1 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:07,480 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:09,360 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. 3 00:00:12,880 --> 00:00:16,919 Speaker 2: Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history 4 00:00:17,079 --> 00:00:20,320 Speaker 2: is an open book, all of these amazing tales are 5 00:00:20,360 --> 00:00:23,760 Speaker 2: right there on display, just waiting for us to explore. 6 00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:37,880 Speaker 2: Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. It's hard to comprehend 7 00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:41,400 Speaker 2: what we see. Sometimes what might seem like something strange 8 00:00:41,520 --> 00:00:43,360 Speaker 2: or of their worldly could be nothing more than a 9 00:00:43,400 --> 00:00:46,320 Speaker 2: trick of the lights or a clear and obvious hoax. 10 00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:49,800 Speaker 2: For example, that famous nineteen thirty four photograph of the 11 00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:52,959 Speaker 2: Lockness Monster. It's nothing but a picture of a children's 12 00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:56,920 Speaker 2: toy cast in shadow. And all over social media, a 13 00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:01,520 Speaker 2: computer stabilized version of the infamous Bigfoot foot has been circulating. 14 00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:04,479 Speaker 2: Except it doesn't look like a mythical creature trapesing through 15 00:01:04,480 --> 00:01:07,800 Speaker 2: the forest anymore. It looks like a guy in a costume. 16 00:01:08,319 --> 00:01:11,160 Speaker 2: But for a pair of Ohio police officers, what they 17 00:01:11,240 --> 00:01:14,240 Speaker 2: saw one early morning in April of nineteen sixty six 18 00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:17,280 Speaker 2: was not a hoax, and it wasn't their eyes playing 19 00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:20,400 Speaker 2: tricks on them either. It was real, and it ruined 20 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:24,320 Speaker 2: their lives. It was around five am when Deputy Dale 21 00:01:24,360 --> 00:01:27,640 Speaker 2: Spower and Wilbert Barney Neff noticed something odd on the 22 00:01:27,680 --> 00:01:30,120 Speaker 2: side of Route two two four. It was a car, 23 00:01:30,319 --> 00:01:35,440 Speaker 2: seemingly abandoned. Spower got out to investigate, his flashlights illuminating 24 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:38,440 Speaker 2: his path. Except once he got to the car, all 25 00:01:38,480 --> 00:01:42,119 Speaker 2: he saw were piles of walkie talkies and radios inside, 26 00:01:42,240 --> 00:01:45,080 Speaker 2: as though the owner had been hoarding them. This was 27 00:01:45,160 --> 00:01:47,360 Speaker 2: a strange enough sight on its own, but then Spower 28 00:01:47,440 --> 00:01:49,960 Speaker 2: pointed his flashlights a little lower, and that's when he 29 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:52,920 Speaker 2: saw the markings on the side. Someone had painted the 30 00:01:52,960 --> 00:01:56,360 Speaker 2: words seven steps to Hell, along with a picture of 31 00:01:56,400 --> 00:01:59,720 Speaker 2: a lightning bolt inside a triangle. This could have ballooned 32 00:01:59,720 --> 00:02:03,200 Speaker 2: into something interesting, a true mystery for these two officers 33 00:02:03,240 --> 00:02:06,800 Speaker 2: to solve. But then Spower heard the buzzing. It was 34 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:10,280 Speaker 2: a distant hum that he couldn't ignore. Suddenly, from behind 35 00:02:10,280 --> 00:02:14,160 Speaker 2: a cluster of trees rose an enormous silver object. It 36 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:17,079 Speaker 2: flew high into the air before bathing the surrounding area 37 00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:20,200 Speaker 2: in a blinding light. He radioed in and informed his 38 00:02:20,280 --> 00:02:24,640 Speaker 2: dispatcher about the UFO floating overhead, and then it took off. 39 00:02:25,160 --> 00:02:27,080 Speaker 2: Spower and ne F were told to go after it. 40 00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:29,720 Speaker 2: Their car hit one hundred miles per hour as they 41 00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:32,200 Speaker 2: craned their necks to keep the object in their sights. 