State of the Unknown | Documentary Stories of Real Unexplained Encounters

In October 1973, two shipyard workers walked into a Mississippi sheriff’s office late at night and claimed they had been taken against their will. What followed was documented by law enforcement, investigated by federal agencies, and quietly recorded when the men believed they were alone.

This episode examines the Pascagoula Incident through police reports, firsthand testimony, and a secret audio recording that captured the men’s reactions in real time. It’s not a story about proof or belief. It’s a story about what happens when an extraordinary claim refuses to fall apart under scrutiny.

What happened on the riverbank that night remains unresolved. But the record it left behind is real.

Support the show

Support State of the Unknown

If you enjoy the show and would like to help support it, you can become a Sasquatch Supporter for $3 a month. Your support helps cover the costs of researching and producing the show, website hosting, distribution, and helping more people discover State of the Unknown.

Membership is completely optional, and the show remains free for everyone.

Become a Sasquatch Supporter on Patreon

🔍 New episodes every Tuesday
🌐 Visit stateoftheunknown.com for show notes and to submit your own story.
📬 Questions, theories, or story ideas? Reach out at [email protected] or @stateoftheunknownpodcast.

Some stories don’t stay buried.
We go looking anyway.

Located in Hinsdale, New York, the Hinsdale House has become one of the state’s most frequently discussed haunted locations. Reports of unusual activity date back decades, but this episode focuses on a specific period when one family lived inside the home and documented what they experienced.

According to their accounts, the activity followed a progression. Unexplained sounds. Physical sensations. Sudden illness. Objects reportedly moving. The family stated that the disturbances intensified over time and were witnessed by visitors and investigators.

In this episode, host Robert Barber examines the claims associated with the Hinsdale House during that documented period, including what was reported, what investigators later recorded, and how the events were interpreted by those involved.

Rather than relying on folklore, the focus remains on the timeline of reported activity in Hinsdale, New York, what evidence was said to exist, and where the limits of verification begin.

Is the Hinsdale House an example of environmental stress misinterpreted as paranormal activity, or does this case represent a documented haunting that continues to defy simple explanation?

This episode explores what was claimed, what can be supported, and why this rural New York case remains part of modern American haunting history.

🔍 Further Reading & Case Research

(For listeners who want to explore how this case has been documented)

• Echoes of a Haunting - Revised - Author Clara M. Miller
• Hinsdale House An American Haunting — various authors
  As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

🌙 Listening Environment & Atmosphere

(Optional items some listeners use to create a calm or focused listening space)

• Dreamegg Portable White Noise Machine
• JBL Vibe Beam 2 - Noise Canceling Earbuds 

These are optional links. 

Support the show

Support State of the Unknown

If you enjoy the show and would like to help support it, you can become a Sasquatch Supporter for $3 a month. Your support helps cover the costs of researching and producing the show, website hosting, distribution, and helping more people discover State of the Unknown.

Membership is completely optional, and the show remains free for everyone.

Become a Sasquatch Supporter on Patreon

🔍 New episodes every Tuesday
🌐 Visit stateoftheunknown.com for show notes and to submit your own story.
📬 Questions, theories, or story ideas? Reach out at [email protected] or @stateoftheunknownpodcast.

Some stories don’t stay buried.
We go looking anyway.

Before it became a pop-culture reference point, Camp Hero was a real military installation in Montauk, New York, on the eastern edge of Long Island. During the Cold War, the base operated as a radar and defense site. Decades later, it would become the center of claims involving secret government experiments known as the Montauk Project.

In this episode, host Robert Barber examines the documented history of Camp Hero alongside the allegations that emerged in the 1980s and 1990s. Drawing from firsthand accounts, disputed records, and the writings of individuals such as Preston Nichols, the episode explores claims of psychological experimentation, alleged work with children, and stories that blurred the line between conspiracy theory and modern folklore.

No official documentation confirms the existence of a classified “Montauk Project.” Yet the persistence of the narrative has shaped American paranormal culture and directly influenced the creation of Stranger Things.

Was Montauk a misunderstood Cold War installation, an elaborate conspiracy theory, or a story that evolved through repetition and cultural anxiety? This episode explores what is verifiable, what remains disputed, and how a former military site became one of the most enduring modern legends in the United States.

