
Tonight, I have two awesome stories to tell you. They are both of the strange variety. In both stories, we're going to talk about a tragedy, but it is not the tragedy that is the reason we remember these things. We remember these events, or we still talk about these events, because in both stories, there are elements that just nobody can fully explain. These are truly unexplained phenomena that are fascinating – that are terrifying – and I know you're going to love it. Be sure to WATCH this episode on my YouTube channel on Friday, July 17th!
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Hey guys. Welcome back to the official Mr. Ballin campfire. Tonight I have two awesome stories to tell you. They are both of the strange variety. In both stories we're going to talk about a tragedy, but it is not the tragedy that is the reason we remember these things. We remember these events or we still talk about these events. Because in both stories there are elements that just nobody can fully explain. There are truly unexplained phenomena that are fascinating, that are terrifying and I know you're gonna love it. So if that's of interest to you, please sneak into the Follow buttons house and replace all of their shoelaces with 20 foot long shoelaces. Also, please subscribe to our channel and turn on all notifications so you don't miss any of our weekly uploads. Okay, let's get into tonight's stories.
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Just before 10:00am On November 14, 1995, a 19 year old man named Zhang ran down a dark street toward a bus stop on the outskirts of Beijing, which is the capital city of China. Zhang, who worked at a fast food restaurant, had gotten off work late and so now he had to catch this bus because it was the last one out of the area and if he missed it, he'd be stranded. So this area where Zhang worked was actually a pretty historic district in Beijing. It was home to several old palaces and shrines that were built at the foot of this mountain called Baiwang Mountain. And so this area was sort of like a popular tourist area. And so during the day it was very busy. There was lots of cabs coming in and out of the area, but at night it was basically deserted and no cabs came through here. So again, the bus really was his only shot of Getting out here unless he wanted to walk on foot. And that was just not practical. And so Zhang continued running along until he turned the corner, and up ahead, he saw the bus stop. And he didn't see the bus. It was just basically a deserted street. But standing near the bus stop was this old woman. And it appeared like she was waiting for the bus, which suggested to Zhang that he had not missed the final bus because clearly she was waiting for it too, unless she also missed it, perhaps, but it just seemed like she hadn't. And so Zhang, who by this point is like, kind of out of breath, he stopped running and he walked the last distance up to the bus stop where this woman was. And as he approached her, she kind of turned and looked at him like, what are you? You know, it's late at night, she's all alone. You know, it's just kind of weird. But she looked at him and he kind of just smiled at her to signal like, I'm no threat, you know, I'm just here for the bus, too. And then before the two could even talk, Zhang heard the sound of a bus approaching. And he turned and here comes bus 375, came to a stop. The old woman climbed on, and Zhang followed up right after her. A moment later, Zhang was inside the bus. The doors had closed behind him. The driver had taken off from the curb. Zhang had paid the ticket seller, who was separate from the driver, sitting in sort of the front right seat. And the woman who had been in front of him, she also had paid. She had sat down in the row right next to the ticket seller, right behind the driver. And Zhang, even though the whole bus was empty, nobody else is on here except for these three people. He just sat down right behind the old woman. So he takes his seat. You know, they're driving down the road, and, you know, it's late at night, he's tired, he's had a long shift. And so for a little while, Zhang just looked out the window and watched all the, you know, imperial gardens and the shrines and all the various landmarks that drew people to the area. You know, this was again, sort of a touristy area. He's just watching it all pass by. You know, it's late, it's dark, you can't see much out there. But eventually, you know, relatively soon after they had started, they passed by sort of all the touristy stuff, and they entered into this stretch of road that Zhang was very familiar with. He took part bus 375 home all the time that this stretch was very Desolate. There was no more buildings, no more anything. It was just kind of forest and wild on either side of the road. And so as a result, at night, driving, this desolate stretch was very, very dark. There was just literally no lights. And so once they were in this sort of desolate stretch, Zhang found himself just kind of leaning back and closing his eyes, because it was a little bit of a ride before he'd get to his stop and get off the bus. And so he just closed his eyes, and he's trying to kind of nod off, and they're driving for a little while. And he kind of felt himself beginning to fall asleep when suddenly he felt the bus start to slow down. Now, there was no