have said or done, we didn't imagine we'd get the strong response we did. And when we checked the internet, we didn't know just how common this phenomenon is. This week, we're talking about the age at which children seem to be able to see ghosts, communicate with the dead, invent people in the room, remember details from their pas...

Guys, Ryan continues to have the worst dang luck. For the latest entry in the series of unfortunate events that has become his life story, he's sick and has no voice, so we can't record the sweet new episode we had planned for this week.  We'll be back with a new one next week, but in the meantime, check out this Patreon episode from a couple weeks ago. What is glitter? How is it made? Which myste...

In 1998, Brian Bethel put forth unto the internet a story of the utmost strange. A visit to his vehicle in a parking lot late one night that included strange, awkward children that possessed all black eyes, demanding entrance to his car. This set off an internet firestorm of stories from all over the world, regarding encounters of similar sorts. Pale children, visiting people, and demanding entran...

In the mid-60's, an Italian priest and scientist is supposed to have invented one of the greatest and most mind-blowing devices in history. The Chronovisor. A cabinet decked out with tubes, levers, wires, and antennas, the Chronovisor supposedly let its users tap into history by traveling back to high volumes of electromagnetic signals left in time and space. The priest, Pellegrino Ernetti , alleg...

The Vatican Secret Archives, located in Vatican City, contain a wide variety of catholic documents dating back to the 8th century. Because access to the archives is highly regulated, people have speculated they contain all sorts of mysterious items and documents, including proof of alien life, predictions of the coming apocalypse, and a time machine. This week we ponder whether or not they actuall...

We travel deep into Siberia this week, for our final installment in our three-part series on isolation. Under religious persecution, from the Communist Party in Russia, the Lykov family, from a sect of what was called the Old Believers, decided to renounce traditional society. They fled threats of death and destruction, deep, deep into the remote Siberian wilderness - the taiga - where they lived...

Boy oh boy, when we said we had a part two coming, we didn't know it'd be all this. But here we are, back again to talk about the strangeness of isolation. When it comes to living in isolation, the concept takes takes a few different forms. This week on The What If? Podcast, we do a follow up on last week's eerily timed episode, and put out an update on John Chau, the American missionary who was k...

Even with the globalized world we live in, there are an estimated over 100 uncontacted tribes of people, living with minimal interruption from the outside world. Some, with histories going back as far as the Stone Age. Today, on The What If? Podcast, we explore two of the most famously isolated groups of people in the world, and discuss how the came to both be - and how they attempt to stay - in i...

On October 19th of 2017, an interstellar object was observed in our solar system for the very first time. Observed through Hawaiian telescopes, scientists named it Oumuamua. What has followed, is a curious exploration into what, in fact, this interstellar visitor actually is. The topic of of borderline scientific brawls, new Harvard papers this week suggest the possibility that Oumuamua is in fact...

Well gang. Sometimes one person goes missing. But apparently, sometimes a lot of people go missing at the same time too. It's a weird one this week (ain't it always?), as we explore the truth (or maybe the lack thereof) of when a whole buncha stuff goes missing all at once. Is it UFOs? Is it holograms? Is it just one big bucket of malarkey? This week we explore a Chinese city in the mountains that...

Happy Halloween, you beautiful weirdos! It's a spooky night for spooky frights, so we're diving deep into more topics of the season. And that means ghost, poltergeists, levitations, hauntings, and enough tricks and treats to take you right through pumpkin carving, and straight into mulled wine and candy giving (and/or eating). This week, we're talking UK ghost stores specifically, going to England...

Look, we'd stop doin' episodes about this if y'all stopped goin' missin'. But here we are. On part six, and people of this ding-dang universe keep bein' hard to find. This week we dive deep into the disappearance phenomenon, as it relates specifically to the folks who go bye-bye in National Parks of the United States. We talk through David Paulides's take on why people go missing in the US parks s...

Y'all, Halloween is right around the corner. And that means we're diving deep into a seasonal classic - Vampires. Where in the heck are they from? How in the heck do you kill one? What in the heck are modern day vampires doin' tryin' ta eat each others' essence!?!? Find out right now on this week's episode of The What If? Podcast. Hot Topics: Spooktober is Upon Us, It's a Tricycle, Godd*mmit, Show...

On September 7, 1996 Tupac Shakur was shot four times after leaving a boxing match in Las Vegas. He died six days later. The murder has never been solved, spurring speculation that Tupac may have faked his own death to escape death threats, legal issues, gang life, and more. Is 2pac actually dead? If so, who shot him? And if not, where is he living how? Is Tupac in Cuba with his godmother, hiding...

We're taking a much needed week off after 100 straight episodes, but in the meantime, we've decided to share our all-time favorite Patreon episode with y'all. We called Bear, he answered, and he had some WILD stories to tell.  If you enjoyed this episode, join our patreon to get an extra episode every week, plus our whole back catalog of more than 50 full-length episodes. Intro music by Safe Jazz...

In 1944, US fighter pilots stationed in France started seeing strange lights during night flights. Out the windows of their planes, orange and red fiery lights would organize, dip, dive, and follow their planes, to the point the pilots were, "scared sh**less." What followed over the next five years was a series of sightings around the globe. What about World War II started a domino effect of UFO s...

Holy bananas gang, we been at it for 99 times. 99 episodes of beer on the wall? 99 problems but a ghost ain't one? Free 99??? Yep, it's The What If? Podcast, and this week, we're talking current events with the closure of the Sunspot Observatory in New Mexico this past week. Why did the FBI show up in New Mexico, and close a 9,000 ft. high sun observatory? With no explanation and no recourse? This...

In August of 1971 in Spain, the Pereira family started noticing a strange phenomenon on the floor of their kitchen. What started as stains in concrete evolved into what appeared to be illustrated faces of people. What follows is the mystery of today's episode. Where did the faces come from? Are they real paranormal ghost dumpster faces living beneath the Pereira house? Was this an elaborate ruse f...

In 1959, nine ski hikers and friends entered the Ural mountains, and never came home. What followed was a months long investigation with little conclusion, as to what happened to the group of hikers. Skiers. Skikers? Hiers? Through some "unknown compelling force" (as the official explanation would finally say), the nine friends left their tent in below zero temperatures, half-clothed, and proceede...