Our Strange Skies

For every UFO sighting reported, how many many go unreported? Even more, how many of them become classic cases that are mentioned and written about for time immemorial? This case is one that has lived in obscurity since it was first written about.  I stumbled upon it while perusing old issues of Flying Saucer Review, and I felt like I couldn’t cover it alone… so I asked my buddies, Marc Storrs and Rob Morphy from the Cryptonaut podcast (https://cryptonautpodcast.com/) to give me a hand. In the late 70s, one family from South Middleton, Massachusetts went through a series of experiences involving strange “prowlers” creeping around their property, a UFO that sat on their property for a few days, grey-like aliens, and poltergeist activity. Show notes (https://www.ourstrangeskies.com/22-the-south-middleton-humanoids-with-marc-and-rob-from-the-cryptonaut-podcast)

In 1975, over the skies of southern Manitoba, a quaint UFO would begin to make regular appearances that would last for nearly two years. Some would camp out and watch the strange red objects fly over their skies and down into Minnesota. The residents would name this UFO, Charlie Red Star, and would characterize the UFO as one that made "beer runs." Many of Manitoba's residents would claim to see Charlie numerous times. He would have encounters with pilots, with RCMP officers. He would be chased by the average citizen, and there is one dramatic encounter witnessed by some teenagers at a dam. I'm joined by Amber (https://twitter.com/AmberRae1992) & Andrew (https://twitter.com/AndrewMckay100) from the Into the Portal (https://www.intotheportal.com/) podcast to discuss one of the least talked about UFO flaps of all time, Charlie Red Star! Show notes (https://www.ourstrangeskies.com/21-charlie-red-start-with-amber-andrew-from-into-the-portal)

In February of 1978 the news in northern California was consumed by Ted Bundy’s arrest, coverage of the East Area Rapist, and Roman Polanski’s escape to France following charges of rape. There was one story, however, that took up a lot of page space in The Sacramento Bee, from February to June of that year. It’s the story of five men that went to a basketball game in Chico and never came home. The mystery of the Yuba County Five, or the boys as their parents called them: Tim Weiher, Jack Madruga, Bill Sterling, Jackie Hewitt and Gary Mathias was forgotten about for nearly 40 years, until the story was posted on Reddit in 2017 on the Unresolved Mysteries subreddit. From there, the story became an internet sensation. Podcasts far and wide have covered the topic ever since, and there has even been new information to emerge 40 years later. But the heart of the mystery still remains where it has always been: in the questions that still need answering. This week, The Our Strange Skies Podcast veers away from UFOs t

As above, so below. It’s a phrase that traces itself to the founding of Hermeticism. Those words can be found on the Emerald Tablet, a document that purportedly reveals the secrets of how to make the philosopher’s stone. As above, so below is a phrase that has carried on through generations. It’s found in the Bible, it’s an element in the hit series, Hellier, and in 1975 terror would come from both places. During the Summer, people would fear the water due to the theatrical release of the first ever Summer Blockbuster, Jaws. But in November of that year, 22 year old Travis Walton would encounter a UFO near a slash pile in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest in Arizona. The craft emitted a blue beam of light that lifted Travis off the ground and threw him back about ten feet. That was the last time his coworkers would see him for the next five days. What ensued was a large manhunt, and one of the best investigated UFO cases of all time. In this episode we delve into the timeline of the Travis Walton abductio

Johnny Sands moved from Nashville to Las Vegas, Nevada in order to jump start his country music career. On the night of January 29, 1976, he was on his way home when he had a chance encounter with a pair of "enigmatic entities." (https://www.teepublic.com/t-shirt/6515140-enigmatic-entity-black-on-black?store_id=175678)   This encounter led to an even stranger encounter with a pair of men who may have been the infamous men in black. Grab your guitar and strum along to this fascinating tale of alien contact. Show notes (https://www.ourstrangeskies.com/19-blue-diamond-road)

On this special bonus episode, I welcome author Daniel Kraus (http://www.danielkraus.com/) onto the podcast to talk about his latest novel, Bent Heavens (http://www.danielkraus.com/books/bent-heavens/) , a YA horror novel about a pair of teens that capture an alien in a trap. Daniel talks about how his childhood affected the novels he writes, an eerie experience he had in Scotland, and what the writing process is like when you're collaborating with another writer. Theme song by Big Cats (https://bigcatsbeats.com/)   Logo and Web Design by the Great Desdymona (https://desdymona.com/) Show notes (https://www.ourstrangeskies.com/bonus-interview-with-author-daniel-kraus)

The Yukon is one of the most remote places in the world. Its untouched wilderness is beautiful to behold, and it offers up some of the best hunting and fishing in the world. In September of 1987, a man using the pseudonym "Kevin" set out for the woods on a three day hunting a fishing trip. On the second day into the trip, he would have a remarkable on a dirt road with a pair of alien beings. I'm joined by Rich Hatem (https://twitter.com/RichardHatem) to discuss the baffling North Canol Road abduction.   Show notes (https://www.ourstrangeskies.com/18-the-north-canol-road-abduction-with-rich-hatem)