indication within the bus that anything had happened. Zhang knew that it was way too early to be at the next bus stop. And so immediately he opened his eyes, and he's just kind of looking around for some cue from the driver or the ticket seller or even this woman, like, what was going on here. But then the bus came to a full stop, and it's so dark outside that Zhang, like, literally can't see what's going on out there. And no one's saying anything. And the driver just kind of inexplicably gets up from his seat and he walks out of the bus. Like, he exits the bus, which was odd. Like, there's no clear reason for this. And so Zhang, the woman, even the ticket seller, they're kind of just like, peering out the window, out the front window of the bus to see. See what's going on. But given how dark it was outside and the fact that there was really only light inside the bus, it had the effect of just kind of making all the interior glass of the bus be sort of reflective, like, really difficult to look out. Imagine sitting inside of a dark room with a light and being surrounded by glass. It'd be impossible to look out it. All you would see was like a mirror effect all around you. And so for a minute, Zhang and the others are just kind of like, wondering, what's happening? What did the driver see? And then Zhang heard something outside the bus that sounded like people talking, or maybe he thought it was people talking. And so he pressed his face up to the glass and put his hands up to it to see if he could cut through that sort of mirror effect to see what was going on out there. And at first, it was just darkness. He couldn't see anything. But eventually his eyes adjusted, and on his side of the bus on the road, the driver clearly was interacting with what looked like multiple people. Like two, maybe even three people that are down there. There didn't appear to be any other vehicle. It just wasn't clear what was happening. But there was definitely people outside the bus. And so Zhang and the others, no one's talking. They're all just kind of trying to make sense of what's happening. And then before anybody could ask any questions, the driver comes back on the bus, sits down in the driver's seat, and then behind him come these three new people, who presumably were the same people the driver was speaking to outside the bus. They also are likely the reason the driver stopped in the first place, Although, again, it's very unclear why they stopped in the first place. Like, there's no reason to be stopping here. But, you know, Zhang at this point just wants to get home. He doesn't really care. But these three people, they come on board the bus, and immediately Zhang and the woman and the ticket seller, they're all looking at them like, what's going on here? So there were three men, and they were all wearing these traditional silk robes. There were two in blue, and there was one in red. And the two men in blue were, like, physically holding up the third man in red. Almost like he couldn't stand on his own. Like, picture somebody who was, like, really intoxicated. He couldn't quite stand. But immediately Jean clocked that this guy didn't look drunk or something. He looked hurt. Like he was covered in. In mud and, like, grime, as if he had been, like, rolling around on the ground or something, or, you know, maybe he had fallen or whatever. Like, it wasn't clear, but something happened to this guy. And the two guys in blue who. Their robes are pristine. They're. They're holding this guy up, and they. They kind of, you know, bring him into the bus. And then without saying anything to these people on the bus, they just kind of dragged this man, who was conscious, but again, barely able to stand, down the aisle, past Zhang, past the others, to the back of the bus, where they took their seat. And then it was like nobody said anything. You know, the driver didn't acknowledge how bizarre this whole thing was. He just pulled away and started driving. And then before long, it's like Zhang is just sitting there, really unclear, like, what's even happening. But as they're driving along, he just felt so uncomfortable. The woman right in front of him, she had gone, you know, back to looking straight ahead. She's not paying attention to what's happening behind, behind her. Same with the Ticket seller. But Zhang, he just felt really uncomfortable. And specifically, what he felt was it just seemed like the three guys in the back, the. The silk robe guys, one, they were completely silent, eerily silent. And two, it just felt like Zhang. It was almost like he could feel them staring at him. Not just looking straight ahead towards the front of the bus, but it was like they were looking at him. It was like a primal sense that Zhang had, and the more he thought about it, the more uncomfortable he became, and frankly, the more fearful he became. Like, it was like every little noise behind him was like confirmation that they were, like, looking at him or maybe moving up the aisle to get closer to him. But he just. He couldn't bring himself to turn around and look. It was like he was terrified of what he was gonna see behind him. And so he just. He just stayed glued to his seat, rigidly looking straight ahead. But again, it was like this whole ride, he's just like, they're staring at me. Something is off. Like, what's going on with these guys? And it