This Paranormal Life - #384 Thunderbird - America’s Mythical Sky Cryptid

Episode Date: September 17, 2024

When European colonists first landed in North America, they were anticipating the discovery of all manner of new animals of all shapes and sizes. What they weren’t expecting, however, was tales of a mythic bird, dozens of times bigger than anything they had seen before, with the power create storms and even shoot lightning from it’s eyes like the most powerful of Greek gods. They were fascinated and terrified by the indigenous people’s stories of the Thunderbird. But what if the Thunderbird isn’t just a spiritual belief or oral tradition, and rather a real living fossil roaming the mountain ranges of America? Time for Kit and Rory to investigate!Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and YouTubeJoin our Secret Society Facebook CommunitySupport us on Patreon.com/ThisParanormalLife to get access to weekly bonus episodes!Buy Official TPL Merch! - thisparanormallife.com/storeIntro music by www.purple-planet.comResearch by Ewen FriersEdited by Philip Shacklady Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why do vampires need ancestral soil in order to rest? How big can a bird be before it's not OK anymore? Answers to these questions and more on this episode of This Paranormal Life! Hello! Hey! And welcome back to This Paranormal Life. This is the weekly comedy podcast where every Tuesday you're joined by me,

Kit Grimmelvenna, and this guy sitting across from me, Mr. Rory Magic-Pars. How the hell are you doing today, Rory? I'm doing great, Kit. I'm just back from a little vacation, actually. Yes, man. I've literally barely talked to you. I basically just got in the door of the studio very recently and sat down, hit record, and we've not even really caught up.

Yeah, I mean, I only got back yesterday at 7 a.m. and by 9, I was at my desk on the work call with you and Phil catching up about the week. So I would say it's been quite a dramatic crash back to reality. That's not trillionaire. Grindset brother, well, where were you? Tell.

I was doing a bit of exploring around Southeast Asia and I won't go into too much information because Rory Power's private life is classified, of course. Okay. But shout out to all the Malaysians out there. What a great Mardeka this year, huh? Am I right? All right.

That's gonna play well with the Malaysian community. You are sick. I know. So. I'm a little, I have a little cold. Is it hot in here? No. Is it hot in here? No. Is it hot in the studio currently?

It's actually not at all. I know we were just blasting the AC and we had to turn it off. A shirt, so. So yeah, I'm just a little sweaty. Are drinking liquid paracetamol. Sure. In a lem sip.

Sure. A hot lemon. I'm trying to cough here, I'm fine. I'm gonna be, everything's gonna be fine. This is really hard to cut around, I'll be honest. Don't make me laugh while I'm trying to talk, that's what's happening. It's a comedy podcast, so that might be a little hard. Yeah, it was great.

It was really relaxing vacation. Don't make him laugh. And I am sick now. Oh good. And I don't necessarily know how the sickness happened or where it came from, but at one point on my vacation, I was bitten by a bat. All right. Well, yeah. This is going to be an interesting 50 minutes, guys. This is only hilarious because I think a few weeks ago,

we joked on the podcast about me being bitten by a bat in a cave. I was really bitten by a bat on this trip. I'm not joking. Yeah, this is a true story. I was at a coffee brewery where they make coffee from animal poo and a bat bit me. I'm aware of that coffee. Yeah. So there wasn't even a good taste to wash away the pain.

It was a cup of coffee poo. Imagine Rory paying £25 for this regional delicacy, a cup of this kind of mammal poo coffee, and then drinking it and being like, oh, this tastes horrible. They're like, yeah, what did you expect? It's made of shit. It's made of poo. I almost bought you a bag as a gift. Don't do that.

But I was like, you probably bought you a bag as a gift. Don't do that. But I was like, you probably can't have it as a vegan. Damn. It's not vegan. Because it's made by an animal called a Luac that I think eats the coffee beans. And there's a fermentation process that happens in the creature's stomach. Then it poops out the beans. That's paranormal.

Which are then harvested and then turned into coffee. That's crazy. The bat was huge! Nine feet tall and it bit me in the f***ing neck. So it was a vampire? No! It was a huge bat. It was like a fruit bat. You're not fruit! I don't know if you noticed that if you looked in the mirror that day. It wasn't a fruit bat, brother. Well, I was as yellow as a f***ing banana by day two. So I was halfway there and I bruised pretty easy. No, it's been hard, let me tell you, coming back. Not just because of the time difference, not just because I'm back to work, back to the desk. Back to broken Britain. Last night I slept for 11 hours straight.

Really? I woke up and I didn't even know who I was or where I was. My apartment is a bomb site because the last thing I did before I left was perform at Edinburgh Fringe. So I just got in and then left immediately. So there's shit all over my apartment. Not that kind. Which had to be packed into bags and brought to the studio this morning Because we're here we're going right into a recording trip

So I'm pulling out tote bags from under my sink trying to find one big enough to bring all the gear I whip one out which sends a bottle of cooking oil flying across my room. It hits the ground and Explode this is a true story! You need to sit down. So I'm trying to pack up cameras and microphones and XLR cables slipping on the ground like a cartoon character. It's pure chaos. The last 24 hours have been absolute chaos. But I'm here now and I'm feeling great. You didn't tell me you were sick. I don't want to get sick. I knew you wouldn't come if I told you. Right, yeah. Well thanks for that. We didn't hear anything about your trip by the way. So to get sick. I knew you wouldn't come if I told you. Right, yeah, well, thanks for that. We didn't hear anything about your trip, by the way.

So to be clear, I asked you- I think you know how the trip went. The only thing I mentioned was the bat. Was drinking poo coffee. That's the only thing you could tell me. All right, I guess that doesn't explain why you're sick. Oh my God, stop coughing. This is this paranormal life.

Don't talk while I'm coughing because we'll cut it out in post. But if you talk while I'm coughing, because we'll cut it out in post. But if you talk while I'm coughing, then we can't cut it out. Your throat is so strained. Your throat is so strained. I'll just how about this? Because look, there's going to be coughing in this podcast. I'll give you like a sign or something when I'm about to cough.

So, you know, to stop talking. And this is a video podcast, too, so it has to be reasonably subtle. I was going to do an audio one, so, okay. If the sign is coughing... Now! Now! Now! Okay. Way too sick to be recording about... Although I will say...

It's so hot in here! It's not hot. It is about 19 degrees centigrade. A monkey nibbled my ankle, too. We set a bad precedent on this podcast though, because in 2020 we were to be completely clear, isolating together because we lived together at that time. We famously podcasted remotely as in both in our separate bedrooms across with mic cables traveling across a hallway while one of us said, I think I had COVID, we didn't. I had it done next week. The isolation didn't work well.

Yeah, that is true. Yeah, you got it last of all and got hit hard. I got rocked. This is this paranormal. Everything tasted like poo coffee for six months. This is this paranormal life. This is the weekly comedy podcast where yada yada, we investigate paranormal tales,

deciding by the end whether they're really paranormal or not. I gotta take my shirt off. I'm sorry. Alright, we're gonna be naked by the end of this. On this paranormal life we of course talk about every aspect of the paranormal, from UFOs to cryptids, ghosts and ESP. And sometimes we go through phases, let's say. I was definitely on a UFO train for a while, fair enough, but recently Rory has accused me of being on a Bigfoot kind of phase. Yeah. Well I'm not saying I'm still in that because today is not about Bigfoot, but it is still in the camp of cryptids. And what can I say, this is

where TPL really began, just cryptid hunting, finding unknownasts. Yeah, hey we all go through phases. I think I'm on week three of covering underground cities for some reason. Don't know what that's saying about my... And we're still digging for a double yes, we really are. Yeah, so I'm not throwing any shade here. Well today we are diving into a very exciting cryptid case, after a couple of words from today's sponsors. And a reminder that every episode of this show, This Paranormal Life, is available ad free right now

at Patreon.com forward slash This Paranormal Life! Check out the description of this, you'll find the link to it. Rory, our story begins on the 25th of July, 1977. Ten-year-old Marlon Lowe plays outside his family's suburban home in Longdale, Illinois. It's just turned 8.30pm and Marlon's mum, Ruth, is just about to call him in for the night.

