In 1903, the tiny town of Van Meter, Iowa, was terrified by reports of a strange winged creature unlike anything anyone had ever seen. Witnesses claimed it had glowing eyes, enormous wings, and even a bright light shining from a horn on its forehead. Was it a giant bird, an unknown animal, or something even stranger? Join Tess as we explore one of America's oldest cryptid mysteries: The Van Meter Visitor.

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What if millions of video games were buried in the desert? For decades, people thought it was just a strange rumor. Then, in 2014, archaeologists dug into a New Mexico landfill and uncovered a real-life gaming mystery. Discover the story of Atari, the infamous E.T. video game, the Video Game Crash of 1983, and the treasure hunt that proved one of gaming's wildest legends was true.

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In 1988, one of the most famous places in America seemed doomed. Massive fires swept through Yellowstone National Park, turning forests black, filling the sky with smoke, and terrifying visitors and rangers alike. People thought the park might never recover. But the truth behind the Yellowstone fires is more surprising than most people know. In this episode, we explore the real stories of firefighters, trapped tourists, exploding trees, wildlife survival, and how one of the worst fire seasons in history actually changed science forever.

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A giant shark nicknamed Rosie sat abandoned inside an old wildlife park aquarium for years. People explored the creepy building, took photos beside her huge body, and shared stories online. But who was Rosie? Why was she left there? And how did an old shark become one of the internet’s strangest abandoned mysteries?

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In 1913, relentless rains caused the Yangtze River to overflow, flooding entire villages and leaving families stranded for weeks. With no warning systems and limited resources, people relied on courage, quick thinking, and each other to survive. This episode shares real moments from one of history’s lesser-known floods—and the strength it took to rebuild afterward.

A real river in the Amazon is hot enough to boil… with no volcano nearby.
The Shanay-Timpishka has stunned scientists, but local communities have respected it for generations. Is it geothermal energy or something we still don’t fully understand?

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This week on The Mystery Kids Podcast, we explore the unbelievable true story of Mehran Karimi Nasseri, the man who lived inside Charles de Gaulle Airport for 18 years after losing his travel documents. His bizarre life later inspired the movie The Terminal—but the real story is even stranger than Hollywood.

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A peaceful mountain.
A warning no one expected.
And an explosion that changed everything.

On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted sideways, flattening forests, darkening skies, and reshaping the land forever.

It wasn’t just a disaster, it was a reminder that nature is powerful, unpredictable, and always alive.

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Some shipwrecks are fully understood—torpedoes, storms, and icebergs explain exactly what happened.

⚓ Titanic struck an iceberg
🌪️ Edmund Fitzgerald was lost in a storm
🚢 USS Indianapolis was hit by torpedoes

But other ships leave behind questions…

👻 A crew that vanished without a trace
📡 A distress call followed by silence
🌊 Entire ships that disappeared into the ocean

First, the known stories…
then the mysteries that still don’t have answers.

🌍 Because the ocean doesn’t just tell stories we understand, it hides ones we’re still trying to solve.

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Deep in the mountains of Mongolia and Russia, people have reported sightings of something strange for centuries…

The Almas.

Not quite human. Not quite animal.

Witnesses say they walk upright, watch from a distance, and disappear in seconds.

Some believe they could be a lost branch of ancient humans—still living in the wild today.

Others think it’s just a legend.

But one thing is certain…

The stories won’t stop.

👣 Would you follow the footprints… or run?

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