WEBVTT - S03 Episode 9: Come Talk to Me

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<v Speaker 1>Airport Home Appliance unbeatable price selection and people. Friedrich Joergensen

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<v Speaker 1>did not believe in ghosts, at least not in the

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<v Speaker 1>traditional sense of something that had once lived, somehow remaining

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<v Speaker 1>after death, much less that the debt could talk. He

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<v Speaker 1>did not follow any religion or pin his mask to

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<v Speaker 1>any one political party, and neither did he believe in

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<v Speaker 1>an interventionist god. He had seen too much for that.

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<v Speaker 1>Jurgensen was born in Odessa in February nineteen oh three,

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<v Speaker 1>then a major city of the Russian Empire and soon

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<v Speaker 1>to be cradle of revolution. Though his family lived a

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<v Speaker 1>relatively charmed life by comparison to many of its citizens,

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<v Speaker 1>his formative years were nonetheless surrounded by misery, as he

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<v Speaker 1>once put it, and it certainly wasn't lacking in drama.

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<v Speaker 1>By the time he was forty years old, Jurgenson will

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<v Speaker 1>have fled from Bolshevik revolutionaries to Estonia, before later moving

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<v Speaker 1>to Berlin to train as an opera singer under the

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<v Speaker 1>great Italian tenor Tito's Skeeper. After a period of almost

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<v Speaker 1>unrivaled sexual and creative freedom in the city, he will

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<v Speaker 1>later watch in horror as a new Puritanism takes hold,

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<v Speaker 1>while those not blessed with the privilege of being able

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<v Speaker 1>to work in the arts, struggling under crippling poverty and unemployment,

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<v Speaker 1>are drawn ever closer to the rising tide of fascism.

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<v Speaker 1>Its subsequent fanning of a growing antisemitism leaves the Jewish

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<v Speaker 1>skeeper no option but to escape to Palestine, where Friedrich

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<v Speaker 1>will join him for eight years, swapping one war zone

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<v Speaker 1>for another. Returning to Europe in nineteen thirty eight, Fredrick,

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<v Speaker 1>now a successful opera singer in his own right, makes

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<v Speaker 1>plans to continue his career in Italy. However, after visiting

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<v Speaker 1>his parents in Estonia, the cold climate plays havoc with

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<v Speaker 1>his health and his voice, eventually forcing him to give

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<v Speaker 1>up his singing dream. He returns to Italy soon after

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<v Speaker 1>with the tension of becoming a professional painter, only to

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<v Speaker 1>find war waiting for him once again. Unwilling to fight

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<v Speaker 1>for a fascist cause and having no distinct nationality of

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<v Speaker 1>his own to defend, Friedrich, whose mother was Swedish, flees

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<v Speaker 1>to her home country. By the end of the Second

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<v Speaker 1>World War in nineteen forty five, Jurgenson, who by now

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<v Speaker 1>speaks ten different languages, is forty two years old, married,

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<v Speaker 1>and finally ready to settle down. Incredibly, despite all that

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<v Speaker 1>he has seen and experienced, the most extraordinary moment of

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<v Speaker 1>his life still awaits. You're listening to Unexplained and I'm

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<v Speaker 1>Richard McClean smith. It is thirteen years later, and a

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<v Speaker 1>now fifty five year old Friedrich has established himself as

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<v Speaker 1>a talented portraitist and archeological painter, admired even by the Pope.

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<v Speaker 1>At some point in nineteen fifty seven, having spent many

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<v Speaker 1>years working at the ruined Roman city of Pompeii, he

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<v Speaker 1>accepts an invitation to hold an exhibition in its grounds.

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<v Speaker 1>The magic of the place had infatuated him since he

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<v Speaker 1>was a child, how it had once been forgotten, buried

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<v Speaker 1>under fire and ash, only to be unearthed by chance

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<v Speaker 1>and rescued from its violent end to stand once more

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<v Speaker 1>as a testament to civilization. The offer was made even

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<v Speaker 1>more appealing when he was given the opportunity to work

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<v Speaker 1>on site, establishing a studio in the House of the

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<v Speaker 1>Tragic Poet, one of the more well preserved buildings, elaborately

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<v Speaker 1>decorated throughout exquisite mosaics depicting scenes from Greek mythology. But

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<v Speaker 1>best of all was being granted a key to the city.

