WEBVTT - Season 06 Episode 32 Extra: After the Gold Rush

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Unexplained Extra with me Richard mcclin smith, where

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<v Speaker 1>for the weeks in between episodes, we look at stories

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<v Speaker 1>and ideas that, for one reason or another, didn't make

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<v Speaker 1>it into the previous show. In our last episode, A

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<v Speaker 1>Death Less Ordinary, we heard the beguiling and tragic tale

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<v Speaker 1>of Gunter Stole from Anshausen in Western Germany, who died

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<v Speaker 1>in nineteen eighty four in very unusual circumstances. Many wild

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<v Speaker 1>theories sprung up in the absence of a satisfactory explanation

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<v Speaker 1>for Stoll's death, including one that suggested you may have

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<v Speaker 1>been selling industry secrets to the East German government after

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<v Speaker 1>falling on hard times, and had been murdered in retaliation.

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<v Speaker 1>If so, you may have been better off dedicating his

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<v Speaker 1>time finding one of the countless number of treasures looted

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<v Speaker 1>by members of the German Army and Third Reich officials

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<v Speaker 1>during the Second World War that were rumoured to still

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<v Speaker 1>be languishing in various attics, basements, and some more unusual

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<v Speaker 1>and inaccessible places throughout the country. In fact, only a

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<v Speaker 1>short drive away from Stoll's own town of Anshausen lay

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<v Speaker 1>just one such treasure trove of priceless artifacts and artworks

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<v Speaker 1>said to be worth billions of today's euros. Back in

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<v Speaker 1>April nineteen forty five, a group of American troops whose

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<v Speaker 1>story would go on to inspire the twenty fourteen film

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<v Speaker 1>Monument's Men located the stash in the depths of an

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<v Speaker 1>old copper mine known as Heine stolen in Siegen, just

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<v Speaker 1>under five miles west of Anshausen. Among the pieces said

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<v Speaker 1>to have been found there were the relics, which is

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<v Speaker 1>to say, bones of the ancient kings Charlemagne, as well

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<v Speaker 1>as an original Beethoven manuscript, paintings by Flemish artist Peter

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<v Speaker 1>Paul Rubens, among hundreds of other equally valuable items. But

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<v Speaker 1>that was far from all that was found. In a

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<v Speaker 1>salt mine in Murkers in central Germany, gold worth two

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<v Speaker 1>billion euros in today's money had been stashed by officials

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<v Speaker 1>of the Third Reich, alongside four hundred tons of art,

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<v Speaker 1>either stolen from individuals or taken from the Berlin State museums.

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<v Speaker 1>And there were mines outside of Germany too, mines in

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<v Speaker 1>countries annexed by Hitler's Third Reich, like the Altaucis salt

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<v Speaker 1>mine in Austria, where troops found six thousand, five hundred

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<v Speaker 1>seventy seven paintings, one hundred and thirty seven sculptures, and

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<v Speaker 1>four hundred and eighty four crates of other art, as

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<v Speaker 1>well as furniture, weapons, coins, and a wealth of books,

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<v Speaker 1>including some from Hitler's own so called Fura's library, And

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<v Speaker 1>so began the belief that these were not the only

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<v Speaker 1>ones of their kind, that more hidden so called Nazi

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<v Speaker 1>treasure existed, if only one had the tenacity and persistence

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<v Speaker 1>to find it. It's nineteen forty seven. Lower Silesia, formerly

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<v Speaker 1>in Germany, but by then in southwest Poland has been

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<v Speaker 1>cleared of almost two million German nationals by the Soviet

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<v Speaker 1>Union's Red Army. To fill the vacated towns and empty houses,

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<v Speaker 1>the new Polish government had relocated hundreds of thousands of

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<v Speaker 1>their citizens whose homes had been destroyed by the German military.