42 00:02:32,520 --> 00:02:35,760 Speaker 2: According to an article in The Times, Spower later described 43 00:02:35,800 --> 00:02:38,720 Speaker 2: it as and I quote, like the head of a flashlight, 44 00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:42,520 Speaker 2: about forty feet wide and twenty feet tall. Another officer 45 00:02:42,639 --> 00:02:45,440 Speaker 2: named h Wayne Houston had been listening to the radio 46 00:02:45,560 --> 00:02:48,480 Speaker 2: chatter and he took to the pursuit as well. Meanwhile, 47 00:02:48,560 --> 00:02:51,480 Speaker 2: police Chief Gerald Buckert had also heard about the ensuing 48 00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:53,880 Speaker 2: chase and decided to grab his camera from home and 49 00:02:53,880 --> 00:02:57,280 Speaker 2: hopefully snap a photo of whatever it was. They watched 50 00:02:57,320 --> 00:03:00,560 Speaker 2: as it zigged and zagged above them, clearly being operated 51 00:03:00,600 --> 00:03:04,240 Speaker 2: by someone or something inside, but after a short time, 52 00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:07,600 Speaker 2: the officers lost visual contact with the craft. They met 53 00:03:07,680 --> 00:03:10,800 Speaker 2: up with it again in Conway, Pennsylvania. It just floated 54 00:03:10,840 --> 00:03:13,040 Speaker 2: there in mid air, like it was something that was 55 00:03:13,080 --> 00:03:16,040 Speaker 2: waiting for them. Spower flagged down a local cop to 56 00:03:16,080 --> 00:03:17,560 Speaker 2: ask for assistance, and. 57 00:03:17,480 --> 00:03:21,200 Speaker 1: The officer radioed for help. Finally, after a chase lasting 58 00:03:21,200 --> 00:03:24,520 Speaker 1: almost an hour and a half, spour Nef and Houston 59 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:27,120 Speaker 1: got word that United States Air Force jets were on 60 00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:30,600 Speaker 1: the way, and that's when the UFO zoomed off. Leaving 61 00:03:30,639 --> 00:03:34,440 Speaker 1: everyone on the ground dumbfounded. It wasn't just the officers either, 62 00:03:34,760 --> 00:03:37,320 Speaker 1: a few hundred people had also claimed to have seen 63 00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:41,080 Speaker 1: something flying overhead. A major from the US government soon 64 00:03:41,200 --> 00:03:43,520 Speaker 1: arrived to take statements. He was in charge of a 65 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:47,600 Speaker 1: program called Project Bluebook, which was responsible for looking into 66 00:03:47,640 --> 00:03:52,320 Speaker 1: possible UFO sightings. He quickly dismissed the officer's claims, alleging 67 00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:55,000 Speaker 1: that all they had seen was a satellites or maybe 68 00:03:55,040 --> 00:03:57,200 Speaker 1: the planet Venus. He told them that there had been 69 00:03:57,240 --> 00:04:00,000 Speaker 1: nothing up there that morning, and no jets had been 70 00:04:00,200 --> 00:04:04,200 Speaker 1: to investigates either. As for Buchert's pictures, they weren't enough 71 00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:07,040 Speaker 1: to convince the major of anything except the chief's poor 72 00:04:07,040 --> 00:04:10,720 Speaker 1: photography skills. But even though everyone else eventually moved on 73 00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:14,240 Speaker 1: and left the incident alone, Spower refused to stay silent. 74 00:04:14,600 --> 00:04:17,359 Speaker 1: He spoke to newspapers and anyone else who would listen, 75 00:04:17,800 --> 00:04:20,919 Speaker 1: and that destroyed his life. His wife left him, he 76 00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:24,000 Speaker 1: quit the force, and he wound up homeless. As for 77 00:04:24,040 --> 00:04:26,640 Speaker 1: the Pennsylvania cop who helped him, he had to rip 78 00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:29,720 Speaker 1: out his phone line. While Officer Houston moved to Seattle 79 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:33,240 Speaker 1: and started driving a bus. But one funny thing did 80 00:04:33,240 --> 00:04:36,280 Speaker 1: come out of this incident. Two months after the first sighting, 81 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:39,320 Speaker 1: Spower was cruising down I eighty when he looked up 82 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:42,560 Speaker 1: and saw the saucer once again, except he'd been prepared. 