WEBVTT - Season 02 Episode 05: Roads to Knowhere (Rerun)

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<v Speaker 1>Hello, it's Richard mclinsmith here. Season seven of Unexplained will

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<v Speaker 1>begin on Friday, July twenty eighth. In the meantime, we

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<v Speaker 1>are revisiting some of our favorite episodes. This week. It's

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<v Speaker 1>the turn of a very mundane and unassuming stretch of

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<v Speaker 1>road to get its place in the spotlight once more.

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<v Speaker 1>The Stocksbridge Bypass was opened in May nineteen eighty eight.

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<v Speaker 1>Since then it has earned a reputation as one of

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<v Speaker 1>Britain's most haunted roads. This is why this is Unexplained,

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<v Speaker 1>Season two, episode five, Roads to Nowhere. Tales of haunted

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<v Speaker 1>roads and vanishing hitchhikers are among the more ubiquitous of

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<v Speaker 1>ghost story tropes to be found throughout the world. In

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<v Speaker 1>a classic sense, the notion might bring to mind Washington

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<v Speaker 1>Irving's headless Horsemen from his gothic and satirical masterpiece The

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<v Speaker 1>Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and, although not a ghost in

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<v Speaker 1>the regular sense, ye'd be hard pushed to find a

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<v Speaker 1>more iconic incarnation of the mysterious roadside wanderer than the

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<v Speaker 1>eponymous hitchhiker from HBO's Dark and Trashy anthology series. The

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<v Speaker 1>prevalence of such stories has been clearly aided by the

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<v Speaker 1>growth of the automobile industry and the frequency with which

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<v Speaker 1>people might, as a result, find themselves driving alone through

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<v Speaker 1>eerie nights on deserted roads, miles from familiar surroundings. In

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<v Speaker 1>other words, the perfect environment for a spectral encounter. And

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<v Speaker 1>it is this the basic utility of the humble road,

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<v Speaker 1>or any other thoroughfare for that matter, that for me

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<v Speaker 1>makes it in many ways the most apt location for

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<v Speaker 1>a haunting. Not only is the path a metaphor with

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<v Speaker 1>multiple applications, but also literally it is the pathway's basic

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<v Speaker 1>function to deliver you from one place to another, a

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<v Speaker 1>journey that often involves traveling through the unfamiliar places, rarely

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<v Speaker 1>experienced only glimpsed in passing, and often at speed from

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<v Speaker 1>inside the relative comfort of a moving vehicle. On the

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<v Speaker 1>fifteenth of May two thousand nine, in London, work began

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<v Speaker 1>on a major transport project to construct a high speed

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<v Speaker 1>rail link traveling east and west through the heart of

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<v Speaker 1>the city. In March two thousand thirteen, construction workers tunneling

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<v Speaker 1>deep below the ground found the remains of twenty five

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<v Speaker 1>skeletons in a small five metre wide shaft. The remains

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<v Speaker 1>found to be almost seven hundred years old, were later

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<v Speaker 1>discovered to have been victims of the Black Death, a

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<v Speaker 1>plague that swept through Europe in the fourteenth century. The

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<v Speaker 1>discovery is one of many extraordinary archaeological finds uncovered by

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<v Speaker 1>excavations for the New Line, including a number of similar

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<v Speaker 1>burial sites, with some dating as far back as seven

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<v Speaker 1>thousand BC, as well as the discovery of over ten

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<v Speaker 1>thousand artifacts spanning across thirty different sites throughout the city.

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<v Speaker 1>Not only does the revelation of the burial site bring

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<v Speaker 1>to mind Nigel nils wonderful sci fi serial Quatermas and

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<v Speaker 1>The Pit, but it also serves as a gruesome reminder

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<v Speaker 1>of those that have walked the paths before, and perhaps

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<v Speaker 1>in some ways still do. It certainly begs the question that,

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<v Speaker 1>even when traveling the most seemingly deserted of roads, are

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<v Speaker 1>we ever truly alone? You're listening to explained and I'm

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<v Speaker 1>Richard McLean Smith. The A six one six is a

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<v Speaker 1>road that begins just to the north of the town

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<v Speaker 1>of Newark on Trent in the County of Nottinghamshire in

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<v Speaker 1>the East Midlands, tracing a path northwest through the country.

