WEBVTT - S03 Episode 5: Banggerreng 0:00:00.640 --> 0:00:03.559 Nothing's better than feeling comfortable in your own shoes. Maybe 0:00:03.600 --> 0:00:05.720 you're a parent raising a little rock star, or a 0:00:05.800 --> 0:00:08.680 techno man working from anywhere. All birds want you to 0:00:08.680 --> 0:00:11.680 be comfortable in your actual shoes too. Their wool runners, 0:00:11.720 --> 0:00:14.360 pipers and loungers are so cozy you might forget you're 0:00:14.360 --> 0:00:17.200 wearing them, and they're crafted from natural materials that tread 0:00:17.280 --> 0:00:20.360 lightly on our planet. So get comfortable in your shoes. 0:00:20.560 --> 0:00:22.840 Get to know the wool runners, pipers and loungers at 0:00:22.840 --> 0:00:38.280 albirds dot com. That's allbrds dot com. The small town 0:00:38.320 --> 0:00:42.240 of Humpty Dow, located just forty kilometers to the southeast 0:00:42.240 --> 0:00:45.560 of Darwin in North Australia, is thought to get its 0:00:45.640 --> 0:00:49.680 name from the term humpty dumpty, a phrase adopted in 0:00:49.720 --> 0:00:55.520 local vernacular to mean upside down. A fitting name perhaps, 0:00:55.920 --> 0:00:59.320 for like most of the country, the place sits squarely 0:00:59.600 --> 0:01:04.839 on an intersection of worlds. For, of course, it wasn't 0:01:04.840 --> 0:01:09.400 always known as hump dey Do, the country not always 0:01:09.440 --> 0:01:15.800 known as Australia. The first people to arrive here are 0:01:15.840 --> 0:01:18.880 thought to have done so over fifty thousand years ago, 0:01:20.319 --> 0:01:25.520 their descendants, the Larakia people, eventually settling in the area 0:01:25.640 --> 0:01:29.120 and living out a mostly peaceful existence in harmony with 0:01:29.200 --> 0:01:33.080 the elements of their world, taking only what they needed 0:01:33.560 --> 0:01:36.960 and fighting only to defend the territory that was crucial 0:01:37.000 --> 0:01:42.760 to their survival. Unbeknownst to the Larakia, however, there was 0:01:42.800 --> 0:01:47.720 another world occupying the exact same space as theirs, and 0:01:47.960 --> 0:01:53.920 one day it would begin to press in. Some knew 0:01:53.920 --> 0:01:59.280 of this place, already a place populated by people similar 0:01:59.320 --> 0:02:04.560 in some way but different in others. As they will discover, 0:02:05.200 --> 0:02:09.720 it is a place made not by Mangaraha or Nangan Burah, 0:02:10.720 --> 0:02:14.560 but by God Almighty. And it is a place where 0:02:14.600 --> 0:02:18.919 time and space is a very different thing. In this 0:02:18.960 --> 0:02:23.680 new world, it is the year eighteen thirty nine. Unlike 0:02:23.720 --> 0:02:27.440 that of the Larakia, its concept of land is not 0:02:27.680 --> 0:02:31.960 to see it as a shifting and breathing compatriot, but 0:02:32.160 --> 0:02:38.359 rather as something to be owned, worked and dominated. Slowly, 0:02:38.480 --> 0:02:42.120 over the years, this new world will in many ways 0:02:42.280 --> 0:02:47.359 supersede that of the Larakia. The clash of perspectives an 0:02:47.360 --> 0:02:53.480 ever continuing and controversial work in progress. But while our 0:02:53.520 --> 0:02:58.360 species battles amongst itself in its constant negotiation of worlds, 0:02:59.400 --> 0:03:02.800 it is not only each other's human worlds we encroach on, 0:03:03.800 --> 0:03:08.640 but those of things far more ancient. You need only 0:03:08.680 --> 0:03:11.480 take a short journey from the city of Darwin into 0:03:11.520 --> 0:03:16.200 the surrounding swamplands to find creatures with little concern for 0:03:16.240 --> 0:03:23.239 our conflicting stories and stories of conflict. They're camouflaged crocodile eyes, 0:03:23.720 --> 0:03:27.320 quietly observing all from as far back as two hundred 0:03:27.400 --> 0:03:31.680 million years ago. And what of the many other things 0:03:31.760 --> 0:03:37.000 hidden from view? Perhaps whoever we think we are, we 0:03:37.080 --> 0:03:41.600 will always be at the whim of unseen and unknown forces. 0:03:43.560 --> 0:03:55.920 You're listening to unexplained, and I'm Richard McClane Smith. Like 0:03:56.120 --> 0:03:59.840 most of the surrounding area of Darwin, Humpty Dew sees 0:04:00.040 --> 0:04:03.320 little rainfall in the major winter months of June, July 0:04:03.560 --> 0:04:08.840 and August, but as summer approaches, an invisible movement plays 0:04:08.880 --> 0:04:12.600 out that come the new year will bring vast changes. 