🔍 Further Reading & Case Research

(For listeners who want to explore how this case has been documented)

• The Montauk Project - Experiments in Time: Silver Anniversary Edition - Author Preston B Nichols
• The Montauk Files: Unearthing the Phoenix Conspiracy — Author K.B. Wells, Jr

Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Support the show

Support State of the Unknown

If you enjoy the show and would like to help support it, you can become a Sasquatch Supporter for $3 a month. Your support helps cover the costs of researching and producing the show, website hosting, distribution, and helping more people discover State of the Unknown.

Membership is completely optional, and the show remains free for everyone.

Become a Sasquatch Supporter on Patreon

🔍 New episodes every Tuesday
🌐 Visit stateoftheunknown.com for show notes and to submit your own story.
📬 Questions, theories, or story ideas? Reach out at [email protected] or @stateoftheunknownpodcast.

Some stories don’t stay buried.
We go looking anyway.

In 1949, a family in the Midwest began documenting a series of disturbing events centered on their teenage son. What began as unexplained disturbances soon escalated into physical incidents witnessed by family members, physicians, and Jesuit clergy.

The events eventually led to St. Louis, Missouri, where priests from Saint Louis University were asked to intervene. Observations were recorded. Medical explanations were pursued first. Outside witnesses were brought in only after other options failed.

In this episode, host Robert Barber examines the St. Louis Exorcist House and the documented 1949 possession and exorcism case often associated with the pseudonym “Roland Doe.” Rather than retelling the story as it’s been mythologized, this episode focuses on what was recorded at the time, what remains disputed, and how the situation progressed step by step until an exorcism was attempted.

Years later, elements of this case would inspire The Exorcist, one of the most influential horror films ever made.

This is the story of what happened before the legend.

🔍 Further Reading & Case Research

(For listeners who want to explore this case in more detail)

• Possessed - by Thomas Allen

 🌙 Listening Environment & Atmosphere

Optional items some listeners use to create a calm or focused listening space.

• JBL Go 4 Bluetooth Speaker - Absolutely love JBL speakers.
• Fenmzee 3-Way Dimmable Touch Bedside Table Lamp - Such a great lamp that has usb ports so I can charge my phone at night.

These are optional links. 

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Support the show

Support State of the Unknown

If you enjoy the show and would like to help support it, you can become a Sasquatch Supporter for $3 a month. Your support helps cover the costs of researching and producing the show, website hosting, distribution, and helping more people discover State of the Unknown.

Membership is completely optional, and the show remains free for everyone.

Become a Sasquatch Supporter on Patreon

🔍 New episodes every Tuesday
🌐 Visit stateoftheunknown.com for show notes and to submit your own story.
📬 Questions, theories, or story ideas? Reach out at [email protected] or @stateoftheunknownpodcast.

Some stories don’t stay buried.
We go looking anyway.

The Greenbrier Ghost remains one of the strangest cases in American legal and paranormal history.

In this episode of State of the Unknown, host Robert Barber examines the story of Zona Heaster Shue, a young West Virginia woman whose death in 1897 became the center of an extraordinary murder investigation.

After Zona’s death was initially believed to be from natural causes, her mother, Mary Jane Heaster, claimed that Zona appeared to her as a ghost and revealed that she had been murdered by her husband, Erasmus Shue.

What followed turned an already unusual death into one of the most famous ghost stories in American history.

Drawing from court records, medical findings, and historical accounts, this episode separates the documented facts of the Greenbrier Ghost case from the experiences and claims that grew around it.

Did a mother’s paranormal experience help expose a murder? Or did her suspicions simply lead authorities back to evidence that had been overlooked?

This episode explores the Greenbrier Ghost, the death of Zona Heaster Shue, the murder investigation that followed, and the remarkable case that has remained part of West Virginia folklore for more than a century.

Topics Covered

• The Greenbrier Ghost
• Zona Heaster Shue
• Mary Jane Heaster
• Erasmus Shue
• West Virginia ghost stories
• Historical murder cases
• Paranormal testimony
• Ghost sightings and apparitions
• 19th-century American folklore
• Unexplained encounters
• Paranormal history
• True ghost stories
• Court records and historical evidence
• Murder investigations

SEO Keywords

Greenbrier Ghost, Greenbrier Ghost case, Zona Heaster Shue, Zona Shue, Mary Jane Heaster, Erasmus Shue, West Virginia ghost, West Virginia ghost story, Greenbrier County, Greenbrier Ghost murder, ghost solved murder, ghost testimony, paranormal testimony, historical ghost story, true ghost story, American ghost stories, paranormal history, unexplained encounters, murder mystery, historical murder case, paranormal podcast, ghost podcast, State of the Unknown, Robert Barber

🔍 Further Reading & Case Research
For listeners who want to explore how this case has been documented.

