WEBVTT - Season 09 Episode 07: The Stove Goblin 0:00:00.040 --> 0:00:02.960 Hello, it's Richard mclinsmith here, just to let you know 0:00:03.000 --> 0:00:05.280 that after this week's new episode, we'll be taking a 0:00:05.280 --> 0:00:08.039 short break over the holiday period. We'll be dipping back 0:00:08.039 --> 0:00:10.560 into the vaults for the next two weeks, after which 0:00:10.600 --> 0:00:14.720 we'll return with season nine, Episode eight on Friday, January ninth, 0:00:14.840 --> 0:00:18.239 twenty twenty six. Also, thank you so much to everyone 0:00:18.239 --> 0:00:20.439 who's taken the time to fill out the survey, and 0:00:20.520 --> 0:00:22.520 if you haven't, you can still do so for another 0:00:22.560 --> 0:00:24.680 week for a chance to win one of ten signed 0:00:24.680 --> 0:00:27.320 copies of the Unexplained Book. You can find it on 0:00:27.360 --> 0:00:30.880 the homepage of our website at Unexplained podcast dot com. 0:00:30.920 --> 0:00:35.160 Forward slash survey until next time, Happy holidays to all, 0:00:35.360 --> 0:00:50.560 and have a great new year. In September nineteen thirty four, 0:00:50.960 --> 0:00:55.600 political tensions were running high across Spain. Elections the previous 0:00:55.720 --> 0:00:59.480 year at fueled anxiety for some and excitement for others 0:00:59.840 --> 0:01:03.240 there might be a fascist takeover in the offing. Hints 0:01:03.280 --> 0:01:06.560 of revolution were in the air, but on the twenty 0:01:06.600 --> 0:01:10.880 seventh of that month, despite the febrile atmosphere, all appeared 0:01:10.920 --> 0:01:13.520 to be calm. In the home of the Palason family. 0:01:14.560 --> 0:01:17.320 The Palazons lived on the second floor of a four 0:01:17.400 --> 0:01:20.560 story apartment building on the corner of Gascon to Go 0:01:20.760 --> 0:01:25.600 Tour Street, with its smooth stone facat and nondescript cafe 0:01:25.840 --> 0:01:28.679 taking up most of the bottom floor. The building looked 0:01:28.760 --> 0:01:31.639 much the same as any other in the bustling city 0:01:31.720 --> 0:01:36.320 of Saragosa in northeast Spain. Birds chirped on the street 0:01:36.400 --> 0:01:40.840 outside and cars droned by as the Palason family members 0:01:40.959 --> 0:01:44.640 got ready for the day ahead, when suddenly a burst 0:01:44.680 --> 0:01:50.160 of loud, maniacal laughter was heard echoing down the corridor outside. 0:01:50.560 --> 0:01:53.760 Startled by the peculiar sound, a member of the family 0:01:53.880 --> 0:01:56.440 opened the front door to see what an earth might 0:01:56.480 --> 0:02:00.800 be causing it. Outside, the corridor was empty save for 0:02:00.880 --> 0:02:04.080 a few other confused looking neighbors who'd also been brought 0:02:04.120 --> 0:02:08.120 to their doors by the strange noise. They listened together 0:02:08.400 --> 0:02:12.960 as the unnerving cackling continued for a moment longer before stopping, 0:02:13.040 --> 0:02:17.440 suddenly leaving a haunting silence in its wake. Up and 0:02:17.480 --> 0:02:21.960 down the corridor. The confused residents shuffled back into their apartments, 0:02:22.240 --> 0:02:25.799 none the wiser as to what had caused the bizarre outburst, 0:02:26.680 --> 0:02:31.239 But the return to normality wasn't to last. That short 0:02:31.280 --> 0:02:34.400 burst of eerie laughter would prove to be just the 0:02:34.520 --> 0:02:38.480 start of a deeply disturbing two months ordeal for the 0:02:38.520 --> 0:02:42.000 palace On family and their neighbors, in a haunting that 0:02:42.120 --> 0:02:47.440 would become known as El Duende, The Goblin of Sara Gosa. 0:02:48.120 --> 0:02:52.520 You're listening to Unexplained and I'm Richard mc lane Smith. 0:03:00.000 --> 0:03:03.880 A few hours after the strange laughter erupted, daily life 0:03:03.960 --> 0:03:07.760 was proceeding as normal in the palace On household. Later 0:03:07.840 --> 0:03:12.160 in the morning, Pasquala Alcacer, the family's young maid, arrived 0:03:12.160 --> 0:03:15.239 to begin her shift. In the corner of the kitchen. 0:03:15.400 --> 0:03:18.280 Below a band of white tiles was a cast iron 0:03:18.400 --> 0:03:23.840 wood fire stove. Pasquala opened the oven's firebox and stacked 0:03:23.880 --> 0:03:27.080 up some wood in preparation for cooking the family's lunch. 