went on and on for, like, 10, 15 minutes of just this really tense ride. But despite how sort of awful this ride had become, even though he couldn't fully articulate exactly why, it was just so uncomfortable, despite all that, Zhang is thinking, you know, any minute now, we're going to get to my stop. I. I'm gonna get off the stupid bus, and this is gonna be over and done with, and I'll forget all about this stuff. But before they reached his stop, while they're still in this sort of isolated part of the ride where it's very dark outside, Zhang, who again, is just sort of glued looking straight ahead, he notices the woman, the woman right in front of him who this whole time has seemingly completely forgot about the guys behind her. Like, she's just looking straight ahead. No big deal. She just all of a sudden turns around and looks towards the back of the bus. Just one fluid motion. She just turned and looked. And Zhang. He's staring at the woman as she does this, and he watches as her face goes from, you know, curious and just sort of normal to her eyes going wide. And she stands up and she just starts screaming and pointing towards the back of the bus. And then before Zhang can turn around himself and he's still too scared to even look, he feels something smack into the side of his head. And so he's, like, disoriented. It hits him again and again, and he realizes it's the woman who's screaming at whatever's happening. In the back of the bus and she's hitting him over and over again with her purse and she's yelling something and Zhang's like, what is going on? He's realizing she's screaming thief. At Zhang. She's hitting him in the head, screaming thief. Zhang's he's got no clue why he he doesn't know why she's yelling at whatever's happening in the back. And before long, the bus driver just stops the bus and without even asking what's going on, he just looks at Zhang and just gestures. Get off the bus. As if Zhang is like the central issue on this bus, not the strange people we've picked up 20 minutes ago that no one has any explanation for. No explanation for why this woman is screaming about whatever they're doing back there. The bus driver has just decided that Zhang is the issue. And Zhang at this point does just want to get off the bus. He doesn't want to be here. And so without even looking at the back, he just got up, no questions asked, breezed past the woman who's still hitting him with her bag, and out the door he goes. He didn't care. He knew he had a long walk home. But anything was better than being in that bus.
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now. Once Zhang actually got off the bus, he realized he actually was not in as bad of a spot as he could have been. Like he expected to get off and basically be in the middle of nowhere. Cause he knew they were in this sort of isolated area. But when he got off he realized they had sort of just came to the end of that isolated section and so pretty nearby he could see a neighborhood, which meant he actually was not that far away from his home. And so he's thinking, okay, I got a bit of a walk. But again thank goodness I'm not on that bus. I don't even want to think about what's happening on that crazy bus. Like, thank goodness I'm just out of there. And so Zhang, he just starts walking towards his home, and he's making his way when he hears something behind him. And he immediately stops. Because think about how. How traumatic whatever just happened was for him. He can't process what's happened. It's this totally crazy, inexplicable thing. He's on the side of the road now. Like, he's on edge. And so he hears something behind him, and he just stops. And this time, unlike on the bus, he does turn around to see what's going on. And he turns, and he sees he's not alone. Standing behind him on the sidewalk is the old woman. And she's staring right at him. And so Zhang, he's looking at her, and immediately he clocks that something's different about her on the bus. That expression she had on her face when she screamed at whatever was in the back of the bus and then began hitting him with her purse, that expression she had was like fear and paranoia and even anger. That's what he saw on her face. But now she's, like, smiling, and she's looking at him with this almost like, I'm sorry look on her face. Like, please, I want to talk to you about what just happened. Like, it was. She was signaling to him, like, we need to talk. And so picking up on that, Zhang, like, he wanted to just go over to her and be like, what are you doing? Like, why did you do that to me? I didn't take anything from you. He wanted to yell at her, but again, there was just that look on her face that said, like, I gotta go talk to this woman. And so Zhang, he turns and he walks to this woman, and he says to her, like, what happened on there? Like, what's going on? Like, what did you see? Why did you. What happened? And she looked at him, and she was like, I have to tell you a secret. So that night, unbeknownst to Zhang, and very likely unbeknownst to this woman, this bus, they were on bus 375. After they got off, it would take off and drive off with its strange occupants on board. And believe it or not, the bus would vanish. It would just go missing. Nobody knew where it went. And then three days later, it was found, crashed in a reservoir 60 miles north of where Zhang and this