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Astonishing Legends

Paranormal Podcasts

The world is more mysterious than most people are comfortable imagining. We cross paths with the mystical from time to time and may not even notice it. If we do, we quickly return to our usually mundane daily existence. But what if we not only acknowledged the unknown, we investigated it and spoke with those in the know? That's what co-hosts Scott Philbrook & Forrest Burgess, and co-executive producer Tess Pfeifle do at Astonishing Legends. Over 100 million downloads and hundreds of thousands of listeners have discovered the thrill of exploring the mysteries of our world, showing that the unknown can be both captivating and intriguing. Welcome to Astonishing Legends!

Location:

Los Angeles, CA

Description:

The world is more mysterious than most people are comfortable imagining. We cross paths with the mystical from time to time and may not even notice it. If we do, we quickly return to our usually mundane daily existence. But what if we not only acknowledged the unknown, we investigated it and spoke with those in the know? That's what co-hosts Scott Philbrook & Forrest Burgess, and co-executive producer Tess Pfeifle do at Astonishing Legends. Over 100 million downloads and hundreds of thousands of listeners have discovered the thrill of exploring the mysteries of our world, showing that the unknown can be both captivating and intriguing. Welcome to Astonishing Legends!

Language:

English


Episodes
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2025 Next Episode Announcement!

1/10/2025
A very important announcement about our next episode!

Duration:00:01:34

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11: Hatman Assault

1/7/2025
Tonight's Dead Letter is about a series of chilling encounters with mysterious entities that have haunted our listener, Alan, for years. He had unsettling experiences with sleep paralysis, including a confrontation with a shadowy figure wearing a fedora and a static-like being delivering phantom punches, in a rare case of someone being actually physically assaulted by a shadow being. The Astonishing Dead Letter Office - Where Your Stories Die to be Told

Duration:00:16:23

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10: Grimacing in the Woods

12/31/2024
Tonight's Dead Letter is about a perplexing childhood encounter that has lingered in our listener's memory for over three decades. It ranks up there with one of our favorite topics on the main show, Sam the Sandown Clown. Sit back as we explore the bizarre sighting of a life-sized Grimace, the beloved McDonald's character, mysteriously appearing at the edge of the woods behind our listener’s home, possibly beckoning her to join him on some bizarre adventure in another reality. The Astonishing Dead Letter Office - Where Your Stories Die to be Told

Duration:00:12:16

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9: The Irrcenraq

12/24/2024
Tonight's Dead Letter is about a chilling series of events in the remote Alaskan town of Dillingham. We explore the eerie parallels between the legendary Mothman and the Yupik culture's mysterious Irrcenraq beings. Our listener shares his haunting personal experiences with unexplained phenomena, including shadowy figures, strange phone calls, and dancing balls of light. As 15 people die in rapid succession in this small community, we delve into the unsettling connections between these deaths and the appearance of otherworldly entities. Join us as we navigate the murky waters between folklore and reality in this remote Alaskan town. The Astonishing Dead Letter Office - Where Your Stories Die to be Told

Duration:00:25:52

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The Astonishing Legends All-Star Holiday Special V

12/23/2024
It’s the fifth Year of our annual Astonishing Legends Holiday Special, and we’re back with our crew from last year. We all love getting together this time of year to look back on everything that went right or wrong over the past 12 months and consider what parts of our collective reality have eroded and what parts have solidified. Join us as we celebrate the friendships we've built along the way and the joys of working together across the paranormal and real spectrum. It’s a perfect way to kick back, relax, and embrace the holiday spirit with us. So grab your favorite drink and cozy up as we share some fun tales and look ahead to what 2025 has in store. Everyone’s welcome! Visit our website for a lot more information on this episode.

Duration:02:28:54

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8: Uninvited Guests

12/17/2024
In tonight's Dead Letter, Scott and Forrest explore a chilling account from Holly in North Hollywood. Her story involves mysterious glowing orbs of different colors appearing in her bedroom, a malfunctioning fire alarm, and an unsettling experience with an intrusive thought and sleep paralysis. The eerie events, potentially linked to a creative slump and solitude, culminate in a startling connection to an object in her room. What’s at play here? The Astonishing Dead Letter Office - Where Your Stories Die to be Told

Duration:00:20:03

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9: “The Program” with Director James Fox

12/14/2024
Tonight, we welcome documentary filmmaker James Fox to discuss his latest thought-provoking film, 'The Program,' which explores recent developments in UFO and UAP disclosure. Fox shares valuable insights gleaned from his extensive interviews with military officials, politicians, and eyewitnesses. These interviews touch on controversial topics such as alleged crash retrievals of unidentified craft and encounters with non-human intelligences.During our conversation, we delve into the obstacles Fox faced due to government secrecy and examine the intriguing role that private corporations may play in controlling UAP information. Fox emphasizes the cornerstone of his investigative approach: the importance of credible witness testimony coupled with rigorous on-site field research.We also revisit the compelling 1996 Varginha incident in Brazil, which Fox investigated in his previous film 'Moment of Contact,' and discuss the implications of recent congressional hearings on UAPs. Visit our website for a lot more information on this episode.

