State of the Unknown | Documentary Stories of Real Unexplained Encounters
Strange things happen. Sometimes they leave records.
State of the Unknown examines strange events that disrupted real lives.
From documented hauntings and unexplained encounters to cases that forced police, clergy, doctors, or investigators to respond, each episode focuses on what actually happened — who was involved, what was reported, and what changed afterward.
These are not campfire stories. They are incidents with names, dates, locations, and consequences.
Some have clear explanations. Others do not.
But all of them left a mark.
If you’re drawn to strange events told straight, without exaggeration, without theatrics, this is your show.
New episodes every week.
🔗 www.stateoftheunknown.com
📸 @stateoftheunknownpodcast
Episodes
72 episodes
Creature Encounter: The 1909 Jersey Devil Panic | The Week Police Opened Fire — Ep. 61
For one remarkable week in January 1909, communities across New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware were gripped by a wave of reports unlike anything the region had experienced before.Police officers claimed to see something moving over r...
Men in Black: Albert Bender | The Visit That Silenced America's First UFO Bureau — Ep. 60
Join host Robert Barber as he explores the case that gave rise to one of the most enduring legends in UFO history—the Men in Black.In the early 1950s, Albert K. Bender founded the International Flying Saucer Bureau, one of America's firs...
Alien Abduction: Travis Walton | Inside the Abduction Experience Behind Fire in the Sky — Ep. 59
Join host Robert Barber as he explores the second half of the Travis Walton case, one of the most discussed alien abduction stories in American history.Five days after disappearing in the Arizona wilderness, Travis Walton returned alive....
Alien Abduction: Travis Walton | The Disappearance That Inspired Fire in the Sky — Ep. 58
Join host Robert Barber as he explores the disappearance of Travis Walton, one of the most discussed alien abduction cases in American history.On November 5, 1975, Travis Walton and six fellow loggers were driving home through the Apache...
Creature Encounter: The Flatwoods Monster | The West Virginia Encounter That Created an American Monster — Ep. 57
In September of 1952, a group of boys in Flatwoods, West Virginia looked up from a football game and saw something bright cross the sky.It appeared to come down beyond a nearby hill.What happened next became one of the most famous...
Paranormal Encounter: Black-Eyed Children | The Witnesses Who Refused To Open The Door — Ep. 56
Join host Robert Barber as he examines one of the most unsettling modern paranormal phenomena: reports of Black Eyed Children.The story begins with a reported encounter in Abilene, Texas, where journalist Brian Bethel claimed two mysteri...
UFO Encounter: The Levelland Incident | The Texas Sightings That Stopped Cars in Their Tracks — Ep. 55
In November of 1957, drivers on the rural roads around Levelland, Texas began reporting something strange.Their engines sputtered. Their headlights went out. Their vehicles stopped working near strange lights or glowing objects on or abo...
Poltergeist Case: The Seaford Incident | The Long Island Disturbance That Drew National Attention — Ep. 54
In 1958, an ordinary family home in Seaford, Long Island became the center of one of America’s strangest poltergeist cases.Join host Robert Barber as he investigates the Seaford incident, the famous Long Island haunting remembered as ...
Creature Encounter: The Enfield Horror | The Case That Turned a Small Illinois Town Upside Down — Ep. 53
Join host Robert Barber as he examines the Enfield Horror, also known as the Enfield Monster or Enfield Creature, one of Illinois’ strangest reported cryptid encounters.In April 1973, Henry McDaniel reported hearing scratching at the fro...
Haunted Object: Robert the Doll | Why Visitors Apologize After Taking His Photo — Ep. 52
Robert the Doll is one of the most famous haunted objects in the United States.For decades, the doll has been connected to stories of movement, strange sounds, changing expressions, camera malfunctions, visitor misfortune, and apology l...
Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery | The Place Where the Dead Don’t Stay Buried — Ep. 51
Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery has a reputation, and it didn’t come from stories alone. Visitors have reported seeing figures moving between the headstones, unexplained lights in the trees, and one photograph that captured something no one could exp...
Bonus Episode | Beyond the St. Louis Exorcism: What Do Real Exorcisms Actually Look Like?