woman had gotten off. And on board the bus were three dead bodies. It was the driver, the ticket seller, and then also the man wearing red, the guy who was needing to be propped up by the other two men in blue. Now, authorities made no mention of the men in blue. It was just these three people were found on board the bus. Now, it was determined that all three of them had died from a broken neck. And so the running assumption was the crash itself caused them to break their necks, and that's what killed them. But there was a very strange determination about the condition of the bodies. So the occupants on board the bus presumably died within 72 hours because that's the time frame they were missing and when they were found dead. But it was determined that their bodies were so decomposed, they likely had been dead for months. The secret that the old woman told Zhang was that when she turned around on the bus and she looked to the back and she saw the men, she said the men in blue were staring at Zhang with just a look of pure evil on their face. She was like, I knew it wasn't right. These were evil spirits, and they were after Zhang. It was like she instinctively just knew it. She didn't know why. She just knew it. And almost, like reflexively, she began screaming. And then it was like this thought crossed her mind that she needed to save Zhang. And the first thing she thought to do was accuse him of being a thief. So the bus driver would stop and kick him off the bus. And so she put on this performance, hitting him, calling him a thief, basically, to save him, to get him off the bus, away from what she thought were literally evil spirits. And so think about this. She's telling Zhang this on the side of the road. They're in the middle of nowhere. Their ride is pulled, pulling away. Zhang wasn't like, oh, boy, thank you so much for saving me from the evil spirits on the bus. He's like, okay, okay, I get it now. I guess I appreciate it. And then the two of them just took off on their merry way. It wasn't until three days later that Zhang realized whatever caused her to have that reaction literally saved his life. And who knows who the men in blue were, because something happened on that bus, that something caused it to vanish and then crash into the reservoir. And everybody dies on board with their necks broken and their bodies decomposed more than they should be. Like, none of that makes any sense. But all Zhang knows is because of that woman, he was still alive. And so Zhang is like a mix between terrified that he was involved in this, but also so thankful that this woman saved his life. But what he did when he put it all together, when he found out about this bus and you know, what happened on board, you know, the dead bodies and all that, he went to the authorities and he said there were two other people on the bus that were acting so weird, the men in blue. You know, the ones the woman basically warned him about being these evil spirits. And he told the authorities and you know, whether or not they bought the evil spirit line didn't really matter. What they're being told is there were two people acting strange on the bus before this all happened and they went out and they looked for the two men in blue and they never found them. No one has any idea who they were. And so to this day, all the locals all say to never take the last bus ride along Route 375. This is a paid ad by BetterHelp.
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On a fall afternoon in 1887, a man named Gene Wilson rode his horse next to the Platte river in Wyoming, herding some cattle that were grazing there. Next to him was Gene's dog, who was running along dutifully right behind him and sort of nipping at the cow's heels to keep them in line. So Gene was a ranch hand and he worked for a ranch in the town of Casper, which was about maybe 10 miles away from where he was right now. And part of Gene's responsibilities was going out and finding lost cattle that wandered too far from the ranch and herding them back to the pasture. So on this particular day, the weather was perfect. It's sunny, it's beautiful, you know. And generally Gene actually really enjoyed this aspect of his job. Like, he liked being out here. But today, even though he should have been like, this is a great day, he just felt really, really tired. He had worked many, many hours up until this point, and he really just wanted to be done and head back home and to where he lived with his wife. They had this little house that was sort of tucked away in this secluded area in this valley surrounded by hills. It was like his oasis. Gene and his wife were like absolute best friends. Like, the very best part of his day. Even on days where he went out and enjoyed his job, still the best part of his day was always returning home and just catching up with his wife over dinner. That was like the thing he looked forward to the most. And so right now it was like he craved just being home and being with his wife. He could not wait. But Gene, you know, he was a diligent guy. And he just continued doing his job. You know, he's trotting along the river, he's herding the cows. And at some point, as he's sort of at this point, mindlessly doing his job, because again, he doesn't want to be here anymore, he looks down and he notices his dog is no longer next to him. His dog was always right next