The Monster Missive: Sn. 21 Ep. 1 & Sn. 21 Ep. 2 (Patreon)

Our weekly newsletter, brought to you by MAU team members, Delainey Bowers and Conor Ryan, every Friday.

-Show Notes Spotlight-

A more in-depth look at some of the research covered in this week's Tuesday and Thursday episodes.

Nothing is as comforting as when you’re laying down on the couch after a long day at work, only to have both of your cats run over to an empty corner of the room and stare at it from a distance for five minutes without moving. It’s a nice reminder that you are never alone and always watched by the ghost of that nice old lady who lived in your apartment before you! And sure, Elaine may have been a bit of a gossip in her day, but at least she keeps all the other spirits in your building entertained with stories about you dropping an entire bottle of olive oil on the ground or tripping over the cat toys you’ve left lying around. 

Now it’s a well-known fact that when our beloved pets have the zoomies they are actually chasing after demons to keep us safe, but just how many people actually believe that? According to a 2024 poll conducted by Blue Cross, an animal welfare charity,

42% of pet owners believe their cat or dog has seen a ghost

Owners overwhelmingly think their four-legged friend has the sixth sense, with 60% saying they can see things humans cannot

60% said their pet had stared at a space intently to warn them of a ghost

44% said their dogs had barked or growled at an empty space

32% said their pets have stood or sat still as if in shock because of the 'ghostly apparition'

41% of owners said they had experienced a situation where their pets’ unusual behaviour has coincided with an unexplained event in their home

On Tuesday’s show, we heard a lot of great stories about beloved pets who came back to visit their loved ones in one way or another, but we were also able to dig up a few other stories of famous pets who weren’t quite ready to leave the side of their owners. Here are just a few well-known animal apparitions as provided by NBC,

The Crescent Hotel (Eureka Springs, AR)

An orange tabby named Morris lived at the hotel during the 1970s and 1980s. “Morris used to greet guests from his favorite chair in the lobby. When he died, the hotel staff buried him in the hotel’s rose garden, but visitors over the years say he still sits in his favorite chair from time to time and has also been seen wandering around the rose garden.”

Other hotels known for their ghostly animals reports include the Tokeland Hotel (Tokeland, WA – phantom feline in Room 3) and the Marriott Plaza (San Antonio, TX – woman in white carrying around her beloved cat).

Los Angeles Pet Cemetery (Calabasas, CA)

Also known as L.A. Pet Memorial Park, this pet cemetery “is the final resting place for many of Hollywood’s famous animal actors including cowboy hero Hopalong Cassidy’s horse Topper and Petey the pitbull, who starred in the movie Little Rascals. But it's silent movie star Rudolph Valentino’s Great Dane named Kabar who is said to still walk through this hillside cemetery and playfully lick people who stop at his grave around Halloween.”

While we often think of our furry friends as having a special connection to the spirit world, we sometimes fail to consider…bees? Well, that’s unless you’re a beekeeper of course. Joanna’s story from Tuesday’s episode about some bees that took retribution on one of her friends after he peed on a gravestone reminded us of one of our favorite bits of folklore. From Wikipedia, “Telling the bees is a Western European tradition in which bees are told of important events, including deaths, births, marriages and departures and returns in the keeper's household.

In the USA, if the custom was omitted or forgotten and the bees were not "put into mourning," then it was believed a penalty would be paid, such as the bees leaving their hive, stopping the production of honey, or dying.”

Relatedly, bees are thought to have a special and sacred connection with the spiritual realm, wherein their ability to produce honey is seen as evidence of a divine gift. 

However, it appears that not all animal connections to the afterlife are positive. Now, to preface, we here at MAU tend to think that crows are pretty amazing and intelligent animals, but they certainly have built up a lot of ominous lore about themselves over the years. According to Folklore Thursday,

“Crows and other corvids have long been considered an omen of ill-luck or death. This derives from their tendency to scavenge carrion and devour the slain on battlefields.”