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<v Speaker 1>As dusk settled over the ruins, long after everyone else

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<v Speaker 1>had left, Friedrich would be free to wander the deserted

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<v Speaker 1>homes and streets alone in the eerie silence. The quieter

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<v Speaker 1>it was, the more fiercely he felt the ghosts fighting

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<v Speaker 1>to emerge from the shadows. As he walked, he let

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<v Speaker 1>his imagination drift. From a street corner, an exuberant shopkeeper emerges,

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<v Speaker 1>measuring grain for his customers. Over there, a horse and

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<v Speaker 1>cart trundles by, as rogued dignitaries saunter behind, while the

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<v Speaker 1>sound of children playing echoes through the streets, and if

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<v Speaker 1>he listens carefully enough from a distance, the fleeting roar

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<v Speaker 1>of a crowd packed into the city's amphitheater is carried

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<v Speaker 1>on the wind and sometimes the imagining of the sudden explosion,

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<v Speaker 1>followed by a growing plume of ash, the darkening of

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<v Speaker 1>the sky, and the billowing cloud of boiling heat speeding

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<v Speaker 1>down the mountainside as the screams grow louder and louder.

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<v Speaker 1>Soon summer is approaching and Frederick's exhibition is coming to

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<v Speaker 1>its end. As a final thank you for his work,

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<v Speaker 1>he has offered the chance to fulfill a lifetime's ambition

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<v Speaker 1>when the Pompey Archeological Commission invites him to take part

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<v Speaker 1>in an excavation of a newly discovered property the following year.

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<v Speaker 1>He gladly accepts the offer and returns to Stockholm soon

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<v Speaker 1>after to begin putting together his plans for his next visit.

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<v Speaker 1>Little did he know, then, however, that he would not

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<v Speaker 1>be turning to Pompeii anytime soon, for something was about

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<v Speaker 1>to occur that would change his life and understanding of

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<v Speaker 1>it forever. In June nineteen fifty eight, Friedrich and his

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<v Speaker 1>wife Monica traveled to their country house just south of Mernenbou,

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<v Speaker 1>a small village located sixty kilometers southwest of the capitol, Stockholm.

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<v Speaker 1>The property, which backed onto a placid and tranquil lake,

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<v Speaker 1>was as idyllic a country retreat as one could imagine.

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<v Speaker 1>Aside from the main house, the property consisted of an old,

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<v Speaker 1>dilapidated hut by the water's edge, as well as a

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<v Speaker 1>guest house on the fringes of a nearby forest bordering

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<v Speaker 1>the garden. Itself an enchanting mess of wild flowers and

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<v Speaker 1>apple blossom, it was the perfect place to capture the

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<v Speaker 1>sound of singing birds, as Friedrich had long planned to do,

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<v Speaker 1>but never quite had the time. This year, he determined

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<v Speaker 1>to do it once and for all, making sure to

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<v Speaker 1>bring his tape recorder down from Stockholm. After spending the

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<v Speaker 1>day by the lake, it was sometime in the afternoon,

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<v Speaker 1>with the local birds in full voice, that Fredrick retired

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<v Speaker 1>to the house to collect the tape recorder, before making

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<v Speaker 1>his way out to the forest cabin and up into

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<v Speaker 1>its attic. Moments later, having rigged up a microphone, he

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<v Speaker 1>slid open the window and pointed the microphone out of

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<v Speaker 1>it just as a gentle finch came to rest on

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<v Speaker 1>the roof, flicking the switch to record. Fredrick sat back

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<v Speaker 1>in his chair and listened to the birds sing as

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<v Speaker 1>the tape slowly unspoiled from one reel to the other.

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<v Speaker 1>After a few minutes, with the bird having taken off,

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<v Speaker 1>Fredrick stopped the recording and rewound the tape. He pressed

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<v Speaker 1>play and waited eagerly to hear what he had captured.

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<v Speaker 1>But something was wrong. Though he could just about make

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<v Speaker 1>out the merry chirping of the finch, it was completely

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<v Speaker 1>drowned out by a blaring burst of static, as if

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<v Speaker 1>someone had been taking a shower right next to the microphone.

