“THE UNBELIEVABLE CASE OF NICHOLAS BARCLAY” and More Terrifying True Stories! #WeirdDarkness

A handful of eccentric inventors claimed to build machines that bent light, defied gravity, and revealed unseen forces — and the strangest part is, no one’s entirely sure they didn’t. Join the DARKNESS SYNDICATE: https://weirddarkness.com/syndicate ABOUT WEIRD DARKNESS: Weird Darkness is a true crime and paranormal podcast narrated by professional award-winning voice actor, Darren Marlar. Seven days per week, Weird Darkness focuses on all thing strange and macabre such as haunted locations, unsolved mysteries, true ghost stories, supernatural manifestations, urban legends, unsolved or cold case murders, conspiracy theories, and more. On Thursdays, this scary stories podcast features horror fiction along with the occasional creepypasta. Weird Darkness has been named one of the “Best 20 Storytellers in Podcasting” by Podcast Business Journal. Listeners have described the show as a cross between “Coast to Coast” with Art Bell, “The Twilight Zone” with Rod Serling, “Unsolved Mysteries” with Robert Stack, and “In Search Of” with Leonard Nimoy. DISCLAIMER: Ads heard during the podcast that are not in my voice are placed by third party agencies outside of my control and should not imply an endorsement by Weird Darkness or myself. *** Stories and content in Weird Darkness can be disturbing for some listeners and intended for mature audiences only. Parental discretion is strongly advised. IN THIS EPISODE: From human invisibility to amazing demonstrations of levitation, we’ll look at strange devices, weird experiments and impossible observations that, if true, challenge conventional scientific knowledge. (Mad Scientists and Impossible Experiments) *** Strange things are often reported in the Nevada desert – but the last few months, sightings and experiences near Area 51 have exploded. What’s going on there? And what happens if you decide to climb the fence to get in? (Dead Aliens and Reverse Technology) *** Reports of strange humanoids resembling the legendary “Springheel’d Jack” came out of Argentina in the early two-thousands, from 2004-2007, and that was just one of several improbable para-human creatures that were reported. (The Return of Spring-Heeled Jack) CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)… 00:00:00.000 = Lead-In 00:00:42.319 = Show Open 00:02:19.148 = Mad Scientists And Impossible Experiments 00:12:11.158 = Dead Aliens and Reverse Technology 00:34:16.998 = The Return of Spring-Heeled Jack 00:42:20.597 = Show Close SOURCES AND RESOURCES FROM THE EPISODE… “Mad Scientists and Impossible Experiments” by Stephan Wagner: (link no longer available) “Dead Aliens and Reverse Technology” by Sean Casteel for Spectralvision: https://tinyurl.com/somsy9e “The Return of Spring-Heeled Jack” by Scott Corrales and Christián Quintero for Inexplicata:https://tinyurl.com/2d59ywx ===== (Over time links seen above 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.) = = = = = "I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." — John 12:46 = = = = = WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2025, Weird Darkness. ===== Originally aired: October, 2021 EPISODE PAGE at WeirdDarkness.com (includes list of sources): https://weirddarkness.com/MadScientists

Buckle up for a terrifying ride through five real-life cars with histories so cursed, even ghosts won’t ride shotgun. Join the DARKNESS SYNDICATE: https://weirddarkness.com/syndicate ABOUT WEIRD DARKNESS: Weird Darkness is a true crime and paranormal podcast narrated by professional award-winning voice actor, Darren Marlar. Seven days per week, Weird Darkness focuses on all thing strange and macabre such as haunted locations, unsolved mysteries, true ghost stories, supernatural manifestations, urban legends, unsolved or cold case murders, conspiracy theories, and more. On Thursdays, this scary stories podcast features horror fiction along with the occasional creepypasta. Weird Darkness has been named one of the “Best 20 Storytellers in Podcasting” by Podcast Business Journal. Listeners have described the show as a cross between “Coast to Coast” with Art Bell, “The Twilight Zone” with Rod Serling, “Unsolved Mysteries” with Robert Stack, and “In Search Of” with Leonard Nimoy. DISCLAIMER: Ads heard during the podcast that are not in my voice are placed by third party agencies outside of my control and should not imply an endorsement by Weird Darkness or myself. *** Stories and content in Weird Darkness can be disturbing for some listeners and intended for mature audiences only. Parental discretion is strongly advised. IN THIS EPISODE: Have you heard