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Right now, as you sit safely in your home, something is watching from above. The sky has become a hunting ground. Objects that shouldn't exist are plummeting from empty air. A desperate man falls screaming from 30,000 feet, but his identity doesn't exist. Police officers are being hunted by living clouds of death.
In Spain, an elderly man opens his van and unleashes hell itself. Hundreds of stinging weapons swarm toward their helpless targets. Beneath the surface of America's most beautiful lakes, something is waiting. In Yorkshire, a babbling brook that looks innocent enough to step across has never released a single victim alive. The Bolton Strid maintains a perfect record of death.
Lake Lanier's drowned ghost town claims 700 souls, and in Greece, a cave swallows explorers whole, leaving only their screams echoing through tunnels that lead to nowhere. Nature has turned against us. The question isn't whether you're safe, it's whether you're next. I'm Darren Marlar and this is Weird Darkness.
Welcome, Weirdos! 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...
In the English countryside, a narrow stream masquerades as a harmless babbling brook while concealing underwater caverns that drag victims into stone chambers with no escape. And the water is always hungry for more. Something has turned the world's bees into merciless predators that single out law enforcement, swarming officers until they collapse bleeding and swollen, and the attackers are spreading faster than authorities can contain them.
Beneath the mirror-like surfaces of many seemingly peaceful American lakes lurk the vengeful spirits of the drowned, waiting to drag unsuspecting swimmers into their watery graves. Deep beneath the Greek mountainside, electronics die without warning, water defies gravity, and those who venture too far into the darkness of Dovelli's cave are never seen again.
Something sinister lurks in the empty sky above, dropping frozen corpses, inexplicable ice daggers and paralyzed creatures onto an unsuspecting world below, and the frequency is increasing. Tonight we're looking at the unexplained and paranormal within nature itself. Now, bolt your doors, lock your windows, turn off your lights, and come with me into the Weird Darkness.
The sky above has always held mysteries that challenge human understanding. While rain, snow and hail are expected visitors from the clouds, there exists a darker catalogue of atmospheric arrivals that defy explanation. These are the stories of objects, creatures and substances that have plummeted from seemingly empty skies, leaving witnesses stunned and scientists scrambling for answers.
The phenomenon spans continents and centuries, creating a tapestry of the unexplained that continues to grow with each passing year. Perhaps no story illustrates the dangerous mystery of falling objects more tragically than the case of the unknown stowaway who fell from a Kenya Airways flight in June 2019.
The man's body crashed into a London garden after what investigators believe was a desperate attempt to hide in the aircraft's landing gear compartment during the flight from Nairobi to Heathrow Airport. The investigation that followed revealed troubling questions about airport security and the identity of the victim.
British authorities created a composite sketch of the man, but his fingerprints matched no records in Kenya's database, despite the fact that all Kenyan citizens over 18 must be fingerprinted for identification cards. The case became further complicated when a Sky News investigation claimed to identify the victim as Paul Menyasi, an airport cleaning worker.
However, Kenyan prison authorities disputed this, stating the man in the photos was actually Cedric Chavonja Isaac, who was alive and in custody for an unrelated crime. The incident exposed serious security gaps at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, where someone had managed to bypass three layers of security to reach the aircraft.
Aviation experts questioned whether proper pre-flight inspections had been conducted, as standard procedures should have detected any stowaways before takeoff. The mystery of the man's true identity remains unsolved, leaving investigators with more questions than answers about how he accessed the security areas and who he really was. The Animal Kingdom has provided some of the most startling examples of unexpected aerial deliveries.
In Charleston, South Carolina, a fierce storm in 1843 lifted an alligator from its natural habitat and deposited the confused reptile at the corner of Wetmurth and Anson Streets. Witnesses described the creature as "having a look of wonder and bewilderment" after its involuntary journey through the sky, though it suffered no lasting damage from the experience.
More recently, Florida experienced its own version of animal rain when temperatures dropped below 40 degrees Fahrenheit in January 2018. Frozen iguanas began falling from trees across South Florida as the cold-blooded reptiles entered a state of torpor. The creatures became paralyzed by the unusual cold, losing their grip on branches and plummeting to the ground below.
Most of the iguanas were not actually dead, but simply immobilized by the temperature, slowly returning to normal activity as the weather warmed. Even more remarkable was the story of Wendilagong, a five-week-old dingo pup who made international headlines after being snatched by a wedge-tailed eagle and dropped into a backyard in Victoria, Australia,
The pup survived the fall with only minor injuries and was later discovered to be a 100% pure albino dingo, a finding that provided crucial evidence for the continued existence of purebred dingoes on Australia's east coast. His survival and subsequent discovery at a dingo sanctuary has made him a symbol of conservation efforts for the threatened species.
Among the most puzzling atmospheric phenomena are megacryometeors, massive chunks of ice that fall from seemingly clear skies. These objects differ significantly from regular hail, both in their enormous size and their tendency to appear during calm weather conditions.
