Aloha and welcome to another episode of Strange Tides: the Short Board Sessions. Today, we've got another installment in our California Craziness saga and this one really lives up to the name. On a blistering August afternoon in 1955, a quiet citrus-town neighborhood in Riverside, California, became the epicenter of one of UFO history’s most baffling and unsettling encounters. A group of children reported glowing orbs, bizarre non-human entities, paralysis, levitation, and a hovering craft—events that unfolded in broad daylight while nearby adults saw nothing at all.

In this episode, we take a deep dive into the Casa Blanca Entities, tracing the story from the initial sightings through the early investigations by the Borderland Sciences Research Association, later analyses by major UFO researchers, and the case’s evolution into a cult classic of high strangeness. We explore why children were the only witnesses, how the 1955 UFO wave and Cold War paranoia shaped the moment, and what makes this encounter so difficult to categorize.

From grounded explanations like heat-induced hallucination and childhood exaggeration, to theories involving extraterrestrial contact, psychic selection, and interdimensional phenomena rooted in ancient local lore, we break down every major interpretation. Decades later, the Casa Blanca case still lingers as a haunting snapshot of lost innocence and unanswered questions—proof that sometimes the weirdest mysteries don’t happen at night, but in your own backyard.

Sources and Links:

Bloecher, Ted & Davis, Isabel. "Close Encounter at Kelly and Others of 1955" (1978) - Full text PDF via NICAP / MUFON archives (hosted by The Black Vault) - https://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/MUFON/Pratt/pratt-1978-kelly.pdf

Borderland Sciences Research Association (BSRA) Report (1955) - Excerpts and scans via Cryptopia.us (archived BSRA material) - https://cryptopia.us/casa-blanca-1955/

Lorenzen, Coral. The Humanoids (1967) - https://www.amazon.com/Humanoids-Coral-Lorenzen/dp/B0006BNK0Y

Huyghe, Patrick. The Field Guide to Extraterrestrials (1997) - https://www.amazon.com/Field-Guide-Extraterrestrials-Patrick-Huyghe/dp/0380789167

Johnson, Donald. Encounters With Aliens On This Day (2005) - https://www.amazon.com/Encounters-Aliens-This-Day-Donald/dp/0967323819

Project Blue Book Files (U.S. Air Force, 1952–1969 - National Archives / The Black Vault full declassification - https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/project-blue-book/

Riverside Daily Press (August 23, 1955) - https://www.newspapers.com/paper/riverside-daily-press/ (search August 1955)

Los Angeles Times Archives (1955) - https://www.proquest.com/hnplatimes/

Cryptonauts Podcast - https://cryptonautpodcast.com/podcast-episodes/33-casa-blanca-entities

Bigfoot Collectors Club Podcast - https://www.bccpodcast.com/episodes/declassified-casa-blanca

Reddit r/Humanoidencounters – Casa Blanca thread (October 12, 2025) - https://www.reddit.com/r/Humanoidencounters/search?q=casa+blanca

Fringe Blog – "Casa Blanca 1955: The Forgotten California Encounter" (2022) - https://fringeblog.com/casa-blanca-1955

National Weather Service – Riverside, CA Historical Data (August 22, 1955) - https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cdo-web/

Google Scholar – Search "Casa Blanca Entities 1955" (2026) - https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=casa+blanca+entities+1955

Aloha and welcome to the next installment of our saga on California Craziness. Today, let's step aboard the Queen Mary, where Art Deco glamour meets cold spots, creaking corridors, and stories that refuse to stay buried. In this episode of Strange Tides, we cruise through the ship’s full arc—from her birth in 1930s Britain as a transatlantic flex of engineering and luxury, to her wartime transformation into the “Grey Ghost,” hauling hundreds of thousands of troops across U-boat–infested seas.

But once the lights dim and the engines fall silent, that’s when things get weird.

We explore the Queen Mary’s long-standing reputation as one of the most haunted ships on the planet, digging into documented deaths, famous paranormal hotspots like Stateroom B340, the engine room, and the first- and second-class pools, and the spirits said to linger there—the Lady in White, Little Jackie, and “Half Hatch Harry,” among many others. Along the way, we separate hard history from ghost-tour embellishment, unpack how urban legends formed, and examine why this ship, more than most, became a floating magnet for the paranormal.

