“THE LITIGATING WITCH AND POLTERGEIST CASE” and More Bizarre True Stories! #WeirdDarkness
01:08:07 Share

At Fry's, shop Kroger brand products for all of your favorite things this holiday season. Because our proven quality products come at exceptionally low prices. And with a money-back quality guarantee, every dish is sure to be a favorite.

From sweet sugar cookies and holiday ham to that perfect slice of pie. Whether you shop delivery, pickup, or in-store, Kroger brand has all your favorite things. Fries, fresh for everyone.

♪♪♪

Welcome, Weirdos! I'm Darren Marlar and this is Weird Darkness.

Here you'll find stories of the paranormal, supernatural, legends, lore, crime, conspiracy, mysterious, macabre, unsolved and unexplained.

If you're new here, welcome to the show! And if you're already a member of this weirdo family, please take a moment and invite someone else to listen. Recommending Weird Darkness to others helps make it possible for me to keep doing the show. And while you're listening, be sure to check out WeirdDarkness.com, where you can find me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and more, along with the Weird Darkness Weirdos Facebook group. Coming up in this episode… A witch ends up in court – not as the defendant, but as the plaintiff.

As you may have heard, nothing sells like sex and death. A Louisville brothel combined the two when someone dropped dead from poisoning, and the media absolutely loved it. While out jogging, Sherry Papini inexplicably disappeared. Twenty-two days later, she returned home with a story so incredible it was hard to believe. In fact, some people still don't believe her after all these years.

And when groups of sinister drones began hovering over homes in America's Midwest, the FBI, the US Air Force and 16 police forces set up a task force. But then the drones vanished. And some wonder if the drones ever existed at all. Now bolt your doors, lock your windows, turn off your lights, and come with me into the Weird Darkness.

Sideville is a quaint farming village in Normandy, France, near the only slightly larger town of Ureville, part of the Siena and Furia region, 35 miles from Havre and 80 miles northwest of Paris. Sideville has always been a sleepy little hamlet, but in the winter of 1851, it was at the center of a curious defamation trial involving accusations of sorcery and the predations of an inconsiderate yet musically talented poltergeist.

This was a rare instance where the accused witch was the plaintiff and the priest was the defendant, and ultimately everything got blamed on an angry ghost.

Father Jean Tennell was the curé of Sideville, a parish priest entrusted with the souls of the good people of the town, and sadly, beginning in November 1850, he found his parsonage beset by a disturbance of inexplicable character centering on two young pupils in his household, Gustave Lemonnier, age 12, and Bunel, age 14.

Gustav and Bunel were known to be of amiable dispositions, the sons of respectable parents who had entrusted Tunel with preparing the youths for entry into the priesthood. Beginning in late November 1850, usually in whatever room the boys were in, strange rapping sounds were heard and objects flew about of their own accord.

Gustave Lemigné, the younger of the pupils aged 12, said that ramps began when he was alone on November 26 and continued. He saw knives, blacking brushes, a roasting spit, and Emtenel's breviary leave their places and go through the window panes. All sorts of objects flew about. He was struck in the face by a shoe, a candlestick, and by a black hand which afterward disappeared up the chimney.

A sort of human shape dressed in a blouse which appeared to be a specter followed him for a whole fortnight. We learn from other witnesses that the child said that this specter was only 15 inches high. Once an invisible force pulled him by the leg, his comrade sprinkled some holy water and the force let go. Then a child's voice was heard crying, "Pardon mercy." Notwithstanding all these disquieting events, he did not ask to be allowed to go home.

Obviously, such spectral shenanigans were a bit disconcerting. But young Gustav and Benel were priests in training, so it seems like they recognized that one of the job requirements was doing battle with evil spirits. Now, poltergeists have been known to land people in the loony bin or hospital, but rarely do they wind up in a courtroom.

Legal trouble started when Gustav reported that the phantom in the blouse bore a remarkable resemblance to a shepherd swain, swain being a generic term for a country youth, which is a little bit odd since Thorell was age 40 at the time, from a nearby town named Felix Thorold, to whom Tennell had introduced the boys.

Bunnell reported that his compatriot Gustav had a nervous attack and lost consciousness immediately after meeting Thorell, making the apparent similarity of the apparition even more suspicious. To make matters worse, rumors had it that Thorell had boasted of his powers as a sorcerer. This was enough to convince Father Tunnell that something was awry at the Circle K.

He accused Thorol of producing the bizarre phenomena in his parsonage and tormenting his two pupils. By Tynell's account, Thorol promptly knelt and begged his and the boy's pardon. But Tynell was not feeling particularly charitable. Priests don't dig the sorcery thing. Tynell demanded that Tyrell's employer, unsurprisingly named Mr. Payne, dismiss the shepherd. Not entirely satisfied that Tyrell had been thoroughly reprimanded, Tynell beat him with a stick to the effusion of blood.

Poor Thorell was now accused of sorcerous nefariousness, bloody, and unemployed. This was mid-19th century France, so they weren't burning witches anymore, and the occasional beating of the underclass was nothing to write home about. What you really didn't want was to be unemployed and indigent in Normandy. Thereupon, Thorell, having lost his place as shepherd in consequence of such suspicions, brought suit for defamation of character against the curate, laying the damages at 1,200 francs.

The trial was commenced before the justice of the Peace of Ureville on 7 January 1851, and it was at this trial that the bizarre details of the poltergeist's behavior were described and written down for all posterity in the records of the court, including a parade of notable and respected witnesses to the strange goings-on in the Tennell household. Tennell and his students were deposed, outlining the character of the poltergeist activity after the initial rappings.

On Tuesday, 26 November 1850, as the two children were at work in one of the rooms in the upper story of the Parsonage, about 5 o'clock in the afternoon they heard knockings, resembling light blows of a hammer on the wainscoting of the apartment. These knockings were continued daily throughout the week. At the same hour of the afternoon,

On the next Sunday, the 1st of December, the blows commenced at midday, and it was on that day that the curate first thought of addressing them. He said, Strike louder! Thereupon the blows were repeated more loudly. They continued thus all that day. On Monday, December 2nd, the elder of the two boys said to the knockings, Beat time to the tune of Maître Corbeau, and they immediately obeyed.

The next day, Tuesday, December 3rd, the boy having related the above circumstance to M. Tunnell, he, Tunnell, being much astonished, resolved to try and said, Play us, Maître Corbeau, and the knockings obeyed. The afternoon of that day, the knockings became so loud and violent that a table in the apartment moved somewhat, and the noise was so great that one could hardly stay in the room.

Later, in the same afternoon, the table moved from its place three times. The curate's sister, after assuring herself that the children had not moved it, replaced it. But twice it followed her back again. The noises continued with violence all that week." . It's rare to find a poltergeist that'll take requests from your playlist. And if it wasn't for the various ghostly assaults that followed, it might have just been an intriguing novelty.

Alas, poltergeists are temperamental little critters, and the earnestness with which it made its presence known escalated. Witnesses emerged to attest to the ensuing nastiness that plagued Father Tennell's humble home. A.M. de Bagnell testified to hearing particularly requested tunes beaten by the rappings, and that he could in no way discern the origin.