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<v Speaker 1>Many of the new inhabitants would become treasure hunters, digging

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<v Speaker 1>in the gold gardens and lifting floorboards to find silks

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<v Speaker 1>and jewels, watchers and furs, porcelain and ammunition, all hidden

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<v Speaker 1>and buried by the fleeing former German residents. Jue Herbert

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<v Speaker 1>Closer a German military officer was injured falling from his

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<v Speaker 1>horse and left for dead by his fellow officers, who

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<v Speaker 1>fled off without him. He was swiftly captured and interrogated

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<v Speaker 1>by the Polish secret police. Closer had been a high

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<v Speaker 1>level police official in Vroswaft, the historical capital city of

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<v Speaker 1>the Lower Silesia region. He confirmed much of what was

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<v Speaker 1>already suspected millions, if not billions, of German marks worth

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<v Speaker 1>of valuables had been hidden across the region. Locals believed

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<v Speaker 1>that nearby thirteenth century Kazakh Castle was in fact a

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<v Speaker 1>secret headquarters of Adolf Hitler. There were rumors too, of

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<v Speaker 1>something called Project Resa, taken from the German word for giant.

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<v Speaker 1>This since turned out to comprise a system of tunnels

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<v Speaker 1>and bunkers, most of them still inaccessible today, buried fifty

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<v Speaker 1>meters under the ground, located somewhere in the Awl Mountains

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<v Speaker 1>in Lower Silesia. Many believed the tunnels were deliberately sealed

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<v Speaker 1>off by the German army toward the end of the war.

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<v Speaker 1>The actual purpose of whatever Project Resa may have been

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<v Speaker 1>has never been ascertained, but a scattering of collapsed cave entrances,

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<v Speaker 1>railroad tracks leading to abandoned construction sites and woodland ventilation

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<v Speaker 1>shafts gave credence to the idea that the German Army

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<v Speaker 1>were working on something out there. Locals also spoke of

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<v Speaker 1>hearing loud blasts underground from about nineteen five three onwards.

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<v Speaker 1>If Herbert Closer and his compatriots had been looking for

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<v Speaker 1>somewhere to hide valuables, tunnels built under the Al mountains

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<v Speaker 1>would have been the ideal location. Out of this story

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<v Speaker 1>and others like it, came the local legend that a

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<v Speaker 1>treasure filled train laden with more than three hundred and

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<v Speaker 1>thirty tons of gold, jewels, weapons and artistic masterpieces left

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<v Speaker 1>what was then the town of Breslau now Vrotswath, but

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<v Speaker 1>never made it to its intended destination. Instead, the train

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<v Speaker 1>is rumored to have entered the Project Resa site somewhere

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<v Speaker 1>near Keswick Castle. One of few living sources of the

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<v Speaker 1>Great Gold Train legend is retired minor Tadoit Slovakovski, now

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<v Speaker 1>eighty four, who claimed to have first heard of the

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<v Speaker 1>train from a German Man in the nineteen seventies. I

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<v Speaker 1>have lived with this mystery for forty years, but each

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<v Speaker 1>time I went to the authorities, they always silenced it,

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<v Speaker 1>he once told the Associated Press. For over seventy years,

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<v Speaker 1>people have scoured the Al Mountains for any sign of

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<v Speaker 1>the train. Some say to no avail, others are not

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<v Speaker 1>so sure. It's August twenty fifteen. Peter Copper from Poland

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<v Speaker 1>and Andreas Richter from Germany have secretly open negotiations with

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<v Speaker 1>the Polish government. They're asking for a ten percent finders

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<v Speaker 1>fee before going any further, because they believe they have

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<v Speaker 1>found the missing gold train using radar technology to penetrate

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<v Speaker 1>the ground. Copper and Richter, co owners of a mine

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<v Speaker 1>exploration company, believe their images show several carriages buried nine

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<v Speaker 1>meters underground in a site inside the Al Mountains. This

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<v Speaker 1>information is swiftly leaked and a media circus since hues.

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<v Speaker 1>Thousands of Polish nationals and tourists alike flocked to the site,

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<v Speaker 1>igniting a very singular type of gold rush along a

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<v Speaker 1>two and a half mile stretch of Polish rail track.

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<v Speaker 1>The Polish Deputy Culture Minister at the time was excited.