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<v Speaker 1>The road bends round Sherwood Forest, crossing the border into

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<v Speaker 1>Derbyshire at the town of Creswell, before disappearing into the

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<v Speaker 1>aortic concrete vortex of the M one motorway, and then,

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<v Speaker 1>as if by some mysterious process of refractive urban planning,

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<v Speaker 1>it appears again some fifty miles further up, now in Yorkshire,

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<v Speaker 1>sprouting westward from junction thirty five, just above the city

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<v Speaker 1>of Sheffield. Prior to nineteen eighty eight, the road continued

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<v Speaker 1>on through the town of Stocksbridge at the northern fringe

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<v Speaker 1>of the Peak District, before eventually coming to an end

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<v Speaker 1>at the city of Huddersfield. In nineteen eighty seven, however,

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<v Speaker 1>building began on a small stretch of the road that

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<v Speaker 1>would later become known as the Stocksbridge Bypaths, a stretch

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<v Speaker 1>of road now generally regarded as one of the most

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<v Speaker 1>haunted in the whole of the UK. The years since

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<v Speaker 1>the construction of the bypass have seen a highly unusual

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<v Speaker 1>amount of strange sightings and sounds that remain to this

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<v Speaker 1>day unexplained. It began on a warm September evening in

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen eighty seven, when two security guards, Stephen Brooks and

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<v Speaker 1>David Golthorpe were patrolling the building site of the unfinished bypass.

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<v Speaker 1>The men employed by the reputable, rather un based firm

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<v Speaker 1>Constant Securities, were both well experienced and would often work

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<v Speaker 1>the night shift together. Just to the south of the

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<v Speaker 1>bypass lay the white, low rise hangars and dusty roads

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<v Speaker 1>of the Stocksbridge Steelworks, and to the north, stretching for

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<v Speaker 1>miles nothing but open fields and farmland. It is hard

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<v Speaker 1>to resist the strange energy of such places. The concrete

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<v Speaker 1>byway separate from the town but not fully removed, forming

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<v Speaker 1>an unnatural threshold between the urban and the pastoral. It

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<v Speaker 1>is in such locations we often find those most peculiar

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<v Speaker 1>of places, the siding unfrequented, almost forbidden, pockets of land

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<v Speaker 1>where wild flowers and grass compete with the cast off

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<v Speaker 1>detritus of modern life. Running almost parallel to the road

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<v Speaker 1>was the usual chain of electricity pylonsly metal arms and

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<v Speaker 1>drooping cables, just visible in the moonlight as they stretched

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<v Speaker 1>off towards the dark moors of the Peak District. Cruising

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<v Speaker 1>round the site in their van. On the night of

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<v Speaker 1>Tuesday the eighth, Stephen and David were nearing the newly

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<v Speaker 1>constructed Perroyd Bridge when they spotted something peculiar. It was

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<v Speaker 1>Stephen who noticed it first, some sort of movement at

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<v Speaker 1>the base of a pylon near to the approach road

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<v Speaker 1>to the bridge. As they got closer, Stephen couldn't quite

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<v Speaker 1>believe what he was seeing. The movement appeared to be

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<v Speaker 1>a group of young children playing and dancing at the

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<v Speaker 1>base of the pylon. It was odd, to say the least.

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<v Speaker 1>Not only had it gone past midnight, but there were

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<v Speaker 1>no houses anywhere nearby. And then David noticed something strange

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<v Speaker 1>about the children's clothes, how old fashioned they were. But

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<v Speaker 1>before before they could get a closer look, the children

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<v Speaker 1>completely vanished. The two guards immediately pulled up and got

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<v Speaker 1>out of the van. More than a little unsettled, they

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<v Speaker 1>made their way to where the children had been dancing

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<v Speaker 1>only moments before, but found no footprints or any other

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<v Speaker 1>sign that anyone had been there at all, and all

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<v Speaker 1>around the air was still save for the quiet hum

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<v Speaker 1>of the electricity pylon overhead. Confused, the men returned to

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<v Speaker 1>the van and continued their patrol. But no sooner had

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<v Speaker 1>they reached the bottom of the bridge, Stephen caught sight

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<v Speaker 1>of something else peculiar. Look there, he said, pointing to

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<v Speaker 1>the top of the bridge, What on earth is that?

