1 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:07,480 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:14,440 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of 3 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:18,480 Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all 4 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:22,159 Speaker 1: of these amazing tales are right there on display, just 5 00:00:22,239 --> 00:00:28,880 Speaker 1: waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. 6 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:40,599 Speaker 1: Tell me o muse of that ingenious hero who traveled 7 00:00:40,680 --> 00:00:44,880 Speaker 1: far and wide after he sacked the famous town of Troy. 8 00:00:45,159 --> 00:00:48,279 Speaker 1: Those words probably sound familiar to you, at least those 9 00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:51,120 Speaker 1: of you who didn't sleep through high school English. These 10 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:54,480 Speaker 1: are the first lines of Homer's epic poem, The Odyssey 11 00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:58,120 Speaker 1: An eight hundred BCE. Homer wrote down the story of 12 00:00:58,160 --> 00:01:01,160 Speaker 1: an ancient Greek's incredible journey to find his way home. 13 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:04,600 Speaker 1: Two thousand years later, another Greek went on his own 14 00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:08,000 Speaker 1: journey to see if he could find Odysseus, the King 15 00:01:08,080 --> 00:01:12,520 Speaker 1: of Old, right in his own backyard. The time described 16 00:01:12,560 --> 00:01:15,880 Speaker 1: in the Odyssey is what historians call the Mysinean period. 17 00:01:16,200 --> 00:01:20,080 Speaker 1: Mycetaean Greece was made up of several distinct, sophisticated kingdoms 18 00:01:20,319 --> 00:01:23,639 Speaker 1: that shared a common culture and language. According to Homer, 19 00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:27,080 Speaker 1: Odysseus was the ruler of a Mysonian kingdom called Ithaca. 20 00:01:27,319 --> 00:01:31,000 Speaker 1: In Homer's previous poem The Iliad, Odysseus led his troops 21 00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:33,360 Speaker 1: into battle with the rest of the Greeks to sack 22 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:36,640 Speaker 1: the city at Troy. Probably his most famous contribution to 23 00:01:36,680 --> 00:01:40,120 Speaker 1: the legend was coming up with the Trojan horse. After 24 00:01:40,160 --> 00:01:43,399 Speaker 1: the war, Odysseus angers Poseidon, the god of the Sea, 25 00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:47,040 Speaker 1: and is cursed to wander the Mediterranean for ten whole years. 26 00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:52,680 Speaker 1: He encounters monsters, sorceresses, the cyclops, and sirens before he 27 00:01:52,760 --> 00:01:56,559 Speaker 1: finally makes it home to his wife and son in Ithaca. Now, 28 00:01:56,600 --> 00:01:59,320 Speaker 1: for years, the island of Ithakei, off the western coast 29 00:01:59,320 --> 00:02:01,760 Speaker 1: of Greece has claimed that it was the ancient site 30 00:02:01,760 --> 00:02:05,400 Speaker 1: of Odysseus his homeland Ithaca. Today you'll find dozens of 31 00:02:05,440 --> 00:02:08,880 Speaker 1: things named after him there, from apartments to boat tours. 32 00:02:09,200 --> 00:02:12,320 Speaker 1: The island's website calls it the home of Odysseus, and 33 00:02:12,400 --> 00:02:16,480 Speaker 1: a statue of the ancient king watches over the harbor. Honestly, 34 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:20,280 Speaker 1: a whole cottage industry has sprung up marketing ithake as 35 00:02:20,440 --> 00:02:24,040 Speaker 1: Homeric Ithaca. But back in nineteen ninety one, a local 36 00:02:24,080 --> 00:02:27,720 Speaker 1: man named MICUs Metexas began to think something didn't quite fit, 37 00:02:28,200 --> 00:02:30,960 Speaker 1: namely because there were no mycene in Greek ruins on 38 00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:35,600 Speaker 1: ithake Macchus was born and raised in Kefalonia, the island 39 00:02:35,720 --> 00:02:38,240 Speaker 1: just to the west of Ahaki, and just like any 40 00:02:38,440 --> 00:02:41,840 Speaker 1: proud Greek man, he spent hours as a schoolboy study 41 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:45,280 Speaker 1: in the Odyssey. As he read Homer's verses over and over, 42 00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:49,520 Speaker 1: something began to bother him. Homer's description of Ithaca did 43 00:02:49,560 --> 00:02:53,600 Speaker 1: not match the island of ITHAKEI. First, there is the river. 