Cicada 3301: The Internet's Most Mysterious Puzzle | 97

This week on Blurry Hysteria, we bring you two stories that prove reality is glitching hard—either that, or someone spilled Bot Booze on the simulation control panel again.First up, scientists literally get the green light to mess with Earth’s mood lighting. That’s right—sun dimming is no longer just a Bond villain plot or a Metallica album concept. It’s geoengineering in real life, and we’re one step away from giving Earth a cosmic dimmer switch. What could possibly go wrong?Then, we deep-dive into the ultimate case of design karma: the iconic "You Wouldn’t Steal a Car" anti-piracy ad—yeah, the one that haunted your dreams before every DVD menu—might have used a pirated font. That’s right, the ad meant to stop digital theft may have committed... digital theft. The irony is so rich it should be locked in a vault labeled “MEME GOLD.”Join us as we shade the sun, question the kerning, and try not to get sued by Helvetica.Links & Resources📌Great Dim Down📌Fonts of Justice Email us your favorite WEIRD news stories:weird@hysteria51.comSupport the ShowGet exclusive content & perks as well as an ad and sponsor free experience at https://www.patreon.com/Hysteria51 from just $1ShopBe the Best Dressed at your Cult Meeting!https://www.teepublic.com/stores/hysteria51?ref_id=9022See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

30 Apr 30min

This week on Blurry Hysteria, we’re heading straight into the entomological underworld and… the world’s weirdest fertility-themed Grand Prix?First, we dig into the ant-ics of smugglers trying to sneak live garden ants out of Kenya like they’re the latest black-market superfood. Belgian and Vietnamese nationals were caught trying to scurry away with these little critters, but the real question is: why ants? And how do you even get through customs with a suitcase full of bugs?Then, we pivot from ants to, well, another kind of swarm—Sperm Racing. That’s right, Los Angeles hosted a very real, very bizarre event where hundreds of people gathered to bet on which donor’s little swimmers could outpace the rest in a lab-rat drag race. Science? Art? Performance? Vegas-style fertility? We’re not entirely sure, but someone brought pom-poms.Grab your popcorn and your magnifying glass—this episode's got creepy crawlies, reproductive roller derbies, and the kind of news that makes your search history deeply suspicious.Links & Resources📌Ant March📌Zoomy ZoomEmail us your favorite WEIRD news stories:weird@hysteria51.comSupport the ShowGet exclusive content & perks as well as an ad and sponsor free experience at https://www.patreon.com/Hysteria51 from just $1ShopBe the Best Dressed at your Cult Meeting!https://www.teepublic.com/stores/hysteria51?ref_id=9022See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

23 Apr 28min

This week we dig into the Blurry Photos coffers for a trip down Tv Commercial memory lane. Wanna know more? Read the b... err, listen to the podcast...Original DescriptionFlora is joined by Ryan from Rumor Flies and Brent from Hysteria 51 to discuss the classic Time Life book series Mysteries of the Unknown. A 33-book set detailing all kinds of Forteana and weird topics, Time Life’s Mysteries of the Unknown introduced high strangeness to countless individuals around the world. The boys get together to go over the books in the series, including highlights and influences from each. It’s a blast of all kinds of strange topics! You want ley lines? Boom. Madam Blavatsky? Pow. Plant sentience? Skadoosh. It’s a tour-de-force of Forteana and all this great book series has to offer. If any of these topics sound extra interesting, let David know for a possible future Blurry Photos episode!MusicMyst on the Moor, Danse Macabre – Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

21 Apr 1h 19min

This week on Blurry Hysteria, the world proves once again that reality is stranger (and way funnier) than fiction. First up, we flap our way into South Africa, where a helicopter crash had one very unexpected stowaway: a penguin in a cardboard box. Is it espionage? A fishy getaway plan? Or just the weirdest Uber ride in aviation history?Then we chug along to Missouri, where a man found himself back in cuffs for getting a little too intimate with a train seat. That's right—he's on a one-way trip to the “nope” station with a layover in “why tho?”From avian absurdity to locomotive lust, it’s another baffling journey through the bizarre—only on Blurry Hysteria!Links & Resources📌Penguin Oops📌Train TabooEmail us your favorite WEIRD news stories:weird@hysteria51.comSupport the ShowGet exclusive content & perks as well as an ad and sponsor free experience at https://www.patreon.com/Hysteria51 from just $1ShopBe the Best Dressed at your Cult Meeting!https://www.teepublic.com/stores/hysteria51?ref_id=9022See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

