BALLOON BOY
American Hysteria12 Touko 2025

BALLOON BOY

In 2009, the news reported live as a six-year-old boy careened through the air at 7,000 feet trapped inside a homemade balloon craft. Millions tuned into the harrowing saga, but once the balloon finally hit the ground, no little boy was found inside. Details then emerged that seemed to indicate it was all a hoax created by a family as part of a PR stunt for a reality TV show. On this episode, we explore the story of Balloon Boy, ask whether the event was indeed a hoax, and look at the early history of the hot air ballooning craze in the 18th and 19th centuries where hoaxes and wild spectacles were a foundational part of the emerging scientific field. Become a Patron⁠ to support our show and get early ad-free episodes and bonus content Or subscribe to American Hysteria on ⁠Apple Podcasts⁠ Leave us a message on our Urban Legends Hotline at ⁠americanhysteria.com⁠ Sound Designer and Associate Producer: ⁠Riley Swedelius-Smith⁠ Producer and Editor: ⁠Miranda Zickler⁠ Voice Actor: ⁠Will Rogers⁠ Written, Produced, and Hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jaksot(287)

QUACKERY

QUACKERY

Gwyneth Paltrow’s Lifestyle-brand ‘Goop’ and the expensive products it peddles are just the newest in a long line of medical quackery leading back to the 1800s. America has a long history with selling...

1 Heinä 201938min

COOTIES (mini episode)

COOTIES (mini episode)

We all remember the very real threat of cooties, a contractable playground malady that developed out of the adult fear of germs. Cooties have long acted as a tool of kiddy quarantine as well as a tool...

24 Kesä 201912min

GERMS

GERMS

In a real sense, germs are our only modern predator and they are invisible and impossible to detect; what could be scarier? America has adjusted to the threat of germs by not only working toward cures...

17 Kesä 201934min

GRIEFBOTS (mini episode)

GRIEFBOTS (mini episode)

American Hysteria presents the AFTER SHOCK, a follow-up minisode to the main episode before it, basically The Shit They Didn't Show or From The Cutting Room Floor. We'll cover one interesting story ev...

10 Kesä 201915min

TALKING TO THE DEAD

TALKING TO THE DEAD

For the season two premiere, we are exploring the rich American history of Spiritualism, a massive 80-year trend of popular culture lasting from the Civil War to the Jazz age in which mediums began sp...

3 Kesä 201931min

Presenting American Hysteria: Season Two

Presenting American Hysteria: Season Two

Join us next week, Monday, June 3rd, for the premiere of season two where we cover the creepy, sexy, gross, and surprisingly political American movement of Talking to the Dead. Find out what more you ...

27 Touko 20192min

BELIEVING IN THE BLAIR WITCH (mini episode)

BELIEVING IN THE BLAIR WITCH (mini episode)

This is the 20 year anniversary of one of my favorite movies of all time, The Blair Witch Project, a movie that masqueraded as real found footage of three college students who went missing in the wood...

6 Touko 201916min

THE MANDELA EFFECT (mini episode)

THE MANDELA EFFECT (mini episode)

Our culture, our society, our very sense of self, relies heavily on a faith in our memories as perfectly accurate. But what if our memories aren’t as reliable as we think? What if we can recall vividl...

22 Huhti 201913min

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