Falsely accused, Ambrose Gwinnett was hung in 1710 in England. But the hanging didn’t take and that was the start of the unbelievable adventure of Half-Hanged Ambrose Gwinnett.
Episode 157 - Lori Vallow, Cult Mom - Part 2
In Part 2 of the Lori Vallow story, other people close to her start getting shot at. Then even after Lori is arrested, the police cannot get Lori to tell them what happened to her children.
Weird Bit 23 - Murder Hornets Are Coming!
They are an inch and a half of biting, stinging killing machine. They are bloodthirsty monsters that… Okay, that’s an oversell, but they are scary and dangerous - and now they’re in America. They are Murder Hornets.
Episode 156 - Lori Vallow, Cult Mom - Part 1
It’s dangerous to be in Lori Vallow’s orbit. In Part 1, we tell the story of the murder of Lori’s husbands and her move to Idaho to be part of a Doomsday cult. But then she seems to have lost track of her kids…
Sources:
“Everything We Know About the Deeply Suspicious ‘Doomsday Couple’” by Amanda Arnold, Feb 26, 2020, The Cut
Dr Phil Podcast - A Mother’s Secret: The Lory Vallow Story, Dr. Phil McGraw
Episode 155 - The Alien Abduction of Travis Walton - Part 2
Maybe Travis Walton should have stayed with the aliens, because after he got back to earth, things got nasty.
Sources:
https://debunker.com/texts/walton.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travis_Walton_UFO_incident
"Fire in the Sky" -- The Walton Travesty by Anson Kennedy, March/April, 1993 issue of The Georgia Skeptic, the newsletter of the Georgia Skeptics
https://debunker.com/historical/KlassContraWalton.pdf
https://debunker.com/historical/WaltonMisc.pdf
“Ground Saucer Watch" Memo on the Walton Incident, Conclusions (undated: probably December, 1975)
Profitable Nightmare of a Very Unreal Kind"by Jeff Wells, (from The Age, Melbourne, Australia, 6 January 1979)
Skeptical Information on the Travis Walton "UFO Abduction" Story, Revised Aug. 5, 2016, Robert Sheaffer
https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2018/03/controversial-ufo-movie-turns-25/
https://www.gaia.com/article/travis-walton-ufo-incident
https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4094
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/travis-walton-still-haunted-by-ufo_n_7119910
https://www.mufon.com/travis-walton-abduction---1975.html
https://www.express.co.uk/news/weird/770774/Travis-Walton-killed-alien-abduction-brought-back-life
Episode 154 - The Alien Abduction of Travis Walton - Part 1
Was Travis Walton zapped by a blue beam from a UFO and abducted for five days? Inquiring minds want to know.
Episode 153 - The Denver Spiderman, aka The Ghost Slayer, aka There Otto Be a Law Against People Living in Your Attic
He was little, he was quiet, and he lived in an attic. No, he was not Otto. He was worse, because this attic dweller didn’t ask permission. And he also played the mandolin. Oh, and he killed a man.
Sources:
https://history.denverlibrary.org/news/tale-denver-spider-man
http://www.historicalcrimedetective.com/msm-theodore-coneys-the-spiderman-of-denver-1941/
https://www.ranker.com/list/theodore-coneys-facts/jacob-shelton
www.darkhistories.com/the-spider-man-of-denver-theodore-edward-coneys/
Episode 152 - Is Dorothy There? - The Disappearance of Dorothy Scott
Dorothy Scott was a good person. So why did her car speed by the friends she was picking up at the hospital? Why did she drive off, never to be seen again? And who was the man making the calls to her parents, telling them he loved Dorothy, he had Dorothy, he had murdered Dorothy?
Sources:
https://the-line-up.com/dorothy-jane-scott
https://wickedwe.com/dorothy-jane-scott/
truecrimesociety.com
crimeblogger1983.blogspot.com
wikipedia
Episode 151 - Stay Dead: The Russell Colvin Murder Mystery
Russell Colvin’s wife’s family hated him. So when he vanished after a fight with his brothers-in-law, gossip started. Then Uncle Amos started dreaming about finding Russell’s body. Then a dog dug up some bones. Then it got really weird.
