Strange Matters Podcast

In this episode, Eric takes you on a tour of some of the world’s sightings of Alien cryptids. The following stories walk a fine line between what is considered a cryptid and what is actually just evidence of extra-terrestrial life.

The first encounter is that of the Enfield Horror. In 1973 in the town of Enfield Illinois multiple accounts of encounters with a strange 3 legged creature were reported all around the same time. This monstrosity, thought to be an alien, demon or genetic mutation, terrorized the town for days before disappearing never to be seen again.

One individual tells how they heard a scratch at the door, and when they went to investigate, found a hideous hairy, yet slimy figure crouched at his front door with large glowing red eyes and miniature T-Rex like arms protruding from its narrow torso. As ridiculous as this sounds, multiple independent accounts describe the creature very similarly. Is this an alien? Or another cryptid? Or simply just a case of mistaken identity?

The Musconetcong Mantis Man is another strange hybrid or genetic mutation that was sighted and described similarly within a fairly localized region in New Jersey. Some describe this 7-foot tall praying mantis as having inter-dimensional teleportation capabilities based on its ability to seemingly materialize and de-materialize in and out of thin air.

However a slightly more logical explanation would be that this giant mantis is using natural capabilities, that it’s smaller bug brethren display commonly — the ability to take on the same color and pattern as its surroundings, also known as active camouflage. Some people believe that this giant beast is some mad scientists genetic experiment gone horribly wrong; and when this unnamed mad scientist realized he could not control this creature, he simply released it into the wild, where it has dwelled for years. Another popular theory draws similarities between the Mantis Man and another well known race of mantis-like aliens.

Our final alien encounter is of a less extra-terrestrial form, however is alien in the sense of a creature that is non-native to the area in which it has been sighted. Alien big cats or “ABCs” are large black wild cats that have been sighted in Britain for almost a century. There have been several reports of people being attacked and some deceased corpses of smaller ABCs have been found. However the British government is skeptical given the existence of these beasts and believes them to be nothing more than hoaxes or misidentifications.

Others take a more primitive and paranormal approach and believe that they are demons that have taken the form of panthers and leopards. However despite the demystification of thousands of photographs, there are still a handful that remain unexplained.

Check out the other great podcasts over at Dark Myths!

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What do Elisa Lam and Edgar Allan Poe have in common? Both of these artistic individuals died in extremely mysterious ways and have since become well known on account of their mysterious passing. In this episode we discuss the details that shroud the mysterious deaths of Lam and Poe.

Elisa Lam was an extremely talented and ambitious young woman who suffered from anxiety and depression. Her body was found in a water tank atop a hotel in which she had been staying. However many accounts suggest that it would be extremely difficult for her to gain access to this water tank much less actually get in on her own. Does this indicate she may have been murdered? Perhaps... however what makes this case even more bizarre is the security camera footage that shows Lam dancing around the hotel’s elevator in a mechanical and somewhat disturbing manner. What exactly caused this strange behavior? Drugs? Alcohol? A mental breakdown of some sort?

Watch Elisa’s bizarre elevator footage here!

Edgar Allan Poe was a talented man who was no stranger to death growing up. After the passing of many of his loved ones, he developed an interest in writing dark and macabre stories. Poe is well known for his famous poem known as “The Raven”. He was found in a delirious state on the side of the street strangely dressed in someone else’s clothes and later taken to the hospital. He was delirious and uttered only a few words during his stay in the hospital. Unfortunately, shortly thereafter, he died leaving us with more questions than answers. Was his death related to his erratic drinking behavior? His attending physician was quite convinced otherwise. Tune in for this episode and hear the many theories regarding the mysterious deaths of these two individuals.

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In this sequel to the original Ancient Mysteries, Eric discusses several mysterious cases from olden times. First is the legend of the screaming mummy. Gaston Maspero, the head of the Egyptian Antiquities Service was inspecting various different mummies found at Deir El Bahri near the Valley of the Kings. Amongst the newly-discovered, legendary leaders of Egypt was an unmarked sarcophagus belonging to an unknown mummy. However this was no ordinary mummy. Upon opening the case he discovered this mummy’s face was locked in an eternal scream. This body had been bound by his hands and feet, so tightly that there were marks on his bones. But despite this apparent torture the remains were carefully mummified and preserved. The body had also been wrapped in sheep or goat skin which is considered by the ancient Egyptians to be ritualistically unclean. While many believe this individual to be the traitor son of Ramses III who was punished for his alleged betrayal of his father, others suspect him to be a prince from the nearby rival civilization of the Hittites. Modern advancements in technology have shed some light on the details regarding this unexplained anomaly however this mystery has yet to be confirmed.

