Weird Darkness: Paranormal & True Crime Stories

In 1982, an 18-year-old dropped dead after playing the arcade game Berzerk — and decades of half-truths, copycat rumors, and a real murder at the same machine turned it into legend. We separate fact from fiction on the Berzerk curse and its shadowy cousin, Polybius, the government mind-control game that may or may not have ever existed.
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HOUR ONE: It’s rumored that an arcade game from 1980 might lead to the real death of its players. We’ll look at the death curse of Berzerk. (The Berzerk Death Curse, And The Polybius Urban Legend) *** And another arcade game in the early 80s was surrounded by controversy – because the game never existed, despite so many saying it did. Or did it exist? We’ll look at the urban legend of Polybius. (The Urban Legend of Polybius)
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HOUR TWO: Was Stanley Stiers the real-life inspiration for Michael Myers in 1978’s John Carpenter film, “Halloween?” (The Real Michael Myers) *** The last known words of Peter Rugg were “Let the storm increase! I will see home tonight in spite of the last tempest, or I may never see home!" Over two-hundred years later and he has yet to make it home – but that hasn’t stopped his tempest! (The Eternal Ride of Peter Rugg) *** Imagine attending college for several years, only to find out that the whole time you’ve been studying on top of the corpses of thousands of mental patients. That’s exactly what happened in 2013 when The University of Mississippi made plans to expand parking for their students and staff. (The Corpses Under The University of Mississippi) *** Dealing with a ghost or two is awful enough – but what if you’re attacked by a whole gang of ghouls? It was reported as real news in 1889’s Chicago Tribune! (A Whole Gang O’ Ghosts) *** People With Super Powers!
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SUDDEN DEATH OVERTIME: Michael Bryson disappeared on August 5th, 2020 from Hobo Campground at Umpqua National Forest. He has yet to be found. (The Disappearance of Michael Bryson) *** When it comes to cryptids, you have many to choose from – Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, the chupacabra, the list goes on and on. But I’m willing to bet nowhere on the list of your favorite cryptids, or even the cryptids you’ve ever heard of, do you have an entry for “The Belled Buzzard” of Texas. (The Belled Buzzard Legend) *** When the Black Plague arrived at Eyam's doorstep in the 17th century, its villagers were forced to choose between life or certain doom. It’s the tragic tale of England’s Plague Village. (The Black Plague Comes to Eyam)
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SOURCES AND REFERENCES FROM TONIGHT’S SHOW:“People with Super Powers” from Paranormality Magazine: https://weirddarkness.com/magazine“The Berzerk Death Curse” by Cat DeSpira: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/yckk96tv
“The Polybius Conspiracy” by Ryan Houlihan for InputMag.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p8h6v8z“The Real Michael Myers” from Casper McFadden at TheMorbidLibrary.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/yvj6ueze, and from TheScareChamber.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/vmew9uvb; “Halloween” theme piano solo by Noud van Harskamp: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2T9m-fj8K9c, “Halloween Kills | Epic Orchestral Theme” by Mike Chibante: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E82MEfQiffk
“The Disappearance of Michael Bryson” posted at Strange Outdoors: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/mwvb3am8 (If you know anything that could help solve Michael Bryson’s disappearance, or if you were at the Hobo Campground around August 3rd, 4th, or 5th of 2020, please reach out to the sheriff’s office at (541) 682-4150, option 1, and reference case No. 20-5286.)
“The Eternal Ride of Peter Rugg” posted at SlightlyOddFitchburg.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/3z7pdtzn
“The Corpses Under The University of Mississippi” by Erin Wisti for Ranker.com’s “Graveyard Shift”:https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p8tdu6k
“A Whole Gang O’ Ghosts” posted from Strange Company: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p9ynpev
“The Belled Buzzard Legend” from Texas Cryptid Hunter: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2p875fxv
“The Black Plague Comes to Eyam” by Stephanie Almazan for TheLineUp.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/1aptirxk
==========(Over time links seen above may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for material I use whenever possible. If I have overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it immediately. Some links may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)
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"I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." — John 12:46
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WeirdDarkness®, WeirdDarkness© 2026
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Every time David Delano tries to propose to the beautiful Charlotte Marsden, a figure in old-fashioned evening dress appears in the room — visible only to him and to Charlotte's mother — and neither of them will explain who he is or why he keeps coming back.

