Join host Tom McKenzie on Unexplained History as we unroll one of the world's most baffling cartographic mysteries: the Piri Reis Map. Discovered in the dusty archives of Istanbul’s Topkapi Palace in 1929, this gazelle-skin chart drawn by an Ottoman Admiral in 1513 contains details that shouldn't exist.

How did Piri Reis depict the coastline of South America with such accuracy just decades after Columbus? And more chillingly, does the map truly show the coast of Antarctica free of ice, centuries before the continent was officially discovered? We examine the controversial theories of Charles Hapgood, the possibility of lost ancient civilizations, and the skeptical arguments regarding historical compilation.

Is this map a misunderstanding of geography, or evidence of a forgotten chapter in human history? Listen in to navigate the unknown.

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🎧 Unexplained History explores the myths, mysteries, and misunderstood moments that shaped our world. Hosted by Tom Mackenzie and Don Masterson. New episodes every week.
Follow us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen — and uncover the stories history tried to forget.

More at The Unexplained Company

History, Mystery, True Crime, Conspiracy, Paranormal, CIA, Cold War, Ancient Aliens, Archaeology, Unsolved, Supernatural, Tom McKenzie, Audio Drama, Storytelling, Documentaries.

This episode includes AI-generated content.

In the sands outside Baghdad, archaeologists uncovered a strange object that may challenge everything we think we know about ancient technology.

Known as the Baghdad Battery, this collection of clay jars, copper cylinders, and iron rods dates back nearly 2,000 years—and may have been capable of producing electricity long before the modern age.

In this episode of Unexplained History, we trace the discovery of the Baghdad Battery, the scientists who tested its electrical potential, and the fierce debate over its true purpose. Could ancient civilizations have used electricity for electroplating, medicine, or ritual practices? Or is this one of history’s most misunderstood artifacts?

We explore the Parthian Empire, experimental reconstructions, skeptical explanations, and fringe theories that suggest lost knowledge may have existed—and vanished—long before modern science.

Was the Baghdad Battery a revolutionary ancient invention… or a coincidence shaped by modern imagination?


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/unexplained-history--6429156/support.

🎧 Unexplained History explores the myths, mysteries, and misunderstood moments that shaped our world. Hosted by Tom Mackenzie and Don Masterson. New episodes every week.
Follow us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen — and uncover the stories history tried to forget.

More at The Unexplained Company

History, Mystery, True Crime, Conspiracy, Paranormal, CIA, Cold War, Ancient Aliens, Archaeology, Unsolved, Supernatural, Tom McKenzie, Audio Drama, Storytelling, Documentaries.

This episode includes AI-generated content.

Television and radio were once trusted voices of authority—until something began breaking through the signal.

In this episode of Unexplained History, we investigate some of the most chilling and unexplained broadcast intrusions ever recorded. From the 1977 Southern Television hijacking where a voice claiming to represent the Ashtar Galactic Command interrupted the news, to the infamous Max Headroom broadcast hijacking that stunned Chicago in 1987, these events shattered public trust in the airwaves.

We explore how pirate signals, satellite hijackings, and mysterious intruders overpowered major broadcasters, baffled engineers, and evaded authorities. Who were the people behind these intrusions? Were they pranksters, protesters, psychological provocateurs—or something stranger?

By examining Cold War paranoia, early satellite technology, official investigations, and unresolved cases, we ask a disturbing question:

If someone can hijack the signal… who really controls reality?

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/unexplained-history--6429156/support.

🎧 Unexplained History explores the myths, mysteries, and misunderstood moments that shaped our world. Hosted by Tom Mackenzie and Don Masterson. New episodes every week.
Follow us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen — and uncover the stories history tried to forget.

More at The Unexplained Company

History, Mystery, True Crime, Conspiracy, Paranormal, CIA, Cold War, Ancient Aliens, Archaeology, Unsolved, Supernatural, Tom McKenzie, Audio Drama, Storytelling, Documentaries.

This episode includes AI-generated content.

Long before farming, pottery, or metal tools, an ancient civilization may have built the world’s first known temple.

Göbekli Tepe, a 12,000-year-old megalithic site in southeastern Turkey, has forced archaeologists to rethink the very origins of human civilization. Massive T-shaped stone pillars, intricately carved with animals and symbols, were erected by hunter-gatherers thousands of years earlier than mainstream history believed possible.

In this episode of Unexplained History, we explore the mystery of Göbekli Tepe—its construction, its purpose, and why it was deliberately buried. We examine the Vulture Stone and its possible link to a cosmic catastrophe, the role of archaeoastronomy, and the researchers and alternative historians who argue this site represents lost knowledge from a forgotten age.

Was Göbekli Tepe the birthplace of organized religion? A forgotten center of ancient wisdom? Or evidence of a civilization erased from history?

Join us as we uncover why this ancient site continues to challenge everything we thought we knew about humanity’s past.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/unexplained-history--6429156/support.