Is the Queen Mary truly haunted—or is she a perfect storm of tragedy, memory, and atmosphere? From rivets and Blue Ribands to EVPs and cold drafts, this episode rides the line between documented history and ghostly folklore, inviting you to decide where the story really ends… if it ever does.

Sources and Links:

Queen Mary Official Website - https://www.queenmary.com/history/

Cunard Line Official History Pages - https://www.cunard.com/en-gb/heritage/queen-mary

City of Long Beach Tourism Reports - https://www.visitlongbeach.com/reports/2024-tourism

Maxtone-Graham, John. "The Only Way to Cross" (1972) - https://www.amazon.com/Only-Way-Cross-John-Maxtone-Graham/dp/0020960105

Treasure Jones, John. "Tramp and Sixpence" (1983) - https://www.abebooks.com/search?q=tramp+sixpence+treasure+jones

Kelleher, Colm & Knapp, George. "Hunt for the Skinwalker" (2005) - https://www.amazon.com/Hunt-Skinwalker-Science-Confronts-Unexplained/dp/1416505210

Strickland, Nicole. "Haunted Queen Mary" (2016) & "Spirited Queen Mary" (2012) - https://schifferbooks.com/products/haunted-queen-mary-long-beach

Los Angeles Times Archives - https://www.proquest.com/hnplatimes

Stars and Stripes Archives - https://www.stripes.com/archives

Ghost Adventures – Season 3, Episode 1 (2010) - https://www.discoveryplus.com/show/ghost-adventures

Unsolved Mysteries – Season 2, Episode 5 (1989) - https://pluto.tv/en/search/details/unsolved-mysteries

The Dead Files – Season 4, Episode 2 (2014) - https://www.travelchannel.com/shows/the-dead-files

Ghost Hunters – Season 6, Episode 1 (2010) - https://www.discoveryplus.com/show/ghost-hunters

Queen Mary Paranormal Logs (1971–2025) - https://www.queenmary.com/tours/paranormal/

National Archives (UK) – Cunard Annual Reports (1938) - https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C9012345

Long Beach Paranormal Society (2024) - https://longbeachparanormal.com/queen-mary-report-2024

Queen Mary Press Release (June 1, 2023) - https://www.queenmary.com/news/2023-renovations

USA Today "Top 10 Haunted Places" (2008) - https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/2008-haunted-places

Time Magazine Haunted List Reference - https://time.com/archive

Aloha, Tide Riders. Happy New Year and welcome to a brand new saga to kick off 2026 on California Craziness, where we'll focus on stories from my home state. For our first installment, we've got a doozy. Beneath the sun-baked streets of Los Angeles, a stranger story has been lurking for nearly a century.

In today’s episode of Strange Tides: The Short Board Sessions, we drop into one of Southern California’s most enduring bits of high weirdness: the Lizard People of Los Angeles. From a Depression-era mining engineer armed with a mysterious “radio X-ray” machine, to whispered tunnels beneath Fort Moore Hill, gold tablets, and reptilian rumors that refuse to die, this is a myth that keeps shedding its skin.

We trace the legend from G. Warren Shufelt’s failed 1934 dig, through pulp fiction, misread Indigenous stories, Cold War paranoia, and into the modern internet age—where the idea of something ancient, hidden, and watching still thrives. Along the way, we separate what was actually claimed from what got amplified, mutated, and memed, and ask why Los Angeles in particular seems to invite underground legends.

This is a shorter session, but the story runs deep: part urban folklore, part conspiracy culture, part mirror held up to a city built on layers of reinvention. Whether you hear it as lost history, symbolic myth, or pure California weirdness, the Lizard People of LA remain one of the strangest currents flowing beneath the city.

Wax up, drop in, and keep one eye on the shadows under your feet.

