Nine miles South of Ellensburg, somewhere along Manastash Ridge, a man calling himself Mel Waters claimed there was a hole on his property that had been used as a dumping ground for decades—and somehow never filled up. When he tried to measure it, he said he lowered nearly 80,000 feet of fishing line into the darkness without ever reaching the bottom. 

But the deeper Mel’s story went, the stranger it became. Animals refused to approach the pit. A dead dog was supposedly seen alive again. Then came claims of government intervention, missing time, impossible objects, and a second hole with properties even more disturbing than the first. In this episode of Weird Washington, we head into central Washington to follow the bizarre story that began with a late-night radio call—and became one of the Pacific Northwest’s most enduring paranormal legends. 

References

Coast to Coast AM — “UFO Disclosure & Mel’s Hole”
The original February 21, 1997 broadcast in which Art Bell introduced Mel Waters’ story and spoke with him about the alleged bottomless hole near Ellensburg.
https://www.coasttocoastam.com/alternate/amp/show/ufo-disclosure-mels-hole/

Coast to Coast AM — “The Return of Mel’s Hole”
Mel Waters’ 2002 return to the program, including his claims involving the government, the dead dog, his disappearance, and the strange second hole.
https://www.coasttocoastam.com/show/the-return-of-mels-hole/

The Seattle Times — “Expedition Seeks Paranormal Pit”
Contemporary reporting on attempts to locate the alleged hole near Manastash Ridge and investigate the legend surrounding it.
https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/20020414/melshole14m/expedition-seeks-paranormal-pit

Ellensburg Daily Record — “Getting to the Bottom of Mel’s Hole”
Local reporting examining the legend, the search for Mel Waters, and the lack of verifiable evidence that the mysterious hole ever existed.
https://www.dailyrecordnews.com/news/getting-to-the-bottom-of-mels-hole/article_d72b6a68-7ac2-11e1-b3ce-001a4bcf887a.html

Skeptoid — “Falling into Mel’s Hole”
A skeptical examination of Mel Waters’ claims, the geography surrounding Manastash Ridge, and attempts to determine whether the story could have been true.
https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4156

Mel’s Hole Archive — Original Mel Waters Recordings
Archive preserving material and audio connected with Mel Waters’ original Coast to Coast AM appearances.
https://melshole.org/

Lake Crescent is one of the most beautiful places in Washington—but in 1940, two fishermen discovered something floating on its surface that would expose a murder nearly three years old. In this episode of Weird Washington, we follow the disappearance of Hallie Illingworth, the strange condition of her body when she was finally found, and the trail of evidence that led investigators back to her husband, Monty Illingworth.

What began as a missing-person mystery became one of Washington’s most haunting true-crime cases—complete with unusual forensic evidence, a murder trial, and a legend that still lingers around the cold, dark waters of Lake Crescent.

References

HistoryLink.org — “True Crime: The Lady of the Lake”
Detailed history of Hallie Illingworth’s disappearance, recovery, identification, the investigation, and Monty Illingworth’s trial and conviction.
https://www.historylink.org/File/8599

National Park Service — Olympic National Park
Background on Lake Crescent’s geology, depth, formation, and physical characteristics.
https://www.nps.gov/olym/learn/nature/geology.htm
https://www.nps.gov/olym/planyourvisit/lake-crescent-area-brochure.htm

Historic American Buildings Survey / National Park Service — Storm King Inn, HABS No. WA-156
Historical information on Harry Brooks, the rope Monty borrowed, and the forensic evidence later used in the case.
https://npshistory.com/publications/olym/habs-wa-156.pdf

Columbia Magazine / Washington State Historical Society — “Lady of the Lake”
Historical account of the investigation, forensic evidence, prosecution, conviction, sentencing, and parole.
https://www.npshistory.com/publications/olym/c-v6n2-1992.pdf

Washington Rural Heritage / North Olympic Heritage — Illingworth Reward Poster
Archival record of Sheriff Charles W. Kemp’s reward poster seeking help identifying Hallie through her dental work.
https://www.washingtonruralheritage.org/digital/collection/nols/id/2143/

Cascade PBS — Mossback’s Northwest, “Dead people tell no tales. Or do they?”
Modern overview of the case, including Hallie’s unusual preservation, dental identification, and the rope evidence.
https://www.cascadepbs.org/mossback/2024/11/mossbacks-northwest-dead-people-tell-no-tales-or-do-they/

Richland, Washington looks like an ordinary city today—but during World War II, it became the front door to one of the most secretive projects in American history. In this episode of Weird Washington, we dig into Hanford, the B Reactor, the race to build the atomic bomb, and the strange government-built community that grew around it.

