DIVERS’ TERRIFYING REAL ENCOUNTERS WITH UNDERWATER MONSTERS
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liberty, and treasured institutions from cyber threats. Deploy your career in IT today. Learn more at mycomputercareer.edu/cwp. Skillbridge and other VA benefits are available to those who qualify. One eerie tale dates back to 1880 in Scotland. Diver Duncan MacDonald was tasked with investigating a shipwreck near the Caledonian Canal entrance at Fort Augustus. Although the dive started under clear conditions, it quickly turned chaotic and mysterious.

Soon after descending, MacDonald urgently signaled to be brought back to the surface. Pale and trembling, he remained silent about his observation for days. Once he regained his composure, he recounted encountering an unusual creature resembling a massive frog resting on the rock shelf near the wreck.

This eerie encounter marked the beginning of countless stories about the mysteries and strange creature possibly lurking beneath the waves of Loch Ness. In 1953, an Australian deep-sea diver reported a chilling encounter in the murky depths. The diver spotted a massive dark shape looming amidst the water, seemingly suspended in the current.

As they watched in awe, a white-tipped shark swam past the shape, only to be abruptly engulfed by it. The diver realized the entity was an enormous jellyfish larger than any known species, consuming the shark whole.

Such stories of mysterious and terrifying sea creatures not only point to the unknown dangers of what might be in the depths of our oceans, but the stories happen more often than we should probably feel comfortable with. I'm Darren Marlar and this is Weird Darkness. Welcome, Weirdos! I'm Darren Marlar and this is Weird Darkness.

Here you'll find stories of the paranormal, supernatural, legends, lore, the strange and bizarre, crime, conspiracy, mysterious, macabre, unsolved and unexplained. Coming up in this episode... 100 years ago, the surge of interest in communicating with spirits challenged Judeo-Christian traditions, sparking the rise of spiritualism in the 19th century. And some still practice it today.

Discovered in the Vellona River with his hands and feet bound, four-year-old Gregory Villeman's death led to chilling anonymous threats and a complex investigation. His family and a community still are searching for justice today. In movies and TV shows, characters often emerge unscathed from being buried alive. But in reality, this ordeal can result in severe physical and psychological trauma.

we'll look at the chilling true horrors of live burials. One of Nebraska's most chilling legends involves the haunted Seven Sisters Road, where seven women met a tragic end in the 1900s. But first... Divers venture into the world of the deep, observing seascapes and wildlife most will never witness for themselves.

While divers often come across incredible life never seen before, fascinating them and us after seeing the photos, other diver encounters with the unknown leave a lasting impression due to their sheer terror. We begin there. Now, bolt your doors, lock your windows, turn off your lights, and come with me into the Weird Darkness.

The murky waters of Lake Superior enveloped me as I descended into the depths near the Duluth Ship Canal. Despite the notorious currents, I felt confident with my guidelines secured to a rebar spike driven into the sand. As I swam deeper, the crystal clear water gave way to an eerie brown wall of silt stretching for miles. Crossing into it plunged me into total darkness. My heart raced as I ventured further. The only sound, the soft clicking of my guideline reel.

Suddenly, a low rumble reverberated throughout the water. It wasn't the familiar hum of cargo ships. This sound was organic, primordial.

Before I could process what was happening, an immense force slammed into me. Pain seared through my body as something punctured my skin. I caught a glimpse of a massive shape, easily ten feet long, its body covered in scales like a snake. Razor-sharp fins sliced through the water as it circled back toward me, blood dripping from its gaping maw lined with dagger-like teeth.

Panic overtook me. I frantically swam for the surface, my muscles screaming in protest. The creature pursued, gaining with each powerful undulation. As blackness crept into the edges of my vision, I realized with horror that I had become prey in these dark waters. My last conscious thought was a desperate prayer that someone would find me before this monster finished its meal.

Divers venture into unseen worlds, observing serene seascapes and rare wildlife most never witness. They peer through a window into the underwater realms beneath ocean waves, an alluring yet sometimes unsettling experience. Many diver encounters with the unknown leave a lasting impression due to their sheer terror. Here we delve into some diver experiences with enigmatic sea monsters that left them shaken and haunted.

One early tale dates back to 1880 in the home of the renowned Loch Ness Monster, Loch Ness, Scotland. Diver Duncan MacDonald was tasked with investigating a shipwreck near the Caledonian Canal entrance at Fort Augustus. Although the dive started under clear conditions, it quickly turned chaotic and mysterious. As noted by author Nicholas Whitchell in his book "The Loch Ness Story", which I've linked to in the show notes,

Soon after descending, MacDonald urgently signaled to be brought back to the surface. Pale and trembling, he remained silent about his observation for days. Once he regained his composure, he recounted encountering an unusual creature resembling a massive frog resting on the rock shelf near the wreck. Despite his silence thereafter, it seemed that MacDonald's encounter marked a boundary between Loch Ness and the canal.

In 1933, a report about Loch Ness was featured in the Dundee Courier and Advertiser, shared by a reader recounting an incident involving a man from the village of Meffen. The reader mentioned, "...I discovered that a resident of Meffen originally came from Invernesshire.

Our discussion led to the topic of the Loch Ness Monster. You recalled how villagers in that area spoke of witnessing a monster near Invermoriston, approximately three miles away at Ruskitch. There was a tale of a man sailing his yacht on the loch being forced towards the shore. As the yacht sank and landed on a rock ledge, the owner sought assistance from a diver named Honeyman from Clatcherherry.

Despite promising to begin work the next day, Honeyman secretly dove into the water with his crew to inspect the sunken yacht, hoping for personal gain. As the yacht slipped off the ledge and vanished into the depths, the diver was startled by a massive creature around nine feet long with a body as robust as an average man passing in front of him. Terrified, the diver, having had a fright, adamantly refused to dive into the water again.

Another underwater observation of the creature known as the Loch Ness Monster occurred when a man named Robert "Brock" Badger encountered the mysterious being while diving in Urquhart Bay on Sunday, August 8, 1971, to replace mooring. He recounts his experience, saying, "After securing the mooring while the others were loading the tools and dinghy into the van, I took a moment to snorkel to ensure the safety of the wetsuit against any potential damage from the equipment.

