1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,440 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:09,320 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. 3 00:00:12,840 --> 00:00:16,880 Speaker 2: Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history 4 00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:20,280 Speaker 2: is an open book, all of these amazing tales are 5 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:23,720 Speaker 2: right there on display, just waiting for us to explore. 6 00:00:25,239 --> 00:00:37,120 Speaker 2: Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. Have you ever thought 7 00:00:37,200 --> 00:00:40,280 Speaker 2: much about the common pigeon? If you spend any time 8 00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:42,760 Speaker 2: in a major city, you've likely seen more of them 9 00:00:42,800 --> 00:00:45,800 Speaker 2: than any other kind of bird. Many dismissed them as 10 00:00:45,920 --> 00:00:49,600 Speaker 2: a nuisance rats with wings that exist to snatch crumbs 11 00:00:49,640 --> 00:00:52,919 Speaker 2: from the trash, barely better than a pest. What we 12 00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:56,120 Speaker 2: think of today as the common pigeon is more officially 13 00:00:56,160 --> 00:00:58,600 Speaker 2: known as the rock dove, a sort of bird that 14 00:00:58,640 --> 00:01:02,600 Speaker 2: originally was well suited to rocky coastal areas, and throughout 15 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:05,640 Speaker 2: human history we've realized that they are a versatile bird 16 00:01:05,920 --> 00:01:09,840 Speaker 2: suited to all manner of tasks. In eighteen forties Germany, 17 00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:14,160 Speaker 2: an apothecary owner named Neubranner realized this very thing. Carrier 18 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:17,560 Speaker 2: pigeons had been employed for centuries by King's army, commanders 19 00:01:17,560 --> 00:01:21,200 Speaker 2: and spies, but Neubranner was the rare small businessman who 20 00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:23,120 Speaker 2: figured out a way to make them useful in his 21 00:01:23,280 --> 00:01:27,039 Speaker 2: small community. He distributed carrier pigeons to doctors in his 22 00:01:27,120 --> 00:01:29,600 Speaker 2: city of Kronberg and told the doctors to send the 23 00:01:29,640 --> 00:01:32,479 Speaker 2: pigeons back to him when they gave out an urgent prescription, 24 00:01:32,880 --> 00:01:35,559 Speaker 2: and this way the apothecary would have the medicine ready 25 00:01:35,800 --> 00:01:39,880 Speaker 2: before the patients ever arrived at his door. Neubranner's son, 26 00:01:39,959 --> 00:01:43,679 Speaker 2: doctor Jules Neubranner, would continue this practice, expanding it to 27 00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:46,880 Speaker 2: a wider variety of tasks. He'd have the pigeons convey 28 00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:51,920 Speaker 2: messages to a nearby sanatorium, or even deliver medicines themselves. However, 29 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:56,480 Speaker 2: the younger Neubranner soon encountered an inevitable problem. Sometimes carrier 30 00:01:56,520 --> 00:01:59,840 Speaker 2: pigeons would get lost, a message or a delivery would 31 00:01:59,840 --> 00:02:02,440 Speaker 2: go awry, and he'd have no way of knowing for 32 00:02:02,480 --> 00:02:05,600 Speaker 2: a very long time. Usually the pigeon in question would 33 00:02:05,640 --> 00:02:08,400 Speaker 2: eventually return, but there was no guarantee of knowing what 34 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:11,080 Speaker 2: had happened while it was gone. This was a long 35 00:02:11,160 --> 00:02:14,360 Speaker 2: time before the invention of GPS, but Jewles had a 36 00:02:14,400 --> 00:02:17,040 Speaker 2: tool that his father had not. It was the twentieth 37 00:02:17,040 --> 00:02:20,280 Speaker 2: century an era of invention, and one of the inventions 38 00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:23,880 Speaker 2: that was taking the world by storm was photography. So 39 00:02:24,040 --> 00:02:28,040 Speaker 2: doctor Neubroanner created a small harness of elastic bands that 40 00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:31,440 Speaker 2: could fit comfortably on his pigeons, and