By Tim Binnall
This past week on Coast to Coast AM, we learned about monstrous creatures and alien contactees as well as a possible message from beyond the grave sent by Harry Houdini. And, of course, we celebrated Halloween with another installment of our annual 'Ghost to Ghost AM' special. Here at the C2C website, we told you about a potential 'gargoyle' skull discovered in Puerto Rico, some 'mystery music' that has been keeping people in northern New Jersey up all night, and a puzzling cloud photographed on Mars. Check out our round-up of C2C highlights from the past week ... In Coast You Missed It.
As is tradition, C2C transformed into 'Ghost to Ghost AM' on Halloween night for a celebration of all things spooky and a showcase of listeners' chilling tales. Among the compelling calls this year were the story of a dog that seemingly encountered a poltergeist-like spirit and an amazing account of a terrifying creature with "matted fur, black glistening eyes, and fangs" that was spotted peering through a woman's window. Another hair-raising tale involved a man who felt compelled to journey to a mountain near his home and subsequently discovered a dead body!
Meanwhile, one odd story that captured the imagination of the internet this week was a weird-looking cloud spotted lingering in the atmosphere of Mars by the European Space Agency. Although the organization offered a pretty solid scientific explanation for how the vapor was formed, their reasoning fell on deaf ears in some quarters as conspiracy-minded observers argued that it wasn't a cloud at all. Instead, they proposed, it was a 'plume of smoke' coming from a volcano that just so happened to be near the formation.
Creepy creatures and contactees were the topic of discussion on Sunday night's program featuring prolific Fortean researcher Nick Redfern. Regarding oddities such as werewolves, devil dogs, and giant cats, he mused that these beasts appear to be connected with ancient sites and burial grounds. On the subject of those who claimed to have been contacted by ETs back in the 1950's, Redfern detailed how these individuals often found themselves the subject of government surveillance in the United States and the UK, because they portrayed the 'space brothers' as being akin to communists.
Speaking of strange beasts, in an update on a bizarre story we told you about earlier this summer, a group of 'gargoyle hunters' in Puerto Rico claimed to have recovered the remains of a fearsome flying creature which had feasted on the chickens and roosters of unfortunate farmers. Known as the 'Gargola de Barceloneta,' the mysterious predator popped up in the headlines again this week after a video appeared online purportedly showing the skull of the 'monster,' which had allegedly been found in a cave alongside the bones of a number of other animals.
Did Harry Houdini try to contact to his wife from the 'other side'? That tantalizing question was explored by paranormal researcher Professor Slim King on Tuesday night's program during a discussion on magic and famous magicians. He recounted the story of how the famed entertainer promised his wife that he would send a message to her in the event that he died first and how the two had developed an elaborate code to ensure that she was not being fooled by a faux psychic. Amazingly, according to King, Houdini's widow visited a medium after his passing and did, indeed, receive the coded transmission.
And, finally, when it comes to 'mystery sound' cases, a story this week out of northern New Jersey may be the most maddening account we've heard in quite some time. Residents in a number of towns along the Delaware River say that they've been tormented for weeks by the muffled music wafting across the water and playing for hours on end throughout the night. Per usual, authorities are baffled by where the sound is coming from and nobody can figure out the words to the music, which, we imagine, must be pretty annoying when you're up at 3 AM listening to it.
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.