X-UMED

On January 15, 1919, one of the strangest disasters in American history hit Boston’s North End.

A massive steel storage tank holding more than two million gallons of molasses suddenly burst apart, sending a towering wave of molasses through the neighborhood at an estimated 35 miles per hour.

Buildings were destroyed. People and horses were swept away. Rescuers became trapped themselves. And when the molasses began to cool and thicken, escaping became even harder.

But the disaster didn’t come without warning.

For years, the tank leaked. Residents heard strange groans, bangs, and popping sounds coming from its walls. Rivets failed. Complaints were made. And instead of addressing the growing danger, the company kept filling the tank.

This week on X-UMED, Lisa and Sam dig into the Great Molasses Flood of 1919—what caused the tank to fail, what witnesses experienced when millions of gallons of molasses tore through Boston, the brutal rescue and cleanup efforts, the company’s attempt to blame sabotage, and the massive legal battle that followed.

It sounds almost ridiculous until you realize just how deadly it was.

Twenty-one people lost their lives, around 150 were injured, and Boston would never look at industrial safety quite the same way again.

Sources

SOURCES & FURTHER READING

• Boston Public Library — “Boston’s Great Molasses Flood”

• Smithsonian Magazine — “Without Warning, Molasses Surged Over Boston 100 Years Ago”

• Smithsonian Magazine — “The Sticky Science Behind the Deadly Boston Molasses Disaster”

• Stephen Puleo — Dark Tide: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919 (Beacon Press)

• Boston Daily Globe / Boston Globe archival reporting on the January 1919 disaster

• Contemporary Boston newspaper accounts and photographs preserved in the Boston Public Library collections

For centuries, explorers crossed jungles, climbed mountains, starved, fought, killed, and died searching for El Dorado — the legendary lost city of gold.

There was just one problem.

El Dorado wasn't originally a city.

The legend began with the Muisca people of present-day Colombia and stories of a remarkable ceremony involving a ruler covered in gold dust, a raft, sacred offerings, and Lake Guatavita.

Then the Europeans heard about it.

A golden man became a golden king. A golden king became a golden kingdom. And eventually, El Dorado became an entire city overflowing with unimaginable wealth.

What followed was one of history's greatest treasure hunts.

In this episode of X-UMED, Sam takes Lisa through the strange history behind El Dorado — from the Muisca ceremony that helped inspire the legend to brutal Spanish expeditions, attempts to drain Lake Guatavita, Lope de Aguirre's disastrous journey, Sir Walter Raleigh's obsession with finding the legendary kingdom, and the remarkable golden raft discovered centuries later.

Was El Dorado ever really out there?

Or did hundreds of years of greed and exaggeration turn one very real ceremony into one of the greatest legends in history?

SOURCES

• Sir Walter Raleigh — The Discovery of Guiana (1596) — Excellent primary source for how the El Dorado story evolved into the supposed golden city of Manoa and Raleigh’s 1595 expedition. The full historical text is available free through Project Gutenberg and the Library of Congress.
• Library of Congress — The Discovery of Guiana, and the Journal of the Second Voyage Thereto — Useful because it includes Raleigh’s El Dorado account and his journal from the disastrous 1617–1618 return expedition. Library of Congress digital copy
• Adolph F. A. Bandelier — The Gilded Man (El Dorado) (1893) — Older scholarship, but useful for tracing the original “gilded man” tradition, the Muisca, Lake Guatavita, and how the story changed as Europeans repeated it. It is available through Project Gutenberg's El Dorado collection.
• 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica — “El Dorado” — Handy historical overview of the progression from a gilded ruler → Manoa → an entire fabulous golden country, along with the major expeditions by Ordaz, Orellana, von Hutten, Quesada and Raleigh. Read the historical Britannica entry.
• University of Pennsylvania — Online Books Page: Walter Raleigh — Good gateway to additional digitized editions of Raleigh's original 1596 Discoverie, including the early printed text and academic-hosted copies. UPenn Online Books Page
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Deep within Connecticut's Dark Entry Forest lies the abandoned settlement of Dudley Town—a place surrounded by tales of curses, madness, and paranormal encounters.

