Astonishing Legends

Many of us have taken an adventurous expedition to check out some local, notorious spot to see if we could witness or sense some evidence of a past famous or infamous incident. Most of the time, one only returns with a minor anecdote or pictures of an ordinary location bereft of anything noteworthy. The more realistic purpose is not so much to find a ghoulish memento but to imagine what it must've...

So, as we close out our three-part series on Crop Circles, what have we all learned so far? Well, we've learned that Crop Circles are not just another fad from the 1980s and 90s. Generations of farmers going back at least to the turn of the last century have found them, and probably long before that if written accounts are accurate. They may have been the template or the inspiration for Standing S...

As we dive deeper into exploring the phenomenon of Crop Circles, it seems that the story of its research takes on the shape of other histories of paranormal investigation.  Misinformation and misdirection from government and military agencies, hoaxes complicating genuinely anomalous evidence, and the phenomena itself presenting an ever-moving target for those that seek the truth are akin to the se...

On a July afternoon in 1983, Colin Andrews, an electrical engineer and officer employed by the British regional government, was driving between his offices near Winchester and Hampshire when something caught his eye. Seeing something unusual in a farmer's field next to the road, he felt strongly compelled to pull over and check it out. A strange physical and mental sensation came over him as he ap...

We have a very special guest joining us tonight, metaphysical "astralnaut," philosopher of the liminal, "Pope of the Paranormal," and host of the AM Radio talk show Dark Air, Terry Carnation.  Terry first got his start in the paranormal radio genre when unexpectedly thrust into taking over for another show.  While working as a late-night rock n' roll Disc Jockey for an FM station in Buffalo, NY, i...

As legend would have it, or at least how the story goes from Marie Caroline Watson Hamlin's 1884 book, Legends of Le Détroit, on the evening of the 10th of March, 1701, a lively banquet took place in the castle of St. Louis, Quebec. The celebratory dinner host was the governor of "New France," Hector Louis de Callière. The guest of honor was Monsieur Antoine La Mothe Cadillac, Sieur de Douaguet, a...

Jim Perry's Euphomet returns with a new season! Sneak preview. Subscribe now to Euphomet on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

In the years between 1764 and 1767, a real-life monster had brutally savaged the residents of the former province of Gévaudan in the highland region of south-central France.  While the creature's first attack was reportedly unsuccessful in killing its intended victim, it did provide a horrific description of it.  Some sort of massive, canine-like creature was stalking the villagers out in their fi...

Who among us hasn't wanted to know the future or have insight into the hidden, at least in passing?  From the first instance a human had a premonition that came true, it seems likely that the adventurous who were shocked and astounded wondered how those without the "gift" could duplicate this impossible experience.  Then, when someone stared too intently into a reflective pool of liquid, a glowing...

As we wrap up our coverage of the Frederick Valentich story in Part 3 of our series, we'll continue our conversation with Melbourne resident Chris Tyler about his research into the case and other possibly related UFO incidents around the same time and area.  We'll also examine the Australian Department of Transport accident report's remaining findings and discuss its conclusions.  As you begin to...

When the facts about a paranormal event yield no more answers, investigators and the public alike tend to turn their attention to the experiencer's character to ascertain its authenticity.  So what kind of person was Frederick Valentich?  A once-lost aircraft accident report from Australia's Department of Transport, which resurfaced in 2012, has shed some light on Valentich's behavior and state of...

On Saturday, October 21, 1978, at 6:19 p.m., 20-year-old Frederick Valentich took off from Moorabbin Airport just south of Melbourne, Australia, for what was supposed to be a routine training and pleasure flight over Bass Strait to King Island.  A serious student aviator, Valentich had been flying for two years and had accumulated over 150 hours of solo flying time in his goal to one day become a...

Please join us for a very special Astonishing Legends episode – an All-Star holiday party featuring some of your favorite podcast personalities!  Along with consigliere Tess Pfeifle, we welcome our very own "Alexander Leek," sage, screenwriter and good friend Rich Hatem; podcaster, compadre, and casual archaeologist Micah Hanks; our Space Brother and To The Stars professor, Rob Kristoffersen; and...