0:03:27.840 --> 0:03:30.919 Then struck a match and brought it close to the kindling. 0:03:31.919 --> 0:03:35.960 From out of nowhere, a strange voice cried out, no, 0:03:36.480 --> 0:03:41.000 you're hurting me. The palace On family was sitting quietly 0:03:41.000 --> 0:03:43.560 in the living room listening to the radio when they 0:03:43.600 --> 0:03:46.800 heard a shriek coming from the kitchen. It was followed 0:03:46.840 --> 0:03:50.400 by the sudden appearance of a pale Pasquala with a 0:03:50.440 --> 0:03:54.920 look of utter terror on her face. Just then the 0:03:55.040 --> 0:03:58.840 voice came again, louder, this time shouting out to them 0:03:58.880 --> 0:04:05.560 from the kitchen light light. I cannot see Pasquala couldn't 0:04:05.640 --> 0:04:08.880 understand it, she said. It seemed to be coming directly 0:04:08.960 --> 0:04:12.320 from inside the stove. It was as though a small 0:04:12.440 --> 0:04:16.440 child were trapped in there. Together, she and the family 0:04:16.600 --> 0:04:21.520 went next door to investigate, but found nothing untoward. They 0:04:21.560 --> 0:04:24.480 began to wonder if it was all somehow connected with 0:04:24.600 --> 0:04:29.600 the strange, maniacal laughter they'd heard earlier that day, Perhaps 0:04:29.600 --> 0:04:32.640 some one was playing a practical joke on them. But 0:04:32.800 --> 0:04:35.880 over the next few days it was clear that something 0:04:36.080 --> 0:04:40.240 was not right in the apartment. Strange sounds began to 0:04:40.320 --> 0:04:43.479 drift through the rooms, the kind of noises you might 0:04:43.520 --> 0:04:46.480 at first blame on a loose pipe or a wind 0:04:46.560 --> 0:04:51.040 in the walls. But then the sounds grew louder, clearer. 0:04:51.839 --> 0:04:55.279 They always seemed to emanate from the same place, the 0:04:55.360 --> 0:05:00.920 kitchen stove. Sometimes it was only a rattle, a scrape, 0:05:01.440 --> 0:05:04.479 or the hollow clang of metal shifting when no one 0:05:04.600 --> 0:05:08.680 was near it. Other Times it sounded a lot like laughter, 0:05:09.600 --> 0:05:13.479 a shrill, unhinged cackling that seemed to rattle up through 0:05:13.520 --> 0:05:17.120 the stove's chimney and spill into every corner of the home. 0:05:17.920 --> 0:05:23.280 Other times, a mournful wail would seep out, and then disturbingly, 0:05:23.720 --> 0:05:28.520 the voice returned. One evening, the family gathered round the 0:05:28.560 --> 0:05:32.960 stove under candlelight, growing increasingly anxious about what was happening 0:05:33.000 --> 0:05:38.320 in their home. Then the laughter came again. Where are you? 0:05:38.720 --> 0:05:43.560 One of the masts hesitantly inside the stove, came the 0:05:43.600 --> 0:05:48.520 immediate reply, startling them all. From then on, the voice 0:05:48.600 --> 0:05:52.640 was a constant presence in the household. At first, it 0:05:52.800 --> 0:05:55.880 was the voice of a child, high pitched and playful, 0:05:56.640 --> 0:06:02.120 but then it began to shift. Each word became thicker, rougher, 0:06:02.880 --> 0:06:07.599 until it carried the guttural weight of something not entirely human. 0:06:15.000 --> 0:06:18.159 Sometimes the voice barked out orders in the middle of 0:06:18.200 --> 0:06:22.720 the night. Turn on the light, it demanded in its hideous, 0:06:22.880 --> 0:06:27.000 raspy growl. Other times it would call out the name 0:06:27.080 --> 0:06:31.880 of the maid, Pasquala, followed by bursts of cruel, maniacal laughter. 0:06:32.760 --> 0:06:36.880 All the while, Pasquala would stand frozen in the kitchen doorway, 0:06:37.240 --> 0:06:41.520 her face drained of blood as the family watched on helplessly. 0:06:42.720 --> 0:06:47.960 Some nights, the voice would just scream raw, tormented screams 0:06:48.320 --> 0:06:51.760 that would rise out from the stove and echo hideously 0:06:51.960 --> 0:06:57.000 around the apartment. Desperate for an answer and starting to 0:06:57.040 --> 0:07:00.800 worry for their sanity, the Palazons invited the neighbors in 0:07:00.960 --> 0:07:04.560 to hear it for themselves. They all confirmed that they 0:07:04.640 --> 0:07:09.520 too could hear the peculiar, disembodied voice. It seemed that 0:07:09.640 --> 0:07:13.000 whatever had been responsible for that first burst of laughter 0:07:13.280 --> 0:07:16.680 that had rattled round the building only a few days previously, 0:07:17.120 --> 0:07:21.520 had now taken up residents in the Palazon's home. By 0:07:21.560 --> 0:07:26.760 mid November, Terrified, exhausted, and scared for their sanity, the 0:07:26.760 --> 0:07:31.920 Palazons finally picked up the phone and called the police. 