44 00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:57,240 Speaker 1: Homer describes Ithaca's port as being the mouth of a river. 45 00:02:57,720 --> 00:03:00,520 Speaker 1: There are no rivers on Ithaca. And then there's the 46 00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:03,640 Speaker 1: Cave of the Nymphs. In the Odyssey, Homer describes a 47 00:03:03,680 --> 00:03:06,720 Speaker 1: great hidden sea cave that ships may enter from the harbor, 48 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:11,240 Speaker 1: but no such cave exists in Ehachi either. Finally, there's 49 00:03:11,480 --> 00:03:15,520 Speaker 1: Raven's Rock, a geological feature that Odysseus uses as a 50 00:03:15,560 --> 00:03:18,160 Speaker 1: meeting place for him and a friend to plot his 51 00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:21,320 Speaker 1: return to his throne. Many spots on a Thaki have 52 00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:24,120 Speaker 1: been rumored to be this place, but none seem to 53 00:03:24,320 --> 00:03:28,280 Speaker 1: really fit Homer's description. Macchus realized that while all these 54 00:03:28,320 --> 00:03:32,560 Speaker 1: places don't exist on a THAKEI. They perfectly correspond to Kelonia. 55 00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:35,480 Speaker 1: There is a harbor with the river flowing into it, 56 00:03:35,920 --> 00:03:39,520 Speaker 1: a great lake trapped in a cave, and most importantly, 57 00:03:39,600 --> 00:03:42,000 Speaker 1: the boulder that he'd grown up climbing as a boy, 58 00:03:42,360 --> 00:03:47,400 Speaker 1: the boulder that everyone knows Aschricoptra, which means Raven's Rock. 59 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:51,240 Speaker 1: Following these clues, Macchus zeroed in on the place near 60 00:03:51,320 --> 00:03:54,960 Speaker 1: Raven's Rock where Homer says that Odysseus's palace was located, 61 00:03:55,280 --> 00:03:58,560 Speaker 1: and he noticed something strange. Hidden behind a thick cops 62 00:03:58,560 --> 00:04:02,400 Speaker 1: of trees was a series of roughly carved stones stacked together. 63 00:04:02,800 --> 00:04:05,280 Speaker 1: He could already tell that they were very, very old. 64 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:09,760 Speaker 1: Following ancient directions from Homer himself, Macchus had stumbled upon 65 00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:14,560 Speaker 1: one of the largest Mysonyan tombs ever discovered. After decades 66 00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:19,039 Speaker 1: of excavations, Macchus's discovery shakes down to this a giant 67 00:04:19,200 --> 00:04:22,120 Speaker 1: beehive shaped tomb hidden in the side of the mountain, 68 00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:25,600 Speaker 1: and although it had already been looted by ancient grave robbers, 69 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:29,000 Speaker 1: several artifacts remained which pointed toward it being the resting 70 00:04:29,040 --> 00:04:32,719 Speaker 1: place of a Mysonian king and hidden in the grave 71 00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:36,880 Speaker 1: a strangely unique seal. You see in the Odyssey. Odysseus 72 00:04:36,960 --> 00:04:39,480 Speaker 1: is known to be wearing a cloak pin which depicts 73 00:04:39,480 --> 00:04:42,720 Speaker 1: a dog attacking a fawn, and hidden at the bottom 74 00:04:42,760 --> 00:04:45,560 Speaker 1: of this grave was a small piece of carved crystal, 75 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:49,520 Speaker 1: the carving a hound pinning a deer to the ground. 76 00:04:50,440 --> 00:04:53,440 Speaker 1: At this point, the historical record is not complete enough 77 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:56,560 Speaker 1: to definitively state whether this tomb is part of Ithaca 78 00:04:56,880 --> 00:05:00,000 Speaker 1: or if the body inside had belonged to Odysseus. In fact, 79 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:03,400 Speaker 1: it's hard to say whether Odysseus himself ever really existed, 80 00:05:03,720 --> 00:05:05,839 Speaker 1: and the island of Athake has put up a fight, 81 00:05:06,200 --> 00:05:11,000 Speaker 1: using bureaucracy to slow down investigation into the site. Odysseus 82 00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:14,679 Speaker 1: had a long and difficult voyage home, but maybe after 83 00:05:14,760 --> 00:05:18,359 Speaker 1: thousands of years and many more obstacles, the journey to 84 00:05:18,400 --> 00:05:36,240 Speaker 1: find him again is almost over. John Denver's nineteen seventy 85 00:05:36,279 --> 00:05:39,640 Speaker 1: one song take Me Home, Country Roads paints a beautiful 86 00:05:39,640 --> 00:05:43,240 Speaker 1: picture of West Virginia. It references both the rolling tree 87 00:05:43,279 --> 00:05:47,200 Speaker 1: covered Blue Ridge Mountains and the crystal clear Shenandoah River. 