Episodes
-
Blake tries to talk Jeb off the ledge as we return to the classic theme of "ancient astronauts" in this throwback episode titled: Earth Visitors.
Some links relevant to our discussion:
Dejah Thoris (character)
MUFON/Harzan scandal
Roman Dodecahedrons (archaeology)
Frank Frazetta
Boris Vallejo
We mention Zecharia Sitchin.
Research suggests humans grow more neurons than did Neanderthals.
A bunch of this episode comes from the work of Maurice Chatelain, who we shall refer to as "Shadowlane." His book Our Cosmic Ancestors sports one of the more interesting book covers we've seen while researching this show.
He also wrote Our Ancestors Came from Outer Space.
Maurice Chatelain's credentials appear to have been somewhat overstated in the episode.
We'll be talking about several "Out of Place Artifacts" or OOPAs in this episode. Let's start with the "Boot Print" aka The Meister Print. (pictured below) See also this article by Glenn Kuban.Very compelling stuff. I guess. I mean it sort of looks like show print.
This interesting looking skull also sent us down some research holes.
The text of the episode seems to be talking about the Del Mar Skull but the image doesn't look like a close match.
A lot of "shapes on the earth" are discussed. The shapes require you to do a lot of work. We'll get into that in the episode. But one is the Maltese Cross that is absolutely stunning, so long as you ignore that some of the points are hundreds of miles from the alleged anchor points and that the temples allegedly at each point were centuries apart. Skeptical response via CSICOP.
Also - this is supposed to be a "pyramid" but seems to be more of what geometry wonks call a "triangle."
I'm trying to find the type of terminal behind our statistician. And - behind the scenes I've managed to contact him and he assures me that the episode required many takes and that his students reported they made him sound like he believes in the whole ancient astronauts thing... More on this if I hear back from a rather lengthy email I sent him today (12/13/24).
Read even more about the Monte Carlo Method!
Vintage ad for the The Outer Space Connection.
According to Scientific American, the idea that indigenous Americans were here for a very long time (from across the Bering sea) really kicked off in the 1930s.
Read more about The Elephant Slab hoax.
This montage of Kachina dolls really impressed Blake:
Nimoy Fashion Alert!
Native Jewelry Artist Preston Monongye
Engineer Charles Ruggles
Could he be LARPing J. Allen Hynek?
Finally we get to the Cosa Artifact.
And - of course, The Jupiter Menace (1982)
-
Jeb and Blake head out to sea in research of the mystery of what happened to the crew of The Mary Celeste.
Links:The Dei Gratia
Nimoy Fashion Alert
(NFA Wardrobe consulting by The Hogtown Rake, Pedro Mendes)Attorney Fred Flood
In 1913, The Strand Magazine provided an alleged survivor's account from one Abel Fosdyk, supposedly Mary Celeste's steward.
The Mary Celeste (1913 article)
Per "WhatTheFont" website identifier, that font is (appropriately): JOLLY ROGER!
Meanwhile on Skull Hut Island...
Pop Culture:
Dead Calm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mystery_of_the_Mary_Celeste
Read it, it’s a time. Hammer film -Jeb
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chase_(Doctor_Who)
-
Episodes manquant?
-
Jeb and Blake go into the jungles of California and France in search of WILD CHILDREN!
This episode of ISO contains a lot of disturbing content and our commentary is laced with expletives, hence the Explicit tag.
Tarzan is raised by a fictional ape species known as The Mangani
The story of Mowgli is LOOOOSELY based on the real-life person Dina Sanichar.
Frequently referenced ERB Zine article
Ian Jackson obituary
News coverage of David as adult (BBC)
2021 update on David
1985 story about search for "wild children" (and Sham Dev/Shamdeo)
Christopher Hitchens on Mother Theresa
Japanese quadrupedal runner
The Green Children of Woolpit
Victor of Aveyron
Disturbing story of Genie - more neglected than feral
NFA - Wild Children:
It's supposed to be a Bear but it has some other possumbilities.
-
How could Vincent have been a creative genius - yet also "insane?"
Jeb and Blake take a look at Nimoy's very personal thoughts about this question.This episode deals with the topic of self-harm and suicide. If you're struggling with thoughts of self harm, please get help immediately. You can reach trained and empathetic counselors (in the USA) by dialing 988 or 1-800-273-TALK.
We care about our listeners and want you to be around for many years to enjoy life - and our work.