Another local, notable, named August Hewitt, a neighboring proprietor, along with the curate of Limsey and another gentleman, heard similar rappings and were convinced the young boys could not have produced the sounds themselves. The poltergeist obligingly beat time to the tune of "Au Claire de la Lune" upon request. The mayor of Sideville reported he watched as a set of fireplace tongs and a shovel flew across the room.

The curate of Salce testified that upon visiting Tenel's parsonage he saw hammers and bread moved by themselves in manners he could not explain, emphasizing that in regards to the veracity of his testimony that he would sign it with his own blood

A local aristocrat, the Marquis de Merville, having heard of the disturbances, resolved to investigate them. Initially, he heard scratchings and wrappings, but undaunted, he resolved to experiment and described his experience to the court. The transcripts of the testimony of the Marquis de Merville outline his findings. Quote,

"Last Wednesday, I went to the Presbytery of Sideville and said to the cause, 'When you wish to reply affirmatively, rap once. When you wish to reply negatively, rap twice.' Immediately a rap was heard. Then you'll be able to tell me how many letters there are in my name. Eight raps were heard, the last more distinct than the others, apparently to make one understand that it was the last.

"'My baptismal name now?' "'Reply, five raps. "'And now my forename, which figures on the register of the civil list, and which no one has hitherto called me by. Immediately, seven raps. "'And the names of my children. First the eldest, five raps. Quite correct, she is called Aline. That of the youngest, nine raps. A mistake immediately rectified, for seven raps were struck. She's called Blanche.'

"Now let us pass to my age, strike as many raps as I have years." Instantly the raps succeeded each other with such rapidity that I was obliged to stop them in order to count them, and I demanded more slowness. Forty-eight raps were then heard very distinctly, the forty-eighth being more accentuated than the others. That's not all. How many months do you reckon between the first of January of this year and the moment I shall be forty-nine? Three very loud raps and one faint one followed.

What does the faint one mean? Probably half a month? One rep. Good. But it is not finished. How many days now between that half month and my birthday? Nine reps, the last being more accentuated. Perfectly correct. I shall be forty-nine on the twenty-fourth of April of this year. Let us pass on to the place of my abode. How many letters are there in its name? Eight reps. And in the name of my commune? Be careful not to make the usual mistake.

Ten raps were heard. Now, I live in the commune of Gomerville, the name of which is often written with two Ms, a mistake not made by the cause. It was demonstrated to me by this that I had to do with an old acquaintance, I hope not a friend. Let us pass to music. You are said to be a musician. The other day, you sang the first part of Rossini's Stabat, they say. Since you know the first paragraph, you ought to know the second part, the bass part. Let me hear it.

Instantly, the mysterious agent slapped the rhythm of the first two bars correctly enough, but in the third committed an irregularity which slightly spoiled the rhythm. On my remarking this, it began again, corrected the mistake, and the passage was recognizable. Two or three more popular airs were articulated rapidly and without any mistake. The other pieces from the Italian repertoire which I demanded were perfectly and known to it.

Come, I said to it, you are a poor dilettante. Now follow me if you can. I then hummed a waltz from the Guillaume Hotel. It listened at first, without doing anything, then followed me exactly while I sang it, and several times during the morning, when we were no longer thinking of it, it came back to the same piece and tried to execute it alone. Lang, 1904, pages 458 and 459.

Personally, I think the Marquis' expectations for the musical acumen of a dead guy were overly optimistic. And frankly, were I a specter, I would probably have thrown something at him for his snarky commentary. But one can only expect the merest modicum of social restraint from a 19th-century French aristocrat. They were just getting over the revolution, after all.

Over a dozen additional witnesses were called and swore to either experiencing the musical machinations of the poltergeist, objects inexplicably flying about the parsonage, or Tennell's angry encounter with Felix Thorle. Finally, judgment was rendered on February 15, 1851, the learned judge concluding that the extraordinary phenomena at the Presbytery of Sideville remain unknown.

This is, of course, a rather irritating official judgment and didn't really help Thorell. As Thorell himself had reportedly taken credit for sorcerous activities that caused the poltergeist activity at Tenell's Parsonage, as well as showing contrition before witnesses on two occasions, the court concluded that the defamation suit was frivolous. Thorell was ordered to pay six francs in court costs and sent packing.

Meanwhile, there was still a poltergeist to deal with. Tenel's superiors in the church ordered the two young students to be removed and situated with another teacher, and immediately the poltergeist activity in the Tenel Parsonage ceased. There are a few lessons here. First, don't sue for libel when you've gone around singing your own praises as a powerful sorcerer. Even if you're not responsible for local occult activity, you'll probably be blamed for it.

Second, music does seem to soothe the savage beasts, and unfortunately, few people have tried the musical approach of communicating with a poltergeist. Third, poltergeist activity always spirals into throwing stuff, or getting sucked into a television, or some such unsavory end. Sure, maybe it's entertainment at first, but inevitably dealing with the angry spirits involves projectiles.

I'm sure there's some sort of obscure fourth lesson about not being a peasant in Normandy. There's also a lesson here for poltergeists as well, and it comes from Aristotle who said, "Anybody can become angry, that's easy. But to be angry with the right person, and to the right degree, and at the right time, and for the right purpose, and in the right way, that is not within everybody's power, and is not easy." Evidently, we don't get any better at it when we're dead.

When Weird Darkness returns, you may have heard, nothing sells like sex. Of course, for weirdos listening to this podcast, nothing sells like death. Well then, a Louisville brothel combined the two when somebody dropped dead there from poisoning, and the media absolutely loved it.

Hey Weirdos! If you enjoy what you're hearing from me in the Weird Darkness Podcast throughout the year, may I ask for a Christmas gift from you? It's an easy one, and it's free to give. This month, just invite two or three people you know to give Weird Darkness a listen. That is truly the greatest gift you could ever give to me.

Letting your family, friends, coworkers, neighbors and others know about the podcast is incredibly valuable to me, my bride Robin and our cat, Ms. Mocha Monster. That's it. Tell someone about the show. Drop a link to Weird Darkness in your social media. Maybe send a text to a few folks to wish them a very scary Christmas with a link to the show in that text. It doesn't matter how you do it, but it does make a huge impact when you do.

From all of us here at Marlar Manor, thank you, and Merry Christmas.

♪♪♪

At Cox, our passionate sales professionals are driven to achieve their best in work and life. They sell the greatest B2B technology solutions created by our greatest tech minds. They provide industry-leading managed cloud services and systems that simplify car buying. They use their expertise to create strategies that help satisfy all customer needs, building meaningful relationships that last a lifetime.

Join our sales team and get ready to earn recognition, roll in the rewards, and enjoy benefits while growing across businesses. Go beyond the sale and make a positive impact on the communities you serve. Connect to work that improves lives, including yours. Learn more and apply today at cox.career.com.

From the time the concept of mass media was invented, it's been universally acknowledged that nothing sells like sex and death. Put the two together and you've got a surefire public favorite. So naturally, when people started dropping dead in a Louisville brothel, local journalists thought they themselves had died and gone straight to heaven.