Look for this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and other podcast apps. Get a list of free listening apps here: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/OTR

CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…
00:00:00.000 = Show Open
00:01:30.028 = CBS Radio Mystery Theater, “Edmund Orme” (May 15, 1978) ***WD
00:46:57.073 = The Crime Club, “Topaz Flower” (April 24, 1947)
01:16:53.148 = Crime Classics, “Death Picture Hanger” (July 20, 1953)
01:46:38.330 = Danger Dr. Danfield, “Nola Jerrold Wants To Kill Her Husband” (September 15, 1946)
02:10:54.934 = The Devil and Mr. O, “Three Thousand Dollars” (January 21, 1972) ***WD
02:36:19.806 = Diary of Fate, “Victor Wakeman” (June 29, 1948) ***WD
03:03:06.121 = Dimension X, “Dr. Grimshaw’s Sanitorium” (September 22, 1950) ***WD
03:32:38.297 = The Eleventh Hour, “Country Road” (ADU)
03:58:20.749 = Escape, “The Sure Thing” (October 15, 1949)
04:26:55.837 = Exploring Tomorrow, “Sourdough” (February 05, 1958)
04:46:02.408 = Tales of the Frightened, “Chung Ling Soo” (December 16, 1957) ***WD
04:50:22.457 = Tales From the Tomb, “The Lick” (1960s)
04:53:51.912 = Incredible But True, “Naked Man of Newbury” (1950-1951)
04:57:38.785 = Strange Adventure, “Crossroads” (1945) ***WD
05:00:55.441 = Show Close

(ADU) = Air Date Unknown
(LQ) = Low Quality
***WD = Remastered, edited, or cleaned up by Weird Darkness to make the episode more listenable. Audio may not be pristine, but it will be better than the original file which may have been unusable or more difficult to hear without editing.
CUSTOM WEBPAGE: https://weirddarkness.com/WDRR0732

From a New Mexico ranch in 1947 to a Navy fighter jet in 2004, we trace ten of history's most famous UFO encounters — the eyewitnesses who saw them, the governments who denied them, and the questions that still won't go away."

EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/skiesarewatching

READ or DOWNLOAD the full transcript of this episode: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/4hfn747d

CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…
00:00:00.000 = The Foreboding
00:06:39.225 = Show Open
00:07:58.582 = The Roswell UFO Incident
00:12:38.079 = The Westall UFO Encounter
00:15:33.497 = The Pascagoula Abduction
00:19:27.674 = The Allagash Abductions ***
00:22:35.165 = The Tehran UFO Incident
00:25:46.548 = The Cash-Landrum Incident
00:29:03.352 = The Rendlesham Forest Incident
00:32:19.175 = The Belgian UFO Wave
00:36:28.126 = The Phoenix Lights ***
00:40:52.495 = The Nimitz UFO Encounter
00:44:15.325 = Show Close
*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad break

LISTEN ON PODCAST APPS:
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*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*

SOURCES and RESOURCES:

- Paranormality Magazine article; (link no longer valid)