Venturing out from the small floating jetty that existed at the time, I swam into the bay. Approximately 100 yards from the jetty, the seabed suddenly plunged into deep waters. As I reached a depth of about 10 to 15 feet below the surface, contemplating my return, an object came into view ahead of me.

The water, resembling thick tea due to the peat content, concealed most of the object, with only its top and bottom visible to me. Its structure extended beyond my immediate line of sight in both directions, its surface rough and rounded in shape. Though uncertain of the distance I estimated being around 15 to 20 feet away from it, the object appeared to be moving from right to left toward the main lock.

Although this may seem like a prolonged observation, the encounter lasted only a few seconds. Realizing the nature of the object, I swiftly decided to retreat. With my large, powerful swim flippers propelling me, I surfaced rapidly and hurried back towards the pier. Simon Dinsdale was alerted by my abrupt emergence, noting that I was moving so swiftly that I seemed to be aquaplaning on my chest. As I headed back towards shore, a sense of dread crept over me, fearing pursuit.

However, upon spotting Mr. Menzies' nephews enjoying themselves on a boat tethered to the pier and his black Labrador entering the water to greet me, I dared to glance behind me and saw that I was, in fact, alone. Indeed peculiar." Moving on from Loch Ness, a highly unusual account emerges from the Pine Barrens Institute, detailing the reported encounter of an Australian deep-sea diver in the year 1953.

The individual, whose identity remains unknown, was reportedly submerged in the depths when they spotted a massive dark shape looming amidst the murky waters, seemingly suspended in the current. This initial sight was alarming on its own, but what followed would only escalate the sense of dread.

As the driver gazed in awe at this colossal, enigmatic entity, a white-tipped shark purportedly swam past it, only to abruptly halt mid-swim and be drawn into the mysterious mass, seemingly engulfed by the creature. Subsequently, the diver came to the realization that the entity was an enormous jellyfish of unprecedented proportions, which had astonishingly consumed a full-grown shark right before their eyes.

The Pine Barrens Institute emphasizes the immense size of this jellyfish in their account, alluding to the sheer magnitude of the creature. The lion's mane jellyfish, with its bell diameter reaching over 6 feet 7 inches wide and tentacles growing up to 100 feet long, is the largest known jellyfish in the world. These creatures inhabit cold waters in the Arctic, northern Atlantic and northern Pacific oceans.

The largest lion's mane specimen found in Massachusetts Bay in 1870 had a bell diameter of 7 feet and tentacles that stretched 121 feet long. Could a lion's mane jellyfish have been the culprit behind catching and consuming a shark in Australia? Despite its long tentacles, the bell diameter of the lion's mane is not substantial enough to engulf and digest a full-grown white-tipped shark.

White-tipped sharks typically measure around 9.8 feet long, with some reaching 13 feet in exceptional cases, outmatching the bell size of the lion's mane by almost three feet. For a jellyfish to devour its prey, it must fully enclose the prey in its stomach, known as the cholenterin. If the food exceeds the cholenterin's opening, the jellyfish will release it.

This suggests that the jellyfish responsible for consuming the white-tipped shark must have had a bell diameter of at least 12 feet. Consequently, the tentacles of this enigmatic giant jellyfish could have measured over 200 feet or longer. The report also mentions a sighting of a massive jellyfish in 1969 off Bermuda.

According to divers Richard Weiner and Pat Boatwright, they spotted a giant, purplish-colored jellyfish with an almost pink outer bell rim pulsating through the water. The diameter of its bell estimated to be nearly 100 feet across. They quickly left the area. In 1988, professional scuba diver Robert Froster was diving near the Florida coast when he observed a peculiar disturbance in the water from the corner of his eye.

Upon turning to investigate, he saw a figure swiftly moving through the murky, foggy water stirred up by sediments. This entity seemed to be undulating towards him, and upon approaching within 20 yards, Froster noticed arm-like appendages with talon-tipped ends reaching out towards him. As it came even closer, Froster described seeing a top half with smooth skin, distinct breasts, and flowing hair, while the bottom half was covered in scales,

The being exuded an unfriendly aura, and Froster, alarmed by its gaze, remarked, "I've never seen such evil hate in the eyes of any human or animal before." He managed to reach the surface and return to his vessel without further incident. From the 1980s comes a chilling tale of an unidentified diver exploring the cave networks of Dublin Lake in Cheshire County, New Hampshire,

After surfacing from the depths, the diver was found rambling incoherently about encountering terrifying monsters lurking in the dark waters below. This eerie incident is echoed by another strange event involving a diving bell that became stranded in the same lake due to a severed tether. A scuba diver sent to investigate also vanished, only to be found days later running naked through the nearby woods, recounting a harrowing encounter with mysterious lake monsters.

The truth behind what he witnessed remains a mystery. In a separate story from August 1991, a diver near Cape Aia on the Crimean Peninsula, Ukraine, found himself under an unusual encounter while swimming just 100 meters from shore under a full moon. Sensing a disturbance at his shoulder, he turned to find no one but the sound of splashing water around him. Initially brushing it off as a prank by his companions, he headed towards the shore.

However, he was struck forcefully on the shoulder once more. On looking back, he was startled to see the face of a woman in the water, with unnaturally large eyes and a strange bioluminescent glow emanating from her. The fearful observer quickly headed towards the shore with all the strength he could muster, hearing commotion in the water behind him that he resisted the urge to glance back at, fearing what he might behold.

As he approached the shore, believing that he had distanced himself from the strange entity, he suddenly felt a sharp poke in his shoulder, and once more encountered the enigmatic woman swimming with piercing black eyes, exuding what he could only describe as disappointment. Frantically, the swimmer dashed onto the shore in a panic, glimpsing a shining figure splashing in the water before vanishing into the dark depths below.