The establishment run by 40-year-old Emma Austin spent the night of September 8, 1892 in a quiet manner. Or at least as quiet as it is in such places as brothels. Besides Mrs. Austin, the occupants were her 11-year-old son Lloyd, Austin's laundress Rachel Jackson, Mrs. Jackson's younger daughter Lily, and Austin's star employee, young, beautiful Eugenia Sherrill.

Some four or five men came to call. Mrs. Cheryl, before presumably entertaining visitors in more private fashion, played Nearer My God to Thee on the piano. Someone sent out for ice cream, which was enjoyed by everyone in the house. And so to bed. The next morning, young Lloyd said that he was not feeling well, but Mrs. Austin insisted he go to school anyway.

She then made breakfast, batter cakes, cantaloupe, jam, and coffee. Mrs. Austin and Eugenia Sherrill were the only ones to partake of the meal. The other residents would soon be thankful they had skipped breakfast. Almost immediately, the two women began feeling deathly ill, suffering from uncontrollable vomiting and diarrhea. Mrs. Johnson, who was temporarily boarding in the house, heard their cries of agony and summoned a doctor.

As a side note, reporters later had a lot of fun publishing Mrs. Johnson's insistent remarks that she had no idea, no sir, no suspicion in the world, that she was rooming in a house of ill repute. At first, the physician, Dr. Brennan, presumed the women were suffering from nothing worse than a case of severe food poisoning, an ailment sadly common in pre-refrigeration summers, and gave them the medicine appropriate for such cases. However, Austin and Cheryl continued to deteriorate,

Their eyes dilated, they were covered in a cold sweat, and, most alarmingly of all, they had begun vomiting blood. The doctors soon realized the women had been poisoned, probably deliberately. This shocking development opened up an embarrassing can of worms for everyone involved. As I said earlier, Mrs. Johnson was left trying to explain why she, a seemingly respectable lady, had spent the last two weeks living in a brothel.

Eugenia Sherrill's position was even more mortifying. Prostitution was merely her secret side career. Up until now, she was known to society only as a member of one of Kentucky's most prominent and respectable families. Even worse, for the past year she had been married to Edward Sherrill, a prosperous traveling salesman. In her agony, poor Mrs. Sherrill was frantic to be brought to her home so she could die without her double life being discovered. Unfortunately, she was far too ill to be moved.

Dr. Brennan was helpless to save them. Eugenia died at 12.45 p.m. Mrs. Austin's sufferings ended two hours later. As it was obvious that foul play had taken place, the coroner immediately arranged an inquest. To save time, it was held in the brothel, which may be some sort of true crime first. Because little Lloyd Austin was sick after eating the ice cream the night before, it was at first suspected that the dessert might have been poisoned.

However, this theory was dismissed when it was realized that no one else felt ill after eating the ice cream. Most likely, the boy had just consumed so much of it that he gave himself indigestion. Among the inquest witnesses was Mrs. Austin's adult daughter, Nellie Cook. Mrs. Cook lived elsewhere, having, as she enigmatically put it, "left my mother's house several weeks ago." When she heard of her mother's illness, she came to see her.

She testified that Mrs. Austin told her that she and Mrs. Sherrill became sick right after eating breakfast. Mrs. Cook also revealed that she had done a fine job of eliminating evidence by throwing away all the remnants of the batter cakes. None of the other witnesses were able to contribute anything useful to the investigation. An autopsy was performed on Mrs. Austin. Since Mrs. Sherrill had obviously died of the same cause, it was evidently felt that it was unnecessary to perform a post-mortem on her as well.

It was revealed that Mrs. Austin had died from ingesting some irritant poison, possibly arsenic. As no such substance was kept in the house, this indicated deliberate poisoning. Considering the two dead women were the only ones to eat the batter cakes, that meal was clearly what had been adulterated. Meanwhile, Edward Sherrill returned to Louisville from a business trip to be greeted by the shock of his life.

It's hard to know what stunned him most, the news that his young bride had been poisoned, or the revelation that, whenever he was out of town, Eugenia was spending her nights in a brothel. The despairing man dashed to Mrs. Austen's house, where the bodies of the two victims were on macabre public display, and clasped his wife's body in his arms, wailing piteously that he refused to believe the vile stories about her.

It was some 15 minutes before the hysterical Mr. Sherrill could be parted from the corpse, still crying and insisting that his beloved "genie" had been true to him. It must have been a heart-rending thing to watch. And of course, every detail was lovingly preserved in the newspapers. Mrs. Austin was quietly buried in Cave Hill Cemetery.

In contrast, Eugenia's funeral in her native Meade County was one of the largest in the area's history. Hundreds attended her burial, all of them apparently drawn by an odd combination of pity and salacious curiosity. There was no question that the two women had been deliberately poisoned, but no one could agree on who did it and why. Nellie Cook suggested that Emma deliberately poisoned her food and, for some unfathomable reason, decided to take Mrs. Sherrill with her.

Mrs. Johnson endorsed this theory. She said she found it odd that as the women were dying, Mrs. Cheryl was frantic to survive, while in contrast, Mrs. Austin seemed utterly indifferent to her fate. In addition, Mrs. Austin had recently visited the Jeffersonville Penitentiary to see her brother, Sam Gore. He was serving a 10-year sentence for murder. A guard had heard her telling Gore that she would soon "end her trouble."

It was also noted that Emma had recently heavily insured her life, making her son the beneficiary. And why did she insist on sending Lloyd to school without breakfast, even though he wasn't feeling well? Others suggest that the victims were poisoned by one of the brothel's clients, possibly someone who had a motive to cover up his visit to the house. Two of the men who came by on the night before the poisonings spent the night, which would have made it easy for them to slip something unpleasant into the food before they left.

After this theory was aired in the newspapers, it inspired half the males in town to visit the police stations, nervously denying that they had ever so much as laid eyes on Mrs. Austin's establishment, thus providing Louisville's wives with a handy guide to which of their husbands had a taste for bordellos. No first-class murder mystery is complete without nutty, anonymous letters to the authorities, and this one was no exception.

On September 12th, the coroner received an unsigned letter which took the investigation into a whole new territory.

"Dr. Berry, that poison was intended for Vince Spanninger and Mrs. Austin. He ate his meals there, and he has been keeping a woman for twenty years. She lives at 117 West Walnut, and they all had a fight, and it has not a more than. And she said that she would kill him if she caught him in the Austin house. Enclosed you will find some of the drug that was used. Now find out who used it, Spanninger's wife or Mrs. Cole or Nellie Cook.

"Nellie and her mother had the fuss about him. The only regret is that the poisoning of the innocent one. It is no secret about the way Spanninger and the Austen woman lived. All Second Street know it. Policeman Sweeney can tell you if you want to know if he will talk. Annie Myers, Betty Harper, John Snyder, Jake Dale. It is to be hoped you will find the guilty one." Vince Spanninger was a Louisville produce merchant. Mrs. Austen's brother was located directly above his store.

It was far from the first time this anonymous author had written about Spanninger's doings. For Vince, peddling vegetables was merely a way to make a living. His real profession was women. His romantic history was enough to make Casanova blush. For the past ten years or so, this same anonymous writer had been sending Spanninger's unfortunate wife, Lizzie, letters chronicling her husband's many, many infidelities in great, and it turned out, extremely accurate detail.