Links for Show Notes:
Nimoy's play VINCENT via Archive
81 Words - This American Life on the DSM
The Book of Kells
Bullshit or Not? Was JTR really Nessie?
Article on Jo Bonger
The Golden Gate Quartet
Weird Al's Skipper Dan (YouTube)
Doctor Who clip of Vincent at the art gallery
Early montage sequence shows:Self Portrait (1888)
Starry Night (1889)
Vase with 15 Sunflowers (1888)
Bedroom at Arles (1888)
Night Cafe in the Place Lamartine in Arles (1888)
Encampment of gypsies with caravans (1888)
Langlois Bridge at Arles (1888)
Fishing boats on the beach at Saintes Maries
Wheat FIeld with Cypresses (1880)
You can find all these and more at the online Van Gogh museum.
Meanwhile...
Could Manos be loosely based on Paul and Vincent? -
Jeb and Blake learn all about the riveting world of stock certificates and inheritance law! It may not be the most mysterious episode of In Search Of... but it's certainly one of the episodes we watched.
Show Notes:
Orson Welles Critic Clip
Lot 249
Texas Pacific Land trust 1980 article
The big 2014 Business Insider article
Pembroke:
http://www.oldlongisland.com/2008/02/pembroke.html
http://www.oldlongisland.com/2011/10/pembroke.html
http://www.oldlongisland.com/2009/07/pembroke-american-architect.html
Pembroke tour (video)
Alice de Lamar
Failed lawsuit
Contemporary article about the caseNimoy Fashion Alert (red-shift corrected)
The case of the missing hair!
Jeb was confounded by this man's barberian style choices. -
Jeb and Blake are joined by Sharon Hill to get shook by the San Andreas Fault!
Understanding the Richter Scale (logarithmic)
Link (Netflix) to Earthstorm docu series
YT video clip featuring geologist Dr. Kerry Sieh
Classic Budweiser commercial from the 70s
The Salton Sea
Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power
Nuclear activist Ray Vrana
Peter Gros of Wild Kingdom
San Andreas movie with The Rock (Amz affiliate link)
Cover to guide for SF geological tour:
Dr. Tim Hall - One of the founders of the San Andreas Fault Trail in 1977. Featured in 2011 documentary available on YT.
Dr. Kerry Sieh
The very sexy VT52 from DEC.
NFA San Andreas edition:
-
In order to understand In Search Of… The Dark Star, Jeb and Blake will first need to get Sirius; Sirius-B, that is!
Links from this episode:
Siris (A part of the Canis Major constellation)
Jeb discussed a couple of evocative artworks:
Appeal to the Great Spirit (Dallin)End of the Trail (Fraser)
North African musket (Moukahla)
Colonial Williamsburg
Hoop Rolling
Jacquard Loom
Punched Cards technology
The Hans Guggenheim art project
Isaac Koi UFO archives
The Tribal Eye BBC documentary series (YouTube)
Regarding Temple, Puhairich, Young, and The Nine
The Sirius Mystery by Robert Temple
Editorial letter about Temple from The Observatory
Dogon Shame by Phillip Coppens
Griaule's Legacy: Rethinking "la parole claire" in Dogon Studies
Pop Culture References (affiliate links):
Conjure Wife - aka Burn Witch Burn
Bewitched
Bell, Book and Candle
=====
Images:
The "orbit" of the Dogon dark star.
Nimoy posing with a tribal mask - our initial NFA image.
Later we get to see his legs in this seated NFA supplementary:
Hans Guggenheim initially appears in just a vest and pants.
Later, he too is in more of a Safari look, and has a professorial pipe as well.
Dr Gary Chapman, Astronomer
The man who first photographed Sirius B - Dr Lindenblad
A little of the FORTRAN code that powers the orbit animation in the episode:
We don't have enough information to know who made Nimoy's safari clothing, but if you want to try and track down a very close approximation, this example from J. Peterman's (est 1987) is as close a match as I've seen. You would still need to find it in a vintage shop because at present they don't sell these. -
Blake and Jeb look for the real location of Mt. Sinai, where Moses was supposed to have received the Ten Commandments from God.
-
Jeb and Blake extinguish our cigarettes, put our trays in the upright position, and head out the back of the plane in search of the elusive skyjacker known as D. B. Cooper.
Nimoy Fashion Alert - dimly lit corporate office edition.