Researcher Jesus Martinez-Frias from Madrid, Spain, coined the term after investigating a series of ice meteors that began with a 4.5-pound object crashing through a car windshield in the city of Ticino. Over the past several decades, more than 50 such objects have been recorded worldwide.
Some weigh as little as one pound, while others have reached staggering proportions. A monstrous ice mass weighing approximately 400 pounds crashed through the roof of a Mercedes-Benz factory in Brazil, while another weighing over 200 pounds created a three-foot-deep crater when it struck the ground in Oakland, California.
Laboratory analysis of these ice chunks has revealed compositions remarkably similar to hail, containing air bubbles, onion-like layering and traces of ammonia and silica. However, their formation remains a mystery. While some scientists suggest they originate from aircraft, possibly rainwater that freezes on fuselages during flight, others point to unusual atmospheric conditions.
Martinez-Frias and his team observed peculiar weather patterns during some incidents, including lower than normal ozone levels, warmer tropospheres, colder stratospheres, increased humidity in the lower stratosphere, and strong wind shear in the upper atmosphere. The frequency of these events appear to be increasing, leading some researchers to speculate about connections to changing global weather patterns.
What makes these icefalls particularly disturbing is their unpredictability and the potential for serious injury or property damage when they strike populated areas. Not all falling objects bring fear or confusion. Sometimes the sky delivers unexpected treasures. In March 2018, a cargo plane departing from Yakutsk, Russia experienced a mechanical failure that resulted in a golden windfall for the surrounding area.
The aircraft was carrying $368 million worth of gold, platinum and diamonds when wind tore off part of its cargo hatch during takeoff. Precious metal ingots scattered across the airport runway and continued falling along the flight path as the plane made an emergency landing at nearby Megan Airport. The cause of the incident sparked investigation, with officials questioning whether the maintenance crew had properly secured the cargo before departure.
While most of the spilled treasure was eventually recovered, the incident highlighted the dangers of improperly secured cargo and the bizarre nature of what can fall from aircraft under unusual circumstances. In Hong Kong's Sham Shui Po district, residents experienced a different kind of windfall in December 2018 when cash began raining from a building rooftop.
Hundreds of 100 Hong Kong dollar bills fell from the sky, creating a chaotic scene as crowds gathered to collect the money. The stunt was orchestrated by Wong Ching Kit, known as "Coin Young Master," who promoted cryptocurrency investments and claimed he was donating money to help the poor in the neighborhood. Police arrested Wong shortly after he appeared at the scene to distribute additional funds.
Some of the most disturbing skyfalls involve biological matter that challenges explanation. In Harrison Township, Michigan, residents reported a mysterious black, oily substance coating their homes and vehicles. Initial fears about industrial contamination or unknown pollutants were eventually put to rest when the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality identified the material through microscopic examination.
the substance was revealed to be bird droppings, though the sheer quantity required an astronomical number of birds to produce such widespread coverage. The incident raised questions about bird migration patterns and the conditions that might cause such an enormous accumulation of waste to fall in a concentrated area.
Researchers found traces of leaves, seeds, and fruit skins mixed with the droppings, suggesting the birds had been feeding heavily before releasing their waste load simultaneously. Contemporary incidents continue to add to the catalog of unexplained falling objects. In January 2025, residents across Wisconsin, Michigan, and Illinois witnessed a spectacular fireball streaking across the night sky.
The brilliant display was caused by a SpaceX Starlink satellite burning up as it re-entered Earth's atmosphere. Starlink-5693 had been slowly falling from orbit since December and created a stunning visual spectacle as it disintegrated. While satellite re-entries are becoming more common as space traffic increases, they still create alarm among witnesses unfamiliar with the phenomenon.
SpaceX currently operates approximately 6,900 Starlink satellites, with four to five retiring and burning up in the atmosphere daily. The company designs these satellites to last about five years, using electric thrusters to lower themselves for controlled atmospheric reentry. Even more unusual was the report of a hammerhead shark falling from the sky in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Witnesses watched in amazement as a bird of prey, likely a large raptor, dropped the shark after apparently struggling with its weight. The incident highlighted the incredible strength of certain birds and their ability to lift surprisingly large prey, though the shark proved too heavy for sustained flight. The sky continues to deliver its impossible gifts, each incident adding another layer to the mystery of what can fall from above.
The atmosphere continues to deliver incidents that span from fatal accidents to remarkable biological events, from spilled cargo to unexplained matter. While researchers propose explanations involving weather systems, mechanical failures, and animal migration patterns, definitive answers prove elusive for many cases. Increased global connectivity and surveillance technology will likely capture more of these events.
Yet documentation alone cannot resolve the fundamental questions about atmospheric ice formation during clear weather, the mechanics of animal transport by storm systems, or the precise conditions that create concentrated biological matter falls. Each recorded incident adds data without necessarily bringing clarity to the underlying mechanisms that govern what falls from our skies.
Up next, police officers across the globe are being hunted by living clouds of stinging death that follow them into cars, restaurants, and hospitals. While twisted individuals deliberately unleash these winged nightmares as biological weapons, somehow bees are being turned into weapons.