Next up is the “Devil’s Footprints” which were a line of footprints left in the snow, discovered one morning in 1855 in Devon, England. These footprints were said to have stretched over 100 miles which is more distance than any earthly creature would be able to cover in a single night. These cloven hoof prints were said to have either scaled 14 foot walls or passed directly through them and continued on the other side, unimpeded. One report states that the trail passed a two-mile stretch of the River Exe and then continued on the other side. While clergymen were eager to jump on this opportunity and claim these prints belonged to Satan himself and that he was here to collect souls of sinners, others took a more reasonable approach and attempted to rationalize the anomaly as belonging to animals. One thing is for sure: these footprints caused a significant amount of unrest in Devon in the 1850s.

Our final investigation is the mysterious disappearance of James Burne Worson. This story of a shoemaker and established citizen in his community in Warwickshire, England tells of this boastful individual’s habit of getting involved in impossible wagers. His latest bet involved him running to a nearby town and back again — a total round trip of nearly 40 miles. After setting out on this venture, with two fellows following him in a carriage to vouch for his completion of the task, Worson began running without difficulty for several miles. Then suddenly with their eyes fully upon him, he stumbled and began to fall, let out a shrill gut-wrenching scream and immediately vanished without hitting the ground. There have been very few reasonable explanations for what could have happened here, however the truth of the story is in question. Is it possible for individuals to not only go missing but to disappear entirely?

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In this episode we discuss the mysterious and bizarre death of Elfrieda Knaak. In the early hours of the morning Elfrieda was discovered alone and locked inside the basement of a police station, suffering from severe burns from the nearby furnace. Investigators were baffled from the start, as Elfrieda claimed she had carried out the horrible act herself in order to purify herself for her ‘psychic lover.’

While she was slowly dying in her hospital bed, Elfrieda would make increasingly confusing and strange comments. These statements lead to more questions than answers for the police. She claimed she burned herself to prove herself to her so called astral lover, Charles Hitchcock. However Charles claimed he knew nothing about this situation at all.

Hitchcock would be ruled out as a suspect due to his broken leg, but many believe he still had something to do with her death, whether directly or indirectly is still unknown. Elfrieda continued on, speaking of a mysterious woman who holds all the answers, an unknown man who threw her down, along with other weird and supernatural comments... However she was unable to answer further questions due to her increasingly worsening health. Unfortunately Elfrieda Knaak would die from her burns before any solid leads or answers could be found, and to this day her death remains a complete mystery.

Did Elfrieda really burn and torture herself all alone? Was somebody with her in that basement, either assisting or forcing her into the furnace? Listen and hear all about the strange twists and turns to the bizarre and disturbing death of Elfrieda Knaak.

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Aliens... Do they really exist? Are we really all alone in the universe? Perhaps it depends on your definition of the term “alien”; perhaps your stereotypical small-bodied Grey or maybe something as simple as a microbe could define this term. But how could we know that aliens exist? Some think that crop circles are a sign that aliens not only exist but have visited earth. With reports dating back centuries, this concept is not foreign. Many crop circles are localized to southern England however they can be found all over the world.

While many suggest that they are all simply pranks or hoaxes performed by very creative and skilled artists, others think that at least a certain percentage are the result of otherworldly visitors.

Other evidence for the existence of extra-terrestrial life lies in personal reports of human abduction. Perhaps the oldest reports of these abductions occurred in 1961. “The Hill Abduction” is the story of Barney and Betty Hill who were an inter-racial couple were well educated and involved in professional organizations. These individuals would have much to lose and little to gain from fabricating a story of the sort. Nonetheless they share the tale of traveling down a country road in their car one night while following a mysterious light.

As the light approached closer Barney stopped the car and got out wielding his trusty pistol. As he got closer he was able to spot “non-human” creatures inside what appeared to be a disk-shaped flying object. He screamed “They’re going to capture us!” as he ran back to the car, however shortly thereafter both of them report slipping into a strange trance. After waking up 35 miles south of where they had originally stopped the car, they would go on to continue their lives while being plagued by strange dreams and other odd occurrences.

Another alien encounter was reported by a “Dr. Jonathan Reed”. While out in the woods one day he came upon a strange humanoid creature fighting with his beloved dog, Suzy. When the alien got the upper hand and somehow reduced his dog to a pile of dust, Reed angrily approached the creature from behind and struck it in the head, killing it.

The remains were captured in various photographs, however the authenticity of this story has been questioned.

Travis Walton, on the other hand was a logger who was in the presence of five of his buddies when he encountered aliens. Traveling in a truck down yet another country road after a long day’s work, the men spotted a strange glowing object in the distance. As they approached it, one man would describe it as “a luminous object, shaped like a flattened disk” and nearly 20 feet in diameter.

Walton got out and approached the saucer but was immediately struck by a bright blue light emanating from the craft which knocked him back onto the ground. While the other men bolted, Walton would go missing for 5 days, only to return with a tale of alien abduction. Despite this wild tale, all the men would go on to pass polygraph tests suggesting that they were telling the truth. Tune in to this podcast episode and decide for yourself: are aliens really out there?

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