0:04:15.000 --> 0:04:18.240 As the land absorbs the heat radiating from the sun, 0:04:19.040 --> 0:04:21.640 so too to the molecules in the air above it, 0:04:22.360 --> 0:04:27.440 sending them higher into the atmosphere. As they rise, Warm 0:04:27.480 --> 0:04:31.920 and humid airs over tropical oceans are drawn silently into 0:04:31.960 --> 0:04:37.000 the space, as if from nowhere. Thick dark shapes begin 0:04:37.040 --> 0:04:41.800 to materialize and swirl about in the sky, growing thicker 0:04:41.839 --> 0:04:47.359 and darker, until finally the unrelenting torrent of monsoon is unleashed. 0:04:49.200 --> 0:04:53.200 Some call it the wet others know it as the 0:04:53.279 --> 0:04:59.320 season of good joke. Come January, the rains can fall 0:04:59.480 --> 0:05:03.120 for twenty days of the month, delivering over four meters 0:05:03.200 --> 0:05:07.200 of water from the skies and with it some of 0:05:07.200 --> 0:05:11.120 the most dramatic and spine tingling thunderstorms you are ever 0:05:11.240 --> 0:05:16.040 likely to witness, much like the one being watched by 0:05:16.080 --> 0:05:19.240 five friends as they sit on their porch outside their 0:05:19.279 --> 0:05:24.359 home at ninety Mukmin's Drive, a modest but well kept 0:05:24.480 --> 0:05:28.560 four bedroom bungalow located just off the road at the 0:05:28.640 --> 0:05:32.640 end of a seventy meter gravel driveway, surrounded by a 0:05:32.720 --> 0:05:38.360 high wire fence and shrouded by trees. The property also 0:05:38.480 --> 0:05:41.600 boasted a decent sized swimming pool, as well as a 0:05:41.680 --> 0:05:45.360 large garage and outdoor bar area where the friends are 0:05:45.360 --> 0:05:49.760 currently gathered. In short, it was the perfect home for 0:05:49.839 --> 0:05:55.599 the young North Territorians. It is late January nineteen ninety 0:05:55.600 --> 0:05:59.480 eight and the friends are sipping on beer, enjoying each 0:05:59.480 --> 0:06:05.760 other's coy immersed in the spectacle unfolding before them. Sunset 0:06:05.960 --> 0:06:09.320 has colored the clouds into a wash of indigo and orange. 0:06:10.440 --> 0:06:16.200 From somewhere within them, a primal guttural rumble emerges, reverberating 0:06:16.200 --> 0:06:19.960 for miles around, followed by a sudden and vicious cracking. 0:06:21.160 --> 0:06:24.560 A pulsing of neon purple is followed by a crooked 0:06:24.600 --> 0:06:29.159 trail of electric blue leaping out from the clouds, scorching 0:06:29.240 --> 0:06:34.560 dendrite lines in the sky. Kirsty yelps with delight as 0:06:34.600 --> 0:06:37.839 another distant fork of lightning shoots down to the ground. 0:06:40.040 --> 0:06:44.560 Her partner, Andrew, a driller for the construction industry, sits 0:06:44.600 --> 0:06:47.839 beside her, along with their friends Jill, who worked in 0:06:47.839 --> 0:06:52.159 a local shop, and her partner Dave, a mechanic, and Murph, 0:06:52.520 --> 0:06:57.800 who worked as a commercial fisherman. Kirsty and Andrew were 0:06:57.839 --> 0:07:01.360 also proud parents to ten months old old Jasmine, who 0:07:01.440 --> 0:07:06.719 was currently lying sound asleep inside the house. As they 0:07:06.720 --> 0:07:10.640 continued to sit and enjoy the storm, the rain pelting 0:07:10.680 --> 0:07:15.240 down with ever greater intensity, Andrew gave a sudden cry 0:07:15.280 --> 0:07:20.240 of surprise. What was that? He said, as a pebble 0:07:20.320 --> 0:07:24.720 came to rest at his feet. Suddenly the whole group 0:07:24.800 --> 0:07:29.440 were being pelted by tiny stones. Some hitting their bodies, 0:07:29.800 --> 0:07:34.840 with others just clattering against the patio floor. The stones, 0:07:35.160 --> 0:07:39.280 about a centimeter in diameter, looked identical to the pieces 0:07:39.280 --> 0:07:45.440 of gravel that lined their driveway. The five looked about 0:07:45.520 --> 0:07:49.080 urgently for any sign of a culprit, suspecting that some 0:07:49.160 --> 0:07:53.280 practical jokers were playing a trick on them, with Kirsty 0:07:53.320 --> 0:07:57.720 and Andrew especially concerned since Jasmine was alone in the house. 