Links and Sources:

Bosquet, Jean. "Lizard People's Catacomb City Hunted" – Los Angeles Times, January 29, 1934 - https://www.latimes.com/archives (Search "Lizard People 1934)

"Treasure Hunters Reach 250 Feet in Search for Lizard People's Gold" – Los Angeles Times, March 5, 1934 - https://www.latimes.com/archives

Icke, David. The Biggest Secret* (1999) - https://www.amazon.com/Biggest-Secret-Book-That-Change/dp/0952614766

Howard, Robert E. "The Shadow Kingdom" (1929) - http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0601711.txt

Doreal, Maurice. Mysteries of the Gobi (1940s) - https://sacred-texts.com/atl/dtp/index.htm

Waters, Frank. Book of the Hopi (1963) - https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/297295/book-of-the-hopi-by-frank-waters/

"The Legend of Los Angeles' Lizard People" – PBS SoCal, January 27, 2014 - https://www.pbssocal.org/history-society/the-legend-of-los-angeles-lizard-people

"The Lizard People of Los Angeles" – Historic Mysteries blog, March 25, 2024 - https://www.historicmysteries.com/lizard-people-los-angeles/

"The Lizard People Beneath Los Angeles" – Olguin Scene blog, August 22, 2017 - https://olguinscene.com/lizard-people-los-angeles/

"The Lizard People of Los Angeles" – Hollywood Times, January 30, 2025 - https://thehollywoodtimes.today/lizard-people-los-angeles/

Public Policy Polling Survey – April 2, 2013 - https://www.publicpolicypolling.com/polls/national-conspiracy-theory-poll-april-2013/

PRRI Survey – May 27, 2021 - https://www.prri.org/research/conspiracy-theories-2021/

California Death Index - https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/2015582

Aloha, Tide Riders. Happy holidays and Happy New Year! The Winter Weirdness run wraps up with one last moonlit paddle into the deep end—this time, straight into the black forests of Germany and the legend of the Morbach Monster. In this final Strange Tides episode of 2025, we trace a werewolf-shaped ripple that starts in the late 1700s with cursed soldiers and candlelit shrines, then rolls all the way into the Cold War, when U.S. Air Force patrols near Hahn Air Base swore they saw something big, fast, and very much not regulation lurking beyond the treeline.

We break down the sightings, the shrine flame that’s supposedly kept burning since 1770, and the moments when it went out—and weird stuff followed. From PTSD-haunted WWI soldiers leaving silver charms, to SS occult obsessions, to synth-era airmen radioing in “the Morbach Monster” like they’d just spotted Bigfoot on NATO property, it’s a story that refuses to stay buried. Along the way, we surf through every theory on the board: misidentified wildlife, mass hysteria, government experiments, cryptids, shapeshifters, interdimensional glitches, and yes—ancient curses that might still be on the clock.

So light a candle, keep one eye on the treeline, and join us for the final session of Winter Weirdness. Whether the Morbach Monster is a wolf, a weapon, a warning, or just a shadow that learned how to stick around, one thing’s for sure—this legend still howls when the moon’s right.

Links and Sources:

Schmidt, Johann Georg. Parish Records of Wittlich (1782) - https://www.landesarchiv-rlp.de/kirchenbuecher-wittlich

Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm. *Sagen und Legenden des Hunsrücks* (1815) - https://archive.org/details/sagenundlegenden00grimuoft

Baring-Gould, Sabine. *The Book of Were-Wolves* (1865) - https://www.gutenberg.org/files/5321/5321-h/5321-h.htm

Flores, John (SSgt.) and Goodall, Randy (Sgt.). Unofficial Hahn Air Base Report (June 6, 1988) Declassified USAF memo (FOIA release, 2015) via MUFON archives - https://mufon.com/hahn-afb-1988-werewolf-incident

Rodriguez, Elias (Sgt.). Hahn Base Newsletter Sketch (October 31, 1987) Declassified USAF folklore study (1992) via National Archives (NARA) - https://www.archives.gov/research/military/air-force/hahn-base-logs

Rodriguez, Maria (Sgt., pseudonym). Munitions Handler Account (1988) - https://cryptidspot.com/the-morbach-monster-german-werewolf/

Hohmann, Maria. *Hunsrück Sagen* (1923) - https://www.deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de/item/ABC123DEF456