• The Haunting of Zona Heaster Shue: The Greenbrier Ghost Chronicles by Nancy Richmond (Author), Misty Murray-Walkup (Author)

• The Greenbrier Ghost: And Other Strange Stories by Dennis Deitz (Author)

Support the show

Support State of the Unknown

If you enjoy the show and would like to help support it, you can become a Sasquatch Supporter for $3 a month. Your support helps cover the costs of researching and producing the show, website hosting, distribution, and helping more people discover State of the Unknown.

Membership is completely optional, and the show remains free for everyone.

Become a Sasquatch Supporter on Patreon

🔍 New episodes every Tuesday
🌐 Visit stateoftheunknown.com for show notes and to submit your own story.
📬 Questions, theories, or story ideas? Reach out at [email protected] or @stateoftheunknownpodcast.

Some stories don’t stay buried.
We go looking anyway.

The Bothell Hell House case began in a quiet suburban neighborhood in Bothell, Washington, where one family reported a year of escalating paranormal activity inside their home.

What started as small, easy-to-dismiss disturbances eventually grew into more than 600 reported incidents. Objects moved without explanation. Unusual sounds seemed to follow people through the house. Visitors reported strange activity without being told what others had already experienced.

In this episode of State of the Unknown, host Robert Barber examines the Bothell Hell House haunting as it was described by the people who lived through it, then looks at what can be verified, what remains disputed, and why the case continues to attract attention.

How does a family respond when unexplained activity becomes part of everyday life? And what happens when a home that should feel safe begins to feel unpredictable?

This episode explores the Bothell Hell House, the reported haunting in Bothell, Washington, the hundreds of paranormal incidents associated with the case, and the questions that still surround one of the Pacific Northwest’s most unusual modern ghost stories.

Topics Covered

• Bothell Hell House
• Bothell, Washington
• Paranormal activity
• Haunted houses
• Modern ghost stories
• Unexplained disturbances
• Objects moving on their own
• Witnessed paranormal events
• Pacific Northwest hauntings
• Reported hauntings
• Paranormal investigations
• Unexplained encounters
• True paranormal stories
• Modern haunting cases

SEO Keywords

Bothell Hell House, Bothell Hell House haunting, Bothell Washington haunting, Bothell paranormal case, haunted house Washington, Washington ghost story, Pacific Northwest haunting, paranormal activity, haunted house, ghost sightings, unexplained disturbances, paranormal incidents, witnessed paranormal activity, modern ghost story, true haunting, paranormal investigation, unexplained encounters, paranormal podcast, ghost podcast, State of the Unknown, Robert Barber

Further Reading & Research

The Bothell Hell House: Poltergeist of Washington State
A firsthand account from later occupants of the home, documenting repeated disturbances, physical activity, and multiple witnesses over an extended period of time.

Haunted America
A U.S.-focused overview of reported hauntings and long-running cases, offering historical and regional context for how stories like this one are recorded, shared, and debated.

Support the show

Support State of the Unknown

If you enjoy the show and would like to help support it, you can become a Sasquatch Supporter for $3 a month. Your support helps cover the costs of researching and producing the show, website hosting, distribution, and helping more people discover State of the Unknown.

Membership is completely optional, and the show remains free for everyone.

Become a Sasquatch Supporter on Patreon

🔍 New episodes every Tuesday
🌐 Visit stateoftheunknown.com for show notes and to submit your own story.
📬 Questions, theories, or story ideas? Reach out at [email protected] or @stateoftheunknownpodcast.

Some stories don’t stay buried.
We go looking anyway.

In the late 1980s, a family in Wisconsin brought home a simple set of bunk beds for their children. There was nothing unusual about them, no known history attached to them, and no reason to think they would change anything inside the house.

Then the disturbances began.

Footsteps were heard in empty rooms. Objects appeared to move on their own. The children reported seeing a figure in their bedroom. A babysitter experienced something disturbing enough that she refused to return.

And eventually, the father said he encountered something in the hallway that convinced the family to leave the house in the middle of the night.

