 Stories and content in Weird Darkness can be disturbing for some listeners and is intended for mature audiences only. Parental discretion is strongly advised. Welcome, Weirdos! I'm Darren Marlar and this is Weird Darkness. Here you'll find stories of the paranormal, supernatural, legends, lore, crime, conspiracy, mysterious, macabre, unsolved and unexplained. If you're new here, welcome to the podcast and be sure to subscribe so you don't miss future episodes. If you're already a Weirdo, please share the podcast with others. Doing so helps make it possible for me to keep creating episodes as often as I do. Coming up in this episode... As far back as time is recorded, mankind has had a fascination with Sirius the Dog Star. But what is so special about it aside from the fact that it's one of the brightest stars in our sky? Might there be an extraterrestrial connection as well? UFO reports come in constantly to police stations and online websites dedicated to the subject of ufology, practically on a daily basis. In many sightings are by people you'd consider above reproach, such as law enforcement, scientists, military, numerous sightings by airline pilots. But when you head out into space and see a UFO, as is what happens with astronauts reports, that's something you take a much closer look at. Jimmy Loge left his wife after only two years of marriage. Without first getting divorced, he married another woman, whom he badly mistreated, so she left him. But he had already started an affair with her sister, so he married her next, now on his third wife. He abused her as well. He was also a career criminal, spending half his life living off the spoils of his thievery, the other half behind bars when caught. So it probably comes as no surprise that he was suspect number one when his third wife was found murdered. But first, you probably saw the title of this episode and immediately thought, what? Well, I'm going to tell you one of the most ridiculous stories I've ever heard that is supposedly 100% true. The Axis powers of World War II tried to kill the Loch Ness monster. We'll begin with that story. While listening, be sure to check out the Weird Darkness website. At WeirdDarkness.com, you can sign up for the newsletter to win monthly prizes. Find paranormal and horror audiobooks I've narrated. Watch old horror movies for free. Plus, you can visit the Hope in the Darkness page if you're struggling with depression or dark thoughts. You can find all of that and more at WeirdDarkness.com. Now, bolt your doors, lock your windows, turn off your lights, and come with me into the Weird Darkness. Propaganda, misinformation, fake news, call it what you like. There are many reasons this kind of meddling in foreign affairs is still so common. But the primary reason is that it works, both at home and abroad. Misinformation campaigns are why some people think carrots are good for vision, or that a human trafficking ring was run out of a DC pizza joint. If those stories sound absurd, strap in for a blast from the past as the Axis powers of World War II try to kill everyone's favorite Lake monster. World War II was arguably the apex of propaganda and information campaigns. Every nation fighting the war used propaganda at home and abroad to further their war aims, either as a means to rally the populace behind the war effort or to demoralize the enemy. All it took was a little bit of knowledge about the enemy and a whopping lie to take the wind out of their sails. Before the Allied invasion of Sicily in 1943, a female radio announcer who broadcast swing music and demoralizing messages from Berlin told members of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment that they were jumping into a trap and they'd all die. The troops actually loved the put-on of Axis Sally, as she came to be called, but it was for the music, not the message. The Axis powers attempted to exert influence on enemy populations as well as their own. Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels wrote in 1940 that the Loch Ness Monster was just a made-up thing designed to boost tourism revenues. In a German newspaper, he cited the Loch Ness Monster as a reason the people of the United Kingdom were weak. The Loch Ness Monster has been a cryptozoological and biological mystery since as far back as 1933 when reports of a strange creature of unknown origin, size or shape began coming from the Loch. If the people of England and Scotland were dumb enough to believe that there was a dinosaur swimming around their lake, Goebbels reasoned to the German people they were too dumb to win the war. Anita Mussolini, the dictator of fascist Italy, took the anti-lake monster rhetoric to a new level. In the newspaper, Papolo di Italia, he published the story of an Italian pilot on a bombing run across the UK in 1941. He claimed the pilot had dropped his bombs into the lake and hit none other than Nessie herself. He even saw the body float to the surface before flying off. Not to be outdone, the story was picked up by allied newspapers in the British Commonwealth, specifically Australia's The Daily Mail who rewrote the story as a joke of monumental proportions. They even printed a counter story. Nessie, according