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<v Speaker 1>Friederich made a quick check of all the connections and

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<v Speaker 1>spun the tape forward to see if something was wrong

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<v Speaker 1>with the tape itself, but all seemed fine. Repositioning the

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<v Speaker 1>mic he tried again. After another few minutes, he rewound

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<v Speaker 1>the tape, pressed play, and waited, but yet again, much

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<v Speaker 1>to his annoyance, after a short period of quiet, the

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<v Speaker 1>speakers blared out the same static hiss of interference. Since

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<v Speaker 1>he could still just about hear the sound of birds

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<v Speaker 1>singing in the distance, clearly the record function was working,

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<v Speaker 1>But as he was about to switch off the tape,

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<v Speaker 1>something else burst through the noise. It sounded like a voice.

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<v Speaker 1>As he moved closer and listened more carefully, he could

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<v Speaker 1>hear it clearly now. It was a male voice speaking

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<v Speaker 1>in Norwegian about the sound of birdsong at night. Though

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<v Speaker 1>it was a bizarre occurrence. The tape player must merely

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<v Speaker 1>have somehow picked up a Norwegian radio transmission, he reasoned,

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<v Speaker 1>though it was certainly an extraordinary coincidence that it would

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<v Speaker 1>be all about birdsong, he thought, as he made his

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<v Speaker 1>way back to the house that evening. For the next month,

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<v Speaker 1>unable to make clean recordings, Frederick turned his attention to

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<v Speaker 1>another pet project he had been working on, researching the

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<v Speaker 1>fate of Russian Princess Anastasia. Though today it is widely

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<v Speaker 1>accepted that the youngest daughter of Zara Nicholas the second

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<v Speaker 1>and Zarina Alexandra Fyodorovna, was murdered along with the rest

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<v Speaker 1>of her immediate family in July nineteen eighteen, in the

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen fifties, her whereabouts remained very much a mystery. But

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<v Speaker 1>as Friedrich tried to concentrate on the task, he found

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<v Speaker 1>his mind continually wandering back to the strange recordings he

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<v Speaker 1>had made weeks before. Though he tried a few times

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<v Speaker 1>to recapture the peculiar broadcast, it appeared to have since

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<v Speaker 1>come to an end. That was until one evening in

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<v Speaker 1>mid July, with Monika having now returned to Stockholm. That night,

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<v Speaker 1>Friedrich was once again sat alone in the outhouse attic,

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<v Speaker 1>trying in vain to capture another radio transmission. Since he

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<v Speaker 1>didn't have headphones, he kept his eyes glued to the

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<v Speaker 1>recording light for any sign that something was being received.

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<v Speaker 1>But as the moon outside the window rose higher into

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<v Speaker 1>the sky. With nothing to show for his efforts, Fredrick

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<v Speaker 1>was beginning to get tired. Just as his eyelids were

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<v Speaker 1>starting to close, the control light flashed red. That's strange,

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<v Speaker 1>he thought, since all about him was completely still. After

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<v Speaker 1>waiting for a few minutes, as the recording light continued

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<v Speaker 1>to flash, Fredrick stopped the recording before rewinding the tape

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<v Speaker 1>and pressing play. After a brief moment of light atmospheric sound,

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<v Speaker 1>Fredrick was overjoyed to hear that familiar hissing roar once again,

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<v Speaker 1>and as he strained to listen through the interference, once

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<v Speaker 1>again came the familiar Norwegian voice. Tired but pleased with

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<v Speaker 1>the Knight's results, Fredrick went to bed, returning to listen

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<v Speaker 1>to the tape the following morning, just as he thought

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<v Speaker 1>he had indeed captured the same voice as before, only

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<v Speaker 1>this time something was different. It wasn't just the one voice.

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<v Speaker 1>It was multiple speaking in a range of languages, including English, German, Swedish, Italian,

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<v Speaker 1>and Polish, all crossing over each other, reciting strange and

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<v Speaker 1>incomprehensible sentences. And then one other voice, a little clearer

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<v Speaker 1>than the rest, burst through the static. Fredrick sat back

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<v Speaker 1>in astonishment. It couldn't be, he thought. He stopped the

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<v Speaker 1>tape and looked around the empty room. Satisfied he was alone,

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<v Speaker 1>he spun back the tape and played it again. Friedrich said,

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<v Speaker 1>the voice you're being observed. Are you always taking care

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<v Speaker 1>of your family? Do you often take care of others

0:14:17.880 --> 0:14:21.240
<v Speaker 1>and not yourself? Now it's time to take care of yourself,