83 00:04:42,880 --> 00:04:45,880 Speaker 1: Not wanting to face any further ridicule or attention, he 84 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:48,440 Speaker 1: gave the object a code name, something he could speak 85 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:51,520 Speaker 1: over the radio without worry. So he named it Floyd. 86 00:04:52,080 --> 00:04:54,560 Speaker 1: And so when he spotted the UFO this second time, 87 00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:57,760 Speaker 1: he told the dispatcher Floyd's here with me. A short 88 00:04:57,760 --> 00:05:00,400 Speaker 1: time later, it had flown off for good. As for 89 00:05:00,440 --> 00:05:02,760 Speaker 1: the car with the lightning bolt on it, well, that 90 00:05:02,839 --> 00:05:05,280 Speaker 1: lead dried up too. By the time the officers got 91 00:05:05,279 --> 00:05:23,080 Speaker 1: back to the scene, it was already gone. History is 92 00:05:23,160 --> 00:05:27,320 Speaker 1: marked with mistakes, some big and some small. Sometimes those 93 00:05:27,360 --> 00:05:29,680 Speaker 1: small mistakes get swept under the rug and we never 94 00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:33,039 Speaker 1: realize how one tiny force set off a chain reaction. 95 00:05:33,480 --> 00:05:37,000 Speaker 1: And I mean that metaphorically. Today's story isn't about chemistry, 96 00:05:37,360 --> 00:05:39,760 Speaker 1: but it is about a chance event that took the 97 00:05:39,800 --> 00:05:44,080 Speaker 1: scientific world by storm. In eighteen seventy nine, a French 98 00:05:44,120 --> 00:05:48,000 Speaker 1: microbiologist named Charles prepared to go on holiday. He closed 99 00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:50,880 Speaker 1: down his lab and locked the door behind him. Charles 100 00:05:50,960 --> 00:05:53,159 Speaker 1: was going to be gone for weeks. He probably looked 101 00:05:53,200 --> 00:05:55,680 Speaker 1: forward to some much needed rest. He and his lab 102 00:05:55,720 --> 00:05:59,120 Speaker 1: partner have been working diligently on their latest project. They 103 00:05:59,120 --> 00:06:02,559 Speaker 1: were trying to cure cholera in chickens. The disease wiped 104 00:06:02,560 --> 00:06:05,800 Speaker 1: out whole flocks, which took a significant toll on farmers 105 00:06:06,040 --> 00:06:09,240 Speaker 1: and consumers alike. But at some point between turning the 106 00:06:09,320 --> 00:06:11,720 Speaker 1: key to the lab door and putting his feet up 107 00:06:11,720 --> 00:06:14,880 Speaker 1: in front of a fire, Charles panicked. He realized that 108 00:06:14,960 --> 00:06:18,120 Speaker 1: he had forgotten to perform one final step in their experiment. 109 00:06:18,600 --> 00:06:21,839 Speaker 1: His partner, Louis, had left for the holiday break before him, 110 00:06:21,880 --> 00:06:24,880 Speaker 1: so Charles was supposed to inject some chickens with their 111 00:06:24,960 --> 00:06:28,680 Speaker 1: experimental concoction. Then when the men returned, they would see 112 00:06:28,680 --> 00:06:31,520 Speaker 1: how the chickens were doing, and Charles didn't want to 113 00:06:31,600 --> 00:06:34,360 Speaker 1: let his partner down. Louis was kind of a big deal. 114 00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:37,000 Speaker 1: He'd already made huge strides in their field, and people 115 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:39,279 Speaker 1: from all over the world had heard about him. This 116 00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:42,320 Speaker 1: project was just as paramount. It could change the course 117 00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:46,080 Speaker 1: of French society and the world. So one month later, 118 00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:48,960 Speaker 1: when Charles returned to the lab, he quickly injected the 119 00:06:49,040 --> 00:06:51,839 Speaker 1: chickens with that