to The Daily Mail, not only survived the attack but was now considered a war hero to boot. According to the story, local J. MacFarlane Barrow and his son were walking along the Loch one day after the alleged bombing and saw the monster swimming away at high speed, confidently shrugging off the Axis attack. Keep calm and carry on. Jimmy Logue was a professional thief whose life of crime spanned more than 40 years. He was born in Philadelphia in 1835 and was arrested there for larceny at age 10. After his release became an apprentice to Joe Kaiser, a noted Baltimore pickpocket, he eventually graduated to bank robbery and became quite accomplished at it when he wasn't caught. Logue spent much of his time living a life of prosperity the rest he spent behind bars. His personal life was just as erratic. At age 23, he married Mary Jane Andrus and left her after two years. Without the formality of a divorce, he married Mary Gayen soon after. She already had an illegitimate son who took his father's name, Alphonse F. Couture, and Logue mistreated Mary, so she left him, went home to her father, and died in 1869. Before Mary Gayen left him, though, Logue had taken up with her sister, Joanna. Jimmy Logue and Joanna Gayen were married in the lockup of the Central Police Station in 1871 as Logue was preparing to serve a seven-year sentence at Cherry Hill Prison for burglary. Joanna waited for him, and after his release they went to live at the Ossidental Hotel in New York City. Logue had plenty of money in bank accounts throughout the city, and with his partner Peter Burns, he resumed his career of robbery and burglary. Logue was still in contact with his stepson, Alphonse Couture, and agreed to set him up in business as a barber. He bought a house in Philadelphia, 1250 North 11th Street, and outfitted the first floor as a barbershop. For a while, he and Joanna lived there, along with Couture and two employees of the barbershop. In February 1879, Jimmy and Joanna left Philadelphia and returned to New York City. Logue left Joanna there and went on a thieving expedition to Boston with his partner George Mason. Upon his return, he was astonished to find that Joanna had disappeared. Couture told Logue that Joanna had returned to the Philadelphia house, had gotten drunk the previous Saturday night, told him, I'm off, left the house and did not return. It was well known that Logue frequently beat Joanna, and many believed that she couldn't take it anymore and left him. Logue began to search for Joanna and even placed an advertisement in Philadelphia newspapers, offering a reward of $500 for information as to her whereabouts. He thought that she had run off with Peter Burns and traveled to Denver looking for them. Joanna's brother, Peter Gayen, believed that Logue's actions were all for show to hide the fact that he had murdered Joanna. Logue was arrested again for robbery and disappeared after serving his sentence. Nothing more was thought about Joanna's disappearance until 1893 when workmen were doing repairs to the kitchen of 1250 North 11th Street and they unearthed the skeleton of a woman under the floorboards. Around the bones of a finger was a wedding ring inscribed J.L. to J.L. Police soon learned that 14 years earlier the house belonged to Jimmy Logue and his wife Joanna, who disappeared in 1879. Joanna's sister, Ellis Sides and brother Peter Gayen identified the skull by some peculiar formations of the teeth and were also able to identify other objects found with the body. A handkerchief was tied around the neck of the skeleton. The police believed that Joanna had been strangled. Suspicion naturally fell on Jimmy Logue and the Philadelphia police began a manhunt. On the evening of March 5, 1895, an old man stopped at the house of Philadelphia Coroner Ashbridge. When Ashbridge answered the door, the man said, I am Logue, James Logue and I want to give myself up. As I understand, there is a warrant out for me. Logue had spent at least eight of the intervening years in prison. He said he had been in Chicago when he learned of the warrant and returned to Philadelphia as soon as he could get some money. The Coroner took Logue to the station house where he was formally arrested. The police decided to keep the arrest secret, so they booked him as William Casey and held him on the sixth floor of the City Hall. The newspapers soon learned that the mysterious prisoner on the sixth floor was none other than Jimmy Logue, charged with murdering his wife. Logue denied murdering Joanna and gave the police a detailed account of his trip to Boston, including hotels where he and Mason stayed and a theater where he saw the play Robinson Crusoe while in Boston. The police were skeptical until detectives went to several hotels and found their signatures on hotel registers and verified that Robin Crusoe was playing in Boston in February 1879. Jimmy Logue's alibi was true. Alphonse Couture became the prime suspect in Joanna's murder. Detectives traced Joanna's jewels to him and it was learned that around the time of her death he had melted gold and silver in crucibles and sold the product. Under questioning, Couture tried to pin the murder on Logue. The story was not believed and