In this episode of State of the Unknown, host Robert Barber tells the story of the Tallman Bunk Beds haunting, a Wisconsin paranormal case later featured on Unsolved Mysteries.

The episode follows the family’s reported experiences before stepping back to examine what can be verified, what remains unconfirmed, and why the case has remained one of the more unusual haunted-house stories associated with Unsolved Mysteries.

Was this a genuine haunting, a buildup of fear inside one family, or something that still resists a simple explanation?

Topics Covered

• Tallman Bunk Beds
• Tallman family haunting
• Wisconsin ghost stories
• Haunted bunk beds
• Unsolved Mysteries paranormal cases
• Haunted houses
• Poltergeist activity
• Apparitions
• Unexplained footsteps
• Paranormal encounters
• Family haunting cases
• True ghost stories
• Unexplained phenomena
• Paranormal investigations

SEO Keywords

Tallman Bunk Beds, Tallman Bunk Beds haunting, Tallman family, Tallman family haunting, haunted bunk beds, Wisconsin haunting, Wisconsin ghost story, haunted house Wisconsin, Unsolved Mysteries Tallman Bunk Beds, Unsolved Mysteries ghost stories, paranormal activity, poltergeist, apparition, haunted house, true haunting, family haunting, unexplained footsteps, paranormal encounter, ghost story, paranormal podcast, ghost podcast, State of the Unknown, Robert Barber

Support the show

Support State of the Unknown

If you enjoy the show and would like to help support it, you can become a Sasquatch Supporter for $3 a month. Your support helps cover the costs of researching and producing the show, website hosting, distribution, and helping more people discover State of the Unknown.

Membership is completely optional, and the show remains free for everyone.

Become a Sasquatch Supporter on Patreon

🔍 New episodes every Tuesday
🌐 Visit stateoftheunknown.com for show notes and to submit your own story.
📬 Questions, theories, or story ideas? Reach out at [email protected] or @stateoftheunknownpodcast.

Some stories don’t stay buried.
We go looking anyway.

The Dybbuk Box is one of the most infamous haunted objects in modern paranormal history.

Its story began with a small wooden wine cabinet purchased at an estate sale in Portland, Oregon. The man who bought it, Kevin Mannis, later claimed that disturbing experiences followed the object from one owner to the next.

Nightmares. Strange shadows. Illness. Fear. And the growing belief that something about the box itself was responsible.

In this episode of State of the Unknown, host Robert Barber traces the story of the Dybbuk Box from its early ownership and reported paranormal activity to the moment the case exploded into public attention and became one of the best-known haunted object stories of the modern era.

Along the way, the episode separates what can be documented from personal testimony, later retellings, and the mythology that grew around the box.

Was the Dybbuk Box genuinely haunted? Was suggestion and expectation shaping what people experienced? Or did something else keep this strange little cabinet at the center of paranormal culture for years?

Topics Covered

• Dybbuk Box
• Kevin Mannis
• Haunted objects
• Haunted wine cabinet
• Portland, Oregon
• Paranormal history
• Cursed objects
• Dybbuk folklore
• Modern hauntings
• Reported paranormal activity
• Nightmares and shadow figures
• Haunted object investigations
• Paranormal legends
• Unexplained encounters

SEO Keywords

Dybbuk Box, Dybbuk Box story, Dybbuk Box haunting, Kevin Mannis, haunted Dybbuk Box, haunted object, cursed object, haunted wine cabinet, Portland Oregon haunted object, paranormal history, modern haunting, dybbuk folklore, haunted objects, paranormal activity, shadow figures, unexplained experiences, paranormal legends, true paranormal story, paranormal podcast, ghost podcast, State of the Unknown, Robert Barber

Support the show

Support State of the Unknown

If you enjoy the show and would like to help support it, you can become a Sasquatch Supporter for $3 a month. Your support helps cover the costs of researching and producing the show, website hosting, distribution, and helping more people discover State of the Unknown.

Membership is completely optional, and the show remains free for everyone.

Become a Sasquatch Supporter on Patreon

🔍 New episodes every Tuesday
🌐 Visit stateoftheunknown.com for show notes and to submit your own story.
📬 Questions, theories, or story ideas? Reach out at [email protected] or @stateoftheunknownpodcast.

Some stories don’t stay buried.
We go looking anyway.

