Episodi

  • The Boxcar That Shouldn't Have Been There-Fog, Tracks, and Silence

    The Boxcar That Shouldn't Have Been There-Fog, Tracks, and Silence
    Sep 8 2026
    The Boxcar That Shouldn't Have Been There-Fog, Tracks, and Silence

    A dead trackbed, a fifty-three-foot freight car weighing roughly 58,000 pounds, and not a single electronic record or rail sensor to explain how it arrived - all seen by a fifteen-year-old paper carrier at 4:20 a.m, in thick fog. How can a boxcar sit perfectly centered on old wooden ties where rails were removed ten years earlier without leaving gouges, sensor logs, or obvious physical evidence?

    In this episode, we follow the sequence of discoveries and the people who first encountered the car: the teenager who found it, the yard supervisor who could not explain it, and the inspector who climbed onto its roof looking for signs of lifting straps. What unfolded in the first hours raises the question: what moved KRTX 1144 onto a decommissioned spur without leaving the marks expected of a 58,000-pound freight car?

    Person: Sandra Young
    Date: September 14, 2011
    Location: Track Nine spur, Kellerton rail yard
    Case: KRTX 1144 placement on decommissioned track
    Status: No injuries, no sensor logs indicating movement

    - Time of discovery: 4:20 a.m.
    - Car length: 53 feet; approximate weight: 58,000 pounds.
    - Track Nine rails removed: winter of 2001 (ten years earlier).
    - Yard electronic gate reader logged 47 rail movements in previous 72 hours; KRTX 1144 not among them.
    - Inspector Brian Foster arrived by 7:00 a.m. and found no strap marks or roof compression dents.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    22 min
  • Twelve Hours Missing: How a Lobsterman's Boat Came Home Alone

    Twelve Hours Missing: How a Lobsterman's Boat Came Home Alone
    Sep 6 2026
    Twelve Hours Missing: How a Lobsterman's Boat Came Home Alone

    A woman’s boat returned to harbor at 6:14 AM with its lights off and no crew, navigation lights she had never neglected, and thirty-eight traps left untouched fourteen miles away - so how did the Ledger come home alone? The single detail that would supposedly tie the whole night together remains officially unresolved.

    In this episode, we lay out what was found on the Ledger, who discovered it, and the concrete timeline from Angela O’Brien’s departure to the boat’s return, asking whether the physical evidence points to accident, interference, or something else.

    Person: Angela O'Brien
    Date: July 9, 2019 (boat found at 6:14 AM)
    Location: Crale waterfront / Burnt Cove Ledge (trap site ~14 miles northeast)
    Boat: Ledger - purchased for $11,000; 40 gallons of fuel filled at 9:40 PM July 7
    Autopilot: Documented "ghost heading fault" logged 18 months earlier

    - Angela left the marina at approximately 11:00 PM on July 7 and did not reach Burnt Cove Ledge.
    - Her 38 traps at Burnt Cove Ledge were confirmed untouched by 10:00 AM on July 8.
    - The Ledger was found at its mooring at 6:14 AM on July 9 with navigation lights off and engine cold.
    - Hauler hydraulic line on deck was warm to the touch while the engine was cold, indicating recent trap-hauling despite the engine being off.
    - Investigators found six sets of rubber banding/wire used for lobsters and bait barrel pieces of arenque cut in a pattern different from Angela’s usual baiting.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    20 min
  • The Fire That Shouldn't Have Burned: Boots, Zipper, and a Bear?

    The Fire That Shouldn't Have Burned: Boots, Zipper, and a Bear?
    Sep 5 2026
    The Fire That Shouldn't Have Burned: Boots, Zipper, and a Bear?

    The thought of a camp left exactly as it was - tent closed, cook kit still on the bear line, and a fire burning eight hours after it was reported dead - creates a slow, precise dread: how can ritual and order coexist with an impossible flame? A photographer’s detail - steaming boot liners outside a closed vestibule - becomes the hinge of the mystery: who or what could have reignited a fire at the exposed northern edge of the ring? Could that steaming boot liner be the clue that explains a night Neil Porter does not remember?