0:14:21.640 --> 0:14:25.440
<v Speaker 1>to make time for you. You deserve it. Teledoc gives

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<v Speaker 1>get started. That's teladoc dot com slash Unexplained Podcast. Fredrick

0:15:25.000 --> 0:15:28.880
<v Speaker 1>played the tape back again and again. It was clear

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<v Speaker 1>somebody was trying to communicate with him. Later, after hearing

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<v Speaker 1>a second mention of his name, came a bizarre, cryptic request, Fredrick,

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<v Speaker 1>when you translate and interpret into German during the day,

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<v Speaker 1>try to solve the truth. Every evening with the ship

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<v Speaker 1>in the dark. Worried he might be losing his mind,

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<v Speaker 1>Fredrick promptly played the tapes to Monica, as it was

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<v Speaker 1>for anyone who would later hear them. It was hard

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<v Speaker 1>to discern much of anything through the violent roar of

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<v Speaker 1>the static, but slowly as her ears began to adjust

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<v Speaker 1>to the different frequencies, buried within it. Monica two heard

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<v Speaker 1>the voices. It was a strange predicament coming across this

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<v Speaker 1>apparent phenomena so unexpectedly. Frederick had not been looking for this,

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<v Speaker 1>nor even spent any time considering it. He also had

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<v Speaker 1>much work to do, not only preparing for the excavation

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<v Speaker 1>in Pompeii the following spring, but keeping up with his

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<v Speaker 1>commissions in Sweden too, But everything seemed suddenly to pale

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<v Speaker 1>into comparison with what was occurring in that attic room

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<v Speaker 1>on his tape recorder. Another set of recordings made soon

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<v Speaker 1>after revealed yet more voices, but distinguishing between them all

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<v Speaker 1>was near impossible listening to them being played back on

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<v Speaker 1>the machine. Eventually, Frederick brought a pair of headphone to

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<v Speaker 1>better interpret just what exactly was going on. Now he

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<v Speaker 1>was able to hear the sounds being captured as they

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<v Speaker 1>were being recorded. It wasn't long after that he realized

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<v Speaker 1>slowing the recordings down made it much easier to pick

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<v Speaker 1>out the voices, But despite having a crude a number

0:17:20.600 --> 0:17:24.800
<v Speaker 1>of similar recordings, he was no closer to figuring out

0:17:24.840 --> 0:17:30.440
<v Speaker 1>exactly what they were. Naturally, his first assumption, and surely

0:17:30.440 --> 0:17:33.760
<v Speaker 1>the only reasonable one, was that he was continuing to

0:17:33.760 --> 0:17:38.359
<v Speaker 1>pick up a number of converging radio signals, signals that

0:17:38.440 --> 0:17:42.880
<v Speaker 1>are constantly traveling through the air around us. Those mentions

0:17:42.920 --> 0:17:46.840
<v Speaker 1>of his name just coincidence and a form of confirmation

0:17:46.880 --> 0:17:52.600
<v Speaker 1>by us, he thought. Either way, Ascertaining their provenance became

0:17:52.640 --> 0:18:06.560
<v Speaker 1>his top priority. A few weeks later, having returned to Merlinbou,

0:18:07.280 --> 0:18:11.600
<v Speaker 1>this time with his poodle Carino for company, Fredrick returned

0:18:11.640 --> 0:18:14.919
<v Speaker 1>again to his attic room, plugged in the headphones, and

0:18:15.040 --> 0:18:19.080
<v Speaker 1>switched the tape player to record. No sooner had he

0:18:19.119 --> 0:18:23.040
<v Speaker 1>put the headphones on, the peaceful atmosphere of the Merlibou

0:18:23.160 --> 0:18:27.240
<v Speaker 1>country air was suddenly obliterated in a blare of static,

0:18:28.400 --> 0:18:32.119
<v Speaker 1>and before long he could hear the voices coming through again,

0:18:33.080 --> 0:18:36.400
<v Speaker 1>mixed also this time with a variety of other strange

0:18:36.400 --> 0:18:41.800
<v Speaker 1>sounds and music too. After listening for a few minutes,

0:18:42.320 --> 0:18:47.440
<v Speaker 1>Fredrick heard the phone ringing downstairs. Leaving the tape to record,

0:18:48.119 --> 0:18:51.400
<v Speaker 1>he headed down to answer it, escorted by his ever

0:18:51.440 --> 0:18:56.920
<v Speaker 1>faithful Carino, who followed him closely behind. It was Monica

0:18:57.000 --> 0:18:59.760
<v Speaker 1>on the line, just wanting to know how the days

0:18:59.760 --> 0:19:04.920
<v Speaker 1>wecordings were going. With Carino sitting patiently next to him.