We're back with another Metldown. This time I'm joined by Brian Hastie (https://twitter.com/BrianHastie) from Double Density (https://www.doubledensity.net/) and The Coda: A Music Podcast (https://thecoda.fireside.fm/episodes) , Chris Cogswell (https://twitter.com/MadScientistPod) of the Mad Scientist Podcast (https://www.spreaker.com/show/the-mad-scientist-podcast) , and Spencer Wirth-Davis (https://twitter.com/BigCatsBeats) of the What If? Podcast (http://whatifpodcast.com/) to roast the 2009 pile of dumpsters, The Fourth Kind (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1220198/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0) .  The boys talk briefly about Brian Wilson's lost rap album, what the movie did wrong (P.S. it's most things), from the shitty plot, to the lack of character depth. Spencer roasts a blind girl, Brian goes off on the fact that there are too many sources the film uses to try to add validity to it, and Chris points to the fact that this damn film may have led to Ancient Aliens being a thing in popular culture. Theme song by Big C

When it comes to certain UFO cases, there are images that become indelibly implanted in your head. Whether it's the Adamski style saucers or the alien beings Whitley Strieber encountered in a cabin in upstate New York (what's with all the alien shaming, Angelo?), the saucers that haunt the mind have definitive shapes. In the case of Stefan Michalak and the Falcon Lake Incident, it's a set of burns on his abdomen that became the iconic signature of this case. In May of 1967 Michalak set out for Falcon Lake to mine for silver. Instead he had a UFO encounter that lasted over 30 minutes. It ended when the UFO expelled hot gas, causing the miner to catch fire. He would stumble out of the woods and into one of the best investigated UFO cases in history. Today, I'm joined by Brian (https://twitter.com/BrianHastie) and Angelo (https://twitter.com/angelofioren) from the Double Density (https://www.doubledensity.net/) podcast to explore this incident, and whether or not a UFO farted on a man. Show notes (https://www.ou

It was an ordinary evening when Deputy Sheriff William E. McCoy, and patrol deputy Robert Goode were on routine patrol in Brazoria county, Texas. It was 11 P.M. when a dazzling set of purple and blue lights caught the two officer’s attention. The lights were coming from a craft the size of a football field. It looked to have a fuselage on one side, and looked like a giant set of wings without a fuselage. The large craft shone a brilliant purple beam down at the patrol car, and disappeared a short time later. Earlier that day deputy Goode had sustained an injury to his index finger from his pet alligator. Minutes after the encounter, the wound was miraculously healed. UFO literature is full of cases like these. In 03 - The UFO Miracle (https://www.ourstrangeskies.com/new-page-2) we detailed the story of a young girl who was cured of cancer because of the intervention of UFO occupants. Author and researcher Preston Dennett has documented 300 plus cases (https://www.amazon.com/Healing-Power-UFOs-Accounts-Extrate

When you think of the term "alien abduction" there are a handful of cases that may come to mind. Betty and Barney Hill, Pascagoula, Travis Walton. These are the holy trinity of abduction cases.  They're also all American. Sometimes it feels as if this phenomenon is purely American, and yet, some of the most fascinating abduction cases come to us from outside our borders. We of course covered the case of 23 year old Brazilian farmer, Antonio Villas Boas, who was abducted by vaguely human looking beings. There is the Zanfretta case that we covered in 2018, which featured an Italian security guard who had a number of abduction experiences while on duty from 1978-1981.  The case I present to you today involves an ordinary British family who had a dramatic encounter with a UFO and a wall of green mist while on a drive home one lonely October night. This encounter led to a number of changes for the family, and a number of strange occurrences in their home, and on the road. Through hypnosis, a strange narrative woul

For this special round table edition of the Our Strange Skies podcast, I'm joined by Chris Cogswell (https://twitter.com/MadScientistPod) of the Mad Scientist (https://www.themadscientistpodcast.com/) podcast, Deana Marie (https://twitter.com/Twisted_Philly) from the Twisted Philly (https://twistedphilly.com/) podcast, Jennifer Taylor (https://twitter.com/jentaylor2615) from the In Defense of Liberty (https://www.defenseoflibertypod.com/) & Vanished (https://www.vanishedshow.com/) podcasts, as well as writer R. Scott Whitley (https://twitter.com/_RScottWhitley_) to discuss the ins-and-outs of the Betty and Barney Hill case. The group discusses the physical evidence, the roll of hypnosis in the case, how our realities can be deceived and where we all land on this case at the end of the day. Theme song by Big Cats (https://bigcatsbeats.com/)   Logo and Web Design by the Great Desdymona (https://desdymona.com/)  

On this week's episode, Seth Breedlove (https://twitter.com/SethBreedslove) from Small Town Monsters (https://www.smalltownmonsters.com/) stops by to talk about the origins of Small Town Monsters, the odd creature sightings that the 70s offered up, and his newest project out in March, On the Trail of UFOs. The Kickstarter (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/minervamonster/ufos-the-mothman-legacy-and-bell-witch-small-town-monsters) to back their 2020 projects has begun! Theme song by Big Cats (http://bigcatsbeats.com/)   Art work and web design by the Great Desdymona (http://desdymona.com/)   Show notes