questioning continued until he admitted Logue knew nothing of Joanna's death. Couture then made a confession of sorts. He said that on the night of February 22, 1879 he found Joanna drunk. Fearing she might go back to New York where Logue would beat an abuser, he carried her upstairs, put her on the bed with her clothes on, then tied her feet in hands and wrapped a clothesline around her body. He left her there and went downstairs. When he returned, he found that she had rolled over on her face and smothered under the bolster. He was afraid to tell anyone what had happened, so he took her watch and jewels, then hid the body under the floorboards in the kitchen. In April 1896, Alphonse F. Couture was tried for killing Joanna Logue. He was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to hang. But in June 1897, Couture's advocates convinced the board of pardons to commute his sentence to life in prison. When Weird Darkness returns, as far back as time is recorded, mankind has had a fascination with Sirius the Dog Star. But what is so special about it, aside from the fact that it's one of the brightest stars in our sky? Might there be an extraterrestrial connection as well? We'll look into it. Up next. Alphonse F. Couture has Louisville in its grip, and former FBI agent Dallas Powell has his hands full with car trouble, cat trouble, and trying to keep the Derby City branch of True Blood Investigations and Security Inc. solvent. When a juicy insurance job comes his way, he jumps at it. But the discovery of a decades-old murder spawns a veritable blizzard of violence, and Dallas finds himself right in its path. Winter Wonderland, a Dallas Powell mystery by T. Lee Harris, narrated by Darren Marlar. You're a free sample on the audiobook's page at WeirdDarkness.com. Since ancient times and across multiple civilizations, Sirius the Dog Star has been surrounded with a mysterious lore. Esoteric teachings of all ages have invariably attributed to Sirius a special status, and the star's importance in occult symbolism is an attestation of that fact. What makes Sirius so special? Is it simply due to the fact that it is the brightest star in the sky? Or is it also because humanity has an ancient, mysterious connection with it? We're about to look at the importance of Sirius throughout history and secret societies, and we'll describe the symbolism surrounding it. Sirius is located in the constellation Keynes Major, also known as the Big Dog, and is therefore known as the Dog Star. It's over 20 times brighter than our sun, and is twice as massive. At nighttime, Sirius is the brightest star in the sky, and its blue-white glare never failed to amaze stargazers since the dawn of time. No wonder Sirius has been revered by practically all civilizations. But is there more to Sirius than meets the eye? Artifacts of ancient civilizations have revealed that Sirius was of great importance in astronomy, mythology, and occultism. Mystery schools consider it to be sun behind the sun, and therefore the true source of our sun's potency. If our sun's warmth keeps the physical world alive, Sirius is considered to keep the spiritual world alive. It is the real light shining in the east, the spiritual light, whereas the sun illuminates the physical world which is considered to be a grand illusion. Associating Sirius with the divine, and even considering it as the home of humanity's great teachers, is not only embedded in the mythology of a few primitive civilizations, it is a widespread belief that has survived and even intensified to this day. We'll look at the importance of Sirius in ancient times, analyze its prominence and secret societies, and we'll examine these esoteric concepts as they're translated in popular culture. It was revered as Sathas, and was associated with Iris, the mother goddess of Egyptian mythology. Isis is the female aspect of the trinity formed by herself, Osiris, and their son Horus. Ancient Egyptians held Sirius in such high regard that most of their deities were associated in some way or another with the star. Anubis, the dog-headed god of death, had an obvious connection with the dog star, and Toth Hermes, the great teacher of humanity, was also esoterically connected with the star. The Egyptian calendar system was based on the heliocle rising of Sirius that occurred just before the annual flooding of the Nile during summer. The star's celestial movement was also observed and revered by ancient Greeks, Sumerians, Babylonians, and countless other civilizations. The star was therefore considered sacred, and its apparition in the sky was accompanied with feasts and celebrations. The dog star heralded the coming of the hot and dry days of July in August, hence the popular term the dog days of summer. Several occult researchers have claimed that the Great Pyramid of Giza was built in perfect alignment with the stars, especially Sirius. The light from these stars was said to be used in ceremonies of Egyptian mysteries. This ancient people, the Egyptians, knew that once every year the parent son is in line with the dog star. Therefore, the Great Pyramid was so constructed that at this sacred moment, the light of the dog star fell upon the square stone of God at the upper