0:19:05.040 --> 0:19:08.000
<v Speaker 1>Frederick was just telling Monica about what he had heard

0:19:08.000 --> 0:19:12.040
<v Speaker 1>so far when his dog abruptly rose to his feet

0:19:12.440 --> 0:19:16.200
<v Speaker 1>and scampered out of the room. As he continued talking

0:19:16.200 --> 0:19:19.399
<v Speaker 1>on the phone, Fredrick heard what he took to be

0:19:19.480 --> 0:19:22.280
<v Speaker 1>the dog in the attic, jumping up around his chair

0:19:22.880 --> 0:19:27.640
<v Speaker 1>before finally settling down in it. Returning to the top

0:19:27.680 --> 0:19:32.040
<v Speaker 1>floor a few minutes later, sure enough, Fredrick found Carino

0:19:32.280 --> 0:19:37.880
<v Speaker 1>sitting on the chair, wagging his tail in excitement. Fredrick

0:19:38.000 --> 0:19:40.480
<v Speaker 1>picked him up and placed him on the spare bed

0:19:41.160 --> 0:19:45.360
<v Speaker 1>before returning again to the tape player. After a few

0:19:45.359 --> 0:19:49.160
<v Speaker 1>more minutes recording, he decided to stop and listen back

0:19:49.200 --> 0:19:53.080
<v Speaker 1>to what he had captured. Having rewound the tape to

0:19:53.200 --> 0:19:56.920
<v Speaker 1>just before the phone call, he hit play, sat back

0:19:57.240 --> 0:20:02.160
<v Speaker 1>and listened once again. Came the heavy burst of static,

0:20:02.840 --> 0:20:06.360
<v Speaker 1>and just audible, deep in the cacophony, he can just

0:20:06.480 --> 0:20:10.880
<v Speaker 1>make out the sound of a telephone ringing. Next, he

0:20:10.880 --> 0:20:15.080
<v Speaker 1>hears himself removing the headphones and pacing out of the room,

0:20:15.160 --> 0:20:20.560
<v Speaker 1>with Carino's poor steps following close behind. Strangely, as soon

0:20:20.600 --> 0:20:25.240
<v Speaker 1>as he has left the room, the hissing stops. In

0:20:25.320 --> 0:20:29.119
<v Speaker 1>the ensuing silence, Friedrich strains to hear the phone conversation

0:20:29.280 --> 0:20:34.160
<v Speaker 1>with Monica, but it is inaudible, so with nothing else occurring,

0:20:34.440 --> 0:20:38.000
<v Speaker 1>he skips the tape forward a few minutes. Soon the

0:20:38.080 --> 0:20:40.600
<v Speaker 1>sound of his approaching steps can be heard as he

0:20:40.640 --> 0:20:44.639
<v Speaker 1>returns to the room before opening the door and picking

0:20:44.680 --> 0:20:48.000
<v Speaker 1>Carino up from the chair. At the sound of him

0:20:48.000 --> 0:20:52.760
<v Speaker 1>putting his headphones back on, curiously, the loud static bursts

0:20:53.000 --> 0:20:59.000
<v Speaker 1>immediately come back in. Unable to decipher the subsequent set

0:20:59.000 --> 0:21:04.000
<v Speaker 1>of noises loading within the interference, Fredric decides to play

0:21:04.000 --> 0:21:06.920
<v Speaker 1>the tape back again to confirm with the static had

0:21:06.960 --> 0:21:10.240
<v Speaker 1>indeed only occurred when he was sat at the tape player.