Roy, this is back in the day when parents had zero f***ing idea where their kids were at all times. Yeah, they just left the house and you saw them again at dinnertime when the bell rang. And sometimes just whenever they became a man. Yeah. My only restriction was home when the lights came on. That was my only thing. Yeah, that's that 90s parenting. It was like pre-digital. Now, it would be like, son, when your fit bit hits 12,000 steps,

it's time to come in. Back then it was like, at sundown, son, you'll have to come inside. Yeah. For the temperature of the cool winter's night will be too much. There was less that they had to tell their kids, you know, don't get in a van with strangers, don't drink alcohol. Now parents are probably like, don't spend all your Bitcoin on porn. Yeah, don't spend all those Robux in one place. Yeah. Yeah, these days everyone is a helicopter parent.

They're strapping Apple airtags to toddlers like they're on house arrest. Does your daughter have an airtag? She does not, but that is because her legs are small and she cannot get far before her daddy kind of hunts her down. She kind of makes her run. I don't want to make this sound like a hostage situation, but if she tries to run, she can try. It does sound a bit like a hostage situation.

She's two. She needs my protection. She needs my love and so on. So it's a good thing. But honestly, between you and me, even if she could find a way out of the house, she wouldn't get far. Okay, sounds like she is trying. Yeah, because she's two, like I said. Rory, when you grew up in the 90s and 2000s, one time I went for a sleepover at your house. I was in Kyrgyzstan for three months before my parents called your mum to find out where I was. I actually don't think I ever had a sleepover at your house.

No, that's not true! I did once when my mum locked me out of my house. Accidentally. Accidentally. Do you remember this? No. You dropped me... No, I'd been dropped home and my mum was asleep upstairs and my entire house was locked and my phone was dead. So the only thing I could think of at the time was to take out my Nintendo 3DS and connect to my house Wi-Fi to send you a message.

A f***ing Picto chat? Or a f***ing a letter of Animal Crossing? I don't know, maybe it was like Twitter or something? You might have been able to use Facebook to ask if I could come stay at yours and you let me sleep at your house. That is the most Tumblr-era shit I've ever heard. It was crazy. Yeah. I did read recently that the director Harmony Corrine had been collaborating with the musician Beryl, but Beryl is a notoriously anonymous individual. No one really knows who Beryl is.

And so the director Harmony Corrine was like, yeah, I never got to like talk on the phone with him or anything. He only communicated with me by PS5 chat. So whenever he would send me files for our like movie we're working on, it would be entirely by PS5 chat. I can't tell if I'm getting old, but I don't know a single person you just mentioned in that conversation. Harmony Korean directed Spring Breakers. Speaking of Spring Breakers, how about we spring to a little break right now so we can turn on that AC, cool off the studio. Yo, we actually just had a break. Now, now, now. of the studio. Yo, we actually just had a break. So...

Now, now, now! I don't know, alright, I don't know if I'm getting sick. It's slightly warmer than I was giving you credit earlier. That might be me. I hopefully I am not getting sick. Did I mention I have a video of the bat biting me? You shouldn't. Do you want to watch it?

Stop the bat rather than get the angle with your iPhone. I couldn't stop him because on my other hand was another bat. There were two bats on me. I'm not joking. We haven't even got into the story whatsoever. Okay. We have to continue. Okay. We can save the bat video for the evidence portion of today's case.

Like I say, Little Marlin is playing outside, like Little Rory in the year 2000. Now where is that boy? There's still chores needing done and it's getting dark out there. Bless him, he loves the outdoors. Yep, that's where a boy ought to be alright. Breathing in the summer night air, exploring God's green earth. After all, what's the worst that can happen? Just then two giant shadows moved across the yard.

All right. Oh, shit! Marlin, no! The 10-year-old is playing, blissfully unaware of the two enormous birds that swooped down. Grab Marlin and their talons and take off into the sky. Mom! Mom!

Help me! The birds are huge, eagle-like, almost six foot long with a wingspan of 10 to 16 feet. They are almost completely black, with white rings around their necks and a huge hooked beak six inches long. Marlin, Marlin, mama's here! You let go, you horrible turkeys! But thank God the birds were rattled enough by the screaming and grabbing of Ruth that they let go of Marlin before they really gained any height.

Now presumably Marlin fell into a tree and Looney Tunes style hit every branch on the way down. Wow, so they got pretty far with this little guy. Yeah, apparently as much as, yeah, sort of 50-60 feet. Oh my God, that's insane. Grabbing her son, Ruth watches as the two monster birds fly down the street and then sharply rise into the sky before disappearing into the clouds. Wow, this is like some kind of prehistoric beast. Some sort of legendary Pokemon. Two interesting lines of thought,

which we might get into shortly. This story was reported in the local press at the time and several experts were consulted. The problem was no known species of bird seemed to match the description fully. And gradually people started to label the low story and the family hoaxers. I mean that's a hard thing to hoax, right? Because it's not like they're trying to say we saw a species of bird that may not exist because, oh, it was black and it had white rings around its neck. And typically birds of this nature are only seen in this portion of the world.

The thing was the size of a Boeing 737. We wouldn't know if a bird like that existed. The boy either has giant gashes from the talons in his spine or he don't. Yeah, check for eggs. Are there any enormous eggs around the household? But maybe the naysayers had been premature because as the weeks went by, our sightings were reported. In different locations around the country. Then more and more again. Was it possible that this terrifying interaction wasn't a hoax at all, but simply an encounter with the ancient cryptid known as the Thunderbird? Now I have heard a little bit about this creature before. If you search our inbox, this must

be a case that's been suggested a number of times. Uh, that's a good point, and I have just checked. We have had it suggested a number of times over the years. Actually, interestingly, mostly via a different case. Not really what I was expecting. Most people have suggested this because it is one of the many things that rolled into the Bridgewater Triangle investigation. Wow, I didn't know that. Um, which I think in the one of the many things that rolled into the Bridgewater Triangle investigation. Wow, I didn't know that. Which I think in the investigation of the Bridgewater Triangle, we didn't talk about that much at all. I think there was so much other stuff happening, we didn't really spend time

on the Thunderbird. Although I will give a brief shout out to Dustin Silver, who emailed us all the way back in 2020, kind of going on the record about his time in the US military, a couple of branches of the US military, and he hasn't gone into many details here, but he does mention in his email, I've seen the mythical Thunderbird of the Sacramento mountains. What? So I'm going to need to sidebar with Dustin, kind of pick up that email chain after four long years. Whoa. But you't send any attachments or anything with that? There was just a JPEG of a gun, I shouldn't have talked about that. So it has been requested a few times and it's finally happening. I think Rory, your knowledge of this case is

probably similar to mine before I started researching it. Quite vague. Kind of a large, mythical bird-like creature. Well, the legends of the Thunderbird go back very, very far in history. That's because in Native American cultures, particularly in the Pacific Northwest, the Thunderbird is of great importance. It's represented in art, songs, stories, and famously at the top of totem poles. The Thunderbird is a powerful kind of godlike creature and is described as being much like a huge bird and quite eagle-like. Wow. Here's just a little reminder, because I thought this was dope, what a Thunderbird might have looked like upon a totem pole. Hell yes. Okay, because that I feel like is very familiar iconography,

like the wings at the top of the totem pole. Didn't realize that was a Thunderbird, or I guess it is in some cases. That's really cool. Legend has it that the Thunderbird has a profound effect on weather. The flapping of its huge wings can create storms, hence Thunderbird. And in some stories, lightning shoots from its eyes.