88 00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:50,800 Speaker 1: But West Virginia isn't all sunshine and roses. It has 89 00:05:50,839 --> 00:05:54,160 Speaker 1: a darker side, one that is full of strange creatures. 90 00:05:54,960 --> 00:05:58,360 Speaker 1: West Virginia is allegedly home to many cryptids, which are 91 00:05:58,520 --> 00:06:02,480 Speaker 1: animals whose existence hasn't been proven yet. In West Virginia, 92 00:06:02,560 --> 00:06:05,160 Speaker 1: the mothman is probably the most famous cryptid of all, 93 00:06:05,520 --> 00:06:08,520 Speaker 1: but there are many others, like the snelly gaster sheep, 94 00:06:08,520 --> 00:06:12,000 Speaker 1: squatch than bat boy. If those sound ridiculous to you, 95 00:06:12,120 --> 00:06:15,120 Speaker 1: it's because they are. But West Virginia has had other 96 00:06:15,200 --> 00:06:19,880 Speaker 1: supernatural sightings that are more difficult to dismiss. In nineteen 97 00:06:19,960 --> 00:06:24,920 Speaker 1: sixty six, for example, traveling salesman Woodrow Darrenberger was returning 98 00:06:24,960 --> 00:06:27,840 Speaker 1: from a sales trip to Ohio. He was driving down 99 00:06:27,880 --> 00:06:31,240 Speaker 1: the interstate towards his home in Mineral Wells, West Virginia. 100 00:06:31,760 --> 00:06:34,360 Speaker 1: It was dark out and he was nearly home when 101 00:06:34,400 --> 00:06:37,720 Speaker 1: another car suddenly sped past him. He wouldn't have thought 102 00:06:37,720 --> 00:06:41,040 Speaker 1: anything of it, except another vehicle of some kind followed 103 00:06:41,120 --> 00:06:45,320 Speaker 1: right behind the first car. But this second vehicle was strange. 104 00:06:45,760 --> 00:06:48,320 Speaker 1: It was larger than a car and it didn't have 105 00:06:48,360 --> 00:06:53,080 Speaker 1: any lights. As Woodrow kept driving, his headlights illuminated more 106 00:06:53,120 --> 00:06:55,800 Speaker 1: of the object. It was about eight feet long and 107 00:06:55,839 --> 00:06:59,320 Speaker 1: had a sort of tulip shaped to it even more incredible. 108 00:06:59,360 --> 00:07:02,719 Speaker 1: It had no wheels, and it hovered above the ground. 109 00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:05,760 Speaker 1: It rose into the air and then settled across the road, 110 00:07:06,120 --> 00:07:09,800 Speaker 1: blocking Woodrow's path. He had no choice but to pull over. 111 00:07:10,800 --> 00:07:13,080 Speaker 1: Before he knew what was happening, a voice in his 112 00:07:13,160 --> 00:07:16,400 Speaker 1: head told him to roll down his window. He complied, 113 00:07:16,520 --> 00:07:19,360 Speaker 1: only to find a man standing just outside his car. 114 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:23,560 Speaker 1: The man was illuminated by Woodrow's headlights and the cabin 115 00:07:23,680 --> 00:07:27,280 Speaker 1: lights inside. He had dark hair and tan skin. He 116 00:07:27,400 --> 00:07:30,880 Speaker 1: was handsome, but otherwise looked more or less normal. He 117 00:07:30,920 --> 00:07:33,440 Speaker 1: wore a dark trench coat, and underneath it was some 118 00:07:33,480 --> 00:07:36,920 Speaker 1: sort of shirt that Woodrow could only describe as metallic. 119 00:07:37,520 --> 00:07:39,920 Speaker 1: There was one other thing about the man that Woodrow 120 00:07:39,960 --> 00:07:43,720 Speaker 1: found unnerving, though his smile. It never seemed to fade, 121 00:07:43,840 --> 00:07:46,520 Speaker 1: and it felt out of place so late on the 122 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:49,559 Speaker 1: side of the road. According to Woodrow, the man began 123 00:07:49,640 --> 00:07:52,520 Speaker 1: to speak, but his mouth did not move. He just 124 00:07:52,640 --> 00:07:55,400 Speaker 1: kept smiling, and Woodrow heard the voice in his head. 125 00:07:55,920 --> 00:08:00,000 Speaker 1: Don't be frightened. The voice said, we wish you no harm, 126 00:08:00,240 --> 00:08:02,720 Speaker 1: said that his name was Cold, and then he asked 127 00:08:02,760 --> 00:08:05,760 Speaker 1: Woodrow about the city that was ahead, which Woodrow told 128 00:08:05,840 --> 00:08:10,679 Speaker 1: him was called Parkersburg. Even stranger Cold asked if most 129 