0:07:32.000 --> 0:07:35.240 It's likely the authorities would not have taken much interest 0:07:35.280 --> 0:07:38.440 in the case had word about the apparent haunting not 0:07:38.600 --> 0:07:43.040 already spread so rapidly. With the whole building now aware 0:07:43.080 --> 0:07:46.120 of the strange voice coming from the stove, it wasn't 0:07:46.160 --> 0:07:50.080 long before curious onlookers began to gather outside the front 0:07:50.120 --> 0:07:53.840 door to try and hear the voice for themselves. The 0:07:53.920 --> 0:07:57.960 papers quickly picked up on the story too. With the 0:07:58.000 --> 0:08:02.640 crowds outside the apartment growing, the Zaragosa Police announced that 0:08:02.680 --> 0:08:05.040 it was time to put an end to the circus, 0:08:05.160 --> 0:08:08.400 as they called it, so a team was swiftly put 0:08:08.440 --> 0:08:12.000 together to dispel the family's claims once and for all. 0:08:13.360 --> 0:08:17.520 It was a cool, overcast afternoon when the police entered 0:08:17.520 --> 0:08:21.320 the building for the first time. The sound of heavy 0:08:21.360 --> 0:08:24.880 boots echoed along the corridor as they steadily made their 0:08:24.920 --> 0:08:29.920 way to the Palaceon apartment. Despite the police insistence that 0:08:30.000 --> 0:08:33.640 there was a perfectly rational explanation for what was happening, 0:08:34.080 --> 0:08:38.360 the Palaceons were happy to finally have their assistance. The 0:08:38.440 --> 0:08:42.400 family invited the officers in, but before they even stepped 0:08:42.400 --> 0:08:46.080 through the doorway, a strange voice rang out from inside 0:08:46.080 --> 0:09:01.400 the kitchen. It spoke each man's name one by one. 0:09:01.520 --> 0:09:05.240 The police officers froze on the threshold. None of them 0:09:05.280 --> 0:09:09.079 had announced themselves, yet the voice seemed to know exactly 0:09:09.160 --> 0:09:13.440 who they were. A little unnerved, the men proceeded into 0:09:13.480 --> 0:09:17.560 the kitchen just then the voice came again from the 0:09:17.600 --> 0:09:21.520 direction of the stove, announcing each man as they entered. 0:09:22.200 --> 0:09:26.560 Then a low chuckle rising into a wild, unhinged laughter, 0:09:26.920 --> 0:09:31.520 echoed through the room, again, seemingly coming from the stove. 0:09:33.000 --> 0:09:36.600 Whenever someone crossed the threshold of the kitchen. The voice 0:09:36.640 --> 0:09:40.640 called out again, recognizing instantly who had entered and who 0:09:40.679 --> 0:09:46.079 had left, and no one could explain how. At one point, 0:09:46.120 --> 0:09:50.520 an officer flicked off the kitchen light. Instantly, a devilish 0:09:50.679 --> 0:09:56.040 voice ripped through the room light. I cannot see. The 0:09:56.080 --> 0:10:01.880 officers exchanged wary glances. Some shifted nerves, their hands resting 0:10:01.920 --> 0:10:05.960 on the grips of their pistols, glancing back to the stove. 0:10:06.320 --> 0:10:11.840 One officer spoke, who are you? He asked. For a moment, 0:10:11.880 --> 0:10:14.640 they heard nothing save for the faint murmur of the 0:10:14.679 --> 0:10:20.680 spectators gathered in the street outside. Then another officer stepped forward, 0:10:21.240 --> 0:10:26.000 What do you want? Again? There was no reply. Do 0:10:26.080 --> 0:10:29.960 you want money? A sharp response came back, as if 0:10:30.000 --> 0:10:35.000 the voice was insulted by the question. No, do you 0:10:35.000 --> 0:10:40.080 want a job, said another officer. No, then who are you? 0:10:40.640 --> 0:10:43.400 What is it you want? Man? Said the officer then, 0:10:43.880 --> 0:10:49.000 his voice beginning to waver, The answer was immediate nothing 0:10:49.480 --> 0:10:52.719 and I am not a man. The words brought a 0:10:52.840 --> 0:10:57.800 stunned silence from all who were present. Gathering himself, another 0:10:57.880 --> 0:11:01.760 officer asked, can you see us? If you can, how 0:11:01.800 --> 0:11:06.240 many people are in the