State of the Unknown | Documented Hauntings and Real Paranormal Cases Across America

Join host Robert Barber as he explores the disappearance of Travis Walton, one of the most discussed alien abduction cases in American history.On November 5, 1975, Travis Walton and six fellow loggers were driving home through the Apache–Sitgreaves National Forest in Arizona when they reported seeing a strange blue-white light in the woods. According to the witnesses, Walton left the truck and walked toward it. Moments later, something happened that sent the crew fleeing down the road.When they returned, Travis was gone.What followed was no longer just a strange encounter. Searchers entered the forest. Law enforcement became involved. Questions spread through the community. As the days passed, suspicion began to fall on the men who had been with him.Five days later, Travis Walton reappeared.Was this the beginning of one of the most extraordinary abduction claims ever reported? Was there another explanation for what happened in those woods that night? Or did six witnesses see something they could never fully explain?This episode follows the reported events surrounding Walton's disappearance, the witness accounts, and the search that followed.This is the story of Travis Walton and the five days that turned a logging crew's encounter into one of the most enduring mysteries in UFO history.Topics Covered• The Travis Walton disappearance• The 1975 Arizona UFO encounter• The Apache–Sitgreaves National Forest• The logging crew witness accounts• The reported blue-white light in the woods• The search for Travis Walton• Law enforcement involvement• Public suspicion and investigation• Witness testimony and credibility• The events leading up to Walton's return• UFO history and alien abduction claims• The human consequences of a missing-person mysterySEO KeywordsTravis Walton, Travis Walton disappearance, Travis Walton abduction, alien abduction, UFO encounter, Arizona UFO sighting, Apache–Sitgreaves National Forest, 1975 UFO case, logging crew witnesses, missing person mystery, UFO investigation, witness testimony, alien encounter, UFO history, paranormal podcast, State of the Unknown, Robert BarberSupport the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.

In September of 1952, a group of boys in Flatwoods, West Virginia looked up from a football game and saw something bright cross the sky.It appeared to come down beyond a nearby hill.What happened next became one of the most famous creature encounters in American paranormal history.Join host Robert Barber as he explores the Flatwoods Monster, also known as the Braxton County Monster or the Phantom of Flatwoods. The reported encounter began when the boys ran to Kathleen May, who agreed to follow them toward the place where the object seemed to have landed. Gene Lemon joined the group with a flashlight, and together they climbed the hill in the fading light.Near the top, they reported a red glow, a strange odor, and then something in the dark.Moments later, Gene Lemon raised his flashlight.What the witnesses said they saw became one of the most famous monster reports in American history.The group fled back toward town. Soon, the report reached local authorities, newspapers, and the wider public. Kathleen May’s description became the basis for the famous Flatwoods Monster sketch, an image that helped turn one frightening hilltop encounter into an enduring piece of UFO and creature folklore.Was the Flatwoods Monster a close encounter with something truly unknown? Was it a meteor, a barn owl, and fear reshaping what the witnesses saw in the dark? Or did Gene Lemon’s flashlight reveal something that has never been fully explained?This episode follows the reported story first, then separates what holds up in the Breakdown.This is the story of the Flatwoods Monster, the 1952 West Virginia encounter that created an American monster.Topics CoveredThe 1952 Flatwoods Monster encounterThe Braxton County MonsterThe Phantom of FlatwoodsKathleen May and Gene LemonThe reported fireball over Flatwoods, West VirginiaThe climb toward the Fisher farm hillThe red light, strange odor, and reported creature sightingThe famous Flatwoods Monster sketch1952 UFO culture and Air Force interest in strange sky reportsThe meteor and barn owl explanationsHow a local encounter became American paranormal folkloreSEO KeywordsFlatwoods Monster, Braxton County Monster, Phantom of Flatwoods, Flatwoods West Virginia, West Virginia monster, 1952 UFO sighting, creature encounter, UFO folklore, American monster legends, Kathleen May, Gene Lemon, Fisher farm, Flatwoods Monster sketch, Project Blue Book, barn owl explanation, meteor explanation, paranormal podcast, UFO podcast, creature encounter podcast, State of the Unknown, Robert Barber podcast.Support the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.

Join host Robert Barber as he examines one of the most unsettling modern paranormal phenomena: reports of Black Eyed Children.The story begins with a reported encounter in Abilene, Texas, where journalist Brian Bethel claimed two mysterious boys approached his car late at night and repeatedly asked to be let inside. What happened next would become the foundation of a phenomenon that spread through paranormal communities, online forums, and witness reports across the United States.In this episode of State of the Unknown, we explore the original Brian Bethel encounter, reported sightings from Portland and beyond, the recurring themes that appear throughout Black Eyed Children stories, and the evidence behind the claims. Are these encounters examples of folklore evolving in the internet age, misunderstood experiences, or something stranger?You’ll hear the reported stories, the documented origins of the phenomenon, and a breakdown of what holds up, what doesn’t, and why the reports continue to fascinate people decades later.Topics in this episode include:• Black Eyed Children • Brian Bethel’s Abilene, Texas encounter • Reported paranormal encounters • Modern folklore and urban legends • Witness testimony • Internet-era paranormal phenomena • Threshold and invitation folklore • Unexplained encounters • Paranormal investigationSupport the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.