- Halt, Charles. "Halt Memo," January 1981, archived by the UK National Archives.
- Penniston, Jim, and John Burroughs. "Encounter in Rendlesham Forest." Thomas & Mercer, 2014.
- BBC News. "Rendlesham Forest: 'Britain's Roswell' UFO spotted off Suffolk coast," September 2011.
- Pope, Nick. "You Can't Tell the People." Pan Books, 2001 – A book by a former MoD UFO investigator discussing the cover-ups and inside stories of the British government's responses to UFO sightings, including the Rendlesham Forest incident.
- Bruni, Georgina. "You Can't Tell the People: The Definitive Account of the Rendlesham Forest UFO Mystery." Sidgwick & Jackson, 2000.
- SOBEPS Reports on the Belgian UFO Wave
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdEALPvl_4Q
- "Belgium in UFO Fever" - Brussels Times
- "The Cash-Landrum UFO Incident," by John F. Schuessler, provides an extensive analysis of the event, including medical records and witness testimonies.
- "UFOs and Government: A Historical Inquiry," a comprehensive study by Michael Swords and others, details the government's response to UFO sightings, including the Cash-Landrum case.
- "Fire in the Sky: The Cash-Landrum UFO Incident," an article in the MUFON UFO Journal that revisits the incident, detailing the investigation and subsequent legal battle.
- "Westall '66: A Suburban UFO Mystery," a documentary by Shane Ryan, explores the events through witness testimonies and expert interviews.
- "The Westall UFO: A Suburban Mystery," a book by Keith Basterfield, provides a detailed account of the sighting, including the social and governmental context.
- Articles and interviews archived by the Victorian UFO Action group, which has collected and analyzed first-hand accounts from witnesses and former students of Westall High School.
- U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency Report: This declassified document provides a detailed account of the Tehran UFO Incident, including descriptions from the pilots and ground control.
- "Iranian Jet Chased UFO, Got Light Show": This article in the New York Times archives covers the public's reaction and the international reporting following the incident.
- Interview with Lt. Parviz Jafari: Several interviews with Jafari provide first-hand accounts of the encounter, including technical details of the aircraft's malfunctions.
- CIA Document on the Tehran UFO Incident: A collection of declassified CIA documents that discuss the implications of the encounter and its analysis by various intelligence agencies.
- The New York Times: Articles from December 2017 that first revealed the Nimitz encounter to the public.
- Department of Defense Releases: Official statements and declassified videos of the encounters.
- Interviews with Commander David Fravor: His firsthand accounts provide detailed observations of the encounter.
- "Unidentified: Inside America's UFO Investigation" on History Channel: This television series features interviews with the pilots and analysis of the encounters.
- Raymond E. Fowler, the investigator and author of "The Allagash Abductions: Undeniable Evidence of Alien Intervention," which details the incident and the hypnosis sessions.
- Interviews and Appearances: The men involved have given numerous interviews and appeared on various television programs to recount their experiences.
- "Unsolved Mysteries" Television Series: Featured the Allagash abductions, providing a dramatized account and interviews with the witnesses.
- Skeptical Analysis by Robert Sheaffer and others, who critique the method of hypnosis used and the financial aspects related to the publicity of the case.
- "The Pascagoula UFO Incident" by Charles Hickson – Hickson wrote a detailed account of his experience.
- "UFOs: Past, Present, and Future" by Robert Emenegger – Includes interviews and analysis of the Pascagoula incident.
- Interviews and documentaries – Multiple television programs and documentaries have featured interviews with the witnesses and analyses by UFO researchers.
- Articles in major newspapers – Numerous articles were written at the time in publications like the Washington Post and New York Times, providing contemporary accounts of the events and follow-ups.

(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)

WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.
Originally aired: May 06, 2024