on this harness 41 00:02:31,440 --> 00:02:35,560 Speaker 2: he hung a small camera. As the pigeon flew, the 42 00:02:35,600 --> 00:02:39,760 Speaker 2: camera shutter would operate automatically, snapping photos of landmarks on 43 00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:42,720 Speaker 2: the pigeons route. That way, if a pigeon went astray 44 00:02:42,760 --> 00:02:46,079 Speaker 2: and came back late, jewles could check the developed photographs 45 00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:49,399 Speaker 2: to see where it had gone. This ingenious little piece 46 00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:53,120 Speaker 2: of technology unwittingly became part of the global arms race 47 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:56,640 Speaker 2: as Europe Korean toward the First World War. German army 48 00:02:56,639 --> 00:03:00,240 Speaker 2: officials heard of doctor Neubranner's device and immediately sought to 49 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:03,959 Speaker 2: harness it as a tool for the Fatherland, no pun intended. 50 00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:08,679 Speaker 2: Once war broke out in Europe, intelligence became a necessity. Hundreds, 51 00:03:08,840 --> 00:03:12,200 Speaker 2: maybe even thousands of pigeons were outfitted with little cameras 52 00:03:12,200 --> 00:03:15,600 Speaker 2: and sent flying over the trenches in battlefields. They would 53 00:03:15,720 --> 00:03:19,720 Speaker 2: weave their way above the shells and bullets, snapping photos constantly. 54 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:22,600 Speaker 2: Neubranner's device was of great use in the battles of 55 00:03:22,680 --> 00:03:25,840 Speaker 2: Verdun and the sum Although the German military seemed to 56 00:03:25,880 --> 00:03:28,760 Speaker 2: have turned on him after the German surrender, he made 57 00:03:28,760 --> 00:03:31,400 Speaker 2: an inquiry and was told that the pigeons had no 58 00:03:31,520 --> 00:03:35,800 Speaker 2: military value. In spite of this seeming dismissal, pigeon photography 59 00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:39,880 Speaker 2: continued to develop, not just in Germany, but in France, Russia, 60 00:03:39,960 --> 00:03:43,000 Speaker 2: and America as well. In nineteen thirty seven, a Swiss 61 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:47,600 Speaker 2: clockmaker named Christian Adrian Mitchell patented a version of Neuberanner's camera, 62 00:03:47,640 --> 00:03:51,080 Speaker 2: adapted for sixteen millimeter film. It was just as lightweight 63 00:03:51,280 --> 00:03:53,840 Speaker 2: and the shutter would be run by an internal clockwork. 64 00:03:54,400 --> 00:03:57,000 Speaker 2: During the First and Second World Wars, it was noted 65 00:03:57,000 --> 00:04:00,320 Speaker 2: that pigeon photographers were a more reliable source of intelligences 66 00:04:00,360 --> 00:04:04,880 Speaker 2: than radio communication. American pigeons allegedly are the most decorated 67 00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:08,360 Speaker 2: of any animal, earning medals of honor for distinguished service, 68 00:04:08,680 --> 00:04:10,920 Speaker 2: and after the end of the Second World War, use 69 00:04:10,920 --> 00:04:15,280 Speaker 2: of pigeon photography passed into civilian fields. The CIA also 70 00:04:15,360 --> 00:04:19,360 Speaker 2: allegedly developed a battery powered pigeon camera in the nineteen seventies, 71 00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:23,800 Speaker 2: but its use is still classified. Apparently nowadays, the carrier 72 00:04:23,880 --> 00:04:27,200 Speaker 2: pigeon and the photographer pigeon are curiosities of the past, 73 00:04:27,480 --> 00:04:30,239 Speaker 2: eclipsed by instant messaging and drones. 