🎧 Unexplained History explores the myths, mysteries, and misunderstood moments that shaped our world. Hosted by Tom Mackenzie and Don Masterson. New episodes every week.
Follow us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen — and uncover the stories history tried to forget.

More at The Unexplained Company

History, Mystery, True Crime, Conspiracy, Paranormal, CIA, Cold War, Ancient Aliens, Archaeology, Unsolved, Supernatural, Tom McKenzie, Audio Drama, Storytelling, Documentaries.

This episode includes AI-generated content.

In 1977, a British television broadcast shocked viewers with a chilling idea: Earth was facing environmental collapse, and a secret elite had already chosen an escape plan known as Alternative 3.

Framed as a serious scientific documentary, the program claimed world governments were abducting scientists and quietly establishing off-world colonies—forming what some now call a breakaway civilization.

In this episode of Unexplained History, we explore the origins of Alternative 3, the Cold War fears that made it believable, and how a single broadcast blurred the line between fiction, fear, and hidden truth.

We examine the historical context of 1970s Britain, environmental panic, secret space programs, and the long-lasting conspiracy theories surrounding Mars colonization and elite evacuation.

Was Alternative 3 merely an April Fool’s hoax gone wrong—or an early glimpse into the idea of a breakaway civilization operating beyond public knowledge?

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/unexplained-history--6429156/support.

🎧 Unexplained History explores the myths, mysteries, and misunderstood moments that shaped our world. Hosted by Tom Mackenzie and Don Masterson. New episodes every week.
Follow us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen — and uncover the stories history tried to forget.

More at The Unexplained Company

History, Mystery, True Crime, Conspiracy, Paranormal, CIA, Cold War, Ancient Aliens, Archaeology, Unsolved, Supernatural, Tom McKenzie, Audio Drama, Storytelling, Documentaries.

This episode includes AI-generated content.

Deep in the Amazon jungle, Terence McKenna claimed to find a map of time itself.In Episode 23 of Unexplained History, we take a trip to the edge of reality to explore Time Wave Zero—the controversial theory that history is not random, but a fractal pattern spiraling toward a singular point of infinite complexity.Born from intense psychedelic experiments with his brother Dennis in the 1970s, McKenna’s theory combined the ancient Chinese I Ching with advanced mathematics to predict the ebb and flow of human innovation.Join us as we decode the "Transcendental Object at the End of Time":

• The Origin: How a hallucinogenic experiment in La Chorrera sparked a theory of everything.
• The Map: Understanding "Novelty Theory" and how it eerily aligned with the fall of empires and the rise of the internet.
• The 2012 Connection: Why the timeline pointed to December 2012 (just like the Mayans) and what actually happened when the clock ran out.
• The Legacy: Genius prophecy or pattern-seeking madness? We examine the scientific critiques and the lasting impact on counterculture.

Whether you are a skeptic or a believer, this episode challenges you to look at history through a kaleidoscope.Tune in to surf the wave of novelty.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/unexplained-history--6429156/support.

🎧 Unexplained History explores the myths, mysteries, and misunderstood moments that shaped our world. Hosted by Tom Mackenzie and Don Masterson. New episodes every week.
Follow us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen — and uncover the stories history tried to forget.

More at The Unexplained Company

History, Mystery, True Crime, Conspiracy, Paranormal, CIA, Cold War, Ancient Aliens, Archaeology, Unsolved, Supernatural, Tom McKenzie, Audio Drama, Storytelling, Documentaries.

This episode includes AI-generated content.

He knew the secrets of the universe. He turned base metals into gold. And he claimed he would never die.In this episode of Unexplained History, host Tom McKenzie tracks the footsteps of the 18th century's most baffling figure: the Count of Saint Germain. Known as "The Wonderman of Europe," he dazzled the courts of Louis XV, charmed Voltaire, and baffled Casanova—all while appearing to be a man of 45 who never aged a day.Was he a master con artist running the long con? Or something far stranger?We unravel the legends surrounding the man who walked through time:

• The Claims: From dining with Alexander the Great to witnessing the Crucifixion—were these metaphors or memories?
• The Alchemy: His reputed ability to remove flaws from diamonds and transmute lead into gold.
• The "Death": Official records say he died in 1784, yet credible sightings continued for decades—from the French Revolution to modern times.
• The Theories: We examine the possibilities: Time Traveler, Vampire, Ascended Master, or the greatest charlatan who ever lived.

Tune in to meet the man who defied the laws of nature—and perhaps, death itself.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/unexplained-history--6429156/support.

🎧 Unexplained History explores the myths, mysteries, and misunderstood moments that shaped our world. Hosted by Tom Mackenzie and Don Masterson. New episodes every week.
Follow us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen — and uncover the stories history tried to forget.

More at The Unexplained Company

History, Mystery, True Crime, Conspiracy, Paranormal, CIA, Cold War, Ancient Aliens, Archaeology, Unsolved, Supernatural, Tom McKenzie, Audio Drama, Storytelling, Documentaries.