of the “Death Positive” movement? Would you visit a Death Cafe? Would you join a Coffin Club? Why the sudden positive twist on what is typically so morbid? What’s so great about death? (Discourse At The Death Diner) *** When it comes to homes, the ghosts go bump in the night. When it comes to automobiles, do they go honk in the night? (Cursed Cars and Haunted Hoopties) *** Airline pilots in the UK are reporting strange objects in the sky. Not just one pilot, but several. And not just one UFO, but many. And the sightings were close. Very close. So close that they are being described as “near misses”. (Airliners Almost Crash Into UFOs) *** In today’s world, parents often worry about whether their kids are eating healthy and getting a good education, and in the case of long car trips, whether the children have their phones fully charged. It’s tough being a modern parent, but at least you don’t have to worry like Europeans did about your spawn being snatched by fairies. (Child Snatching Fairies) *** Two men go out for a weekend of elk hunting – and come back with the story of a creature so strange they don’t know what to call it. (Close Encounter at Pot Mountain) *** At a downtown Chicago church, people are turning up in droves – not for the preaching or the powerful worship band – but to see a painting of the Virgin Mary, crying real tears. (The Crying Madonna) CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)… 00:00:00.000 = Show Open 00:02:23.730 = Discourse At The Death Diner 00:08:43.721 = Cursed Cars And Haunted Hoopies 00:19:37.862 = Airliners Almost Crash Into UFOs 00:32:14.124 = Child-Snatching Fairies 00:38:46.592 = Close Encounters on Pot Mountain 00:45:14.469 = The Crying Madonna 00:48:26.217 = Show Close SOURCES AND RESOURCES FROM THE EPISODE… “Discourse At The Death Diner” by Marilyn A. Mendoza Ph.D. for Psychology Today: https://tinyurl.com/vd6ober “Cursed Cars and Haunted Hoopties” by Erin Marquis for AutoBlog: https://tinyurl.com/r35gcjc “Airliners Almost Crash Into UFOs” from The Bolton News: https://tinyurl.com/vsn8rer “Child Snatching Fairies” by Tristan Shaw from Bizarre And Grotesque:

Discover why leaving Twinkies on your roof for aliens might be the key to preventing societal paranoia, just like our ancestors left milk for fairies to keep their communities sane. Join the DARKNESS SYNDICATE: https://weirddarkness.com/syndicate ABOUT WEIRD DARKNESS: Weird Darkness is a true crime and paranormal podcast narrated by professional award-winning voice actor, Darren Marlar. Seven days per week, Weird Darkness focuses on all thing strange and macabre such as haunted locations, unsolved mysteries, true ghost stories, supernatural manifestations, urban legends, unsolved or cold case murders, conspiracy theories, and more. On Thursdays, this scary stories podcast features horror fiction along with the occasional creepypasta. Weird Darkness has been named one of the “Best 20 Storytellers in Podcasting” by Podcast Business Journal. Listeners have described the show as a cross between “Coast to Coast” with Art Bell, “The Twilight Zone” with Rod Serling, “Unsolved Mysteries” with Robert Stack, and “In Search Of” with Leonard Nimoy. DISCLAIMER: Ads heard during the podcast that are not in my voice are placed by third party agencies outside of my control and should not imply an endorsement by Weird Darkness or myself. *** Stories and content in Weird Darkness can be disturbing for some listeners and intended for mature audiences only. Parental discretion is strongly advised. IN THIS EPISODE: A 1930s art deco swimming pool is not the first place you think of when people mention the most haunted places in the country. So why is this 85-year-old building bursting at the seams with spirits and specters? The answer to that is not any easy one to give.  (The Haunted Smethwick Baths) *** They look strange, there’s a weird otherworldliness to them, when encountered people often find the’ve lost hours of time with no memory, and the beings are often known to abduct people in the middle of the night. It sounds like I’m describing alien abduction – but the same, all of it, can also be said of fairie folk in European legend. Is it possible there is a connection? Could the mythical fairies of old actually be the extraterrestrials we tell stories about today? (The Extraterrestrials Want Twinkies) *** Elsie Eiler pays taxes... to herself. She grants her own liquor license to herself for the tavern she owns – which is possible when you are the mayor… and bartender… and law enforcement, and even the librarian. You see, Elsie Eiler is the sole resident of Monowi, Nebraska – but that doesn’t mean she’s alone. 