0:21:12.040 --> 0:21:14.400
<v Speaker 1>He returns the tape back to the moment he left

0:21:14.400 --> 0:21:18.880
<v Speaker 1>the room and lets it play out. What he hears

0:21:18.960 --> 0:21:24.920
<v Speaker 1>next changes everything. At first, he hears only the faint

0:21:24.920 --> 0:21:29.080
<v Speaker 1>sound of his voice on the phone downstairs, when suddenly

0:21:29.320 --> 0:21:34.040
<v Speaker 1>a peculiar, high pitched noise cuts in, followed by a

0:21:34.080 --> 0:21:40.200
<v Speaker 1>male voice quietly humming the opening refrain of the song LAA,

0:21:40.400 --> 0:21:44.920
<v Speaker 1>and then a different sound Carino's approaching poor steps as

0:21:44.920 --> 0:21:47.800
<v Speaker 1>he makes its way up the stairs, and then the

0:21:47.840 --> 0:21:51.560
<v Speaker 1>sound at the door as he nudges it open, just

0:21:51.760 --> 0:21:55.880
<v Speaker 1>as the dog enters the room. Friedrich is stunned when

0:21:55.880 --> 0:22:02.400
<v Speaker 1>he hears a clear Italian accented voice whispering, Ah, Carino,

0:22:03.119 --> 0:22:08.040
<v Speaker 1>do you hear me? It asks, Carino, do you know me?

0:22:10.240 --> 0:22:14.679
<v Speaker 1>And in the background he hears Carrino joyously spinning about

0:22:14.720 --> 0:22:29.600
<v Speaker 1>on the chair, wagging his tail. Later in the autumn,

0:22:30.400 --> 0:22:33.399
<v Speaker 1>Monica's mother comes to stay at the house in Mernanbau,

0:22:34.880 --> 0:22:38.680
<v Speaker 1>having left a tape recording during the afternoon. When Fredrick

0:22:38.760 --> 0:22:42.280
<v Speaker 1>listens to it later that evening, he makes yet another

0:22:42.400 --> 0:22:47.120
<v Speaker 1>astonishing discovery. At one point, he is able to hear

0:22:47.200 --> 0:22:51.399
<v Speaker 1>Monica talking to her mother downstairs, when suddenly the volume

0:22:51.400 --> 0:22:57.679
<v Speaker 1>of the tape inexplicably drops drastically. Fredrick turns the volume

0:22:57.760 --> 0:23:00.600
<v Speaker 1>up as loud as it will go, and with Monica's

0:23:00.680 --> 0:23:05.200
<v Speaker 1>voice just audible in the background, another voice suddenly breaks in,

0:23:06.119 --> 0:23:11.720
<v Speaker 1>a male speaking in German. At Monica's It's cozy, it says,

0:23:13.240 --> 0:23:17.840
<v Speaker 1>and then another voice chimes in again in German. I

0:23:17.920 --> 0:23:23.159
<v Speaker 1>can see her, I hear her directly, it says. A

0:23:23.280 --> 0:23:29.119
<v Speaker 1>moment later the recording ends. Friedrich leans back in his

0:23:29.240 --> 0:23:36.040
<v Speaker 1>chair in a state of utter disbelief. As the weeks pass,

0:23:36.760 --> 0:23:40.920
<v Speaker 1>Friedrich continues to record and pick up the numerous disembodied voices,

0:23:41.359 --> 0:23:44.760
<v Speaker 1>but grows frustrated by the lack of coherence and begins

0:23:44.760 --> 0:23:49.000
<v Speaker 1>to wander what is the point of it all. Worried

0:23:49.040 --> 0:23:51.679
<v Speaker 1>also that he might somehow be the butt of an

0:23:51.680 --> 0:23:55.520
<v Speaker 1>elaborate joke, he decides to bring an end to the experiments,

0:23:56.720 --> 0:24:02.800
<v Speaker 1>but soon something else begins to occur terrifies him. Although

0:24:02.800 --> 0:24:05.600
<v Speaker 1>he is no longer listening to the tapes, he is

0:24:05.600 --> 0:24:10.480
<v Speaker 1>still hearing the voices. One afternoon, while resting in his

0:24:10.560 --> 0:24:15.000
<v Speaker 1>study as rain pours down outside, he is certain he

0:24:15.000 --> 0:24:17.679
<v Speaker 1>can hear a voice in the patter of the raindrops.

0:24:18.800 --> 0:24:21.760
<v Speaker 1>Then later he hears it again in the rustle of

0:24:21.800 --> 0:24:27.199
<v Speaker 1>the burning fire. The voices seem to be following him everywhere.