Even after the harrowing ordeal had passed, he couldn't shake off his fixation on the encounter, seeing the mysterious woman haunting his dreams and feeling compelled to revisit the same location multiple times yet never laying eyes on her again. Equally chilling is an account from Reddit user Farad8219 who describes an eerie encounter akin to a nightmarish vision. Here's their story:

A few years back, a friend of mine decided to surprise me for my birthday by renting a boat for us to head out onto the sea. Everything seemed to be going smoothly. The boat was in great condition, perfect for fishing, and had a spacious deck. Knowing we were going out on the water, I thought it'd be a great opportunity to try using a new mono fin for scuba diving. Since I'd never used one before, I'd been practicing with it and felt confident taking it out into the sea.

We set off from the coast near the Cape, with the water a bit chilly but bearable, around 22 miles out while still within sight of land. My friend had brought along fishing gear for later use, and I was all set to jump into the water with my wetsuit, monofin, and tank in hand. However, after a few minutes, a strange feeling of superstition crept over me. It wasn't paranoia, but more of a gut feeling that something wasn't right.

Shrugging it off, I geared up and prepared to dive into the water. As I prepared to dive, that eerie feeling returned, this time escalating to full-blown paranoia when I noticed a pair of gleaming eyes in the ocean. Initially mistaking them for a shark, due to my experience with them and other deep-sea creatures over the years, I braced myself

But as the figure drew closer, I realized it was not a shark. It was enormous, with teeth protruding from its jaw and razor-sharp fins covered in scales like that of a snake. Blood dripping from its mouth, it appeared hungry and formidable. Panic set in as I tried to move quickly, but shock held me back.

It wasn't until the creature began to accelerate towards me that I snapped out of it, pushing myself to swim faster with my monofin, though it could only propel me so much in the water. Meanwhile, my friend, growing suspicious of my prolonged absence beneath the surface, peered over the boat's edge and caught sight of me frantically swimming towards safety as the ominous shadow loomed closer. Exhausted and breathless, I made it back to the boat and urgently instructed my friend to get us out of there.

We abandoned our plans for the day and headed back home, leaving behind the unsettling encounter with that unknown creature. Even to this day, the mystery remains unresolved, and despite my years of experience, I have no desire to uncover the truth. Also quite alarming is a report from Lake Superior in the United States where diver Todd Elley was exploring at the entrance of the Duluth Ship Canal on August 22, 2005.

This was already quite risky since the area is notorious for its strong currents that have the potential to sweep a diver away. To mitigate this danger, they had driven a four-foot rebar spike into the sand and secured the ends of their guideline spools to it to prevent being pulled away or losing them.

The witness recounts what happened next: "Swimming outside the canal's imposing wall, we navigated through the crystal-clear water, 40 feet deep, with sunlight creating delicate patterns on our bodies. As we approached the mouth of the canal, a murky brown wall of silt extended for miles into the open water, resembling an underwater river within the lake. Whirlpools and eddies dotted its length, disappearing into the distance.

Crossing it meant entering a zone of complete darkness, like night underwater. Stealing our nerves, we plunged into the obscurity. Amidst the clicking of our guideline reels, a low, rumbling sound reached my ears, reminiscent of an outboard motor struggling to start. We had carefully timed our swim to avoid any passing cargo ships. This unfamiliar sound felt more organic, evoking a sense of impending danger.

Suddenly, a powerful force struck me, initially mistaken for a drifting tree swept by the current. To my horror, it seized my companion and swiftly pulled him away. The reel of his guideline whirred rapidly before falling silent. Our marker was uprooted from the lake bed as if snatched away by an unseen force. I felt a sharp, searing pain as my skin was punctured by an unknown assailant.

"We had unwittingly become prey in the water's flow. Amidst the chaos, a sense of loss and anguish swept over me." To add to the mystery, the witness later succumbed to a combination of erythema, hypertension, and tachycardia, experiencing symptoms like swelling and vomiting caused by an unidentified nerve toxin.

The situation becomes even more perplexing when the creature responsible remains elusive, heightening the bizarre and frightening nature of the encounter. One account shared by Reddit user "Triple A Work Account" illustrates this, saying: "In the Atlantic Ocean, the water is around 30 to 50 feet deep, with numerous pocket reefs scattered about.

I decided to venture away from a reef to explore a new direction. The visibility is a clear 40 feet as I move forward. Suddenly, just at the edge of visibility near the surface, I spot a massive body before me. The body measures approximately 2-3 feet in thickness and spans 6-10 feet in length. I can only make out its body, devoid of a head or tail,

The creature appears to be a light silver hue with slightly darker golden or brown stripes. It swiftly disappears, perhaps turning in another direction, and leaves me bewildered. Intrigued, I begin swimming towards it. After advancing about 12 feet, a wave of fear washes over me. A primal sense of dread and horror grips my being, urging me to flee from whatever that entity is in the water.

Listening to my instincts, I halt my advance and swiftly pivot back towards the boat. I swim on my back, keeping an eye on the spot where I saw the mysterious creature. Although I cannot identify it, the immense size of the being instills a deep sense of danger within me. My primal instincts recognize the threat this unknown creature poses to me, prompting me to retreat swiftly. Another report from a diver. One way to track a diver is by observing their bubble stream.

When a diver inhales, the demand regulator in their helmet provides air from their umbilical, and when they exhale, the air is released into the water and rises to the surface as bubbles. By watching the bubbles from the surface, you can generally track the diver's location. On this particular occasion, we were miles away from land with two divers underwater. After about an hour, we noticed something peculiar. Instead of two bubble streams, there were three coming from where the divers were working,

Initially, we attributed this to a current affecting them, until we spotted a fourth set of bubbles originating from a distance and stopping close to the other bubbles. The divers couldn't see anything unusual when asked. Suddenly, we heard a chilling scream from below the water's surface, followed by an eerie silence.

While the divers remained unperturbed, we were accustomed to strange sounds underwater that could carry over long distances. However, the water ahead appeared to be teeming with new bubble streams advancing towards the divers. The supervisor promptly ordered the divers onto the dive stage for retrieval. As the bubbles drew closer, the divers reported seeing shadowy figures in the vicinity.