Plus, a babbling brook in Yorkshire looks innocent enough to step across, but beneath its deceptive surface lies a watery maze of death that has never released a single victim alive. And it's still hunting.
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What's up, guys? It's Priscilla. Let's be real. Summer in Arizona, less hanging out outside and more don't touch the steering wheel so you don't bring your hands. And with prices going up on almost everything, it's really easy to feel like summer is just too expensive and too hot to have fun. But Sam's Club is changing that. They're freezing the club through July 22nd, holding prices on over a thousand items like sunscreen, trash bags, ice cream. Honestly, joining Sam's Club is a no-brainer. If you're going to sweat through the summer, at least start
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The 70-year-old beekeeper behind the wheel immediately said a hostile tone, greeting the officers with the chilling words, "I should have run you over." When officers detected the smell of alcohol and asked him to take a breathalyzer test, the man's rage escalated. The first test showed he was over the legal limit.
but when officers requested a second test to confirm the reading, the elderly man snapped. "Now I'm going to kill you!" the beekeeper shouted before marching to the back of his van. He threw open the doors and unleashed hundreds of angry bees directly at the two officers. The insects immediately swarmed the unsuspecting police, who had no protective gear against such an unusual assault.
The officers fled toward a nearby restaurant, desperately seeking shelter from the relentless attack. Even the restaurant customers tried to help treat the numerous stings covering their bodies. Despite their efforts to escape, both officers required medical treatment at a health center for multiple bee stings. The stress and pain from the attack left them shaken and injured.
Thousands of miles away, in Encino, California, another police officer faced a similar nightmare, but this time it was caught on live television. Gary Nobbenbauer, a 71-year-old volunteer with the Los Angeles Police Department who had served for 18 years, was directing traffic when a swarm of bees suddenly turned on him during a May 2023 response call.
"I started getting stung in the face," Nobbenbauer recalled. "It went right for the face, and it was like a cloud. They were everywhere." Television news helicopters captured the horrifying moment as Nobbenbauer flailed desperately, trying to swat away the aggressive insects. The bees continued their relentless assault as he stumbled and fell to the ground, striking his head on the pavement.
The volunteer officer wanted to retreat to his patrol car but hesitated, thinking, "If I open this car door, all the bees are going to come zipping in and we could be in an enclosed area, so then my partner would start getting stung." Fire department officials estimated that Nobbenbauer suffered between 50 to 100 stings, though he believed it felt like many more. The attack left him with a fractured eye socket that required surgery and five days of hospital recovery.
When he finally saw his reflection in the hospital mirror, the veteran volunteer was shocked by his swollen, damaged face. In a disturbing case from Longmeadow, Massachusetts, authorities faced a different kind of bee attack - one that was completely intentional. Rory Woods, a 55-year-old professional beekeeper, arrived at a home where deputies were serving an eviction notice in October 2022. She drove up towing a stack of manufactured beehives with her SUV,
Woods immediately began trying to open the lids of her hives to release the bees. When a deputy attempted to stop her, she smashed the lid of one hive and flipped it off her flatbed truck, deliberately agitating the insects inside. The angry bees swarmed the area, stinging several officers and innocent bystanders nearby.
One deputy required hospitalization for treatment. Meanwhile, Woods put on her professional beekeeper suit to protect herself while she carried a tower of bees toward the front door of the home, attempting to stop the eviction through her insect assault. Deputies eventually arrested her, with the sheriff condemning her dangerous tactics. In February 2020, firefighters and police in California responded to a seemed like a simple bee sting report.
Instead, they found themselves under assault by a swarm of nearly 40,000 Africanized bees. Three first responders were rushed to the hospital while others quickly shut down an entire city block. The massive swarm had grown far beyond normal size, creating a dangerous situation that overwhelmed the emergency workers who came to help. The incident demonstrated how quickly bee encounters can spiral out of control even for trained professionals.
Not all bee attacks on those in public service end with medical treatment and recovery. In April 2025, Steve Daniels, a 66-year-old man, was mowing his lawn near an abandoned building in Eastland, Texas, when he disturbed a massive beehive. A swarm of approximately 22,000 bees followed him into his car as he tried to escape, causing him to crash his vehicle.
When police officers arrived at the scene, they found Daniels still being swarmed by bees inside his truck. The responding officer reported that Daniels seemed out of it, had labored breathing, and was slurring with multiple bee stingers embedded into Daniels' skin as his face began to swell. Officers quickly evacuated Daniels from his vehicle to the safety of a patrol car, but the damage had already been done.
He became unresponsive and stopped breathing during transport to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead from circulatory collapse due to bee stings. Politics and bees collided in a shocking incident in Colombia during a June 2018 campaign rally. Former President Alvaro Uribe was promoting a political candidate in the hamlet of El Paso, Cesar, when a swarm of Africanized bees attacked the gathering.
60 people were injured, with 15 requiring hospitalization for serious consequences from the stings. The local health office collapsed under the flood of victims seeking medical assistance. Uribe took to social media, pleading for medical supplies: "Please, in the hospital of Leloma, we need hydrocortisone, adrenaline and tavagyl." Some suspected sabotage, with one local official claiming "keeses of bees were thrown at the meeting."