D. B. Cooper - Wikipedia
The Pursuit of D. B. Cooper (Movie) - if you buy it on Amazon we get a few pennies.
Recent Netflix series on D. B. Cooper
Blake's friend Rick Ollerman offered some opinions on vintage round parachutes.
Later we meet Nimoy outside where you can make out more of his ensemble.
Of course this is an episode about D. B. Cooper - who for Jeb and I, evokes the classic "MIB" look.
This ain't deal-a-meal. This is a different Richard Simmons.
There is some great photography in this episode. I liked seeing the reservoir and dam. Imagine landing there on a stormy November night without jump boots...
Finally - kudos to the faceless Cooper stand-in who lugged stuff around in the anonymous re-creations.
-
Jeb and Blake join Leonard Nimoy's search for Pompeii! (Well - is it really about finding Pompeii? Or is it about finding a possibly Christian cross in Pompeii? Tune in and find out!)
Links:
Depictions of the crucifixion in Medieval Art
People debating the cross at Pompeii
Christian graffiti at Pompeii
House of the Faun - Pompeii
About that "lost Legion" thing
Discovery and rediscovery of Pompeii
Giuseppe Fiorelli
Terentius Neo
Lupinar
Villa of Mysteries
Dinosyian Mysteries
Greco-Roman Mysteries
Thyrsus
Nimoy Fashion Alert!
Hey - it's NOT a Jumpsuit.
We complain but there really is WAY too much red-shift in the majority of this episode:
You need pumice? WE GOT BUCKETS OF PUMICE!
-
Jeb and Blake track the last cryptozoology episode of the original In Search Of… as we join the late Peter C. Byrne in a search for "The Abominable Snowman."
Imagining the Wild Man: Yeti Sightings in Folktales and Newspapers of the Darjeeling and Kalimpong Hills
More on Tom Slick - MonsterTalk
Monty Python "abattoir" sketch
Searching for Sasquatch (affiliate link)
Article about Byrne still "hunting" in his 90s.
The Eternal Return
Bigfoot Map
Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds (YouTube)
Horror in the Heights - Kolchak Episode with Rakshasha
NFA - "Proof of Life"
Crevasse photo we mention from the episode.
-
Jeb is right at home as we go In Search Of... Mexican Pyramids!
Links from researchSacrifice City
Great Pyramid of Cholula
Templo Mayor
Ruz' Palenque Dissertation
The Christmas Robbery of the Century
Secrets of the Maya Temple (1958)
Museo (2018) movie about the robbery - affiliate link
Mystery of the Meridas Ciudad Maya nightclub
Music/Art film tied to the nightclub site
Operation PBSuccess - CIA and Guatemala
Mystery film we think MAY have sourced part of this episode.
Director Jean Chartier
Pyramid Comparison visual tool (wikipedia)
Nimoy Fashion Alert! Jungle Cotton Blend edition:
There are actually subtle stripes on that shirt!
This episode has some amazing models - so cool:
And - of course - it wouldn't be ISO without some reenactments...
-
Dr. Joe Nickell recalls his experiences working on the Season 4 episode of In Search Of… dealing with The Shroud of Turin.
note: This interview will be cross-posted to MonsterTalk. The interview contents will be identical, but the framing intro/outro will be unique to the respective shows.In Research Of… (Patreon)
In Research Of (free feed)
In Search Of… The Shroud of Turin (YouTube)
Joe Nickell covered by The Daily Mail
That's Incredible! segment on THE AMITYVILLE HORROR. (YouTube)
Joe Nickell's website
Joe's Amazon Author's Page (affiliate link)
-
Jeb and Blake unwrap the mystery of the shroud of Turin! (Which might, it turns out, be neither a shroud, nor from Turin - talk amongst yourselves!)
Link to ISO on YouTube: While it lasts!The bucket brigade saves the shroud in re-creation...
NFA - A return to "the Night Gallery?"
Young Joe Nickell at work in Alan Landsburg's NYC apartment:
The Rev. Francis Filas (1931 - 1985 - NYT OBIT)
Prescriptive Linguistics
Descriptive Linguistics
Overview of use of Christ in Medieval Art
Secondo Pia, photographer who discovered the "negative effect" on Shroud.
(also, dead ringer for Seth Myers)Just saying...