room? Without hesitation, the voice 0:11:06.520 --> 0:11:16.800 gave the correct number. The police had come expecting a 0:11:16.840 --> 0:11:22.240 clearly disprovable hoax. Instead, they found themselves confronting something that 0:11:22.320 --> 0:11:25.760 should not have been possible, and they were no closer 0:11:25.800 --> 0:11:29.840 to solving any of it. Nonetheless, most of the public 0:11:29.960 --> 0:11:33.440 remained convinced that the whole event was just some kind 0:11:33.440 --> 0:11:37.920 of prank, but some began to whisper a different theory, 0:11:38.679 --> 0:11:41.520 that what spoke from the stove was not a hoax 0:11:41.559 --> 0:11:48.360 at all, or simply a disembodied ghost, but a duende. 0:11:48.480 --> 0:11:52.480 In Spanish folklore, the duende is a kind of natural spirit, 0:11:53.080 --> 0:11:58.400 sometimes an elf, sometimes a goblin. Like sprites and bogarts, 0:11:58.720 --> 0:12:03.160 their nature ranges from mischievous to malevolent, and to those 0:12:03.200 --> 0:12:07.120 who believed that voice in the stove was proof that 0:12:07.200 --> 0:12:10.520 one had taken up residents inside the pallace on home, 0:12:12.280 --> 0:12:16.560 they began to call it the stove goblin. A goblin 0:12:16.679 --> 0:12:20.520 is a small, grotesque humanoid found in the folklore of 0:12:20.640 --> 0:12:25.560 many European cultures. Exhibiting a wide range of temperaments and 0:12:25.720 --> 0:12:31.080 magical abilities. Goblins can be nefarious, bestial creatures, like the 0:12:31.080 --> 0:12:35.000 Red Cap. One of the most frightening goblins of all, 0:12:35.280 --> 0:12:40.079 the Red Cap comes from Scottish folklore. Red caps are 0:12:40.080 --> 0:12:43.440 said to inhabit ruined castles that lie along the border 0:12:43.559 --> 0:12:48.000 between Scotland and England. Looking like sturdy old men, but 0:12:48.120 --> 0:12:52.000 with taloned hands and large teeth, they are reputed to 0:12:52.120 --> 0:12:55.960 murder travelers who have strayed from their route. Once the 0:12:56.040 --> 0:13:00.679 murder has taken place, this demonic goblin reputedly dyes its 0:13:00.720 --> 0:13:06.160 hat with their victim's blood, hence the name. Legends also 0:13:06.280 --> 0:13:10.320 say that red caps carry heavy iron pikes with which 0:13:10.400 --> 0:13:15.280 they stab their victims, and despite wearing heavy iron shod boots, 0:13:15.520 --> 0:13:19.880 they can move incredibly quickly. It's said to be impossible 0:13:20.120 --> 0:13:24.760 to outrun a red cap goblin. In the folklore of 0:13:24.800 --> 0:13:28.840 northern Spain, the equivalent of a goblin is called a trasgout. 0:13:30.040 --> 0:13:33.040 These are said to be evil spirits with a tendency 0:13:33.120 --> 0:13:37.160 to enter homes and move objects, who will create disorder 0:13:37.200 --> 0:13:40.280 in the household if they feel they've been insulted or 0:13:40.320 --> 0:13:44.760 are being neglected. Having failed to solve the problem with 0:13:44.960 --> 0:13:49.440 routine police questioning, the authorities began to apply logic to 0:13:49.520 --> 0:13:53.680 the situation. They reasoned that since the chimney was likely 0:13:53.720 --> 0:13:57.080 connected to many other units in the building, the voice 0:13:57.240 --> 0:14:00.520 was most likely coming from a different part of the building. 0:14:01.080 --> 0:14:04.640 Perhaps they thought a prankster was hiding in the walls 0:14:04.840 --> 0:14:08.000 and casting their voice into the network of chimney pipes 0:14:08.040 --> 0:14:13.280 and flues to scare the building's residents. Stonemasons who'd previously 0:14:13.320 --> 0:14:16.480 worked on the building were called in along with the 0:14:16.520 --> 0:14:20.080 building's architect. They were asked to inspect the entire structure 0:14:20.160 --> 0:14:22.720 from top to bottom in the hope of discovering the 0:14:22.800 --> 0:14:33.960 hiding place of the troublesome ventriloquist. At some point towards 0:14:34.000 --> 0:14:37.520 the end of November in nineteen thirty four, an architect 0:14:37.600 --> 0:14:41.600 and some workmen meticulously searched every square inch of the 0:14:41.640 --> 0:14:45.680 Palason's building from the cellar to the attic, giving particular 0:14:45.720 --> 0:14:49.960 attention to the interior of the Palazon family residence. The 