Whoa, okay. That's one step above just being able to make storms happen. You can shoot lightning bolts from your eyes? As we've seen time and time again on TPL, the white colonists of North America encountered these kind of indigenous legends like Skinwalkers or the Thunderbirds and treated them as mythology but before long they would see things and hear stories that would make them wonder if the Thunderbird was really confined to stories. And so like Bigfoot, paranormal investigators and cryptozoologists believe that the Thunderbird

stories are actually evidence of a huge, undiscovered flying creature, yet to be recognised by modern science. Wow, I like this idea a lot. I mean, if it does exist, it's going to be hard to miss, right? A bird the size of a Toyota Camry in the sky? Yeah, I mean, let's bring up one of the most relevant to us mentions of the Thunderbird in popular culture, the Pokemon Zapdos. Yeah, Zapdos is 100 million percent based on the Thunderbird is legendary

Pokemon within the first generation of the Pokemon franchise. And Zapdos is just a it's exactly what you get on the tin. It is a lightning thunder type Pokemon. Yeah. A giant mythical bird. But it is dope that even in the Pokemon universe, it's considered mythological. Yeah, yeah, yeah, the legendary birds.

Yes. Yeah, so it's cool to see that in pop culture for sure. And like you mentioned, we should be seeing these things if they are indeed that big. Yeah, Ash Ketchum sees, I think episode one notoriously of the Pokemon cartoon. He actually sees a Ho-Oh, the legendary bird. Okay, well there you go.

There you go, so just get your facts right. Oh yeah, that's dope because Ho-Oh was generation two of the series. Two, yeah that's right. That's actually pretty dope. Yeah, cause they say there's Pokemon we don't even know about yet, and it shows the ho-oh. And it's like, well, you should, because he flew over Professor Oak's f***ing lab,

and Professor Oak was too busy. That f***ing nerd was too busy looking through a microscope at eggs or whatever. He didn't even see what was in front of his very eyes. Aren't you a professor of Pokemon? Isn't that your old thing you should know about most of the Pokemon in the world? Not sure one thing.

Maybe that was way shadier than we think it was because he was just giving monsters to children. A lot of them could kill a child, for sure. Charmander was just a lighter with legs. Don't give that to a child! A sentient Zippo, yeah. Someone should have been keeping an eye on him. And I think you remember, Pikachu didn't like Ash. with legs. Don't give that to a child. A sentient Zippo. Yeah. Yeah, someone should have been keeping an eye on him. And I think remember Pikachu didn't like Ash. No. Pikachu

could have killed Ash with the flick of his tail. Yeah, Pikachu was basically a defunct butterfly knife that should have gone in a bin and he was like, you know what, I'll give you this one. Why not? Should have gone in the bin. Here's an electric pellet gun. All right, go on on start your adventure. But I do see, I mean, Professor Oak, he was pretty cut up about it though, wasn't he? Like wasn't the point like there was no Pokemon left for Ash? Yeah, because he slept in. And then he was like, oh, I think I got some leftovers in the back of the freezer.

Let me get out this failed genetic experiment known as Pikachu. It's Stitch from Lilo and Stitch. It's just a chemical mutant. It's broken, yeah. As I say, people believe that this thing is still soaring through the skies of North America, but in tiny numbers, a bit like Bigfoot. And it's not just the Marlin Low case that proves this. Winding the clock back to April 26th, 1890, we're now in Tombstone, Arizona. Oh boy. An iconic Wild West town.

We're now in birds nest Tennessee. Wonder what we'll find. Here the excellently named newspaper, the Tombstone Epitaph, printed a story about something very strange seen at the Tarn's limits. The headline read was found in the desert between the Wetstone and Huachuca mountains last Sunday by two ranchers who were returning home from the Huachucas. The creature was evidently exhausted by a long flight and when discovered was able to fly but a short distance. After the first shock of wild amazement passed over the two men who were on horseback and armed with Winchester rifles, regained sufficient

courage to pursue the monster and after an exciting chase of several miles succeeded in The man determined that the beast was 92 feet in length. What? It was 50 inches in diameter. Weird way to say that, but that's fine. Monster had two feet, the head was 8 feet long, and the jaws were set with strong, sharp teeth. Each eye was the size of a dinner plate, and once they were able to get a wing folded out and straightened it was 78 feet long Wow

Mickey making the wingspan from tip to tip stay with me here 160 feet the wings were nearly transparent with no feathers or hair The same as the entire body. And this was relatively smooth. Sounds like a bat to me, brother. Yeah. Let me tell you. You're like, can I just double check this thing wasn't in the Moonlight Bar in Kuala Lumpur

last week? I just have to ask to be completely sure. Do these ranchers know what a foot is? Because I know they had schools in 1890, but I just need to be completely sure. Do these ranchers know what a foot is? Because, you know, I know they had schools in 1890, but I just need to eliminate the possibility that they think a foot is an inch. I don't think they know what anything is. They said it looked like an alligator,

and then they started talking about the wings and the beak. They said it was like a bird before going on to say how it doesn't have any feathers and has leathery skin. I mean, we should get into it right here, which is this is a bit of a different thing, isn't it? Yeah. This is, is it possible that we are dealing with some kind of living fossil? We've seen it in other cases where, you know, is this a kind of paranormal cryptid in the sense that it's a creature entirely unknown to man? Or is this creature literally like a pterodactyl that never died?

Yeah, this is some Game of Thrones shit. This is a dragon. Mother of dragons. Yeah, I've never heard of this before. This was like the only dinosaur that was flying when the meteor hit. He was like, I'm just going to go up and see if the sun's coming out today. They're dragging on the clouds. And he kind of like soars up and he's like, yeah, it's looking pretty good up there.

Hey guys, I think that... Oh shit. It's just flat, flat fire in a crater on the earth below. Hey guys, I was thinking of eating a mammoth for brunch. Oh shoot. This is pretty wild stuff. But Roy, this article is archived in the Library of Congress. You can read it and granted, I don't know how that library works, but I think everything

in it is true. Definitely not. I think they do probably archive all newspaper clippings from certain areas. But I think we've learned from the past that newspapers at this time were not necessarily ever held accountable for whatever they said. Huh, yeah. I think between the Giants and the Grand Canyon episode on this, I think we're learning, if anything,

that newspapers in Arizona were printing whatever the f*** they wanted. Yeah. This was far from the only case of huge flying beasts during the end of the 19th century. It turns out there were similar news reports from Maryland, Missouri, Hullton, I don't know where that is, San Francisco, San Diego. There was actually a lot of sightings in, you know, Hullton, East Ankle, Gungnion, Rungle Snatch, Bonkton and many more places. I can't tell if those are real places or not.

They are not real places. Okay. The point was there was more sightings around America, which leaves us in a sticky spot because right now what we've got is many sightings of the Thunderbird in a few different locations, several newspaper reports and witnesses. All we're missing is a photo really right now. Yeah. This is an interesting place to see a creature like this. I mean, is America really known for its big birds outside of Sesame

Street? All right. Well, yeah. You know, but I was out of Sesame Street. No. I was like, is it, is it known? We got the biggest bird of all time. You know, outside of Sesame Street, what about, like, I guess eagles. They're pretty big. Yup.