0:08:00.280 --> 0:08:03.200 Dave and Mirth stepped out into the rain for a 0:08:03.240 --> 0:08:06.960 better look, but with its starting to get dark, there 0:08:06.960 --> 0:08:12.040 had little chance of spotting anything. A moment later, with 0:08:12.160 --> 0:08:16.120 the onslaught having stopped, the group returned to the verandah, 0:08:16.600 --> 0:08:21.520 only for it to immediately start up again. Entire fistfuls 0:08:21.560 --> 0:08:27.400 of pebbles flung into them from indiscernible directions. Tiring of 0:08:27.440 --> 0:08:31.560 whatever prank was being pulled, the group shouted into the 0:08:31.600 --> 0:08:36.440 surrounding darkness, vowing to teach the culprit's a lesson, before 0:08:36.440 --> 0:08:43.240 eventually deciding to continue their evening inside the house. Leading 0:08:43.240 --> 0:08:46.920 the group into the bungalow, Kirsty stepped into the kitchen 0:08:47.400 --> 0:08:54.280 and froze in horror. The pebbles were everywhere, scattered all 0:08:54.320 --> 0:08:57.880 over the kitchen table, the worktops, and across the floor. 0:09:00.400 --> 0:09:03.240 In a panic, she ran to check on Jasmine, but 0:09:03.400 --> 0:09:09.000 found her thankfully sound asleep, unaware of any intrusion. The 0:09:09.080 --> 0:09:12.000 others made a quick check of their home but found 0:09:12.040 --> 0:09:17.560 no sign of any one. And then it started again. 0:09:19.760 --> 0:09:22.400 Andrew saw the first one as it came to rest 0:09:22.440 --> 0:09:27.079 on the carpet at his feet, followed by another, then another, 0:09:27.760 --> 0:09:32.439 until there was a shower of pebbles dropping all about them. 0:09:32.559 --> 0:09:35.480 Yelling for whoever it was to cut it out, The 0:09:35.600 --> 0:09:39.880 tenants soon realized, with all the doors and windows closed, 0:09:40.559 --> 0:09:46.679 that they were the only people inside the building. The stones, 0:09:46.760 --> 0:09:49.880 which could only have come from outside, were bone dry, 0:09:50.840 --> 0:09:55.559 despite the torrential downpour, and they appeared to be materializing 0:09:55.960 --> 0:10:00.560 out of thin air. Thinking they might somehow be coming 0:10:00.600 --> 0:10:04.040 from the loft, Dave removed the cover to the attic 0:10:04.320 --> 0:10:07.520 and poked his head into the space, only to be 0:10:07.520 --> 0:10:12.120 showered again by pebbles tumbling down from somewhere above. But 0:10:12.280 --> 0:10:18.840 yet again there was nobody there. Ducking for cover, Andrew 0:10:18.840 --> 0:10:22.960 and Kirsty retreated to their bedroom, gasping in surprise when 0:10:23.000 --> 0:10:27.240 they saw the bed. It was also covered in pebbles, 0:10:29.480 --> 0:10:38.880 but that was only the beginning. Over the next few days, 0:10:39.440 --> 0:10:43.400 the housemates were terrorized, with a number of implements seemingly 0:10:43.440 --> 0:10:47.480 being thrown around the house by an unseen force. A 0:10:47.600 --> 0:10:50.840 CD player was wrenched from the wall and smashed on 0:10:50.840 --> 0:10:55.680 the floor. Ashtrays were sent shooting through the rooms, smashing 0:10:55.679 --> 0:11:00.520 into pieces against the walls. By the following week, the 0:11:00.640 --> 0:11:05.120 housemaids agreed that something must be done. None of them 0:11:05.200 --> 0:11:09.360 were particularly religious, but rather than risk ridicule by alerting 0:11:09.360 --> 0:11:13.360 the authorities, they turned first to the local church for help, 0:11:13.760 --> 0:11:15.880 who agreed to send some one out to the house 0:11:16.160 --> 0:11:22.240 the following day. That night, Kirsty and Andrew lay in bed, 0:11:23.000 --> 0:11:25.920 keeping an eye on their daughter, Jasmine, asleep in a 0:11:26.000 --> 0:11:32.280 nearby cot. Moments later, with the lights off and Andrew 0:11:32.559 --> 0:11:37.320 now snoring softly beside her, Kirsty heard a strange noise 0:11:37.800 --> 0:11:41.480 emanating from out of the dark of the room. It 0:11:41.679 --> 0:11:46.240 was the sound of something scratching, perhaps a critter outside, 0:11:46.280 --> 0:11:53.640 she thought, until slowly it grew louder and closer, sounding 0:11:53.679 --> 0:11:56.240 for all the world like it was creeping along the 0:11:56.280 --> 0:12:02.960 wall towards her. Now, who scared to move, Kirsty could 0:12:02.960 --> 0:12:06.080 only listen with terror as the source of the