However, authorities also considered that the two helicopters landing in the normally quiet hamlet may have agitated the native bee population. These attacks represent a growing pattern of encounters between law enforcement and aggressive bee populations. Africanized honeybees, accidentally released in Brazil in 1957, have spread throughout the Americas, reaching as far as Southern California and as far south as Northern Argentina,
These hybridized insects are known for their extremely defensive behavior and tendency to attack in large numbers. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, bee attacks are statistically more dangerous than encounters with massive predators like tigers and sharks. Between 2000 and 2017, approximately 1,109 people in the United States died from bee, wasp, or hornet stings, an average of 62 fatalities annually.
The cases of intentional bee attacks, like those in Spain and Massachusetts, represent a disturbing trend where individuals use insects as weapons against law enforcement. These cases reveal a gap in law enforcement training when it comes to unexpected biological threats. Officers accustomed to dealing with human conflict often find themselves unprepared for the chaos caused by swarms of aggressive insects. The psychological toll can be significant.
Some officers report ongoing distress from the experience, not just from the pain, but from the inability to respond effectively while under attack. These encounters, whether triggered by chance or design, introduce a level of unpredictability that standard police preparation rarely considers. Experts in beekeeping and insect behavior caution that as bee populations grow and spread into new areas, interactions with emergency personnel are likely to become more common.
The incidents described here illustrate how even small organisms can disrupt and endanger public safety in ways that are difficult to anticipate. The River Wharf winds peacefully through the Yorkshire countryside for 65 miles, passing charming villages and ancient stone bridges. For most of its journey, this gentle waterway flows about 30 feet wide and only a few feet deep, perfect for a quiet afternoon picnic or romantic walk.
But near the ruins of Bolton Abbey, something changes. The river suddenly narrows from 30 feet wide to just 6 feet across, creating what locals call the Bolton Strid. What makes this transformation so deadly is not just the narrowing, but what happens to all water when it gets squeezed into such a tight space.
Instead of flowing wider and shallow like a normal river, the strid flips the water on its side. All the width becomes depth, creating a churning column of water that plunges down over 200 feet into the limestone bedrock below. The true horror of the Bolton Strid lies in what cannot be seen from the surface.
As the river wharf carved this narrow channel over vast spans of time, it hollowed out a maze of underwater caves and tunnels in the soft limestone rock. These hidden chambers create powerful underwater currents that pull in different directions, forming what experts call a drowning machine. Professor Carolyn Roberts from Gresham College explains that the churning water creates vortices that trap anything that falls in.
The turbulence knocks victims unconscious almost immediately, while the powerful currents pin them against the rocky walls or drag them deep into the underwater cave system. The water moves so violently that even experienced divers with full equipment would struggle to survive.
YouTuber Jackasnax used sonar equipment to measure the depth and discovered the strid drops at least 213 feet down, equivalent to stacking 15 double-decker buses on top of each other. But even this measurement might not show the full depth, as the powerful currents made accurate readings nearly impossible. The most famous victim of the Bolton strid was William de Romilly, known as "The Boy of Egremont."
In 1154, the young nobleman went hunting in the woods near the river with his greyhound. According to legend, William decided to leap across the narrowest part of the strid, perhaps thinking it would be an easy jump since the gap looked so small. His greyhound, showing more wisdom than its master, refused to make the jump and hung back on its leash. This sudden resistance threw William off balance and he tumbled into the churning water below.
Despite searches, his body was never recovered. William's mother, Lady Alastair Romilly, was so devastated by her son's death that she donated the surrounding land to Augustinian monks. These monks built Bolton Abbey on the site, where they could pray for William's soul. Centuries later, the famous poet William Wordsworth wrote about this tragedy in his poem "The Force of Prayer," preserving the story in verse.
The strids' appetite for human life did not end in medieval times. In 1998, Barry and Lynn Collett were enjoying the second day of their honeymoon when they decided to take a romantic walk along the River Wharf. Heavy rains from the previous night had caused water levels to rise dramatically, up to five feet in less than a minute. The sudden flash flood caught the newlyweds unprepared and swept them into the deadly waters.
A hiker named Desmond Thomas witnessed the horror, later reporting that he saw Barry's face briefly emerge from the churning water before disappearing again. Lynn's body was found six days later, ten miles downstream. Barry's remains were not recovered until over a month had passed. An investigation found no evidence of foul play or suicide. The couple had simply been in the wrong place when nature unleashed its fury.
The coroner concluded they were victims of the strid's unpredictable and merciless currents. Perhaps the most heartbreaking incident occurred on June 5th, 2010, when eight-year-old Aaron Page was celebrating his birthday with family near the Bolton Bridge. Aaron and his 13-year-old brother Josh were playing on stepping stones that crossed a calmer section of the river. Unaware of the danger lurking downstream, Aaron lost his footing on the slippery rocks and fell into the water.
