MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories

One night in August 1992, a sheriff’s deputy raced down an empty road in a rural part of Tennessee. A local woman had been kidnapped that morning, and right this very second, the kidnapper was making a ransom call. That call had been traced to a payphone just up ahead, and the deputy was racing to get there before the suspect left. The deputy sped up to the curb in front of the phone booth and leapt out of the car – but inside the booth, the phone was dangling on its cord... and the suspect was gone.

Today, I'm going to tell you two really unbelievable stories that, realistically, we don't know if they 100% happened. But in each story, there's pretty compelling witness testimony that something really bizarre actually happened.

Today's podcast will feature 2 stories about eyewitness accounts that challenge everything we think we know about death. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Today, I’m going to tell you three stories about how just one small moment of distraction can lead to absolute catastrophe.

One night in February 2012, a farmer in rural Ohio was at home, when he suddenly heard the sound of a revving engine and spinning tires outside. It was coming from a neighboring field that nobody was supposed to be in, so the farmer hurried out to his truck to try and catch the intruder. But by the time he reached the field, whoever it was... had vanished.

Welcome back to the Campfire! Tonight, I'm going to share a crazy story that comes to us from China. And it's about a series of events that are so bizarre and terrifying that, according to legend, the Chinese military actually attempted to cover it up. Be sure to WATCH this episode on my YouTube channel on Friday, October 30th at 4:00 p.m. ET!

Today’s podcast will feature 3 stories about people whose encounters with the supernatural defy explanation. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

On the evening of July 2nd, 2000, a local man from Galien, Michigan walked slowly through a wooded area with about 30 other people. A woman had gone missing a few days ago, and the man was part of a large volunteer search party that was searching these woods for any sign of her. Now, it was getting dark, so the man decided to call it. But just as he was about to tell the others, he caught a glimpse of something blue on the ground.

Today's story is a fan favorite that was previously published as Episode 374. One day in mid-December 2003, Detective Mark Kelly walked into a small kitchen at a home in Fort Worth, Texas. The house belonged to a potential suspect in a homicide case, and while his partner was interviewing that suspect in the other room, Kelly was poking around. He wanted to hurry, because the kitchen he was in was disgusting. There was a layer of dirt on the floor, the dishwasher was open, with dirty plates and silverware still inside, dishes were stacked up in the sink, and used pots and rotting food covered the counters. Kelly could hear his partner talking in the other room as he grabbed the nearest drawer and pulled. Instantly, he regretted it. Because when he opened that drawer, about a dozen cockroaches crawled out of it. Kelly gasped and took an instinctive step back, watching the bugs skitter away. He was searching for a weapon, and it wasn’t here. But something about the filth felt like a clue. Kelly just didn’t…

Today’s story is really weird. It’s basically a cross between a medical mystery and a full-blow supernatural story. But independent of what you believe in terms of what actually happened here, what you’re going to hear about is totally bizarre and just inexplicable behavior that was documented over and over again over many years. And so even if you think this is fully rooted in science, I’m telling you there’s not really a great explanation for exactly what went down here.

Today, we have three stories about people who had certain plans in place that got completely derailed – and in each case, the way they responded made everything way, way worse.

On an afternoon in the spring of 1999, a woman walked to her bedroom closet and opened the door with a shaking hand. She’d just gotten a disturbing phone call from someone who begged her to go into this closet, find two specific objects, and get rid of them. But now, as the woman stared at the objects, she knew she couldn’t do that. Instead, she shut the door and called the police.

Welcome back to the Campfire! Tonight, I have two very different stories. But each of them are about sisters who stick together, even in the face of truly unimaginable horror. Be sure to WATCH this episode on my YouTube channel on Friday, October 16th at 2:00 p.m. ET!

Today, we have three stories about people who expected to have a normal day at work. However, their days were anything but...

In 2013, a police sergeant in northern France called the local telephone company, and asked to set up a tap on a suspect’s phone. He had a warrant in his hands and was ready to read off the details, but the operator on the line said... "It couldn’t be done." Because that phone number was already being tapped – as part of another murder investigation.

Today's story is a fan favorite that was previously published as Episode 372. Just after 7 p.m. on June 16th, 2010, an employee at the Palmdale, California Sheriff’s Department tapped his fingers on his desk and sighed. The department was usually pretty busy, but it had been slow that night, so the shift was dragging. As the employee aimlessly moved around some paperwork, he heard something that made him look up at the front doors of the department. The sound came from outside, and it was muffled, but it sounded like someone yelling. Seconds later, a young woman charged through the front doors. She was frantically screaming for help… and she was covered in blood.