The war ended, but Hanford’s story didn’t. Decades of plutonium production, radioactive contamination, buried waste, and lingering secrecy left behind a legacy that still hangs over southeastern Washington.

References

National Park Service — “About Hanford”History of the Hanford Site, the transformation of Richland into a secret wartime community, Manhattan Project operations, and plutonium production. https://www.nps.gov/mapr/about-hanford.htm⁠

National Park Service — “B Reactor”Background on the world’s first full-scale nuclear reactor, its construction at Hanford, and the plutonium produced for the Trinity test and the Fat Man bomb dropped on Nagasaki. https://www.nps.gov/places/000/b-reactor.htm⁠

National Park Service — “Richland’s Alphabet Houses”Detailed history of Richland’s rapid wartime construction, government-owned housing, DuPont, architect Gustav Pehrson, and daily life inside the Manhattan Project’s secret city. https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/richland-s-alphabet-houses.htm⁠

National Park Service — Manhattan Project National Historical ParkHistorical information on Hanford, the communities displaced by the project, B Reactor, wartime Richland, and Hanford’s role in the development of the atomic bomb.https://www.nps.gov/mapr/index.htm⁠

U.S. Department of Energy — Hanford SiteHistorical and present-day information on Hanford’s plutonium-production mission, Cold War operations, radioactive waste, environmental contamination, and ongoing cleanup.https://www.hanford.gov/⁠

U.S. Department of Energy — Hanford Historical Photograph CollectionHistoric photographs and records documenting Hanford before, during, and after the Manhattan Project, including the former towns of Hanford and White Bluffs and the site’s nuclear facilities. https://www.energy.gov/em/articles/em-contractor-preserves-hanfords-history-through-lens-old-photos⁠

National Park Service — “Before & After Photos of Park Sites & Communities”Historic and modern photographs of Hanford and its surrounding communities, including B Reactor and other Manhattan Project-era locations. https://www.nps.gov/mapr/learn/photosmultimedia/before-and-after.htm⁠

Harry R. Truman had every chance to leave Mt. St. Helens before it erupted - and he refused. In this episode of Weird Washington, we explore Harry R. Truman, the desperate attempts to evacuate him, and the catastrophic morning that sealed his place in history.

The Man, The Mountain, & May 18th, 1980.

References

HistoryLink.org — “Truman, Harry R. (1896–1980)”
Detailed biography covering Harry Truman’s early life, his years at Spirit Lake, his lodge, his personality, his refusal to evacuate, and his death during the 1980 eruption.
https://www.historylink.org/File/22801

Shirley Rosen — Truman of St. Helens: The Man and His Mountain
Biography written by Truman’s niece and one of the primary published sources on Harry’s life, personality, family history, and connection to Spirit Lake.

U.S. Geological Survey — “1980 Cataclysmic Eruption”
Scientific timeline of the events surrounding May 18, 1980, including the earthquake, landslide, lateral blast, ash plume, pyroclastic flows, and destruction surrounding Mount St. Helens.
https://www.usgs.gov/volcanoes/mount-st-helens/science/1980-cataclysmic-eruption

U.S. Geological Survey — Mount St. Helens
Background on the volcano’s history, geology, eruptive activity, summit collapse, and the long-term effects of the 1980 eruption.
https://www.usgs.gov/volcanoes/mount-st-helens

U.S. Geological Survey — “Mount St. Helens’ 1980 Eruption Changed the Future of Volcanology”
Historical overview of the eruption, scientific monitoring, destruction caused by the blast, and the 57 people who died.
https://www.usgs.gov/news/featured-story/mount-st-helens-1980-eruption-changed-future-volcanology

U.S. Geological Survey — Earth Resources Observation and Science Center, “The Eruption”
Historical imagery and information documenting the physical transformation of Mount St. Helens and the surrounding blast zone.
https://eros.usgs.gov/earthshots/the-eruption

U.S. Forest Service
Historical information and archival photographs documenting Spirit Lake, Mount St. Helens, the surrounding national forest, and the landscape before and after the eruption.

Something strange is hiding in the Pacific Northwest.

From dark chapters of forgotten history and chilling local legends to cryptids, unexplained events, and stories that refuse to stay buried, Weird Washington digs into the mysteries lurking in our own backyard.

Some are true. Some are legend. Some have never been explained.

Welcome to Weird Washington. Things are about to get weird.