Policeman Sweeney, whose real name was actually Feeney, was asked about the anonymous writer's claims, and he did indeed talk. He was able to confirm that Spanninger was one of the two men who had stayed overnight at Mrs. Austin's house. It also emerged that Spanninger had suggested Emma make batter cakes for breakfast, but he declined to stay to eat any of them. The plot, as they say, spanned. Spanninger's lady friend at 117 West Walnut turned out to be 40-year-old Josephine Cole,

Like Mrs. Austin, Cole was a madam, but on a more modest scale. She made the bulk of her income from giving psychic readings at 50 cents a pop. She readily told reporters that yes, indeed, she had been Vince Spanninger's mistress for the past 15 years, and furthermore, she had tried to keep him from marrying. By this point, Lizzie Spanninger was probably wishing Mrs. Cole had succeeded.

She admitted that she'd been jealous of Vince's relationship with the late Mrs. Austin and confirmed that he had been the cause of the falling out between Emma and Nellie Cook. She professed to have no idea who had written all those anonymous letters chronicling Mr. Spanninger's every sordid move, but she intimated that whoever had deserved a medal.

When questioned about the letters, Spanninger himself denounced them as a pack of lies. He had no idea who had poisoned Mrs. Austin and Mrs. Cheryl, but he did not believe Emma had committed suicide. Nellie Cook denied that she had argued with her mother and suggested that the letter writer, whoever he or she was, must also be the murderer. The four names at the end of the anonymous letter were questioned with little success.

Betty Harper, a former prostitute, claimed not to have even known Mrs. Austin, and she certainly had no idea who had poisoned her. Annie Myers said much the same. John Snyder and Jacob Diehl were business partners of Spanninger's. They both claimed to share the same convenient ignorance of the fact that a house of assignation had been operating over their store. However, Diehl was able to provide the interesting information that Spanninger believed that he thought all those pesky anonymous letters were written by Josephine Cole.

The drug the anonymous writer had included with the letter turned out to be arsenic. Did the writer get the arsenic elsewhere, or was it from the stash used as a murder weapon? On September 14th, two detectives called on Josephine Cole. They thought it was time to have a nice long chat. While there, one of them noticed that the writing on a photo of Spanninger resembled that of the anonymous tattletale. When he asked if this was her writing, Mrs. Cole realized the game was up and it was time to confess all.

Yes, she had written those letters to Mrs. Spanager. Most of them, at least. Some, she claimed, were sent by yet another of Vince's mistresses, one Maggie Faulkner. The detectives then asked the obvious follow-up question. Where did she get the arsenic included with the letter? Mrs. Cole replied that on the morning Mrs. Austin cooked her last breakfast, Spanager came to her house in an obviously agitated state. He told her that Mrs. Austin and Mrs. Cheryl were both going to die and

When he took a handkerchief out of his pocket, he failed to notice that a brown paper packet fell out. Mrs. Cole presumed it was a love letter to another woman, so she managed to hide it with her foot until he left. When she opened the packet, she realized it contained poison. Mrs. Cole explained that she would have kept Vince's little secret if not for the fact that she subsequently learned that he had been far more than neighbors to Mrs. Austin.

Although one would think the Casanova of the produce aisle's habits would have been old news to Mrs. Cole, she was enraged enough to send that informative letter to the coroner, along with a sample of the powder and a list of names she thought could also dish the dirt on Spanager.

She believed his motive for the murder was to get Mrs. Austin out of the way so he could spend more time with his latest amour, Nellie Cook. As a side note, Mrs. Cole was evidently unaware that her daughter Carrie was also said to have been Sparinger's mistress. As a result of this little tale, both Spanninger and Mrs. Cole found themselves under arrest. Spanninger denied every word of Mrs. Cole's story. In fact, he was positive she was the poisoner.

And what of Nellie Cook, who, thanks to Mrs. Cole, was suddenly under scrutiny? She had bitterly quarreled with her soon-to-be-deceased mother. She'd thrown away the breakfast before it could be analyzed, and she had, shall we say, a colorful past. In 1886, she married a railroad worker named Gilbert Brockman. The pair spent their brief married life getting kicked out of various residences thanks to Nellie's reputation for immorality.

And then there was the time Brockman, at his wife's urging, tried to murder one of her former lovers. In 1887, Brockman suddenly fell ill and died. The smart money assumed Nellie had poisoned him, but the doctors stubbornly stated that Brockman died of natural causes. This was beginning to look like one of those Agatha Christie stories where all the characters have a motive. Usually, there's a hard time finding suspects in a murder case.

1892 Louisville was just lousy with suspects. When the inquest resumed on September 16th, it, like the earlier such inquiry, did little to clarify matters. Vince Spanninger denied any involvement with the crime. He claimed that he would have stayed to share the fatal breakfast if it had not been for the fact that he had important matters to attend to.

When Nellie Cook was on the stand, she was asked why she threw out the breakfast leftovers, considering their obvious possible link to sudden illness of the two women. She replied that it didn't occur to her that her mother might be poisoned. She denied having any sort of romantic relationship with Spanninger. Dr. Brennan testified that Mrs. Austen's stomach had indeed contained arsenic, and so the coroner's jury delivered the inevitable verdict: the two women had been poisoned by a person unknown.

There was a brief trial of Spanninger and Josephine Cole, which was no more illuminating than the inquest. Everyone who had spoken at the inquest repeated their stories. Mrs. Johnson, whose real name turned out to be Lydia Anderson, had fled town to avoid testifying at the inquest, but authorities managed to haul her back to take the stand. She proved to be as unhelpful as all the other witnesses.

Her testimony indicated that Nellie Cook was far from grief-stricken by her mother's untimely end and that Spanninger was in the habit of discreetly using Mrs. Austin's window rather than the staircase to enter her room. At the end of the proceedings, the judge could only sigh. We have a world of evidence without a scintilla of proof. Enough dirty laundry had been produced to fill a million washing machines. But none of it was the slightest help with establishing who had poisoned Mrs. Austin's batter cakes.

Everyone involved was set free to carry on their curious lives, and this complicated little murder mystery faded from public memory. Although many people had motive for the poisoning, only two of them had an evident opportunity. No poison was found in any of the ingredients used to make the batter cakes. Thus, it was reasoned the arsenic had to have been added to the batter itself, and the only people known to have been in the vicinity when the batter was made were Emma Austin and Vince Spanager.

Was this a murder-suicide? Did Mrs. Austin, resentful of Spanninger's likely attentions to the younger, prettier Mrs. Cheryl, decide to poison her rival and herself? Or did Spanninger, certainly a man with a lot to hide, have his own secret motives to be rid of the women? Or did someone else manage to sneak in to poison the batter unseen, their eyes away? While out jogging, Sherry Papini inexplicably disappeared.