Modern research suggests "blood on shroud" was applied artistically, not organically.More on Accelerator Mass Spectrometry
Dr. Harry Gove (Obit)
The Shroud of Turin Research Project
Recent book that confirms Nickell's findings
-
S04E06 - The Lost Colony of Roanoke
The ISO team take us back to Colonial Virginia to investigate the cold-case of the lost colony of Roanoke. Jeb and Blake learn about armadas, plays, and rock diaries.
Beach Action Nimoy Fashion Alert!
The Money Shot...
Blake thinks the ISO actor is giving off Keenan Wynn vibes.
And we've already discussed the ties between Rod Serling, Leonard Nimoy, Night Gallery, and more, so the visual similarities to this scene and Planet of the Apes might not be 100% coincidence.
The famous "Dare Stones" preserved with all the decor and pomp appropriate their historical significance:
Links for this episode:
History Channel's reboot of ISO covered this.
Antiquarianism
Play Sid Meiers Colonization
Book by David Stick on topic
Park Ranger Phil Evans
The full text of the Dare Stones
-
We're going to need a bigger boat! Jeb and Blake head to Australia to investigate the idea that Great White sharks are immortal!
Links:
1977 San Diego article about Sea World's shark exhibitArticle about weird things allegedly found inside sharks.
Henri Bource - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Bource
Groo the Wanderer
NFA - on the beach!
Sharks are famous for their teeth - and Nimoy's have improved since season one as well.
Nimoy just walking on the beach manages to attract a diver's audience.
Diving pioneer and explorer, Hugh Edwards.
Ray Keys at Sea World has lots of great shark information.
And don't forget researcher Dr. William Gladstone! (You can find him on twitter at @DrBillGladstone)
-
Jeb and Blake have a look at the Season 4 episode UFO AUSTRALIA which covers the Kaikoura UFO Sighting and the disappearance of Frederich Valentich.
Retrospective of the Kaikoura UFO sighting Better version of the video than what is in the episode Westall UFO case (Blake mentioned - but is not in ep) Skeptical Inquirer (McGaha & Nickell) Transcript of the Valentich air traffic discussion Psychic Hippie Lawyer articleNimoy Fashion Alert shot on location at the San Fernando Aerospace Solar Observatory.
-
Jeb, Blake and Alex French go in research of The Amityville Horror!
Typewriters 101 site
History vs Hollywood: Amityville
History of the House
The Warren Omission
The Calamityville Horror
The Dictionnaire Infernal
Nimoy gives us the calm and rational look in the midst of so much weirdness!
So many faceless re-enactors in this one!
Horror writer Jay Anson and his trusty typewriter!
And this episode is quite notable for giving us a look at Father Mancuso from the book. Aka Father Ralph Pecoraro. Aka Father Delaney. Aka "Jimmy the Shadow" .
The Lutz couple at the table.
The two versions of Jodie the Pig:
And we gotta include the super creepy ISO doll. Kudos to the prop dept.
-
Jeb and Blake look back at the ISO team's coverage of the global manhunt for the terrorist known as "Carlos."
This episode gets an Explicit tag because of language.Nimoy Fashion Alert:
Dr. Frederick Hacker (Obit)
Carlos - aka The Jackal (Wiki)
Raid on Entebbe (Wiki)
Carnaby Street, England (Wiki)
Friendship University, Russia (Wiki)
News story about how Carlos got his name
Nydia Toban (Obit)
Carlos's Lawyer/"wife"
-
Additional background material on this episode is available for Patrons.
Jeb and Blake wade into the first episode of season 4 of In Search Of... to learn a thing or two about tsunamis. (Yes, the producers actually said that they called it "tidal waves" because if they'd used "tsunami" Americans wouldn't have bothered to find out what it was about. I remember being taught the "new" term during my basic education. -B)
Lots of good footage, interviews, reenactments, and science in this one!Nimoy Fashion - Henley Shirt (we assume he's wearing pants below the cut?)
To me, it looked like an AARP-style drug ad.
The J.K.K. Look Laboratory (in honor of Mr. James K. K. Look - who's death in pursuit of scientific data is honored in the naming)
There is shockingly little about Mr. Look on the net and he certainly seems like he deserves at least a Wikipedia page.Hokusai's famous "wave" - and yes, he really did pioneer "tentacle porn," but I'm not linking to it - nor judging.
This is only a simulation. If this had been an actual podcast, this guy would have tried to sell you some Bombas Socks or a subscription to Wondrium.
NOAA monitoring lab
Ed Bernard
Steven Froehlich
- Montre plus