16 Apr 20min

Ever wonder what happens when you give our listeners a phone line and zero supervision? Spoiler alert: chaos, confusion, and conspiracies. This week, the inmates run the asylum as we dive headfirst into the Hysteria 51 voicemail inbox! From theories that would make your tinfoil hat itch to questions that even Conspiracy Bot can't insult properly (but he'll try anyway), it's a rollercoaster of paranormal ponderings and general weirdness.Tune in as we play and react to your voicemails – the good, the bizarre, and the beautifully unhinged. It's unscripted, unpredictable, and undeniably Hysteria 51.Email us your favorite WEIRD news stories:weird@hysteria51.comSupport the ShowGet exclusive content & perks as well as an ad and sponsor free experience at https://www.patreon.com/Hysteria51 from just $1ShopBe the Best Dressed at your Cult Meeting!https://www.teepublic.com/stores/hysteria51?ref_id=9022See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

14 Apr 1h 4min

In this special edition of Beautiful Blurry Hysteria, Kevin Crispin from Behind Beautiful Things steps in to wrangle the weird while Brent takes a breather! From a Nevada man’s questionable claim that tigers make great emotional support pets (hint: 7 might be a bit excessive!), to a small-town Missouri foster mom dabbling in a black-market monkey fiasco, the stories are as off-the-wall as they sound. And if that’s not enough to leave you howling, we also take a return dive into whether dire wolves are finally ready to bust out of ancient legend and stroll into our modern world. So, grab your seatbelts for a super-sized portion of strange—it’s Beautiful Blurry Hysteria, but with Kevin at the helm and no question left un-wowed!Links & Resources📌Support Stripes📌Trade Ya!📌Dire SituationEmail us your favorite WEIRD news stories:weird@hysteria51.comSupport the ShowGet exclusive content & perks as well as an ad and sponsor free experience at https://www.patreon.com/Hysteria51 from just $1ShopBe the Best Dressed at your Cult Meeting!https://www.teepublic.com/stores/hysteria51?ref_id=9022 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

9 Apr 46min

This week on Blurry Hysteria, we ask the hard-hitting questions: Who’s afraid of the monster in the bedroom—and why does it look like a Conspiracy Bot? And more importantly, who’s peeing in your recycling bin?That’s right, we’re diving headfirst into the kind of stories that make you question reality and your home security system. First up, a Kansas babysitter hears strange noises while checking for monsters under the bed and instead finds a man literally hiding there. Talk about a plot twist no bedtime story ever prepared her for.Then, we head to Texas, where one man is being tormented by gallons—and we mean gallons—of mystery urine being dumped into his recycling bin. It’s a tale of high suspicion, low hygiene, and the kind of community "outreach" no one asked for.So grab your flashlight, maybe a gas mask, and get ready for another episode of weird news that’s so bizarre it could only be Blurry Hysteria.Links & Resources📌Bedtime Bother📌Recycling WasteEmail us your favorite WEIRD news stories:weird@hysteria51.comSupport the ShowGet exclusive content & perks as well as an ad and sponsor free experience at https://www.patreon.com/Hysteria51 from just $1ShopBe the Best Dressed at your Cult Meeting!https://www.teepublic.com/stores/hysteria51?ref_id=9022 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

2 Apr 22min

Just when you thought things couldn’t get any weirder—we’re back with a trio of tales that’ll have you questioning everything from homeownership to orca fashion trends. First, we revisit the case of missing solid gold crapper (spoiler: It's named America and it is FOUND). Then, the orcas are back on their bulls**t—reviving an old-school trend that involves wearing salmon carcasses as hats. That’s right: haute dead couture. And finally, a TikToker buys a hoarder house at auction and finds…yep, a decomposing body. But hey, at least the content went viral, right?So grab your ghost-salmon hat, avoid discount deep freezers, and tune in to the show that asks the tough questions—like what is happening with this planet?!Links & Resources📌Crapper Caper📌Fishy Trends📌Real-Estate NightmareEmail us your favorite WEIRD news stories:weird@hysteria51.comSupport the ShowGet exclusive content & perks as well as an ad and sponsor free experience at https://www.patreon.com/Hysteria51 from just $1ShopBe the Best Dressed at your Cult Meeting!https://www.teepublic.com/stores/hysteria51?ref_id=9022See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

26 Mars 36min