1 00:00:03,760 --> 00:00:07,840 Speaker 1: Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history 2 00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:11,200 Speaker 1: is an open book, all of these amazing tales are 3 00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:14,680 Speaker 1: right there on display, just waiting for us to explore. 4 00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:28,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. John was a young 5 00:00:28,880 --> 00:00:32,720 Speaker 1: minister at his local church. He believed in miracles, that 6 00:00:32,840 --> 00:00:36,479 Speaker 1: much was certain, even so having one appear inside his 7 00:00:36,560 --> 00:00:40,800 Speaker 1: bathroom was a bit too much. John lenn was the 8 00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:43,600 Speaker 1: leader of the folk over at St. Mark's Church in 9 00:00:43,720 --> 00:00:47,000 Speaker 1: jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, a little town in the mountains south 10 00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:51,440 Speaker 1: of Scranton. Life was simple and maybe even idyllic, so 11 00:00:51,479 --> 00:00:53,800 Speaker 1: it was hard for him to expect anything other than 12 00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:57,520 Speaker 1: the ordinary. But that's the trouble with assuming, isn't it. 13 00:00:59,080 --> 00:01:02,600 Speaker 1: One summer day ninety eight, a storm blew into the area. 14 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:06,479 Speaker 1: Not one of those gray clouds and rain sort of storms, 15 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:08,920 Speaker 1: but the kind that drift in low and black with 16 00:01:08,959 --> 00:01:11,400 Speaker 1: a rumble that seems to shake the very earth you're 17 00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:14,120 Speaker 1: standing on. You'll know one when you see it, because 18 00:01:14,160 --> 00:01:17,800 Speaker 1: the clouds will resemble a cauldron of black, magic and chaos. 19 00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:21,400 Speaker 1: From the windows of his home there in town, John 20 00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:24,039 Speaker 1: could see darkness descend in the middle of the day, 21 00:01:24,240 --> 00:01:28,039 Speaker 1: punctuated every few moments by great flashes of lightning. To 22 00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:30,880 Speaker 1: a god fearing man, it was a powerful display of 23 00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:34,199 Speaker 1: God's majesty. To the people rushing to bring their kids 24 00:01:34,200 --> 00:01:39,479 Speaker 1: inside and close their windows, it was just annoying. At 25 00:01:39,520 --> 00:01:43,120 Speaker 1: some point during the storm, John stepped into the bathroom. 26 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:45,279 Speaker 1: He was standing in front of the sink when something 27 00:01:45,319 --> 00:01:49,560 Speaker 1: caught his attention. Just outside the window was a ball 28 00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:52,960 Speaker 1: of light, roughly the size of a grapefruit. He later 29 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:56,200 Speaker 1: described the color as something like old sodium arc lights 30 00:01:56,280 --> 00:02:01,000 Speaker 1: that lined so many streets in America, yellow, weak and flickering. 31 00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:05,480 Speaker 1: A bit even before the sight of it fully registered 32 00:02:05,480 --> 00:02:08,640 Speaker 1: with him, the ball of light was already moving. It 33 00:02:08,760 --> 00:02:12,040 Speaker 1: slipped through the screen of his window and floated softly 34 00:02:12,080 --> 00:02:15,880 Speaker 1: to his bathroom floor. After a brief pause, the ball 35 00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:18,880 Speaker 1: began to roll around his feet in a circle and 36 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:23,919 Speaker 1: spiraled up as it went. John panicked and stepped backwards, 37 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:26,480 Speaker 1: getting out of the light's way, and then watched as 38 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:29,679 Speaker 1: it reached the lip of the porcelain sink and fell inside. 39 00:02:30,360 --> 00:02:33,160 Speaker 1: When he stepped closer to inspect it, the ball of 40 00:02:33,240 --> 00:02:36,600 Speaker 1: light was gone, but it had left evidence of its passing. 