In this episode, Lisa and Samantha investigate the history behind the legend, following the story from colonial Connecticut all the way back to Tudor England. Together they examine the famous Dudley family, mysterious tragedies, the town's decline, and how folklore eventually transformed Dudley Town into one of America's best-known haunted locations.

History, folklore, and the paranormal collide in one of New England's most enduring mysteries

Sources

• Cornwall Historical Society – History of Dudleytown

https://www.cornwallhistoricalsociety.org/

• Connecticut State Library – Colonial Connecticut History

https://ctstatelibrary.org/

• National Park Service – Colonial New England History

https://www.nps.gov/

• Encyclopaedia Britannica

- Dudley Family

- Edmund Dudley

- John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland

- Lady Jane Grey

- Queen Mary I

- Queen Elizabeth I

https://www.britannica.com/

• Historic UK – The Tudors

https://www.historic-uk.com/

• History Hit – Tudor England

https://www.historyhit.com/

• Dan Aykroyd Playboy interview (1993), widely cited in later Dudley Town articles discussing his statement about the location.

• Various historical newspapers, folklore collections, and Connecticut ghost story archives covering Dudley Town and its legends.

Most people think of Lake Erie as a summer vacation destination. Beaches. Fishing. Cedar Point.

But beneath those waters lies one of North America's strangest lakes.

In this episode of Exhumed, Sam and Lisa dive into the dark history of Lake Erie—from hundreds of shipwrecks and the Battle of Lake Erie to haunted lighthouses, phantom ships, mysterious lights, ice tsunamis, disappearing aircraft, the infamous Lake Erie Triangle, and the legendary lake monster known as Bessie.

Along the way they explore why this shallow Great Lake has earned a reputation as one of the deadliest inland bodies of water on Earth, how pollution nearly killed the lake in the 1960s, and why Native traditions warned of dangerous spirits beneath its waters long before Europeans arrived.

Is Lake Erie truly haunted...

...or is it simply one of nature's greatest psychological horror stories?

Decide for yourself.

• Jeffrey M. Reutter. Lake Erie: Past, Present, and Future. Encyclopedia of Water (2019). Covers Lake Erie's formation, shallow depth, productivity, pollution history, and restoration.
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — Historical Lake Erie LAMP (Lakewide Action and Management Plan) Reports. Pollution history, contaminants, fish advisories, and restoration effor
• Folklore of Lake Erie. University Press of Mississippi.
  • Native Erie traditions
  • Lighthouse ghost stories
  • UFO legends
  • Lake Erie monster traditions
  • Phantom lights
  • Regional folklore collections
  • Folklore of Lake Erie – "Nuclear Plant Spawns Mutant Monsters: Bessie, Blinky, and the Lake Erie Chomper."
  • Historical reports of Bessie summarized in Lake Erie references.
  • Jeffrey M. Reutter – Lake Erie: Past, Present, and Future. Covers industrial pollution, the environmental movement, and the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement.
  • U.S. EPA Lake Erie LAMP Reports.
  • NOAA Great Lakes resources (wave and ice dynamics)
  • Lake Erie wave research and buoy data
  • National Museum of the Great Lakes
  • Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum
  • Battle of Lake Erie historical records (U.S. National Park Service / Perry's Victory)
  • Marblehead Lighthouse (Ohio Department of Natural Resources)
  • Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association
  • Folklore of Lake Erie (Erielhonan / Erie Nation history)
  • ALL IMAGES AI GENERATED

Forget everything Hollywood taught you about zombies.

Long before George Romero and The Walking Dead, cultures around the world told terrifying stories about the dead returning to walk among the living. Haitian zombies controlled by Bokors. Norse Draugr guarding treasure and terrorizing villages. Ireland's Abhartach—the revenant many believe helped inspire vampire legends. Medieval English corpses blamed for disease. And China's terrifying hopping Jiangshi that doesn't eat flesh... it steals your life force.

In this episode of X-UMED, Lisa and Sam explore the real folklore that inspired modern zombie stories, separating Hollywood fiction from centuries-old legends.

Were these creatures ghosts?
Monsters?
Vampires?
Or something even stranger?

Join us as we dig into the dark history behind the world's most famous undead.

Subscribe for weekly episodes covering forgotten history, folklore, mysteries, haunted places, archaeology, and the paranormal.