Ostriches aren't really native. You get some in zoos, you know, and things like that. But I mean, like, and they're not even airborne. What's the biggest airborne American bird? It might be an eagle biggest bird I know I don't want to know about an ostrich biggest air Flight bird biggest flying bird the albatross of course. I knew that I will say I did know that I actually knew that

Because of a movie which has a very strangely similar theme to today's episode. Did you ever see the children's animated movie The Rescuers Down Under? Yes, a long enough time that I don't really remember. It is about a group of crime-fighting mice called Miss Bianca and Bernard. I believe are their names. And in the sequel to the original Rescuers movie, this one go down under to Australia because there's a boy who's been kidnapped because he discovered a giant bird. And he's living with this giant...

Is that not by the bird? No, they're friends. He like hangs out, rides on the back of the bird, but then the bird is poached by a hunter who also then kidnaps the boy. Um, it's weirdly relevant to today's case, but at one point they ride on the back of an Albatross. I'm going to have to cut that from the, I thought that was fact that was in the back half of my script, to be honest. Most of today's witnesses are mice.

I'm going to believe this. Yeah. Mrs. Bianca. I think she was quite high society at the time in America. A movie star actually. I once saw a seagull steal an entire kebab down at Brighton Pier. That was a pretty big bird.

It probably could have taken a child. Yeah, I don't know if people know that, because it seems all the tourists don't. That, you know, there are places in this country that we call the UK where the birds don't f*** about. No, they're the mob of the skies. They are criminals. They're active criminals. And if you eat near them, they will take it out of your paws. And I know what you're thinking. They can try. They will do it. Every tourist thinks they can't do it.

They can do it. They are faster than you think. They are stronger than you think. They are stronger than you think. I've seen them work together. I've seen one seagull hit a tourist. One stand behind them, trip them over. And when the chips go flying, the other seagulls kind of swoop in like it's a military operation. I've seen them commit bank fraud. Oh, yeah. I've seen them steal a pin number out of someone's hand.

Actually, one of the last times I was on Brighton beach, because I do love Brighton, I really love Brighton, I once cycled to Brighton from London. Wow. Don't recommend it. No, I do. It was good, but it was really hard. And I got there and I was so hungry. I was just, it was in that era when I like, I didn't know what sports, I thought sports nutrition was like, you drank an extra cup of coffee that morning before you exercised. So I was so hungry after my 50 mile bike ride that I, I was like, food, food stumbled to Brighton pier. Got my like takeaway, I got like a burger and fries or something like that.

I got like a burger and fries and took it to Brighton pier. Well, I didn't really think about the bird situation, but the friends I was with, they started getting got. They started getting gone got by the birds. The birds were sniping people, destroying tourists, taking entire bags of chips with them. Oh yeah, it's like Jurassic Park. But I went so feral.

I tapped into some like caveman DNA. I was like, I wish a seagull would. I wish a seagull would try and take this burger out of my hand. I will break your neck. I understand this is a vegan burger and I'm not supposed to kill animals. I will kill any seagull that steps to this burger right now. And they didn't, they didn't, I think they could sense my aura of like, don't go home, boy. He's in a weird place mentally. He's growling. Just go for the easy pickings.

Right, right. That's what I thought was going to happen with the bat. I was like, I dare you to have a nibble. I dare you. Rory was dangling his arm. Oh, look at that little drumstick. That's juicy and delicious. Yeah, they're aggressive over here. The gulls. They really are. I am getting off track.

The fact of the matter is, we are at an interesting juncture, but what we need right now is some kind of physical evidence of this beast to really push us into more intriguing territory. Eggs! That's what I want! I want a 20-foot f***ing scrambled egg! All right, all right, no. We'll see, maybe, about photos.

Yum yum, get the sourdough ready. More on that in the beast. After the break, yeah. After a couple words from today's sponsors, yes. It's gonna take a few seconds to prepare this thing. It's enormous. So you take a little break, listen to some ads, and when you come back, hard boiled or sunny side up.

No, no, no, no, no. What do you want, guys? No. How'd you like your evidence served? I would like it on a slice of white with some salmon I'm very ill Acas powers the world's best podcast. Here's a show that we recommend. On set with from HGTV and Max takes you behind the scenes of the most iconic on-screen worlds

with the people who made them real. I'm the production designer. Director of photography. Costume designer. Set decorator. Find out how these spaces that live rent-free in our minds came to be, and provide the perfect backdrop for our favorite TV shows like Friends, True Detective, and more. Listen to OnSet With on Macs or wherever you get your podcasts. Acast helps creators launch, grow, and monetize their podcasts everywhere.

Acast.com. Okay, we are back. Rory, this is the moment you were waiting for. Yum yum. Are you... No, not that moment. Yum yum. You're holding an invisible knife and fork. No, no, no. I need some protein.

I'm talking about a photo. Oh, of an egg. Not of an egg. No. Of the beast. You should want to see the beast, not the egg. No, no, no. I need some protein. I'm talking about a photo. Oh, of an egg. Not of an egg, no. Of the beast. You should want to see the beast, not the egg. No, I guess. Because I could technically show you any egg,

and unless it had something there for scale, you wouldn't even know how big the egg was. Right, I would get excited too. It's not a bad shot though, because a fossilized egg or something could be. Anyway. A picture of the bird. That is, yeah, you're right, that is better.

There is a photo that is associated with the story of the tombstone Thunderbird. Do you want to see it? Yeah. This is only going to be extra crazy because these motherf***** killed the bird. They shot it dead. So I assume this is almost like a hunter's selfie,

a trophy shot. Witness it now. What the f**k? What is this? What are you showing me? Pretty f***ed up, right? This is not real. I don't think you want that scrambled. This is... no I don't. No, well first off, this is so far removed from being a bird. This is a... yeah, it's a pterodactyl. It's a prehistoric monster. It is. It does have bat wings as well, which I recently touched. Okay, fun fact. I can tell you a little bit about what that's like. Yeah. It's gross. It's not. It's just as gross as you think

it would be. The bat wings skin. Please get back to this image. image This is it's almost comical looking how just clear this picture is is a Photoshop. It's it's clearly a Photoshop It's got it. Are you it is it's a black-and-white photograph of a lot of men who are from the 1890s Probably Arizona standing around holding a pterodactyl. Yeah by its wings. Yeah, that's what it is standing around holding a pterodactyl, yeah, by its wings. Yeah, that's what it is. Well, we admitted it. Sorry, no, but I want this to be clear. When you said that this is a picture that is associated with the original story, just to clarify, this isn't a picture that was posted with the original story in the newspaper.

This wasn't posted in a... Oi, Shakespeare! This wasn't posted in a... Oi, Shakespeare! A real master wordsmith, I see. A real command of the British language. This is in a newspaper clipping from the 1800s. Smoked salmon with my egg.

This is not. This is a Photoshop from the now. Hey, this isn't the first paranormal case this guy's investigated. Let me tell you that. I have to come clean. Yes. What I will say is I made this. It's a bunch of action men holding a toy.

If you research the tombstone Arizona Thunderbird, yeah, this is the photo that appears everywhere. This has been shared around the world for years now as being the photo that appears, okay? Everywhere. This has been shared around the world for years now as being the photo taken in 1890 of the captured beast. This photo was in fact created and uploaded to Flickr in 2010. By a guy who was openly admittedly at the time, he was like, hey, check out this cool Photoshop job I did.

I just love cryptozoology. And I thought it would be dope to create such a thing. Which I have time for. As long as you're not trying to pass it off He was like, hey, check out this cool Photoshop job I did. I just love cryptozoology. Yeah. I thought it would be dope to create such a thing. Which I have time for. As long as you're not trying to pass it off as being authentic paranormal evidence. Yeah, well, it doesn't matter what he thought it was gonna happen because people thought it was real.

That's the problem. No, you did. He muddied the waters. Yes, I'm muddying the waters now. And am I gonna use that image when I tweet about this episode coming up? You bet I am.