concoction, which had been sitting out while 120 00:06:51,839 --> 00:06:54,880 Speaker 1: the scientists were away. At some point, Louis returned and 121 00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:57,840 Speaker 1: Charles broke the news of his blunder. But Louis didn't 122 00:06:57,839 --> 00:07:01,280 Speaker 1: seem upset with Charles. That's because Charles may have inadvertently 123 00:07:01,279 --> 00:07:04,440 Speaker 1: cracked the code. Now to understand how, we need to 124 00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:08,440 Speaker 1: go back about one hundred years, smallpox ravaged the planets, 125 00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:12,080 Speaker 1: and a practice known as variolation developed in parts of 126 00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:15,520 Speaker 1: Asia and Africa to combat the disease. That involved taking 127 00:07:15,560 --> 00:07:19,440 Speaker 1: a sample of one's personal smallpox sores and transferring it 128 00:07:19,440 --> 00:07:22,200 Speaker 1: to a healthy person. Healers did this either with a 129 00:07:22,240 --> 00:07:25,760 Speaker 1: needle or by drying and grinding up smallpox scabs for 130 00:07:25,800 --> 00:07:28,840 Speaker 1: a healthy person to breathe in through their nose. As 131 00:07:28,840 --> 00:07:31,640 Speaker 1: a result, the person who received the sample would come 132 00:07:31,680 --> 00:07:34,920 Speaker 1: down with a mild case of smallpox, nowhere near as 133 00:07:34,920 --> 00:07:39,560 Speaker 1: severe as the cases people contracted naturally. In seventeen sixteen, 134 00:07:39,960 --> 00:07:43,320 Speaker 1: enslaved people brought this knowledge to the American colonies, as 135 00:07:43,360 --> 00:07:46,280 Speaker 1: it had long been practiced in West Africa, and in 136 00:07:46,320 --> 00:07:51,120 Speaker 1: seventeen twenty one, Lady Mary Whortley Montague brought variolation back 137 00:07:51,160 --> 00:07:53,800 Speaker 1: to Europe after learning about it in the Ottoman Empire, 138 00:07:54,080 --> 00:07:57,640 Speaker 1: and finally, in seventeen ninety six, English physician doctor Edward 139 00:07:57,720 --> 00:08:00,880 Speaker 1: Jenner brought a new form of variolation to the mainstream. 140 00:08:01,200 --> 00:08:04,080 Speaker 1: Jenner had cut wind that rural communities used samples from 141 00:08:04,160 --> 00:08:08,240 Speaker 1: cowpox sores to protect against smallpox, the idea that cowpox 142 00:08:08,320 --> 00:08:12,320 Speaker 1: was similar to smallpox, but far less deadly. Jenner tested 143 00:08:12,320 --> 00:08:15,280 Speaker 1: this idea on an eight year old boy. He exposed 144 00:08:15,280 --> 00:08:17,880 Speaker 1: the kid to a small amount of cowpox. The boy 145 00:08:17,920 --> 00:08:21,280 Speaker 1: came down with mild symptoms, then eventually got better. Then 146 00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:25,760 Speaker 1: Jenner exposed him to smallpox, and the boy didn't become sick. 147 00:08:26,440 --> 00:08:28,920 Speaker 1: And this brings us back to Charles and Louis's lab 148 00:08:28,960 --> 00:08:32,960 Speaker 1: in eighteen seventy nine. Louis was heavily inspired by doctor Jenner. 149 00:08:33,320 --> 00:08:36,240 Speaker 1: He believed that if there was protection against smallpox, there 150 00:08:36,240 --> 00:08:39,360 Speaker 1: could be protection against any disease. This was the whole 151 00:08:39,400 --> 00:08:41,840 Speaker 1: reason he took on the challenge of preventing the spread 152 00:08:41,880 --> 00:08:44,520 Speaker 1: of chicken cholera, and it was also why he wasn't 153 00:08:44,600 --> 00:08:47,840 Speaker 1: mad at Charles for forgetting to inject the chickens. Prior 154 00:08:47,880 --> 00:08:50,480 Speaker 1: to this point, Louis had identified the bacteria that caused 155 00:08:50,559 --> 00:08:53,679 Speaker 1: chicken cholera. He and Charles had been injecting those chickens 156 00:08:53,720 --> 00:08:56,719 Speaker 1: with fresh cultures of the bacteria. Under this method, the 157 00:08:56,800 --> 00:08:59,960 Speaker 1: chickens died from the disease. Louis thought back to Jenner 158 00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:02,800 Speaker 1: and the cowpox. He decided to inject the chickens with 159 00:09:02,840 --> 00:09:05,880 Speaker 1: the old cultures. This time, the chickens came down with 160 00:09:06,040 --> 00:09:09,400 Speaker 1: a mild form of cholera, but they all survived. Then 161 00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:12,000 Speaker 1: the men injected the chickens with fresh cultures and they 162 00:09:12,040 --> 00:09:12,959 Speaker 1: didn't get sick. 163 00:09:13,440 --> 00:09:13,840 Speaker 2: Voila. 