end of the Great Gallery, descending upon the head of the High Priest, who received the super-solar force and sought through his own perfected solar body to transmit to other initiates this added stimulation for the evolution of their godhood. This then was the purpose of the stone of God, whereon in the ritual Osiris sits to bestow upon him the illuminate the ath crown or celestial light. North and south of that crown is love, proclaims an Egyptian hymn, and thus throughout the teaching of Egypt the visible light was but the shadow of the invisible light, and in the wisdom of the ancient country the measures of truth were the years of the most high. Recent scientific discoveries relating to the Great Pyramid and its mysterious air shafts have led researchers to further confirm the importance of Sirius within the Pyramid. A fascinating aspect of Sirius is the consistency of the symbolism and meanings attached to it. Several great civilizations have indeed associated Sirius with a dog-like figure and viewed the star as either the source or the destination of a mysterious force. In Chinese and Japanese astronomy, Sirius is known as the Star of the Celestial Wolf. Several aboriginal tribes of North America referred to the star in canine terms, the Sarri and Tehanu O'odham tribes of the southwest describe Sirius as a dog that follows mountain sheep, while the Blackfoot call it dog-face. The Cherokee paired Sirius with Antares as a dog-star guardian of the path of souls. The Wolf or a skiddy tribe of Nebraska knew it as the Wolf Star, while other branches knew it as the Coyote Star. Further north, the Alaskan Inuit of the Bering Strait called it Moondog. In 1971, the American author Robert Temple published a controversial book entitled The Serious Mystery where he claimed that the Dogons, an ancient African tribe from Mali, knew details about Sirius that would be impossible to be known without the use of telescopes. According to him, the Dogon understood the binary nature of Sirius, which is in fact composed of two stars named Sirius A and Sirius B. This led Robert Temple to believe that the Dogons had direct connections with beings from Sirius. While some might say you can't be Sirius, sorry, a great number of secret societies who have historically held within their ranks some of the world's most influential people and belief systems teach about a mystic connection between Sirius and humanity. In his book The Serious Mystery, New Scientific Evidence of Alien Contact 5,000 Years Ago, which I have linked to on Amazon in the show notes, Robert Temple reveals the connection between the Sirius-star system and the secret traditions of an African tribe. In Dogon mythology, humanity is said to have been born from the Namo, a race of amphibians who were inhabitants of a planet circling Sirius. They are said to have ascended from the sky in a vessel accompanied by fire and thunder and imparted to humans profound knowledge. This led Robert Temple to theorize that the Nomos were extraterrestrial inhabitants of Sirius who traveled to Earth at some point in the distant past to teach ancient civilizations, such as the Egyptians and Dogons, about the Sirius-star system as well as our own solar system. These civilizations would then record the Nomos' teachings in their religions and make them a central focus of their mysteries. The Dogon's mythology system is strikingly similar to the ones of other civilizations, such as the Sumerians, Egyptians, Israelites, and Babylonians as it includes the archetypal myth of a great teacher from above. Depending on the civilization, this great teacher is known as Enoch, Thoth, or Hermes Trismegistus, and is said to have taught humanity Thurgic sciences. In occult traditions, it is believed that Thoth Hermes had taught the people of Atlantis, which, according to legend, became the world's most advanced civilization before the entire continent was submerged by the Great Deluge. Accounts of a flood can be found in the mythologies of countless civilizations. Survivors from Atlantis traveled by boat to several countries, including Egypt, where they imparted their advanced knowledge. Occultists believe that the inexplicable resemblances between distant civilizations, such as the Maya's and the Egyptians, can be explained by their common contact with Atlanteans. Was the religious, philosophic, and scientific knowledge possessed by the priest-crafts of antiquity secured from Atlantis whose submergence obliterated every vestige of its part in the drama of world progress? Atlantean sun worship has been perpetuated in the ritualism and ceremonialism of both Christianity and Paganism. Both the cross and the serpent were Atlantean emblems of divine wisdom. The divine, Atlantean progenitors of the Mayas and Kichas of Central America, coexisted with the green and azure radiance of Gushamats, the plumed serpent. The six sky-born sages came into manifestation as centers of light bound together or synthesized by the seventh and chief of their order, the feathered snake. The title of winged or plumed snake was applied to Quetzalcoatl, or Kuklakan, the Central American initiate. The center of the Atlantean wisdom religion was presumably a great pyramidal