The Our Strange Skies Podcast Archive
For decades, people have reported strange encounters with UFOs, their occupants, and a slew of other strange phenomena. On the Our Strange Skies podcast we covered many of those stories. This archive represents two and a half years of hard work by a bunch of extraordinary people. Not all of the original episodes have been re-uploaded, but this archive does include Patreon bonus episodes.
Listen on:
Episodes
Tuesday Dec 29, 2020
Tuesday Dec 29, 2020
One King Arthur researcher had a strange experience with a mysterious woman while looking for the mythical figures tomb.
Tuesday Dec 29, 2020
Tuesday Dec 29, 2020
Alfred Burtoo was doing a bit of night fishing with his dog in the early 80s when a pair of alien beings asked him to come on board a UFO.
Tuesday Dec 29, 2020
Tuesday Dec 29, 2020
Johnny Sands was a budding country stare who had moved to Las Vegas to bolster his career. One night while returning home from doing some promotion he had a mysterious encounter with a strange man in the middle of Blue Diamond Road.
Tuesday Dec 29, 2020
Tuesday Dec 29, 2020
During the Mothman flap in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, two police officers had an encounter with a short man that emerged from a UFO.
Tuesday Dec 29, 2020
Tuesday Dec 29, 2020
Tuesday Dec 29, 2020
On this edition of the Unsolved Mysteries round-table, I'm joined by Samantha and Liz from Perhaps It's You (https://perhapsitsyou.wordpress.com/) podcast to discuss a trio of murders. That's right, for the first time on the Our Strange Skies podcast, we're talking about murder. Liz talks about the murder of Audrey Moate (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIHEI1el6ss&feature=youtu.be) , who disappeared in the Bayou of Louisiana. Did she run afoul of the manager of the swamp? Samantha discusses the murder of Kathy Hobbs (https://youtu.be/JlIeGGEtzFI) , who was abducted while returning from a local grocery store to purchase a paperback book. Is this a crime against avid readers? And finally, Rob tells the story of Angela Hammond (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2jhrLbLKGI) , who was abducted and disappeared in a rather dramatic, and cinematic fashion, prompting us to ask, is there a hall of fame for guys named Rob?
We explore other off topic mysteries, like, whether Mothman is a man-sized moth or half moth/half man, Mothman's booty situation. Is getting abducted by aliens perfect branding for this podcast? Are treasure segments targeted toward old people that don't have 401Ks? At the end of this, do we deserve a mystery where Robert Stack finds 30 puppies in a box? Is anyone going to solve any of these goddamned mysteries?!
Sources:
Thomas Hotard and Audrey Moate - Unsolved Mysteries Wiki
(https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Thomas_Hotard_and_Audrey_Moate)
Wikipedia for Michael Lee Lockhart
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Lee_Lockhart)
Murderpedia entry for Michael Lee Lockhart
(https://murderpedia.org/male.L/l1/lockhart-michael-lee.htm)
Unsolved Mysteries Wiki entry for Kathy Hobbs (https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Kathy_Hobbs)
The Mysterious Unsolved Abduction of Angela Marie Hammond, reddit
(https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/8d8u41/the_mysterious_unsolved_abduction_of_angela_marie/)
Unsolved Mysteries Wiki, entry on Angela Hammond
(https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Angela_Hammond)
ALMOST RESCUED – THE ANGELA HAMMOND DISAPPEARANCE
(https://synovaink.com/2018/06/01/almost-rescued-the-angela-hammond-disappearance/)
Theme song by Big Cats (http://bigcatsbeats.com/)
Logo and Web Design by the Great Desdymona (http://desdymona.com/)
Disclaimer by Brian Hastie (https://twitter.com/BrianHastie)
Tuesday Dec 29, 2020
Tuesday Dec 29, 2020
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 home. Perhaps that’s what makes the Adirondacks unique. Please enjoy some of our favorite spirits.