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<v Speaker 1>David pulled up the van and looked out at the windscreen.

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<v Speaker 1>It appeared to be the silhouette of a man wearing

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<v Speaker 1>a hooded cloak. Together they called out to the man

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<v Speaker 1>to leave the sight, but the figure did not reply

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<v Speaker 1>and remained frozen on the bridge. Assuming they were the

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<v Speaker 1>victims of a practical joke, Stephen got out of the van,

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<v Speaker 1>keeping an eye on the figure, as David drove the

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<v Speaker 1>van to the opposite side of the bridge and switched

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<v Speaker 1>the lights on to full beam. Stephen watched in horror

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<v Speaker 1>from the other side as the light shone straight through

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<v Speaker 1>the body of the figure. But what was more terrifying

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<v Speaker 1>was that whatever it was appeared to be missing its head.

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<v Speaker 1>Moments later, the figure disappeared. Constant security director Mike Lee

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<v Speaker 1>had been sound asleep when he received a panicked call

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<v Speaker 1>at four thirty a m. Requesting he head out immediately

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<v Speaker 1>to the building site. When he arrived, he found both

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<v Speaker 1>Stephen and David waiting for him in a state of

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<v Speaker 1>abject fear. The guards proceeded to describe to Mike what

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<v Speaker 1>they had seen that night, and from the tone of

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<v Speaker 1>their voices, it was clear to Mike that this was

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<v Speaker 1>no joke. Mike knew the men as two down to earth,

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<v Speaker 1>tough South Yorkshire lads, a rugby player and weightlifter, but

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<v Speaker 1>now what he saw in front of him were two

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<v Speaker 1>frightened boys shaking with shock, with Stephen even being reduced

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<v Speaker 1>to tears as he recounted the knight's events. The following afternoon,

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<v Speaker 1>a call came in to nearby deep Car Police station.

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<v Speaker 1>Police Constable Dick Ellis answered the phone to find a

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<v Speaker 1>trembling voice on the other end of the line. It

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<v Speaker 1>was Stephen calling from home, desperate for any kind of help,

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<v Speaker 1>but there was little that p. C. Ellis could do

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<v Speaker 1>other than to suggest that Stephen tried contacting his local church.

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<v Speaker 1>And so it was with some surprise that the next

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<v Speaker 1>day Dick received another phone call about the same matter,

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<v Speaker 1>only this time it was from a priest. He said

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<v Speaker 1>that he was calling on behalf of two men security

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<v Speaker 1>guards from the Stocksbridge Bypass construction site. He explained that

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<v Speaker 1>they had come to see him in a state of

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<v Speaker 1>deep distress. The men had requested an exorcism of the road,

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<v Speaker 1>worried that perhaps a graveyard had been disturbed in the

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<v Speaker 1>construction of it. So convinced of the men's stories, or

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<v Speaker 1>at the very least convinced of their fear, the priest

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<v Speaker 1>asked p. C. Ellis if he could investigate the site

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<v Speaker 1>before he started making any call to the Vatican. The

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<v Speaker 1>following day, on the evening of Friday, September the eleventh,

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<v Speaker 1>p C. Dick Ellith and Special Constable John beat got

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<v Speaker 1>into their regulation fiat panned a patrol car and made

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<v Speaker 1>their way towards the construction site. Before long, they passed

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<v Speaker 1>the quiet and deserted steelworks on the edge of town

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<v Speaker 1>and pulled into the building site just at the foot

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<v Speaker 1>of Pyrot Bridge. A short time later, the men were

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<v Speaker 1>sat with the engine and lights turned off, admiring the

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<v Speaker 1>bright full moon hanging in the sky above them, while

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<v Speaker 1>the radio crackled intermittently in the background. The men agreed

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<v Speaker 1>to give it a few more minutes before calling it

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<v Speaker 1>a night and heading back to the station. But then

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<v Speaker 1>something caught the eye of p. C. Ellis. Turn off