A quiet home in Atchison, Kansas. A nursery that never seemed empty. Scratches appearing on skin. Footsteps in empty rooms. Toys moving without explanation.

The Sallie House became one of the best-known haunting cases in the Midwest after a family living there reported a series of increasingly disturbing paranormal experiences.

In this episode of State of the Unknown, host Robert Barber examines the story of the Sallie House haunting as it was reported by the people who lived through it.

The family described cold spots, unexplained sounds, moving objects, apparitions, and physical scratches that appeared without an obvious cause. As the activity continued, the house became the focus of paranormal investigators and eventually one of the most recognizable haunted locations in Kansas.

But how much of the Sallie House story can actually be documented? What came directly from witnesses? And how much of the legend grew after the family left?

This episode looks at the reported haunting, the investigations that followed, and the folklore surrounding one of America’s most enduring haunted-house stories.

Topics Covered

• Sallie House
• Sallie House haunting
• Atchison, Kansas
• Kansas ghost stories
• Haunted houses
• Paranormal activity
• Apparitions
• Unexplained scratches
• Moving objects
• Cold spots
• Paranormal investigations
• Midwest hauntings
• True ghost stories
• Unexplained encounters

SEO Keywords

Sallie House, Sallie House haunting, Sallie House Kansas, Atchison Kansas haunting, haunted house Kansas, Kansas ghost story, paranormal activity, haunted house, unexplained scratches, ghost sightings, apparitions, cold spots, moving objects, paranormal investigation, Midwest haunting, true haunting, American ghost stories, unexplained encounters, paranormal podcast, ghost podcast, State of the Unknown, Robert Barber

Support the show

Support State of the Unknown

If you enjoy the show and would like to help support it, you can become a Sasquatch Supporter for $3 a month. Your support helps cover the costs of researching and producing the show, website hosting, distribution, and helping more people discover State of the Unknown.

Membership is completely optional, and the show remains free for everyone.

Become a Sasquatch Supporter on Patreon

🔍 New episodes every Tuesday
🌐 Visit stateoftheunknown.com for show notes and to submit your own story.
📬 Questions, theories, or story ideas? Reach out at [email protected] or @stateoftheunknownpodcast.

Some stories don’t stay buried.
We go looking anyway.

On the fourth floor of Wilson Hall at Ohio University is Room 428, a dorm room that has become the center of one of the university’s most enduring ghost stories.

For decades, students have repeated stories about footsteps behind the door, lights turning on when the room was supposedly empty, and a student whose experiences there helped turn Room 428 into campus legend.

In this episode of State of the Unknown, host Robert Barber explores the haunting of Room 428 at Ohio University as the story has been passed down over the years.

What happened inside Wilson Hall? Which parts of the story can actually be confirmed? And how did one dorm room in Athens, Ohio become one of the most famous pieces of paranormal folklore on an American college campus?

This episode examines the reported disturbances, the legend surrounding Room 428, and the line between documented history and the stories generations of Ohio University students have continued to tell.

Topics Covered

• Room 428
• Wilson Hall
• Ohio University
• Athens, Ohio
• Ohio University ghost stories
• Haunted dorm rooms
• College campus hauntings
• Paranormal activity
• Unexplained footsteps
• Haunted universities
• Campus folklore
• Midwest ghost stories
• Paranormal legends
• Unexplained encounters

SEO Keywords

Room 428, Ohio University Room 428, Wilson Hall Room 428, Wilson Hall haunting, Ohio University haunting, Ohio University ghost story, Athens Ohio haunting, haunted dorm room, haunted college dorm, college ghost story, university haunting, haunted university, campus ghost story, campus folklore, paranormal activity, unexplained footsteps, Midwest haunting, true ghost story, paranormal podcast, ghost podcast, State of the Unknown, Robert Barber

Support the show

Support State of the Unknown

If you enjoy the show and would like to help support it, you can become a Sasquatch Supporter for $3 a month. Your support helps cover the costs of researching and producing the show, website hosting, distribution, and helping more people discover State of the Unknown.

Membership is completely optional, and the show remains free for everyone.

Become a Sasquatch Supporter on Patreon

🔍 New episodes every Tuesday
🌐 Visit stateoftheunknown.com for show notes and to submit your own story.
📬 Questions, theories, or story ideas? Reach out at [email protected] or @stateoftheunknownpodcast.

Some stories don’t stay buried.
We go looking anyway.