22 days later, she returned home with a story so incredible it was hard to believe. In fact, some people still don't believe her after all these years. That story is up next on Weird Darkness. We all dream, but for some people, what should be a time for their bodies and minds to rest

turns into a nightmare from which they cannot escape. Our next Weird Darkness live stream is Saturday night, December 28th on the Weird Darkness YouTube channel. And during the live broadcast, I'll share some of these chilling nighttime stories: tales of shadow people, sleep paralysis, and demons who stalk their victims in that place between dreams and reality. I'll share true tales of prophetic dreams, some joyful,

some not. Sleepwalking incidents that are both amusing and disturbing. I'll also share real stories of night terrors so horrifying that sleep became something to fear and dread for those victimized by the night. You might not want to sleep after joining our next live stream. It's Saturday, December 28th at 5pm Pacific, 6pm Mountain, 7pm Central, 8pm Eastern.

On the lighter side, I'll also be responding to comments and questions live on the air and doing a giveaway of some Weird Darkness merch. Prepare yourself for our next live-screen for chilling tales of what some people must endure in an attempt to get some sleep. Find the details on the live-screen page at WeirdDarkness.com.

♪♪♪

At Cox, our passionate sales professionals are driven to achieve their best in work and life. They sell the greatest B2B technology solutions created by our greatest tech minds. They provide industry-leading managed cloud services and systems that simplify car buying. They use their expertise to create strategies that help satisfy all customer needs, building meaningful relationships that last a lifetime.

Join our sales team and get ready to earn recognition, roll in the rewards, and enjoy benefits while growing across businesses. Go beyond the sale and make a positive impact on the communities you serve. Connect to work that improves lives, including yours. Learn more and apply today at cox.career.com.

This podcast is sponsored by Talkspace. You know when you're really stressed or not feeling so great about your life or about yourself? Talking to someone who understands can really help. But who is that person? How do you find them? Where do you even start? Talkspace. Talkspace makes it easy to get the support you need.

Talkspace is here for you.

Plus, Talkspace works with most major insurers, and most insured members have a $0 copay. No insurance? No problem. Now get $80 off of your first month with promo code SPACE80 when you go to Talkspace.com. Match with a licensed therapist today at Talkspace.com. Save $80 with code SPACE80 at Talkspace.com. Sherry Papini, 34 years old, disappeared on November 2, 2016, whilst out jogging a mile from her home in Redding, California.

She reappeared 22 days later at 4:30 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day near the town of Mountingale on November 24, 2016. Sherry told the police that she had been kidnapped by two Hispanic women and a medical exam showed that she had been "branded" on her right shoulder, though it was unclear what the image was that had been burned into her skin. She had also lost a significant amount of weight during captivity.

In the months that followed, the authorities cast some doubts on her story, though, given the unlikely details and inconsistencies of the reported abduction. The story remains a mystery today, as seemingly investigators still can't decide if Sherry was the victim of a kidnapping or if we are all victims of a hoax. But if it was a hoax, then what was the motive for it? If the abduction was faked, who harmed her so badly?

Sherry's husband, Keith Papini, became concerned when he returned from his job at Best Buy on November 2, 2016 and did not find his wife at home. She also had not picked up the children from daycare. He used the Find My iPhone application to try and find out where she was by locating her cell phone. The app indicated her cell phone was at the intersection of Sunrise Drive and Old Oregon Trail, about a mile from their home.

Keith said, "I couldn't find her, so I called the daycare to see what time she picked up the kids. The kids were never picked up, so I got freaked out. I hit the 'Find My iPhone' app thing, I found her phone, it's got like hair ripped out of it, like in the headphones." When Keith went to retrieve the phone, it was placed on the ground and with the headphones tidily wrapped around it. He contacted the authorities on the assumption that something bad had happened to Sherry.

Three weeks later, in the early morning hours of November 24th, Sherry was found at the side of Country Road 17 near Interstate 5 in Yolo County. The location was 150 miles, or about 240 kilometers south of where she disappeared, at around 15 miles north of Sacramento. According to police, despite being chained, she'd managed to flag down a passing car.

Sherry told police that she had been held by two Hispanic women who took steps to keep their faces hidden from her, either by wearing masks or by keeping her head covered. Sherry said the two women armed with a handgun had abducted her, beat her and held her captive in a basement before one of them finally left her on the side of the road. Sherry said the women had been driving a dark-colored SUV with a large rear-side window at the time of the kidnapping, but she was unable to give details of the make and model.

She seemed to have been physically abused during her captivity. She had been branded with a threatening message, her nose broken, her hair cut off. She also weighed only 87 pounds or 40 kilograms when she was found. The Sheriff's Office said Shiri appeared battered and bruised, her hair had been cut to shoulder length, and she had a brand on her right shoulder. Shiri, however, stated that she had not been sexually assaulted, and there is no physical evidence to indicate otherwise.

The Sheriff's Office examined the brand on Sherry's shoulder and its possible meaning, but details remain confidential. Sketches of Sherry's alleged kidnappers were released in October 2017, 11 months after she was taken. One woman was described as being aged between 20 and 30 years old, 5 feet 5 inches tall, with curly, dark hair, thin eyebrows, and pierced ears.

The second woman was between 40 and 50 years old, about 5 foot 7 inches tall, with long, straight black hair with some gray in it, thick eyebrows and pierced ears. A medical examination of Sherry found there was male DNA on her person, but no other female DNA, seemingly at odds with her claim that two Mexican women abducted her. This male DNA was not her husband's, and Keith Papini volunteered for a polygraph and passed.

Then, a man called the Shasta County Sheriff's Office a few months after the alleged abduction, claiming that Sherry was with him for the entire 22 days when she was supposedly held captive by the Hispanic women. But this lead went nowhere. Still, it helped to seed doubts in the Sheriff's Office.

The authorities were skeptical from the start about the abduction, even before she was found alive. They spent days focused almost entirely on an exchange on the Papini's computer that suggested she might have been involved with a man she met online. Police found Sherry had been texting a man before her disappearance, and they tracked down the man in Detroit, Michigan on November 9th, a week after she disappeared. But the man was ruled out as a suspect in her disappearance, and the Shasta County Sheriff's Department refused to give further details.

Sherry also appeared to have a troubled past. When she was 18 years old, her sister accused her of kicking in the back door of the family's Shasta Lake home. The same day, her parents, Richard and Loretta Graff, called the police to report the incident as vandalism and claimed that she had taken off to "somewhere" in Reading. When she was 21, her parents placed another call to the police, alleging that she had taken money from her father's bank account, which she later returned.

Then, Loretta reported Sherry was harming herself and blaming the injuries on her. Retired NYPD Sergeant Joseph Guillacolón, and now a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said that after Sherry was found, "...I don't think they could find anything in the United States where that happened to someone. Generally, when kidnappings go on that long, they don't end as well as this one did." That no motive was ever revealed in the case is also perplexing, along with the $100,000 reward being offered in the case going unclaimed.

"When you're going to kidnap someone, you've got to reason for it, whether it's money, revenge, or to get back at somebody," Giacalone said. "A pair of female kidnappers is also very unusual," he said. Since authorities have indicated there's no public threat from the two women, Giacalone said that could suggest that Sherry knew her abductors. Generally, when law enforcement doesn't say there's a public threat, they genuinely believe the person actually knows the perpetrator.