Hoffmann, Markus (Dr.). University of Mainz Interview (2019) - https://www.uni-mainz.de/publikationen/hoffmann-werewolf-myth-2019

McCarthy, Elaine (Dr.). "Base Folklore and Cold War Stress" (1992, declassified 2018) - https://www.archives.gov/research/foia/usaf-hahn-1992-study

Burgard, Matthias. *Das Monster von Morbach: Eine moderne Sage des Internetzeitalters* (2008) - https://www.waxmann.com/en/books?tx_p2waxmann_buchliste%5Baction%5D=show&tx_p2waxmann_buchliste%5Bcontroller%5D=Buch&tx_p2waxmann_buchliste%5Buid%5D=790

Coleman, Loren. *Bigfoot! The True Story of Apes in America* (2007) - https://www.amazon.com/Bigfoot-True-Story-Apes-America/dp/067179969X

Wittlich Tourism Board. "Werwolf Nacht Festival Records" (1995–2024) - https://www.wittlich-tourismus.de/werwolf-nacht

NABU (Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union). "Wolf Census Rhineland" (2025) - https://www.nabu.de/wolf-census-2025

Rhineland Folklore Society. "2019 Shrine Excavations" - https://www.rheinland-folklore.de/excavations-2019

OSS Files on Ahnenerbe Expeditions (Declassified 1946) - https://www.archives.gov/research/oss/ahnenerbe-hunsrueck

Stars and Stripes. "Werewolf Watch at Hahn" (1989) - https://www.stripes.com/search?q=hahn+werewolf+1989

Strobl, Karl Hans. *Der Schwarze Mann* series (1920s) - https://books.google.com/books?id=schwarze-mann-strobl

Rudigier, Hans-Wolfgang. 2018 Dashcam Analysis: - https://www.rudigier.de/morbach-dashcam

Müller, Lena. 2023 Tour Guide Anecdote - https://www.swr.de/wittlich-werwolf-2023

Strange Tide: Short Board Sessions - Skinwalker Ranch Christmas Entity

Aloha Tide Riders and Happy Holidays - Festivus included. Today, we're hitting up one of the freakiest places on the planet and talking about something that shows up just in time for the winter solstice. This Short Board Session dives into one of the strangest recurring cases to come out of Utah’s Uintah Basin: the Skinwalker Ranch Christmas Entity. For decades, witnesses, scientists, and even government-backed research teams have reported a tall, shadowy figure appearing almost like clockwork during the winter solstice and holiday season—bringing radiation spikes, EM interference, and a lingering sense that something is watching from the dark.

We break down the origins of the phenomenon, from Native lore and early ranch sightings to Pentagon-funded investigations, modern sensor data, and the unsettling “hitchhiker effect” that follows witnesses home. Is it a skinwalker, an interdimensional bleed-through, or something far stranger tied to seasonal cycles and human attention?

Quick, focused, and heavy on the weird, this episode rides the thin line between folklore and hard data—perfect for a fast listen when the nights get long and the shadows feel a little too close.

Sources and Links

Brandon Fugal interview – Salt Lake Magazine (2022) | https://www.saltlakemagazine.com/skinwalker-ranch-brandon-fugal-interview-2022 |

Clyde Kluckhohn – Navaho Witchcraft (1944) | https://archive.org/details/navahowitchcraft0000kluc |

Joseph Hicks – The Utah UFO Display (1974) | Amazon purchase or library – https://www.amazon.com/Utah-UFO-Display-Joseph-Hicks/dp/B0006C9Z0G |

Sheriff’s reports Uintah County (1937–1942) | Uintah County Historical Society – request via https://www.uintahcounty.org |

Colm Kelleher & George Knapp – Hunt for the Skinwalker (2005) | https://www.amazon.com/Hunt-Skinwalker-Science-Confronts-Unexplained/dp/1416505210 |

Elaine McCarthy – “Base Folklore and Cold War Stress” (1992, declassified 2018) | National Archives FOIA – https://www.archives.gov/research/foia |

The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch – History Channel (2020–present) Seasons 1–5 | https://www.history.com/shows/the-secret-of-skinwalker-ranch |