to him, you know, helping, doing the herding, and his dog's not there. And so he stopped and he began looking around. And that's when he realized that maybe because he was becoming so mindless doing this job today, that this huge amount of mist had sort of rolled out over the Platte River. Like, he hadn't noticed that there was just all this mist. And as he's looking out, seeing this massive cloud of mist, he noticed his dog, and his dog was actually kind of going nuts. The dog had broken off and run to the edge of the Platte river. And it was sort of like barking like mad. And it had been for some time. It was like Gene just hadn't noticed it. And so he's seeing the mist, and he's seeing his dog, and he's like, what's going on over here? He can't see anything on the river. This is a usually pretty well traveled river, but there hadn't been any traffic, no boats or anything. And so it's a quiet day, but it's like he can't see anything out on the river. The dog is just going crazy. And so Gene's like, what. What's going on? What's out over there? And. And this is also, like, very unusual behavior for his dog. Like, his dog was very well trained. This is an odd thing for it to be doing, but, you know, Gene's thinking, there's got to be a good reason for it. The dog wouldn't do this for no reason. And so Gene, he lets the cattle just continue making their way along the river, but he, on his horse, he turns and begins making his way over to. To the dog, who again, is sort of stationary by the river's edge, barking and looking out at something in the middle of this mist, presumably. However, as Gene trotted his way towards the dog, the horse began to react to something. Gene's horse began to, like, react to something that Jean couldn't even see. It started to get really scared. It was whinnying and sort of unwilling to go any further. And then finally, when Gene really tried to get the horse to. To carry on here, the horse actually reared onto its Back legs and almost kicked Gene off of it. Gene managed to hold on, and when the horse came back down on all fours, he just calmed the horse down and brought it over to a nearby tree. The whole time, the dog is still barking like crazy, looking at something out over the water. And so now Gene's like, what is going on here? He gets off his horse, and he ties it to a tree. And then on foot, he walks over to his dog. And so he walks over to his dog. His dog's, you know, yapping and barking. And as soon as Gene is next to his dog, his dog stops barking. But it continues to be really fixated on the water, which, again, is, like, utterly covered by mist. He can't see anything out on the water. It's quiet, like, eerily quiet. You know, the mist is almost obscuring the sunlight at this point.
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Like they've.
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It's almost like they're inside of a cloud. And it's just him and his dog. The dog is fixated on something, and Gene's looking out over the water. And then all of a sudden, it was like the mist began to part. And this enormous, like, way bigger than he had ever seen on the Platte river, this huge wooden ship suddenly comes into view. And so right away, Gene is sort of baffled by the ship number one. It seemed fairly obvious that this is the thing that his dog was barking at. And it might have been the same thing that the horse was. Was reacting to. But Jean's like, why? There are ships that go up and down this river all the time. The dog, the horse, they don't react this way to any of those ships. So what's that about? But more than that, this ship really was just enormous, like, looked out of place. It was so big. And this is. This is not a particularly deep river. And so Jean's like, how. How is this big of a ship here? And so Jean's almost, like, flat fascinated with what he's looking at. You know, he's sort of not really worried about the dog anymore or the horse or even his cattle. He's just. He's looking at the ship, wondering what in the heck it's doing here. Like, who's. Whose ship is this? And so Jean continues to watch as the ship, you know, continues just slowly making its way down Platte River. And as he's staring at it again, just sort of fascinated by it, he counts nine sailors on the deck, moving around, doing. Doing something on the deck. But what they were doing on the deck just wasn't immediately Clear. They weren't doing sort of obvious sailor things. They were clearly working on something in unison on the deck. There was something they were doing all together. Like, there was this apparent huge tarp almost, that sat in the middle of the deck of the ship, and they were sort of moving it around, and it appeared like there was something underneath it, but Jean couldn't see. See it, and he was too far away to make out what it could be. And so Gene is just. He's staring at this. This. This crew. He's looking at the ship. And then all of a sudden, all nine of the sailors on board the ship, almost like in unison, just stopped what they were doing, and they turned, and they all, at the exact same time, just stared directly at Gene. And it sort of, like, disarmed Gene. Like, he was really, you know, staring intently at them. And it was sort of. It was like, alarming to have them all be looking at him all at once. And so he's sort of taken aback, and he's looking