Others criticized the investigation. One person saying, "...the sheriff's office was so focused on that one lead that they forgot how to run an investigation. I'm not afraid to call out law enforcement when they're not doing their job and the problem in this case is that law enforcement has failed miserably." Sherry Vapini now remains at home with her husband Keith and son and daughters on the outskirts of Shasta Lake in Northern California. Neighbors have said that Sherry is now only seen outside infrequently and mostly stays home.

Weirdo family member Dave Barton sent this one in. He calls it Otto's. When I was 16, I got into a wreck in my dad's truck. I had my license for one week when this happened, and the truck was my dad's work truck. He had his own business. I was in deep trouble. Luckily for me, the guy who came to tow the truck was someone my dad had known from his teenage years. The man's name was Otto.

So my dad rode with Otto since he wanted the truck towed to our house. When my dad had cooled off enough to talk to me, he told me about Otto and how they had both been street racers. Was that a term used in the late 60s? Anyway, the main street in Salt Lake is State Street, and weekend nights teenagers would cruise up and down State Street until they made it illegal. They also went to a local drag strip so they didn't risk speeding tickets. One more ticket, no more license.

He told me that Otto started a business called Otto's Auto & Marine where he would fix cars, boats, build race cars, and towed cars. His shop was very successful. He was the only one who could test a boat engine under load at his shop. He basically had a big pool you could back a boat into and tie it down and run the engine. Better than anyone else could do.

He could have been considered a local legend in certain circles. Obviously not to lawyers or white collar guys, but anyone with an auto shop, marine shop, raced cars, or ran tow trucks knew about him. Had a good shop. Wish I had a shop like that. One kid in auto shop would wear an auto's t-shirt and I thought it was cool. Fast forward 15 years or so. I'm working as a small engine mechanic.

The building we were in was being sold and we had to move. We moved across the street and that's when I found out where Otto's shop was. We were moving onto Otto's building. I did not know if Otto was even around anymore or not. I thought it was cool. This is also when I learned that I knew a lot more people than I thought who knew Otto. I was rebuilding the engine to my truck and took it to a machine shop which is owned by a guy my dad and I know and have used before.

Talking to him one day, I told him that we were moving into Otto's old shop. He got kind of quiet and told me it's too bad what happened to Otto. My work had hired a new delivery driver. Turns out he'd married into Otto's family. He married Otto's niece. Between the two of those guys, I found out what had happened to Otto. Things were not going well in their marriage, and Otto killed his wife and himself. It was a shock that someone who seemed to have it all would do such a thing.

Well, I guess the grass isn't greener on the other side, and you don't know what other people are really going through. Whatever the reason, it's sad. The building faces north, the very west end of the building. Lower floor is the break room, salesman's office, and shop office, my office, which is directly right off the shop. Directly upstairs from that is where Otto and his wife had their offices.

We did not use this area for anything other than storage. It was in disrepair and had basically been stripped down. I worked in the shop, which was of course right below the upstairs. There were windows that would allow people from upstairs to see into the shop. I could also see upstairs from the shop. Sometimes the lights would be on upstairs, and the other guys I worked with would try to freak each other out, saying that it was Otto's ghost.

I just chuckled to myself that someone just forgot to turn off the lights, and that it's funny when people try to freak each other out. Now, in the shop we had some shelving, riveter shelving, for storing parts on machines that were in for repair. You ever seen a busboy using those gray plastic totes to collect all the dishes from a table? Well, we used those bins on the shelves to make sure all the parts for a machine would stay in the same spot altogether and wouldn't get mixed up with parts from another machine.

I mentioned that off the shop was an office. At the end of the day, I'd go into the office and enter my time and labor descriptions onto jobs, file for warranty emails, etc. I was usually the last person to leave as well. I don't remember what day or month it was, but it had to have been in the winter because it had gotten dark outside, and I never stayed late enough in the spring, summer, or fall months to be there when it was dark.

Earlier in the day, a front wheel assembly came in for one of the riding mowers I was working on, a complete assembly, tire, rim bearings, shaft, etc., and I put it in the bin. The tire was big enough that I couldn't just slip it into the bin with the limited space between the top of the bin and the bottom of the next upper shelf. I had to pull out the bin, put the tire in the bin, and then push the bin back. So, it was the end of the day, I was the last one in the building, it was locked up, I never liked being there alone without the doors locked,

I was in my office doing the end-of-the-day work when I heard a bang in the shop, which scared the crap out of me, so I got up and went out to the shop and found the tire that I'd put in the bin earlier on the ground. The same tire that was big enough that I had to pull the bin out in order to put it in there. That tire was on the ground. I hurried and checked to see if anyone was in the sales office or front parking lot.

Nobody was. I checked the rest of the building and the main parking lot. Nobody was there. Everything was locked. So what did I do? I went and put the tire back in the bin. I figured if I put the tire back, Otto's ghost wouldn't think that I was scared. But I was. I was freaking out. I went into the shop office to log out and shut down the computer. Could have gotten in trouble if I left the computer on overnight. Updates, you know. And I went home.

I told my wife and family what had happened, but I never told anyone at my work about it until I quit. I didn't want Otto's ghost, if that's who it was, maybe it was his wife's ghost, but I'm sticking with Otto's ghost. Anyway, I didn't want Otto's ghost to know that he had really scared me. And it really did scare me. If he knew that, maybe it would have encouraged him to do it even more, and I didn't want that. I didn't quit because of it, I just got a better job opportunity.

Now, I've never had any weird experiences, never seen a ghost or anything like that. I'd roll my eyes about people saying that something scary or paranormal would happen to them. Not literally, that'd be rude. I was rolling my eyes in my mind. I'm not saying there aren't spirits or ghosts or something out there. Too many stories, too many things that are unexplained for there not to be something out there. I just question the integrity of the people telling me, that's all.

So if people roll their eyes at what happened to me and don't believe me, that's fine. I deserve it. But it really did happen. And it scared the crap out of me. I just wonder why nothing else happened to me or the others at my work. And I can't think of any other explanation of how that happened. Can you?

Up next on Weird Darkness: When groups of sinister drones began hovering over homes in America's Midwest, the FBI, the US Air Force and 16 police forces set up a task force. But the drones vanished, and some wonder if they ever existed at all.

Hey Weirdos, our next Weirdo Watch Party is Saturday, January 18th and sci-fi film host and all-around nice guy Jukesua is back with another terrible B-movie – this one from the infamously inept Roger Corman. From 1958 it's "War of the Satellites" "And yet you propose to follow this tenth failure with another attempt?"

Using more of your volunteers? An unknown force declares war against planet Earth when the United Nations disobeys warnings to cease and desist in its attempts at assembling the first satellite in the atmosphere. We are obviously in the grip of a force stronger than we can oppose. It's a movie eight weeks in the making, and it shows on every frame of film. See the last few seconds with a wire holding up a planet.

See the satellites spinning in different directions every time you see them. "There it is, the barrier." "All those men in that satellite will die." See shadows somehow being cast onto the backdrop that is supposed to be outer space. "Sigma barrier dead ahead. Crash emergency. All hands secure for blast." You'll even see actors wearing the same clothes day after day after day because...