👇 What was YOUR favorite zombie?

• Davis, Wade. The Serpent and the Rainbow. Simon & Schuster, 1985.
• Davis, Wade. Passage of Darkness: The Ethnobiology of the Haitian Zombie. University of North Carolina Press, 1988.
• Harvard University Herbaria – Ethnobotany research by Wade Davis.
• The Lancet – Discussions and correspondence regarding tetrodotoxin and the Clairvius Narcisse case.
• British Medical Journal (BMJ) – Articles examining zombie folklore and tetrodotoxin theories.
• National Geographic – Features on Haitian Vodou and zombie folklore
• Karen McCarthy Brown. Mama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn.
• Elizabeth McAlister. Rara! Vodou, Power, and Performance in Haiti and Its Diaspora.
• Milo Rigaud. Secrets of Voodoo.
• Encyclopedia of Religion (Macmillan) – Vodou entries.
• Smithsonian Magazine – Articles on Haitian Vodou traditions.
• Grettis Saga (The Saga of Grettir the Strong), translated by Jesse L. Byock.
• The Sagas of Icelanders, Penguin Classics.
• Hilda Roderick Ellis Davidson. The Road to Hel.
• John Lindow. Norse Mythology: A Guide to Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs.
• Rudolf Simek. Dictionary of Northern Mythology.
• Bob Curran. The World's Most Bizarre Ghost Stories.
• Bob Curran. Vampires: A Field Guide to the Creatures That Stalk the Night.
• Dáithí Ó hÓgáin. The Lore of Ireland.
• Thomas J. Craughwell. The Greatest Stories Never Told (Abhartach tradition).
• Irish Folklore Commission archives.
• William of Newburgh. Historia Rerum Anglicarum (History of English Affairs).
• Walter Map. De Nugis Curialium.
• Orderic Vitalis. Ecclesiastical History.
• Nancy Caciola. Afterlives: The Return of the Dead in the Middle Ages.
• Claude Lecouteux. The Return of the Dead.
• J.J.M. de Groot. The Religious System of China.
• Shuen-fu Lin & Stephen Teiser (Chinese religious traditions).
• Chinese Folklore Society publications.
• Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio (Liaozhai Zhiyi) by Pu Songling.
• Chinese University of Hong Kong folklore resources.
• ALL IMAGES ARE AI GENERATED

Everyone knows the story.

A mysterious man arrives in the town of Hamelin, plays a magical pipe, leads away the rats... then returns to steal 130 children after the townspeople refuse to pay him.

Except...

That isn't the original story.

The oldest records never mention rats.

They simply record that on June 26, 1284, 130 children left Hamelin and never returned.

More than 700 years later, historians still don't know what happened.

In this episode of X-UMED, Lisa and Sam investigate one of history's greatest unsolved mysteries.

Was the Pied Piper:

• A medieval recruiter?
• A kidnapper?
• A religious leader?
• Death itself?
• A fairy?
• Or was there never a Piper at all?

We'll explore the real history behind the legend, visit the surviving monuments in Hamelin, examine medieval records, and separate fact from folklore.

Some mysteries never die...

SOURCES-

• Hamelin Town Records (Rats Book / Ratsbuch)
• Lüneburg Manuscript (c. 1440)
• Heinrich von Herford (Chronicon)
• Zimmerische Chronik (Count Froben Christoph von Zimmern, 1565)
• Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
• Robert Browning – The Pied Piper of Hamelin
• Jack Zipes
• Maria Tatar
• Wolfgang Mieder
• Jürgen Udolph (migration theory and East German colonization)
• Hans Dobbertin
• Mike Dash
• Katharine Briggs
• Claude Lecouteux
• Museum Hameln – especially the exhibits on the 16th-century gate stone, the early written sources, and the evolution of the legend.
• City of Hameln (official site) – summaries of the major historical theories, including the medieval eastward migration ("locator") theory and the fact that the rat story appears to have been added later.
• Library of Congress – Robert Browning's The Pied Piper of Hamelin with Kate Greenaway's illustrations (public domain).
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AHameln_Rattenf%C3%A4ngerhaus_1900.jpg?utm_source=chatgpt.com
• ALL IMAGES GENERATED BY AI

Did the U.S. government secretly transport alien bodies to Ohio after the Roswell crash?