out at them like, are they looking at me? What did I do? What's going on here? And then all at once, these nine people, they go back to what they're doing, and they begin to lift up this tarp, right? So they're revealing what's underneath it. And now, you know, Gene, he's both terrified and sort of confused and. And still just fascinated. And he's looking out, like, what are they gonna reveal? Like, this is so weird. And the tarp comes up, and at first, all Gene could see was, like, this weird mound, like a black mound sitting on the deck of the ship that was underneath this tarp. But as he continued to stare, he suddenly realized what he was looking at. It couldn't be possible. How. How could that be out like that? That doesn't make any sense to me. And he was horrified. He was. He was scared. And he's thinking, like, I don't even know what to do. And all of a sudden, he just. He grabs his dog, he runs back to his horse, and he thinks, I have to get home. I have to get home right now. And so on his horse he goes. He just gets his dog. He abandons the cattle. From what he's seen, he doesn't even care. He has to make sure that everything back home is okay. And he takes off. He starts galloping as fast as he can back in the direction of that quaint little home he's got down in the hillside. And so over an hour of riding, basically at full tilt, he finally crests the hill. And by this point, he's tried to convince himself that what he saw on board that ship could not have been a real thing. But he goes up the hill that looks down into the valley where he would normally first see his home. Except when he looked down into the valley, his home wasn't there anymore. His home was just this smoldering black ruin. The home had burned down, apparently in the last few hours while he was gone. And so Gene is a mixture of horrified, but also, weirdly, not surprised, and he blazes down the hill. He gets to his. What remains of his home, and he sees. That's not all he sees. There is a black mound that looked just like the mound he saw onboard that ship that is laying on the ground not far from where his house was. And it's the body of his wife. That's what he saw out on the ship. He saw the dead body of his wife burned and destroyed. But it was definitely her. He could make her out from here. It scared him so bad, he went back to check, and now he's seeing it in real life. Now, of course, for all you folks who are hearing this story, you're gonna think, come on, like, this happened in the 1800s. Like, how much of this is really true? What, he looked out and he saw a ghost ship appear with, you know, a premonition or a vision of his wife, who he's gonna find dead. Sure. Right. Well, listen to this. So after Gene finds his dead wife, you know, he has this incredible story about how he sort of knew about it beforehand by seeing this ghost ship, if you will. And so he went and told people. He told a lot of people about what happened. And eventually, a few years later, his story found its way to a journalist named Vincent Gaddis. And Vincent Gaddis happened to have done all this extensive reporting about the infamous Bermuda Triangle, which is just off the coast of Bermuda. There's this section of the ocean where all this very strange activity has been reported over many, many years. Like stuff that is basically paranormal in nature consistently is reported in this part of the world. And so he had done a lot of research on the Bermuda Triangle. And so he's primed to hear stories like Gene's story and take them seriously. And so when he heard about Gene's story, he began looking into it. And Vincent pretty much immediately discovered that there was absolutely no record of this enormous ship being on the Platte River. In fact, as Vincent found, it would have been impossible for a ship of that size as Gene described. You know, this hundred foot ship being able to travel on the Platte river, it was too shallow, so there was no record. And it really just. It seemed impossible. And so the way Vincent responded to this is, okay, well, clearly Gene is a man who's been wracked by guilt and shame. He feels probably like he. He somehow let his wife down by going out that day, and she winds up dying in this fire. And so this is a man who's just dealing with grief. And it's his grief that has somehow created this story in his mind to explain what happened to his wife. You know, it seems crazy, but people do crazy things when they are really deeply affected by grief. However, many years later, that same journalist wound up finding out that actually Gene was not the only person who had a story like this. He discovered that apparently 25 years before Gene's story, and then 16 years after Gene's story, there were these two other people who specifically reported seeing this enormous ship on the Platte river that apparently had the dead body of one of their loved ones on board. And like all the sailors are looking out at them and they're like showing them this dead body, but that person that they're seeing was alive as far as these people thought. But then when they went home, they discovered that their loved ones were in fact dead. It was the same as Jane's story. In the years since these sightings, this ship has become known as the Death Ship. And it's widely considered to be a death omen both in the Platte River Valley and also throughout Wyoming.
