WEBVTT - S05 Episode 6 Extra: Unbound 0:00:10.039 --> 0:00:14.320 Welcome to Unexplained Extra with me Richard McClane Smith, where 0:00:14.360 --> 0:00:16.640 for the weeks in between episodes, we look at stories 0:00:16.680 --> 0:00:19.120 and ideas that, for one reason or other, didn't make 0:00:19.120 --> 0:00:23.080 it into the previous show. In last week's episode, Somewhere 0:00:23.120 --> 0:00:26.479 to See, one family in Savannah, Georgia got a little 0:00:26.520 --> 0:00:29.320 more than they bargained for after they bought an antique 0:00:29.360 --> 0:00:33.640 bed and, according to them, simultaneously acquired the ghost of 0:00:33.640 --> 0:00:37.400 a young boy who was attached to it. It certainly 0:00:37.440 --> 0:00:40.440 stands to reason that should you believe in such things, 0:00:40.680 --> 0:00:44.280 a bed would be such a fertile receptacle. After all, 0:00:44.800 --> 0:00:47.479 since we each spend on average roughly a third of 0:00:47.479 --> 0:00:50.519 our lifetimes asleep, if we were going to leave some 0:00:50.600 --> 0:00:54.320 ghostly residue of ourselves anywhere, it would most likely be 0:00:54.400 --> 0:00:58.480 our beds. In fact, I came across so many haunted 0:00:58.520 --> 0:01:01.440 bed stories when researching the episode, I was a little 0:01:01.440 --> 0:01:04.479 spoiled for choice in deciding exactly which one to cover. 0:01:05.600 --> 0:01:09.560 One story printed in the Charlotte Observer of North Carolina 0:01:09.680 --> 0:01:14.360 back in nineteen twenty seven, was especially chilling, as recounted 0:01:14.400 --> 0:01:17.360 to the writer Arthur Conan Doyle, who later recorded it 0:01:17.400 --> 0:01:21.200 for posterity. The story involved a woman named Anne Eden, 0:01:21.600 --> 0:01:24.479 a friend of Conan Doyle's, who'd been visiting her sister 0:01:24.640 --> 0:01:27.119 at her country estate in the north of England when 0:01:27.160 --> 0:01:31.039 it began. After a long night of partying, Anne was 0:01:31.120 --> 0:01:33.959 taking her breakfast in bed the following morning when she 0:01:34.040 --> 0:01:37.839 sensed someone else in the bed with her. Turning round, 0:01:38.319 --> 0:01:41.040 she was horrified to see the ghostly head of a large, 0:01:41.040 --> 0:01:44.039 burly man appear suddenly on the pillow next to her, 0:01:44.480 --> 0:01:48.240 only for it to vanish moments later. It was some 0:01:48.360 --> 0:01:51.360 years after that, when visiting her sister again, that she 0:01:51.440 --> 0:01:53.760 found herself back in the same bed for the night. 0:01:55.040 --> 0:01:57.760 Anne was just on the precipice of sleep when a 0:01:57.880 --> 0:02:01.720 terrible clattering drew her attention to a half opened window 0:02:01.760 --> 0:02:05.680 through which a huge, shapeless body appeared to be crawling. 0:02:07.000 --> 0:02:10.239 Paralyzed with fear, she could only watch as the thing 0:02:10.480 --> 0:02:14.120 slithered onto the floor and proceeded to drag itself painfully 0:02:14.200 --> 0:02:17.760 on all fours toward the bed, before flinging itself down 0:02:17.960 --> 0:02:21.400 next to her. It was only later that she found 0:02:21.400 --> 0:02:23.680 out the bed that had been bought at a fire 0:02:23.760 --> 0:02:27.320 sail had once belonged to a deeply troubled man, much 0:02:27.400 --> 0:02:30.680 loathed by local residents. The man was said to have 0:02:30.760 --> 0:02:34.040 kept a terrifying and drunken rain over his servants, and 0:02:34.120 --> 0:02:37.919 had eventually succumbed to a form of drunken delirium, dying 0:02:37.919 --> 0:02:41.800 alone in that same bed in a hallucinatory, tortured fit 0:02:42.160 --> 0:02:47.200 of specter. Haunted mania, The idea of an object harboring 0:02:47.240 --> 0:02:50.000 ghosts or some residue of those who have come into 0:02:50.040 --> 0:02:52.680 contact with it in the past is a common one 0:02:52.800 --> 0:02:56.600 found in most cultures throughout the world. Though objects of 0:02:56.680 --> 0:02:59.840 any age can be considered haunted, it certainly helps to 0:03:00.080 --> 0:03:02.680 spied the imagination if they are a little more on 0:03:02.760 --> 0:03:06.200 the ancient side, as a number of staff working at 0:03:06.200 --> 0:03:17.519 the British Museum in London have testified footsteps echoed down 0:03:17.600 --> 0:03:21.680 the cavernous corridor. As the security guard continued on his rounds. 