For those of us that spend hours pouring over UFO books, buried in eyewitness accounts from yesteryear, there are pivotal cases that transform the average human into a UFO enthusiast. Today, we explore the case that made me the UFO researcher and podcaster I am today, the Lonnie Zamora Incident. Full stop, this episode is meticulous, as our list of sources indicates. Our lead researcher, Rory, researched the subtle complexities often overlooked in the Lonnie Zamora incident. We dive deep into the landing traces, the symbol that Zamora saw on the side of the craft, and we point to a potential government program that may have been responsible for the Lonnie Zamora Incident. Show notes (https://www.ourstrangeskies.com/14-the-lonnie-zamora-incident)

Inside the heart of every experiencer is the deep seated feeling that something is off. That something is missing, and that what is missing is often terrifying. For Betty and Barney Hill, there were miles they put behind them missing. Though Betty had vague memories of what came after a set of beeps they heard, what she did remember terrified her. It was a roadblock manned by strange men and a mysterious orb on the ground. The Hill’s were determined to get to the bottom of what they experienced that night, and turned to Dr. Benjamin Simon, a renowned hypnotherapist to discover the root of their fears and anxieties. Over the course of a couple months and over 11 hours worth of taped sessions, an abduction narrative presented itself. Strange alien beings escorted the Hills onto the craft and subjected them to a medical examination before returning them to their car. On this episode we explore the memories Dr. Simon was able to uncover, his diagnosis of just what happened to the Hills, the media explosion that a

In the early 1960s, UFO contact began its transformation from benign encounters with human looking beings, to the more terrifying incidents involving non-human entities forcing bystanders on board, and subjecting them to medical examinations. We’ve examined the abduction of Antonio Villas Boas from his tractor early one morning in 1957, but the subject of tonight's episode was groundbreaking. Betty and Barney Hill were an unassuming interacial couple from New Hampshire that didn’t stick out in anyway. They were on their way home from a short vacation in Niagara Falls and Montreal, when a single light in the sky would change their lives forever. When you hear the name Betty and Barney Hill they are synonymous with the phrase alien abduction. And while they were not the first, their experience would be the archetype of all the others yet to come. In this episode we present the Betty and Barney Hill abduction complete with details you may never have heard before.  Show notes (https://www.ourstrangeskies.com/12-a

The waters of Shag Harbour in Nova Scotia are dark, deep, and cold, and since 1967 they have held a secret. On October 4th, 1967 an object crashed into the harbor around 11:20 P.M. A massive search ensued, but divers were unable to locate the object that had crashed into the sea.  It's unclear what crashed into the water, but it was observed by numerous eyewitnesses. On this episode I'm joined by Zenger (https://twitter.com/Zenger8) of the Zeng This! (https://zengthis.podbean.com/) podcast to explore the intricacies of the Shag Harbour incident and all of its various conspiracies. Show notes (https://www.ourstrangeskies.com/episode-11)

WARNING: This episode contains allusions to sexual assault, and descriptions of the phenomenon that may be difficult for some to hear. Listener discretion is advised. Welcome to witness, our brand new series where we open up the podcast to witnesses of the phenomenon and allow them to tell their stories.  I've you've seen the hit series, Hellier, then you know the level of weirdness that Kentucky brings to the table. We've covered a few of the stranger incidents on previous episodes, including the death of Thomas F. Mantell, while in pursuit of a UFO near Fort Knox in 1948. We've covered the strange abductions of the Stanford Three and Lee Parish in 1976 and 1977.  You can find the most haunted building in America, Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Louisville.  Recently, news reports of hunters shooting at Bigfoot like creatures near caves have surfaced. While you can find familiar phenomenon in Kentucky, there is a level of unique strangeness the state brings to the table. The stories you're about to hear fall und

This is a free bonus episode for all! UFOs are primarily an outdoor phenomenon, but what if a miniature version of one appeared in your home. That was the reality for a Miami, Florida couple in 2012. And it didn't end with one sighting. Show notes (https://www.ourstrangeskies.com/patreon-bonus-minisode-7-home-invasion)

The town of Saranac Lake became a haven for those seeking relief for the disease known as consumption. Known today as Tuberculosis, Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau was one of the earliest to seek a cure for the disease, and in the pine scented air of the Adirondacks found relief. He soon founded a sanitarium and pioneered an early industry in Saranac Lake. Numerous “cure cottages” popped up in its wake, and many of them can be seen in the ordinary neighborhoods of the town. While many sought relief, a great many more died. When I was a child, my mother told me that the house across the street was haunted. I grew up with the ghosts of my hometown, and they were everywhere. And I, armed with my plastic Ghostbusters proton pack, was ready to bust every single one of them. On this episode of the Our Strange Skies podcast, I present you with some of the stories that I grew up with. Some of our spirits dwell in the lakes, and some in the mountains. In many ways they are tied to the landscape more than they are any ho