0:24:29.480 --> 0:24:33.359
<v Speaker 1>Concerned he is showing early signs of some form of schizophrenia,

0:24:33.600 --> 0:24:37.640
<v Speaker 1>he reassures himself that he is otherwise healthy, not suffering

0:24:37.640 --> 0:24:44.040
<v Speaker 1>any anxiety, and sleeping perfectly well. One afternoon, he is

0:24:44.080 --> 0:24:48.720
<v Speaker 1>certain he hears a voice calling out to him. Listen

0:24:48.800 --> 0:25:04.399
<v Speaker 1>to me, it says, take part in the work. Having

0:25:04.440 --> 0:25:08.840
<v Speaker 1>been convinced to return to his sonic research, Friedrich invites

0:25:08.880 --> 0:25:11.719
<v Speaker 1>a number of friends and scientists to join him in

0:25:11.720 --> 0:25:16.520
<v Speaker 1>his listening sessions. Though they are skeptical at first, they

0:25:16.520 --> 0:25:20.480
<v Speaker 1>too start to notice the peculiar messages buried in the recordings,

0:25:21.720 --> 0:25:24.399
<v Speaker 1>and though they are reluctant to speculate on what they are,

0:25:24.800 --> 0:25:30.639
<v Speaker 1>all agree that they are highly unusual. Frequently, most of

0:25:30.640 --> 0:25:33.800
<v Speaker 1>the voices are preceded by a female voice who seems

0:25:33.840 --> 0:25:36.520
<v Speaker 1>to be instructing Fredrick on how best to hear the

0:25:36.600 --> 0:25:41.639
<v Speaker 1>assumed communications. Eventually, he discovers that using a radio in

0:25:41.720 --> 0:25:46.159
<v Speaker 1>close proximity to the recorder intensifies the messages, and that

0:25:46.280 --> 0:25:50.320
<v Speaker 1>tuning to certain frequencies at specific times will work best.

0:25:52.160 --> 0:25:56.359
<v Speaker 1>In January nineteen sixty, Friedrick receives the upsetting news that

0:25:56.520 --> 0:26:00.840
<v Speaker 1>Boris Sakarov, an old friend from his childhood days in Asa,

0:26:00.960 --> 0:26:03.720
<v Speaker 1>had been killed in a car crash back in October

0:26:03.840 --> 0:26:09.159
<v Speaker 1>of the previous year. Shortly after, Friedrich learns that Zakarov

0:26:09.560 --> 0:26:13.760
<v Speaker 1>had recently become a renowned yoga teacher who also specialized

0:26:13.800 --> 0:26:20.320
<v Speaker 1>in the instruction of breathing exercises. Moments later, Fredrick raced

0:26:20.400 --> 0:26:25.200
<v Speaker 1>up to his study and pulled a tape from the shelf. Hurriedly,

0:26:25.600 --> 0:26:30.639
<v Speaker 1>he fixed it into place and pressed play. The recording

0:26:30.720 --> 0:26:32.720
<v Speaker 1>was one of a number he had made over the

0:26:32.760 --> 0:26:37.679
<v Speaker 1>Christmas period and had been confusing him ever since. He

0:26:37.800 --> 0:26:42.159
<v Speaker 1>understood it now that sound he had heard when sitting

0:26:42.160 --> 0:26:45.200
<v Speaker 1>alone in his room a few weeks ago had been

0:26:45.240 --> 0:26:50.159
<v Speaker 1>a deep exhalation of breath. Hearing it again on the

0:26:50.200 --> 0:26:55.440
<v Speaker 1>tape confirms his suspicions at the time. He had heard

0:26:55.440 --> 0:26:58.280
<v Speaker 1>the sound both in the room and through the headphones.