In this episode of X-UMED, Sam and Lisa dig into one of America's most enduring UFO conspiracies: Hangar 18 at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

From Project Blue Book and the Roswell Incident to eyewitness accounts, the mysterious Blue Room, Senator Barry Goldwater, Bob Lazar, and the famous 1966 Portage County UFO chase, we explore the stories that have kept Ohio at the center of UFO mythology for nearly eighty years.

Was Wright-Patterson simply home to the Air Force's official UFO investigations... or was it where recovered alien technology and extraterrestrial bodies were secretly stored?

We examine the official explanations, the witness testimony, and the conspiracy theories that refuse to die.

Then we ask the biggest question of all...

If aliens really visited Earth... why does Ohio keep showing up?

• The Roswell Report (U.S. Air Force)
• Project Blue Book Archive (National Archives)
• FBI – The Vault: UFO Files
• CIA Reading Room – UFO Documents
• UAP Records Collection (U.S. National Archives)
• History – Does Hangar 18, Legendary Alien Warehouse, Exist?
• Wright-Patterson AFB – 5 Little Known Facts About Wright-Patt
• The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force
• Roswell Daily Record Archives
• The Roswell Report (USAF
• NICAP – Portage County UFO Chase
• Project Blue Book Case File – Ravenna/Mantua, Ohio (April 17, 1966)
• ORE Ohio – Portage County UFO Chase
• The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects
• All images AI generated

They say one family hid inside a sea cave along the coast of Scotland... ambushing travelers, murdering them, and surviving through cannibalism for decades.

But did any of it actually happen?

This week on X-UMED, Lisa tells Samantha the disturbing legend of Sawney Bean—the infamous cannibal clan said to have inspired horror classics like The Hills Have Eyes, Wrong Turn, and even parts of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

We follow the legend from Alexander "Sawney" Bean's rejection of society, to the family's hidden cave, the disappearances of travelers, and the brutal ending ordered by King James VI.

Along the way we ask the question historians still debate today...

Was Sawney Bean a real serial killer... or centuries-old propaganda?

⚠️ Viewer discretion advised. This episode discusses murder, cannibalism, violence, torture, and historical executions.

If you enjoy dark history, forgotten mysteries, folklore, haunted places, bizarre true stories, and strange legends...

Welcome to X-UMED.

sources-

• John Nicholson, The History of Galloway (1843)
  • One of the earliest printed accounts discussing the Sawney Bean legend.
• William Roughead, Classic Crimes (1950)
  • Examines the legend and its place in Scottish criminal folklore.
• Sabine Baring-Gould, The Book of Were-Wolves (1865)
  • References Sawney Bean while discussing folklore surrounding cannibalism and monstrous legends.
• George Chalmers, Caledonia (1807–1824)
  • Useful for historical background on Scotland during the period.

• Michael Lynch,
  Scotland: A New History
  • Excellent background on sixteenth-century Scotland and the reign of James VI of Scotland.
• Rosalind K. Marshall,
  Scottish Queens, 1034–1714
  • Context for Scottish society and politics during the alleged time period.

• Bennane Cave
  (sometimes called Snib's Cave or Tramp's Cave)
• Balcreuchan Port
• Ordnance Survey
  Historic maps showing the location labeled as "Sawney Bean's Cave."

• Mike Dash,
  "Sawney Bean"
  Smithsonian Magazine
• Historic UK
  The Legend of Sawney Bean
• Undiscovered Scotland
  Sawney Bean and Bennane Cave

Although no filmmaker has officially credited Sawney Bean as the sole inspiration, the legend is frequently cited as influencing:

• The Hills Have Eyes
• Wrong Turn

Many film historians also note similarities with:

• Ed Gein
• The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

summary

Explore the mysterious world of mermaids, sea monsters, and underwater legends. Delve into historical sightings, ancient art, and the possibility of extraterrestrial or mythical origins of these water beings.

