By Tim Binnall
Classic Bigfoot cases, the story of a talking mongoose, and last summer's Thai cave rescue that captivated the world were among the topics explored on Coast to Coast AM this week. And, here at the C2C website, we told you about a forthcoming Flat Earth cruise, new developments in the search for ET life, and an eerie image captured by a home security system. Check out our round-up of highlights from the past week ... In Coast You Missed It.
One of the more bizarre tales we've heard in quite some time was recounted by author Tim Swartz on Wednesday night's program when he detailed the case of a talking mongoose named Gef. The truly strange account, he explained, dates back to a series of tabloid stories in the 1930s which reported on a talking mongoose living on the Isle of Man. The fantastic creature proved to be something of a sensation at the time and sparked considerable debate centered around whether it was a genuine talking creature, perhaps imbued with a spirit of some kind, or an elaborate prank.
The controversial Flat Earth conspiracy popped up in the news again this week with the announcement that there will be a cruise for fans of the infamous idea next year. Snickering skeptics were quick to point out a rather ironic aspect of the planned event in that nautical charts and navigational tools reflect that the Earth is round and not flat. Meanwhile, we may have a new moon hoax on our hands as an anomaly hunter noticed something odd about China's celebrated Chang'e 4 landing which led him to suspect that the entire mission has been an elaborate ruse.
In a riveting edition of Coast to Coast AM, investigator David Paulides returned to the program on Monday night with new accounts of strange disappearances as well as Bigfoot accounts dating back hundreds of years. Regarding perplexing vanishing cases, he specifically spoke about aircraft that go missing under unusual circumstances, such as a plane that crashed into Mount Rainier, but none of the passengers' bodies were ever recovered. On the topic of Sasquatch, Paulides shared a number of classic newspaper accounts of 'wild men' reports and instances of giant skeletons said to have been found buried in various parts of the United States.
An amazing potential ghost picture appeared online this week courtesy of a mother in Atlanta who believes that her home security system photographed the spirit of her late son. Jennifer Hodge could not believe her eyes when a motion-activated camera in her kitchen was triggered by what it thought was an intruder and snapped an image of the scene. Much to her amazement, the photo showed a rather distinct figure standing in the room and it bore an uncanny resemblance to her son who had passed away two years ago. Chillingly, when Hodge and her daughter went to investigate the situation, there was no one there.
Australian reporter Liam Cochrane provided a fascinating first-hand look at one of 2018's biggest stories on Tuesday night's program as he recalled his experience covering the dramatic cave rescue of the Thai soccer team this past summer. He revealed some remarkable insights that he learned while spending time at one of the entrances of the cave during the crisis and interacting with local officials, rescue workers, and the terrified parents of the trapped children. Cochrane's observations painted a vivid picture of not only the harrowing conditions inside the cave, but also the incredible rescue of the team.
The search for intelligent extraterrestrials out in space continues to be a hot topic among scientists and a pair of developments on that front made news this week. First, SETI unveiled a new online database which tracks all of the various attempts made by astronomers to locate signs of alien life and provided a stark reminder of just how exhaustive the quest has been over the last few decades. Later in the week, an astronomer from Harvard doubled down on his assertion that the mysterious interstellar object known as Oumuamua could be alien in nature and argued for a more rigorous approach to looking for signs of possible 'dead' ET craft throughout the universe.
Coast Insiders can check out all this week's shows as well as the last five years of C2C programs in our enormous archive. Not a Coast Insider yet? Sign up today.