temple standing on the brow of a plateau rising in the midst of the city of the Golden Gates. From here the initiate priests of the sacred feather went forth, carrying the keys of universal wisdom to the uttermost parts of the earth. From the Atlanteans, the world has received not only the heritage of arts and crafts, philosophies and sciences, ethics and religions, but also the heritage of hate, strife and perversion. The Atlanteans instigated the First War, and it has been said that all subsequent wars were fought in a fruitless effort to justify the First One and right the wrong which it caused. Before Atlantis sank, its spiritually illuminated initiates, who realized that their land was doomed because it had departed from the path of light, withdrew from the ill-fated continent. Carrying with them the sacred and secret doctrine, these Atlanteans established themselves in Egypt, where they became its first divine rulers. Nearly all the great cosmological myths forming the foundation of the various sacred books of the world are based upon the Atlantean mystery rituals according to Manly P. Hall in his book The Secret Teachings of All Ages, which I have placed the Amazon link to in the show notes. Is Thoth Hermes Tri's Majesty the equivalent of the Dogon's Nomos, who are believed to originate from Sirius? Ancient texts concerning Hermes describe him as a teacher of mysteries who came from the stars. Furthermore, Thoth Hermes was directly connected with Sirius in Egyptian mythology. The dog star, the star worshipped in Egypt and reverenced by the occultists, by the former because its heliocle rising with the sun was a sign of the beneficent inundation of the Nile and the latter because it is mysteriously associated with Thoth Hermes, God of Wisdom, and Mercury in another form. Thus, Sothis Sirius had and still has a mystic and direct influence over the whole living heaven and is connected with almost every God and goddess. It was Isis in the heaven and called Isis Sothis. Her Isis was in the constellation of the dog, as is declared on her monuments. Being connected with the pyramid, Sirius was therefore connected with the initiations which took place in it. The Trismagistic Treatise, the version of the world from Egypt, refers to the Black Right, connected with the Black Osiris as the highest degree of secret initiation possible in the ancient Egyptian religion. It is the ultimate secret of the mysteries of Isis. This treatise says Hermes came to earth to teach men civilization and then again mounted to the stars, going back to his home and leaving behind the mystery religion of Egypt with its celestial secrets which were someday to be decoded according to Robert Temple, the Sirius mystery. Interpreting the mythology of ancient cultures is not an exact science and connections are inherently difficult to prove. However, the symbolic link between Sirius and occult knowledge has constantly appeared throughout history and has seamlessly travelled through the ages. In fact, it is as revered today as it was millenniums ago. Modern secret societies such as the Freemasons, the Rosicrucians and the Golden Dawn which are considered to be hermetic orders due to the fact their teachings are based on those of Hermes Tromegestus all attribute to Sirius the utmost importance. An educated look at their symbolism provides a glimpse of the profound connection between Sirius and occultic philosophy. To claim this Sirius is important to hermetic orders would be a gross understatement. The dog star is nothing less than the central focus of the teachings and symbolism of secret societies. The ultimate proof of this fact, many secret societies are actually named after the star. In the tarot, the 17th numbered major trump is called Le Tuo, French for the star, and portrays a young girl kneeling with one foot in water and the other on land, her body somewhat suggesting the swastika. She has two urns, the contents of which she pours upon the land and sea. Above the girl's head are eight stars, one of which is exceptionally large and bright. Count de Gabelon considers the great star to be Sothis or Sirius. The other seven are the sacred planets of the ancients. He believes the female figure to be Isis in the act of causing the inundations of the Nile which accompanied the rising of the dog star. The unclothed figure of Isis may well signify that nature does not receive her garment of verdure until the rising of the Nile waters releases the germinal life of plants and flowers. In Freemasonry, in Masonic lodges, Sirius is known as the Blazing Star, and a simple look at its prominence in Masonic symbolism reveals its utmost importance. The Masonic author William Hutchinson wrote about Sirius, it is the first and most exalted object that demands our attention in the lodge. The same way the light of Sirius made its way into the great pyramid during initiations, it is symbolically present in Masonic lodges. The ancients astronomers saw all the great symbols of Masonry in the stars. Sirius glitters in our lodges as the Blazing Star, according to Albert Pike in his book Morals and Dogma. The Blazing Star originally represented Sirius or the dog star, the forerunner of the inundation of the