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<v Speaker 1>the radio, he said to John, what is that up

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<v Speaker 1>there on the bridge. John could see it too, some

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<v Speaker 1>sort of shadow moving about in front of a set

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<v Speaker 1>of large pallets John tried flashing the car lights to

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<v Speaker 1>get a better sense of it, but the angle wasn't

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<v Speaker 1>quite right. Stay here, said Dick as he got out

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<v Speaker 1>of the car and made his way over to the

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<v Speaker 1>boxes to investigate. Despite all his experience and training, a

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<v Speaker 1>peculiar feeling had begun to settle over p c. Ellis,

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<v Speaker 1>a feeling of dread that seemed to wrap itself around him,

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<v Speaker 1>tightening as he drew nearer to the pallets. And there

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<v Speaker 1>it was again, the shadow, moving quickly in front of him.

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<v Speaker 1>He called out, but there was no reply. Slowly he

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<v Speaker 1>continued forward until finally he could see it clearly, just

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<v Speaker 1>a loose sheet of polythene partially ripped from the pallet

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<v Speaker 1>and flapping about in the wind. With some relief, Ellis

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<v Speaker 1>returned to the vehicle and relayed the news to John.

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<v Speaker 1>The two men couldn't help but laugh and decided to

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<v Speaker 1>call it a night. But something wasn't quite right. Despite

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<v Speaker 1>uncovering the true cause of the mysterious figure on the bridge,

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<v Speaker 1>Ellis couldn't quite shake that lingering feeling of dread. Now

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<v Speaker 1>back in the car, it seemed to be intensifying. It

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<v Speaker 1>wasn't a fear as such, but more of a sudden

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<v Speaker 1>sense of impending and inevitable doom. Ellis wound down the

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<v Speaker 1>window to get a little air and looked out again

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<v Speaker 1>across the deserted site, and then Ellis noticed something else.

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<v Speaker 1>Despite the warmth of the night, the temperature in the

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<v Speaker 1>car had dropped dramatically, and now Ellis had the distinct,

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<v Speaker 1>unmistakable feeling that he was being watched. But what was

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<v Speaker 1>really terrifying was the dark shape that had just then

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<v Speaker 1>appeared standing right outside his open window. Ellis froze and

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<v Speaker 1>slowly turned his head to face the figure, but when

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<v Speaker 1>he looked out at the window, it had gone. John

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<v Speaker 1>screamed as there now standing on John's side of the

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<v Speaker 1>car was the same shadowy figure, but this time John

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<v Speaker 1>could see it clearly. At first, he saw an old

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<v Speaker 1>fashioned waistcoat and some sort of cravat, and then he

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<v Speaker 1>lifted his eyes for a moment he caught a glimpse

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<v Speaker 1>of a face, its blank eyes staring directly at him,

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<v Speaker 1>before it vanished again. The men leapt immediately from the vehicle,

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<v Speaker 1>convinced someone was messing with them, but as they looked

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<v Speaker 1>frantically around the car, there was little to be seen

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<v Speaker 1>save for the soft yellow lights of nearby Stocksbridge at

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<v Speaker 1>the bright full moon hanging high above them in the sky.

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<v Speaker 1>After a quick search of the surrounding bank side, the pair,

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<v Speaker 1>now deeply rattled, returned to the car to mount a

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<v Speaker 1>proper search of the area. Unable to find anyone, they

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<v Speaker 1>returned to the bottom of the bridge, pulled up the

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<v Speaker 1>car and attempted to radio back to base, only the

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<v Speaker 1>radio wouldn't turn on. Suddenly, two loud bangs rang out

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<v Speaker 1>from the back of the car, as if something was

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<v Speaker 1>pounding on the roof with all its might. John, now shaking,

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<v Speaker 1>turned the ignition, but the engine refused to start. The

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<v Speaker 1>thumps came again. John hurriedly tried the key once more,

0:17:09.520 --> 0:17:13.600
<v Speaker 1>and this time the engine sputtered into life. He shifted

0:17:13.600 --> 0:17:17.000
<v Speaker 1>the car into gear, turned it around, and sped off