Despite their indistinct nature, we decided to extract the divers immediately without completing their decompression stops and place them in the hyperbaric chamber. The events that transpired out there are quite mysterious, particularly concerning a witness named Peter Wesker, a self-professed marine biologist and diver. He encountered a strange occurrence whilst exploring the frigid, dark depths near Singapore.

At the time, he was employed on a drilling rig that operated at a depth of 400 feet and could bore down as far as 30,000 feet. Peter routinely worked in the pitch-black environment, with only the dim illumination of his diving lights offering some semblance of visibility. However, on one particular expedition, things took a very peculiar turn, and he recalls the incident as follows:

We found ourselves submerged to an incredibly deep extent. For context, consider that the peak of Everest stands at 29,035 feet. The dive, just below the water's surface, extended another 30,000 feet beyond the 400 feet distance from the sand to the water's top layer.

We were situated right at the ocean bed. The surreal feeling of being at such unfathomable depths never truly fades. Engulfed by a boundless void of darkness, aware that ascending to the surface means risking one's life, there's a profound sense of dependence on the surface team to extract you from that environment, which can leave you feeling somewhat powerless. The clamor only added to the tension.

Exploring the metallic supports of the oil rig's framework — essentially four immense pillars anchored in the seabed to support the surface platform — proved to be a daunting sight underwater. Covered in rust and overgrown with more algae than I could have imagined, the structure appeared immense and ominous. A few small schools of fish encircled us as we meticulously surveyed the area from top to bottom.

The noise started quietly at first, a mix of sounds resembling a roller door and a sliding mesh door opening and closing somewhere in the distance. Despite being faint, it persisted. "T32 Mike, do you hear that?" I asked my diving partner, Mike Davis. With poor visibility limiting my sight to just 50 feet, I used my flashlight to scan the sandy seabed for any clues. The sound seemed to originate far below the surface, growing slowly louder,

I notified our surface team of the unconfirmed noise emanating from beneath us. After their approval, we reluctantly continued our search. However, the noise intensified, gradually merging into a single, piercing sound akin to an air raid siren echoing from the ocean depths. The ground beneath us trembled as the noise drew nearer.

I swore and quickly called for the decompression chamber to be prepared. We were leaving immediately, regardless of whether they agreed. The noise grew louder, and the sand shifted with its vibrations. Initially, I thought the underground drill had malfunctioned and was heading towards us, but I dismissed that idea as absurd. I considered every option as we swam upwards, pausing at a safe distance while awaiting the diving bell's delay.

The noise approached relentlessly, and I was certain it would soon break through the sand. "This is our stopping point! We can't go any higher!" I signaled to my two fellow divers, aware of the risk of hypoxia beyond this altitude. Though it was instinctual, I confirmed our depth on the meter. The eerie sound lingered just beneath the surface, its chilling screeches sending shivers down my spine. I attempted to contact the team through the radio, but all I heard was static.

They should have deployed the bell by now. Our internal communication system was still functioning, but the noise was so overpowering that it drowned out all other sounds. It felt as if I could almost touch the source of the sound, its vibrations resonating through the water in every direction. I observed the shadowy outline of a diver as he continued his ascent, before I closed my eyes due to the pounding in my head. It was then that I realized I could no longer hear Davis speaking.

At some point, I must have lost consciousness. Upon regaining awareness, I found myself on the surface, being evaluated by the backup diver following decompression. In my foggy state, I never learned whether Keller or Davis had survived. Following that, nothing eventful occurred apart from a stern reprimand from our dive leader. I was strictly instructed to never discuss the incident with anyone under threat of severe consequences. And that was it.

That marked the underwhelming conclusion of my experience. Whatever transpired while we were unconscious, whatever they discovered down there, must be detailed in the remainder of the report. Regardless of the risks involved, I am determined to uncover the truth. Could this have been a seismic event? A mysterious sea creature? Or even Cthulhu? It remains a mystery. Here we've delved into a collection of accounts that venture into the realm of the extraordinary.

What do these individuals encounter in the depths of our planet's oceans and lakes? How do we make sense of such encounters with the unusual? Ultimately, it suggests that there might be many more discoveries waiting beneath the waves, perhaps some that are best left undiscovered. When Weird Darkness Returns 100 years ago, the surge of interest in communicating with spirits challenged Judeo-Christian traditions, sparking the rise of spiritualism in the 19th century.

This movement ignited by the Fox sisters in 1848 blended science with faith and captivated millions across the United States and Europe. Despite skepticism and debunking efforts by figures like Harry Houdini, spiritualism's allure persisted, with some still practicing its methods even today. Plus, discovered in the Valona River with his hands and feet bound, four-year-old Gregory Villeman's death led to chilling anonymous threats and a complex investigation,

Despite numerous suspects and revived efforts, the true perpetrator of the 1984 murder remains elusive, leaving a family and a community still searching for justice today. These stories and more still to come.

Do you like my horror-able humor episodes called Mind of Marler? If so, and you'd like more, it now has its very own podcast. Comedic creeps, sarcastic scares, frivolous frights, macabre madness. Every week I dive into strange history, twisted true crime, and paranormal weirdness. All the stuff you'd expect from me on Weird Darkness, but delivered with dark comedy, satire, and just the right amount of absurdity.

They've been here for thousands of years, making their presence known in the shadows. They might be seen by a lonely motorist on a deserted road late at night, or by a frightened and confused husband in the bedroom he's sharing with his wife.

Perhaps the most disconcerting part of this phenomenon boils down to this question: has the government been aware of their presence all along and is covertly working with them towards some secret end? In the audiobook, Runs of Disclosure, what once was fringe is now reality. While listening, you'll meet regular people just like you who have encountered something beyond their ability to explain

You'll also hear from people of great faith and deep religious belief who continue to have these strange and deeply unsettling encounters. Author L.A. Marzulli explores these ongoing incidents to discover the answers to these questions: Who are they? What do they want? And why are they here? Can you handle the truth? Listen to this audiobook if you dare!

