May 19, 1780: The Day America Thought the World Was Ending

#WDRadio WEEK OF NOVEMBER 30, 2025 | On May 19, 1780, colonists lit candles at midday, cows returned to their barns, and preachers warned the end was near—all because the sun simply disappeared. An inexplicable darkness fell over New England so complete that people couldn't see their hands in front of their faces—and it's never happened again.HOUR ONE: “MJ12: JFK and UFOs” *** No one likes uninvited guests – and it appears, neither do those in the afterlife. (Dead Village) *** Ask Pedro Rodrigues Filho and he’ll tell you he’s a nice guy. After all, he may be a serial killer – but he only kills bad guys. (The Real-Life Dexter) *** What caused the sky to go dark in the middle of the day back in 1780? (New England’s Dark Day)==========HOUR TWO: What caused complete darkness to engulf the New England town of Newburyport in 1871 – and what were the strange lights seen by dozens of students and their teacher? *** Engineers working to link Scotland and England with cables on the floor of the ocean have stumbled across an amazing find from Word War 1… a submarine that was sunk due to a sea monster! (The Submarine Sunk by a Sea Monster) *** “The Mira Theater Haunting” by Bili White ==========SUDDEN DEATH OVERTIME: Paul Bernardo, with the help of his wife Karla Homolka, stalked a Canadian suburb with a number of terrible rapes that were only the beginning of their life of cruelty. They would come to be known as the Ken and Barbie Killers. (The True Horror of the Ken and Barbie Killers) *** When you think of a con artist, you think of slick players like Johnny Hooker and Henry Gondorf from “The Sting”, masters of disguise and ID like Frank Abagnale from “Catch Me If You Can”, or even the mysterious Keyser Söze from “The Usual Suspects”. But I’m guessing what you never picture in your head is a Victorian woman named Madame Rachel. She never got her own movie, but she was the real deal. (The Con Woman Madame Rachel) *** A forest in beautiful West Sussex, UK is only beautiful from the outside – for within, witnesses have seen mysterious things… including UFOs, mysterious deaths, and unexplained vanishings. (Danger Lurking In The Woods)==========SOURCES AND REFERENCES FROM TONIGHT’S SHOW:“The Mira Theater Haunting” by Bili White from Paranormality Magazine“The Shadow Over Newburyport” posted at Esoterx.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/y62cmsun“The Submarine Sunk by a Sea Monster” from Earth-Chronicles.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/ve7bwnvh“The True Horror of the Ken and Barbie Killers” by Frankie Stein for FilmDaily.co: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/5ddyr25y“The Con Woman Madame Rachel” by Geri Walton: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/f5jnwjwz“New England’s Dark Day” by Troy Taylor: http://bit.ly/2OEuVTl“Dead Village” by Dreyk: http://bit.ly/33lz1Eg“The Real Life Dexter” by Kara Goldfarb: http://bit.ly/2IUuQaP“Danger Lurking In The Woods” by Ellen Lloyd: (link no longer available)“JFK And UFOs” from Paranormality Magazine==========(Over time links seen above may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for material I use whenever possible. If I have overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it immediately. Some links may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)=========="I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." — John 12:46==========WeirdDarkness®, WeirdDarkness© 2025==========To become a Weird Darkness Radio Show affiliate, contact Radio America at [email protected], or call 800-807-4703 (press 2 or dial ext 250).==========