0:14:50.040 --> 0:14:54.120 assembled experts found no place where a prankster could hide, 0:14:54.440 --> 0:14:57.440 let alone project their voice in a loud and clear 0:14:57.520 --> 0:15:01.800 way throughout the building. Just how such a person might 0:15:01.920 --> 0:15:04.680 remain hidden, Yet to be fully aware of what was 0:15:04.720 --> 0:15:09.480 happening at the Palazon's kitchen was even more perplexing. One 0:15:09.520 --> 0:15:12.440 of the masons was tasked with taking the measurements of 0:15:12.520 --> 0:15:15.320 a section of war next to the stove to find 0:15:15.360 --> 0:15:18.480 the size of the chimney opening. But no sooner had 0:15:18.480 --> 0:15:21.720 he leant in to take his measurement, the guttural voice 0:15:21.920 --> 0:15:26.400 appeared once more. You need not trouble it's six inches. 0:15:27.360 --> 0:15:30.640 To the astonishment of everyone in the kitchen, it was 0:15:30.720 --> 0:15:34.760 exactly as the voice had said. Unnerved, many of the 0:15:34.800 --> 0:15:38.760 workmen present quickly crossed themselves and hurried straight out of 0:15:38.800 --> 0:15:43.480 the apartment, leaving their tools behind. While answers to the 0:15:43.520 --> 0:15:47.520 mystery continued to evade the authorities, public interest in the 0:15:47.600 --> 0:15:51.320 Zaragosa Goblin, as it became known, was growing so much 0:15:51.560 --> 0:15:55.840 that some began making sightseeing trips from nearby Billboo just 0:15:55.880 --> 0:16:00.840 to come and hear it. Doctors and psycho ecologists were 0:16:00.880 --> 0:16:04.520 also drafted in to assist the investigation, along with a 0:16:04.600 --> 0:16:08.040 priest who sprinkled the stove with holy water to little 0:16:08.160 --> 0:16:12.200 or no effect. One psychiatrist on the scene by the 0:16:12.280 --> 0:16:17.120 name of Joaquin Arieira, became especially suspicious of the Palazon's 0:16:17.160 --> 0:16:22.160 young maid, Pasquala Alcacer. After subjecting her to a series 0:16:22.200 --> 0:16:25.880 of questions, he soon concluded that she had been responsible 0:16:25.960 --> 0:16:29.600 for the voice all along. He described the case as 0:16:29.640 --> 0:16:43.200 a mixture of hysteria and subconscious ventriloquism. Ventriloquism has deep roots, 0:16:43.240 --> 0:16:48.200 often linked with mystical practices and religious ritual There is 0:16:48.240 --> 0:16:52.440 even archaeological evidence suggesting that the phenomenon could be traced 0:16:52.480 --> 0:16:57.000 back to at least two thousand BCE. The term derives 0:16:57.080 --> 0:17:01.480 from the Latin words venta or belly, and loqui, meaning 0:17:01.600 --> 0:17:05.239 to speak, because early practitioners were thought to speak from 0:17:05.280 --> 0:17:10.639 their stomachs. Some ancient cultures believed that ventriloquists could speak 0:17:10.680 --> 0:17:15.879 to spirits and convey messages from the gods. In ancient Greece, 0:17:16.280 --> 0:17:20.399 a famous ventriloquist named Eurocles was also thought to be 0:17:20.480 --> 0:17:24.919 able to communicate with the dead. It's possible even that 0:17:24.960 --> 0:17:28.280 the Oracle of Delphi, who was widely believed to channel 0:17:28.320 --> 0:17:32.480 divine prophecies, which were highly regarded in ancient Greece, was 0:17:32.560 --> 0:17:36.560 little more than a polished circus act using ventriloquism to 0:17:36.680 --> 0:17:41.439 fool her supporters. During the Middle Ages, the practice was 0:17:41.480 --> 0:17:46.040 linked with sorcery and heresy. Not surprisingly, this has made 0:17:46.160 --> 0:17:51.080 ventriloquism both fascinating and feared. It has been a subject 0:17:51.080 --> 0:17:55.320 of interest in cognitive science because it provides insights into 0:17:55.400 --> 0:18:01.240 how our brains integrate multisensory information. Quism has even been 0:18:01.320 --> 0:18:04.960 used as a therapeutic technique, for example, in the case 0:18:04.960 --> 0:18:08.480 of a boy with Asperger's syndrome who used a ventriloquist's 0:18:08.520 --> 0:18:12.120 puppet to help him communicate with his family and friends. 