Nile, the god Anubis, companion of Isis, in her search for the body of Osiris, her brother and husband. Then it became the image of Horus, the son of Osiris, himself symbolized also by the son, the author of the Seasons and the God of Time, Son of Isis, who was the universal nature, himself the primitive matter, an exhaustible source of life, spark of uncreated fire, universal seed of all beings. It was Hermes also the master of learning, whose name in Greek is that of the god Mercury. In Freemasonry it is taught that the Blazing Star is a symbol of deity or omnipresence, the Creator is present everywhere, and of omniscience the Creator sees and knows all. Sirius is therefore the sacred place all masons must ascend to. It is the source of divine power and the destination of divine individuals. This concept is often represented in Masonic art. To achieve perfection, the initiate must successfully understand and internalize the dual nature of the world, good and evil, masculine and feminine, black and white, etc., through alchemical metamorphosis. This concept is symbolically represented by the union of Osiris and Isis, the male and female principles to give birth to Horus, the star child, the Christ-like figure, the perfected man of Freemasonry who is equated with the Blazing Star. The Egyptian hieroglyph representing Sirius has been esoterically interpreted to be a representation of this cosmic trinity. This concept is so crucial for Freemasons that it was embedded in some of the most important structures in the world. As stated by Albert Pike previously, the Egyptian god Horus and the star Sirius are often associated. In Masonic symbolism, the eye of Horus, or the all-seeing eye, is often depicted surrounded by the glittering light of Sirius. Helena Bolvatsky and Alice Bailey, the two main figures associated with theosophy, have both considered Sirius to be a source of esoteric power. Bolvatsky stated that the star Sirius exerts a mystic and direct influence over the entire living heaven and is linked with every great religion of antiquity. Alice Bailey sees the dog star as the true great white lodge and believes it to be the home of the spiritual hierarchy. For this reason, she considers Sirius as the star of initiation. This is the great star of initiation because our hierarchy, an expression of the second aspect of divinity, is under the supervision or spiritual magnetic control of the hierarchy of Sirius. These are the major controlling influences whereby the cosmic Christ works upon the Christ principle in the solar system, in the planet, in man, and in the lower forms of life expression. It is esoterically called the brilliant star of sensitivity, according to Alice Bailey in esoteric astrology. Not unlike many esoteric writers, Bailey considers Sirius to have a great impact on human life. All that can be done here in dealing with this profound subject is to enumerate briefly some of the cosmic influences which definitely affect our earth and produce results in the consciousness of men everywhere and which, during the process of initiation, brings about certain specific phenomena. First and foremost is the energy or force emanating from the sun Sirius. If it might be so expressed, the energy of thought or mind force in its totality reaches the solar system from a distant cosmic center via Sirius. Sirius acts as the transmitter or the focalizing center when emanates those influences which produce self-consciousness in man. Alice Bailey, Initiation, Human and Solar So, from the dawn of civilization to modern times, from remote tribes of Africa to the great capitals of the modern world, Sirius was and still is seen as a life-giver. Despite the disparity between cultures and epochs, the same mysterious attributes are given to the dog-star, which can lead us to ask how can all these definitions synchronize so perfectly? Is there a common source to these myths about Sirius? The dog-star is invariably associated with divinity and is regarded as a source of knowledge and power. These connections are particularly evident when one examines the teachings and the symbolism of secret societies, who have always taught about the mystical link with this particular celestial body. Is there a secret link between human advancement and Sirius? Unlocking this secret would mean unlocking one of humanity's greatest mysteries. Up next, UFO reports come in constantly to police stations and online sites dedicated to the subject of ufology, practically on a daily basis. And many sightings are by people you'd consider above reproach, such as law enforcement, scientists, military, numerous sightings by airline pilots. But when you head out into space and see a UFO, as is what happens with astronauts reports, that's something you take a much closer look at. And that's what we'll do when Weird Darkness returns. I was waiting and waiting and it has finally hit the website. Built Bar now has my absolute favorite flavor available for the holiday season. Candy cane brownie. But they've surprised me by coming out with two varieties. The original candy cane brownie bar, which is chocolatey, chewy and truly does taste like a chocolate-covered candy cane, and now they have the new candy cane