0:27:00.160 --> 0:27:03.080
<v Speaker 1>He spins the tape back a little further and lets

0:27:03.080 --> 0:27:08.040
<v Speaker 1>it play out. First, the violent cacophony of static blares

0:27:08.080 --> 0:27:11.600
<v Speaker 1>out into the room, and then from out of the

0:27:11.720 --> 0:27:17.880
<v Speaker 1>chaos come the words, as clear as day, your boris

0:27:18.400 --> 0:27:34.920
<v Speaker 1>is at the equipment. Over eight years in total, Friedrich

0:27:35.000 --> 0:27:39.280
<v Speaker 1>Jurgensen will record one hundred and forty tapes containing between

0:27:39.359 --> 0:27:43.280
<v Speaker 1>five to six thousand different recordings of what will later

0:27:43.280 --> 0:27:48.960
<v Speaker 1>become known as electronic voice phenomena, being left in no

0:27:49.080 --> 0:27:52.919
<v Speaker 1>doubt that what he had captured were the voices of

0:27:53.000 --> 0:27:58.960
<v Speaker 1>the dead. Further reported voices included those of his own mother,

0:27:59.640 --> 0:28:02.280
<v Speaker 1>as well as a number of recently deceased figures of

0:28:02.359 --> 0:28:07.639
<v Speaker 1>historical note, including in an odd twist, that of Adolf

0:28:07.760 --> 0:28:13.720
<v Speaker 1>Hitler and Winston Churchill. As a man of no little intellect,

0:28:13.800 --> 0:28:17.399
<v Speaker 1>Jurgensen was more than aware of the many rational explanations

0:28:17.440 --> 0:28:21.000
<v Speaker 1>that might account for what he had heard, with early

0:28:21.040 --> 0:28:27.360
<v Speaker 1>satellite communications and radio transmission being the most obvious. However,

0:28:28.119 --> 0:28:30.440
<v Speaker 1>not only did many of his friends and a number

0:28:30.480 --> 0:28:33.600
<v Speaker 1>of scientists keen to find an answer for the communications

0:28:34.000 --> 0:28:38.160
<v Speaker 1>hear them too, but often he would capture voices speaking

0:28:38.200 --> 0:28:43.040
<v Speaker 1>single sentences in multiple languages, which would seem to negate

0:28:43.160 --> 0:28:48.240
<v Speaker 1>the radio broadcast theory. Some have also suggested that the

0:28:48.360 --> 0:28:52.280
<v Speaker 1>multi lingual Jurgensen had somehow projected the voices onto the

0:28:52.320 --> 0:28:58.080
<v Speaker 1>tape himself. What seems never to have been endowed was

0:28:58.160 --> 0:29:04.000
<v Speaker 1>Friedrich's integrity or the authenticity of the raw recordings. He

0:29:04.160 --> 0:29:07.000
<v Speaker 1>died at the age of eighty four in late nineteen

0:29:07.000 --> 0:29:14.200
<v Speaker 1>eighty seven. Whatever we believe about Jurgenson's peculiar findings, perhaps

0:29:14.200 --> 0:29:17.440
<v Speaker 1>we can take at least one thing from his experiences.

0:29:18.720 --> 0:29:21.680
<v Speaker 1>When all you can hear is the cacophony of chaos,

0:29:22.360 --> 0:29:26.280
<v Speaker 1>it pays not to turn away from the noise, but

0:29:26.400 --> 0:29:28.920
<v Speaker 1>to take the time to listen to what might be

0:29:28.960 --> 0:29:33.400
<v Speaker 1>buried underneath. Perhaps you too will hear the sound of

0:29:33.480 --> 0:29:46.800
<v Speaker 1>voices just wanting to be heard. If you enjoy listening

0:29:46.800 --> 0:29:50.040
<v Speaker 1>to Unexplained and would like to help supporters, You can

0:29:50.040 --> 0:29:53.840
<v Speaker 1>now go to Unexplained podcast dot com Forward slash Support.

0:29:54.960 --> 0:29:59.280
<v Speaker 1>All donations, no matter how large or small, are massively appreciated.

0:30:03.480 --> 0:30:06.960
<v Speaker 1>All elements of Unexplained are produced by me Richard McClain smith.

0:30:07.320 --> 0:30:09.800
<v Speaker 1>Please subscribe and rate the show on iTunes. But feel

0:30:09.800 --> 0:30:12.000
<v Speaker 1>free to get in touch with any thoughts or ideas

0:30:12.000 --> 0:30:15.120
<v Speaker 1>regarding the stories you've heard on the show. Perhaps you

0:30:15.200 --> 0:30:17.120
<v Speaker 1>have an explanation of your own you'd like to share.

0:30:17.880 --> 0:30:20.600
<v Speaker 1>You can reach us online at Unexplained podcast dot com

0:30:20.720 --> 0:31:23.120
<v Speaker 1>or on Twitter at Unexplained pod. Now. It's time to

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