0:03:23.000 --> 0:03:26.880 Stepping down into the basement, he eventually found himself staring 0:03:26.919 --> 0:03:31.040 at a peculiar and terrifying looking ornament made of a 0:03:31.120 --> 0:03:35.320 dark stained wood. It comprised two dogs, as if standing 0:03:35.360 --> 0:03:38.000 back to back from the waist, with four legs and 0:03:38.080 --> 0:03:42.040 two heads, each bearing an impressive array of sharp teeth 0:03:43.080 --> 0:03:46.520 all over its body. Was covered in nails and sharp 0:03:46.600 --> 0:03:50.200 iron blades that had long ago been hammered into its skin. 0:03:51.880 --> 0:03:55.160 The piece, made at some point in the nineteenth century. 0:03:55.440 --> 0:03:58.280 In the Congo region of Africa, is what's known as 0:03:58.280 --> 0:04:02.280 a fetish, a protect dive magical figure often used to 0:04:02.320 --> 0:04:06.200 cure illness or ward off an evil spirit or in 0:04:06.240 --> 0:04:09.720 the case of this type of fetish known as an enchisi, 0:04:09.880 --> 0:04:13.400 it was also used to hunt down and punish adversaries. 0:04:14.920 --> 0:04:18.039 In some Congo cultures, an encisi was one of the 0:04:18.120 --> 0:04:21.760 many tools of the nganga, ritual specialists who would be 0:04:21.839 --> 0:04:25.520 called on by individuals and communities to assist in dealing 0:04:25.560 --> 0:04:28.200 with the many elements of life that were otherwise beyond 0:04:28.279 --> 0:04:32.520 their control. Encissi were often given the form of dogs 0:04:32.800 --> 0:04:36.599 due to their association with death. Since the community's dogs 0:04:36.600 --> 0:04:39.440 were often buried away from the village, they gained the 0:04:39.440 --> 0:04:42.479 status of a creature that could mediate between the living 0:04:42.520 --> 0:04:46.000 and the dead. When the nganga was called on to 0:04:46.040 --> 0:04:50.080 cast a spell, they would concoct the requisite medicine, binding 0:04:50.080 --> 0:04:52.599 it in resin before rubbing it into the back of 0:04:52.640 --> 0:04:56.880 the encisi. Each invocation would then be sealed with the 0:04:56.920 --> 0:04:59.960 hammering of a nail or blade into the totem's body. 0:05:00.839 --> 0:05:03.080 That they were close to a hundred or so blades 0:05:03.080 --> 0:05:05.800 and nails in the piece the security guard was now 0:05:05.839 --> 0:05:09.000 staring at would suggest to some at least that this 0:05:09.160 --> 0:05:12.119 was a piece imbued with no small amount of dark 0:05:12.400 --> 0:05:18.039 retributive magic. All of that was unknown to the guard, however, 0:05:18.400 --> 0:05:21.320 as he stood before it alone at night in the 0:05:21.360 --> 0:05:25.240 bows of the British Museum, feeling suddenly overwhelmed with the 0:05:25.320 --> 0:05:30.720 unmistakable sense that this peculiar, nail riddled sculpture was possessed 0:05:30.839 --> 0:05:36.120 by a deep mystical power. Just then he was gripped 0:05:36.160 --> 0:05:39.680 by the strange, irresistible urge to raise up his hand 0:05:39.920 --> 0:05:43.880 and point directly at it. But as he did at 0:05:43.880 --> 0:05:47.880 that precise moment, the frantic blare of the museum's fire 0:05:47.920 --> 0:05:52.839 alarm burst inexplicably into life, startling the guard and releasing 0:05:52.920 --> 0:05:58.640 him suddenly from his peculiar reverie. Over the next few days, 0:05:59.279 --> 0:06:01.719 clearly some thing of the ornament had got under the 0:06:01.720 --> 0:06:05.479 guard's skin. Unable to shape the feeling that he'd somehow 0:06:05.520 --> 0:06:08.960 connected