Our friend Seth Breedlove has a new docudrama out about the Bell Witch and guess who's in it? Forrest!  http://www.smalltownmonsters.com/shop   https://tinyurl.com/markofthebellwitch

Tonight's episode starts with the coverage of a strange and funny case involving aliens and holiday pies.  On January 4, 1979, Mrs. Jean Hingely of the town of Rowley Regis in the West Midlands region of England was visited by three fishbowl-helmeted and friendly aliens with wings.  After some spiritually uplifting exchanges, her holiday visitors thrashed her Christmas tree and nicked three of her...

In a rare dual-subject episode for us, we take a look at two somewhat Christmas-themed stories, the mysterious yet not-so-mysterious "Utah Monolith" and the Warminster "Thing." In the first part of the show, we discuss the recent discovery of a 9.5-foot-tall metal triangular prism-shaped pillar we've dubbed "The Christmas Monolith." This story made the rounds after state biologists from the Utah D...

In tonight’s Part Two of our discussion of Joe Fisher’s book, The Siren Call of Hungry Ghosts, with Special Guest Rich Hatem, we continue to examine the narrative of Fisher’s interactions with Spirit Guides through Channeling and their troubling results.  With the messages and guidance becoming increasingly confusing, frustrating, and seemingly misleading, Fisher and those in his Channeling group...

Sure, maybe most of us would find it enticing to receive "inside information" from a mystical plane, our very own oracle of knowledge beyond what's possible in our earthly human existence. Who wouldn't want access to a Spirit Guide, one that could lend us valuable insight to better our lives and give a glimpse of what awaits us on the other side? Perhaps this supernatural soothsayer could also pro...

In tonight's continuation of our conversation with author and paranormal researcher David Weatherly, we discuss the rest of the creatures from the remainder of his book, Strange Intruders.  This unholy host of insidious beings include such wide-ranging descriptions as reptoids appearing as aliens or disguised as humans, black-eyed kids and adults, the Night Hag, Psychic Vampires, Slenderman, and D...

Visiting a spooky location can be scary because of the spirits and monsters which may await you there. However, one can avoid these horrors by merely not going to these places, right? But what if these frightening creatures came to visit YOU? What if they knew where you lived, your secrets, what terrified you the most, then used that knowledge and their supernatural powers against you? Native elde...

Last week's episode on the Ouija board's history and sociological context illustrated that its use was regarded mostly as a virtuous parlor game for over half its life.  But then, in the later period of the 20th century, the board's reputation changed from being an innocent way to contact the deceased to often being an oracle and instigator of supernatural dangers.  Which leads us to the question...

Most of us are familiar with the name and iconic image of the magical Ouija board.  Many have dared to test it, either seeking answers from the great beyond or for spooky entertainment or both.  The Ouija board has always been advertised as a family-friendly game.  However, for about the last 50 years, Ouija became associated with the forbidden, a taboo tool of the occult.  But has it always had t...

In Part Three, the commercial-free final "mega-sode" of our D. B. Cooper series, we continue with the FBI's profiling of the infamous skyjacker and learn of their Lead Agents' conclusions, Ralph P. Himmelsbach and Larry Carr.  While the FBI investigation would practically come to a dead-end stalemate with their inability to "prove culpability beyond a reasonable doubt," that hasn't stopped scores...

What makes the legend of D. B. Cooper so enduring is not so much the crime itself, but everything that happened after.  Cooper's skyjacking was just one of many during a wave in the era.  His method of escape was only somewhat novel.  Although he seemed to know about some commercial jet aviation aspects, a few of his choices left authorities questioning his skills, rationale, and, therefore, his b...

On the afternoon of Thanksgiving eve, November 24, 1971, a smartly dressed man approached the flight counter for Northwest Orient Airlines at Portland International Airport and purchased a one-way ticket to Seattle.  The name he gave was "Dan Cooper" as he paid cash to board Flight 305, a short 30-minute trip that would turn into one of the longest criminal manhunts in modern history.  Once aboard...