Rungs of Disclosure, Following the Trail of Extraterrestrials and the End Times, by L.A. Marzulli. Narrated by Darren Marlar. Hear a free sample on the audiobooks page at WeirdDarkness.com.

Now there's a new way to share Weird Darkness with the weirdos in your life. It's a skill on your Amazon Echo device. Just say, play Weird Darkness, and you'll immediately start hearing the newest episode. With your Amazon Echo or smart device, you can let me keep you company all day and all night. And it's easy to tell your friends how to tune in, too. Just tell your Amazon device, play Weird Darkness, to start listening. ♪

The 1984 unsolved murder case of Gregory Villemin remains a haunting mystery to this day. Found dead in the Valona River near DeSolas, France, four-year-old Gregory was discovered with a wool hat covering his face and bound hands and feet. Despite a sinister message received by his family following the tragic event, the perpetrator has never been brought to justice.

Jean Marie received a call warning him to keep his son Gregory from spending too much time outside or else he might find him dead. Despite being calm and collected, Jean Marie lost his temper and threatened the caller for potentially harming his son. In March 1983, the Villeman family received a threatening letter written in black bold letters.

"Villeman family, I will kill you. If you refuse, I will carry out the same threat I made to the boss and his family. The choice is yours - life or death." After this message, the caller fell silent for a year and a half, causing the family to lower their guard. However, on October 16, 1984, tragedy struck as Gregory disappeared while playing outside under Christine's watch.

Shortly after 5 p.m., Christine reported him missing, and at 5.30 p.m., Gregory's uncle, Mikkel Velleman, received a chilling phone call. The caller informed him that the boy had been abducted and thrown into the Valona River. Later that evening, seven kilometers away from their residence, Gregory's lifeless body was found. He was discovered with a wool hat covering his face, his hands and feet bound by a rope that was also tied around his neck.

Despite the horrifying circumstances, investigators noted a serene expression on his face when the hat was removed. There were no signs of struggle or trauma, and his clothing remained undisturbed. The following day, the family received an anonymous letter addressed to Jean Marie, saying, "'I wish for your sorrow to consume you, boss. Your wealth cannot bring your son back. This is my retaliation, you fool.'"

The media quickly took interest in a notable case involving a suspect known as "le corbeau" or "the crow," a French term referring to an anonymous letter writer popularized by the 1943 film Le Corbeau. This prompted law enforcement to initiate a search for the perpetrator. Initial focus was on anonymous phone calls, revealing two distinct callers: one male and one female.

Subsequently, two eyewitnesses provided descriptions of a dark-haired individual leading the police to create composite sketches resembling Bernard Laroche, a cousin of Jean Marie. Handwriting analysis indicated similarities between Laroche's signature and that on the letter dated October 17. Despite having an alibi for most of the 16th, a period of approximately 30 to 45 minutes raised suspicions as it could not be verified.

Furthermore, LaRoche's frequent association with Mikkel Willemann, the recipient of the aforementioned anonymous call about Gregory's whereabouts, raised eyebrows. Reporters noted LaRoche's apparent lack of concern following the child's death. His outburst highlighted his feelings of being mistreated by the Willemann family and a belief that they deserved consequences.

His behavior intensified when his 15-year-old sister-in-law, Muriel Bull, informed the authorities that LaRoche had picked her up from school on the same day he allegedly took a young boy to an unfamiliar residence. When they drove away again and made a stop, LaRoche exited the car and brought the boy along with him. Upon his return, the boy was no longer with him. Following this, Bernard LaRoche was taken into custody.

Later, Bohl retracted her statement, stating that she had been pressured by the police. She claimed that the authorities had raised their voices and threatened to send her to a reformatory to coerce her into agreeing with their version of events. Her change of testimony, coupled with LaRoche's persistent denial of involvement in the crime, led the police to lack substantial grounds for holding him. Consequently, Bernard LaRoche was released from detention on February 4th, 1985.

Despite the limited evidence and determination to uncover the perpetrator, handwriting experts revisited the anonymous letters. On March 25th, 1985, they determined that Christine, Gregory's mother, was likely the one who wrote them. Jean Marie remained unconvinced. He was so convinced of his cousin Bernard LaRoche's guilt that he publicly declared to reporters his intention to kill LaRoche.

He fulfilled this vow on March 29th, 1985, fatally shooting LaRoche as he left for work. Jean Marie was subsequently convicted of murder and sentenced to five years in prison. After taking into account the time spent awaiting trial and a partial suspension of his sentence, he was released in December 1987, having served only two and a half years. During Jean Marie's imprisonment, suspicion continued to fall upon Christine,

Not only did the handwriting analysis point towards her, but four witnesses claimed to have seen her at the post office on the day of Gregory's murder. The discovery of a rope similar to the one used to bind Gregory in the family's home's basement further fueled suspicions against her. In July 1985, Christine Velleman faced arrest and allegations of her involvement in her son's death, but she refused to capitulate easily.

As Christina was expecting a child, she embarked on an 11-day hunger strike during her imprisonment. Shortly after, an appeals court recognized the lack of substantial evidence and a clear motive leading to Christina's release. However, the consequences had already taken their toll as she suffered a miscarriage, losing one of the twins she was carrying.

Despite being formally cleared of the charges only on February 2, 1993, the case remained unsolved until 2000, when DNA testing on a stamp from an anonymous letter breathed new life into the investigation. Unfortunately, the results were inconclusive. Subsequent DNA tests on the rope used in Gregory's binding, the letters and other evidence in December 2008 also provided no definitive answers.

Further DNA examination in April 2013 on Gregory's clothing and shoes yielded inconclusive results once again. With the aid of advanced technology in 2017, investigators revisited past interviews, using software to highlight inconsistencies in statements. This led to the identification of Marcel and Jacqueline Jacob, Gregory's great-uncle and great-aunt, as a focal point.