0:17:17.240 --> 0:17:28.440
<v Speaker 1>back to the safety of Stocksbridge. The following day, both men,

0:17:28.760 --> 0:17:33.720
<v Speaker 1>despite the obvious potential for ridicule, reluctantly reported their accounts

0:17:33.760 --> 0:17:37.320
<v Speaker 1>of the previous night, with Ellis putting the incident down

0:17:37.800 --> 0:17:44.280
<v Speaker 1>to inexplicable phenomena. Unsurprisingly, the two officers were roundly mocked

0:17:44.320 --> 0:17:48.240
<v Speaker 1>by many of their colleagues, and the story inevitably found

0:17:48.280 --> 0:17:53.719
<v Speaker 1>its way to the local paper, The Sheffield Evening Star. Incredibly,

0:17:54.000 --> 0:17:58.359
<v Speaker 1>as writer Dave Clarke noted having investigated the story years later,

0:17:59.200 --> 0:18:03.400
<v Speaker 1>both the officers stuck rigidly to their story, with Ellis

0:18:03.440 --> 0:18:07.840
<v Speaker 1>maintaining there was definitely something there, but I can't explain it.

0:18:08.840 --> 0:18:11.840
<v Speaker 1>I might have dismissed it as my imagination, but my

0:18:11.960 --> 0:18:15.359
<v Speaker 1>partner saw it and had the identical eerie feeling at

0:18:15.400 --> 0:18:19.920
<v Speaker 1>the same time. It was definitely unnerving, and it wasn't

0:18:19.920 --> 0:18:23.679
<v Speaker 1>a publicity stunt, as was claimed at the time. We

0:18:23.720 --> 0:18:26.200
<v Speaker 1>don't do that sort of thing in the police force.

0:18:28.560 --> 0:18:32.280
<v Speaker 1>As for the security guards, Stephen Brooks and David Goldthorpe

0:18:33.320 --> 0:18:36.639
<v Speaker 1>neither stepped foot on the site again, and one of

0:18:36.640 --> 0:18:39.640
<v Speaker 1>the men is believed to have since moved to Canada,

0:18:39.680 --> 0:18:43.919
<v Speaker 1>partly due to the stress caused by the event. And

0:18:44.040 --> 0:18:48.639
<v Speaker 1>it was only the beginning. Soon many more sightings and

0:18:48.720 --> 0:18:53.480
<v Speaker 1>strange occurrences would come to light. John Holmes, a lorry

0:18:53.560 --> 0:18:57.159
<v Speaker 1>driver from Hillsborough, reported pulling into a depot close to

0:18:57.200 --> 0:19:00.760
<v Speaker 1>the bypass late one evening when he came aware of

0:19:00.840 --> 0:19:05.400
<v Speaker 1>childish voices. After a moment, he realized they were singing,

0:19:06.080 --> 0:19:10.000
<v Speaker 1>but there was no sign of children anywhere. The voices

0:19:10.040 --> 0:19:15.240
<v Speaker 1>seemed to be emanating from a nearby wood. Some time

0:19:15.320 --> 0:19:18.399
<v Speaker 1>later in the autumn of that year, Graham Brooke and

0:19:18.480 --> 0:19:21.600
<v Speaker 1>his fourteen year old son Nigel were running close to

0:19:21.680 --> 0:19:27.360
<v Speaker 1>the bypass construction site when they too saw something strange. Graham,

0:19:27.600 --> 0:19:31.040
<v Speaker 1>a seasoned runner training for the London Marathon, had a

0:19:31.080 --> 0:19:34.400
<v Speaker 1>regular route running from his home in northwest of Sheffield

0:19:34.840 --> 0:19:37.960
<v Speaker 1>up to the village of Wortley, located close to where

0:19:37.960 --> 0:19:42.680
<v Speaker 1>the bypass would eventually be built. After roughly forty five

0:19:42.720 --> 0:19:47.080
<v Speaker 1>minutes of running, with dusk quickly descending, Graham, who was

0:19:47.119 --> 0:19:50.040
<v Speaker 1>a short distance ahead of his son, was approaching a

0:19:50.119 --> 0:19:53.040
<v Speaker 1>layby on his way into the village when he caught

0:19:53.080 --> 0:19:56.479
<v Speaker 1>sight of something unusual. It was the figure of a

0:19:56.520 --> 0:19:59.399
<v Speaker 1>man who appeared to be walking with his back towards

0:19:59.400 --> 0:20:04.080
<v Speaker 1>the oncoming When Nigel finally caught up with his dad,

0:20:04.680 --> 0:20:09.080
<v Speaker 1>he too saw the reckless man wandering along the road.