In November of 1957, drivers on the rural roads around Levelland, Texas began reporting something strange.Their engines sputtered. Their headlights went out. Their vehicles stopped working near strange lights or glowing objects on or above the road. And when those lights disappeared, the cars and trucks reportedly came back to life.Join host Robert Barber as he explores the Levelland Incident, one of the most compelling UFO vehicle-interference cases in American history.The night began with Pedro Saucedo and Joe Salaz driving outside Levelland when Saucedo reported seeing a bright object moving toward their truck. According to his account, the truck lost power, the headlights failed, and the object passed close enough that he dropped beside the vehicle as it moved overhead.But Saucedo’s report was only the beginning.Over the next several hours, the Levelland police station received call after call from drivers describing similar events on different roads around town. Jim Wheeler reported an egg-shaped object blocking the road. Newell Wright, a Texas Tech freshman, said his car died before he saw a glowing oval object ahead of him. Ronald Martin described a bright orange object landing on the highway and lighting the cab of his truck. And eventually, local law enforcement officers went out searching the same roads where witnesses said the lights had appeared.What made the Levelland UFO case different from many other sightings was the repeated pattern: strange lights near rural roads, vehicle engines failing, headlights going dark, and normal function returning after the objects moved away.The U.S. Air Force investigated through Project Blue Book and pointed toward electrical weather, ball lightning, St. Elmo’s fire, and wet vehicle circuits as possible explanations. But the case has remained controversial for decades, partly because of the number of reports, the involvement of local authorities, and the repeated claims of vehicle interference.Was the Levelland Incident a case of weather, mechanical failure, and fear moving through a small Texas town? Or did something unknown cross those roads in 1957?This episode examines the reported events, the official explanation, the witness accounts, and why Levelland became one of the classic UFO cases tied to electromagnetic interference.This is the story of the Levelland Incident, the night headlights failed across the Texas plains.Topics CoveredThe 1957 Levelland UFO IncidentPedro Saucedo and Joe Salaz’s reported truck encounterJim Wheeler’s road-blocking object reportNewell Wright’s stalled-car experience east of LevellandRonald Martin’s glowing object on the highwayLocal police response and Officer A. J. FowlerSheriff and fire marshal sightings during the searchProject Blue Book’s official investigationBall lightning, St. Elmo’s fire, and skeptical explanationsUFOs and reported electromagnetic vehicle interferenceHow Levelland became part of American UFO folkloreSupport the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.

In 1958, an ordinary family home in Seaford, Long Island became the center of one of America’s strangest poltergeist cases.Join host Robert Barber as he investigates the Seaford incident, the famous Long Island haunting remembered as Popper the Poltergeist, where bottles reportedly opened by themselves, caps flew off, liquids spilled, figurines broke, furniture moved, and rooms were found disturbed after no one was supposed to be inside them.The case began inside the Herrmann family home, where James and Lucille Herrmann and their children, Jimmy and Lucille, reported a series of strange disturbances that seemed to focus on ordinary household objects. What started with spilled bottles and broken items soon drew the attention of Nassau County police, Detective Joseph Tozzi, reporters, outside witnesses, and investigators from Duke University’s Parapsychology Laboratory.But the Seaford poltergeist case isn’t just remembered because objects allegedly moved. It’s remembered because of the uncomfortable question that followed nearly every incident: where was everyone when it happened?In this episode of State of the Unknown, we walk through the reported events inside the Herrmann house, including the famous ink bottle incident, the broken living room figurine, the popping bottle caps, the police response, the media attention, and the investigation that tried to separate ordinary explanations from something harder to explain.Was Popper the Poltergeist a real case of paranormal activity, a family trick that grew out of control, an misunderstood physical phenomenon, or one of the most compelling documented poltergeist cases in American history?This is the story of the Seaford incident, the Long Island poltergeist case that turned a suburban home into a five-week mystery.In this episodeThe Herrmann family and their Seaford, Long Island homeThe first reported disturbances on February 3, 1958Bottles opening, caps popping off, and liquids spillingJimmy Herrmann and the suspicion inside the houseDetective Joseph Tozzi and the Nassau County police responseThe ink bottle that reportedly moved from the dining room to the living roomThe broken figurine near the living room deskReporters and witnesses inside the Herrmann houseDuke University’s Parapsychology Laboratory investigationThe origin of the name “Popper the Poltergeist”The strongest evidence, the weakest points, and the unresolved questionsKeywordsSeaford incident, Seaford poltergeist, Popper the Poltergeist, Long Island haunting, Herrmann family poltergeist, James Herrmann, Lucille Herrmann, Jimmy Herrmann, 1958 poltergeist case, Nassau County police poltergeist, Detective Joseph Tozzi, Duke Parapsychology Laboratory, J. Gaither Pratt, William G. Roll, haunted house Long Island, American poltergeist cases, true paranormal stories, real haunting cases, documented poltergeist, State of the Unknown, Robert Barber.Support the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.

Join host Robert Barber as he examines the Enfield Horror, also known as the Enfield Monster or Enfield Creature, one of Illinois’ strangest reported cryptid encounters.In April 1973, Henry McDaniel reported hearing scratching at the front door of his home in Enfield, Illinois. When he went to investigate, he said he saw something outside that he couldn’t identify: a grayish creature with large pink eyes, an awkward body, and three legs.That encounter became the beginning of one of the most bizarre unexplained creature sightings of the 1970s. Within days, the story spread through the small town. Police were called to McDaniel’s home. Unusual tracks were reportedly found near the house. Neighbors gathered. A ten-year-old boy’s frightening story became part of the local legend. Radio reporters traveled to Enfield. Armed outsiders arrived hoping to photograph or confront the creature, and the case quickly grew from one man’s reported sighting into a town-wide disturbance.In this episode of State of the Unknown, Robert looks at the reported Enfield Horror encounter, the famous three-legged creature description, the alleged tracks, the WWKI radio crew’s abandoned barn sighting, the disputed child encounter, the monster hunters who came to town with guns, and the skeptical explanations that followed, including the missing kangaroo theory, the wild ape theory, and other possible animal explanations.More than fifty years later, the Enfield Horror remains one of the most unusual American cryptid stories of the 1970s. Was something strange moving through Enfield, Illinois? Was Henry McDaniel describing an unknown animal, a misidentified creature, a rumor that grew through fear and media attention, or something that still hasn’t been fully explained?Support the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.

Robert the Doll is one of the most famous haunted objects in the United States.For decades, the doll has been connected to stories of movement, strange sounds, changing expressions, camera malfunctions, visitor misfortune, and apology letters sent by people who believe they disrespected him.But before Robert became a museum exhibit in Key West, he was connected to Robert Eugene “Gene” Otto, the Otto home, and a private story that later grew into public legend.In this episode of State of the Unknown, join host Robert Barber as we look at what is documented, what has been reported, and what remains unclear in the story of Robert the Doll.This is not about proving Robert is haunted.It is about how a real object became the center of a legend that people still respond to today.This episode examines the history of Robert the Doll, his connection to Gene Otto and Key West, Florida, and the claims that followed him from the Otto home to Fort East Martello Museum. Reports include claims of footsteps, giggling, movement, changing facial expressions, malfunctioning cameras, visitor misfortune, and apology letters written to Robert by people hoping to break the curse.Robert remains one of the most widely known haunted dolls in American paranormal history, often discussed alongside haunted objects, cursed artifacts, museum hauntings, and supernatural folklore.This episode focuses on the documented timeline, reported claims, and the ongoing ritual of visitors writing apology letters to Robert the Doll.Support the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.

Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery has a reputation, and it didn’t come from stories alone. Visitors have reported seeing figures moving between the headstones, unexplained lights in the trees, and one photograph that captured something no one could explain.Join host Robert Barber as State of the Unknown examines the documented history of Bachelors Grove Cemetery in Illinois, one of the most well-known haunted cemeteries in the United States. From eyewitness accounts of ghost sightings to paranormal investigations and the famous “Madonna of Bachelors Grove” photograph, this episode breaks down what witnesses say they experienced—and what still hasn’t been explained.Located in Midlothian, Illinois, Bachelors Grove Cemetery has been the subject of decades of reports involving apparitions, shadow figures, phantom vehicles, and unexplained phenomena. Investigators, photographers, and visitors have all described similar encounters, raising questions about whether these experiences can be explained by environmental factors, psychological influence, or something else entirely.If you’re interested in real paranormal cases, haunted locations, ghost sightings, and documented supernatural encounters, this episode explores one of America’s most talked-about haunted cemeteries through a grounded, evidence-based lens.🎧 Topics covered:Bachelors Grove Cemetery Illinois historyMadonna of Bachelors Grove ghost photoHaunted cemeteries in the United StatesDocumented paranormal investigationsEyewitness ghost sightings and encountersUnexplained phenomena and supernatural reportsSupport the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.

The St. Louis exorcism shaped what many people think possession is supposed to look like, but what do real cases actually report?In this bonus episode of State of the Unknown, Robert Barber steps back from a single case to look at the broader question of possession and exorcism. Drawing on documented accounts and recurring patterns across different cases, this episode explores the gap between what people expect to see…and what is actually reported.From behavioral changes and physical reactions to the influence of belief, media, and cultural expectations, possession cases don’t follow a single clear pattern. And once a case like St. Louis becomes widely known, it doesn’t just stay a case—it becomes a reference point.So when similar experiences are reported again… are they independent accounts? Or are they shaped by something people already recognize?🎧 In this episode:What “possession” means across different contextsThe difference between expectation and reported experienceWhy cases like the St. Louis exorcism influence future accountsHow patterns show up across unrelated reportsWhere explanation ends—and uncertainty beginsEpisodes MentionedThe St. Louis Exorcism: The Case That Inspired The Exorcist—and Shaped What People Think Possession Looks Like (Episode 50)The Betty and Barney Hill UFO Abduction: America’s First Alien Encounter — Ep. 21Support the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.

In 1949, a teenage boy in St. Louis became the center of one of the most documented exorcism cases in American history.What followed involved multiple priests, medical observation, and handwritten records describing events that have never been fully explained.Decades later, the case would inspire The Exorcist.But the version most people know doesn’t come from the full record.In this episode of State of the Unknown, we go back to what was documented at the time—what witnesses reported, what clergy recorded, and how the events were described as they unfolded.This is not the dramatized version.This is what was written down.This episode examines the 1949 St. Louis exorcism case, one of the most documented possession cases in the United States. Accounts from priests, reported medical observations, and written records describe a series of events involving alleged possession, religious intervention, and unexplained physical phenomena.The case has been referenced in discussions of real-life exorcisms, possession cases, and religious investigations, and remains one of the most widely cited examples connected to The Exorcist. Reports from the time include claims of abnormal behavior, reactions to religious objects, and events witnessed by multiple individuals involved in the case.This episode focuses on what was documented and reported during the events in St. Louis in 1949, rather than later interpretations or dramatized retellings.Related Episode:If you want the full background behind the house and how this case became The Exorcist, listen to:👉 The St. Louis Exorcist House: The 1949 Possession Case That Inspired The Exorcist — Ep. 37Support the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.

In the 1980s, the Snedeker family moved into a house in Southington, Connecticut, looking for space and stability while their son Philip underwent cancer treatment. What they didn’t fully understand at the time was what the house had been before they moved in.It wasn’t just an older home.It had once operated as a funeral home.Rooms that didn’t quite make sense. Doorways wider than expected. A basement built around a fixed porcelain table and a floor designed to drain.At first, those details didn’t mean much.But over time, the family began to describe experiences inside the house that they couldn’t explain—starting in the basement, and eventually extending beyond it.Join host Robert Barber as he examines the reported events of the Snedeker haunting, a case that drew in Ed and Lorraine Warren and later became the basis for The Haunting in Connecticut. Through firsthand accounts, reported experiences, and the way the story was later shaped and retold, this episode looks at what was said to have happened inside that house—and what remains uncertain.According to the family, what began as a sense that something wasn’t right became something more direct. Objects appeared to move. Sounds were heard in empty rooms. And in the basement, Philip described encounters that went beyond anything easily explained.As the situation escalated, the Warrens were called in to investigate. After spending time in the house, they concluded that what was happening wasn’t isolated—and wasn’t likely to stop on its own. Their involvement gave the case a framework, but it didn’t bring it to a clear end.Over time, the story of the Snedeker haunting spread beyond the house itself. It was documented, adapted, and eventually turned into a major motion picture. But as the story grew, so did the questions.How much of what’s known today comes directly from what the family experienced?And how much was shaped afterward?This episode of State of the Unknown breaks down the layers of the case—what was reported, how it was presented, and why the details don’t always line up the same way.Support the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.

A young girl said the haunting was a hoax. But police were inside the house when objects reportedly moved….In 1974, police were called to a small home on Lindley Street in Bridgeport, Connecticut.Inside, they reported objects moving on their own. Furniture shifting. Activity that continued while people were in the room watching—and without a clear source.What started inside that house didn’t stay there.Neighbors came to see it. More people followed. Even those who arrived expecting to find an explanation began reporting things they couldn’t account for.But as more people became involved, the story became harder to pin down.Some described movement happening directly in front of them.Others described moments where something had already changed before they realized it.And over time, the question shifted.Not just what was happening inside that house…but whether everyone was seeing the same thing when it did.Join host Robert Barber as he examines the Lindley Street Poltergeist—what was reported, who was there, and what holds up under closer examination.Episode mentioned:  The Haunting of Madison Seminary: The Investigation That Spoke Back - Ep. 27on Apple Podcastson SpotifySupport the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.