with something in the object, the guard invited his 0:06:09.000 --> 0:06:12.480 brother to see it a few nights later. Sure enough, 0:06:13.200 --> 0:06:16.480 he too found himself gripped by the sudden urge to 0:06:16.560 --> 0:06:20.800 raise his arm and point toward it, And in that moment, 0:06:21.160 --> 0:06:27.359 once again, the museum fire alarms burst inexplicably into life. 0:06:31.600 --> 0:06:33.960 Rosemary Kent, a woman who lives on the edge of 0:06:33.960 --> 0:06:37.160 the infamous Black Hill's Forest, needs your help to find 0:06:37.200 --> 0:06:40.560 her missing son. But to find him, you must investigate 0:06:40.600 --> 0:06:44.000 the mysterious forest yourself. Will you face down the horror 0:06:44.279 --> 0:06:47.279 of the blair Witch and those who serve her. 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Will you 0:07:49.960 --> 0:07:57.760 Survive the Curse of the Blair Witch. The story of 0:07:57.800 --> 0:08:01.600 the Inkys was detailed in an Apri twenty article in 0:08:01.640 --> 0:08:07.440 The Economist titled Our Ghosts Haunting the British Museum. The article, 0:08:07.680 --> 0:08:11.440 written by Killian Fox, recounted a series of stories as 0:08:11.480 --> 0:08:15.960 told to artist and storyteller Noah Angel, who'd collected over 0:08:16.040 --> 0:08:19.240 fifty different accounts of strange goings on at the museum 0:08:19.560 --> 0:08:24.240 since twenty sixteen. Perhaps one of the more compelling was 0:08:24.280 --> 0:08:27.480 that told by another security guard who'd been locking down 0:08:27.520 --> 0:08:31.400 the Sutton Who Gallery at the time. The gallery contains 0:08:31.480 --> 0:08:34.680 articles found buried in the ground at Sutton Who in 0:08:34.760 --> 0:08:37.880 Suffolk in the southeast of England, the site of a 0:08:37.960 --> 0:08:41.800 series of Anglo Saxon burial mounds, including one thought to 0:08:41.840 --> 0:08:45.160 be that of King Radwald of East Anglia, buried within 0:08:45.200 --> 0:08:48.360 a ship surrounded by treasure to take to the next world. 0:08:49.800 --> 0:08:53.000 The centerpiece of the exhibition is the Sutton who Helmet, 0:08:53.679 --> 0:08:57.840 dated to round six hundred CE. It sits prominently perched 0:08:57.920 --> 0:08:59.959 on a small pole in the middle of the gallery, 0:09:00.480 --> 0:09:03.559 staring back at visitors through a pair of black, hollowed 0:09:03.600 --> 0:09:09.439 eyes where once other eyes had been. After inspecting the area, 0:09:09.520 --> 0:09:12.960 the guard pulled shut the room's large wooden doors and 0:09:13.080 --> 0:09:16.880 bolted them securely to the floor before continuing on his rounds. 0:09:17.960 --> 0:09:20.440 So it was with some surprise when the voice of 0:09:20.440 --> 0:09:24.160 the museum's Cecy TV operator burst out of his walkie 0:09:24.160 --> 0:09:29.640 talkie moments later. The doors, it appeared, were now open again. 0:09:30.920 --> 0:09:34.160 When footage of the gallery was reviewed afterwards, it showed 0:09:34.200 --> 0:09:37.440 the doors appearing to open of their own volition, shortly 0:09:37.480 --> 0:09:42.080 after the guard had locked them down. Another story involved 0:09:42.200 --> 0:09:45.400 orbs of white light seen moving about on Cecy TV 0:09:45.760 --> 0:09:47.960 in the early hours of the morning at the top 0:09:48.000 --> 0:09:52.120 of a staircase in the museum's main hall. Staff on 0:09:52.200 --> 0:09:55.480 duty at the time speculated that perhaps they had something 0:09:55.520 --> 0:09:58.880 to do with a newly installed exhibition that included a 0:09:58.920 --> 0:10:01.800 wrought iron gate that had once stood at the front 0:10:01.800 --> 0:10:06.320 of the infamous Boukenvald concentration camp. The orbs were said 0:10:06.360 --> 0:10:09.080 to have appeared in the same place every night until 0:10:09.120 --> 0:10:20.840 the exhibition and the gates departed. Regardless of what you believe, 0:10:21.360 --> 0:10:24.199 it isn't hard to sympathize