0:20:09.240 --> 0:20:11.639
<v Speaker 1>The figure, who was no more than fifty yards away,

0:20:12.040 --> 0:20:14.520
<v Speaker 1>appeared to be dressed in some sort of cloak with

0:20:14.600 --> 0:20:18.480
<v Speaker 1>a dark brown hood. They noticed too that it was

0:20:18.560 --> 0:20:21.920
<v Speaker 1>dragging some kind of bag attached to a chain along

0:20:21.960 --> 0:20:26.440
<v Speaker 1>the ground. But what was most peculiar was that the

0:20:26.520 --> 0:20:29.080
<v Speaker 1>legs of the figure looked as though they were sunk

0:20:29.160 --> 0:20:34.120
<v Speaker 1>into the road. As they stared in disbelief, they moved

0:20:34.160 --> 0:20:36.679
<v Speaker 1>along the road to get a look at the man's face.

0:20:38.080 --> 0:20:41.040
<v Speaker 1>It seemed to be covered in soot, with two dark

0:20:41.119 --> 0:20:46.040
<v Speaker 1>sockets where the eyes should be. The figure drew nearer

0:20:46.040 --> 0:20:50.000
<v Speaker 1>and nearer until a huge lorry swept past, right into

0:20:50.000 --> 0:20:53.480
<v Speaker 1>the path of the man. As the lorry continued down

0:20:53.520 --> 0:21:00.280
<v Speaker 1>the road, the figure had completely disappeared. The bypass would

0:21:00.280 --> 0:21:04.280
<v Speaker 1>eventually be opened the following year, on Friday the thirteenth

0:21:04.680 --> 0:21:09.119
<v Speaker 1>in May of nineteen eighty eight, and the sightings would

0:21:09.160 --> 0:21:14.359
<v Speaker 1>keep coming. In July nineteen ninety, Judy Simpson and her

0:21:14.400 --> 0:21:17.520
<v Speaker 1>husband David were driving close to the village of Wartley

0:21:17.760 --> 0:21:21.359
<v Speaker 1>alongside the bypath when they both caught sight of someone

0:21:21.440 --> 0:21:23.840
<v Speaker 1>jogging in the middle of the field to the left

0:21:23.880 --> 0:21:28.040
<v Speaker 1>of the road. But looking closer. Although the jogger had

0:21:28.040 --> 0:21:31.520
<v Speaker 1>the shape of a person, David and Judy realized with

0:21:31.560 --> 0:21:34.720
<v Speaker 1>amusement that the figure appeared to be more like an

0:21:34.720 --> 0:21:39.520
<v Speaker 1>outline of a person. What's more, it was moving about

0:21:39.560 --> 0:21:44.760
<v Speaker 1>three feet above the ground. Suddenly, the figure leaped from

0:21:44.760 --> 0:21:48.800
<v Speaker 1>the field over an embankment up ahead and landed straight

0:21:49.080 --> 0:21:53.000
<v Speaker 1>in the middle of the road. Judy and David both

0:21:53.080 --> 0:21:56.919
<v Speaker 1>braced for an impact, but there was nothing. It was

0:21:56.920 --> 0:22:00.840
<v Speaker 1>as if the figure had melted into the vehicle. The

0:22:00.880 --> 0:22:04.679
<v Speaker 1>car skidded to a halt, clambering out to search for

0:22:04.720 --> 0:22:07.800
<v Speaker 1>whatever it was that they hit, there was nothing to

0:22:07.880 --> 0:22:15.119
<v Speaker 1>be seen. Seven years later, on New Year's Eve, twenty

0:22:15.160 --> 0:22:18.560
<v Speaker 1>eight year old Paul Ford and his wife Jane drove

0:22:18.600 --> 0:22:22.160
<v Speaker 1>to Jane's sisters home in Stocksbridge to attend a party.