noise 0:12:06.400 --> 0:12:12.160 continued to draw near, the sound getting louder. The movement 0:12:12.200 --> 0:12:16.480 of it was unmistakable. It was as if somebody was 0:12:16.520 --> 0:12:24.960 crawling through the wall, and then it stopped. Kirsty hurriedly 0:12:25.000 --> 0:12:27.720 switched on the light, but found only her partner and 0:12:27.800 --> 0:12:32.040 daughter in there with her. The only sound the gentle 0:12:32.080 --> 0:12:38.760 breathing of baby Jasmine and the softly snoring Andrew. When father, 0:12:38.840 --> 0:12:43.240 Stephen Desza arrived the following day, he found the tenants 0:12:43.400 --> 0:12:48.520 severely sleep deprived and deeply upset. After being welcomed into 0:12:48.559 --> 0:12:51.880 the house, Desuza had only just turned to walk out 0:12:51.920 --> 0:12:55.120 of the kitchen when someone shouted for him to duck. 0:12:56.520 --> 0:12:59.800 Turning back, he was horrified to see a stake knife 0:13:00.000 --> 0:13:03.240 being straight toward him. He threw his hands up to 0:13:03.280 --> 0:13:07.080 protect himself, only to see the knife stop in mid 0:13:07.080 --> 0:13:10.959 air and fall straight to the floor without a bounce. 0:13:12.320 --> 0:13:15.040 It was as if it had connected with something invisible 0:13:15.760 --> 0:13:20.439 standing right in front of him. After witnessing a number 0:13:20.480 --> 0:13:24.280 of similar incidents that morning, to Suzer was convinced that 0:13:24.360 --> 0:13:28.320 a restless spirit had been unleashed in the house, perhaps 0:13:28.440 --> 0:13:31.640 drawn there by one of the tenants. It was to 0:13:31.720 --> 0:13:36.000 Salz's opinion that, unbeknownst to themselves, this tenant was a 0:13:36.080 --> 0:13:41.880 natural medium, unable to offer much more than prayer. The 0:13:41.960 --> 0:13:45.480 priest assured the housemates that whatever it was would leave 0:13:45.559 --> 0:13:50.319 them soon. The next day, as if de Soza's reassuring 0:13:50.360 --> 0:13:58.120 presence had been enough, the bizarre activity ceased. Three days later, however, 0:13:58.920 --> 0:14:07.040 it was back. Are you always taking care of your family? 0:14:07.360 --> 0:14:09.720 Do you often take care of others and not yourself? 0:14:10.360 --> 0:14:13.000 Now it's time to take care of yourself, to make 0:14:13.080 --> 0:14:16.960 time for you. You deserve it. Teledoc gives you access 0:14:17.000 --> 0:14:19.600 to a licensed therapist to help you get back to 0:14:19.680 --> 0:14:24.000 feeling your best, to feeling like yourself again. With teledoc, 0:14:24.240 --> 0:14:27.160 you can speak to a licensed therapist by phone or video. 0:14:27.640 --> 0:14:30.960 Therapy appointments are available seven days a week from seven 0:14:31.000 --> 0:14:34.760 am to nine pm local time. If you feel overwhelmed 0:14:34.840 --> 0:14:39.400 sometimes maybe you feel stressed or anxious, depressed or lonely, 0:14:39.960 --> 0:14:42.720 or you might be struggling with a personal or family issue, 0:14:43.120 --> 0:14:48.440 teledoc can help. Teledoc is committed to facilitating great therapeutic matches, 0:14:48.760 --> 0:14:51.280 so they make it easy to change counselors if needed. 0:14:51.520 --> 0:14:56.400 For free. Teledoc therapy is available through most insurance or employers. 0:14:57.160 --> 0:15:00.720 Download the app or visit teledoc dot com forward slash 0:15:00.800 --> 0:15:07.360 unexplained podcast today to get started. That's teladoc dot com 0:15:07.400 --> 0:15:18.360 slash unexplained podcast now thoroughly spooted by Dosza's conclusion. At 0:15:18.360 --> 0:15:21.880 the first sign of further activity, the tenants wasted little 0:15:21.920 --> 0:15:26.000 time in contacting the church again, but this time local 0:15:26.040 --> 0:15:31.880 parish priest Tom English agreed to assist them. Like Desoza, 0:15:32.400 --> 0:15:36.000 Within moments of his arrival, English was treated to a 0:15:36.040 --> 0:15:41.000 barrage of flying objects sent whizzing about his head. As 0:15:41.040 --> 0:15:45.640 English would later remark, each object came flying across rooms 0:15:45.720 --> 0:15:49.440 or through doorways, with no one remotely near wherever they 0:15:49.520 --> 0:15:54.080 must have come from. Things took a more ominous turn 0:15:54.520 --> 0:15:58.160 when English felt something flop onto his foot and looked 0:15:58.160 --> 0:16:01.480 down to find a pistol cartridge coming to rest on 0:16:01.560 --> 0:16:07.280 the carpet. English instinctively reached for his Bible and began 0:16:07.320 --> 0:16:11.680 to read from the Book of Psalms. Then, as he 0:16:11.720 --> 0:16:15.240 gently intoned the words, he reached with his free hand 0:16:15.320 --> 0:16:18.880 into his pocket and pulled out a vial of holy water. 