0:18:12.720 --> 0:18:15.119 But while you may have seen a ventriloquist with a 0:18:15.160 --> 0:18:19.280 puppet perform on television, experts in the field are rare, 0:18:19.520 --> 0:18:23.000 with likely fewer than four hundred professionals in the world, 0:18:23.640 --> 0:18:26.359 so it would seem very unlikely that the palace On 0:18:26.520 --> 0:18:30.840 Family made. Pasquala Alcace was so talented in the art 0:18:31.160 --> 0:18:34.200 that she could throw a voice entirely different from her 0:18:34.240 --> 0:18:40.320 own throughout an entire building. Pasquala flat out denied any involvement, 0:18:40.720 --> 0:18:43.560 telling anyone who'd listen that she was a victim of 0:18:43.600 --> 0:18:48.200 the so called goblin, just like everyone else. But psychiatrist 0:18:48.320 --> 0:18:53.119 Ariea was determined to be proved correct. He asked Pasquala 0:18:53.200 --> 0:18:55.800 if she would leave the building to run some errands, 0:18:55.840 --> 0:18:59.280 in the expectation that the voice would stop once she'd gone. 0:19:00.280 --> 0:19:02.959 The maid agreed to do what she was asked, but 0:19:03.080 --> 0:19:07.640 much to the psychiatrist's annoyance, and confusion. With Pasquala out 0:19:07.640 --> 0:19:10.600 of the building, it is said the voice continued to 0:19:10.680 --> 0:19:15.000 issue forth from the stove, despite repeating the experiment on 0:19:15.080 --> 0:19:18.840 multiple occasions. The voice continued to talk and cry out 0:19:19.440 --> 0:19:23.000 even when Pasquala was on a different street, nowhere near 0:19:23.080 --> 0:19:28.080 the property. With the ventriloquism theory dismissed, the pallace On 0:19:28.200 --> 0:19:31.800 family and their neighbors became engulfed by the feeling that 0:19:31.920 --> 0:19:37.600 there was indeed something very sinister at work in their building. Privately, 0:19:37.840 --> 0:19:41.520 some of the investigators were inclined to agree with them, 0:19:41.680 --> 0:19:45.560 and so it was decided that the only logical next 0:19:45.560 --> 0:19:59.119 step was to evacuate the building. With the residents moved 0:19:59.119 --> 0:20:02.640 out at the property, the army was brought in. They 0:20:02.680 --> 0:20:06.120 cut all electrical and telephone wires connected to the building 0:20:06.480 --> 0:20:09.840 to prevent any potential pranksters from finding a way to 0:20:09.920 --> 0:20:14.399 broadcast their voice. A team of police and volunteers also 0:20:14.520 --> 0:20:18.080 began guarding the building morning and night, maintaining a thirty 0:20:18.160 --> 0:20:21.800 yard perimeter so any mischief maker who might be behind 0:20:21.840 --> 0:20:25.240 it all could not get in or out. Even the 0:20:25.280 --> 0:20:29.240 Governor of Zaragosa intervened, forcing the media to commit to 0:20:29.320 --> 0:20:32.479 a blackout as the building was searched for evidence of 0:20:32.520 --> 0:20:38.199 a perpetrator, and so with every resident evacuated, the lights 0:20:38.280 --> 0:20:42.880 extinguished and the building stripped of any possible trick or device, 0:20:43.560 --> 0:20:47.679 the police, along with the building's owner, Signor Grialba, and 0:20:47.760 --> 0:20:51.840 his young son arturo Re, entered the four story property 0:20:52.200 --> 0:20:56.640 on the corner of Gascon Goteur Street. With the building 0:20:56.720 --> 0:21:01.000 now completely vacant. The footsteps echoed even louder this time 0:21:01.119 --> 0:21:04.160 as the officers climbed the stairs up to the second floor, 0:21:04.560 --> 0:21:09.280 using flashlights to guide the way. Then together they pushed 0:21:09.280 --> 0:21:13.959 on into the Palaceon's apartment. They shuffled into the kitchen 0:21:14.240 --> 0:21:18.040 and stood in silence, with the empty stove looming before them, 0:21:18.280 --> 0:21:22.240 lit up by their torches. One officer cleared his throat 0:21:22.560 --> 0:21:27.080 and then, with some trepidation, called out are you there. 0:21:28.280 --> 0:21:33.040 For a moment, there was no reply. Then incredibly, that 0:21:33.200 --> 0:21:38.000 same guttural cackle, rising up from nowhere, came bursting out 0:21:38.000 --> 0:21:42.520 of the stove. But that wasn't all. According to a 0:21:42.600 --> 0:21:46.760 report later published in British newspaper The Times of London, 0:21:47.200 --> 0:21:51.960 the voice in the stove spoke incessantly, railing against the police, 0:21:52.280 --> 0:21:55.800 spitting rapid fire insults at them. Then it turned its 0:21:55.840 --> 0:22:00.680 fury back onto the palace on family. I will kill them, 0:22:00.840 --> 0:22:05.439 all of them, it insisted. The officers stood rooted to 0:22:05.520 --> 0:22:09.040 the spot, their faces growing ever more pale in the 0:22:09.119 --> 0:22:14.000 half light. Just then, the building owner's son, our Turo, 0:22:14.240 --> 0:22:18.000 piped up, let's go dat. This whole thing is crazy. 