On December 29, 1980, three witnesses driving along a rural road outside Dayton, Texas reported one of the most unusual UFO encounters ever documented in the United States.Betty Cash, Vickie Landrum, and Vickie’s seven-year-old grandson Colby Landrum were returning home after a night of bingo when they noticed a bright light ahead on Farm-to-Market Road 1485. As they drove closer, the light revealed a massive diamond-shaped craft hovering low above the road.Witnesses later said flames burst from the underside of the object and intense heat filled the car. When Betty Cash briefly stepped outside to look at the craft, she later said the air itself felt hot enough to burn.Moments later, the sky filled with multiple military-style helicopters surrounding the glowing craft. Witnesses estimated that as many as twenty helicopters were present, and several observers later noted that the aircraft described resembled CH-47 Chinook helicopters, a heavy-lift aircraft used by the United States Army.Within hours of the encounter, the witnesses began suffering severe physical symptoms including burning skin, blisters, nausea, headaches, and hair loss. Betty Cash was eventually hospitalized with documented burns and blistering, injuries that some physicians said resembled patterns sometimes associated with radiation exposure, although no confirmed radiation source was ever identified.In 1982, Betty Cash and Vickie Landrum filed a lawsuit against the United States government under the Federal Tort Claims Act, arguing that the presence of military helicopters suggested the object might have been connected to a government operation.After several years of investigation, the case was dismissed in federal court in 1986 because the witnesses could not prove the helicopters belonged to the U.S. military.More than four decades later, the Cash–Landrum Incident remains one of the most controversial UFO encounters ever reported.Topics CoveredCash–Landrum IncidentTexas UFO encounterDayton Texas UFO sightingBetty Cash and Vickie LandrumCH-47 Chinook helicoptersUFO lawsuit against the U.S. governmentSupport the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.

In the late 1960s, a quiet home in the Black Forest area near Colorado Springs became the center of a disturbing series of events. The family living there claimed objects moved on their own, household items were thrown across rooms, and unexplained disturbances seemed to occur while people were standing there watching.In this bonus episode of State of the Unknown, join host Robert Barber as he examines the reported events surrounding the Black Forest haunting, a lesser-known American poltergeist case that has circulated in paranormal literature for decades.Accounts of the case place the disturbances in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when the Black Forest region was far more isolated than it is today. According to the family who lived in the home, the activity began with small incidents before escalating into objects sliding across tables, items falling from shelves, and objects reportedly being thrown across rooms without anyone touching them.Reports of the disturbances eventually reached paranormal researchers familiar with alleged poltergeist activity. Investigators looked for ordinary explanations including structural issues, environmental factors, and psychological stress within the household. But like many reported poltergeist cases, the events eventually faded and no clear explanation was ever established.Today the Black Forest haunting remains one of many unsettling cases that sit somewhere between witness testimony and documented evidence.Were the disturbances the result of misunderstood natural causes… or something that investigators simply couldn’t explain?This episode was inspired by a listener suggestion. If there’s a case you think I should cover, you can email me at [email protected] — I read every messageSupport the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.

The L-8 Ghost Blimp is one of the strangest unsolved aviation mysteries of World War II — a Navy patrol airship that returned from a mission over the Pacific with its engines running and its crew missing.In August of 1942, a U.S. Navy patrol blimp lifted off from Naval Air Station Treasure Island for what should have been a routine anti-submarine patrol along the California coast.Hours later, the aircraft drifted inland over Daly City.The engines were still running.The controls were still set for flight.But the control cabin was empty.The blimp, known as L-8, had returned from its mission without the two officers flying it.Earlier that morning, Lieutenant Ernest Cody and Ensign Charles Adams radioed that they were investigating a suspicious oil slick near the Farallon Islands, a possible sign of a Japanese submarine operating off the West Coast during World War II.That transmission would be the last confirmed contact with the aircraft.In this episode, join host Robert Barber as he examines one of the strangest aviation mysteries of the war: the case of the L-8 Ghost Blimp, a patrol airship that continued flying after its crew disappeared.Investigators searched the ocean west of San Francisco for days.They never found the men.So what actually happened aboard the L-8 that morning?Did the crew fall while investigating the oil slick?Did something go wrong during the patrol?Or is there another explanation for how two trained Navy officers vanished from an operational aircraft?This is the story of the L-8 Ghost Blimp.Support the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.

In the late 1980s, a family living in San Pedro, California reported a series of unexplained disturbances inside their apartment. Objects allegedly moved without physical contact. Items fell from shelves. Activity was said to occur in front of multiple adult witnesses who later stated they were standing in the room when it happened.The incident became known as the San Pedro Poltergeist, one of several Southern California poltergeist cases reported during that era. Unlike folklore-based hauntings, this case centered on direct claims of physical object movement and escalating disturbances inside a single residence.In this episode, host Robert Barber examines the San Pedro poltergeist case through reported timelines, witness statements, and contemporary coverage. What was described? Who claimed to see it? And how does this apartment case compare to other documented American poltergeist reports from the 20th century?Rather than dramatizing the story, this episode focuses on what was claimed, what can be supported, and why the San Pedro case continues to be referenced in discussions of modern poltergeist activity.Support the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.

In November 1966, residents of Point Pleasant, West Virginia began reporting encounters with a tall, winged figure near the McClintic Wildlife Management Area, known locally as the TNT Area. Police documented statements. The local newspaper recorded names. Witness descriptions were consistent: a figure six to seven feet tall, wings folded behind its back, and red eyes reflecting in headlights.Sightings continued for more than a year.On December 15, 1967, the Silver Bridge collapsed during rush hour traffic, killing forty-six people. The official investigation concluded that the disaster was caused by a fractured eyebar, an internal structural crack that could not be detected through routine inspection.There is no official finding linking the Mothman sightings to the bridge collapse. Yet the timing created a lasting association in the community. Reports stopped soon after the disaster.In this episode, host Robert Barber examines the original police reports, the Indrid Cold encounter, the engineering findings behind the Silver Bridge collapse, and the tension between documented mechanical failure and repeated witness accounts.Support the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.

In 2011, a family in Gary, Indiana reported escalating disturbances inside their rental home on Carolina Street. What began as unexplained noises and strange behavior would eventually involve the Gary Police Department, Methodist Hospital medical staff, and the Indiana Department of Child Services.According to official DCS documentation later obtained by the Indianapolis Star, a hospital caseworker reported witnessing a child walk backward up a wall during a medical evaluation. The case generated a 77-page investigative file and drew the attention of local clergy, including Reverend Michael Maginot, who later performed exorcisms.Years later, paranormal investigator Zak Bagans purchased the property and documented his own investigation in the film Demon House before demolishing the structure in 2016.Join host Robert Barber as he examines the documented reports, the custody battle, the hospital incident, and the demolition that turned a Gary rental house into one of the most debated haunting cases in modern American history.Support the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.