0:22:23.160 --> 0:22:26.440
<v Speaker 1>They had just moved on to the bypass when Paul

0:22:26.720 --> 0:22:30.480
<v Speaker 1>looked up to see a dark cloak clad figure standing

0:22:30.480 --> 0:22:34.480
<v Speaker 1>in the road right in front of him. He immediately

0:22:34.520 --> 0:22:37.919
<v Speaker 1>swerved and slammed on the brakes, wrestling with the steering

0:22:37.920 --> 0:22:40.800
<v Speaker 1>wheel as the car came to a judging halt by

0:22:40.840 --> 0:22:44.960
<v Speaker 1>the side of the road. But again, when they looked

0:22:44.960 --> 0:22:48.200
<v Speaker 1>for the figure afterwards, it was nowhere to be seen.

0:22:55.560 --> 0:22:59.359
<v Speaker 1>Since such sightings have been recorded throughout the world, often

0:22:59.400 --> 0:23:03.080
<v Speaker 1>with surprise only similar details, there is the temptation to

0:23:03.160 --> 0:23:07.920
<v Speaker 1>label such events as urban myths, and yet rarely does

0:23:07.960 --> 0:23:12.879
<v Speaker 1>one particular location garner such a collection of similar sightings,

0:23:12.920 --> 0:23:16.080
<v Speaker 1>and over time, a number of suggestions have been put

0:23:16.119 --> 0:23:21.360
<v Speaker 1>forward to explain the strange events. During the Industrial Revolution,

0:23:22.000 --> 0:23:25.560
<v Speaker 1>the area surrounding the Stocksbridge Bypass and the A six

0:23:25.720 --> 0:23:28.600
<v Speaker 1>one sixth Road had flourished as a hub of the

0:23:28.640 --> 0:23:33.520
<v Speaker 1>British coal mining industry. Up until the mid nineteenth century.

0:23:34.040 --> 0:23:36.720
<v Speaker 1>It was common for children as young as five years

0:23:36.760 --> 0:23:39.720
<v Speaker 1>old to be sent down the coal pits to work.

0:23:40.960 --> 0:23:45.520
<v Speaker 1>Jobs undertaken by children included pulling the loaded carts along

0:23:45.560 --> 0:23:48.800
<v Speaker 1>the small tunnels of the mine, or, if you were

0:23:48.840 --> 0:23:51.960
<v Speaker 1>really lucky, you might get a job as a trapper,

0:23:52.520 --> 0:23:55.679
<v Speaker 1>opening small doors along the tunnels to let the air in.

0:23:57.680 --> 0:24:00.959
<v Speaker 1>Often trappers would work for up to eighteen hours at

0:24:01.000 --> 0:24:04.520
<v Speaker 1>a time, sat alone in the dark with only the

0:24:04.520 --> 0:24:11.119
<v Speaker 1>flickering light of a solitary candle for company. Naturally, accidents

0:24:11.119 --> 0:24:16.480
<v Speaker 1>and deaths were a regular occurrence. Perhaps as some have suggested,

0:24:17.280 --> 0:24:21.800
<v Speaker 1>one such fatal accident occurred in the Stocksbridge region, giving

0:24:21.880 --> 0:24:25.800
<v Speaker 1>rise to the ghostly apparitions of the laughing and dancing children.

0:24:28.840 --> 0:24:31.960
<v Speaker 1>Another local tale of law details the story of a

0:24:32.000 --> 0:24:35.760
<v Speaker 1>monk who had rejected his monastery and as a result,

0:24:36.080 --> 0:24:40.360
<v Speaker 1>after he passed away, had been buried in unconsecrated ground.