0:16:21.240 --> 0:16:24.800 Unscrewing the bottle with his fingers, He proceeded to flick 0:16:24.840 --> 0:16:28.320 it into the corners of the room. A loud crash 0:16:28.400 --> 0:16:32.200 was heard as another ashtray smashed and splintered against the wall, 0:16:33.080 --> 0:16:38.240 fragments of glass littering the floor. On he continued throughout 0:16:38.280 --> 0:16:43.640 the house, making sure to bless every room. At each 0:16:43.640 --> 0:16:47.360 flick of the water, another crash would be heard, followed 0:16:47.360 --> 0:16:52.720 by the appearance of random objects on the floor, spanners, batteries, 0:16:52.960 --> 0:16:59.239 spark plugs, and more bullets. Reverent English left the flatmates 0:16:59.400 --> 0:17:03.040 with a cruise affix and a bible, completely dumb struck 0:17:03.120 --> 0:17:08.000 by what he had seen. Some days they would be 0:17:08.040 --> 0:17:13.080 treated to a single incident, sometimes nothing at all. Other 0:17:13.160 --> 0:17:16.520 days the tenants would be forced to endure a bombardment 0:17:16.560 --> 0:17:22.200 of articles for hours at a time. Strangely, they were 0:17:22.240 --> 0:17:25.280 never hurt by any of the objects, and any that 0:17:25.359 --> 0:17:28.080 did hit them would only ever do so with the 0:17:28.200 --> 0:17:34.240 lightest of touches. As the end of March approaches, the 0:17:34.359 --> 0:17:38.560 rains are beginning to lighten, the floodwaters beginning to recede, 0:17:39.119 --> 0:17:44.280 and the skies starting to clear. What follows is the 0:17:44.320 --> 0:17:49.200 season of bangar Rang, the time of great storms before 0:17:49.200 --> 0:17:55.360 the relative calm of the coming winter months. Since everything 0:17:55.359 --> 0:17:58.720 had begun The tenants had been cautious, only to talk 0:17:58.760 --> 0:18:02.600 to close friends about their experiences, weary of what others 0:18:02.680 --> 0:18:07.840 might think. In late March, they invite a couple, Annette 0:18:07.840 --> 0:18:10.800 and Lloyd, over to the house to witness the events 0:18:10.840 --> 0:18:18.800 for themselves. They will not be disappointed. Almost immediately, they 0:18:18.800 --> 0:18:24.480 are bombarded by objects that ricochet through the house. Then 0:18:24.560 --> 0:18:28.040 a strange rustling noise alerts the group to movement in 0:18:28.080 --> 0:18:33.119 the hallway. Stepping through to investigate, they find a large 0:18:33.119 --> 0:18:36.919 cross and what looks like a trident made from a 0:18:36.960 --> 0:18:43.400 pile of pebbles on the floor. Dave approaches it, noticing 0:18:43.440 --> 0:18:48.679 something especially peculiar. The pebbles are stacked in rows on 0:18:48.720 --> 0:18:51.480 top of each other, as if something were holding them 0:18:51.560 --> 0:18:57.000 in place. Slowly he bends down to touch them, but 0:18:57.119 --> 0:19:02.640 at the moment of contact, something extraordinary occurs. The stones 0:19:02.920 --> 0:19:06.600 scatter in every direction, flying off against the walls and 0:19:06.720 --> 0:19:12.199 down the hallway. Though all of this was undoubtedly strange, 0:19:12.720 --> 0:19:16.280 the housemates had by now become accustomed to the peculiar events, 0:19:17.160 --> 0:19:21.520 and although unnerved at times, they had never felt truly 0:19:21.560 --> 0:19:26.080 threatened by what they had seen. But all that was 0:19:26.119 --> 0:19:36.760 about to change. One morning in early April, with storm 0:19:36.760 --> 0:19:40.280 winds swirling and battering against the outside of the house. 