Coral Castle is one of the most enduring mysteries in American history.In South Florida, a single man named Edward Leedskalnin spent decades building a massive stone monument entirely on his own. He worked at night, refused help, and left behind no clear explanation. The limestone blocks weigh several tons, yet no witnesses ever saw how they were moved.Join host Robert Barber on State of the Unknown as he examines the documented history of Coral Castle, the life of its builder, and the engineering questions that continue to surround this strange landmark. This episode explores verified accounts, historical records, and firsthand observations while separating real evidence from speculation.Often described as an unexplained engineering feat, Coral Castle has been linked to theories involving magnetism, lost knowledge, and paranormal encounters. But what can actually be proven? And what remains unresolved?This is not a story about miracles or mythology. It is a grounded, documentary-style look at one of America’s most puzzling historical mysteries and the real unanswered questions it leaves behind.Support the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.

In 1974, a woman named Doris Bither reported a series of disturbing events inside her small rental home in Culver City, California. What began with unexplained object movement soon escalated into reported physical encounters witnessed by family members and later observed by researchers connected to the UCLA parapsychology laboratory.The case became known as the Culver City Poltergeist and would later inspire the 1982 film The Entity. Investigators, including parapsychologist Barry Taff, documented interviews, environmental observations, and attempts to record activity inside the home.In this episode, host Robert Barber examines the Doris Bither case through documented reports, firsthand testimony, and the formal investigation that followed — separating what was observed, what was alleged, and how the narrative shifted once it entered popular culture.The events inside that Culver City house were never conclusively explained. But the case left a lasting mark on those involved and became one of the most debated American poltergeist cases of the 1970s.Support the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.

In October 1973, two shipyard workers walked into a Mississippi sheriff’s office late at night and claimed they had been taken against their will. What followed was documented by law enforcement, investigated by federal agencies, and quietly recorded when the men believed they were alone.This episode examines the Pascagoula Incident through police reports, firsthand testimony, and a secret audio recording that captured the men’s reactions in real time. It’s not a story about proof or belief. It’s a story about what happens when an extraordinary claim refuses to fall apart under scrutiny.What happened on the riverbank that night remains unresolved. But the record it left behind is real.Support the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.

Located in Hinsdale, New York, the Hinsdale House has become one of the state’s most frequently discussed haunted locations. Reports of unusual activity date back decades, but this episode focuses on a specific period when one family lived inside the home and documented what they experienced.According to their accounts, the activity followed a progression. Unexplained sounds. Physical sensations. Sudden illness. Objects reportedly moving. The family stated that the disturbances intensified over time and were witnessed by visitors and investigators.In this episode, host Robert Barber examines the claims associated with the Hinsdale House during that documented period, including what was reported, what investigators later recorded, and how the events were interpreted by those involved.Rather than relying on folklore, the focus remains on the timeline of reported activity in Hinsdale, New York, what evidence was said to exist, and where the limits of verification begin.Is the Hinsdale House an example of environmental stress misinterpreted as paranormal activity, or does this case represent a documented haunting that continues to defy simple explanation?This episode explores what was claimed, what can be supported, and why this rural New York case remains part of modern American haunting history.🔍 Further Reading & Case Research(For listeners who want to explore how this case has been documented)Echoes of a Haunting - Revised - Author Clara M. MillerHinsdale House An American Haunting — various authorsAs an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.🌙 Listening Environment & Atmosphere(Optional items some listeners use to create a calm or focused listening space)Dreamegg Portable White Noise MachineJBL Vibe Beam 2 - Noise Canceling Earbuds These are optional links. Support the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.

Before it became a pop-culture reference point, Camp Hero was a real military installation in Montauk, New York, on the eastern edge of Long Island. During the Cold War, the base operated as a radar and defense site. Decades later, it would become the center of claims involving secret government experiments known as the Montauk Project.In this episode, host Robert Barber examines the documented history of Camp Hero alongside the allegations that emerged in the 1980s and 1990s. Drawing from firsthand accounts, disputed records, and the writings of individuals such as Preston Nichols, the episode explores claims of psychological experimentation, alleged work with children, and stories that blurred the line between conspiracy theory and modern folklore.No official documentation confirms the existence of a classified “Montauk Project.” Yet the persistence of the narrative has shaped American paranormal culture and directly influenced the creation of Stranger Things.Was Montauk a misunderstood Cold War installation, an elaborate conspiracy theory, or a story that evolved through repetition and cultural anxiety? This episode explores what is verifiable, what remains disputed, and how a former military site became one of the most enduring modern legends in the United States.🔍 Further Reading & Case Research(For listeners who want to explore how this case has been documented)The Montauk Project - Experiments in Time: Silver Anniversary Edition - Author Preston B NicholsThe Montauk Files: Unearthing the Phoenix Conspiracy — Author K.B. Wells, JrDisclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.Support the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.

In 1949, a family in the Midwest began documenting a series of disturbing events centered on their teenage son. What began as unexplained disturbances soon escalated into physical incidents witnessed by family members, physicians, and Jesuit clergy.The events eventually led to St. Louis, Missouri, where priests from Saint Louis University were asked to intervene. Observations were recorded. Medical explanations were pursued first. Outside witnesses were brought in only after other options failed.In this episode, host Robert Barber examines the St. Louis Exorcist House and the documented 1949 possession and exorcism case often associated with the pseudonym “Roland Doe.” Rather than retelling the story as it’s been mythologized, this episode focuses on what was recorded at the time, what remains disputed, and how the situation progressed step by step until an exorcism was attempted.Years later, elements of this case would inspire The Exorcist, one of the most influential horror films ever made.This is the story of what happened before the legend.🔍 Further Reading & Case Research(For listeners who want to explore this case in more detail)Possessed - by Thomas Allen 🌙 Listening Environment & AtmosphereOptional items some listeners use to create a calm or focused listening space.JBL Go 4 Bluetooth Speaker - Absolutely love JBL speakers.Fenmzee 3-Way Dimmable Touch Bedside Table Lamp - Such a great lamp that has usb ports so I can charge my phone at night.These are optional links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Support the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.

