Dead Letter Office Special Announcement

Would you look at that? It’s already the end of 2023, and our second favorite annual holiday is upon us. We’re now into our 4th annual tradition of the Astonishing Legends All-Star Holiday Special, and it indeed has taken on a life of its own. This year, we’re welcoming back all of our guests from last year and being joined by a few new ones as well. This show was recorded and broadcast live on video to our Patrons at Patreon.com/astonishinglegends a few weeks ago and in fact, if you are a patron you can still access the uncensored and unedited version of it there. You’ll hear the audio from that presentation, slightly edited for length and propriety tonight. To the extent that’s possible, anyway. The Holiday Special topics are wide-ranging and generally unplanned; this year is no exception. We touched on everything from the ubiquitous UAP phenomenon to podcast production to some of our various guests’ favorite topics of the past year. Allison Jornlin talks about going on Shark Tank with her brother, and Micah Hanks invites us all to come and see the infamous Brown Mountain Lights in North Carolina for ourselves. So get the fire going, settle down under a warm blanket with some eggnog or even a holiday cocktail, and enjoy this wonderful tradition with our returning guests, Richard Hatem, Jim Harold, Micah Hanks, Paul Gledhill, and Allison Jornlin. And please join us in welcoming the hosts of the new Astonishing Legends Network podcast ‘Scared All the Time.’  Stay tuned after the closing credits for a special afterparty and toast to our other network show, ‘The Midnight Library’, and a wonderful visit from our own Tess Pfeifle. Visit our website for a lot more information on this episode.

23 Dec 20232h 2min

In Part 2 of our examination of the strange and tragic case concerning the mysterious death of Zigmund Adamski, we dive into the coal pile of odd clues and loose ends discovered by Police Constable Alan Godfrey and debate the facts from a detective’s perspective.  Was Adamski’s fate a result of extraterrestrial meddling or an unintentional homicide by blundering inlaws?  Was the death somehow connected to Godfrey’s following encounter or a case of “post hoc, ergo propter hoc” thinking?  We’ll analyze each incident in greater detail individually and look for causal connections, emphasizing Godfrey’s experience and aftermath.  We then continue with Philip Mantle’s expert insights on the circumstances and learn about the cases vexing his storied career and personal experiences.  As we attempt to reach conclusions about one of the most bizarre series of events in paranormal lore, there’s no doubt that stories like these fuel the imaginations and quest for truth for those who entertain the extraordinary. Visit our website for a lot more information on this episode.

17 Dec 20231h 59min

Zigmund Adamski, a Polish immigrant miner, left his house in Tingley, England, heading to the corner shop to buy some potatoes.  He would go missing for five days and turn up dead on a pile of coal over 25 miles away to the west in the village of Todmorden on June 11, 1980.  Police Constable Alan Godfrey was called to investigate and found puzzling clues at the scene.  No signs of foul play were detected on the body, with the only wounds being burn marks on the top of the head and a weeping wound at the base of the neck where it appeared a green salve had been applied.  Adamski’s dress shirt was missing, but in its place was a mesh undershirt he wasn’t wearing when he left.  Not only did he appear awkwardly redressed, but he seemed to have been given a crude haircut and a recent shave.  There were no signs of any disturbance in the coal pile from Adamski having crawled up it nor anyone having dragged him atop it in broad daylight at an active workplace.  Yet the most baffling clue may be that the coroner and toxicologists never identified what the green ointment was.  Most disturbing was that Adamski was found with eyes wide open, looking as though he died of sheer terror.  That may have been the end to an open and not-so-shut case, except for what happened to PC Godfrey five months later.  Around 5:00 a.m. on a wet November morning in Todmorden, Alan Godfrey was on patrol looking for stolen motorbikes when a bright, diamond-shaped object blocked the road.  Hovering about five feet off the pavement with its bottom half spinning, the craft was 20 feet wide and 14 feet high as Godfrey stopped to sketch it.  The next thing he knew, he was driving again, having gone past the craft with around 30 minutes of missing time.  While initially encouraged by his superiors to be publicly interviewed about his encounter, he would soon face ridicule from his peers and a determined effort by police administrators to ruin his career.  So, is there an extraterrestrial connection between the mysterious death of Zigmund Adamski and the close encounter of Alan Godfrey?  We’re fortunate to get some help with this investigation from eminent and esteemed UFO researcher Philip Mantle, who grew up in the Tingley area.  Mr. Mantle lays out the case that while one event may have a weird yet commonplace explanation, the seemingly connected occurrence may still be out of this world.  As we’ve always thought, the ordinary and the extraordinary are not mutually exclusive and are often found together. Visit our website for a lot more information on this episode.