164 00:09:14,280 --> 00:09:17,760 Speaker 1: The men had found a preventative measure against chicken cholera. 165 00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:21,400 Speaker 1: This was the first time a live attenuated vaccine was 166 00:09:21,440 --> 00:09:25,120 Speaker 1: successfully administered in a lab. Louis and Charles went on 167 00:09:25,200 --> 00:09:29,040 Speaker 1: to help develop a similar vaccine for anthrax. These two 168 00:09:29,120 --> 00:09:33,200 Speaker 1: vaccines are some of Louie's later recorded achievements. As I mentioned, 169 00:09:33,200 --> 00:09:36,000 Speaker 1: Louis was already a big deal in the scientific world. 170 00:09:36,280 --> 00:09:40,120 Speaker 1: He revolutionized medicine by developing germ theory, which states that 171 00:09:40,160 --> 00:09:43,920 Speaker 1: many illnesses are caused by micro organisms that are invisible 172 00:09:43,920 --> 00:09:46,440 Speaker 1: to the naked eye and can only be seen under 173 00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:50,400 Speaker 1: a microscope. He'd also been credited with discovering that microscopic 174 00:09:50,520 --> 00:09:55,000 Speaker 1: organisms caused the process of fermentation. This helped him disprove 175 00:09:55,080 --> 00:09:58,320 Speaker 1: spontaneous generation and come up with a way to prevent 176 00:09:58,400 --> 00:10:01,600 Speaker 1: bacteria growth in food. To this day we call this 177 00:10:01,640 --> 00:10:07,119 Speaker 1: process pasteurization, which is named for you guessed it, Louis Pasture. 178 00:10:07,760 --> 00:10:10,920 Speaker 1: But our story doesn't end here. In eighteen seventy eight, 179 00:10:11,160 --> 00:10:14,040 Speaker 1: about ten years before he died, Pasteur told his son 180 00:10:14,080 --> 00:10:16,480 Speaker 1: in law that he never wanted anyone to see his 181 00:10:16,559 --> 00:10:19,960 Speaker 1: laboratory notebooks. His son in law agreed to never share them, 182 00:10:20,160 --> 00:10:22,839 Speaker 1: but it seems like Louis's grandson didn't get the memo, 183 00:10:23,280 --> 00:10:26,640 Speaker 1: or maybe he had other ideas. In nineteen sixty four, 184 00:10:26,920 --> 00:10:29,920 Speaker 1: the grandson donated those notebooks, of which there were one 185 00:10:30,040 --> 00:10:34,239 Speaker 1: hundred and fifty two, to the French National Library. Historians 186 00:10:34,280 --> 00:10:36,760 Speaker 1: poured through them, and some came to the conclusion that 187 00:10:36,840 --> 00:10:40,640 Speaker 1: Louis often took credit for others' work and was haphazard 188 00:10:40,679 --> 00:10:44,120 Speaker 1: in his methodology. One thing is for sure, though, If 189 00:10:44,200 --> 00:10:47,000 Speaker 1: Charles had remembered to vaccinate the chickens before he went 190 00:10:47,040 --> 00:10:50,000 Speaker 1: on holiday, he and Louis may never have made a 191 00:10:50,040 --> 00:10:53,280 Speaker 1: crucial discovery. So next time you forget to complete a 192 00:10:53,280 --> 00:10:56,280 Speaker 1: task at work, don't be so hard on yourself. You 193 00:10:56,400 --> 00:10:59,439 Speaker 1: never know how one small mistake can change the course 194 00:10:59,520 --> 00:11:06,600 Speaker 1: of history. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of 195 00:11:06,640 --> 00:11:10,600 Speaker 1: the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, 196 00:11:10,720 --> 00:11:14,160 Speaker 1: or learn more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast 197 00:11:14,440 --> 00:11:18,240 Speaker 1: dot com. The show was created by me Aaron Mankey 198 00:11:18,559 --> 00:11:22,040 Speaker 1: in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make another award 199 00:11:22,040 --> 00:11:25,640 Speaker 1: winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, 200 00:11:25,679 --> 00:11:28,240 Speaker 1: and television show, and you can learn all about it 201 00:11:28,320 --> 00:11:34,240 Speaker 1: over at Theworldolore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.