The Greenbrier Ghost is one of the most unusual cases in American legal history. In this episode of State of the Unknown, host Robert Barber examines a true paranormal story involving a sudden death, a reopened investigation, and testimony that challenged the boundaries of what a court was prepared to hear.Drawing from documented court records, medical findings, and historical accounts, this episode separates verified facts from reported experiences surrounding the case known as the Greenbrier Ghost. After a young woman’s death was initially ruled natural, her mother claimed that her daughter appeared to her and described how she had been killed, prompting authorities to take a second look at a case they believed was already closed.This paranormal story explores how belief, persistence, and overlooked evidence intersected inside the legal system, raising lasting questions about where truth comes from, what qualifies as testimony, and why this case continues to unsettle people more than a century later.🔍 Further Reading & Case ResearchFor listeners who want to explore how this case has been documented.• The Haunting of Zona Heaster Shue: The Greenbrier Ghost Chronicles by Nancy Richmond (Author), Misty Murray-Walkup (Author)• The Greenbrier Ghost: And Other Strange Stories by Dennis Deitz (Author)🌙 Listening Environment & AtmosphereOptional items some listeners use to create a calm or focused listening space.• JBL Go 4 Bluetooth Speaker • Fenmzee 3-Way Dimmable Touch Bedside Table LampThese are optional links. No endorsement implied.As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.Support the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.

In a quiet suburban neighborhood in Bothell, Washington, a family began experiencing unexplained disturbances inside their home. What started as small, dismissible events slowly escalated into more than 600 reported paranormal incidents over the course of a year, witnessed by multiple people. Objects moved, sounds followed occupants through the house, and visitors noticed disturbances without being told what to expect.In this mini episode of State of the Unknown, Robert Barber tells the story of the Bothell Hell House exactly as it was reported by those who lived through it, before stepping back to examine what can be verified, what remains unclear, and why this case continues to be discussed decades later.This episode explores how prolonged, relentless activity can wear down a household without a single dramatic breaking point, and what happens when a home stops feeling neutral and begins to push back against the people living inside it.Further Reading & ResearchThe Bothell Hell House: Poltergeist of Washington StateA firsthand account from later occupants of the home, documenting repeated disturbances, physical activity, and multiple witnesses over an extended period of time.Haunted AmericaA U.S.-focused overview of reported hauntings and long-running cases, offering historical and regional context for how stories like this one are recorded, shared, and debated.* As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.Support the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.

In the late 1980s, a family in Wisconsin brought home a simple set of bunk beds for their children. Nothing about them seemed unusual. There was no known history tied to them, no warning signs, and no reason to think they would change anything at all.But soon after the beds were assembled, the house began to feel different.Footsteps were heard moving through empty rooms. Objects shifted on their own. The children reported seeing a figure standing in their bedroom. A babysitter experienced something so unsettling that she refused to return. And eventually, the father came face-to-face with something in the hallway that convinced the family to leave their home in the middle of the night and never come back.In this episode, Robert Barber tells the story of the Tallman Bunk Beds, a case later featured on Unsolved Mysteries, exactly as it has been passed down over the years. Once the story is complete, the episode steps back to examine what can be verified, what remains unconfirmed, and why this case continues to resist a single explanation.Was this a genuine haunting, a buildup of fear, or something in between?Support the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.

The Dybbuk Box is one of the most infamous haunted objects in modern paranormal history.But behind the viral stories, the museum footage, and the online legends, there was something real: a chain of people who claimed that nightmares, shadows, sickness, and fear followed the small wooden cabinet wherever it went.In this episode, join Robert Barber as he breaks down the original estate sale in Portland, Oregon, the early owners who tried to live with it, the curator who believed it carried a presence, and the moment the story exploded into the public imagination.Some of it is verified.Some of it is personal testimony.Some of it is exaggerated.But all of it adds up to one of the strangest modern hauntings ever recorded.Is the Dybbuk Box a genuine haunting, the power of suggestion, or something in between?Let’s look at what really happened.🎧 State of the Unknown — new episodes every Tuesday.Support the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.

A quiet home in Atchison, Kansas. A nursery that never felt empty. Scratches that appeared on skin — fresh, burning, and witnessed in real time.This is the true paranormal story of the Sallie House haunting, one of the most disturbing and well-documented cases in America’s haunted history.In this episode of State of the Unknown, we walk through the chilling events exactly as the family reported them: the footsteps, the cold spots, the toys that moved on their own, and the violent attacks that finally drove them out.Then we step back and examine what investigators actually documented, what witnesses claimed, and what remains part of Midwestern urban folklore.If you enjoy paranormal encounters, real hauntings, demonic cases, or unsolved supernatural mysteries, this is an episode you won’t want to miss.Listen now and decide for yourself what really happened inside the Sallie House.Support the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.

On the fourth floor of Wilson Hall at Ohio University sits a sealed dorm room no one has lived in for decades, Room 428. Students have whispered about it for years: pacing footsteps behind a locked door, lights flicking on in the middle of the night, and the story of a student whose experience inside the room changed everything.In this mini-episode, we explore the legend as it’s been told for generations — the strange behavior, the escalating disturbances, and the night of the scream, before stepping back to see what can actually be confirmed. Is Room 428 truly haunted, or did a series of unsettling events evolve into one of the most enduring pieces of campus folklore in the Midwest?This is the story of the room Ohio University quietly locked and never reopened.Support the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.

In the early 1800s, a quiet Tennessee farmhouse became the center of one of the most chilling and well-documented hauntings in American history. For more than two years, the Bell family claimed they were tormented by an unseen voice, one that spoke clearly, answered questions, revealed secrets… and eventually promised to kill the family’s patriarch, John Bell.Join host Robert B. as he dives deep into the true story of the Bell Witch, exploring the noises, the whispers, the violent attacks on young Betsy Bell, and the community that gathered to hear a disembodied voice speak from the shadows. We walk through the events leading up to John Bell’s mysterious decline, the infamous poison vial, the witch’s final prediction, and the strange return that followed years later.We also look at how the legend grew, what’s documented, what came from later retellings, and how the story transformed into one of America’s most famous ghost tales. And yes, we explore the later connection to the Bell Witch Cave, a site that has become synonymous with the haunting even though it never appeared in the earliest accounts.Whether you believe this was a genuine supernatural encounter, a community-wide panic, or the birth of a uniquely American legend, the Bell Witch remains one of the most debated and enduring hauntings ever recorded.Support the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.