0:19:41.320 --> 0:19:44.320 Andrew has just made his way into the shower when 0:19:44.359 --> 0:19:49.560 he notices something unexpected on the floor, a pile of 0:19:49.560 --> 0:19:55.679 pebbles fashioned with some precision into the word car, and 0:19:55.880 --> 0:19:59.159 next to it another word made from an assemblance of 0:19:59.200 --> 0:20:05.160 scrabble block that spelt out skin. Unsure what the two 0:20:05.200 --> 0:20:09.080 words could mean, Andrew heads off to inform the others, 0:20:10.280 --> 0:20:13.800 wandering into the living room to find Kirsty staring aghast 0:20:13.840 --> 0:20:20.040 at something recently scrawled onto the wall. Fire and help. 0:20:21.960 --> 0:20:26.359 And there is one final word, but Mirth hadn't needed 0:20:26.359 --> 0:20:30.280 to see it to know what it all meant, and 0:20:30.440 --> 0:20:36.040 when the others saw it, they understood too. There on 0:20:36.119 --> 0:20:41.960 the wall, scrawled in dark blue ink, was a name Troy. 0:20:46.400 --> 0:20:50.520 Earlier that year, on the seventeenth of January nineteen ninety eight, 0:20:51.320 --> 0:20:57.040 shortly before the strange events began, Mirth's best friend, Troy Radats, 0:20:57.520 --> 0:21:01.000 had been driving with another friend in a loaded with 0:21:01.080 --> 0:21:07.240 paint thinner barely two kilometers from ninety mcminn's drive. The 0:21:07.400 --> 0:21:12.040 vehicle was involved in a crash, resulting in a catastrophic explosion, 0:21:12.560 --> 0:21:16.919 immersing the car in a ball of flame. The twenty 0:21:16.960 --> 0:21:20.840 four year old Troy and his passenger were burned alive, 0:21:24.240 --> 0:21:27.480 but as Murth was quick to spot, something about the 0:21:27.600 --> 0:21:32.880 name was off. Troy spelt his name with an O 0:21:33.520 --> 0:21:38.600 U and a Y. Whoever wrote this message had left 0:21:38.640 --> 0:21:44.920 out the U. Deeply troubled by the latest turn in events, 0:21:45.720 --> 0:21:50.159 the friends discussed everything that night. Could it really be 0:21:50.359 --> 0:21:56.000 the spirit of their deceased friend, concluding that surely Troy 0:21:56.600 --> 0:22:01.520 would know how to spell his name. Their relief at 0:22:01.560 --> 0:22:05.480 realizing it wasn't their friend was only a temporary one. 0:22:06.760 --> 0:22:12.520 After all. If it wasn't Troy, then who or what 0:22:12.560 --> 0:22:24.800 was it. Despite the housemate's best efforts to keep the 0:22:24.840 --> 0:22:28.359 strange events to themselves, it wasn't long before the local 0:22:28.400 --> 0:22:32.840 media got wind of the apparent poltergeist terrorizing the occupants 0:22:32.880 --> 0:22:38.119 of ninety Mukmen's Drive. Two reporters from the local paper, 0:22:38.480 --> 0:22:42.920 The Litchfield Times arrived to interview the residence and within 0:22:43.000 --> 0:22:46.440 minutes were showered in pebbles raining down on them from 0:22:46.440 --> 0:22:54.280 inside the house. However, when they published their article, Kirsty Andrew, Dave, 0:22:54.720 --> 0:23:00.159 Jill and Mirth's worst fears were realized. Not only were 0:23:00.160 --> 0:23:03.399 they ridiculed, for their troubles, but few were willing to 0:23:03.440 --> 0:23:08.760 believe they hadn't staged the whole thing for publicity. Worst 0:23:08.800 --> 0:23:12.240 for Kirsty were those who criticized her as a stay 0:23:12.240 --> 0:23:15.720 at home mother for allowing such a charade to continue. 0:23:18.200 --> 0:23:21.960 The article had also attracted the attention of their landlords, 0:23:22.680 --> 0:23:26.199 who soon after turned up at the property. Horrified to 0:23:26.240 --> 0:23:30.920 find the place in such a state of disarray. With 0:23:31.040 --> 0:23:34.760 little patience for their tenants outlandish explanation for the mess, 0:23:35.600 --> 0:23:41.760 their landlords demanded they vacate the premises immediately. The magistrate's 0:23:41.840 --> 0:23:47.400 court were similarly unsympathetic, but luckily for the tenants, upheld 0:23:47.520 --> 0:23:51.080 their right to stay after it was established that the 0:23:51.160 --> 0:23:55.760 house itself hadn't been damaged, only the private property of 0:23:55.800 --> 0:24:01.320 the residence. When producers of the pill Sydney based Channel 0:24:01.359 --> 0:24:05.199 seven show Today to Night contacted the housemates around the 0:24:05.280 --> 0:24:09.280 same time, it seemed the perfect opportunity to prove the 0:24:09.320 --> 0:24:14.600 skeptics wrong. Though some suggested that two thousand dollar fee 0:24:14.720 --> 0:24:18.440 they received in return had been more of a motivating factor, 0:24:19.280 --> 0:24:23.840 four hundred dollars