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A quick note about our stories. They are all based on true events, but we sometimes use pseudonyms to protect the people involved. And some details are fictionalized for dramatic purposes.
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The Mr. Ballin podcast Strange, Dark and Mysterious Stories is hosted and executive Produced by me, Mr. Ballin.
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Our head of writing is Evan Allen.
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Produced by Jeremy Bone and Cole Ocasio. This episode was written by Karis Pash Cooper. Research and fact checking by Shelly Shue, Samantha Van Hus Evan Beamer Abigail Shumway Camille Callahan Alex Paul Ben Faciano Research
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and fact checking supervision by Steven Earth
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Audio Editing and post produced by Whit
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Locasio and Jordan Stidham Production support by
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Antonio Minotta and Delaina Corley Artwork by Jessica Claugston Kiner Theme song Something Wicked
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by Ross Bugden thank you for listening to the Mr. Ballin podcast. And just a reminder, every new and
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exclusive episode we put out on the
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Mr. Ballin podcast, you can also now watch on the Mr. Ballin YouTube channel. That very same day. And trust me, some of these stories you truly have to see to believe. Again, my YouTube channel is just called Mr. Ballin.
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If you want to listen to episodes
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one week early and ad free, you
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can subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts plus on Apple Podcasts or visit siriusxm.com podcastplus to
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listen with Spotify or another app of your choice.
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So that's gonna do it. I really appreciate your support.
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Until next time.
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See ya. I can't believe they're having a gender
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reveal for their dog.
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No, no, no, no. This is a breed reveal. Oh. So yeah, they're finding out the breed of the puppy they're rescuing.
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So they could just be spending all
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their money on like pet insurance. Instead we got lemonade for Roscoe and it covered vaccines. Microchipping. We saved 90% on vet bills.
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Oh, here we go.
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What do you think beige confetti means? I don't know that we'll never get this Saturday back.
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Get a quote for any breed@lemonade.com pet looking to scale your outcomes beyond search and social?
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Realize is Taboola's AI powered performance platform driving incremental growth by engaging high intent users across a global network of 600 million daily. Active users on premium websites. Reach and convert your audience on premium websites and placements where your customers actually spend their time. For more information and to create your account Today, go to realize.com podcast.
This episode brings listeners two eerie, compelling tales wrapped in mystery and unexplained phenomena:
MrBallen blends true events with dramatic storytelling, focusing on the strange, chilling details that linger long after the tragedies themselves.
[Start: 02:14]
The newcomers, silent and unsettling, retreat to the rear.
Zhang:
The atmosphere grows tenser; Zhang feels targeted, unable to muster the courage to look back.
The elderly woman, previously indifferent, suddenly turns, screams in terror at the back, and starts attacking Zhang with her purse, yelling “thief.”
Confused and now the clear focus, Zhang is told by the driver—without hesitation or investigation—to get off the bus.
Grateful to escape the stifling scenario, Zhang leaves, opting for a long, solitary walk over the bus’s mysterious company.
[16:36]
Zhang realizes he’s closer to home than expected.
He hears footsteps: the old woman has followed him. Her expression is now apologetic and urgent.
She confides:
Days later, news breaks:
Zhang went to authorities:
[25:22]
Nine sailors move in unison aboard the deck, busy with a massive tarp. Suddenly, all nine stop and stare directly at Gene.
The sailors reveal what’s under the tarp: a blackened mound. As Gene stares, he realizes with horror—it’s the burnt body of his wife.
Overcome with terror and dread, Gene flees home.
On inexplicable evil:
On fate and survival:
On supernatural warning:
On mystery enduring:
MrBallen’s tone is suspenseful, conversational, and cinematic—placing the listener at the heart of the unexplained with vivid, story-centric language. Dramatic pauses and detail heighten the atmosphere and keep the stories hauntingly memorable.
This episode delivers two unsettling legends—one modern, one frontier-era—each rooted in verifiable tragedy but haunted by unresolved, supernatural elements. MrBallen’s storytelling blends folklore with investigative reporting, leaving you pondering the mysteries long after the final word.
“Some of these stories you truly have to see to believe.” — MrBallen ([38:48])