(Monowi, Nebraska – Population One) *** They don’t try for a perfect likeness. They have to suppress their creativity. They even find help from birds nests. We’ll look at some of the trade secrets used by forensic artists. (The Secret Formula of Forensic Artists) CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)… 00:00:00.000 = Lead-In 00:01:40.381 = Show Open 00:04:03.570 = Monowi, Nebraska – Population One 00:15:01.193 = The Haunted Smethwick Baths 00:20:27.380 = The Extraterrestrials Want Twinkies 00:33:23.729 = The Secret Formula of Forensic Artists 00:42:52.429 = Show Close SOURCES AND RESOURCES FROM THE EPISODE… “Monowi, Nebraska – Population One” by Ripley’s Believe it or Not: https://tinyurl.com/tzd3dqo, Laura Moss for MNN: (link no longer available); Karen I. Chen for Travel & Leisure: https://tinyurl.com/sksb2rq; Maria Carter for Country Living: https://tinyurl.com/tlfbahn “The Haunted Smethwick Baths” by Andy Moore for Mysterious Britain and Ireland:

When you gaze into a mirror long enough, something on the other side might start gazing back—whether you summoned it or not. Join the DARKNESS SYNDICATE: https://weirddarkness.com/syndicate ABOUT WEIRD DARKNESS: Weird Darkness is a true crime and paranormal podcast narrated by professional award-winning voice actor, Darren Marlar. Seven days per week, Weird Darkness focuses on all thing strange and macabre such as haunted locations, unsolved mysteries, true ghost stories, supernatural manifestations, urban legends, unsolved or cold case murders, conspiracy theories, and more. On Thursdays, this scary stories podcast features horror fiction along with the occasional creepypasta. Weird Darkness has been named one of the “Best 20 Storytellers in Podcasting” by Podcast Business Journal. Listeners have described the show as a cross between “Coast to Coast” with Art Bell, “The Twilight Zone” with Rod Serling, “Unsolved Mysteries” with Robert Stack, and “In Search Of” with Leonard Nimoy. DISCLAIMER: Ads heard during the podcast that are not in my voice are placed by third party agencies outside of my control and should not imply an endorsement by Weird Darkness or myself. *** Stories and content in Weird Darkness can be disturbing for some listeners and intended for mature audiences only. Parental discretion is strongly advised. IN THIS EPISODE: Could there be floating balls of light not only possessed of some sort of intelli­gence, but which are capable of forming a unique bond with a person and even delivering painful stings when they so choose? (Sentient Fireballs and Biting Lights) *** Cattle sometimes die suddenly on Silvies Valley Ranch’s 140,000 acres in Harney County — struck by disease or felled by a broken leg and unable to find a way out of the rugged, forested terrain. But by the time ranch hands discovered four more dead bulls within 24 hours, they knew they were likely dealing with deliberate, premeditated killings. (Oregon Cattle Mutilations) *** To quote one survivor of a near-death experience: “I know of no English words for the combination of joy, ecstasy, love, and requited longing that burned within me. It carried me to a dimension I never knew existed. In that moment, there was no pain of loss, only unity, rapture and reunion.” Is it possible that we may soon have scientific evidence for what lies beyond the veil? (New Evidence of Life After Death) *** Seeing specters in the reflection of a mirror or piece of glass is not just a cliché movie trope. There is a history that goes along with the happening. (Ghost In The Mirror) *** We’ve all heard of haunted forests – but there is one that is so disturbing it drives some people to want to commit murder! (Where The Woods Entice You To Murder) *** When it comes to ghostly apparitions, the White Lady are ubiquitous. But a theater in Sunderland, England has not just a White Lady specter, but also the haunting