The couple chose to exercise their right to remain silent and were released without charge. The resurgence of the investigation in 2017 prompted turmoil as Gene McKell Lambert, the magistrate responsible for the initial inquiry, tragically took his own life on July 11th of that year. In a farewell letter, he attributed his decision to the overwhelming pressure resulting from the case's reopening.

In June 2017, Muriel Bull's cousin, Patrick Favre, informed the police that Bull's family had subjected her to physical abuse in 1984 to force her to retract her testimony against Bernard Laroche. Bull refuted this claim in her 2018 book, Breaking the Silence, where she accuses Favre of lying. She asserts her innocence as well as that of Bernard Laroche, blaming the police for pressuring her to implicate him.

In 2019, Boll faced charges of aggravated defamation after a favor reported the matter to the authorities. In January 2020, the Paris Court of Appeal nullified a portion of Muriel Boll's statement, citing that her interrogation, conducted without her parents or legal representation, violated the French Constitution. The unresolved case involving the murder of four-year-old Gregory Villemin remains a mystery.

with no one held accountable for the tragic loss of the innocent child's life. A hundred years ago, there was a surge of interest in communicating with spirits, despite it being prohibited in the Judeo-Christian traditions. The rise of spiritualism in the 19th century challenged traditional beliefs about connecting with the deceased, fueled by social, technological and scientific changes of the time.

The phenomenon began with two sisters, Maggie Fox and Kate, in Hydesville, New York, in 1848, who claimed to communicate with the spirit of a murdered peddler. Their popularity led to a national tour that contributed to the spread of spiritualism in the United States and beyond. Prior to the Fox sisters uncovering messages from the beyond, telegraphs were already transmitting messages through electrical wires using Morse code.

The mysterious messages conveyed during séances were likened by experts to the spiritual version of electronic telegraphy. Jeffrey Sconce highlighted in his 2000 book Haunted Media: Electronic Presence from Telegraphy to Television how spiritualism sought to associate with electrical science to differentiate mediumship from more archaic forms of mystical beliefs. I'll link to his book in the show notes.

This scientific religion drew a swift following, expanding from its roots to Britain and later to the rest of Europe. Adherents included individuals from rural areas, urban middle classes, as well as intellectuals, scientists and aristocrats. By the 1860s, spiritualism flourished in England and France. The Frenchman, Allan Kardec, introduced a variant known as "spiritism," marked by a belief in reincarnation.

His publication, The Spirits Book, released in 1857, gained widespread readership, extending beyond France to South America and Russia by the 1870s and 1880s. During the Civil War in America, spiritualism saw a surge in popularity as the bereaved turned to séances to connect with deceased soldiers. It is estimated that the war prompted two million new followers to join the spiritualist movement.

By the 1880s, the movement had expanded to encompass 8 million followers across the United States and Europe. Although interest in spiritualism declined in the early 20th century, the twin calamities of World War I and the Spanish flu pandemic reignited public fascination with the practice. Some spiritual entities were believed to communicate through a medium known as a "spiritualist." One renowned trance medium was Lenora Piper, based in Boston.

Piper was noted for channeling various figures, from the famous, like Johann Sebastian Bach, to the lesser known, such as an enigmatic Frenchman named Dr. Finnewitt. The voices she channeled sparked significant scientific curiosity, particularly under the investigation of American psychologist William James.

Despite thorough study, James was unable to definitively determine Piper's abilities, leaving open the possibility that she could access a cosmic consciousness that potentially included spirits. Spirit photography emerged as a method to purportedly capture images of ghosts using techniques like double exposure. This form of photography provided a means to connect with departed loved ones.

Interest in the spiritual realm extended into the realm of photography, where some photographers claimed to capture spirit images alongside living subjects. One notable figure was American photographer William Mumler, credited with capturing a spirit in a photograph in the early 1860s. In a famous image, the "Ghost of Abraham Lincoln" is seen behind his wife Mary, hands resting on her shoulders.

Mumler was later accused of fraud in 1869, although he was ultimately acquitted. While the allegations tarnished his career, spirit photography remained popular for years to come. When spiritualism emerged in the late 1840s, it faced significant skepticism. In the 1850s, British scientist Michael Faraday famously discredited the practice of table turning, where spirits were believed to move or manipulate a table during gatherings.

Faraday quietly insulated the table to prevent any external influences, demonstrating that the movements were actually caused by the participants themselves, without their conscious awareness, a phenomenon known as the ideomotor response. Skeptics also revealed how mediums used manipulation techniques to deceive. Dim lighting and emotional vulnerability, particularly in times of grief, made people more susceptible to suggestion.

These strategies led Maggie Fox to confess in 1888 that the mysterious rapping sounds during her and her sister's seances were simply the result of them cracking their knuckles and joints. One of the most dramatic critics of spiritualism was Harry Houdini, the renowned American escape artist and illusionist.

Houdini's friendship with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a fervent believer in spiritualism, soured in 1920 when Lady Doyle, a medium, claimed to be channeling messages from Houdini's deceased mother. Recognizing the messages as falsifications, Houdini openly condemned spiritualism, causing a rift between him and Doyle.

In a bold move to expose spiritualist tricks, Houdini demonstrated how mediums could make bells ring under a table during a performance at the New York Hippodrome in 1925. Houdini transitioned to becoming a committed investigator, exposing fraudulent psychics and mediums. Armed with his background as a magician, he possessed a sharp understanding of their deceptive tactics, detailed in his 1924 publication "A Magician Among the Spirits."

Following Houdini's passing on October 31, 1926, his wife Bess conducted Halloween seances annually in an attempt to communicate with him. To detect impostors, she and Houdini designed a covert code before his demise for communication if his spirit could connect from the afterlife. Despite her efforts over a decade, he never made contact.

Although interest in spiritualism has significantly dwindled since the 1920s, adherents persist, with some observing yearly Halloween seances in the hope of reaching Houdini. Up next on Weird Darkness, one of Nebraska's most chilling legends involves the haunted Seven Sisters Road, where seven women met a tragic end in the 1900s.

Located just south of Nebraska City, this eerie stretch is known for paranormal occurrences, including mysterious screams, unexplained ringing bells, and stalling cars. Brave visitors have even reported seeing red-eyed creatures in the hills, adding to the road's terrifying reputation.