apiece seemed scant consolation for putting themselves 0:24:23.840 --> 0:24:28.560 out there once more. Over the course of five days, 0:24:29.119 --> 0:24:33.560 a two person camera crew, along with program presenter Greg Quayle, 0:24:34.200 --> 0:24:38.520 two Darwin based camera operators Danny simm and Jared City, 0:24:39.280 --> 0:24:43.400 and Sydney journalist Max Anderson, kept a constant vigil at 0:24:43.400 --> 0:24:48.440 the property. Their initial intention had been to expose what 0:24:48.560 --> 0:24:52.000 they assumed to be a hoax, but would soon be 0:24:52.080 --> 0:24:57.800 forced to change their approach. Like other visitors before them, 0:24:57.840 --> 0:25:01.320 they were treated to a host of strange phenomen from 0:25:01.400 --> 0:25:06.639 falling pebbles to flying cutlery and smashed glass. Not once 0:25:06.720 --> 0:25:11.600 did they see any of the house's residence initiating it. However, 0:25:12.240 --> 0:25:15.439 despite the hours of footage they recorded, neither did they 0:25:15.440 --> 0:25:19.120 manage to catch the phenomena in action, but they did 0:25:19.200 --> 0:25:25.240 find something intriguing. A building maintenance expert was flown in 0:25:25.320 --> 0:25:28.600 to conduct thermal imaging of the objects in the moment 0:25:28.680 --> 0:25:33.840 after they were thrown. Ordinarily, an object thrown by human 0:25:33.880 --> 0:25:37.760 hands would show residual heat marks where the fingers had been. 0:25:38.960 --> 0:25:43.280 What they found instead, time after time was a uniform 0:25:43.359 --> 0:25:54.760 heat that covered the entirety of the object. After a 0:25:54.760 --> 0:25:58.479 week of filming, Sym and Sootie stayed on to capture 0:25:58.560 --> 0:26:01.359 more footage while the best of the team went home. 0:26:02.800 --> 0:26:06.200 When the Channel seven crew returned to their offices, chief 0:26:06.320 --> 0:26:11.160 editor Jimmy Hamilton found them spooked and unsettled by the experience. 0:26:12.760 --> 0:26:16.080 A few days later, the first part of the show aired. 0:26:17.280 --> 0:26:21.240 It portrayed an every day bunch of flatmates seemingly besieged 0:26:21.320 --> 0:26:25.320 by a series of strange happenings, with Quail vowing to 0:26:25.359 --> 0:26:28.200 find the ultimate proof of it. In the following episode. 0:26:30.680 --> 0:26:33.280 When the editor reviewed the next batch of footage, however, 0:26:34.000 --> 0:26:40.119 everything changed. Jim Sootie had finally captured some action on camera, 0:26:41.240 --> 0:26:44.320 a plastic pot lid that had flown across the family 0:26:44.440 --> 0:26:49.160 room and collided with the far wall. Only Kirsty had 0:26:49.160 --> 0:26:52.439 been present in the room at the time, standing to 0:26:52.480 --> 0:26:58.840 the side quietly folding clothes. Looking back at the footage 0:26:59.200 --> 0:27:03.080 at the moment lid appeared, the editor had caught sight 0:27:03.160 --> 0:27:06.000 of something reflected in a mirror at the far side 0:27:06.040 --> 0:27:11.120 of the shot. It was Kirsty, who had almost imperceptibly 0:27:11.359 --> 0:27:17.320 flinched just before the lid came into view, fearing they 0:27:17.320 --> 0:27:20.159 had been made to look like fools. When the second 0:27:20.160 --> 0:27:23.800 show aired, it was a somewhat different piece that claimed 0:27:23.880 --> 0:27:32.680 Kirsty as the orchestrator of a hoax. Later, Quail, admittedly 0:27:32.800 --> 0:27:37.600 exasperated by the revelation, called Kirsty and demanded to know, 0:27:38.040 --> 0:27:42.439 in no uncertain terms if she had been responsible. Quail 0:27:42.480 --> 0:27:46.080 will later say that she eventually confessed that she was. 0:27:55.720 --> 0:28:00.000 Although after the airing of To Day to Night's second episode, 0:28:00.080 --> 0:28:02.280 he were quick to draw a line under the events 0:28:02.359 --> 0:28:06.560 alleged to have occurred at ninety mcminn's drive, a few 0:28:06.600 --> 0:28:11.080 more details had yet to come to light. Channel seven 0:28:11.200 --> 0:28:14.000 may have washed their hands of the tenants, but it 0:28:14.040 --> 0:28:17.280 seemed whatever was plague in them had little intention of 0:28:17.320 --> 0:28:22.760 doing the same. According to researchers Tony Healy and Paul Cropper, 0:28:23.400 --> 0:28:27.480 the apparent poltergeist activity continued for some time after the 0:28:27.520 --> 0:28:32.080 film crew had left. When they spoke to Kirsty about 0:28:32.080 --> 0:28:35.920 her conversation with Quail, she maintained that she never once 0:28:36.000 --> 0:28:41.600 admitted to being responsible for the activity. Healy and Cropper 0:28:41.760 --> 0:28:45.160 would themselves go on to witness an assortment of strange things, 0:28:45.520 --> 0:28:50.840 along with a number of journalists who also visited the property. 