Duration:01:31:57

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7: Paralyzed with Fear

12/10/2024
In tonight’s Dead Letter, Melinda recounts her terrifying paranormal experiences after moving into her sister's basement apartment. The encounters escalated from unexplained night terrors to sleep paralysis and eventually the sighting of a shadowy entity with horns and white eyes. She felt physically manipulated, frozen in fear. Despite initially keeping the events to herself, she eventually confided in their sister, leading to a priest's intervention that seems to have brought an end to the haunting. The Astonishing Dead Letter Office - Where Your Stories Die to be Told

Duration:00:13:24

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The Long Strange Trip of the Tromp Family

12/7/2024
We all know family road trips can be fun, bonding experiences that generate fond memories, but they can also be filled with tension and frayed nerves—although perhaps not to the degree experienced by the Tromp family of Silvan, Australia. In August 2016, Mark and Jacoba Tromp and their adult children Riana, Mitchell, and Ella embarked on a perplexing journey of around 1000 miles that captivated the country. They abruptly left their home, abandoning their phones and credit cards. What followed was a five-day saga of mystery and confusion. The family’s erratic behavior, including apparent paranoia and separation, led to a nationwide search. The incident, dubbed the “Tech-Free Family Road Trip,” sparked widespread speculation about mental health, shared psychosis, and the pressures of modern life on their successful farm. During this family travel season, we work to dissect what happened and why. Was this bizarre odyssey a contagious emotional meltdown, or was there an actual threat to their safety as the parents initially thought? Visit our website for a lot more information on this episode.

Duration:02:08:30

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6: The Shadow Person and the Pendulum

12/3/2024
In our latest Dead Letter episode, we dive into the spooky world of pendulums and shadow entities! Krystal shares her haunting experience with a pendulum she bought in 2020, which seemed to bring a shadowy presence into her home. This mysterious entity appeared while she was in the zone, working on creative projects. Things got intense when it started showing up where she sleeps, leading to a cleansing ritual to drive it out. Tune in to hear the full story and our thoughts on the connection between creativity and the supernatural. The Astonishing Dead Letter Office - Where Your Stories Die to be Told

Duration:00:11:30

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5: Something's Watching

11/26/2024
Tonight we delve into the chilling experiences of a seasoned hunter in the same eerie region of central Pennsylvania a former guest of our main show encountered something unexplained. Jordan recounts his encounters with unseen threats that left him unnerved. His tale echoes the unsettling possibility of something lurking in the woods and an inexplicable sensation of being watched. Tune in to hear his personal astonishing legend, and remind yourself to trust your instincts when the wilderness turns silent. The Astonishing Dead Letter Office - Where Your Stories Die to be Told

Duration:00:18:12

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The Ghost Ship Carroll A. Deering

11/23/2024
In 1921, a five-masted schooner emerged from the mists off North Carolina's treacherous coast - a floating tomb devoid of life. Eleven souls had vanished without a trace, leaving behind an eerie tableau of abandonment. Tonight we delve into this chilling mystery and attempt to unravel a web of bizarre clues: inexplicably damaged equipment, missing shoreboats, and whispers of aberrant crew behavior from passing ships. Was it a bloodthirsty mutiny? Ruthless pirates? A clandestine rum-running operation gone awry? Or perhaps something far more sinister lurking in the depths of human nature - or beyond? The Carroll A. Deering is a haunting mystery, reminding us that some secrets of the sea may never be fully uncovered, leaving our imaginations to run wild with unsettling possibilities. Visit our website for a lot more information on this episode.

Duration:02:34:58

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4: Deployed Trickster

11/19/2024
Tonight we dive into a chilling tale from a former member of the 75th Ranger Regiment, who had mysterious encounters with a face-pressing entity in their deployment tent. This story shows how paranormal experiences can affect even seasoned soldiers. The Astonishing Dead Letter Office - Where Your Stories Die to be Told

Duration:00:10:40

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3: It's Just Martin

11/12/2024
In this episode, Scott and Forrest share a captivating story from a listener named Meagan about her family's experience with a friendly spirit named Martin. Since the late sixties, Meagan's family has lived with Martin, known for lighthearted antics like slamming doors. In fact, Meagan may not have even been born had Martin not stepped in when her mom was younger. Join them in the vault for this listener story about living with a ghost and the strange events that come along with that. The Astonishing Dead Letter Office - Where Your Stories Die to be Told

Duration:00:18:42

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The Lake Worth Monster with Lyle Blackburn

11/9/2024
On the night of July 10, 1969, John Reichart was fishing near Greer Island on the shores of Lake Worth, about ten miles from Fort Worth, Texas, while his wife Linda sat in their car reading a book. Moments after John finally hooked a large catfish, he heard his wife screaming in terror and turned to see something moving around on top of the car. As he raced to help, this thing was now on the ground and next to the passenger window, appearing to try to get at Linda. John instinctively lunged at this creature, shoving it away from the car while getting a good look at it. He described it as massive and standing on two legs, horns on its head, covered with white hair and what seemed like shiny fish scales; some kind of human-animal hybrid he said was "half man, half goat." The Reicharts weren't the only witnesses to this scary scuffle as two other couples parked nearby also saw the entire horrifying incident. Almost forty people claimed to have seen the same beast the next night, with sightings continuing for months afterward, generating news coverage and a police investigation. Our friend, author, musician, and intrepid cryptid hunter, Lyle Blackburn, once again deftly and comprehensively investigates one of the strangest and most disturbing creature encounters in Texas and U.S. history in his latest book, Lake Worth Monster: The True Story of the Greer Island Goatman. Please join us as we welcome Lyle to discuss the particulars of a brute so bizarre it makes a plain old Bigfoot seem ordinary by comparison. Visit our website for a lot more information on this episode.