10 Dec 20231h 40min

On July 3, 1975, the Ministry of Justice in Japan responded to an inquiry by Amelia Earhart researcher and investigator Major Joe Gervais. Gervais had sent a letter to the Department of Immigration and Naturalization in Tokyo, operating on the hunch that Earhart had been taken prisoner and held on Saipan during WWII but under an assumed identity. The Ministry of Justice responded, saying the woman in their custody was known to them as Irene Craigmile. This was not a name mentioned by Gervais to the Japanese authorities. So, who is Irene Craigmile? Craigmile and Earhart were acquaintances and pilots who looked similar, but photos show they are two separate people. This begs the question for the “Japanese Capture” theory of Earhart’s disappearance: who then went down with the plane that was apparently ditched near Buka Island in Papua New Guinea? Were these two women connected via some secret mission, and is the plane at Buka a version of Earhart’s Electra 10-E? These questions and evidence are just a few of the puzzle pieces of the enduring mystery of Earhart’s fateful last flight, meticulously stitched together by William “Bill” Pennington Snavely, Jr. in his latest book, Lost in Flight: Amelia Earhart, Giving Cover as a Decoy for a Spy Plane. In 2018, Bill was a guest on our show, where he outlined his research leading to a startling theory of Earhart’s plane possibly having crashed near the coast of Matsungan Island near Buka, eventually sinking to a depth of 109 feet. Two main aspects of Bill’s investigation that remain novel are that, unlike the other researchers, he calculated his flight tracking starting from the last known location and then traced backward and that his team is the only one with an aircraft to investigate whose characteristics match the Electra. Bill’s multiple expeditions to Buka have yielded intriguing evidence supporting his claim, evidence which has previously been kept under wraps due to nondisclosure agreements. However, as his research in the intervening years continued, a new hybrid theory emerged from his discoveries that may solve the disconnect between “Japanese Capture” and the wreckage at Buka. Could it be that a failed reconnaissance mission led to one of the greatest coverups in US history? Bill Snavely is now free to disclose the shocking findings he revealed in his book. Also joining us is longtime friend and fellow podcaster Chris Williamson, whose podcast Chasing Earhart and its companion book, Rabbit Hole: The Vanishing of Amelia Earhart & Fred Noonan, is the definitive interview collection. Prepare to suit up as we dive for the truth behind one of the world’s most famous and significant aviation enigmas. Visit our website for a lot more information on this episode.

25 Nov 20232h 14min

Adam Livingston moved his family from Pennsylvania to a parcel of farmland near a village then known as Smithfield, West Virginia, sometime in the 1770s. The village’s name would evolve over the years to the more pragmatic name of Middleway. However, colloquially, it would also acquire the moniker of “Clip” or “Cliptown” for the bizarre events that would transpire there. A few years before 1790, the once-thriving Livingston family would begin to endure supernatural harassment so extreme that they were beleaguered and exhausted, leaving their neighbors and visitors bewildered. According to one popular account, a mysterious Irish stranger appeared at Livingston’s door seeking shelter one dark and stormy night. Livingston provided hospitality to the weary traveler until the stranger summoned his host when fearing his death was near, begging that he send for a priest to deliver last rites. While Livingston was generous in his accommodation, being a Lutheran and having a disdain for Catholic priests, he refused to send for one. The stranger died during the night and was buried in unconsecrated ground the next day. Soon after, it seems a curse had befallen the Livingstons. Progressing as many stories of prolonged poltergeist bedevilment do, the haunting started with strange and unexplained noises about the home. Then, unseen forces would smash their crockery, light their bedding on fire, and roll great balls of fire from the hearth across the floors, causing panic. Livingston’s cattle all died, and his barn burned down. The entity’s most noteworthy destruction was making a persistent sound of clipping as if by invisible shears and leaving any family or visitor’s cloth or leather sliced, often with crescent shapes cut into them. This peculiar practice would lend the phenomenon its name, the “Wizard Clip.” While we may never know the accurate details of the happenings, something otherworldly apparently did materialize at the Livingston homestead. We can more easily explore why such mystical occurrences transmogrify into enduring folklore. To help us with that challenge, we’re joined by author and intelligence analyst Michael Kishbucher, whose recent book, The Appalachian Legend of the Wizard Clip, thoroughly investigates this early American story. Aiding in the elucidation is Appalachian folklore expert, lead researcher, and producer for Small Town Monsters Heather Moser. Cautiously pull up a chair close to the fire as we examine the obscure yet harrowing tale of “America’s first poltergeist.”  Visit our website for a lot more information on this episode.

12 Nov 20232h 1min

The Mogollon Rim in northcentral Arizona is a geological landform that spans around 200 miles east to west, demarking the southern boundary of the Colorado Plateau in the state.  This topographical feature is classified as an escarpment where wide and steeply sloping cliffs and rock masses delineate the high pine-covered plateau on the northern side, which receives cold winter temperatures and light snow from the desert-like conditions below to the south.  This transitional nature provides a habitat for significantly varying types of plants and animals.  Perhaps because of Mogollon Rim’s liminal nature, this variance is claimed by many to also extend to creatures and phenomena that dwell beyond our understanding.  Accounts and legends of UFOs, supernatural occurrences, and even its own brand of a hominin-like beast known as the “Mogollon Monster” are familiar to the territory.  The supernatural element became all too real for our guest, Jay, who endured a terrifying encounter while working as a wildlife biologist for the Arizona Game and Fish Department.  While studying black bears in the rugged canyons and terrain of the Rim, Jay encountered an impossible stranger in a pretty unlikely place, one that insisted on getting a ride.  But who or what was this thing, and what was their intention?  An ancient spirit known to the Native American cultures of the region or a physical being with mystical powers masquerading as a weird human?  While it is never advisable to pick up strangers, it seems that one may be compelled to give a ride to a hitchhiker on Mogollon Rim, maybe as just a playful reminder that humans are not the apex of the paranormal food chain. Visit our website for a lot more information on this episode.

28 Okt 20232h 10min

Join hosts Ed Voccola (Rick and Morty, Bless The Harts) and Chris Cullari (Blumhouse, The Aviary) for a wild trip through the world of what scares them.  In this episode, the boys discuss razor blade apples, the Man Who Killed Halloween, and the history of "Halloween Sadism."

26 Okt 20231h 1min

Enjoy episode number 5 of the Patreon-exclusive Astonishing Junk Drawer!

25 Okt 20232h 12min