The St. Louis exorcism shaped what many people think possession is supposed to look like, but what do real cases actually report?In this bonus episode of State of the Unknown, Robert Barber steps back from a single case to look ...
The St. Louis Exorcism: The Case That Inspired The Exorcist—and Shaped What People Think Possession Looks Like (Episode 50)
In 1949, a teenage boy in St. Louis became the center of one of the most documented exorcism cases in American history.What followed involved multiple priests, medical observation, and handwritten records describing events that have neve...
The Snedeker Haunting | The Case Inside a Funeral Home That Investigators Couldn’t Explain — Ep. 49
In the 1980s, the Snedeker family moved into a house in Southington, Connecticut, looking for space and stability while their son Philip underwent cancer treatment. What they didn’t fully understand at the time was what the house had been befor...
The Lindley Street Poltergeist | The Girl Said It Was a Hoax… So What Did Police Witness? — Ep. 48
A young girl said the haunting was a hoax. But police were inside the house when objects reportedly moved….In 1974, police were called to a small home on Lindley Street in Bridgeport, Connecticut.Inside, they reported objects movi...
The Cash–Landrum Incident | The Night the Sky Burned Over Texas — And What It Did to Them — Ep. 47
On December 29, 1980, three witnesses driving along a rural road outside Dayton, Texas reported one of the most unusual UFO encounters ever documented in the United States.Betty Cash, Vickie Landrum, and Vickie’s seven-year-old grandson ...
Bonus Episode: The Black Forest Haunting | The Colorado Poltergeist Case That Was Never Explained
In the late 1960s, a quiet home in the Black Forest area near Colorado Springs became the center of a disturbing series of events. The family living there claimed objects moved on their own, household items were thrown across rooms, and unexpla...
The L-8 Ghost Blimp | The U.S. Navy Airship That Landed Without Its Crew — Ep. 46
The L-8 Ghost Blimp is one of the strangest unsolved aviation mysteries of World War II — a Navy patrol airship that returned from a mission over the Pacific with its engines running and its crew missing.In August of 1942, a U.S. Navy pa...
The San Pedro Poltergeist | When LA Police Responded to the Unexplainable — Ep. 45
In the late 1980s, a family living in San Pedro, California reported a series of unexplained disturbances inside their apartment. Objects allegedly moved without physical contact. Items fell from shelves. Activity was said to occur in front of ...
The Mothman and the Silver Bridge Collapse: Witness Reports Before the 1967 Disaster — Ep. 44
In November 1966, residents of Point Pleasant, West Virginia began reporting encounters with a tall, winged figure near the McClintic Wildlife Management Area, known locally as the TNT Area. Police documented statements. The local newspaper rec...
The Ammons Demon House: The Possession Case Authorities Could Not Explain — Ep. 43
In 2011, a family in Gary, Indiana reported escalating disturbances inside their rental home on Carolina Street. What began as unexplained noises and strange behavior would eventually involve the Gary Police Department, Methodist Hospital medic...
Coral Castle: The 30-Ton Mystery That Defies Explanation — Ep. 42
Coral Castle is one of the most enduring mysteries in American history.In South Florida, a single man named Edward Leedskalnin spent decades building a massive stone monument entirely on his own. He worked at night, refused help, and left b...
The Entity: The True Story of Doris Bither and the 1974 Culver City Poltergeist — Ep. 41
In 1974, a woman named Doris Bither reported a series of disturbing events inside her small rental home in Culver City, California. What began with unexplained object movement soon escalated into reported physical encounters witnessed by family...
The Pascagoula Incident | The Abduction Secretly Recorded by Police — Ep. 40
In October 1973, two shipyard workers walked into a Mississippi sheriff’s office late at night and claimed they had been taken against their will. What followed was documented by law enforcement, investigated by federal agencies, and quietly re...
The Hinsdale House: The Documented Haunting That Forced a Family to Leave — Ep. 39
Located in Hinsdale, New York, the Hinsdale House has become one of the state’s most frequently discussed haunted locations. Reports of unusual activity date back decades, but this episode focuses on a specific period when one family lived insi...