41 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:39,560 Speaker 1: The metal chain that connected the rubber stopper to the 42 00:02:39,639 --> 00:02:43,360 Speaker 1: sink had been melted clean through nothing else had been damaged, 43 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:47,520 Speaker 1: though I realized this is a difficult story to believe. 44 00:02:48,040 --> 00:02:50,000 Speaker 1: Most of the accounts I've read referred to the thing 45 00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:53,560 Speaker 1: that floated into John's window as ball lightning, but that 46 00:02:53,639 --> 00:02:56,360 Speaker 1: doesn't make it any easier to swallow. It just gives 47 00:02:56,400 --> 00:02:59,760 Speaker 1: the bizarre event a name. But it gets weirder than that, 48 00:03:01,280 --> 00:03:05,440 Speaker 1: it turns out. A few weeks after his unusual bathroom experience, 49 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:09,440 Speaker 1: the Good Reverend was visited by another black summer storm. 50 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:12,800 Speaker 1: Perhaps out of curiosity and maybe just because he needed 51 00:03:12,840 --> 00:03:16,560 Speaker 1: to pee, John paid the bathroom yet another visit, and 52 00:03:16,600 --> 00:03:19,400 Speaker 1: while he was in there, a ball lightning made its 53 00:03:19,480 --> 00:03:23,560 Speaker 1: repeat visit. This one, he later claimed, circled his feet 54 00:03:23,560 --> 00:03:26,200 Speaker 1: before bouncing to the edge of the bathtub, and then 55 00:03:26,320 --> 00:03:30,560 Speaker 1: toppled in. When he glanced inside, he saw exactly what 56 00:03:30,600 --> 00:03:34,160 Speaker 1: he'd been expecting. The rubber stopper had been severed from 57 00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:37,240 Speaker 1: the tub, just as it had inside the sinc weeks before, 58 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:41,320 Speaker 1: the metal chain laying in pieces around the drain. The 59 00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:44,240 Speaker 1: ball of light, though it was nowhere to be found. 60 00:03:46,680 --> 00:03:48,880 Speaker 1: I wish this was one of those objects we could 61 00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:51,800 Speaker 1: capture and store in a glass jar, just like a 62 00:03:51,880 --> 00:03:55,600 Speaker 1: collector might display a fine mineral specimen or a butterfly. 63 00:03:56,240 --> 00:03:58,960 Speaker 1: But there's nothing left for us to hold onto. No 64 00:03:59,160 --> 00:04:03,760 Speaker 1: flickering yell glow, no bouncing ball of light, nothing but 65 00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:10,280 Speaker 1: a bizarre, unexplainable memory. The proof, according to John, went 66 00:04:10,320 --> 00:04:28,560 Speaker 1: down the drain. On June, Joseph left his home in 67 00:04:28,680 --> 00:04:31,919 Speaker 1: Cambridge to take a walk through the local market. He 68 00:04:32,040 --> 00:04:35,000 Speaker 1: was a theologian and scholar who taught at christ College 69 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:37,280 Speaker 1: right there in the city, and what better way to 70 00:04:37,320 --> 00:04:40,240 Speaker 1: wrap up a long Tuesday spent inside than by going 71 00:04:40,240 --> 00:04:44,320 Speaker 1: out for an early evening stroll. The market was full 72 00:04:44,360 --> 00:04:48,440 Speaker 1: of vendors selling all sorts of necessities, meats and cheeses, 73 00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:52,240 Speaker 1: bread and vegetables. All of it was fresh, and most 74 00:04:52,279 --> 00:04:55,400 Speaker 1: of it smelled wonderful. All of it except the fish, 75 00:04:55,480 --> 00:04:59,960 Speaker 1: of course, That wasn't surprising though. What was surprising, however, 76 00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:03,360 Speaker 1: was the crowd gathered around one of the fishmonger stalls. 77 00:05:04,920 --> 00:05:08,000 Speaker 1: Much like you and I, Joseph was a curious person, 78 00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:10,720 Speaker 1: so he veered off his intended path to go and 79 00:05:10,760 --> 00:05:13,559 Speaker 1: see what had captured the attention of so many people. 80 00:05:14,440 --> 00:05:16,440 Speaker 1: When he arrived and pushed his way to the front 81 00:05:16,440 --> 00:05:19,000 Speaker 1: of the crowd. He found a woman holding a fish 82 00:05:19,080 --> 00:05:23,479 Speaker 1: knife and standing in front of a recently decapitated fish. 83 00:05:23,680 --> 00:05:26,200 Speaker 1: It was a cod, which is a good sized fish 84 00:05:26,240 --> 00:05:29,200 Speaker 1: if you've ever seen one, they're typically around forty inches 85 00:05:29,279 --> 00:05:32,520 Speaker 1: long and way upwards of two hundred pounds. But the 86 00:05:32,560 --> 00:05:35,960 Speaker 1: only thing fascinating about this dead fish was the bundle 87 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:38,839 Speaker 1: of cloth sitting beside it on the stall work table. 