This episode includes AI-generated content.

It killed over 100 people. It was bulletproof. And it took an army to stop it.Between 1764 and 1767, the rural province of Gévaudan in southern France became a hunting ground. Something was stalking the peasantry—a creature described by terrified eyewitnesses as far larger than a wolf, with reddish fur, a panther-like tail, and intelligence that defied nature.It didn't just kill; it decapitated its victims. The panic became so widespread that King Louis XV was forced to deploy royal troops and professional hunters to hunt down a monster that seemed unkillable.In this episode, we open the case files on history’s most terrifying real-life monster movie:

• The Reign of Terror: The gruesome timeline of attacks and the descriptions of the beast that sparked national hysteria.
• The Royal Hunt: How the King of France waged war against a single animal.
• The Suspects: Was it a super-sized wolf, an escaped hyena, a prehistoric cryptid, or something supernatural like a werewolf?
• The Human Element: Darker theories suggesting a serial killer was using an animal as a weapon.

Join us as we trek into the 18th-century French wilderness to find the truth behind the legend that still haunts folklore today.Press play to confront the Beast.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/unexplained-history--6429156/support.

🎧 Unexplained History explores the myths, mysteries, and misunderstood moments that shaped our world. Hosted by Tom Mackenzie and Don Masterson. New episodes every week.
Follow us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen — and uncover the stories history tried to forget.

More at The Unexplained Company

History, Mystery, True Crime, Conspiracy, Paranormal, CIA, Cold War, Ancient Aliens, Archaeology, Unsolved, Supernatural, Tom McKenzie, Audio Drama, Storytelling, Documentaries.

This episode includes AI-generated content.

It has baffled the world’s greatest minds for 600 years. Is it a lost language, a medieval hoax, or something darker?In Episode 20 of Unexplained History, host Tom McKenzie opens the pages of the Voynich Manuscript—a centuries-old codex written in an unknown script that has never been deciphered.From the best codebreakers of World War II (the Friedmans) to modern Artificial Intelligence, every attempt to crack this puzzle has failed. The book is filled with bizarre illustrations of non-existent plants, astrological charts, and naked figures, but its meaning remains a total mystery.Join us as we attempt to decode the enigma:

• The Discovery: The journey of the manuscript from the 15th century to the hands of rare book dealer Wilfrid Voynich.
• The Science: What carbon dating and linguistic analysis tell us about the text's strange origins.
• The Theories: We weigh the evidence for a complex fraud versus theories of alchemy, occult knowledge, or even extraterrestrial contact.

Why can't we read it? And what secrets is it protecting?Tune in for a riveting investigation into the text that refuses to be read.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/unexplained-history--6429156/support.

🎧 Unexplained History explores the myths, mysteries, and misunderstood moments that shaped our world. Hosted by Tom Mackenzie and Don Masterson. New episodes every week.
Follow us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen — and uncover the stories history tried to forget.

More at The Unexplained Company

History, Mystery, True Crime, Conspiracy, Paranormal, CIA, Cold War, Ancient Aliens, Archaeology, Unsolved, Supernatural, Tom McKenzie, Audio Drama, Storytelling, Documentaries.

This episode includes AI-generated content.

It is an object that defies history. A computer built before the birth of Christ.In 1901, sponge divers off the coast of Antikythera discovered a shipwreck filled with marble statues and luxury goods. But amidst the treasure, they found a corroded lump of bronze that would change our understanding of the ancient world forever.In this episode of Unexplained History, we decode the secrets of the Antikythera Mechanism. Dating back to 100 BCE, this intricate system of gears could predict eclipses, track planetary movements, and time the Ancient Olympic Games with a precision that wouldn't be seen again for 1,500 years.Join us as we investigate:

• The Discovery: The dangerous 1901 dive and the initial confusion over the "useless" rock.
• The Technology: How modern X-ray imaging revealed a complex clockwork universe hidden inside.
• The Creators: Was this the work of Archimedes, Hipparchus, or a lost school of genius engineers?
• The "Missing Link": Why did this technology disappear, and what other advanced machines lie forgotten at the bottom of the ocean?

From the depths of the Mediterranean to the cutting edge of modern science, we explore how this "Time Lord" device challenges everything we thought we knew about human progress.Press play to unlock the secrets of the ancient world’s greatest enigma.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/unexplained-history--6429156/support.

🎧 Unexplained History explores the myths, mysteries, and misunderstood moments that shaped our world. Hosted by Tom Mackenzie and Don Masterson. New episodes every week.
Follow us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen — and uncover the stories history tried to forget.

More at The Unexplained Company

History, Mystery, True Crime, Conspiracy, Paranormal, CIA, Cold War, Ancient Aliens, Archaeology, Unsolved, Supernatural, Tom McKenzie, Audio Drama, Storytelling, Documentaries.

This episode includes AI-generated content.