brownie puff, which brings the whole holiday flavor to a marshmallow-filled creation. Both bars are covered with candy cane sprinkles, but because these are protein bars, not candy bars, each one is only 150 calories or less, and each has 17 grams of protein. So I can use these as a meal or as a low-calorie dessert. Or in my case, both. I have no discipline. I've ordered enough to get me through the Christmas season and beyond because it is a limited-release seasonal flavor. You can join me in the holiday taste festivities at WeirdDarkness.com slash Built. That's WeirdDarkness.com slash Built. And use the promo code WeirdDarkness, all one word, and you'll get 10% off everything in your cart. That's WeirdDarkness.com slash Built, promo code WeirdDarkness. It's beginning to taste a lot like Christmas. Unexplained aerial phenomena have been reported over the years by many intelligent and credible people, including police officers, scientists, astronomers, military personnel, pilots, and even astronauts. For instance, during the first American orbital flight in February 1962, astronaut John Glenn, piloting the Mercury capsule, saw three objects follow and then overtake him at varying speeds. Glenn then observed what he called glowing snowflakes or fireflies that swirled around his capsule. NASA officials surmised that the fireflies were bits of ice that had become detached from the sides of the capsule. Later, Mercury astronauts also reported the same phenomena, radioing back to NASA that more fireflies could be produced when they tapped on the side of the capsule. Three years later, in June 1965, astronaut James McDivitt on Gemini 4 photographed and filmed a cylindrical-shaped object with an antenna-like extension. McDivitt said the object was silvery in appearance and was approximately 10 miles away. It looked like a beer can with a pencil sticking out of it at an angle, McDivitt described. After splashdown, the film was sent from the carrier to be processed. When the NASA photo interpreter released three or four pictures of the UFO, a few days later, McDivitt stated that the quality of the photo was so bad that it failed to reproduce what he had seen. NORAD suggested that the object might have been a satellite called Pegasus, which was 1200 miles away at the time, even though the object McDivitt had sighted appeared to be much closer. Then, during December's Gemini 7 flight, astronauts Jim Lovell and Frank Borman radioed mission control that they had a bogey in sight as well as many illuminated particles. NASA suggested that the bogey and particles were fragments from the launching of Gemini 7, but this is impossible if they were traveling in a different orbit from Gemini 7, as the astronauts described. In 1966, during the flight of Gemini 10, two red glowing objects captured the attention of astronauts John Young and Michael Collins as they circled the Earth. They adventured further into space than any other human at the time, and suddenly, both astronauts were amazed to see that two glowing objects now occupied the same orbital path as themselves. The official verdict attributed the objects to space junk discarded from an unmanned Saturn rocket that had been launched earlier that month. But the astronauts were adamant that these were not stars and it is difficult to imagine how a man-made device could maneuver in the erratic way the objects did when they suddenly left orbit and quickly disappeared from sight. Because of the unwanted media attention generated by the Gemini UFO reports, NASA instructed its astronauts to never use words such as bogey or UFO if they sighted something unidentified. Instead, they were to use the code word Santa Claus when informing mission control of unusual activity around their capsules. Additionally, mission controls stopped allowing the networks to hear live broadcasts from the astronauts. Instead, they initiated a five-second tape delay, possibly to quickly prevent astronauts from accidentally broadcasting any unexpected UFO encounters. This edict came just in time for the Apollo missions to the moon, where both astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin supposedly saw UFOs shortly after their historic landing on the moon in July 1969. According to former NASA employee Otto Binder, unnamed Radio Hams, who bypassed NASA's broadcasting outlets, picked up this message from Apollo 11. These babies are huge, sir. Enormous. Oh, God, you wouldn't believe it. I'm telling you, there are other spacecraft out here, lined up on the far side of the crater edge. They're on the moon watching us. These stories were repeated in various UFO magazines, but it was not verified until 1979 when Maurice Shatling, senior engineer for NASA contractor North American Aviation, confirmed that Armstrong had indeed reported seeing two UFOs on the rim of a crater. The encounter was common knowledge in NASA. In fact, all Apollo and Gemini flights were followed by space vehicles of unknown origin. Every time it occurred, the astronauts informed mission control, who then ordered absolute silence. The late astronaut Leroy Gordon Gordo Cooper Jr. said in 2000 that the government swept under the rug the truth about unidentified flying objects. One