The current immediately began carrying him toward the strid. Emergency services rushed to the scene, and a firefighter positioned himself at the mouth of the deadly channel. As Aaron floated closer, the firefighter managed to grab the boy's hand. For a moment, it seemed like a rescue was possible, but the strid's powerful currents proved stronger than the human grip. Aaron was torn from the firefighter's grasp and pulled beneath the surface.
His body was recovered three hours later. His brother Josh later said he had no idea the water was so deep or dangerous. The Bolton Strid has inspired countless ghost stories and legends over vast periods of time. Local folklore tells of a spectral white horse that rises from the churning waters whenever the strid claims another victim. Some versions say this ghostly steed is ridden by the Queen of the Fairies.
One legend speaks of three sisters from the nearby Beamsley Hall who went to the strid hoping to catch a glimpse of this supernatural horse. The sisters were never seen again, adding their names to the strid's long list of victims. Another tale tells of two young lovers who tried to elope by crossing the river at its narrowest point. The girl fell in first, and her boyfriend jumped in to save her.
Both were swallowed by the deadly waters, and some claim their ghosts can still be seen walking hand in hand along the riverbank. American author Gertrude Atherton wrote a chilling short story called "The Striding Place" in 1896, set at the Bolton Strid. The story was initially rejected by publishers who considered it far too gruesome for their readers. Atherton herself believed it was the finest thing she had ever written.
What makes the Bolton's Trid so deadly is also what makes it so deceptive. From above, it looks like nothing more than a babbling brook that could easily be stepped across. The moss-covered rocks and peaceful forest setting give no hint of the violence lurking beneath the surface.
The narrow gap between the rocks creates an optical illusion. What appears to be a simple stream is actually a vertical river turned on its side. The banks that look so close together are actually deeply undercut, hiding the true width of the water flowing beneath them.
Tom Scott, a popular YouTuber who visited the site, described the strid's deadly appeal, saying, "Generally you could see dangerous waterways coming, but this is just an innocent-looking stream in the middle of the woods. You could jump over it. People occasionally do. But if you miss that jump, it'll kill you." Local residents and researchers believe the Bolton strid maintains a perfect record: not a single person who has fallen into its waters has ever survived.
While this claim cannot be verified with absolute certainty, documented cases support this grim statistic. The combination of powerful currents, underwater caves and crushing turbulence creates conditions that even trained rescue divers would find nearly impossible to survive. Bodies that are recovered often show evidence of being battered against the rocky walls of the underwater chambers.
Many victims are never found at all, presumably trapped forever in the maze of underwater tunnels carved into the limestone bedrock. The strid keeps its secrets well, holding onto its victims in the darkness below. Despite warning signs posted around the area, the Bolton Strid continues to attract curious visitors.
The combination of its innocent appearance and deadly reputation draws photographers, thrill-seekers, and tourists who want to see this natural phenomenon for themselves. Local authorities have increased safety measures over the years, installing better fencing and more visible warning signs.
But the Strid's fundamental danger remains unchanged: a powerful river, compressed into an impossibly narrow channel, creating one of the most deceptive death traps in the natural world. The River Wharf continues its ancient journey through the Yorkshire countryside, carrying its deadly secret through England's countryside. For those who know its history, the innocent babbling of the Bolton Strid
carries the echoes of all those who vanished beneath its surface. When Weird Darkness returns, the tranquil surfaces of America's most beautiful lakes conceal dark secrets of drowning spirits, cursed waters, and restless souls who claim new victims from beneath the depths.
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What's up, guys? It's Priscilla. Let's be real. Summer in Arizona, less hanging out outside and more don't touch the steering wheel so you don't bring your hands. And with prices going up on almost everything, it's really easy to feel like summer is just too expensive and too hot to have fun. But Sam's Club is changing that. They're freezing the club through July 22nd, holding prices on over a thousand items like sunscreen, trash bags, ice cream. Honestly, joining Sam's Club is a no-brainer. If you're going to sweat through the summer, at least start
Save money doing it. Go join now at samsclub.com slash freeze the club. Something new is happening at Cox. Now the price of your Cox internet and mobile plan won't go up for three years and Wi-Fi equipment is included. So no frustrating price changes, just a lot more of what you want, like a pizza with extra pineapple. Yikes. Okay, let's stick with something everyone wants. No price changes on your plan. Guaranteed.
Learn more at Cox.com slash value. Must have at least 500 megabits per second speeds and Cox Unlimited mobile taxes and fees excluded from price guarantee. Mobile data speeds reduced after 20 gigs usage per month. The next time you stand at the edge of a pristine lake, watching sunlight dance across its peaceful surface, remember that beauty often masks horror.
Across America, some of the most stunning bodies of water harbor secrets that would make even the bravest souls think twice before dipping a toe in their depths. These are not ordinary lakes. They are graveyards where the dead refuse to rest, cursed waters where ancient spirits hunt for new victims, and liquid tombs that have claimed hundreds of lives through drowning, murder, and mysterious disappearances.