In the early 1980s, new homeowners outside Houston started finding coffins buried beneath their freshly built yards.Lights flickered, water ran on its own, and fear spread through the neighborhood—until they learned the truth.Their subdivision had been built over a forgotten cemetery known as Black Hope.The story of what followed—graves unearthed, strange activity, and a family tragedy—sounds eerily similar to the plot of Poltergeist, which hit theaters around the same time.But this wasn’t a movie set. It was real life.This is the story of the Black Hope Cemetery: a Texas haunting rooted in history, a fight for recognition, and a reminder that some places never truly rest.🎙️ State of the Unknown tells true stories of hauntings, legends, and the unexplained from across America—where history and mystery blur.Support the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.

In 1972, Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 crashed into the Florida Everglades—killing 101 people.Months later, flight crews across the country began reporting something impossible: the faces of Captain Robert Loft and Flight Engineer Donald Repo appearing aboard other jets built from the wreckage.What followed became one of the best-documented modern hauntings and a mystery that changed aviation forever.In this episode of State of the Unknown, host Robert Barber revisits the verified history of the crash, the first-hand reports that followed, and the lasting question they left behind: Were these sightings trauma… or proof that some flights never really end?Support the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.

In the quiet town of Madison, Ohio sits a building with nearly two centuries of history and more than a few secrets.Once a school, a Civil War widows’ home, and later a state-run institution, Madison Seminary has become one of the most haunted locations in Ohio.In this episode, host Robert Barber explores the history and hauntings of the Seminary, including the Civil War wing watched over by Elizabeth Stiles, the shrine-like bedroom of Sarah who asked for money, and the top-floor Asylum where a presence known as the Surgeon is said to linger.You will also hear about Robert’s own late-night investigation in the Seminary’s basement, where a K2 meter seemed to respond to questions and where the silence carried a weight all its own.🕯️ EVP Recordings Featured in This Episode:• “Make It Stop” – Captured in the Surgeon’s Room• Unintelligible Voices – Captured in Sarah’s RoomWhether you believe in ghosts or simply in the echoes of history, Madison Seminary stands as a place where both still seem to be alive.Support the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.

Before The Conjuring 2 terrified moviegoers, there was a real family living through something no one could explain.In 1977, the Hodgson family of Enfield, London reported furniture moving on its own, voices echoing from the walls, and violent disturbances witnessed by police, reporters, and paranormal investigators.But what really happened inside that house?In this episode, State of the Unknown host Robert Barber uncovers the true story behind The Conjuring 2, the real Enfield Poltergeist case. You will hear what the investigators documented, what skeptics uncovered, and what the surviving witnesses still believe nearly fifty years later.Listen now and decide for yourself what haunted 284 Green Street.Support the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.

In 1981, a quiet Connecticut town became the center of one of the strangest murder cases in American history.When nineteen-year-old Arne Johnson stabbed his landlord, he claimed something no U.S. court had ever heard before, that he was possessed by a demon.This episode of State of the Unknown uncovers the true story that inspired The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. Host Robert Barber takes you inside the real case, from the alleged possession of eleven-year-old David Glatzel, to the Warrens’ controversial involvement, to the trial that tried to put the Devil on the witness stand.You’ll hear what was verified, what was exaggerated, and what Hollywood left behind. No jump scares. No clichés. Just the documented events, chilling details, and quiet questions that still haunt Connecticut to this day.Support the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.

In the world of paranormal encounters and urban folklore, few stories are more chilling than this one.Before The Conjuring turned her into a horror icon, Annabelle was real — a simple Raggedy Ann doll at the center of one of the most documented real hauntings in American history.In this episode of State of the Unknown, host Robert Barber explores the true paranormal story of Annabelle - from the strange movements witnessed by two nursing students in 1970s Connecticut to the terrifying investigation led by Ed and Lorraine Warren.Discover how an innocent gift became one of the most infamous haunted objects in haunted America, and how its legend continues to shape creepy history and eerie stories to this day.If you love true paranormal stories, haunted history, and the darker corners of American folklore, this one’s for you.Support the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.

Before Hollywood gave it a name, there was the real story.Between 1974 and 1989, Jack and Janet Smurl claimed their quiet Pennsylvania duplex had become a battleground of good and evil — a haunting so violent it drew the attention of famed investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren.In this episode of State of the Unknown, Robert Barber revisits one of America’s most disturbing real-life hauntings - the true events that inspired The Conjuring: Last Rites. From unexplainable noises and levitations to an alleged demonic presence that terrorized an ordinary family, this case remains one of the most chilling chapters in modern paranormal history.🎧 Haunted history. True encounters. Real fear.Support the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.

This October, State of the Unknown presents a special haunted series: the true stories behind The Conjuring movies.Join host Robert Barber as we dive into the real cases Ed and Lorraine Warren investigated — the ones that became the inspiration for The Conjuring: Last Rites, Annabelle, The Devil Made Me Do It, and The Conjuring 2. From the Smurl Haunting in Pennsylvania to the infamous Enfield Poltergeist, we’ll separate fact from Hollywood and uncover the chilling truth behind the Conjuring universe.Follow State of the Unknown wherever you get your podcasts so you don’t miss a single haunted story this October.Support the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.

St. Louis, Missouri. Once a mansion of chandeliers, marble, and fortune — now one of the most haunted houses in America.The Lemp family built their empire on beer, but inside their 33-room mansion, sorrow took root. Five suicides. A legacy of grief. And a house that refuses to let go of its past.Today, the Lemp Mansion is famous for more than history. Guests report footsteps in empty hallways. Staff hear boots crossing the ballroom after midnight. Paranormal investigators capture whispers - even the laughter of a child long gone.Join host Robert Barber as we step inside the haunted Lemp Mansion - to explore its history, its ghosts, and the lingering question: is it the family that haunts these halls, or the grief itself?This is State of the Unknown.Support the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.

In September 1961, Betty and Barney Hill were driving through New Hampshire’s White Mountains when a strange light in the sky began to follow them. Hours later, they pulled into their driveway with two hours of missing time — and a story that would become America’s first widely publicized alien abduction.Torn clothing. Watches that would never tick again. A trembling dog that wouldn’t leave Betty’s side. And under hypnosis, Barney’s voice breaking as he screamed about “the eyes” — eyes he swore were burned into his mind.Join host Robert B. as State of the Unknown revisits that night on Route 3, unraveling the Hill abduction in vivid detail. From Betty’s recurring dreams of being taken aboard a craft, to Barney’s chilling hypnosis sessions, to the infamous “star map” pointing to Zeta Reticuli, this case laid the foundation for everything we now recognize in modern alien abduction lore.Was it stress and fractured memory, shaped by dreams and fear? Or the night two ordinary people truly came face-to-face with something not of this Earth?🎧 Listen now to The Betty and Barney Hill UFO Abduction: America’s First Alien Encounter — and decide for yourself.Support the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.