    In this episode, we tell the sequence of observations and records that follow one morning in Blackthorn State Forest: the ranger’s log and photographs, a runner’s discovery, and Neil Porter’s unbroken history of precision in the outdoors, all leading to a single unresolved pattern about the fire’s origin and the closed tent zipper.

    Person: Neil Porter
    Date: June 8, 2019
    Location: Blackthorn State Forest
    Witness: Melissa Harrison
    Ranger: Craig Weston

    - Neil radioed at 9:47 PM on June 7 reporting "fire extinguished, pit covered."
    - Melissa photographed the fire at 6:15 AM on June 8 and called out to Neil at 6:20 AM.
    - Neil was 52 years old and had logged over 400 nights in backcountry camps by summer 2019.
    - Ranger Weston’s photos show ash deepest at center but active flames at the northern edge of the ring.
    - Neil’s boot liners were zipped inside the tent vestibule the night before but were photographed outside and steaming the next morning.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    22 min
  • The Warm Handset: How a Dead Wire Spoke Sarah's Name

    The Warm Handset: How a Dead Wire Spoke Sarah's Name
    Sep 4 2026
    The Warm Handset: How a Dead Wire Spoke Sarah's Name

    A warm telephone handset was resting on a cut copper wire inside a utility box-its surface measured 91°F while the air in the shade was 78°F-and two days earlier a woman in Room Seven heard a voice speak her name with no record of any call. How did a handset bought in cash sixty miles away, a dead wire cut fifteen years ago, and a burst pipe converge on one night in a desert motor court?

    In this episode, we follow the timeline of events around Sarah Barnes’s displacement, the motel utility box, and the odd purchase that preceded the incident, asking how a planned action unfolded across rental houses, a motel maintenance log, and thirty feet of buried conduit.

    Person: Sarah Barnes
    Date: May 9, 2019
    Location: Sundowner Motor Court, Cura Flats, Nevada
    Event: Warm handset found on dead copper wire
    Purchase: Cream-colored modular telephone handset bought in Fallon, Nevada

    - Sarah Barnes checked into Room Seven at the Sundowner Motor Court on April 28, 2019.
    - A pipe burst in Sarah’s rental house on April 27, 2019, requiring 3-4 weeks of restoration.
    - The handset inside the utility box registered 91°F while ambient shade temperature was 78°F.
    - The copper wire on which the handset rested had been cut at both ends fifteen years earlier.
    - A cream-colored four-conductor handset was purchased for cash in Fallon, Nevada, 60 miles away, on May 5, 2019.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    22 min
  • The Forgotten Memo That Predicted a Campus Flood Twice

    The Forgotten Memo That Predicted a Campus Flood Twice
    Sep 3 2026
    The Forgotten Memo That Predicted a Campus Flood Twice

    Flooding that mirrored a forgotten memo unfolded on campus four days after the memo's date - and the same warning had been written twice, eighteen years apart. The discovery began when a hand truck wheel snagged an unlabeled box in Crestfield University's sub-basement and revealed a single typed document describing, in precise technical terms, the exact flood Gregory Harris saw that morning; how did two independent records point to the same failure?

    In this episode, we follow the sequence of verifiable events: the box found in the Harwick Archive sub-basement, the April 5 memo matching an April 8 pipe burst, and the fact that an earlier analyst had produced the same warning eighteen years before. How did two people, working separately from the same buried data, arrive at identical conclusions?