Sources:
1932 Winter Olympics - Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1932_Winter_Olympics)
Mabel Smith Douglas - Rutgers University
(https://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/scua/douglass_scholars/article2)
Death of the Dean - Writing.com
(https://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/2097578-Death-of-the-Dean)
Lady in the lake mystery lingers 83 years later - Inside Ottawa Valley
(https://www.insideottawavalley.com/opinion-story/6980373-lady-in-the-lake-mystery-lingers-83-years-later/)
A Lady in the Lake by George Christian Ortloff
(https://www.amazon.com/Lady-Lake-George-Christian-Ortloff/dp/B000J02D4C)
Adirondack Ghosts by Lynda Lee Macken
(https://www.amazon.com/Adirondack-Ghosts-New-Lynda-Macken/dp/0982958072/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Adirondack+Ghosts&qid=1572106644&sr=8-1)
Haunted Houses by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
(https://www.hwlongfellow.org/pdf/Roller_HauntedHouses.pdf)
Haunted Lake Placid by Lynda Lee Macken
(https://www.amazon.com/Haunted-Placid-Spirits-Essex-County/dp/0982958056/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Haunted+Lake+Placid&qid=1572182102&sr=8-1)
Haunted Northern New York: True, Chilling Tales of Ghosts in the North Country by Cheri Revai (Farnsworth)
(https://www.amazon.com/Haunted-Northern-New-York-Chilling/dp/0925168459/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Haunted+Northern+New+York&qid=1572188343&sr=8-1)
Murder in the Adirondacks: An American Tragedy Revisited by Craig Brandon
(https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Adirondacks-Fully-Revised-Expanded/dp/1595310495/ref=sxts_sxwds-bia?keywords=Murder+in+the+Adirondacks&pd_rd_i=1595310495&pd_rd_r=dd550caf-2890-44b5-b2b2-b91d2458581e&pd_rd_w=BiTT8&pd_rd_wg=N58s3&pf_rd_p=a5491838-6a74-484e-8787-eb44c8f3b7ff&pf_rd_r=ZXR93FQWWBK5TRMT9RXW&psc=1&qid=1572199694)
Grace Brown Letters
(https://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/gracebrownletters.pdf)
Music:
“Douglass Stairs” by Blue Dot Sessions (sessions.blue (https://www.sessions.blue/) )
“Warm Fingers” by Blue Dot Sessions (sessions.blue (https://www.sessions.blue/) )
“Zither Sprak” by Blue Dot Sessions (sessions.blue (https://www.sessions.blue/) )
“Evidence Room” by Blue Dot Sessions (sessions.blue (https://www.sessions.blue/) )
“Fearful Dashing” by Blue Dot Sessions (sessions.blue (https://www.sessions.blue/) )
“Szaree” by Blue Dot Sessions (sessions.blue (https://www.sessions.blue/) )
“As Dust Gathers” by Blue Dot Sessions (sessions.blue (https://www.sessions.blue/) )
“Closing” by Blue Dot Sessions (sessions.blue (https://www.sessions.blue/) )
“OneEightFour” by Blue Dot Sessions (sessions.blue (https://www.sessions.blue/) )
Theme song by Big Cats (http://www.bigcatsbeats.com/)
Logo and Web Design by the Great Desdymona (https://desdymona.com/)
Tuesday Dec 29, 2020
Tuesday Dec 29, 2020
For the final Unsolved Mysteries roundtable, I’m joined by Scott Philbrook (https://twitter.com/AstonshngLegnds) and Forrest Burgess (https://twitter.com/Forrest_Burgess) of the Astonishing Legends (https://www.astonishinglegends.com/) podcast to relive some of our favorite moments from the show. We discuss how UM influenced their own show, and how much Scott really loves “Lost Loves” segments. Like, a lot, you guys. We discuss some of the why Dennis Farina failed to capture an audience, and pay a little tribute to In Search Of… We also make our choices for who should host the reboot. All this and more on the final Unsolved Mysteries roundtable!
Theme song by Big Cats (http://bigcatsbeats.com/)
Logo and Web Design by the Great Desdymona (http://desdymona.com/)
Disclaimer by Brian Hastie (https://twitter.com/BrianHastie)
Tuesday Dec 29, 2020
Tuesday Dec 29, 2020
When most people think of Bigfoot, they think of the Pacific Northwest, of vast forested land untouched and uncharted by man. It is the west coast where the legend of large hairy humanoids took shape and entered the American Zeitgeist.
The Legend of Bigfoot began in northern California on August 27, 1958. A tractor driver named Jerry Crew (http://www.bigfootencounters.com/articles/true1959.htm) drove out to a worksite where a large road was being built in the wilderness. When Crew fired up his tractor, he noticed a number of large footprints leading to and from the tractor. It startled the crewman, because these were abnormally large, larger than a human, and they appeared to be made by a naked foot.
Since that day, the world has known that a large bipedal hairy humanoid stalks the Pacific Northwest, but there is an area in northern New York where the Bigfoot are also said to roam. Whitehall, New York is the standard definition of a small town, but it gained prominence in the mid 1970s for a series of bigfoot sightings that brought the town national attention.
On this week’s episode, we look at the Abair Road Incident.