0:28:51.360 --> 0:28:55.000 Nicky Voss, chief of staff at the Northern Territory News, 0:28:55.640 --> 0:28:59.000 together with her camera operator, had been hit by pebbles 0:28:59.040 --> 0:29:02.480 in the back of their neck, despite both standing against 0:29:02.480 --> 0:29:08.840 the wall at the time. While interviewing Kirsty, ABC reporter 0:29:09.040 --> 0:29:13.720 Tracy Ferrar, a trained technician, claimed to have received electric 0:29:13.720 --> 0:29:17.760 shocks from the microphone and even described witnessing a TV 0:29:17.960 --> 0:29:23.280 remote being lifted unaided into the air. I know what 0:29:23.360 --> 0:29:27.040 I saw, she would later tell fellow journalist Frank Robson 0:29:27.160 --> 0:29:30.680 of the Sydney Morning Herald, and it wasn't a hoax. 0:29:32.840 --> 0:29:35.440 Jim Soutie, who had been in the room with Kirsty 0:29:35.680 --> 0:29:38.520 when he caught the footage of the controversial flying lid 0:29:38.840 --> 0:29:42.920 slamming into a wall, maintained that she hadn't thrown anything 0:29:43.200 --> 0:29:49.760 at all. Journalist Frank Robson would also witness the same 0:29:49.840 --> 0:29:53.960 extraordinary goings on, finding no evidence that it had been 0:29:54.000 --> 0:29:58.520 perpetrated by the house it's residence, and there was one 0:29:58.800 --> 0:30:05.040 final revelation. Although it is true that nothing peculiar had 0:30:05.040 --> 0:30:08.840 occurred at the house before Troy Raddatz's death in early January, 0:30:09.640 --> 0:30:13.120 if you were looking at that for an explanation, it 0:30:13.160 --> 0:30:16.600 was also about this time that Kirsty, Jasmine and Andrew 0:30:17.040 --> 0:30:21.280 moved into the property. It wouldn't be until some time 0:30:21.400 --> 0:30:25.720 after the escalation of events at mcminn's drive that Andrew 0:30:25.840 --> 0:30:30.560 had ever given it much thought, though the flatmates maintained 0:30:30.640 --> 0:30:37.520 Kirsty was not deliberately responsible. It had happened before, back 0:30:37.560 --> 0:30:40.840 when Kirsty and Andrew had lived in Bachelor, a town 0:30:41.000 --> 0:30:44.800 sixty od kilometers south of Humpty. The pair had then 0:30:44.920 --> 0:30:48.760 also been plagued by hailing stones, but had put it 0:30:48.800 --> 0:30:54.200 down to local kids messing about. Some time after, Andrew 0:30:54.200 --> 0:30:57.040 took a job working a drill on a construction site 0:30:57.320 --> 0:31:00.320 in the coastal suburb of Gosford in New South Wales. 0:31:02.320 --> 0:31:04.680 At some point one of the workers had entered the 0:31:04.720 --> 0:31:08.400 mess to grab a coffee mug, only to find that 0:31:08.480 --> 0:31:16.000 they had mysteriously all vanished. The cups later appeared dotted 0:31:16.000 --> 0:31:18.960 about the site in odd and hard to reach places, 0:31:20.280 --> 0:31:24.080 sometimes perched high on top of tall posts or the 0:31:24.160 --> 0:31:29.440 roofs of surrounding buildings. The strange event had coincided with 0:31:29.480 --> 0:31:34.600 the arrival of a new member of staff in the mess, Kirsty. 0:31:42.200 --> 0:31:44.840 If you enjoy listening to Unexplained and would like to 0:31:44.880 --> 0:31:48.320 help supporters, you can now go to Unexplained podcast dot 0:31:48.320 --> 0:31:53.400 com forward slash support All donations no matter how large 0:31:53.480 --> 0:32:02.840 or small, are massively appreciated. All elements of Unexplained are 0:32:02.840 --> 0:32:06.280 produced by me, Richard McClain Smith. Please subscribe and rate 0:32:06.320 --> 0:32:08.280 the show on iTunes, and feel free to get in 0:32:08.320 --> 0:32:11.000 touch with any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories you've 0:32:11.040 --> 0:32:13.920 heard on the show. Perhaps you have an explanation of 0:32:13.920 --> 0:32:16.360