    Person: Gregory Harris
    Person: Heather Sheridan
    Location: Harwick Archive sub-basement, Crestfield University campus
    Date: April 5 (document date) and April 8 (pipe burst)
    Event: Cast-iron pipe burst at Ardmore and Ninth, flooding toward the botany greenhouse

    - Gregory Harris found an unlabeled gray banker's box flush against the concrete floor in the sub-basement while handling donated hymnals.
    - The single typed document in a manila folder described standing water at a flooded intersection and flow toward the botany greenhouse; its date was April 5.
    - The cast-iron pipe at Ardmore and Ninth burst on April 8, four days after the memo's date.
    - Heather Sheridan logged thirty-nine keycard entries in the sub-basement access log over fourteen months and had been working on Ardmore and Ninth since early March 2014.
    - Heather's March 22 notebook and March 27 draft on the university server described the same failure mode and estimated failure within two to three weeks prior to the April 8 burst.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    22 min
  • The Shoe Upright on the Gravel: How Nora Vanished from a Ferry

    The Shoe Upright on the Gravel: How Nora Vanished from a Ferry
    Sep 2 2026
    The Shoe Upright on the Gravel: How Nora Vanished from a Ferry

    A single navy blue, size seven court shoe standing upright on a gravel bar two miles into a trail, toe pointing to the water-placed by a human hand where the Cassidy River’s four-knot current should have tumbled anything. Who left that shoe, and how does it connect to a ferry cable tension event logged on the night Nora Cain disappeared?

    In this episode, we describe the sequence of events from the shoe found on March 9 to Nora Cain boarding the Mira Jean on March 14 and being reported missing on March 16, tying physical evidence to ferry operations and timing to ask whether a brief mechanical jolt explains what happened to Nora.

    Person: Nora Cain
    Date: March 14 (boarding at 8:20 PM; cable irregularity at 8:31 PM)
    Location: Mira Jean ferry crossing between Greer's Landing and Brock's Crossing
    Event: Minor tension irregularity in ferry cable; stern swung 8-12 feet downstream for 4-7 seconds
    Found item: Navy blue low-heeled court shoe, size 7, photographed and logged as found property on March 9

    - Shoe discovered by Patricia Whelan on March 9, two miles into the Carl Cole Trail, photographed and reported to sheriff’s office
    - Cassidy River flows at roughly four knots in March; nearest downstream boat ramp is nine miles away
    - Mira Jean ferry crossing takes eighteen minutes and is guided by a fixed cable across the river
    - Cable log on March 14 recorded a minor tension irregularity at 8:31 PM with the stern swinging 8-12 feet downstream for 4-7 seconds
    - Nora Cain, age 31, boarded the 8:20 PM crossing on March 14 wearing dark trousers, a blazer, and navy blue low-heeled court shoes; reported missing on March 16

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    20 min
  • The Locked Cistern That Started Filling in a Droughted County

    The Locked Cistern That Started Filling in a Droughted County
    Sep 1 2026
    The Locked Cistern That Started Filling in a Droughted County

    A locked concrete cistern that had been bone dry for at least fifteen years began overflowing in the worst drought on record - fresh, cold water running down its outside wall in a county where livestock ponds had cracked open. How did a sealed tank with no pipes, pumps, or electrical conduit suddenly start spilling water, and what happened after a phone call made that same week?

    In this episode, you’ll hear how routine checks by two women on a six-hundred-acre lease led to a sheriff’s deputy, a hydrologist from Texas Tech, and a regional journalist visiting Vermeer Road, and how experts pieced together a scientific explanation - but one phone call remained unexplained. Can hydraulic jacking and a perched aquifer fully account for what Janet Chambers and Tracy Evans found?

    Person: Janet Chambers
    Person: Tracy Evans
    Location: Vermeer Road, eastern edge of Lasso County, Texas
    Date: February 9, 2011
    Expert: Gordon Alvarez, hydrologist from Texas Tech

    - The cistern measured roughly eight feet tall and six feet across and was bolted to a poured footing sealed with hydraulic cement applied in the 1970s.
    - The cistern had been reportedly empty since the land trust took ownership sometime in the 1990s and wore a decorative padlock.
    - Janet Chambers found a thin stream of fresh, cold water running down the outside wall at 6:40 a.m, on February 9, 2011.
    - Tracy Evans called ranch hand Pete Solis every Wednesday at 9 p.m. throughout that winter; some calls ran past 11 p.m.
    - Hydrologist Gordon Alvarez found a lens of saturated soil nine feet down - a perched aquifer - and described the mechanism as hydraulic jacking.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    23 min