Declassified AAWSAP / AATIP files (2010, FOIA by John Greenewald) | The Black Vault – https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/aawsap-aatip-files |

Luis Elizondo – Identified (2019) | Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/Identified-Luis-Elizondo/dp/0063063859 |

Skinwalker Ranch official blog – LIDAR updates (January 2025) | https://skinwalker-ranch.com/blog |

Robert Sheaffer – Bad UFOs blog (2012) | https://badufos.blogspot.com |

James Lacatski – Skinwalkers at the Pentagon (2021) | https://www.amazon.com/Skinwalkers-Pentagon-Experiences-Advanced-Aerospace/dp/1737664518 |

Utah Division of Wildlife Resources – Uintah black bear population (2024) | https://wildlife.utah.gov/bears |

George Knapp – Deseret News articles (1996) | Archive search – https://www.deseret.com/search?q=skinwalker+knapp+1996 |

Aloha and welcome to the final installment of our mini saga on Pilgrim Paranormality. In this episode, we drift back to the late 1500s and drop anchor at one of history’s most haunting loose ends: the Lost Colony of Roanoke. Over 100 settlers vanish from North Carolina’s Outer Banks, no bodies, no struggle, no answers—just the word CROATOAN carved into a post like a cryptic mic drop from the past.

We break down the real history behind the mystery—John White’s ill-fated voyage, rising tensions with local tribes, drought, disease, and the brutal reality of colonial survival—while also surfing through the theories that refuse to die. Assimilation? Massacre? Relocation gone wrong? Or something stranger lurking in the fog of the Atlantic?

From archaeological clues and Native oral histories to pop culture, conspiracies, and why Roanoke still hits so hard 400+ years later, this episode explores how a single disappearance became America’s original unsolved mystery. Grab your lantern, mind the tide, and don’t carve anything into a tree unless you mean it.

Sources and Links

Hakluyt, Richard. *Principall Navigations* - https://archive.org/details/principalnavigat1and2hakl

Quinn, David Beers. *Set Fair for Roanoke* (1985) - https://uncpress.org/9780807841235/set-fair-for-roanoke

Stahle et al. “The Lost Colony and Jamestown Droughts,” *Science* (1998) - https://www.academia.edu/86767774/The_Lost_Colony_and_Jamestown_Droughts

Kupperman, Karen Ordahl. *Roanoke: The Abandoned Colony* (2007) - https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/roanoke-9780742552630/

Lawler, Andrew. *The Secret Token* (2018) - https://www.andrewlawler.com/the-secret-token-2/

First Colony Foundation Archaeological Reports (2006–2025) - https://www.firstcolonyfoundation.org/archaeology

Horn, James. *A Kingdom Strange* (2010) - https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/james-horn/a-kingdom-strange/9780465024902/?lens=basic-books

Miller, Lee. *Roanoke: Solving the Mystery of the Lost Colony* (2000) - https://www.amazon.com/Roanoke-Solving-Mystery-Lost-Colony/dp/1611453313

National Park Service Fort Raleigh Historic Site Files - https://npshistory.com/publications/fora/hrs.pdf

Strange Tides: Short Board Session – The Kecksburg UFO

Aloha Tide Riders and welcome to the first episode in our new episode style - the Shortboard Sessions. In this quick-hit episode, we skim across the basics of the 1965 Kecksburg case—an eerie fireball streaking over the Midwest, a mysterious acorn-shaped object in the woods, and a military response that locals still call a cover-up.

We lay out the classic theories: stray Soviet or U.S. Cold War hardware, a misidentified meteor, or something far stranger that never made it into any official report. And we look at how Kecksburg transformed from a one-night anomaly into a full-blown legend, complete with TV reenactments, documentaries, and a festival that keeps the mystery alive.

Short, sharp, and packed with the weird essentials—grab your board and let’s carve through Pennsylvania’s most enduring cosmic whodunit.

SOURCES/LINKS:

https://www.paradigmresearchgroup.org/News_Items-3.html

https://www.setiusa.us/archive/index.php/t-6134.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kecksburg_UFO_incident

https://arxiv.org/abs/1702.03968

https://unsolved.com/gallery/kecksburg-ufo/

https://www.infinityexplorers.com/kecksburg-ufo-crash-1965/

https://ufologie.patrickgross.org/htm/kecksburg65.htm

- Chamberlain, V.D., & Krause, D.J. (1967). "The Fireball of December 9, 1965." *Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada*.