This episode of Weird Darkness moves chronologically through ten of history's most frequently cited UFO encounters, opening with a 1947 debris field on a New Mexico ranch and closing with a 2004 Navy radar encounter off the California coast.In July 1947, rancher William "Mac" Brazel discovers unusual metallic debris scattered across the Foster homestead north of Roswell, New Mexico, and reports it to Sheriff George Wilcox, who alerts the Roswell Army Air Field. Intelligence officer Major Jesse Marcel collects the material, and on July 8th the RAAF issues a press release announcing the recovery of a "flying disc." The story runs in newspapers nationwide before General Roger Ramey holds a press conference the next day identifying the debris as a weather balloon. The retraction does little to end the speculation; decades later, ufologists raise claims of recovered alien bodies and a government cover-up, and in 1994 the Air Force publishes "Case Closed: Final Report on the Roswell Crash," attributing the debris to the classified high-altitude balloon program Project Mogul.From there, the episode moves to April 6th, 1966, when more than two hundred students, teachers, and residents near Westall High School in the Melbourne suburb of Westall, Australia, watch a gray, saucer-shaped craft descend, hover for roughly twenty minutes, and shoot skyward at high speed after a second object appears to intercept it. Students who walk into the nearby field known as The Grange afterward find circular patches of flattened grass. Australian authorities attribute the sighting to a weather balloon, an explanation many witnesses reject, and researcher Shane Ryan later interviews dozens of them for the documentary "Westall '66: A Suburban UFO Mystery."Next comes the Pascagoula Abduction: shipyard coworkers Charles Hickson and Calvin Parker are fishing on the Pascagoula River in Mississippi on the night of October 11th, 1973, when a whirring oval craft with flashing lights hovers roughly forty feet above them and three robotic, wrinkled-skinned beings pull them aboard for what they describe as a twenty-minute physical examination. The men report the encounter to the local sheriff's office, which secretly records their conversation while leaving them alone in a room, capturing Hickson's visible distress rather than any hint of a hoax. Both men pass polygraph tests and undergo hypnosis, and UFO researchers J. Allen Hynek and James Harder investigate the case and find no evidence of fabrication.A similar pattern surfaces three years later in Maine, where twin brothers Jack and Jim Weiner and fellow art students Chuck Rak and Charlie Foltz are camping on Eagle Lake in the Allagash wilderness in August 1976 when a glowing orb appears to follow their canoe. After Charlie Foltz signals it with a flashlight, the light expands and engulfs the group, and the men find themselves back at a campsite fire that has burned down to embers with no memory of the intervening time. Years later, recurring nightmares send the four men to psychiatrist and UFO researcher Dr. Raymond Fowler, whose hypnotic regression sessions produce matching accounts of grey-alien medical examinations aboard a craft, a story that eventually reaches national audiences through "Unsolved Mysteries" and multiple books.Military personnel take center

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Two doctored photographs posted to a comedy forum in 2009 spread, through thousands of anonymous contributors, into a mythology detailed enough that two eleven-year-old girls stabbed a friend nineteen times to prove their worth to it. Six years later, a South Dakota reservation would recognize pieces of the same figure inside a legend of its own, one that predated the internet by generations.

EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources and print version): https://weirddarkness.com/cotu-slenderman

Weird Darkness® and Church Of The Undead™ are trademarked. Copyright © 2026.

A young bride's uncanny knowledge of history's deadliest catastrophes convinces her husband she's hiding something — but the truth behind her secret is older than he could ever imagine.

Look for this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and other podcast apps. Get a list of free listening apps here: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/OTR

CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…
00:00:00.000 = Show Open
00:01:30.028 = CBS Radio Mystery Theater, “The Secret of Shen-Si” (May 22, 1978) ***WD
00:45:23.731 = BBC Radio 4 / Radio 7 GhostStory, “The Crowd” (December 30, 1986)
00:59:43.519 = Night Beat, “Expectant Father” (December 28, 1951) ***WD
01:27:08.605 = The Black Book, “Different Readings, Parts 1 & 2” (November 21, 1951) ***WD
01:52:20.091 = Challenge of the Yukon, “Magnanimous Ghost” (August 28, 1945)
02:06:45.867 = Box 13, “Three To Die” (January 23, 1949)
02:33:16.175 = Calling All Cars, “Missing Mexican Sheiks” (January 03, 1934) ***WD (LQ)
03:05:07.603 = Casey Crime Photographer, “Handkerchief” (September 05, 1946)
03:34:32.775 = CBC Mystery Theater, “The Hitch Hiker” (June 02, 1967) ***WD
04:00:52.848 = Chet Chetters, “If You Can’t Stand The Heat” (1992)
04:29:31.575 = The Clock, “Time In Reverse” (January 17, 1956)
04:53:57.175 = Beyond The Green Door, “Edgar Hayes – Amazon Trip Seek” (1966)
04:57:50.162 = Calling All Detectives, “Jerry Is Framed for the Murder of Mrs. Mayner” (July 07, 1948) ***WD (LQ)
05:05:52.977 = Show Close

(ADU) = Air Date Unknown
(LQ) = Low Quality
***WD = Remastered, edited, or cleaned up by Weird Darkness to make the episode more listenable. Audio may not be pristine, but it will be better than the original file which may have been unusable or more difficult to hear without editing.
CUSTOM WEBPAGE: https://weirddarkness.com/WDRR0731