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<v Speaker 1>He believed that the radar images confirmed with ninety nine

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<v Speaker 1>percent probability that a train of one hundred meters in

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<v Speaker 1>length had been found, despite its skepticism from historians and

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<v Speaker 1>local governing authorities, who believed that surely, if there was

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<v Speaker 1>treasure to be found, it would have been found by now,

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<v Speaker 1>either by the Red Army who invaded subsequently, or by

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<v Speaker 1>any one of the later searches that were conducted did

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<v Speaker 1>in the region, but Copper and Richter remained under turret,

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<v Speaker 1>and so did the tourists and treasure hunters who poured

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<v Speaker 1>into the area armed with shovels and metal detectors, repeatedly

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<v Speaker 1>asking each other have you found it? As they went.

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<v Speaker 1>By late September twenty fifteen, the Polish military had begun

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<v Speaker 1>work in Earnest, clearing trees and searching for booby traps, mines,

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<v Speaker 1>or anything else that may indicate that something really was

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<v Speaker 1>hidden in the designated area. On fifteenth of August twenty sixteen,

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<v Speaker 1>a year after their first negotiations, Copper and Richter began digging,

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<v Speaker 1>accompanied by a team of sixty four people, including volunteers, engineers, geologists, chemists, archaeologists,

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<v Speaker 1>and specialists in military demolitions. After seven days, how however,

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<v Speaker 1>Copper and Richter came up empty handed. There was no train.

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<v Speaker 1>The radar images thought to have been the train were

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<v Speaker 1>revealed to be nothing but natural ice formations. Papers that

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<v Speaker 1>had once celebrated Peter Copper and Andreas Richter's search now

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<v Speaker 1>reported on their venture as a hopeless and eccentric foal's

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<v Speaker 1>errand articles debunking their theories were published, and the gold

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<v Speaker 1>Train was relegated once more to urban legend. Despite their failure,

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<v Speaker 1>Copper and Richter were undeterred. Rather than accept the finding,

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<v Speaker 1>they decided that they merely had to dig deeper and

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<v Speaker 1>expand their net wider. In June twenty seventeen, the men

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<v Speaker 1>oversaw a second excavation of the area, discovering seven human

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<v Speaker 1>made cavities in the process. A further dig to investigate

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<v Speaker 1>these was scheduled for the summer of twenty eighteen, but

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<v Speaker 1>with financial support beginning to dry up, their efforts soon

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<v Speaker 1>began to wane. In August twenty eighteen, Andreas Richter left

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<v Speaker 1>the project. He remains convinced, nonetheless, that the train does

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<v Speaker 1>exist somewhere out there. Peter Copper carried on a loan

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<v Speaker 1>for a short time until January twenty nineteen, when he

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<v Speaker 1>made a somewhat different but wholly welcome discovery. While helping

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<v Speaker 1>to renovate a palace in the village of Struga, not

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<v Speaker 1>far from the suspected train site, he discovered a series

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<v Speaker 1>of large and priceless sixteenth century wall paintings hidden behind

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<v Speaker 1>the plaster. The discovery of the twenty four painting in

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<v Speaker 1>total is now considered possibly the most valuable of its

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<v Speaker 1>kind in lower PSI leisure. Perhaps you might one day

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<v Speaker 1>find the mythical gold train too. This episode was written

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<v Speaker 1>by Ella McLeod. Unexplained is an Avy Club Productions podcast

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<v Speaker 1>created by Richard McLain Smith. All other elements of the podcast,

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<v Speaker 1>including the music, are also produced by Richard McLain smith. Unexplained.

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<v Speaker 1>The book and audiobook, featuring stories that have never before

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<v Speaker 1>been featured on the show, is now available to buy worldwide.

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<v Speaker 1>You can purchase from Amazon, Barnes, and Noble Waterstones, among

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<v Speaker 1>other bookstores. Please subscribe and rate the show wherever you

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<v Speaker 1>listen to podcasts, and feel free to get in touch

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<v Speaker 1>with any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories you've heard

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<v Speaker 1>on the show. Perhaps you have an explanation of your

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<v Speaker 1>own you'd like to share. You can reach us online

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<v Speaker 1>at Unexplained podcast dot com. Or Twitter at Unexplained Pod

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<v Speaker 1>and Facebook at facebook dot com. Forward Slash Unexplained Podcast