88 00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:43,000 Speaker 1: The crowd was muttering excitedly, and from all the whispers, 89 00:05:43,480 --> 00:05:47,640 Speaker 1: Joseph was able to piece together the story. This bundle, 90 00:05:47,760 --> 00:05:52,240 Speaker 1: it seems, had been found inside the fish. It was small, 91 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:55,159 Speaker 1: maybe four by six inches, and it was wrapped in 92 00:05:55,279 --> 00:05:58,880 Speaker 1: slimy sailcloth, but it was a familiar shape to a 93 00:05:58,960 --> 00:06:02,279 Speaker 1: scholar like Joe of Mead. He reached into his pocket 94 00:06:02,320 --> 00:06:04,280 Speaker 1: and pulled out a coin and then offered it to 95 00:06:04,320 --> 00:06:08,479 Speaker 1: the woman. She hesitated a moment and then completed the transaction. 96 00:06:10,360 --> 00:06:13,360 Speaker 1: Back in his study, Joseph unwrapped the bundle and then 97 00:06:13,480 --> 00:06:17,960 Speaker 1: caught his breath. Inside was a small book, handwritten and 98 00:06:18,080 --> 00:06:22,080 Speaker 1: signed by a man named John Frith. Joseph recognized the 99 00:06:22,080 --> 00:06:25,440 Speaker 1: man's name. He had been a Protestant minister roughly a 100 00:06:25,520 --> 00:06:28,440 Speaker 1: century earlier, but had been thrown in prison by the 101 00:06:28,480 --> 00:06:32,400 Speaker 1: Inquisition for taking a stand against various Roman Catholic teachings. 102 00:06:33,839 --> 00:06:36,320 Speaker 1: Frith spent eight months locked up in a group prison 103 00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:39,200 Speaker 1: cell inside the Tower of London before being dragged out 104 00:06:39,240 --> 00:06:41,720 Speaker 1: and burned at the stake as a heretic of the church. 105 00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:45,720 Speaker 1: But he didn't waste that time. Instead, he managed to 106 00:06:45,800 --> 00:06:48,040 Speaker 1: obtain paper and ink so he could write about his 107 00:06:48,160 --> 00:06:51,440 Speaker 1: views on various topics. Most of those made it out 108 00:06:51,480 --> 00:06:57,760 Speaker 1: before his death. This book, though, seemed new. I don't 109 00:06:57,800 --> 00:07:00,200 Speaker 1: have answers for you about how it ends it up 110 00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:03,240 Speaker 1: wrapped in sailcloth, let alone, inside the belly of a 111 00:07:03,360 --> 00:07:07,040 Speaker 1: large fish. Some sources claim that Frith was held for 112 00:07:07,080 --> 00:07:09,760 Speaker 1: a short while in a fish seller in Oxford, but 113 00:07:09,840 --> 00:07:13,000 Speaker 1: I can't find proof of that. He was arrested in London, 114 00:07:13,400 --> 00:07:17,160 Speaker 1: jailed there, and executed there. How the book ended up 115 00:07:17,200 --> 00:07:20,840 Speaker 1: someplace else is unknown. How it ended up inside a 116 00:07:20,880 --> 00:07:25,040 Speaker 1: dead cod a century later, well, that one's a mystery. 117 00:07:26,280 --> 00:07:29,040 Speaker 1: We do know how it all ended, though. A year 118 00:07:29,080 --> 00:07:32,360 Speaker 1: after Joseph unwrapped that slimy little package in his study 119 00:07:32,400 --> 00:07:36,520 Speaker 1: in Cambridge, the book was finally published. The original cover 120 00:07:36,680 --> 00:07:40,120 Speaker 1: featured an engraving of a fish, a knife, and a 121 00:07:40,120 --> 00:07:43,040 Speaker 1: little book, and they gave it the most obvious title 122 00:07:43,120 --> 00:07:51,680 Speaker 1: they could think of vox pieces, The Voice of the Fish. 123 00:07:51,960 --> 00:07:54,680 Speaker 1: I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet 124 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:58,560 Speaker 1: of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn 125 00:07:58,600 --> 00:08:03,160 Speaker 1: more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. 126 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:06,760 Speaker 1: The show was created by me Aaron Mankey in partnership 127 00:08:06,840 --> 00:08:10,119 Speaker 1: with how Stuff Works. I make another award winning show 128 00:08:10,200 --> 00:08:14,280 Speaker 1: called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, and television show, 129 00:08:14,560 --> 00:08:16,440 Speaker 1: and you can learn all about it over at the 130 00:08:16,600 --> 00:08:21,280 Speaker 1: World of Lore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.