Today’s podcast will feature 3 spooky stories about messages from beyond. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Today, I’m going to tell three stories about people whose stressful lives actually drove them to the brink of insanity – until doctors finally discovered the root of all their issues.

One afternoon in December 1980, one of the most famous comedians in France pulled a stack of letters from his mailbox in Paris. As he flipped through them, one caught his eye: It had no postmark or return address, and there was something small and hard inside. He ripped the envelope open and pulled out a bullet, along with a piece of paper that read: “The next one is for you.”

Tonight, I have a very special guest joining me at the Campfire! Liana is a HUGE MrBallen fan, and I wanted to tell a few stories live, just for her. All proceeds from this episode will be donated to Liana’s family to help with medical expenses following her leukemia diagnosis, as well as her father’s ongoing battle with ALS. If you are able to help, please consider donating to their GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-lianas-battle-with-leukemia?cp_src=d

Today’s podcast will feature 2 stories that challenge our understanding of reality. The audio from both stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Today, I’m going to tell you four stories of people who thought their day couldn’t get any worse... but they were wrong.

One night in March 1997, a man carried a muddy, black plastic case into a police station in the small town of Higginson, Arkansas. A local police officer had been murdered just three days ago, and the man desperately needed to see the detective who was leading the investigation. So once the man got inside, he headed straight to the detective’s office, where he immediately opened the black case – and pulled out a gun.

Today's story is a fan favorite that was previously published as Episode 365. On the afternoon of March 24, 2006, an employee at a moving truck rental company in Ohio opened his desk drawer and grabbed a wad of cash. It had been a slow day, so the employee was using his downtime to organize a few recent payments. The money he’d just grabbed was from an all-cash deal that had happened a few days ago. At the time, the employee had been super busy, so he’d just taken the cash from the customer, flipped through it quickly to make sure the amount seemed right, then shoved the money in the drawer to deal with later. Now, he was actually counting it properly – and he really hoped the customer hadn’t shorted him, or he’d have to track them down to collect. But as the employee counted the bills, he paused. Not because the amount wasn’t right – but because there was something on the money that caught his attention. For a second, he wasn’t sure what it was. So, he looked closer. And then, all at once, he understood…

Today’s podcast will feature 3 stories that involve people who were trapped - with “no way out.” The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Today, I’m going to tell you four stories about people who thought they had a handle on the situation they were in, but found out – way too late – that they’d really misjudged things.

One morning in January 1990, a man walked into a police station in Marseille, France, clutching a newspaper. He went up to the desk, and said he’d seen a sketch of a murder suspect in the paper that morning – and he knew who it was. He unrolled the newspaper... and held it up next to his own face.

Today's story is a fan favorite that was previously published as Episode 361. On a morning in early 1986 in Arizona, someone sat hunched over a desk, furiously writing a letter. And almost every line of this letter included a direct threat of violence this person was going to inflict on the recipient. They kept writing, embellishing every horrible thing that they wanted to do. Finally, they finished writing and read over the letter – it was explicit and terrifying, just as they’d hoped. They put the letter down, glanced at a cardboard box sitting on the floor, and smiled. Nobody would ever suspect that the contents of that plain box would soon help them carry out the bizarre murder plot they’d had running through their head for months.

Today’s podcast will feature 3 stories that prove the deadliest threats are often the hardest to recognize. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Today, I’m going to tell you four stories about people who went through incredibly strange experiences – and came out of them believing that everything that happened, had a purpose.

One morning in March of 1999, a detective in Norcross, Georgia leaned in closely to his computer screen. He was reviewing video footage his team had recorded at a murder scene – and finally, he arrived at the exact frame he wanted. He zoomed in and smiled. Because the thing he was looking for... wasn't there.

Welcome back to the Campfire! Tonight, I’m sitting down with a legend of the outdoors, Steven Rinella from MeatEater. We swap stories in the Montana wilderness, including an experience from my own life that I truly cannot explain. Be sure to WATCH this episode on my YouTube channel!

Today’s podcast will feature 4 stories about how a single decision changed the lives of the people in these stories, as well as millions of others’ lives around the world. The audio from all four stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Today, I'm going to tell you three stories about people who tried really hard to be something that they were not. And not only do they get caught, but they also face extreme repercussions.