But first: In movies and TV shows, characters often emerge unscathed from being buried alive. But in reality, this ordeal can result in severe physical and psychological trauma. Survivors may need extensive therapy to regain basic functions like walking and speaking due to oxygen deprivation.

We'll look at the chilling, true horrors of live burials with first-hand accounts that reveal the terrifying reality behind a fate worse than death, up next. Hold the kaleidoscope to your eye. Peer inside. One twist changes everything. A woman awakens in a grotesque, human-sized arcade game.

A mysterious cigar box purchased at a farmer's market releases an ancient djinn who demands a replacement prisoner. An elderly woman possesses the terrifying power to inflict pain through handmade dolls. An exclusive restaurant's sinister secret menu includes murder-for-hire and harvested organs.

With each turn through these 20 tales, Reddit NoSleep favorite AP Royal reshapes reality, creating dazzling patterns of horror that entrance as they terrify. The Kaleidoscope, 20 Terrifying Tales of Horror and the Supernatural by AP Royal, narrated by Darren Marlar. Hear a free sample on the audiobook's page at WeirdDarkness.com.

In movies and TV shows, characters are often shown being buried alive without major consequences. However, in reality, surviving being buried alive is extremely rare and can result in significant physical and mental damage. Some survivors require extensive physical therapy to regain the ability to walk, while others may suffer from speech difficulties due to lack of oxygen during their ordeal.

Hearing first-hand accounts from survivors can provide insight into the terrifying experience of being buried alive. It's worth noting that in such situations, the initial response is likely to be a severe panic attack, which can rapidly deplete the limited air supply in a coffin, typically around 800 liters. Therefore, mastering controlled breathing techniques could prove indispensable in such unimaginable circumstances.

Upon waking up in a coffin and realizing that you're likely facing death in a confined space, your natural instincts for self-preservation kick into overdrive. However, engaging in kicking, punching or a combination of the two is a very bad idea, not only because it wastes precious air but also because you risk overexerting your muscles, leading to faster exhaustion compared to staying calm.

If you find yourself buried alive, there's a mix of both positive and negative outcomes. The upside is that your eyes will eventually adapt to see in the darkness. Conversely, the downside is that this adjustment occurs due to being trapped underground for an extended period, leaving your body with no choice but to adapt. In 2005, three Pakistani boys were trapped underground following an earthquake in their nearby town.

Once rescued, the boys needed protection from sunlight as their eyes had become accustomed to the dark environment. In 2008, a Chinese builder was accidentally buried alive while working in a ditch in Ningbo City. He survived by controlling his breathing but noted the intense heat after being rescued. He expressed concerns about the rising temperatures, considering that one's normal body temperature of 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit would undoubtedly escalate during a situation like premature burial.

One of the major hurdles faced by the Chilean miners who were trapped underground for 689 days was dehydration. During their time underground, they had to carefully ration 10 bottles of clean water among 25 men, resorting to sparingly drinking from contaminated water used to cool their machinery. Being in such a situation highlights the urgent need to secure a water source within a week, ideally sooner, when trapped underground for an extended period.

Without access to water, dehydration is likely to be the cause of death before oxygen depletion. There are instances where one may feel as if they are in an extremely humid environment, such as a crowded club or a basement show where everyone's perspiration collectively adds to the moisture in the air. This peculiar yet universal occurrence can even happen in dire situations like being trapped inside a coffin, desperately yearning for escape.

Remember these words of caution: "Avoid skiing," "Stay indoors," and "Refrain from experiencing the wonders of the natural world." No? Well, Ultimate Ski explains the limited options available in the event of being buried under an avalanche. Contrary to portrayals in the media, the only way to survive being buried in the snow are to be rescued by someone or to patiently wait for the snow to thaw.

Certainly, by the time you're buried alive, significant time will have passed. However, the good news is that recent statistics indicate that 92% of fully buried individuals can be revived if rescued within the initial 15 minutes.

The duration you have before succumbing after being buried alive hinges on the amount of air at your disposal. Thankfully, popular science has calculated this. In a standard coffin, you have 820 liters of air available until you deplete it and fill your enclosure with carbon dioxide. By breathing shallowly, you might manage approximately five and a half hours inside a coffin.

Even if you successfully retain your breath long enough to break free from the coffin, the harsh reality awaits outside. Chances are high that your grave has been covered by six feet of dense soil that restricts your chest from expanding when the pressure weighs down on you. Moreover, as you strive to emerge from beneath the soil, your ribs are likely to be crushed in the process,

The following situation might seem unpleasant. Imagine managing to pry open the lid of your coffin, bringing you one step closer to freedom. The next challenge in this daunting scenario is confronting six feet of tightly packed dirt, which not only presses down on your chest but also fills your mouth and nostrils with soil, cutting off your airflow and potentially leaving you with a taste of cemetery dirt as your final sensation.

According to Anthony Britton, a man who voluntarily buried himself alive, "It's pitch black and the dampness is overwhelming. The soil is up your nose, in your mouth, in your eyes." In his attempt to recreate one of Harry Houdini's famous escapes, Anthony Britton, the escapologist, was surprised to find the experience "very uncomfortable."

At one point during his experiment he realized that the soil's density had trapped him in a position that could have been his final resting place. He said, "I think the soil shifted or something, and I got my right arm trapped. It was trapped between my body and the actual soil itself, so at that point it was 'crikey, I can't move my right arm.'"

Rest assured, if you find yourself buried alive, you'll not be conscious throughout the ordeal. In the event of premature burial in a coffin or sealed room, the accumulation of carbon dioxide from your exhalations will eventually fill the space and gently lull you into sleep, akin to the effects of sitting in a vehicle with a garden hose attached to the exhaust pipe - something else that is not recommended. Over time, your lungs will become filled with carbon dioxide, leading you to eternal slumber.