But what I will say is that guy weirdly predicted the trend now, 14 years later, of AI cryptozoology pictures. Have you seen these? I don't think we've ever talked about this. I have, yeah. This is a real thing. This is a very recent thing. Yeah, I actually follow at least one account that does like a sci-fi alternative of this.

It's kind of like diary entries recorded from like public service announcements from like futuristic fantasy monster worlds and things like that. It's actually quite cool. Yeah, annoyingly it's all quite dope. Yeah, but basically... It's got a bit of AI stink around it, but I'm like there's enough legitimate creativity involved in this process that I'm willing to look past the certain aspects of the creation process. If you haven't looked at such a thing, it is basically people using AI generative tools like Mid journey to create sci-fi images, which in many cases have a retro feel.

So to give you an example of that, people have realized that mid journey isn't necessarily amazing at like fooling people into making real modern images. Yeah. It's really bloody good at faking black and white old images. Old timey photographs.

Yeah. So people have made like, you can, if you Google it, you can see like Eisenhower shaking hands with the Babadook. It's pretty dope. I'm not going to lie. You know, it'll be like it'll be. And then, yeah, like you say, people will be creating fictitious scenarios. It'll be like, oh, when America signed a space treaty with the Gorgons.

Yeah. From planet Klaxon. And it's a photo of them all, like on the White House garden. And it looks very real. It's pretty cool. Way more real than an artist's interpretation. Yeah, yeah, it's pretty creepy stuff. And that's very similar to what's going on here.

This is what this guy was doing, but back in just the Photoshop days before Mid Journey. But unfortunately for this guy, people like us are dumb. And a lot of people have believed this and it's been as I say attached to this story when in reality There was no image that ran with the tombstone, Arizona Article back in the day which is disappointing because they shot and killed the thing

So presumably they had it well, right it might not actually be the end of the story of the tombstone Thunderbird. We'll get to that in a second. Because no history of the Thunderbird would be complete without a guy called Hiram Kranmer. Not real. A retired postmaster from Clinton County, Pennsylvania. Sorry, what was that name one more time? Hiram Kranmer. You made it up right now. for sure. You forgot to write a name down. First name Hiram. Hiram. Last name Kranmer.

Last name Salmon. He was a cryptozoologist. Back in 18, when was this? Actually in the early 1900s. Okay. And a dedicated paranormal researcher. I'm glad you've picked up on that because the whole story of the Thunderbird is quite early 20th century, 1900s. Okay. And a dedicated paranormal researcher. I'm glad you've picked up on that because

the whole story of the Thunderbird is quite early 20th century, which I really like. You couldn't be a cryptozoologist. Yeah, you could. In the early 1900s. Because cryptozoology is, you know, the study of creatures that are unknown to science. Early 1900s, there was a shit ton of creatures unknown to science. That was like half the animal world. Yes, so there was loads of cryptids. But you were just a regular zoo man.

You were just a regular. You were just a zoologist. You were just a zoologist. Sure, but let me jog your memory back to our case looking into the Patterson footage. And remember, we discovered that this all happened in the 60s. Yeah. And those guys, like those guys were writing pamphlets about Bigfoot in the 40s.

So this was a lot longer ago than you would think. I suppose. Yeah. And if you think back to when Europeans first arrived in America, which is hundreds of years ago, that was when they first encountered Tales of the Thunderbird. Yeah. I guess maybe just the idea of crypto-zoology being a profession seems a little silly this early on.

Well, no, like I said, he was a postman. He was a crypto-zoologist in his spare time. Okay. Didn't pay the bills. They didn't have Patreon or podcasts back then. And throughout his life, he researched UFO sightings, hauntings, and Bigfoot cases, and was passionate about Thunderbirds. He claimed to have seen not one, but as many as seven Thunderbirds through his life. Mostly in the, I don't like the tone of your voice, mostly close to his home in the mountains of northern Clinton County. He wrote in a

letter in 1959, I have seen seven thunderbirds beginning in April 1899, the next in 1902, the next was in April 1922 when one flew over and passed a pine tree halfway up the mountain and its wings were about 30 feet wide. I never mentioned it for 35 years, when on March 27th, 1957, a young man rushed in the house, saying something big is in the sky. It flew past that very same pine tree. I called the Legion in Renovo and asked if anyone had seen a big bird fly over Westport half an hour earlier,

a man who had just came in said it flew over Westport. I asked the wingspan, he said 25 or 30 feet. Now it is dope, like I say, that he was researching the Thunderbird well over a hundred years ago, but more intriguingly it is said that Cranmer had taken photos of his own of the elusive beast. Okay, yeah, I was going to say if you see this thing seven times. Right, right, fool me once. the elusive beast. It's even said that he may have located and tracked down the original Tombstone Arizona photograph and that he had had both in his possession when he died tragically

in a house fire in 1967, destroying all the evidence. Okay, yep, that was gonna be my first question. Yeah, the photos didn't survive the blaze. The egg was cooked. The egg was cooked in the house fire. How unlucky are we that the number one investigator of Thunderbirds in America of the last hundred years died in a fire with all this stuff going with him? With all the evidence, unfortunately.

Pretty unlucky. Yeah, you know, I was gonna say, why is it that this guy has just coincidentally seen seven birds, but I assume that was partially down to his research. Maybe he was visiting areas where the birds frequent. Maybe he thought he discovered some sort of nest location where you would see the birds more often.

That could be part of it. Otherwise, he's probably making it up. Um, but we won't have to think about that one until conclusions. Didn't I tell you? He's a postman. He's kind of outside all the time. Hey, let me tell you. I was going to save this story for the after party, but I think it's relevant enough that I should bring it up here.

Is it about eggs or bats? It's not about eggs or bats. But it is a story from my recent holiday, just to illustrate how these things can happen at any time. It was my last night before I flew home and I was at a rooftop bar with my brother Colin. And we were just talking away about nothing in particular. And I saw that it looked like he wasn't paying attention to me he was looking back in the sky staring at

something and I was kind of talking to him and I realized he wasn't paying any attention and then I also noticed that the waitress standing next to him was also looking up at the sky as well so then I was a little confused turned around I didn't see anything and I turned to them. So then I was a little confused, turned around, I didn't see anything. And I turned to them and I said, I was like, what was that? And Colin was like, oh, it's gone now. And the waitress, they were like chatting to each other. And I was like, what was it? What was up there?

And the waitress, she didn't really speak, she only spoke a little bit of English. I'm not joking, the two words that just came out of her mouth were... 30 foot bird. Were, alien ship. Ha ha ha ha ha ha. And Colin was like, yeah, it was a UFO. I was like, what the f*** are you talking about?

He's like, anyways, we've got three Mai Tais, and a couple shots of sun booger, you're like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, that's circle back. More chicken wings. Yeah, those are the words that came out of her mouth alien ship and Colin was like yeah it looked like it was a UFO up there and I was like why the f*** didn't you turn me around I was like I've been doing a paranormal podcast for seven years I've never seen anything I love that way just like sorry English not so good

alien spacecraft Mother I believe it was evens from the planet Serpo. Okay, you speak very well English Yeah, yeah, yeah that that was on my last night So my point being even if you're a postman just out and about doing your work You might be seeing birds in the in the sky My point being, even if you're a postman, just out and about doing your work, you might be seeing birds in the sky. You might be seeing UFOs. It can happen to anyone at any time. Not me, apparently. I only need more information.

What did it look like? What was... Apparently, according to them, Colin and our lovely waitress, Nava... You're a real piece of shit, you know, because you waited until the weakest point of my case. You waited for it all to fall on its ass. It's going pretty fine. For me, it's enough for me to come out and admit that there is no evidence. It all burned down into a house fire and some Italian lightning.