In the fall of 2009, a college student sat in a crowded lecture hall in Southern California, listening to his professor. Suddenly, the doors swung open and three campus police officers walked in, followed by a man in a suit. The officers went over and whispered something to the professor, who leaned into his microphone. And before the professor even said a word, the student’s stomach dropped – because he’d just realized what was about to happen.

Welcome back to the Campfire! Tonight, I have two very weird and equally creep stories to share... perfect stories to be told at the fire. Be sure to WATCH this episode on my YouTube channel on Friday, September 4th!

One summer day, a man named John Randolph was hiking through a remote forest in Colorado when he began to smell something terrible. Intrigued, he followed the smell until it brought him to this clearing, and in the clearing John saw what looked like an old campsite. Now, John is out in the middle of nowhere, so the idea that somebody was camping out out here, in what looked like a long term settlement, was pretty bizarre to John. John walked into the clearing to see what was going on, and when he turned the corner, he saw something in the middle of the campsite he just couldn’t even process... it was so horrible, it just looked fake. But eventually, he realized what he was looking at was real, at which point John turned around and began sprinting out of there screaming for help.

Today, I'm going to tell you three stories about people who thought they'd come up with the perfect plan, but instead, they actually planned out their own demise.

Today’s podcast will feature 4 stories that prove the line between life and death can disappear in an instant. The audio from all four stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Today, we have three stories about people who found a really amazing pastime that they thought had changed their lives for the better, but ended up realizing that, actually, it was for the worse.

In the fall of 2010, a detective dug through a dresser in a bedroom near Paris. He was looking for evidence, and when he pulled open the last drawer, he found five cell phones hidden inside. He powered one of them on and checked the call history and messages – then he opened the photos app and froze. He swiped to the next photo, then the one after that. There were dozens of them – and they all showed the same thing.

Welcome back to the Campfire! I have a great story to tell. It's a classic ghost story – and not only are the elements in the story quite unnerving, but it also has a high degree of believability. There are quite a few people in this story who, independently, witnessed and experienced these events.

Today’s podcast will feature 3 stories about divers who underestimated what was waiting for them beneath the surface. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Today, I'm going to share four stories about people who took big career risks in order to be as successful as possible. But, in each case, the risk did not pay off.

In January 1988, the clerk of a sporting goods store in a small town in Canada looked up as a man walked into his shop. It was below freezing outside, but the man wasn’t wearing a coat. Just sneakers, ripped pants, and a thin, plastic rain poncho. The man grabbed a pair of ski pants off the rack, paid in cash, then hurried out of the store. But after he left, the clerk turned on the radio... and heard a breaking news report about a murder up the road.

Today's story is a fan favorite that was previously published as Episode 346. On a cold winter night in 1999, a man drove down a dark street towards his house in a small Iowa town. Suddenly, he saw something glowing in his headlights, and he slammed on the brakes. He got out of his car. And there, in the lights, he saw a dog standing all by herself. And she was making this soft squeaking sound like she was scared. The man slowly approached, talking to the dog as he walked. He knew everyone who lived in his neighborhood, and he’d never seen this dog before. He knelt down and kept trying to calm the dog. She didn’t look hurt and she didn’t have any tags. Slowly, the man coaxed her to follow him into his house. And over the next few weeks, he would try to locate her owner. But the man had no idea that this dog hadn’t just wandered off… and that she was the key police desperately needed to solve a gruesome murder.

Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction. And today’s podcast features 4 stories that demonstrate that. The audio from all four stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Today, I am going to tell you three stories about people who were just trying to do their jobs... and ended up facing an extremely unexpected – and dangerous – professional hazard.

On a cold night in November 2013, a woman sat in a hospital waiting room, wondering if her new husband would survive until morning. It was a cruel reversal – just months ago, she’d told him she was dying. And in fact, it was her terminal diagnosis that defined their marriage from the start. But now, it looked like she was the one who’d be making funeral arrangements.

Welcome back to the Campfire! I have two awesome stories to share tonight. The first is about a woman in Japan in the early 2000s who has a totally bizarre occurrence on a train, and she documented the entire thing on social media. And the second story is about this really creepy creature who lives in the mountains of northern Thailand, and a village has a horrible encounter that has become a legend over time. Be sure to WATCH this episode on my YouTube channel on Friday, August 7th!