Sources:
Bigfoot Encounters in New York & New England by Robert E. Bartholomew & Paul B. Bartholomew (https://www.amazon.com/Bigfoot-Encounters-York-Robert-Bartholomew/dp/088839652X)
The Beast of Whitehall, a film by Small Town Monsters
(https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01L84MANQ/?ref=dvm_us_dl_sl_go_smd%7Cc_260258869563_m_omsvzywR-dc_s__&gclid=CjwKCAjwlovtBRBrEiwAG3XJ--sA83yTvIYS4cZnYQtrj8k557ENzOVrk3EaurKHbpK9mlnR0av5-xoCvDkQAvD_BwE)
Skene Valley Country Club Website
(https://skenevalley.com/)
Abair Road: The True Story by Brian Gosselin and Sue Gosselin
(https://www.amazon.com/Abair-Road-True-Story-Gosselin/dp/1983903019)
Music:
“Coal Baron Blue” by Blue Dot Sessions (sessions.blue (https://www.sessions.blue/) )
“Between the Stones” by Blue Dot Sessions (sessions.blue (https://www.sessions.blue/) )
“Zither Sprak” by Blue Dot Sessions (sessions.blue (https://www.sessions.blue/) )
“Cover Letter” by Blue Dot Sessions (sessions.blue (https://www.sessions.blue/) )
“An Unknown Visitor” by Blue Dot Sessions (sessions.blue (https://www.sessions.blue/) )
“OneEightFour” by Blue Dot Sessions (sessions.blue (https://www.sessions.blue/) )
Theme song by Big Cats (http://www.bigcatsbeats.com/)
Logo and Web Design by the Great Desdymona (http://desdymona.com/)
Tuesday Dec 29, 2020
Tuesday Dec 29, 2020
In 2013, a man by the name of Christopher Knight was arrested while he was trying to burgle the Pine Tree Camp in Rome, Maine. He had done it many times before over the years, and had broken into a number of camps, earning the nickname the North Pond Hermit. Knight had committed at least a thousand break-ins, but he always felt searing guilt about it.
Knight had taken to the woods when he turned 20. The only thing he really felt affection for was a mushroom that grew near his hermitage; he hunkered down with books and other basic activities to occupy his time in the woods. It was all routine, for 27 years before his capture.
There are a number of motivations that make men and women run to the woods to slough off society. For Christopher Knight, it was an admiration for solitude, but for Noah John Rondeau, the Mayor of Cold River City, Population 1, it was freedom. On this episode of the Our Strange Skies podcast, we examine the life of the Adirondacks’ most famous hermit, Noah John Rondeau.
Special thanks to Doug Irving (http://foolshillmusic.com/DougIrving/) for the use of his song “Noah John Rondeau” (https://open.spotify.com/album/4Ki9nVQS05Mp3iGtC8odQ7?highlight=spotify:track:4tvLBP0umeVGBL78f68iDa) in this episode.
Sources:
A Not Too Greatly Changed Eden: The Story of the Philosophers’ Camp in the Adirondacks by James Schlett
(https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1501704451/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
The Philosophers’ Camp at Follensby Pond, The Adirondack Experience at Blue Mountain Lake
(https://www.theadkx.org/about-us/adirondack-journal/philosophers-camp-follensby-pond/)
“The Adirondacs” by Ralph Waldo Emerson
(https://quod.lib.umich.edu/a/amverse/BAD1982.0001.001/1:6.2?rgn=div2;view=fulltext)
“You Can Camp Where A Famous Hermit Lived For 30 Years” by Ryan Wichelns
(https://curiosity.com/topics/you-can-camp-where-a-famous-hermit-lived-for-more-than-30-years-curiosity/)
Noah John Rondeau’s obituary from The New York Times, August 26, 1967
(https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1967/08/26/90396962.pdf)
Noah John Rondeau’s Adirondack Wilderness Days: A Year with the Hermit of Cold River Flow by William J. O’Hern
(https://www.amazon.com/Noah-John-Rondeaus-Adirondack-Wilderness/dp/0974394386/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Noah+John+Rondeau%27s+Adirondack+Wilderness+Days&qid=1571312687&sr=8-1)
The Hermit and Us: Our Adventures with Noah John Rondeau by William J. O’Hern
(https://www.amazon.com/Hermit-Us-Adventures-Noah-Rondeau/dp/0989032825/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=The+hermit+and+us+William+J+Ohern&qid=1571319124&sr=8-1)
Adirondack Wilds: Exploring the Haunts of Noah John Rondeau: An Adirondack Adventure by William J. O’Hern
(https://www.amazon.com/Adirondack-Wilds-Exploring-Rondeau-Adventure/dp/0989032817/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=William+J+O%27hern&qid=1571355055&sr=8-2)
Life With Noah: Stories and Adventures of Richard Smith With Noah John Rondeau by William J. O’Hern
(https://www.amazon.com/Life-Noah-Stories-Adventures-Richard/dp/1595310452/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=William+J+O%27hern&qid=1571355110&sr=8-5)
Music:
“Careless Morning” by Blue Dot Sessions (sessions.blue (https://www.sessions.blue/) )
“Basketliner” by Blue Dot Sessions (sessions.blue (https://www.sessions.blue/) )
“Idle Ways” by Blue Dot Sessions (sessions.blue (https://www.sessions.blue/) )
“Gaddy” by Blue Dot Sessions (sessions.blue (https://www.sessions.blue/) )
“Our Digital Compass” by Blue Dot Sessions (sessions.blue (https://www.sessions.blue/) )
“Simple Vale” by Blue Dot Sessions (sessions.blue (https://www.sessions.blue/) )
“Morning Bells” by Blue Dot Sessions (sessions.blue (https://www.sessions.blue/) )
“OneEightFour” by Blue Dot Sessions (sessions.blue (https://www.sessions.blue/) )
Theme song by Big Cats (http://www.bigcatsbeats.com/)
Log and web design by the Great Desdymona (http://desdymona.com/)