From the sunken ghost town beneath Georgia's Lake Lanier to the phantom ships that sail Wisconsin's Lake Superior, these haunted waters prove that some places are forever stained by tragedy. The spirits dwelling in these lakes don't just remember their deaths. They actively seek to add others to their watery ranks, making every swim a potential encounter with forces beyond the living world.
In 1956, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed construction of Lake Lanier in Georgia. The project aimed to prevent flooding from the Chattahoochee River and supply power to remote areas. However, this engineering achievement came with a devastating human cost that continues to cast shadows over the lake today. Beneath Lake Lanier's calm surface lies the drowned town of Oscarville.
Before the lake's creation, Oscarville thrived as a community of black-owned businesses and properties. The lake's construction destroyed more than 50,000 acres of land, including several cemeteries, and forced at least 250 families from their homes. Divers report that many of the town's buildings remain intact on the lake bottom, creating an underwater ghost town. The area's tragic history extends beyond the town's destruction.
The land witnessed numerous acts of violence against black citizens, many falsely accused of crimes they never committed. Since the lake's completion, more than 700 deaths have occurred in its waters. Many drownings result from boats becoming entangled in the submerged buildings below. This death toll ranks Lake Lanier among the deadliest lakes in the United States.
Witnesses report seeing shadowy figures along the shoreline. The most frequent described apparition is a young woman wearing a blue dress, missing her hands, who screams near the water's edge. Local residents believe she represents the spirit of a woman who died in a car crash into the lake shortly after its construction. Lake Superior in Wisconsin has earned the chilling nickname "The Graveyard of the Great Lakes" through centuries of maritime disasters and unexplained disappearances.
The lake's most famous ghost ship is the SS Bannockburn, which vanished without explanation in 1902. Despite extensive searches, investigators never found wreckage or bodies. The SS Hudson met a similar fate in 1901, sinking with its entire crew. People claim to see the Hudson on the anniversary of its sinking, with witnesses reporting conversations with crew members' spirits who say they must relive their deaths each year.
The lake's enormous size has made it an ideal location for hiding bodies and concealing crimes over the decades. Murders on the shores and islands have generated numerous reports of ghostly figures and strange sounds echoing across the water. Lake Ronkonkoma in Suffolk County, New York formed when glaciers retreated, creating an irregularly shaped body of water reaching depths of 90 feet in some areas.
Since the mid-1800s, approximately 200 drownings have occurred in the lake. With no clear explanation for the unusually high fatality rate, local legend traces the deaths to a curse from the 1600s involving a Setauket Indian princess named Tuscawanta. According to the story, Princess Tuscawanta fell in love with an English settler. When her father forbade the relationship, she rode to the lake's center and stabbed herself in the heart.
Legend claims her spirit now drags young men underwater, attempting to replace her lost love. Most drowning victims have indeed been men, and some bodies have taken years to recover. Veterans Lake holds the reputation as Oklahoma's most haunted body of water. Local legend describes the lake as possessed by the spirit of a woman who drowned while trying to save her child.
The story states that this spirit pulls anyone who enters the water after dark beneath the surface to drown them. Visitors report hearing and seeing the apparition of a woman calling for help. A young girl's mysterious drowning in a boating accident several years ago reinforced local beliefs about the lake's supernatural dangers. Many residents refuse to swim in the lake at all.
Haunted Lake, in Franstown, New Hampshire, received its name after a fire swept through the area, leaving the surrounding trees and vegetation blackened and charred. The burned landscape frightened travelers passing through the region. Another legend dates to 1741 when two strangers arrived seeking to settle the land. The men worked together initially, but fought one night, resulting in one killing the other.
The victim's spirit allegedly remains restless, causing disembodied yelling and shrieking that visitors continue to hear. In 1780, Irish immigrant David Scobie discovered human remains that may have belonged to the murdered man, though his connection was never confirmed. Scobie himself died at the lake in 1829 when he fell through frozen ice during spring thaw. Numerous other drowning deaths have occurred over the years.
People frequently report hearing screams of agony and groans of pain emanating from the water. Stowe Lake, in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, provides recreation for city residents, but visitors may encounter the resident spirit known as the White Lady. The legend originates in the early 1900s when a young mother walked by the lake with her three children, including an infant in a baby carriage. She sat on a lakeside bench to rest and began talking with a friend.
During their conversation, the carriage rolled unnoticed into the lake. When the mother discovered her missing baby, she ran into the water but could not locate the carriage. Devastated by the loss, she drowned herself in the shallow water near the shore. The white lady now appears to visitors, dressed in white, begging for help to find her lost child. Spirit Lake in Idaho contains deep, dark waters and a tragic love story from the area's indigenous history.
The Kootenai people originally called the lake Clearwater. According to legend, the Kootenai chief's daughter, Hayapam, fell in love with a tribal warrior named Hashiolamahun. However, the chief had already promised his daughter to a rival tribe's chieftain. Upon learning of the arranged marriage, the lovers jumped together into the lake and drowned. Since then, witnesses claim to see ghostly outlines of two figures canoeing across the water together.