0:22:19.160 --> 0:22:23.119 From deep inside the stove, came the voice's response, No, 0:22:24.000 --> 0:22:29.439 not crazy, little one. Our Tiro was stunned. After that, 0:22:30.359 --> 0:22:34.919 after two months of near constant noise, the stove fell silent, 0:22:35.560 --> 0:22:46.240 and the voice seemed finally to have gone eager to 0:22:46.320 --> 0:22:50.720 restore order. The local magistrate dismissed the entire affair as 0:22:50.800 --> 0:22:53.800 nothing more than a strange anomaly that would be best 0:22:53.840 --> 0:22:57.719 forgotten about, and moved on from the police packed up 0:22:57.760 --> 0:23:02.480 and withdrew. Two days, however, a small group of neighbors 0:23:02.520 --> 0:23:09.240 were gathered in the Palazon's apartment when the voice suddenly returned. Cowards, here, 0:23:09.320 --> 0:23:14.760 I am the Goblin, it seemed, was back. Later it 0:23:14.800 --> 0:23:19.000 would taunt the police again, promising to show itself, but 0:23:19.080 --> 0:23:23.600 the apparent entity never did. By now, interest in the 0:23:23.680 --> 0:23:28.040 Zaragosa Goblin had reached fever pitch far and wide. One 0:23:28.200 --> 0:23:31.879 Barcelona radio station attempted to get a microphone in the 0:23:31.960 --> 0:23:35.960 room so they could broadcast the goblin's voice. It's even 0:23:36.080 --> 0:23:38.960 rumored that a team of detectives from Scotland Yard in 0:23:39.040 --> 0:23:41.960 London were planning a trip to the apartment to try 0:23:42.000 --> 0:23:45.280 and solve the case, while the National Guard were called 0:23:45.320 --> 0:23:48.560 in to keep the growing crowd of sightseers a safe 0:23:48.600 --> 0:23:54.120 distance away. On November thirtieth, deciding that he had had enough, 0:23:54.520 --> 0:23:58.240 the Governor of Zaragosa, still convinced it was a prankster, 0:23:58.680 --> 0:24:02.040 put out a public appeal for any information that could 0:24:02.119 --> 0:24:06.720 help identify the culprit. The governor also ordered a more 0:24:06.800 --> 0:24:10.520 thorough investigation of the people at the center of the affair. 0:24:11.520 --> 0:24:15.440 The entire Palazon family, along with their maid Pasquala, were 0:24:15.440 --> 0:24:20.439 brought in for severe questioning. Then, on December fourth, the 0:24:20.480 --> 0:24:24.240 governor announced that he'd finally found the explanation for the 0:24:24.280 --> 0:24:31.040 extraordinary events. Just like psychiatrist Joaquin Arieira, he also believed 0:24:31.119 --> 0:24:34.200 that the source of all the torment and the perpetrator 0:24:34.240 --> 0:24:39.840 of the voice was indeed the maid Pasquala Alcacer. According 0:24:39.840 --> 0:24:43.400 to the official statement, Alcacer was believed to be suffering 0:24:43.440 --> 0:24:47.919 from a condition called unconscious ventriloquism, which caused her to 0:24:47.960 --> 0:24:52.320 throw her voice without being aware that she was doing it. However, 0:24:52.560 --> 0:24:56.520 many people rejected the finding, pointing out that not only 0:24:56.560 --> 0:24:59.600 did the phantom voice seem too low to belong to 0:24:59.640 --> 0:25:03.800 a female, but it had been demonstrated several times that 0:25:03.880 --> 0:25:07.440 it continued when the young maid was nowhere near the building. 0:25:09.280 --> 0:25:13.880 Alcasa herself firmly denied the allegation, but the officials would 0:25:13.920 --> 0:25:17.680 not budge, insisting that they had witnessed her carrying out 0:25:17.800 --> 0:25:22.080 the ventriloquism while she was in custody. With the case 0:25:22.160 --> 0:25:26.200 then seemingly solved, residents were urged to simply go back 0:25:26.240 --> 0:25:31.199 to their normal lives. For the Palasons and Pasquala Alcacet, 0:25:31.640 --> 0:25:35.440 it had all proved too much. The maid was relieved 0:25:35.480 --> 0:25:45.879 of her duties and the family moved on to another city. 0:25:46.520 --> 0:25:50.600 With no evidence to arrest Pasquala Alcacet. She also left 0:25:50.720 --> 0:25:55.040 Zaragosa to return to her hometown. While she escaped the 0:25:55.119 --> 0:25:58.840 judgment of those in Zaragosa who believed her to be guilty, 0:25:59.280 --> 0:26:02.600 the stigma of the accusation against her hung over her 0:26:02.680 --> 0:26:05.800 for the rest of her days. It said that she 0:26:05.880 --> 0:26:09.680 subsequently lived a very reclusive life and claimed to never 0:26:09.760 --> 0:26:12.680 fully recover from the blame that was foisted on her. 0:26:13.920 --> 0:26:17.840 But Squala steadfastly refused to speak about the incident for 0:26:17.920 --> 0:26:22.360 almost her entire life. In old age, she did finally 0:26:22.400 --> 0:26:26.680 relent and gave one interview. When asked where the voice 0:26:26.720 --> 0:26:29.640 was coming from, all she could say was it came 0:26:29.760 --> 0:26:34.040 from within the wall. Either way. With Pasquala and the 0:26:34.119 --> 0:26:39.600 Palazons gone, the building eventually settled back down into relative normality, 0:26:40.920 --> 0:26:45.679 although tenants would occasionally report ghostly sounds, to what degree 0:26:45.720 --> 0:26:49.479 they were imagined or where in fact a continuation of 0:26:49.520 --> 0:26:54.280 the supposed Goblin haunting was hard to say. With opinion 0:26:54.359 --> 0:26:58.040 divided on whether it really had been a manifestation of 0:26:58.080 --> 0:27:02.400 a malevolent spirit or just an incredibly elaborate hoax. The 0:27:02.400 --> 0:27:06.440 city of Zaragoza soon forgot the whole incident of the Goblin. 0:27:07.560 --> 0:27:12.240 In any case, larger events were at play. In October, 0:27:12.560 --> 0:27:16.679 a worker's uprising known as the Revolutionary General Strike of 0:27:16.800 --> 0:27:22.119 nineteen thirty four took place in Catalonia and Astorias. The 0:27:22.240 --> 0:27:26.399 uprisings were repressed by Spanish government forces, but it proved 0:27:26.440 --> 0:27:29.160 to be just the start of a series of events 0:27:29.320 --> 0:27:32.560 that would ultimately lead to the Spanish Civil War. Just 0:27:32.640 --> 0:27:37.360 a few years later, in nineteen seventy seven, the four 0:27:37.480 --> 0:27:40.960 story apartment block on the corner of Gascon de Gotur 0:27:41.040 --> 0:27:44.760 Street was demolished, but there is still a reminder of 0:27:44.800 --> 0:27:49.399 the strange events where a new building now stands on 0:27:49.440 --> 0:27:53.920 a stone wall near the entrance. Emblazoned in glittering gold letters, 0:27:54.320 --> 0:27:59.840 you can find the new building's name. It reads Edificio Duerdende, 0:28:00.720 --> 0:28:06.520 Goblin Building. No culprit was ever found or any cause 0:28:06.600 --> 0:28:09.919 settled upon for the strange events that took place in 0:28:09.960 --> 0:28:13.760 that troublesome year of nineteen thirty four on Gascon de 0:28:13.880 --> 0:28:17.680 Gator Street, and so the case of the Zaraghos of 0:28:17.720 --> 0:28:30.679 Goblin remains to this day Unexplained. This episode was written 0:28:30.720 --> 0:28:35.959 by Diane Hope and Richard McLain Smith. Thank you as 0:28:35.960 --> 0:28:39.680 ever for listening Unexplained as an Avy Club production podcast 0:28:39.920 --> 0:28:44.000 created by Richard McLain Smith. All other elements of the podcast, 0:28:44.080 --> 0:28:49.640 including the music, are also produced by me Richard McLain Smith. Unexplained. 0:28:49.640 --> 0:28:53.280 The book and audiobook is now available to buy worldwide. 0:28:53.760 --> 0:28:57.520 You can purchase from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Waterstones and 0:28:57.640 --> 0:29:01.520 other bookstores. Please subscribe to and rate the show wherever 0:29:01.520 --> 0:29:04.160 you get your podcasts, and feel free to get in 0:29:04.200 --> 0:29:07.400 touch with any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories you've 0:29:07.400 --> 0:29:10.400 heard on the show. Perhaps you have an explanation or 0:29:10.440 --> 0:29:12.920 a story of your own you'd like to share. You 0:29:12.960 --> 0:29:16.080 can find out more at Unexplained podcast dot com and 0:29:16.160 --> 0:29:20.040 reaches online through X and Blue Sky at Unexplained Pod 0:29:20.400 --> 0:30:09.600 and Facebook at Facebook dot com, Forward Slash Unexplained Podcast, 0:30:04.200 --> 0:30:18.400 DoD