Duration:02:06:29

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2: Black-Eyed Kids and Bad Luck

11/5/2024
In this episode, Scott and Forrest tackle a creepy listener story about Black Eyed Kids that took place during the height of the pandemic. The story follows a woman who encounters a strange boy in a red hoodie in the dark, leading to some serious bad luck afterward. Join us as we break down this unsettling encounter and its impact on the storyteller’s life. The Astonishing Dead Letter Office - Where Your Stories Die to be Told

Duration:00:14:51

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American Bloodfalls with Tom Maxwell Part 2

9/28/2024
In our conclusion to our two-part series on American Bloodfalls, we dive deeper into the mysterious phenomenon that baffled witnesses across 19th-century America. Our special guest, Tom Maxwell, guides us through more perplexing incidents of blood and meat raining from the sky, from the famous Kentucky Meat Shower of 1876 to the final recorded event in 1902. We examine the scientific analyses of the time, which often identified the fallen material as animal tissue yet failed to propose any reasonable theories about its origins. Tom helps us navigate the theories proposed over the years and why they fall short when confronted with eyewitness accounts and the scale of events. We’ll discuss connections to biblical accounts and consider how these events might reflect their time's cultural and spiritual climate. Then, of course, we’ll get to the theories, even though the mundane ones have been tough to identify with this legend. But yes, portals and UFOs will probably make the scene. Tom helps us grapple with how these occurrences challenge humanity’s modern, materialist worldview and why meat showers and bloodfalls seem to have ceased by the early 20th century. Even after all of this time, they continue to defy explanation. However, that won’t stop us from trying to figure it out. Visit our website for a lot more information on this episode.

Duration:02:30:22

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American Bloodfalls with Tom Maxwell Part 1

9/14/2024
Bloodfalls and meat showers - phenomena that sound more like biblical plagues than historical events. Yet, reports of these bizarre occurrences peppered the American landscape for over a century. From Alabama to Massachusetts, Tennessee to California, eyewitnesses sometimes described small red clouds followed by downpours of blood, flesh, and viscera. Some were subjected to the red rain on entirely cloudless days. While many saw divine judgment, skeptics suspected elaborate hoaxes. Scientists proposed numerous theories ranging from vomiting vultures to atmospheric anomalies, while newspapers spread the stories far and wide. But what really happened during these grisly events? Were they connected or separate phenomena with similar descriptions? And why did they seem to stop abruptly at the turn of the 20th century? Join us as we delve into this bloody chapter of American history with our special guest, Tom Maxwell, former frontman of the Squirrel Nut Zippers and bloodfall expert, for Part 1 of this 2-part series. Together, we'll examine not just what fell from the sky, but what these incidents reveal about 19th-century America - its people, its science, and its struggle to make sense of a rapidly changing world. From the fringes of meteorology to the depths of human nature, this is the strange, gruesome, and utterly captivating story of America's reign of blood and meat. Visit our website for a lot more information on this episode.

Duration:02:05:05

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Special Announcements for Season 2 of Richard Hatem’s Paranormal Bookshelf!

9/2/2024
Richard & Susan drop in with some important upcoming dates and announcements about all things RHPB, including a couple of SPECIAL UPCOMING EPISODES you’ll want to know about right away… Enjoy!

Duration:00:24:58

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The Body on the Moor Part 2

8/24/2024
The authorities may have finally learned of the man on the moor's identity, yet, as they say, this only raised many more questions than his real name answered. As police questioned his family, his neighbors, service providers, and even an ex-girlfriend, a picture of a pretty peculiar man emerged. "Neil Dovestone" went by the name David Lytton. However, even his legal name was perhaps a privacy screen to hide his emotions and past behind, as his given name was David Keith Lautenberg. Described as a kind and conscientious man, Lytton also led a very ascetic and minimalist lifestyle, adding to the mystery of his mindset. Those who knew him in England, even his partner at the time, Maureen Toogood, had no idea he had quietly moved to Pakistan after abruptly cutting off contact to live there for several years. Even with more pieces to the puzzle now in place, there's still no clue as to what led him to where he chose to end everything and why. Was it solely his doing, or was someone else involved? What seems likely is that his body was staged postmortem so it would be found in a more peaceful pose. Although you may think this story is "Case Closed," the official status from the UK courts is that it's still an "Open Conclusion." Join us once again for Part 2 as we learn more about a man whose life was as much of an enigma as his death. Visit our website for a lot more information on this episode.

Duration:01:32:14