Who knows? War of the Satellites! Join us online as we all watch the film together on January 18th at 7pm Pacific, 8pm Mountain, 9pm Central, 10pm Eastern on the Monster Channel page at WeirdDarkness.com. The Weirdo Watch Party is always free to watch - just tune in at showtime and watch the movie with me and other Weirdo family members

and even join in the chat during the film for more fun. We're always cracking jokes during the movie, usually at the actor's or director's expense, but hey, it's all worthy of criticism. It's Jukesua presenting Roger Corman's War of the Satellites from 1958.

You can see a trailer for the film now and watch horror hosts and B-movies for free anytime on the Monster Channel page at WeirdDarkness.com. That's WeirdDarkness.com slash TV. And we'll see you Saturday, January 18th for our Weirdo Watch Party!

This holiday, BMW has reunited three members of the family at the BMW Road Home Sales Event. The Agile X3, engineered for any adventure. The plug-in hybrid X5, commanding the streets with unmatched presence. And the all-electric i4, charging into the future with impeccable performance. Hurry in to find what powers your journey at the BMW Road Home Sales Event. BMW, the ultimate driving machine. Visit the Valley BMW Center today for attractive lease and finance offers.

At Cox, our passionate sales professionals are driven to achieve their best in work and life. They sell the greatest B2B technology solutions created by our greatest tech minds. They provide industry-leading managed cloud services and systems that simplify car buying. They use their expertise to create strategies that help satisfy all customer needs, building meaningful relationships that last a lifetime.

Join our sales team and get ready to earn recognition, roll in the rewards, and enjoy benefits while growing across businesses. Go beyond the sale and make a positive impact on the communities you serve. Connect to work that improves lives, including yours. Learn more and apply today at cox.career.com.

The new Hawaiian Bros Island Grill in Phoenix has all the vibes. Amazing island-inspired flavors, huge servings, super positive people, incredibly fast drive-thru, an awesome rewards program, and this huli huli chicken with extra teriyaki sauce that's about to become my lunch. Hawaiian Bros. It's a vibe. Look us up at hawaiianbros.com for dine-in, pickup, or delivery.

At twilight on New Year's Eve, 2020, Placido Montoya, 35 years old, a plumber from Fort Morgan, Colorado, was driving to work. Ahead of him, he noticed blinking lights in the sky. He'd heard rumors of mysterious drones, whispers in his local community, but now he was seeing them with his own eyes. In the early morning gloom, it was hard to make out how big the lights were and how many were hovering above him. But one thing was clear to Montoya: he needed to give chase.

As he approached the drones in his car, they "took off very fast" and Montoya tried to follow, he confesses hitting 120 miles per hour before losing track of them. "They were really, really creepy," he says. "I don't know how to describe it, but it's almost as if they were watching us." That night, Vince Levinella, a deputy sheriff at Morgan County Sheriff's Office, received more than 30 calls from locals reporting drones zipping around all over the place.

Lovenella himself saw one with red, white, and green lights that he also tried to chase. "It outran me," he recalls. Meanwhile, neighboring Nebraska and Kansas were also dealing with their own mysterious drone swarms. From December 2019 to January 2020, residents of the three states were perturbed by multiple sightings of numerous unmanned aerial vehicles with wingspans of up to six foot flying between 6:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. in grid formations.

On the same night that Lovenella was receiving calls, a Nebraska deputy reported seeing 30 to 50 drones in the sky. Witnesses were alarmed by the size and speed of the vehicles. "It got to the point that we were fixing to take up arms," says Mike from Linden, Colorado, who wishes to retain partial anonymity. "But as quickly as the drones came, they disappeared. That was it. They were gone," Montoya says. More than a year later, no one knows who was behind the drones.

Despite an investigation involving the FBI, U.S. Air Force, and Federal Aviation Administration, FAA, there are no official answers. Amazon, Google, and Uber have denied involvement, and so did a local Air Force base. Somebody's doing something and nobody's saying anything about it, Montoya summarizes. But even somebody doing something is now up for debate. One reporter claims the drones never existed at all.

What really happened in the sky above the American Midwest in those fateful winter months? And what can the incident tell us about new technology and old fears? Did the mystery drones really exist? And if so, why can't anyone find out who was behind them? Is a new type of conspiracy theory being born? Are drones the new UFOs? First things first, there are videos. On YouTube, you can easily find footage of blinking lights hovering over houses, farms, and highways in Colorado.

It's evident at least some of these lights belonged to drones, although it's harder to determine if these drones really were six feet wide. In early 2020, Douglas D. Johnson, a research affiliate with the Scientific Coalition for Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon Studies, used America's Freedom of Information Act, FOIA, to uncover reams of FAA documentation about the drone mystery.

Johnson's research revealed that law enforcement officers in 16 Colorado and Nebraska counties personally witnessed the drone activity, with one Kansas state trooper using night vision goggles to estimate one drone had a 10-foot wingspan. Brett Tingley is a journalist for The War Zone, a defense news publication. He believes the documents prove something strange did occur.

"There are consistencies among the eyewitness reports that suggest these drones possessed longer flight times than most off-the-shelf UASs ," he says. He believes the witness testimony appeared legitimate enough to local and state law enforcement and the FAA to take the sightings seriously.

Still, that doesn't mean that there wasn't a frenzy. On January 29, 2020, Vice Reporter Aaron Gordon published an article claiming the mysterious drone sightings were "a classic case of mass hysteria." In an earlier article, he noted that the Colorado Department of Public Safety flew a multi-mission aircraft for nearly five hours in Colorado on January 6 that year and found no suspicious drone activity.

Johnson calls the Vice article "shoddy," but Tingley concedes that some sightings could have been hysteria, particularly after the drones made national news. Some officials even became a little hysterical. Deputies in Nebraska reported finding space potatoes after chasing drones through a field. In actual fact, the lumpy brown objects were a farming product used to fill irrigation ruts in fields. LaVanella agrees that hysteria built up quickly, and says that some witnesses were undoubtedly looking at planes,

But, quote, I was irritated by people saying we didn't see nothing because that's not true. I know what was happening those first few days on the drones. They were there, unquote. By January 6th of 2020, a multi-agency task force had been set up to investigate. The FBI, Federal Aviation Authority, Air Force, and local law enforcement officials made up a team of 70. However, the task force disbanded by January 22nd after drone sightings dramatically dropped off.

FAA communications manager Ian Greger now says, "...we did not receive any information that enabled us to determine what exactly it was that people reported seeing, and if they were drones, who was flying them."

In a separate investigation, the CDPS examined 23 drone sightings between the 6th and 13th of January and determined 13 sightings were planets, stars, or small hobbyist drones. Six sightings were determined to be atmospheric conditions or identified commercial aircraft, while four sightings remained unidentified.

Witnesses, such as Placido Montoya, aren't best pleased with the task force's inconclusive investigation, nor the CDPS's explanations. "I don't feel safe," he says. "I looked up and I felt like I was being violated." Levinella stresses that investigations only began after sightings had died down and the drones had already moved on. Why is it so difficult to determine who is flying a drone? In 2018, Gatwick had to cancel hundreds of flights after drones were spotted by the runway.

