Weird Darkness: Paranormal & True Crime Stories

THE FIRST FATAL UFO ENCOUNTER: Pilot Thomas Mantell’s Deadly Chase Over Kentucky

Weird Darkness: Paranormal & True Crime Stories

Show Notes

In January 1948, Captain Thomas Mantell chased a huge metallic object across the Kentucky sky in his P-51 Mustang and kept climbing after both of his wingmen turned back, and nearly fifty years later, an Air Force investigator who'd been at his crash site said the trees around the wreckage were undamaged and that he believed the plane had been placed there. READ or DOWNLOAD the full transcript of this episode: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/5hyxhtbf FEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: Most of us would say it’s difficult to understand how someone who was responsible for deliberately killing hundreds of people could be elevated to the status of a hero. However, those who speak in favor of Gulia Tofana say her motives and actions were justified. (She Poisoned 600 Men) *** During the last 300 years, at least 200 cases of Spontaneous Human Combustion have been registered around the world. What is causing this to happen, and can it be stopped? (The Unexplained Phenomenon of Spontaneous Human Combustion) *** Can an ambulance be haunted? The story I share with you might convince you it is. (Ambulance Turmoil) *** What led Captain Thomas Mantell on a chase to his death? (The Thomas Mantell UFO Encounter) *** Does something evil reside in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles? (Hollywood Forever) *** The U.S. civil war was the bloodiest of all American wars – but the bloodiest was a Confederate prison holding Union soldiers. (Hell Hole of the Confederacy) *** Barbara Forrest and Mary Ashford lived in different centuries, but they died in chillingly similar ways. (The Eerie Similarities of the Erdington Murders) *** Is it possible that Bill Ramsey is, in fact, a real life werewolf? (The Southend Werewolf) *** AND MORE! CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)… 00:00:00.000 = The Foreboding 00:02:13.380 = Show Open 00:04:28.402 = The Unexplained Phenomenon of Spontaneous Human Combustion 00:09:57.484 = Ambulance Turmoil 00:11:58.908 = The Thomas Mantell UFO Encounter 00:20:55.145 = The Woman Known As “E” 00:28:53.257 = The Poisoned 600 Men 00:35:22.937 = Hell Hole Of The Confederacy 00:54:47.308 = Hollywood Forever 00:57:52.951 = The Eerie Similarities of the Erdington Murders” 01:02:15.368 = Bill Ramsey, The Southend Werewolf 01:12:08.469 = Show Close *** = Begins immediately after inserted ad break *No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast* SOURCES and RESOURCES: “She Poisoned 600 Men” by Ellen Lloyd for AncientPages.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/y5pkrmdh “The Unexplained Phenomenon of Spontaneous Human Combustion” posted at MessageToEagle.com: (link no longer exists) “Ambulance Turmoil” from the GhostsNGhouls website (link no longer exists) “The Thomas Mantell UFO Encounter” by Les Hewitt for HistoricMysteries.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/2ayxysc “The Woman Known as E” by George Boggs, dedicated to Ginny (ElviraDark6) on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/willythewave “Hell Hole Of The Confederacy” by unknown author (link no longer exists) “Hollywood Forever” posted at YourGhostStories.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/ndfwpx3r “The Eerie Similarities of the Erdington Murders” posted at TheLineUp.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/5h46wywn “Bill Ramsey, The Southend Werewolf” from Paranorms.com (website no longer exists) (Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.) WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.

More episodes, additional podcasts, books, original music, in-depth paranormal and true-crime articles, and much more at https://weirddarkness.com.

More from Weird Darkness: Paranormal & True Crime Stories

Oct 29, 2026

In a California gold camp abandoned by everyone but the dead, a prospector follows an old letter from his late friend, the camp's grave digger, to a vein of gold hidden beneath a notorious woman called Scarry, and digs into her grave until the moon comes up.

Oct 29, 2026

Twenty-two stories, starting with a tourism official's glowing photo on a Gettysburg ghost tour and running through a Ugandan general's cannibal claim, white-powder letters to Congress, a 17th-century Polish grave with a padlock and a sickle, and a congressman's search for footage of pale, human-looking bodies.

Oct 28, 2026

A Queens bar owner takes a jolt from his TV set that stops his heart, then wakes up able to read tomorrow's front page in his head, and the first thing he does is call his bookie.

Oct 28, 2026

Lost in a Colorado snowstorm, a man who's fallen behind on his child support pulls into a roadside diner called The Silver Line just as it's closing, and the huge, cheerful man inside lets him in and locks the door behind him.

Oct 28, 2026

A man who runs a plant that builds nuclear reactors calls his wife to say he'll be home in twenty minutes for their anniversary dinner, walks in a full day later with wilted flowers in his hand and sure it's still Tuesday, and the next morning a truckload of uranium whose schedule only he knew is found hijacked beside the highway.

See all episodes →