Just off the coast of Venice lies a place so feared that even locals refuse to go near it.Poveglia Island has been called the world’s most haunted island — a former quarantine zone and plague hospital where tens of thousands perished, and where the echoes of suffering seem impossible to silence.In this episode of State of the Unknown: Out of State, Robert Barber uncovers the true paranormal history of Poveglia — from plague pits and asylums to ghostly sightings and modern-day bans. It’s a haunting unlike any other… and one that still lingers over the waters of the Venetian Lagoon.🎧 Haunted history. Real places. True fear.Support the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.

For centuries, the legend of Atlantis has captured our imagination — a powerful civilization said to have vanished beneath the sea. Was it a cautionary tale, a historical reality, or something else entirely?In this episode of State of the Unknown: Out of State, Robert Barber dives into the origins of the Atlantis myth — from Plato’s first writings to modern theories that place it everywhere from the Mediterranean to the Caribbean. Explore the blend of fact, folklore, and mystery that continues to make Atlantis one of humanity’s most enduring legends.🎧 Ancient myths. Lost worlds. Enduring mysteries.Support the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.

Deep in the heart of Ireland stands Leap Castle — a centuries-old fortress known for bloodshed, betrayal, and the restless spirits said to haunt its halls. From secret dungeons and family murders to a malevolent presence known only as the Elemental, its story is one of Ireland’s darkest legends.In this episode of State of the Unknown: Out of State, Robert Barber explores the haunted history and true paranormal stories of Leap Castle — a place where history and horror intertwine, and where the past refuses to stay buried.🎧 Ancient walls. Real hauntings. True fear.Support the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.

Across the windswept Orkney Islands of Scotland comes one of the darkest legends in Celtic folklore — a creature born of sea mist and nightmare. Known as the Nuckelavee, this skinless, horse-like demon was said to spread plague, famine, and terror wherever it roamed.In this episode of State of the Unknown: Out of State, Robert Barber explores the haunted history and true cryptid lore of the Nuckelavee — from its roots in Scottish mythology to the chilling stories that keep its memory alive.🎧 Myth becomes monster. Legend becomes fear.Support the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.

A river at night.A woman’s cry that chills the blood.La Llorona — the Weeping Woman — is Mexico’s most famous ghost.For centuries, she has haunted riversides and canals, searching for the children she drowned and lost. Some call her a grieving mother. Others, a curse born from betrayal. But all agree: her cry is an omen. If you hear it, death may follow.In this episode of Out of State, we travel beyond American folklore into the haunted history of Mexico. From Aztec goddesses to colonial sightings in Mexico City, to modern encounters along the Rio Grande, La Llorona endures as one of the most terrifying paranormal stories in the world.Join us as we uncover why her legend refuses to rest… and why her voice still drifts across the water.Support the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.

In this inaugural episode of Out of State — a companion to State of the Unknown — join host Robert Barber as we step beyond America’s borders to one of the most haunted places in the world. We explore haunted history and paranormal stories surrounding Aokigahara, Japan's infamous Suicide Forest.At the base of Mount Fuji lies Aokigahara, Japan’s infamous “Suicide Forest.” But beyond its tragic reputation, locals tell of something else: the ghost of a woman in white, seen drifting silently among the trees.This episode explores the paranormal history of Aokigahara, chilling first-hand accounts, and the ghostly legend of the White Lady — a yūrei spirit born of sorrow. Known for following the living, she’s one of Japan’s most enduring ghost stories.If you love paranormal stories, true ghost legends, and haunted history, this eerie journey into Japan’s most mysterious forest is for you.🎙️ Content WarningThis episode contains discussion of suicide and grief.If you or someone you know is struggling, help is available.In the United States, you can dial 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.For listeners elsewhere, please check your local crisis hotlines and resources.Support the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.

n the Mississippi Delta, they say a young man made a deal with the Devil at the crossroads — and changed music forever. Robert Johnson’s eerie legend has haunted American folklore for nearly a century, blurring the line between myth and reality.In this episode of State of the Unknown, Robert Barber traces the real story and haunted history behind the man who inspired the legend. From his mysterious rise to fame to his untimely death, we explore the truth, the folklore, and the lasting shadow of the Devil’s bargain that shaped the blues.🎧 Where music meets myth… and the unknown plays on.Support the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.

What happens when mystery collides with science?In this episode, Robert Barber and returning guest Dr. Brian Parsons dig deeper into America’s strangest cryptid cases—like the Murfreesboro Mud Monster, black goo evidence, and unexplained footprints.From haunted forests to local law enforcement transparency, we explore why paranormal stories like Bigfoot endure—and how they fill the same mythic space ancient legends once did.Whether you’re a believer or a skeptic, this is true folklore in motion.🎧 Listen now for rare insight into the psychology, symbolism, and stakes of American cryptid folklore.Support the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.

What if the monsters we tell stories about… are still out there?In Part 1 of this special interview, Robert Barber talks with cryptozoologist Dr. Brian D. Parsons about the eastern U.S.'s most persistent legends—Bigfoot, Mothman, the Beast of Bladenboro, and the Loveland Frog.Explore how folklore, geography, and belief collide in these paranormal stories, and why the forest isn't the only place these creatures live—they haunt memory, maps, and even AI.🎧 This episode blends true stories, mythology, and the blurred line between hoax and horror.##Check out Dr. Parson's newest book, Eastern Cryptids, HERE🎧 Listen now to State of the Unknown—your go-to for haunted history, cryptid lore, and eerie encounters. Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and everywhere you listen.Support the showState of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast exploring America’s unexplained stories, including reported hauntings, UFO encounters, cryptid sightings, folklore, and modern paranormal cases. Each episode combines careful research, atmospheric storytelling, and reflection on the human questions behind the mystery.👁️‍🗨️ New episodes every Tuesday 📬 Reach out: [email protected]📣 Follow the strange: @stateoftheunknownpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, & Threads🔍 Want more? Visit stateoftheunknown.com to explore show notes and submit your own story.Share Your TakeHave a theory about this episode? Message me anytime on Instagram @stateoftheunknownpodcast - I read every DM.Some stories don’t stay buried.We go looking anyway.