74 00:04:30,760 --> 00:04:33,359 Speaker 1: But in our modern age, perhaps we should revise the 75 00:04:33,400 --> 00:04:36,560 Speaker 1: cultural view of the pigeon to be more forgiving. They 76 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:39,600 Speaker 1: may appear to be rats with wings, but maybe they've 77 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:42,359 Speaker 1: earned a place in our cities, a just reward for 78 00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:46,200 Speaker 1: an animal that allowed humanity to communicate across thousands of 79 00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:50,000 Speaker 1: miles and sea for the first time with a bird's 80 00:04:50,040 --> 00:05:06,719 Speaker 1: eye view. It was holloween night nineteen ninety two and 81 00:05:06,760 --> 00:05:09,880 Speaker 1: a cast and crew of BBC's ghost Watch was celebrating 82 00:05:10,240 --> 00:05:13,560 Speaker 1: their ambitious program was going off without a hitch, giving 83 00:05:13,600 --> 00:05:17,120 Speaker 1: the British viewing public a good scare. Before bed, they 84 00:05:17,200 --> 00:05:20,400 Speaker 1: pulled off a feat never before seen in public television, 85 00:05:20,800 --> 00:05:25,800 Speaker 1: a mockumentary ghost hunting show that every viewer thought was broadcasting. Live. 86 00:05:26,279 --> 00:05:29,320 Speaker 1: Show creator Stephen Volk was just raising his glass to 87 00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:31,680 Speaker 1: toast the crew to a job well done, when a 88 00:05:31,720 --> 00:05:35,960 Speaker 1: woman burst into the studio. This woman, producer Ruth Baumgarten, 89 00:05:36,279 --> 00:05:38,640 Speaker 1: was ashen faced. She told them that over at the 90 00:05:38,640 --> 00:05:42,440 Speaker 1: BBC main offices, the switchboard was completely jammed. More than 91 00:05:42,480 --> 00:05:45,400 Speaker 1: twenty thousand people had called in about their show, and 92 00:05:45,520 --> 00:05:50,560 Speaker 1: every single caller was scared, confused, or simply furious. The 93 00:05:50,640 --> 00:05:54,120 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety two Ghostwatch debacle started, like most things, with 94 00:05:54,320 --> 00:05:57,960 Speaker 1: good intentions. Stephen Volk had initially wanted to broadcast a 95 00:05:58,040 --> 00:06:01,839 Speaker 1: simple six part drama about all haunting, but was convinced 96 00:06:01,839 --> 00:06:04,800 Speaker 1: by Ruth Baumgarten to shorten it to ninety minutes. It 97 00:06:04,839 --> 00:06:07,480 Speaker 1: was then that Vulk had a stroke of inspiration. Rather 98 00:06:07,520 --> 00:06:10,400 Speaker 1: than filming a cinematic ghost story, what if they framed 99 00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:14,680 Speaker 1: it like a BBC investigation, a special broadcast live from 100 00:06:14,760 --> 00:06:18,240 Speaker 1: a real, live haunted house. Ruth loved the idea, and 101 00:06:18,400 --> 00:06:22,039 Speaker 1: Ghostwatch was born. They put together a program following a 102 00:06:22,120 --> 00:06:26,480 Speaker 1: supposedly live investigation team into a haunted house. The feed 103 00:06:26,520 --> 00:06:28,919 Speaker 1: would cut back and forth to the studio, where a 104 00:06:28,960 --> 00:06:31,560 Speaker 1: BBC host would react in real time to what he 105 00:06:31,600 --> 00:06:35,320 Speaker 1: was seeing and hearing during the investigation. Of course, both 106 00:06:35,320 --> 00:06:37,919 Speaker 1: of these pieces were pre recorded, but the effect was 107 00:06:37,960 --> 00:06:41,039 Speaker 1: to make it seem like a live show. Ruth and 108 00:06:41,120 --> 00:06:44,960 Speaker 1: Stephen went a step further too, casting known and trusted 109 00:06:44,960 --> 00:06:48,680 Speaker 1: BBC anchors and presenters. Sarah Green, a host who was 110 00:06:48,760 --> 00:06:52,480 Speaker 1: normally featured on children's shows, joined the investigative team in 111 00:06:52,520 --> 00:06:56,120 Speaker 1: the haunted house. To someone watching at home on Halloween Night, 112 00:06:56,520 --> 00:06:59,360 Speaker 1: all of these factors made Ghostwatch appear to be a 113 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:03,680 Speaker 1: live Broadway cast BBC documentary, which made its contents all 114 00:07:03,720 --> 00:07:07,440 Speaker 1: the more frightening. Before their eyes, viewers saw things fly 115 00:07:07,600 --> 00:07:11,920 Speaker 1: around the room and ghostly apparitions appear. Spirits wrestled for 116 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:14,600 Speaker 1: control of the cameras from the crew, and in the 117 00:07:14,640 --> 00:07:17,120 Speaker 1: final minutes of the program, they watched Sarah Green, the 118 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:20,400 Speaker 1: children's TV host, as she was dragged backward through a 119 00:07:20,440 --> 00:07:24,520 Speaker 1: door and disappeared into the darkness. To the crew of 120 00:07:24,520 --> 00:07:28,840 Speaker 1: Ghostwatch celebrating at the studio, the night was marked as successful. 