And then you're like, oh, here's, here's a lot of evidence actually for something completely different. Yeah. My own flesh and blood saw a UFO three days ago. You're a real piece of work. I'm removing this from the episode. Yeah, they said it was, they could see the underbelly of the object.

Oh, that's great. Yeah, yeah. And there was a series of lights arranged in a way that it couldn't possibly have been from a plane. And it moved kind of weirdly and then it disappeared into the clouds. All right, let's give that a yes then. All right, double yes for that. That's great. I didn't see it. So we saw the underside of it. So it was really f***ing close then.

Yeah, super close. Yeah. Great. Just past the old... How the f*** am I supposed to go back to talking about a bird that doesn't exist? Well, I assume you have like one last... Nope. ...smoking gun, one last little bullet in the chamber. The plate is empty, bro. It's Sardo no eggs. Sardo no scramble, smoke no salmon.

Yeah, I see you've got a picture of Zapdos up there. I think you were going to show that one last time. Did I talk about Pokemon already? You talked about Pokemon already, yeah. Can we cut to a break or something? Oh, hey, you want to watch the bat video? God damn it. You said we could use that as evidence.

Let's just run just Roy's holiday snaps for a slideshow for the rest of this episode. God damn it. So look, all the evidence being destroyed in a fire along with our chief researcher seems too convenient to be true. I will say paranormal researcher and biologist Ivan T. Sanderson, who we've talked about a number of times. Are we? Yeah. Yeah. He's a guy. He's a guy for sure. He's come up in a couple of cases.

I don't think even you want to be here. I can't even remember particularly the cases he's come up in the past right now. I would have to jump through the transcripts of our previous episodes. He was the director for the movie Rescuers Down Under. That's our key witness today. But he was one of those beautiful bastards who kind of lived in the early 20th century

who like was a legit scientist who also spent a hell of a lot of time investigating the paranormal and cryptids. Yeah, okay. But he visited Cranmer a number of times, including in the 60s, and claims to have seen Cranmer's evidence of the Thunderbird, but didn't have it himself and died in 1973. Wow. Hey, you want to talk about conspiracies and cover-ups? Lot of people dying as soon as they get a little crumb of evidence proving that the Thunderbirds are real.

Yeah, I kind of wish we had this breadcrumb trail of evidence in like a spicy US government case like Roswell, not gonna be in a Thunderbird. Okay, like I don't know how much the government gives a shit whether we know about lightning birds. Yeah, plus I just gotta come out and say it before we end the episode. Every time we say thunderbirds,

I'm thinking about the TV show with the puppets. Yeah, the puppets. That was a British thing, wasn't it? I think, I assumed it was worldwide. Was it? Okay. But maybe it was British. Yeah, it's so old.

I feel like I'm aging myself even talking about it, but yes, Thunderbirds is pretty damn famous. It was basically what the movie Team America was parodying. True, yeah. So I guess it must have been worldwide. Yeah, damn, so true. But look, when it comes to the Thunderbird, while these sightings and reports

have continued to the modern day, it hasn't really produced a ton of new evidence, photos, videos. It seems like the string of sightings that happened around Marlin's abduction in 1977, I'm just laughing at that f***ing toddler getting lifted into the sky, is the closest thing we have to

a kind of Thunderbird crime spree where this thing was caught. Right, right. Because three days after Marlin was lifted into the sky, a Thunderbird apparently abducted a 50 pound pig at Lawndale. What?! Not far from Marlin's house. And two days after that, the beast would be seen again, but this time captured on camera.

That's right, Police Chief John Huffer, he wasn't huffing glue, was kayaking on Lake Shelbyville when he saw a huge creature fly over the trees and for some goddamn reason he had a 16 millimeter cinecam in his kayak so he took this video. Holy shit I was not expecting video footage on today's podcast. Feast your eyes. 1977, many reports of giant living Thunderbirds were pouring into newspaper offices and TV stations across central Illinois. What do you think, Rory? 30 foot, 50 foot wingspan?

I mean, it's a regular bird, man. Huh? A regular bird? It's a regular bird, man. Huh? A regular bird? It's okay. Do you hear yourself? Chochi, by the tone of your voice, I can tell you also think it's a regular bird. What? Grrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgrrgr All right, all right and that that is ho-oh that is Zapdos that is no I forgot all the other Pokemon. That's also a different bird. Legendary bird

I wish you hadn't shown me this if this is evidence for today's case. I can't believe it's a pigeon That is a video of a pigeon flying across the sky. It's at least an eagle You told me that thing picked up a 50 pound pig. Well, I don well if you didn't like that then I'm gonna kind of switcheroo here that was a different bird probably because no because the bird lifted a ten-year-old and then another bird lifted a pig it wasn't the same bird it might have been the same bird and then this bird it might be different it might be a baby. Yeah. Of the giant bird.

Hey, I like that, actually. I didn't think of that. It looked like an adult, normal bird. Look, while local news outlets did show this footage on television saying it was a thunderbird. Yeah. Yes, experts from the Department of Conservation said it was a turkey vulture, which is commonly found in Illinois.

OK, that sounds like a mythical beast anyway. Let me tell you, you want to know how you know you got an ugly kid? If the bird that's been picking up 50 pound hogs accidentally grabs your child. That's how you know. God is a**. That's how you know. The Thunderbird thought it was a f***ing piglet. Yeah, the mother's reporting the crime.

If it is a crime.. Yeah, the mother's reporting the crime if it is a crime. It's not a crime for a bird to grab a child. We've discussed this many times in the podcast. Animals can't commit crimes. They can't. They can't. No. You see, for example, the case of an ant eater on trial for eating ants. Yes. Doesn't happen. Search it on YouTube. Um, the policeman's like, yeah, this is disturbing, but we have had a lot of recent similar cases, to be honest. She's like, really? Birds taking more children?

Children of the swine variety, potentially. Not really, children, children. Took other children from their homes? Oh yes, one home made of straw, one home made of brick, one made of hay. I mean I'm surprised the bird didn't wedge your son between a f***ing bun and put muscle and ketchup on it because he is a f***ing piglet. He is pork to me. This is the whole f***ing police precinct roasting his ass. Yeah the mom's like, aren't you the one profession in the world that's constantly called pigs?

Oh, that's enough. Oh, that's enough. I think she's a knight in a cell. That's our word. We're allowed to say it. You can't. Alright, Rory. I don't think you were really won over by that 16 mil cinecom footage

taken from a kayak in 1977. No. I really bigged it up into being something as well. Where is your head at this juncture? We've taken you on a bit of a wild ride through the history of the Thunderbird. We know its origins. That much is very clear. The Native American origins go back, I think there's evidence of like paintings or drawings of this going back at least four thousand years. This is a legit ancient mythological cryptid, but when it comes to actual sightings in the kind of semi-modern era, it starts to fall really short and the physical evidence has been lacking too. Where's your head at?

This is a tough one. I know you said the legends have been around for a long time, but it is a bird. Birds have been around for a long time. Am I right in saying that birds are dinosaurs? No, but I think what you mean is dinosaurs are ancestors of birds. I think they're technically dinosaurs, and that's why dinosaurs aren't extinct. They are extinct. Birds aren't dinosaurs. I think they are technically dinosaurs and that's why dinosaurs aren't extinct. They are extinct. Birds aren't dinosaurs. I think they are.

They're related. They're related genetically over millions of years. I think we're saying the same thing. You're not a fish, but you came from the fish. I swim. I swim pretty good actually. So I'd say that we're pretty close. I'm fine.

But what I'm saying is this this imagery has been around for a long time. And just as we saw in that video right now, it's very hard when you're looking at the sky to gauge the size of a bird. It really is. So that video could have been a thunderbird. That was a crow. That was straight up a crow. It was at least a vulture is what he says. I saw it land on a tree branch and the leaves didn't move. It was so small.