Despite having good air and moderately drinkable water, the potential threat to the Chilean miners stemmed from the absence of a restroom. Due to space constraints, the miners resorted to using a seldom-visited area as their makeshift toilet. However, even with this precaution, the large number of miners in the confined space increased the risks of dysentery and erectile tenuousness.

If trapped under debris for an extended period, rescue efforts could prove more fatal than the initial entrapment. As per Dr. Tejri Shah of Medicines Sens Fronteras, prolonged compression of a body results in sudden release of pressure, causing a surge of toxins from muscle breakdown that can be deadly. This leads to kidney injuries and shock, causing excruciating pain and posing a significant risk of renal failure without immediate medical intervention.

Instances of "crush syndrome" are exceedingly uncommon, as most individuals do not survive the two-week threshold required for sufficient tissue damage to trigger its onset. In the 18th and 19th centuries, it was often challenging to confirm if someone had died, leading to numerous cases of individuals being buried alive.

Many of these unfortunate premature burials resulted in individuals descending into madness and desperately banging their heads against the coffin lid in a desperate attempt to either end their suffering or break free from the coffin. Regardless of the course of action, it was an unbearable predicament to endure. Even if one were buried in a shallow grave and managed to dig themselves out, the situation remained dire.

A woman in England buried alive by her boyfriend in July 2016 miraculously escaped but spent the following 14 days in a medically induced coma. Her injuries were so profound that she required a cane for mobility in the foreseeable future. Having survived the harrowing ordeal of being buried alive, whether in a coffin, a mine or under sand, one could expect to grapple with years of post-traumatic stress

Reflecting on the experiences of the Chilean miners, journalist Jonathan Franklin noted, "Psychologically, many miners would assert, 'I'm returning to mining. I'm tough. I'm a miner.' However, one recalled lasting only two minutes underground before feeling such intense fear that he became dizzy and fled the mine. Another miner, upon gazing at the mine's entrance, found himself in tears."

One of the eerie legends originating from Nebraska involves supernatural beings, with one particularly chilling account being the tale of Nebraska's haunted Seven Sisters Road. As the story goes, seven women met their untimely demise on this road during the 1900s. Since then, the area has been rumored to be a hotspot for paranormal occurrences.

Situated just a few miles south of Nebraska City and known as L Street on maps, visitors are reported hearing mysterious screams, bells ringing without explanation, and cars inexplicably stalling. Some brave souls claim to have seen terrifying sights, such as red-eyed creatures gazing at them from the hills. If you're feeling courageous while in the vicinity, consider taking a drive through the haunted hills of Nebraska to witness the unexplained for yourself.

The name "Seven Sisters" originates from a ghastly urban legend that has different variations depending on the source, but the horrifying core remains consistent. In the 1900s, as the tale goes, a young man lived with his parents and seven sisters up in the hills. One fateful day, after a heated argument with his family, he carried out a heinous act.

Waiting in the woods until his parents were away, he seized his sisters, leading each to a separate tree in the nearby hills where he barbarically ended their lives by hanging them. Since that tragic day, the hills have been said to be haunted by the restless spirits of these unfortunate women. One version of the story presents even grislier details.

In this rendition, the man's rage stemmed from the government's insistence on allowing steamboats to cross his flooded land following the Missouri River overflow. Despite his objections, his seven sisters advocated for the passage of the boats. Supposedly, tensions escalated to a breaking point, leading him to poison his sisters during a fateful dinner. Subsequently, he systematically carried their lifeless bodies to the Seven Hills and publicly displayed them, shocking the town.

Notably, one sister was pregnant at the time of her tragic demise. The brother went as far as to extract the unborn child from her womb. Years later, Seven Sisters Road was constructed through the hills where the gruesome events transpired. Allegedly, the trees bearing the sisters' morbid display were cut down. Following the road's opening, reports of supernatural phenomena emerged, hinting at disturbances linked to the heinous crimes.

Numerous unsettling tales and first-hand encounters have emerged surrounding the Seven Sisters' hills across time. Many visitors claim to hear blood-curdling screams resonating from the hills, resembling the distressing cries of young women, potentially echoing the tortured souls of the hanged sisters yearning for solace. Interestingly, vehicles traversing Seven Sisters Road appear to be unusually prone to paranormal phenomena,

Some drivers recount their cars inexplicably stalling along the road, while others describe their headlights flickering only to stabilize once they exit the eerie vicinity. Many individuals visiting Seven Sisters Road report hearing the unsettling sound of bells tolling. The source of this mysterious sound is believed to be an old cemetery, persisting for up to 30 minutes without any clear explanation. One resident from Nebraska shared a chilling encounter

On a foggy morning, while hunting in the hills, he spotted a figure gazing at him with crimson eyes from a distance. Suddenly, the figure leaped over a nearby terrace and swiftly disappeared. Another tale recounts a couple driving through the halls at night when their vehicle inexplicably broke down. Despite finding no issues with the engine, they were soon enveloped by horrifying screams echoing from the hills.

After the eerie noises ceased, their car miraculously restarted, prompting them to speed away. During a journey through Nebraska City, a traveler learned about the legends surrounding Seven Sisters Road at a local diner. Intrigued, he decided to venture to the hills himself. As he turned on the radio, the song "This Is The End" by The Doors was playing, giving him an unsettling feeling that led him to promptly turn back.

Presently, only four of the seven hills that were once prominent remain visible along Seven Sisters Road. However, the haunting presence of the ghosts lingering there appears to be as strong as ever. Thanks for listening! If you like what you heard, be sure to subscribe so you don't miss future episodes!

All stories used in Weird Darkness are purported to be true unless stated otherwise, and you can find links to the authors, stories, and sources I used in the episode description as well as on the website at WeirdDarkness.com. Weird Darkness is a registered trademark. Copyright Weird Darkness. And now that we're coming out of the dark, I'll leave you with a little light. Joshua 1 verse 9...

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged. For the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. And a final thought. We have very little, so we have nothing to be preoccupied with. The more you have, the more you are occupied, the less you give. But the less you have, the more free you are. Mother Teresa, I'm Darren Marlar. Thanks for joining me in the Weird Darkness.

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