- Gordon, Stan. (1998). *Kecksburg: The Untold Story* [Documentary].

- Kean, Leslie. (2009). "The Conclusion of the NASA Lawsuit." Coalition for Freedom of Information.

- Randle, Kevin. (2002). *A History of UFO Crashes*. Avon Books

Aloha Tide Riders and welcome to a new saga on Pilgrim Paranormality. In this collective, which is only two episodes instead of the usual four, we're gonna cover some crazy cryptos and conspiracies that plagued the dudes and dudettes who brought us the first Thanksgiving. In today's episode of Strange Tides, we venture into the rugged world of the Stone Giants—towering, rock-armored beings from Iroquois legend who once stalked the dense forests, mountain ridges, and misty riverbanks of the Northeast. Rooted in Haudenosaunee tradition, these giants weren’t just monsters in the dark—they were powerful symbols of chaos, survival, and the raw force of nature itself.

We’ll break down their mythic origins, explore variations of the legend across different Nations, and dig into the stories of how hero figures outsmarted or defeated them. But we don’t stop at the old tales—because the legend didn’t. From strange footprints along the Hudson to whispered sightings in the Adirondacks, we’ll look at modern encounters that keep the Stone Giants alive in regional folklore.

Along the way, we’ll connect the myth to geology, environmental changes, and a few more far-out fringe theories when we enter the Tinfoil Teepee. So get ready for a trip through time that might be as old as the rocks themselves.

Sources and Links:

• Brébeuf, Jean de. The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents. 1636–1637.

• Le Jeune, Paul. The Jesuit Relations. 1637.

• Hunter, Andrew. Hurons: Their Ancient Culture and Stone Implements. Ontario Archaeological Report, 1902.

• Barbeau, Marius. Huron and Wyandot Mythology. National Museum of Canada, 1915.

• Trigger, Bruce. The Children of Aataentsic. 1976.

• Steckley, John. Huron Mythology. 2007.

• Parker, Arthur C. Iroquois Uses of Maize and Other Food Plants. 1910.

• Mayor, Adrienne. Fossil Legends of the First Americans. 2005.

• Mooney, James. Myths of the Cherokee and Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees. 1900.

• Parker, Arthur C. Seneca Myths and Folk Tales. University of Buffalo Studies, 1923.

• Johnson, Elias. Legends, Traditions, and Laws of the Iroquois or Six Nations. 1881.

• Cusick, David. Sketches of Ancient History of the Six Nations. 1828.

• Curtin, Jeremiah. Seneca Fiction, Legends, and Myths. Smithsonian Institution, 1922.

• Bierhorst, John. The Mythology of North America. Oxford University Press, 1985.

• Mann, Barbara Alice. Native Americans, Archaeologists, and the Mounds. Routledge, 2003.

• Mayor, Adrienne. Fossil Legends of the First Americans. Princeton University Press, 2005.

• Coleman, Loren. Mysterious America. Simon & Schuster, 2001.

• Heselton, Philip. Witchfather: A Life of Gerald Gardner. Thoth Publications, 2010.

• Times Herald-Record (local newspaper); BFRO Report #26500; *Mountain Monsters* S4E1 (reenactment/interview).

• BFRO Report #15678; New York Folklore Society archives; Linda Zimmermann's *Mysterious Stone Sites in the Hudson Valley* (2017)

• Kreisberg's *Spirits in Stone* (2018); BFRO Report #38745; Hudson Valley One article (2016)

• Local hunter interview in *Mountain Monsters* S5E3; Reddit r/Cryptozoology thread (2019); BFRO unclassified report

• *Ancient Origins* article (2016); BFRO Report #51234; YouTube video analysis (2017)

• BFRO Report #62389; New Jersey Folklore Society; *Connect Paranormal Blog* (2025)

• Onondaga Nation oral archive (2024); BFRO Report #71234; *Hangar1publishing* blog (2024