Fair play. It was a hummingbird. Fair play. So this is a little bit tricky. With a creature this large, you want to see some evidence. When it comes to a paranormal creature like Bigfoot, for example, he lives in the woods. He lives in the wastelands.

He lives out in the middle of nowhere in areas that are very difficult to access by human beings, literally covered in trees. The bird, there's really nowhere to hide. Clouds, I guess. But if you exist and you're flying in a specific region, people are gonna see you. Not just a long time ago, 400 years ago, now they you exist and you're flying in a specific region, people are going to see you. Not just a long time ago, 400 years ago.

Now they're going to see you. Chapter two, invisibility. Did I mention the beast can be? I didn't mention that. I'm just a little skeptical that we haven't seen some, some photos and videos that are a little more convincing than this. Well, look, it shouldn't really be surprising. Longtime listeners of This Paranormal Life will know that

this is, I think, one of the most fascinating kind of worlds of the paranormal is the world of blending science, reality, and myth, and particularly indigenous myth of, say, America or whatever whatever other parts of the world. Places like Australia as well where there are oral traditions stretching back in Australia's case maybe 50,000 years. You get into real blurred lines of what is paranormal and what is myth. And long-time listeners of TPL will know that this is the territory we are firmly in. And we've seen this with Bigfoot, we've seen this with Skinwalkers, we've seen this with

Wendigo, we've seen this with Ni Thunderbirds, I believe. There's one researcher, Kevin J. Gould, he's not made up. Are you serious? Pick different witnesses if these are the names of all your witnesses. Not Gould, it's a ghost. G-U-H-L. Ghoul. This is crazy. You know, he neatly summed this up saying, I believe that this guy Cranmer was the first person to actually call

modern monster birds the Thunderbird, co-opting the term from the spiritual symbolic meaning from Native American beliefs. And it stuck becoming the go-to name for giant birds in modern cryptozoology. It's the old story here that people from Native American nations probably wouldn't really even recognize the descriptions of the Thunderbird we've been talking about today. In an interview on Aldubon.org, Navajo Nation citizen William Tosie says, whenever people ask me to explain the concept to them I say, okay do you have a lifetime? Because what you're asking about you'll have to come live here. Bad response. This knowledge needs to be seen in the bigger context in the larger scheme of things so evasive and unhelpful

He even said and this is annoyingly badass He said there are aspects of Thunderbird knowledge that are considered privileged and powerful and they just won't share with outsiders at all He says there are beautiful ceremonial stories associated with the Thunderbird, but we don't speak of those that have power. Okay, that's convenient. I mean, there's no point in us getting deeply into, we're talking here about the paranormal and cryptids today.

And I think that just goes to illustrate that they're talking about something quite different and which he just said, we're not really gonna understand if we're not, if we don't live that way, walk that walk, talk that talk, it's clear to me that Thunderbird of their belief system doesn't seem to be actually a giant pterodactyl terrorizing North America to this day. The only possible thing that they could be hiding that would be of any interest to me

is if they're riding the birds. What? If they're riding on they're riding the birds. What? If they're riding on the back of the birds. What are you possibly talking about? Rescuers Down Under style. If they're like, If there's some things that- You didn't explain any of that.

You just kind of went there in your head and then said half the sentence out loud. No, you were saying that they were like, oh, look, there's some things that I'm not allowed to tell you about that involve the birds. Are they riding the birds? Right. Like a, like a sandworm in June. Exactly. Yes. That's what I want to know. And that's the only thing that they could be doing that would be of interest to me. I think William Tzotzi is like, he's like, I know I said it would

take a lifetime to understand. I'll tell you that bit is no. That bit is no hard no on us quote, riding the birds. I see you brought a harness to Arizona and I just want to tell you, you're not going to ride a bird. You're not going to do it. So Rory, at the end of every episode of this paranormal life, we have to decide of course, whether our given paranormal case is a yes, it is real and paranormal, or no, it's not real or it's mundane or it's a hoax. In the case of the Thunderbird, do you think that the Thunderbird is a real paranormal cryptid

living in America to this day? You know, I really enjoy these types of episodes. As you said, Kit, where we investigate something that clearly originated in mythology, but whether or not that mythology was created around an actual living creature is part of the debate. And this is a cool one today because Thunderbirds I feel like have come up a lot,

maybe in my searches of the world of paranormal cryptids. So it's kind of interesting it's taken us this long to get to it. Have I done preliminary research and decided this was a dead end before multiple times? Who's to say? Alright. Who's to say? I'm just marking that a cough pill so we can remove that from the edit.

No, that was King Cough, and I think that should stay. I'm pretty sure some of my coughs have stayed. So I'm glad we finally got to take this one off of our list. I think it's what I said, it's always going to come down to needing a bit more evidence. We have stories. I actually do really like the newspaper report, throwing that in there. That was quite cool because that is outside of mythology and outside of the culture that's talked about this bird for a long time, this is something bespoke. And it's a little disappointing

that we don't have any photos. You know, because I think we've even talked about strange mythological creatures like the Hodag before. And I think maybe there was even a picture of that in a newspaper. Sure. And yeah, it looked like shit, but it was funny that we still had a picture to talk about

and, you know, we had something to talk about on the podcast. So to have nothing really today is a little disappointing, even if it was a hoax at the time, despite our... We do have our, obviously, our 2010 Photoshop. But I think I'm going to need a little bit more than that today. So I think, unfortunately, it's gonna be a no from me today. Yikes! I think that would make it a double no in the case of the Thunderbird. And this is coming from a guy who was recently attacked by a giant winged creature.

I don't give a f**k. I don't care. I don't want to hear about you getting bit by a vampire, a bat, a bug, a mosquito, a bird, because you had the opportunity. You, there, a UFO slapped you in the face and you were too busy drinking a Pina Colada to notice. I was delirious from the bite. I could barely lift my head.

I would have been rich if you had just filmed that and we had debuted it on the podcast. You know what the worst part is? As soon as they told me about it, because I've been in the game for so long, as as I heard Nava our lovely waitress say the words alien craft I 180 and my camera was activated and I was scanning the sky one 80 no scoped Trying to get a video weird that you still remember her name. You've been away for weeks so many waitresses. There you go That's me recording this guy's trying to catch a glimpse of it and I can't see a goddamn thing. Yo, I can't find that shit. It was it was so disappointing to be that close to a UFO sighting and to miss it. Yeah. We are gonna hear a bit more about Rory's

travels like I say on the after party! I mentioned that earlier, but this Friday, over on Patreon, like every Friday, we'll be going behind the scenes of this film. Here's the bat! I don't want to see that shit! Here's the bat! Don't hold it then! If you don't want to get bit by a bat, don't hold a bat! Rory is showing me a 4K video of him holding two bats. He's in a...

Bro. He's going for it. Look at that wingspan though, on the bat when she stretches it out. We're reaching Thunderbird territory here. We're not. Can I just... Wingspan of... I just want to... Where did that newspaper get off in claiming that the beast had a 160 foot wingspan? Because I've looked it up... It's a sign of a passenger plane.

And a Boeing 747 is 200 foot wingspan. So it is almost the size. They killed it with Winchester rifles. Oh, we're losing Rory. OK, like I said, on Patreon.com, there is a myriad of special rewards for listeners of TPL, where for as little as five bucks, you get access to a f***ing Disneyland universe. Kind of. Of TPL lore. Here's what I'll tell you. For fun, you know, of course, like everybody, check out all the new content coming out every single week.

Boom, boom. After parties, behind the scenes chats of this part of my life, monthly full-length bonus episodes, merchandise, et cetera. Slow down a little. Just for fun. I recommend for bants, just winding the clock right back to the beginning.