Grey Lady… and the ghost of a comedian. (Haunted Empire Theater) CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)… 00:00:00.000 = Show Open 00:02:34.930 = Where The Woods Entice You To Murder 00:06:00.684 = Sentient Fireballs and Biting Lights 00:18:19.934 = Ghost In The Mirror 00:42:07.771 = The Haunted Empire Theater 00:50:01.566 = Oregon Cattle Mutilations 00:59:48.947= New Evidence of Life After Death 01:05:25.355 = Show Close SOURCES AND RESOURCES FROM THE EPISODE… “Sentient Fireballs and Biting Lights” from the Fortean Times: (link no longer available) “Oregon Cattle Mutilations” by Diana Kruzman for Oregon Live: https://tinyurl.com/y3sg3gle “New Evidence for Life After Death” by Michael Grosso for Consciousness Unbound:

From ancient honey-preserved human confections to European royalty dining on powdered skulls, we explore the disturbing world of medicinal cannibalism where the dead became dinner in the name of healing. Join the DARKNESS SYNDICATE: https://weirddarkness.com/syndicate ABOUT WEIRD DARKNESS: Weird Darkness is a true crime and paranormal podcast narrated by professional award-winning voice actor, Darren Marlar. Seven days per week, Weird Darkness focuses on all thing strange and macabre such as haunted locations, unsolved mysteries, true ghost stories, supernatural manifestations, urban legends, unsolved or cold case murders, conspiracy theories, and more. On Thursdays, this scary stories podcast features horror fiction along with the occasional creepypasta. Weird Darkness has been named one of the “Best 20 Storytellers in Podcasting” by Podcast Business Journal. Listeners have described the show as a cross between “Coast to Coast” with Art Bell, “The Twilight Zone” with Rod Serling, “Unsolved Mysteries” with Robert Stack, and “In Search Of” with Leonard Nimoy. DISCLAIMER: Ads heard during the podcast that are not in my voice are placed by third party agencies outside of my control and should not imply an endorsement by Weird Darkness or myself. *** Stories and content in Weird Darkness can be disturbing for some listeners and intended for mature audiences only. Parental discretion is strongly advised. IN THIS EPISODE: Of all the instances of cannibalism found in human history, no one quite practiced it like some in China used to. In these cases, cannibalism came in the form of eating mellified flesh for medicinal purposes. In 16th century China, mellification was a way for elderly people nearing the end of their lives to donate their body to science. The idea, originally derived from an Arabic recipe, was that they could turn their bodies into medicine that would be ingested by their descendants to alleviate ailments like broken bones. The process of mellification was a gruesome one. In short, it consisted of very slowly turning one’s body into a mummified human candy bar. And that’s not even the worst part — for mellification to be the most effective, the process started while the person was still alive. CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)… 00:00:00.000 = Lead-In 00:01:10.417 = Show Open 00:02:28.924 = And Mellified Man For Dessert 00:04:27.887 = Honey, I’m Dead 00:09:57.010 = Sugar-Glazed Grandpa 00:16:02.121 = Better Health Through Cannibalism 00:27:31.137 = Self-Mummification 00:30:39.753 = Corpse Medicine 00:39:58.915 = Show Close SOURCES AND RESOURCES FROM THE EPISODE… “And Mellified Man for Dessert” by Katie Serena: https://tinyurl.com/rjwv5cw “Honey, I’m Dead” by Paul Salopek: https://tinyurl.com/wz23h9d “Sugar-Glazed Grandpa” by Brent Swancer: https://tinyurl.com/w2mqzyp “Self-Mummification” from Stranger Remains: https://tinyurl.com/w795gxp “Better Health Through Cannibalism” by Natalie Zarrelli: https://tinyurl.com/tsqhqbl “Corpse Medicine” by Maria Dolan: https://tinyurl.com/y6spcbcb ===== (Over time links seen above 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...