reason why Cooper was so insistent that UFOs are real was his own personal sightings of the 1950s while assigned to a jet fighter group in Germany. While stationed there in 1952, formations of metallic-looking circular objects passed over the airbase on an almost daily basis. UFOs continued to haunt Cooper when he was transferred several years later to Edwards Air Force Base Flight Test Center in the California desert. In 1957, he was one of an elite band of test pilots in charge of several advanced projects, including the installation of a precision landing system. He had a camera crew filming the installation when they spotted a flying saucer. They filmed it as it flew overhead, then hovered, extended three legs as landing gear, and slowly came down to land on a dry lake bed. The camera crew managed to get within 20 or 30 yards of the landed disk, filming all the time. It was a classic saucer, shiny silver and smooth, and about 30 feet across. As they approached, it took off and disappeared into the clear sky. After the footage was forwarded to Washington, the movie vanished, never to surface again. When the Air Force later started Operation Blue Book in 1952 to collate UFO evidence and reports, Cooper says he mentioned the film evidence, but the film was supposedly never found. Rumors persist that American astronauts and Russian cosmonauts continue to see UFOs while in space. As many of NASA's programs are funded by the Department of Defense, most astronauts are subject to military security regulations and are forbidden to publicly speak about their sightings. Hopefully, as time goes by and more astronauts retire, they will choose to publicly discuss their UFO encounters. Only then will the public get a better idea of the kind of strange mysteries that await us in the deep, dark reaches of outer space. Thanks for listening. If you like the podcast and you haven't already subscribed, be sure to do so now so you don't miss future episodes. Also, please tell someone else about the podcast. Recommend Weird Darkness to your friends, family and co-workers who love the paranormal, horror stories or true crime like you do. Every time you share the podcast with someone new, it helps spread the word about the show, and a growing audience makes it possible for me to keep creating episodes as often as I do. Plus, telling others about Weird Darkness also helps get the word out about resources that are available for those who suffer from depression, so please share the podcast with someone today. Do you have a dark tale to tell of your own? Fact or fiction, click on Tell Your Story on the website and I might use it in a future episode. All stories in Weird Darkness are purported to be true unless stated otherwise, and you can find source links or links to the authors in the show notes. Why So Serious About Serious is by Greg Prescott, MS, for Message to Eagle. The Assassination of the Loch Ness Monster is by Blake Stillwell for Military.com. A Romance in Crime is from Robert Wilhelm for Murder by Gaslight. And Code Word, Santa Claus is by Tim Swartz from the now defunct Mysteries Magazine. Weird Darkness Theme by Alibi Music. Weird Darkness is a registered trademark. And now that we're coming out of the dark, I'll leave you with a little light. 1 John 4, verse 8. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. And a final thought from Thomas S. Monson. Fill your mind with truth, fill your heart with love, and fill your life with service. I'm Darren Marlar. Thanks for joining me in the Weird Darkness. The world's most advanced civilisées. I think I need to turn in my tongue for a new one. Man, it's like there's no vacayne in the water. Try that again. In the tarot, the 17th-numbered Major Trump is called the Les Toilets. French for Les Toilets. It's called the Les Toilets. You're going to make me say foreign words. I hate foreign words. Why are you going to make me say foreign words? I flunked out of Spanish. Now you're going to try and make me say French. Hey Weirdos, our December Weirdo Watch Party is Saturday, December 23rd, hosted by horror host Hall of Famers, Drac and Countess Corita. Dracula and his bride are bringing us the 1946 noir thriller Shock, starring Vincent Price. I'm Dr. Cross, Mrs. Stewart. I'm your friend. I'm here to help you. In the film, a psychologically distraught woman is committed to a private sanitarium. Only to find out that the man who committed her was the man she witnessed commit a murder. I'm going to try to find something that will convince her that she's insane. The Weirdo Watch Party is always free to watch online with everybody, so grab your popcorn, candy and soda, and jump into the fun, and even get involved in the live chat as we watch the movie This Christmas Eve Eve. This delusion is quite common among mental cases in an institution of this sort. It's Shock, starring Vincent Price, presented by Count Drac and Countess Corita, Saturday, December 23rd, starting at 10pm Eastern, 9pm Central, 8pm Mountain, 7pm Pacific. See a few clips from the film and invite your friends to watch along with you on the Weirdo Watch Party page at WeirdDarkness.com, and we'll see you on Saturday, December 23rd for the Weirdo Watch Party.