You can see the kind of scrappy beginnings of TPL of like, we used to write like blogs back in 2017. The entire history of TPL is documented on our Patreon. That's actually true. Unfortunately, I went to check recently and whatever updates have happened on Patreon over the years, all of the image links are missing. Oh, well don't tell them that. That's unfortunate. So it's kind of just- Well, the image links are missing. Oh, well, don't tell them that.

That's unfortunate. So it's kind of just... Well, the blogs are there, but we, yeah, we would have put in lots of funny pictures. Yeah. And like, look at this. And it's kind of nothing. So is it so wrong to believe that Cranmer... Cranmer lost the photos. Cranmer ghoul lost the photos. We lost our photos. And that was only seven years ago.

They burnt an additional fire. Damn it. Patreon.com is where you can see the entire history of TPL. And we are updating it every single week with new episodes. You promised me an egg. No I didn't. You promised me an enormous egg. Entirely your idea. I swear that happened at some point before the break.

You're just hungry. You're so sick. Your brain is just rattled and addled with bat fever, disco fever, mosquito fever. Yeah, I got bit a lot by mosquitoes as well. You've got malaria, man. Just figure it out. I got the dengue. Alright, just get medicine. I got the dengue.

Teach me how to dengue. Teach me how to dengue. The link is in the description. Just laugh! Because if you laugh, then we have to keep the coughing in. Oh, hey, don't worry, because I'm going to have what you've got next week. So on the next week of the podcast, you're going to be hosting. You're going to be healthy like I am not. I'm going to be sick. I'm going to be too hot.

And I'm going to be rambling and ruining the podcast. Thank you. I told you we should have cancelled. I offered you to cancel this podcast before the recording and you were like, it's fine, brother. I'm flying to London for 24 hours. Just don't get me sick. And here we are. Here we are.

The links in the description of this podcast. Click it and head over. Patreon.com. Thank you for listening to this episode all about the Thunderbird. Thank you, Roy, for being a good set of ears and not coming down too hard in this case. I really loved it. I really enjoyed it. I'm trying not to cough.

Okay. So that's why I'm taking pauses. We're back on Tuesday with a brand new Paranormal Tale and on Friday with the after party. See you then. No, actually I'm not done yet. I'm not. I'm gonna turn off the recorder now.

I'm gonna turn it off. I'm not done yet because I didn't get to talk about The Rescuers Down Under. No, we're done. Okay, we are done. Which is an amazing movie. Everyone knows, it's old. If you haven't seen The Rescuers Down Under, it's great.

It's Miss Bianca and a rat named Rupert. And they go on a little adventure to rescue a boy. Riveting stuff. It's set in the beautiful Australian outback. Do you remember that in the 90s, where there was a certain period of time where every movie was just about mice for some reason? They were like, hey, you know what kids love?

F***ing mice. Yeah, I kind of remember that. The rescuers down under, Basil the Great Mouse Detective, Fiefel goes west. Why were they all mice? Did anyone like mice that much? Why are you complaining? You were ranting, telling everyone what an amazing movie it was.

It is. It's really good. If you like mice, you're gonna love it. No one likes mice that much. They were always solving crimes as well, as if they would be any help in the human world. You know? Basil the Great Mouse Detective? Was he great at solving mice crimes or human crimes? Because if a member of my family gets killed in a hit-and-run accident, I'm not gonna hire a mouse to find the culprit.

I'm gonna hire a person a human cuz it wasn't hit by a mouse I wasn't shirt little going down the street at 90 miles per hour Probably gonna do some shit now that you've kept us rolling. I'm actually gonna do some shout outs for patreon. Okay. All right I'll just ask you to keep the mouse stock to a relative minimum It's gonna be hard because I'm just now that it's spinning, like there's a lot of questions in my head. Like, do the mice criminals go to human jail? Or is there some kind of prison specifically for rodents? Because their life is already kind of living in holes. And would their last meal be cheese before they get the

electric? What would kill a mouse? Thank you so much today to Justin Rice. Gotta change that last name to time. Justin Time, right? Right, Justin Time. Justin Rice? It feels like a real left turn of a phrase. Yeah, I don't know, I kind of like it.

It sounds like you're ordering something in a restaurant. Can I get the Justin Rice? You know, it's like, ooh, that sounds cool. What kind of rice is that? Right, because you've got Uncle Ben's rice. Yeah. Famous. And then you've got Justin's rice.

What's that? It's burnt. Okay. He burned it on the stove. Thanks also to Alfie Harness Gardener. Alfie is such an extreme f***ing gardener. He gardens in a harness gardener. Alfie is such an extreme f***ing gardener, he gardens in a harness. Woah. He's like Joey Jordanson in Slipknot Rest

in Peace Brother, just rotating 360 degrees using a head shimmer. Oh damn. All that kind of shit. Now that is something I can get on board with, much like extreme ironing and extreme wheelbarrowing. Hell yeah. Thanks also to Tammy Copfler. Tammy if you are a cop, can you tell me whether or not anyone else you work with on the force is a mouse? Because I am just confused. I know that there are mice detectives and mice investigators. Are there mice cops?

Were the biker mice from Mars police officers? I just have a lot of questions. They wore eye patches and stuff that obviously were more... Just let me know, Tammy. I'm interested. I will say Tammy Koppler sounds like what my daughter would call a helicopter. Tammy Koppler? Thanks also to Chris Rodriguez. They call him Chris Rodriguez because he sits on the street corner with one of those little...

Don't say he's a mouse. I'm going to kill you. No, no, no, no, no. He's got one of those little... Don't say he's a mouse. I'm gonna kill you. No, no, no, no, no, no. He's got one of those little cup and ball games where he like moves the ball around and you got a Rodriguez which cup it's in. I do like that game. It's pretty good. There is no ball. You should know that now before you play. So you will always get it wrong. Because usually what they do is... What a sick f it wrong. Because usually what they do is,

yeah, usually what they do is they'll like show you the ball and then put it in the cup. There was no, he doesn't have a ball. He just starts the game and you're like, well, I don't know which one it's, and he's like, well, you paid. So you guessed. Guess what?

Rodriguez. Rodriguez. Yeah. I didn't know your name, that's weird. Thanks lastly, but not leastly today, to Lauren Kenley. Lauren Kenley's mighty friendly, for a mouse. Oh no. Oh, save that cough there, brother.

I'm not coughing, I'm laughing at your joke. And also, she's a cop. So there are mice cops? Oh yeah. In this world? Because there's nothing cops love more than cheese. Because they're corrupt. Oh I see, alright. Because I'm talking about money.

I do want to Google just before we end this podcast, if I'm missing any mouse movies. Okay. Because there's got to be more. Okay so you do that and I'll thank Lauren for, so thank you Lauren for your support. The Patreon means a lot. Clearly Rory's head is just in the clouds,

he's way too busy researching things that no one cares about. Sorry, I just gotta do this cache test. It thinks I'm a robot. So I've been Googling a lot of shit about. Cache is a captcha. Captcha. I've been doing a captcha.

Your brain is. I'm doing a captcha. Thank you Lauren. Thank you to everyone. Oh my god, there's so many. Stop talking, for sure. And thank you to everyone who supported us. Thank you, Lauren. Thank you to everyone. We have shouted out today. Oh my god, there's so many. Stop talking, for sure. And thank you to everyone who supported us.

Thank you for everyone we're gonna give shout outs to. Next week, we'll be back with more shout outs from Tuesday. Look at Mouse Hunt. All right. Thank you everyone. You ever see that? We'll be back on Tuesday with a brand new Paranormal Tale. Ratatouille?

Yeah. That's another one. Not a mouse. Not a mouse. What do you mean, he's not a mouse? He's a. Not a mouse. Not a mouse. What do you mean he's not a mouse? He's a f***ing mouse!