Episode 150 - Typhoid Mary: The First Asymptomatic Carrier
In these days of heightened awareness about the dangers of germs, we bring you the story of the woman who killed hundreds just by cooking their food. Or did she? Let’s find out.
Sources:
https://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-typhoid-mary
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-frightening-legacy-of-typhoid-mary-180954324/
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/local-history/story/2020-03-13/recalling-typhoid-mary
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/mar/10/typhoid-mary-super-spreader-history
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/typhoid/about.html
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/2020/03/typhoid-mary-tragic-tale-exposed-health-impacts-super-spreaders/#close
Episode 149 - Beyond Edsel: The Weirdest and Dumbest Product Names Ever
Have you ever cleaned up with “Maybe You Touched Your Genitals” hand sanitizer? Played in the bathtub with Tranny the Floating Duck radio? Dined on some Dick Sticks or sipped “cock-flavored soup?” Join us as we dig into weird product names.
Episdode 148 - 6969 Abort! The Mark and John Would-Be Murder Mystery
When Mark met Rachel in a chat room, he fell instantly in love. She introduced him to her little brother. Those two hit it off and became friends. But then someone kidnapped Rachel and started to ask Mark to do some very dark things…
Sources:
https://listverse.com/2017/05/08/top-10-insane-events-in-historys-strangest-online-catfishing-case/
You Want Me 2 Kill Him? by Judy Bachrach, https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2005/02/bachrach200502
2005 Channel 4 Documentary Kill Me If You Can
Episode 147 - Ghost Ship: The Mystery of the Mary Celeste
What happened to the crew of the Mary Celeste? Why would they leave a seaworthy ship in calm waters with food still steaming on the tables… Okay, maybe some B.S. has grown around this story, but it remains a baffling mystery.
Episode 146 - America's Orphan Trains
New York had tons of street children. Farmers in the midwestern U.S. needed help shucking corn. So putting a bunch of orphans on trains to Kansas to be claimed by farmers was a win-win, right?
Sources:
Prairie Public short videos
https://www.history.com/news/orphan-trains-childrens-aid-society
Orphan Trains Brought Homeless NYC Children to Work on Farms Out West by Erin Blackmore
Riding An Orphan Train West in 1859, A Tough Street Kid Named John Brady Formed a Friendship With Fellow Orphan Andrew Burke. One Would Grow Up to Govern Alaaska; The Other, North Dakota By Victoria Mechler
https://www.cowboysindians.com/2017/05/orphan-train-friends-and-future-governors/
We're Taking a Break
We are taking a quick break - working on some new episodes and some of us are working at our day jobs. We will be back in about a month, so maybe listen to some oldies that you may have missed. Look for new episodes to resume on February 13. Happy New Year everybody! Looking forward to good changes in 2020 (in the world, Weird World isn’t changing one bit). Thank you for listening!
Episode 145 - Tom Brown's Body
Tom Brown went missing late one night in a small Texas town. His car drove all over town throughout the night. But was he in it? And if he was, was he alive?
Episode 144 - A Very Weird World Christmas
Have you heard of a Christmas Poop Log? The man-eating Yule Cat? A Very Special Star Wars Holiday celebration? If not, then this episode is our gift to you. You’re welcome.
Episode 143 - Strange Lakes: Skeleton Lake and Lake Peigneur
How did all those bodies get into a tiny lake in an isolated Himalayan valley? And you’ll never guess how old they were. Then find out if it is a good idea to drill for oil in a lake above a mine. Hint: It’s not.
Sources:
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/skeleton-lake-of-roopkund-india
The Mystery of the Himalayas’ Skeleton Lake Just Got Weirder by Robin George Andrews, Aug 20, 2019
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/20/science/skeleton-lake-archaeology-roopkund.html
Episode 142 - Mothman's Grandpa: The Van Meter Visitor
It was part man, part bat, part kangaroo, part light-emitting unicorn, and bulletproof. And it apparently really hated Van Meter, Iowa.
Episode 141 - Orphan? The Strange Adoption of Natalia Grace
Was Natalia Grace a six year old from Ukraine when she was adopted by an American family? Or 14? Or 22? Was she even from Ukraine? This is the story of the strangest adoption since “Orphan.”