John Glenn. Alan Shepard. Scott Carpenter. Gordon Cooper. Gus Grissom. Deke Slayton. Wally Schirra. These are the names of the members of the Mercury Seven— America’s first astronauts, charged with the task of being the human faces of a massive collective effort to beat the Soviet Union in a race to space. And, of course, charged with the task of actually manning the rockets that could take them higher than man had ever flown before.  

The Soviets Union had their own astronauts, or more accurately, cosmonauts.  Their story, especially the most famous among them, Yuri Gargarin, is fascinating, in part, because their story has many parallels to our own American astronaut program, but also because of the differences.  Some subtle, some glaring.  The differences make their story poignant, something to be understood and appreciated, if only to understand what is true about the human condition. Listen to learn more about

• Early space projects in the United States and the Soviet Union, including Sputnik, Mercury, and Vostok and key leaders like Sergei Korolev.
• The life of Yuri Gargarin, including his childhood in Klushino, his education, interest in flight, recruitment and training as a cosmonaut.
• The first non-humans in space, including Albert I, Albert II from the United States plus the Soviet space dogs, Tsygan, Dezik and the most famous Laika.
• The launch of Vostok 1 and Yuri Gargarin’s mission.  Insights about his instant global celebrity, his fall from Soviet grace and his controversial death in a flying accident.

The full show notes can be found at https://www.mydarkpath.com/season1episode7

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Amid the astonishing destruction of World War II in Europe and Asia, the mainland of the United States had been spared from the ravages of this global conflict.  While several isolated attacks took place on the coasts, the dictators in Berlin & Tokyo sought super weapons to use against the US. 

For Japan, one of these super weapons came in the form of the Fu-go balloon project that involved launching 9,000 explosive laden balloons from Japan to the US. Listen to learn more about

• The earliest scientific discovery of the jet stream.
• The anxiety of the American population in the aftermath of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the Niihau Incident, and the I-17 submarine attack on Santa Barbara.
• The Battle of Los Angeles.
• The origins of the camps where the US government interned Japanese-Americans.
• The Japanese Fu-go strategy and why the US government kept this audacious attack secret at the end of the war.
• The origins of the U.S. Army 555th Parachute Battalion, the Triple Nickles.
• The Firefly Project, where the Triple Nickles became the first smoke jumpers, suppressing the fires caused by the Fu-go balloons.

The full show notes can be found at https://www.mydarkpath.com/season1episode6

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The desire to know if Unidentified Flying Objects are real continues to grow in the USA and world-wide, especially with recent releases of previously classified video from the Department of Defense.

One encounter yet to be explained was that of Deputy Sheriff Val Johnson, whose UFO sighting left his patrol car damaged and his memory blank.  The Fort LTD still sits in a museum today in northern Minnesota, a tangible reminder that UFOs remain an unknown and unidentified source of mystery to this day. Listen to learn more about

• The complex history of UFOs in the US, with the majority of sightings being traceable to weather events, military aircraft and birds.
• US Air Force’s Project Blue Book, containing 701 UFO sighting events that cannot be explained.
• The beginnings of UFO sightings in the US beginning as early as 1639 when the Massachusetts Bay Colony, including its Governor documented a series of strange encounters with unidentified phenomena.
• The pilot Kenneth Arnold’s 1947 encounter with a set of flying objects, which amid a period of cold-war anxiety, led to the press misquoting Arnold to coin the term flying saucers.
• One of the strangest UFO encounters—that of Deputy Sheriff Val Johnson—which left his patrol car damaged and his memory blank.

The full show notes can be found at https://www.mydarkpath.com/season1episode5

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How does someone’s corpse get so exploited and degraded that, decades later, everyone mistakes him for a prop? After Elmer McCurdy’s death, his embalmed body was exploited as a sideshow attraction, a movie prop, and ultimately a decoration in an amusement park’s haunted house. Listen to learn more about

• Elmer McCurdy—a train robber who was killed in 1911 after attempting to steal $400,000 from a train in Oklahoma.
• When a TV crew preparing to shoot an episode discovered that the mannequin they thought was just a prop was actually a human corpse.
• The history of Hollywood and the events of Elmer McCurdy’s life that led to his death.
• The implications of how easy it can be to dehumanize others.

 The full show notes can be found at https://www.mydarkpath.com/season1episode4

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How did a luxury international hotel brand in Taipei earn the reputation as one of the most haunted hotels in the world? Listen to learn more about 

• Key moments in the history of Taiwan, including its founding by Chiang Kai-shek and his son Chiang Ching-Kuo.
• How the Hyatt hotel brand was founded.
• The history of ghost stories.
• MF Thomas’ personal experience at the Taipei Hyatt.

 The full show notes can be found at https://www.mydarkpath.com/season1episode3

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Today Peenemünde is a small German town that borders the Baltic Sea. It sits amid a beautiful patchwork of farmland and national parks but the peaceful environment belies its role in the Nazi government’s development of V1 flying bomb and V2 rocket. Listen to learn more about

• The early visionaries of rocketry, including Hermann Oberth, Herman Potočnik, & Wernher Von Braun.
• The impact of the V1 and V2 programs on the war strategies of both the Axis & Allies during World War II.
• How the secrets of Peenemünde, including the use of slave labor from concentration camps, were smuggled out to the allies.
• The secret plans of the Nazi government to bomb New York City using multistage rockets.
• Robert Goddard, the father of American rocketry and his role in major inventions.

The full show notes can be found at https://www.mydarkpath.com/season1episode2

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Airships became one of the most visible and popular methods of travel in the early 20th Century before the Hindenburg accident and competition from airplanes made airships almost an afterthought.  Listen to learn more about

• The early inventors who created the first hot air balloons and those who applied balloon technology to create airship.
• Count Von Zeppelin, the father of the modern airship. Learn what inspired his work, including where he took his first balloon ride and his perseverance that led to the modern airships.
• How the future of airships was changed by world wars, Zeppelin’s successor Hugo Eckener and the Hindenburg accident.

The full show notes can be found at https://www.mydarkpath.com/season1episode1

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