Chaos reigned between the 19th and 21st of December while police and the military investigated. On December 21st, a couple was arrested. They were later awarded $200,000 compensation for false imprisonment. On December 23rd, police said that it was a possibility that there was never a drone at all. In April 2019, police and Gatwick officials claimed the incident was potentially an inside job.

James Scanlon is a design and engineering professor who runs Southampton University's Strategic Research Center in Autonomous Systems. He says if an individual is controlling a drone from the ground, then radio frequencies can be used to determine where the transmission is coming from.

The problem comes when there's a drone that's flying with radio silence, so it's not transmitting. No one's transmitting to it. It might have a flight plan on board, so it executes its mission and doesn't need any control from the ground, he says. It's very hard to do anything about those. Clues can, of course, be found in the drones themselves, which is why witnesses in Colorado, Nebraska, and Kansas wanted to shoot them down. Because these drones were reportedly very large and very fast, some assumed they were military.

In early January 2020, F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming denied ownership of the drones after inquiries from local newspapers. So who could possibly possess the kind of technology seen over the American skies that winter? Locals speculate about drug dealers, secret government operations, or even foreign spies. But Scanlon notes that you or I could purchase powerful drones ourselves.

There's a commercial drone on the market called the Penguin B from a Latvia company that's about six foot in wingspan and has a very long endurance, so I could go and fly those tomorrow." To this day, Tingley still receives emails claiming the mysterious drones never went away. Mike, the witness from Linden, runs a 3,700-member Facebook group. "We still have people on there who've been keeping a very close eye on drone activity," he says.

Mike says the drones interfered with his mobile phone connection and believes that they were equipped with audio surveillance. "Because the moment we identified the location and pointed a camera up there, they suddenly went blackout," other witnesses have made similar claims. Mike says claims of mass hysteria are frustrating, but then references ufologist and conspiracy theorist Milton William Cooper,

Asked if he himself identifies as a conspiracy theorist, Mike says, "No, I tend to vet pretty much every lead, and if I do not find credible evidence to support that lead, I will not push forward with it." Five minutes later, he begins discussing footage of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Take the frame-by-frame footage of the towers coming down and compare that to a controlled demolition. The individuals in Mike's Facebook group encompass everyone, from curious witnesses to people who believe the drones somehow caused the coronavirus.

Some are self-confessed UFO enthusiasts. Mystery drones, after all, are unidentified flying objects by another name. In 2018, the top two websites for reporting UFOs revealed there had been a rapid decline in worldwide UFO sightings since 2014.

In January 2019, drone researcher Fain Greenwood claimed, "This decline coincides with the period when relatively advanced drone technology first became truly accessible to consumers," in a Slate article entitled "Drones are the New Flying Saucers." In emails about the mystery drones uncovered by Douglas, one FAA official remarked, "Not too long ago we would have called these UFOs." Their colleague replied, "Yep, now everything is a drone."

In her article, Greenwood explains that this is likely down to good ol' human psychology. If we see something we can't identify, we're likely to slot in whatever seems most plausible. And what seems plausible may change depending on current events and modern fears. Greenwood cites multiple instances in which pilots mistakenly reported drone sightings,

In 2016, police reported that a passenger plane at Heathrow collided with a drone before the UK's transport minister clarified it may have even been a plastic bag. Conspiracy theory expert Daniel Jolly, a psychology professor at Northumbria University, says even when drone incidents are real, mystery can breed suspicion.

When people hear about such things, they interpret this information in line with their prior beliefs. If you believe that powerful forces are up to shady things and generally have a mistrust of official information, you could be more likely to see a hidden motive. But Greenwood also believes we absolutely should be concerned about the malevolent use of consumer drones.

Johnson says he's obtained documents from America's Nuclear Regulatory Commission that show there were 57 drone-related security events at NRC-licensed facilities between 2014 and 2019. Only five of these incidents were deemed resolved. He also has discovered that on two nights in September 2019, security guards reported seeing a number of drones flying over the largest power plant in the U.S., Palo Verde Generating Station in Arizona.

In January 2021, a year after Montoya first saw drones in the night sky, the Pentagon released a new strategy to counter small drones, with official documents stating: "Technology trends are dramatically transforming legitimate applications of small drones while simultaneously making them increasingly capable weapons in the hands of state actors, non-state actors, and criminals."

Many of the Freedom of Information Act documents obtained by Johnson were redacted, including witness photographs of drones in F.E. Warren documents. So was the whole thing real or imagined? A conspiracy or a covert operation? Could it even be a bit of both? Some suspicious drone hobbyists believe the FAA itself orchestrated the mystery so they could enforce tighter regulations.

On December 26, 2019, the FAA proposed that all but the smallest drones should broadcast tracking signals to allow them to be remotely identified. One thing is evident: drones, real or imagined, are capable of causing chaos. "What caught me off guard is we have no answers to this day, and it's like everybody's okay with it," Montoya says. At first he thought Amazon was behind the drones. Now he wonders whether it could be the government or foreign powers. And then he offers up one final theory:

Could have been aliens, he says, with a laugh. Thanks for listening! If you like the show, please share it with someone you know who loves the paranormal or strange stories, true crime, monsters, or unsolved mysteries like you do! You can email me anytime with your questions or comments at darren at weirddarkness.com. Darren is D-A-R-R-E-N. And you can find me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and the show's Weirdos Facebook group on the Contact Social page at WeirdDarkness.com.

Also on the website, if you have a true paranormal or creepy tale to tell, click on Tell Your Story. All stories in Weird Darkness are purported to be true unless stated otherwise, and you can find source links or links to the authors in the show notes. The brothel poisoning was posted at Strange Company. The litigating witch case is from Esoterics.com. Attack of the Drones is by Amelia Tate for TheGuardian.com. The Sherry Papini mystery is posted at StrangeOutdoors.com.

Weird Darkness is a production of Marlar House Productions. And now that we're coming out of the dark, I'll leave you with a little light. Psalm 5, verse 12. Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous, you surround them with your favor as with a shield. And a final thought, you don't love someone for their looks, or their clothes, or their fancy car, but because they sing a song only you can hear. I'm Darren Marlar. Thanks for joining me in the Weird Darkness.

Then, a man called the Shasta County Sheriff's Office a few months after the alleged abduction claiming that Sherry was a retired New York Police Department Sergeant Joseph Gia Colonna.

Retired NYPD Sergeant Joseph Giacola... Joseph... Joseph Giacola... Retar... Retarded? Wow, that's bad.

♪♪♪

At Cox, our passionate sales professionals are driven to achieve their best in work and life. They sell the greatest B2B technology solutions created by our greatest tech minds. They provide industry-leading managed cloud services and systems that simplify car buying. They use their expertise to create strategies that help satisfy all customer needs, building meaningful relationships that last a lifetime.

Join our sales team and get ready to earn recognition, roll in the rewards, and enjoy benefits while growing across businesses. Go beyond the sale and make a positive impact on the communities you serve. Connect to work that improves lives, including yours. Learn more and apply today at cox.career.com.