00:08:10,760 --> 00:08:13,760 Speaker 1: all the people lived there, as if he didn't understand 130 00:08:13,760 --> 00:08:16,600 Speaker 1: the concept of a city. Woodrow explained it to him, 131 00:08:16,600 --> 00:08:19,040 Speaker 1: and then Cold said that his people referred to cities 132 00:08:19,080 --> 00:08:23,480 Speaker 1: as gatherings. Cold kept smiling, mouth never moving through this 133 00:08:23,600 --> 00:08:27,120 Speaker 1: whole conversation, and then finally he said, we will see 134 00:08:27,160 --> 00:08:30,200 Speaker 1: you again, and then got back into his aircraft and 135 00:08:30,280 --> 00:08:34,079 Speaker 1: flew away. As soon as he got home, Woodrow reported 136 00:08:34,120 --> 00:08:37,120 Speaker 1: all of this to the police. Unfortunately, he was just 137 00:08:37,240 --> 00:08:40,199 Speaker 1: another in a long list of UFO witnesses throughout the 138 00:08:40,320 --> 00:08:43,360 Speaker 1: nineteen sixties, but his story caught the attention of a 139 00:08:43,440 --> 00:08:47,160 Speaker 1: UFO investigator named John Keel, who found Woodrow credible when 140 00:08:47,200 --> 00:08:51,200 Speaker 1: compared to many other UFO witnesses. Woodrow lived a very 141 00:08:51,240 --> 00:08:54,240 Speaker 1: normal life prior to his sighting and was not prone 142 00:08:54,240 --> 00:08:57,520 Speaker 1: to making up stories. Then, once John met him, he 143 00:08:57,559 --> 00:09:00,600 Speaker 1: had him analyzed by a psychoanalyst who said that Woodrow 144 00:09:00,720 --> 00:09:04,520 Speaker 1: was not suffering from mental illness. John spent more and 145 00:09:04,600 --> 00:09:07,120 Speaker 1: more time in West Virginia, and while he was there 146 00:09:07,120 --> 00:09:10,760 Speaker 1: he met dozens of other people with similar stories. Woodrow 147 00:09:10,760 --> 00:09:13,280 Speaker 1: went on to be interviewed about his sighting multiple times 148 00:09:13,320 --> 00:09:16,880 Speaker 1: throughout his life, including on live TV in West Virginia, 149 00:09:17,320 --> 00:09:19,640 Speaker 1: and as the years passed by, he claimed to have 150 00:09:19,720 --> 00:09:23,079 Speaker 1: even more sightings of that same being named Cold who 151 00:09:23,120 --> 00:09:25,280 Speaker 1: told him that his first name was Indrid and that 152 00:09:25,320 --> 00:09:28,400 Speaker 1: he came from a distant planet. Now, if all of 153 00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:32,120 Speaker 1: that sounds too ridiculous to believe, John Keel thought so too. 154 00:09:32,480 --> 00:09:35,360 Speaker 1: He often found that his interview subjects had a believable 155 00:09:35,440 --> 00:09:38,839 Speaker 1: first sighting, only to share wilder and wilder stories as 156 00:09:38,920 --> 00:09:42,760 Speaker 1: time went on. John didn't believe in aliens, but he 157 00:09:42,800 --> 00:09:45,920 Speaker 1: did believe that some sort of psychic phenomenon was causing 158 00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:49,480 Speaker 1: these sightings. In his opinion, West Virginia just had too 159 00:09:49,520 --> 00:09:52,640 Speaker 1: many strange occurrences during this time for all of them 160 00:09:52,640 --> 00:09:54,840 Speaker 1: to be made up. Was it a case of the 161 00:09:54,920 --> 00:09:58,680 Speaker 1: researcher giving into his subject's delusions or is there something 162 00:09:58,720 --> 00:10:02,400 Speaker 1: out there in the woods. Well, if you're curious, make 163 00:10:02,440 --> 00:10:05,000 Speaker 1: a stop in West Virginia on your next road trip. 164 00:10:05,320 --> 00:10:07,720 Speaker 1: But if a mysterious aircraft lands in front of you 165 00:10:07,800 --> 00:10:10,920 Speaker 1: on the highway, it might be best to just drive 166 00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:18,000 Speaker 1: around it. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of 167 00:10:18,040 --> 00:10:22,000 Speaker 1: the Cabinet of Curiosities subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, 168 00:10:22,080 --> 00:10:25,559 Speaker 1: or learn more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast 169 00:10:25,840 --> 00:10:29,600 Speaker 1: dot com. The show was created by me Aaron Mankey 170 00:10:29,920 --> 00:10:33,360 Speaker 1: in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make another award 171 00:10:33,440 --> 00:10:36,959 Speaker 1: winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, 172 00:10:37,040 --> 00:10:39,640 Speaker 1: and television show, and you can learn all about it 173 00:10:39,720 --> 00:10:44,119 Speaker 1: over at the Worldoflore dot com. And until next time, 174 00:10:44,360 --> 00:10:47,040 Speaker 1: stay curious.