Visitors also report hearing low, mournful sounds from the lake, believed to be the lovers' cries as they search for freedom from their watery prison. Gardner Lake in Connecticut takes its name from the Gardner family, who owned much of the surrounding area in 1895. The family built their home near the lake's shore, but later decided to relocate to the opposite side. During winter, when the lake froze solid, the family attempted to slide their house across the ice using wooden slabs.
The move was planned to take two days, and the first day proceeded smoothly. That night, however, the ice cracked and the house sank into the frozen lake. While unclear whether family members drowned trying to save their home, apparitions around the lake are attributed to the gardeners. Visitors report hearing piano music coming from beneath the water. Divers confirm the house remains intact on the lake bottom, complete with a piano and other furnishings.
White Rock Lake in East Dallas, Texas appears peaceful on the surface. The locals have encountered a pale young woman known as the Lady of the Lake for decades. The apparition allegedly asks passersby for rides home. Those who report giving her transportation say she vanishes suddenly after they look away, leaving only a damp spot where she sat. Sightings date back to the 1930s, though the woman's identity remains unclear.
The most accepted theory describes a woman returning from a dance with her boyfriend when he lost control of their car and crashed into the lake, drowning them both. Another version claims the spirit belongs to a woman who took her own life at the lake after a broken romance. Lake Tahoe, straddling the California-Nevada border, ranks among America's most visited lakes and allegedly among its most haunted.
Guests at lakeside lodges and hotels frequently report apparitions, unmarked graves, and unexplained screams. Establishments like Thunderbird Lodge and Hellman Airman Mansion have witnessed several deaths over the years. Visitors report seeing shadows and apparitions in hallways, along with hearing screams and strange sounds from the lake.
The most commonly described spirit is a young woman in a wedding dress, believed to have drowned herself after being abandoned at the altar. Local folklore also includes Taho Tessie, a serpent-like monster supposedly swimming in the lake's depths.
Up next... In the depths of Mount Penteli, where ancient gods once walked and bandits hid their treasures, lies a cave that swallows explorers whole and spits out only their screams echoing through tunnels that lead nowhere.
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Learn more at cox.com slash value. Must have at least 500 megabits per second speeds and Cox Unlimited mobile taxes and fees excluded from price guarantee. Mobile data speeds reduced after 20 gigs usage per month. High on the slopes of Mount Pantale, just 25 miles north of Athens, workers in the 5th century B.C. made an unexpected discovery.
While quarrying marble for the construction of the Acropolis, they broke through into a vast underground chamber that would later become known as one of Greece's most mysterious locations. The cave stretched 112 meters into the mountain, with a diameter of approximately 40 meters. Behind the main chamber lay a complex network of tunnels winding deep into the mountain's core, eventually leading to a small underground pool at the center of the system.
Long before it gained its current reputation, the cave served as a sacred site for followers of Pan, the goat-footed god of nature and shepherds. Archaeological excavations have uncovered pottery and artifacts depicting Pan and his nymphs, suggesting the cave held religious significance for ancient Greeks. These ancient treasures now rest in the Archaeological Museum of Athens. The spiritual importance of the location continued through the ages.
During the Middle Ages, Christian hermits sought refuge within its depths, building a small double church directly into the rock at the cave's entrance. This unusual structure featured two separate sections, one dedicated to St. Spyridon and another to St. Nicholas. The peculiar design has led some researchers to speculate that the church may have been constructed by Gnostic Christians or other religious groups outside mainstream Christianity.
The cave gained its current name from Christos Dovelis, whose real name was Christos Natsios. Born around 1832 in the village of Stieri in Boeotia, Natsios worked as a shepherd for the Dau monastery on Mount Pantelli until a series of events changed his life. When a monastery abbot gave him a letter to deliver to a nun, Natsios' curiosity led him to have someone read it for him. Discovering it was a love letter, he decided to meet the nun himself.
After their affair was discovered, the angry abbot accused Natsios of theft, leading to his arrest and brutal punishment with bastinado, a form of beating on the soles of the feet. Returning to his village, Natsios fell in love with a priest's daughter who was already promised to a wealthy farmer. When the farmer learned of their affair, he sought revenge by pointing Natsios out to Greek soldiers, searching for a deserter named Nostos.
Unable to convince the soldiers of his true identity, Nautzius fled to the mountains and joined a bandit gang led by his mother's cousin, Carcharippus. Forming his own gang and adopting the nickname "Develis," he used the cave as his headquarters while robbing travelers through Attica, Boeotia, and surrounding regions.
His most famous exploit occurred in 1855, during the Crimean War, when he kidnapped a French officer and demanded 30,000 gold drachmas for his release, an astronomical sum that the Greek government quickly paid to avoid international complications. De Valle spent his end on July 12, 1856, when his former second-in-command, Ioannis Megas, who had defected to the Gendarmerie, tracked him down near the village of Zemeno.
In the battle that followed, Dovelli's challenged Magus to single combat and killed him before being fatally wounded by another officer. His head was displayed on a pike in Athens' Syntagma Square for several days as a warning to other bandits. Since the 1800s, visitors to Dovelli's cave have reported a wide range of occurrences that seem to defy natural explanation.