Sources

Mermaids: The Body Found – Mermaids: The Body Found
NOAA Official Statement on Mermaids – National Ocean Service
Behind the Hoax: Animal Planet’s Mermaids – Discovery Communications Press Materials
The History of Mockumentaries in Television – Smithsonian Magazine

P.T. Barnum’s Fiji Mermaid – P. T. Barnum Exhibition Archives
Fiji Mermaid Analysis – Smithsonian Institution
Sideshows and Hoaxes in 19th Century America – Library of Congress Archives

1493 Voyage Logs – Christopher Columbus Journals
1614 Account of a Mermaid – John Smith Writings
1830 Benbecula Mermaid Sighting – Scottish Folklore Archives
Mermaid Sightings Throughout History – British Library

ANCIENT MYTHOLOGY & ORIGINS

Atargatis: The First Mermaid – Atargatis Temple Records
Greek Sirens Mythology – Sirens (Homeric Texts)
The Odyssey – Primary Source on Sirens
Roman & Syrian Fish-Goddess Worship – Ancient History Encyclopedia

SIRENS (BIRD VS MERMAID CONFUSION)

Sirens in Greek Myth – Theoi Greek Mythology
Transformation of Sirens into Mermaid Imagery – Classical Studies Journals
Medieval Art Depictions of Sirens – European Manuscript Archives

CAVE PAINTINGS & HIEROGLYPHICS

Ancient Egyptian Fish-Human Depictions – The British Museum Collections
Prehistoric Cave Art Interpretations – UNESCO Archives
Mythological Creatures in Early Human Art – Journal of Archaeological Science

AQUATIC APE THEORY

Aquatic Ape Hypothesis – Aquatic Ape Hypothesis
Research & Criticism – Nature Journal / Scientific American
Elaine Morgan’s Work on Human Evolution – Elaine Morgan Publications

MODERN SIGHTINGS & OCEAN MYSTERIES

Kiryat Yam Mermaid Reports – Israeli News Archives
Ocean Sightings & Unexplained Marine Encounters – National Geographic
Deep Sea Unknown Species Studies – NOAA Research

GENERAL FOLKLORE & LEGENDS

Global Mermaid Legends – Encyclopaedia Britannica
Folklore of Water Spirits – International Folklore Society Journals
Mermaids in Cultural Mythology – Oxford Academic

All images are AI generated

summary

Exploring the mysteries of Atlantis through historical sources, myths, and modern theories, this episode delves into the legendary lost civilization, its possible locations, and the intriguing evidence and speculations surrounding it.

Sources:

PRIMARY ANCIENT SOURCES

Plato" target="_blank">https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Plat.%20Tim.">Plato - Timaeus
Plato" target="_blank">https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Plat.%20Criti.">Plato - Critias
Herodotus" target="_blank">https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.">Herodotus - Histories

ATLANTIS / HISTORICAL ANALYSIS

K.T" target="_blank">https://www.jstor.org/stable/624086">K.T. Frost (1913) - The Critias and Minoan Crete
Galanopoulos & Bacon - Atlantis: The Truth Behind the Legend
National" target="_blank">https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/minoan-civilization">National Geographic - Minoan Civilization / Santorini
Journal" target="_blank">https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/journal-of-volcanology-and-geothermal-research">Journal of Volcanology & Geothermal Research - Thera eruption studies

Association" target="_blank">https://www.edgarcayce.org">Association for Research and Enlightenment (ARE)
Edgar" target="_blank">https://www.edgarcayce.org/the-readings/ancient-mysteries/atlantis/">Edgar Cayce Atlantis Readings
Sidney Kirkpatrick - Edgar Cayce: An American Prophet

BIMINI ROAD / UNDERWATER CLAIMS

NOAA" target="_blank">https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/bimini-road.html">NOAA - Bimini Road explanation
Journal" target="_blank">https://www.jcronline.org">Journal of Coastal Research
USGS" target="_blank">https://pubs.usgs.gov">USGS - Eugene Shinn research

NOAA" target="_blank">https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/bermudatri.html">NOAA - Bermuda Triangle explanation
U.S" target="_blank">https://www.history.navy.mil">U.S. Navy - Flight 19 records
FAA" target="_blank">https://www.faa.gov">FAA - Aviation incident records
Lawrence Kusche - The Bermuda Triangle Mystery—Solved

*All images are AI generated