0:24:41.359 --> 0:24:44.440
<v Speaker 1>Perhaps this was the very same ground that had been

0:24:44.520 --> 0:24:50.320
<v Speaker 1>so brutally disturbed by the construction of the bypass. However,

0:24:50.920 --> 0:24:55.840
<v Speaker 1>despite the local fondness for such explanations, no substantial evidence

0:24:55.880 --> 0:24:59.680
<v Speaker 1>has been found to corroborate either of these tantalizing stories,

0:25:01.840 --> 0:25:05.040
<v Speaker 1>and it is merely a coincidence, no doubt that the

0:25:05.160 --> 0:25:08.960
<v Speaker 1>number six one six is considered by many scholars to

0:25:09.000 --> 0:25:19.800
<v Speaker 1>be the original number of the beast. Whatever you believe,

0:25:20.119 --> 0:25:22.840
<v Speaker 1>it is difficult not to at least think upon the

0:25:22.880 --> 0:25:26.520
<v Speaker 1>possible traces and ghostly echoes that we traverse as we

0:25:26.560 --> 0:25:30.520
<v Speaker 1>make our way from A to B to wonder whose

0:25:30.600 --> 0:25:34.639
<v Speaker 1>pasts and whose buried secrets do we callously smother with

0:25:34.760 --> 0:25:40.960
<v Speaker 1>our grit and tarmac. What ancient grounds, once considered consecrated

0:25:41.440 --> 0:25:44.120
<v Speaker 1>are now to be ripped apart by diggers and drills

0:25:44.720 --> 0:25:49.800
<v Speaker 1>loud enough to wake the dead. Many years from now,

0:25:50.359 --> 0:25:53.720
<v Speaker 1>a new generation of planners will come across the remnants

0:25:53.840 --> 0:25:58.480
<v Speaker 1>of an archaic pathway buried deep below the earth, with

0:25:58.600 --> 0:26:02.240
<v Speaker 1>nothing to discern its purpose save for a rusted sign

0:26:02.600 --> 0:26:08.040
<v Speaker 1>buried nearby, bearing a strange, cryptic alphanumeric code that reads

0:26:08.119 --> 0:26:15.399
<v Speaker 1>simply A six one six. And what then if, in

0:26:15.440 --> 0:26:19.040
<v Speaker 1>the words of the illustrious Douglas Adams. It is decided

0:26:19.080 --> 0:26:22.080
<v Speaker 1>one day that the entire planet is to make way

0:26:22.400 --> 0:26:28.560
<v Speaker 1>for a hyperspace bypass. Perhaps future intergalactic travelers will too

0:26:28.840 --> 0:26:32.000
<v Speaker 1>feel that strange shiver as they make their way between

0:26:32.119 --> 0:26:36.399
<v Speaker 1>Venus and Mars, turning to each other to say, I

0:26:36.440 --> 0:26:40.440
<v Speaker 1>heard there were people here once, and sometimes you can

0:26:40.480 --> 0:26:50.479
<v Speaker 1>almost feel them. This episode was written by Richard McClain

0:26:50.560 --> 0:26:55.399
<v Speaker 1>smith Unexplained as an AV Club Productions podcast created by

0:26:55.480 --> 0:26:59.440
<v Speaker 1>Richard McClain Smith. All other elements of the podcast, including

0:26:59.480 --> 0:27:02.680
<v Speaker 1>the music, are also produced by me Richard mc lean

0:27:02.760 --> 0:27:07.679
<v Speaker 1>smith Unexplained. The book and audiobook, with stories never before

0:27:07.720 --> 0:27:11.280
<v Speaker 1>featured on the show, is now available to buy world wide.

0:27:11.640 --> 0:27:15.520
<v Speaker 1>You can purchase from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Waterstones, and

0:27:15.600 --> 0:27:19.960
<v Speaker 1>other bookstores. Please subscribe to and rate the show wherever

0:27:20.000 --> 0:27:22.560
<v Speaker 1>you get your podcasts, and feel free to get in

0:27:22.640 --> 0:27:26.160
<v Speaker 1>touch with any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories you've

0:27:26.160 --> 0:27:28.919
<v Speaker 1>heard on the show. Perhaps you have an explanation of

0:27:28.960 --> 0:27:31.640
<v Speaker 1>your own you'd like to share. You can find out

0:27:31.680 --> 0:27:35.400
<v Speaker 1>more at Unexplained podcast dot com and reach us online

0:27:35.520 --> 0:27:40.600
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0:27:40.640 --> 0:27:44.200
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