121 00:07:29,240 --> 00:07:31,720 Speaker 1: But to the families watching at home and the children 122 00:07:31,800 --> 00:07:35,040 Speaker 1: seeing their favorite TV host kidnapped by a ghost, the 123 00:07:35,080 --> 00:07:39,080 Speaker 1: mood was much more horrifying. Thousands of complaints poured into 124 00:07:39,120 --> 00:07:43,239 Speaker 1: the BBC, from hysterical children to priests convinced the BBC 125 00:07:43,680 --> 00:07:47,720 Speaker 1: had just broadcast Witchcraft. Equal in number were the angry 126 00:07:47,800 --> 00:07:50,360 Speaker 1: calls made by viewers who were upset that they had 127 00:07:50,400 --> 00:07:53,880 Speaker 1: been duped. Remember that back in nineteen ninety two, reality 128 00:07:53,920 --> 00:07:55,960 Speaker 1: TV as we know it was still a thing of 129 00:07:56,040 --> 00:07:58,440 Speaker 1: the future. There had been a few shows that had 130 00:07:58,440 --> 00:08:01,720 Speaker 1: blurred the line between documentary and scripted drama, for sure, 131 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:04,320 Speaker 1: But nineteen ninety two was the same year as the 132 00:08:04,320 --> 00:08:07,000 Speaker 1: first season of the Real World. It would be another 133 00:08:07,080 --> 00:08:10,760 Speaker 1: eight years before Survivor and another fourteen before The Hills, 134 00:08:11,120 --> 00:08:14,240 Speaker 1: probably the most well known reality show that fully scripted 135 00:08:14,320 --> 00:08:17,440 Speaker 1: most of its drama. So put yourself in the nineteen 136 00:08:17,520 --> 00:08:20,520 Speaker 1: ninety two viewers' shoes. These people were primed to think 137 00:08:20,560 --> 00:08:24,320 Speaker 1: that documentary style investigative shows produced by the BBC were 138 00:08:24,360 --> 00:08:27,920 Speaker 1: always going to be one hundred percent real. Ghostwatch had 139 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:31,680 Speaker 1: an immediate and wide ranging fallout. Viewers believe that they 140 00:08:31,720 --> 00:08:36,160 Speaker 1: couldn't trust the BBC anymore. Multiple children were allegedly diagnosed 141 00:08:36,160 --> 00:08:40,640 Speaker 1: with PTSD, and, perhaps most tragically, one young viewer even 142 00:08:40,720 --> 00:08:45,000 Speaker 1: died by suicide. The British Broadcasting Standards Commission ruled that 143 00:08:45,040 --> 00:08:47,320 Speaker 1: the BBC had a duty to make it clear that 144 00:08:47,360 --> 00:08:50,960 Speaker 1: their program was fictional. It seemed that by featuring hosts 145 00:08:50,960 --> 00:08:54,240 Speaker 1: commonly seen on children's programs, the BBC had made it 146 00:08:54,280 --> 00:08:58,520 Speaker 1: seem like Ghostwatch was appropriate for children, much like the 147 00:08:58,640 --> 00:09:01,720 Speaker 1: Orson Wells nineteen thirty eight broadcast of War of the 148 00:09:01,760 --> 00:09:05,480 Speaker 1: World's The unexpected use of documentary style to present a 149 00:09:05,600 --> 00:09:10,439 Speaker 1: drama through people into a panic. Ghostwatch was never broadcast again, 150 00:09:10,760 --> 00:09:14,559 Speaker 1: and its creators were chastised by the public and the press. 151 00:09:15,040 --> 00:09:18,000 Speaker 1: But in retrospect, it seems like ghost Watch was simply 152 00:09:18,040 --> 00:09:20,560 Speaker 1: ahead of its time. If it had aired just a 153 00:09:20,600 --> 00:09:23,760 Speaker 1: few years later, maybe then it would have had the 154 00:09:23,800 --> 00:09:30,680 Speaker 1: ghost of a chance at success. I hope you've enjoyed 155 00:09:30,679 --> 00:09:34,400 Speaker 1: today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for 156 00:09:34,440 --> 00:09:37,240 Speaker 1: free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show 157 00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:42,320 Speaker 1: by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created 158 00:09:42,360 --> 00:09:45,680 Speaker 1: by me Aaron Mankey in partnership with how Stuff Works. 159 00:09:46,080 --> 00:09:49,240 Speaker 1: I make another award winning show called Lore, which is 160 00:09:49,360 --> 00:09:52,720 Speaker 1: a podcast, book series, and television show, and you can 161 00:09:52,800 --> 00:09:56,680 Speaker 1: learn all about it over at the Worldolore dot com. 162 00:09:56,720 --> 00:09:59,160 Speaker 1: And until next time, stay curious.