Electronic devices frequently malfunction or shut down completely upon entering the cave, with cameras, flashlights and phones refusing to function normally. Multiple witnesses have described water flowing uphill within the cave system or flowing in different directions on different days without any apparent cause.
Some visitors report seeing a mysterious mist swirling around the cave entrance, while others describe encountering shadowy, human-like figures made of mist. Several explorers who entered the cave system have never emerged, leading to speculation that they became lost in the maze of tunnels or encountered something more sinister.
In one documented case, investigators found a line of footprints pressed into fresh cement that led directly to a cave wall and simply stopped, with no return tracks visible. Peculiar objects have also been discovered near the cave. On one occasion, hikers found a doll on the nearly inaccessible mountainside near the entrance. When they retrieved it the next day, an identical second doll had appeared in the exact same location.
The mysterious nature of Dovelli's Cave attracted official attention in 1977 when construction crews claiming to represent an unknown organization arrived and cordoned off the area with barbed wire. Armed guards prevented public access while workers used heavy machinery and explosives to dig deeper into the mountain.
The identity of the organization behind this work remained secret, though rumors suggested involvement by NATO, the US government, or Greek military forces. Speculation about the project's purpose ranged from the construction of a nuclear weapons storage facility to the establishment of a radar or communications base.
Whatever the true purpose, the work stopped abruptly in 1983, leaving behind abandoned equipment and partially completed artificial tunnels that led nowhere. Perhaps most puzzling, investigators later discovered a cache of cancer treatment drugs left behind in the cave system.
The sudden abandonment of the project, combined with the sealed tunnels and dead-end passages, has only added to the cave's reputation as a place where normal rules don't seem to apply. In 2015, paranormal investigator Dimitrios Makrithopoulos led a team into the cave using specialized equipment including a spirit box device and infrared cameras.
According to Makrothopoulos, the moment his team entered the cave, they began experiencing disorientation and loss of normal sensory perception. The spirit box allegedly captured sounds resembling children chanting in what Makrothopoulos identified as an ancient Greek dialect. The infrared camera recorded what appeared to be a small hovering creature near the entrance to the central tunnel system. Though skeptics have questioned the validity of these recordings.
Scientists have proposed that many of the phenomena reported at Dovelli's cave could be explained by electromagnetic disturbances in the area. Mount Pantelli is known to generate strong geomagnetic fields, which could account for electronic malfunctions and the disorientation experienced by visitors.
Research by neuroscientists like Michael Persinger has shown that pulsed electromagnetic fields can influence human perception, potentially causing people to sense invisible presences or experience hallucinations. This could explain why locations with unusual electromagnetic activity are often reported as haunted or supernatural. The electromagnetic theory might also explain the interest shown by mysterious government organizations in the 1970s and 1980s.
If the cave contains natural electromagnetic phenomena that could be studied or weaponized, it would certainly attract the attention of military researchers. Today, Dovelli's Cave remains accessible to the public, though visitors must arrange their own transportation as no public transit reaches the remote location. The site continues to attract paranormal enthusiasts, researchers, and curious tourists, though many are reluctant to venture deep into the tunnel system alone.
The cave's reputation has also drawn less welcome attention from various occult groups, with evidence of ritual activities occasionally discovered by visitors. Whether these modern practitioners are drawn by the cave's ancient religious history or its reputation for supernatural phenomena remains unclear. Despite decades of investigation and speculation, the true nature of the phenomena at De Valle's cave remains unexplained.
The combination of ancient religious significance, documented historical events, government secrecy, and ongoing reports of anomalous activity has created a mystery that continues to perplex researchers and visitors. Deep within Mount Penteli, the cave system continues to defy explanation. There remain places where the normal rules of physics and perception seem not to apply, places where the boundary between the natural and supernatural remains frustratingly clear.
The Valley's Cave is obviously one of those locations. 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! 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. 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. Proverbs 1, verse 7, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. And a final thought, passion equals the degree of difficulty we are willing to endure to accomplish the goal. Louis Giglio. I'm Darren Marlar. Thanks for joining me in the Weird Darkness.
What's up, guys? It's Priscilla. Let's be real. Summer in Arizona, less hanging out outside and more don't touch the steering wheel so you don't bring your hands. And with prices going up on almost everything, it's really easy to feel like summer is just too expensive and too hot to have fun. But Sam's Club is changing that. They're freezing the club through July 22nd, holding prices on over a thousand items like sunscreen, trash bags, ice cream. Honestly, joining Sam's Club is a no-brainer. If you're going to sweat through the summer, at least start with a
Save money doing it. Go join now at samsclub.com slash freeze the club. Something new is happening at Cox. Now the price of your Cox internet and mobile plan won't go up for three years and Wi-Fi equipment is included. So no frustrating price changes, just a lot more of what you want, like a pizza with extra pineapple. Yikes. Okay, let's stick with something everyone wants. No price changes on your plan. Guaranteed.
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