with the notion that ancient 0:10:24.280 --> 0:10:28.280 historical objects might retain some kind of residual power or 0:10:28.360 --> 0:10:32.079 presence of the past. That so many stories would spring 0:10:32.160 --> 0:10:34.560 up from within the vast halls and corridors of the 0:10:34.600 --> 0:10:38.439 British Museum is perhaps even less surprising, given not only 0:10:38.480 --> 0:10:42.480 the array of items kept inside around eight million in total, 0:10:42.880 --> 0:10:45.600 but also the dubious manner in which many of them 0:10:45.640 --> 0:10:50.439 were procured. Located on Great Russell Street in London and 0:10:50.600 --> 0:10:54.120 first opened in seventeen fifty nine, the museum as widely 0:10:54.160 --> 0:10:57.840 regarded to be among the finest collections of historical relics 0:10:57.840 --> 0:11:01.680 and antiquities in the world. In recent years, however, the 0:11:01.800 --> 0:11:06.600 museum's function has come under increasing scrutiny. From the vast 0:11:06.640 --> 0:11:10.440 and ancient stone headed sculptures of the Assyrian Galleries to 0:11:10.520 --> 0:11:14.319 the Elizabethans scrying mirror that once belonged to John Dee 0:11:14.520 --> 0:11:17.280 to the more than six thousand human remains that are 0:11:17.360 --> 0:11:20.640 kept there, Each and every piece could be considered to 0:11:20.679 --> 0:11:24.080 carry something of the peoples and cultures from which they originated, 0:11:25.240 --> 0:11:29.240 and though not every piece was acquired under questionable circumstances, 0:11:29.280 --> 0:11:32.760 certainly for many of them, often plundered and stolen during 0:11:32.760 --> 0:11:36.640 colonial times or in the aftermath of war, or traded 0:11:36.760 --> 0:11:39.320 unilaterally by people who never quite owned them in the 0:11:39.360 --> 0:11:42.920 first place. Most famously in the case of the Elgin Marbles, 0:11:43.600 --> 0:11:46.480 there are compelling arguments to suggest they are not where 0:11:46.480 --> 0:11:51.400 they belong, As no Angle suggested, perhaps what the museum's 0:11:51.400 --> 0:11:54.240 staff have been experiencing is not just a result of 0:11:54.320 --> 0:11:58.960 spirits trapped within these objects, but that the objects themselves 0:11:59.040 --> 0:12:05.080 are restless to return to their rightful place. If you 0:12:05.160 --> 0:12:07.920 enjoy Unexplained and would like to help supporters, you can 0:12:07.960 --> 0:12:11.240 now do so via Patreon. To receive access to add 0:12:11.280 --> 0:12:14.800 three episodes, just go to patron dot com, forward Slash 0:12:14.920 --> 0:12:18.000 Unexplained Pod to sign up, or if you'd like to 0:12:18.000 --> 0:12:20.839 make a one time donation, you can go to Unexplained 0:12:20.840 --> 0:12:25.320 podcast dot com. Forward Slash Support. All donations, no matter 0:12:25.360 --> 0:12:29.520 how large or small, are greatly appreciated. Unexplained, the book 0:12:29.600 --> 0:12:33.080 and audiobook, featuring ten stories that have never before been 0:12:33.120 --> 0:12:36.560 covered on the show, is now available to buy worldwide. 0:12:36.840 --> 0:12:40.240 You can purchase through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Waterstones, 0:12:40.400 --> 0:12:45.400 among other bookstores. All elements of Unexplained, including the show's music, 0:12:45.520 --> 0:12:49.040 are produced by me Richard McClain smith. Please subscribe and 0:12:49.120 --> 0:12:51.960 rate the show wherever you listen to podcasts, and feel 0:12:52.000 --> 0:12:54.439 free to get in touch with any thoughts or ideas 0:12:54.440 --> 0:12:57.440 regarding the stories you've heard on the show. Perhaps you 0:12:57.480 --> 0:12:59.560 have an explanation of your own you'd like to share. 0:13:00.080 --> 0:13:03.520 You can reach us online at Unexplained podcast dot com 0:13:03.679 --> 0:13:08.200 or Twitter at Unexplained Pod and Facebook at Facebook dot 0:13:08.200 --> 0:13:11.280 com Orward Slash Unexplained Podcast