“Carrion-eating birds have long been considered soul-guides, carrying the dead into the next world. This dates back to ancient prehistory when the dead were excarnated (left for carrion-eating birds to devour).”

“The crow and raven are traditionally considered wise – they are in fact among the most intelligent birds – and this wisdom stemmed from their connections to the otherworld and the divine laws of harmony…”

“Jackdaws were considered sacred because of their propensity to nest in church steeples.”

And really, what’s more metal than both devouring the slain and then also guiding those same spirits to the next world? 

There’s truly an endless supply of famous phantom felines and devil dogs, so here are just a few of our favorites that we researched, but never quite got the chance to talk about on air:

The Ghost Cat of Péronne 

During World War I, French and British soldiers reported a ghostly white cat wandering the trenches near the Somme in France. It was seen as an omen of death since 

whoever spotted it was believed to be killed in battle soon after.

The Ghost Cat of Fairport Harbor Lighthouse

On the shores of Lake Erie sits a lighthouse that is home to the spirit of a long-deceased gray cat. According to the legend, the wife of the original lighthouse keeper lost her child to a mysterious illness and, in the depths of her grief, took in multiple stray cats, one of which was gray. Visitors claim to hear the cat’s quiet mews and have seen the phantom cat dart around the lighthouse grounds. 

The Ghost Cat of Old Mathis Plantation

“This plantation once had an abusive owner. A former enslaved person allegedly sent a black cat to haunt his master. Eventually, the plantation owner died, and the black cat came out to circle his coffin. It went on to harass the plantation owner’s son, too, and still today allegedly haunts the ruins.”

The Ghost Dog of Nuuanu

In Hawaiian legends, the Nuuanu Valley on Honolulu is home to a shadowy dog who trots quietly across the highway or through neighborhood front yards. Known as Kaupe, this dog of death was an omen of disaster and would readily maul any man or woman who crossed his path. 

The Ghost Hound of Goshen

“A legendary ghost dog in South Carolina, said to haunt a road in the Sumter National Forest, and believed to be the spirit of a dog who killed his master.”

Cassy the Golden Retriever

“A ghost dog reportedly seen at The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, known for bringing guests newspapers and picking their favorite guest to curl up next to.”

The Cadejo Blanco

In Central American folklore, the Cadejo Blanco is a benevolent spirit that appears to travelers who wander the roads at night. The white cadejo protects folks – most notably drunks and vagabonds – from harm or danger during their journey home.

On Thursday’s show, Rob reminded us that not everything in the sky is a UFO when he realized that the pinwheel craft that had been following his car was actually the reflection of a laser lightshow on the low-hanging cloud ceiling that night. 

Besides lasers, it also appears that failed rocket launches can also cause a spiral phenomenon in the sky.  In 2009, a spiral/pinwheel shape appeared over the Norwegian skies. It turned out to be a failed Russian mission launch, but it confounded scientists for several days. A similar shape was reported over Maine and New Hampshire back in November 2025. As suspected, it was also the result of a failed rocket launch. 

However, I wouldn’t feel too comfortable if I saw that shape in the sky just yet, since it seems like there are some more unexplainable experiences out there with those dastardly pinwheels. There have been 10 reports of pinwheel crafts submitted to NUFORC. The earliest came from Los Angeles, CA in 2000 and the most recent was from Flagstaff, Arizona in April 2026. So, yes, it could just be a loud rock show you weren’t cool enough to buy tickets for, but it could also be a rare alien craft getting ready to abduct you!

Speaking of mysterious objects in the sky, Ty shared a shocking encounter he had over the course of a few days with a UFO hovering over his mother’s house. One night, after he looked at the craft through a pair of old binoculars, the next morning he found that only those binoculars had been stolen from the glovebox of the car he was using. 

It reminded us of one aspect of one of the most famous UFO encounters of all time - the Barney and Betty Hill incident. One element that jumped out at us while reviewing the case was just how integral binoculars were to the story. First of all, before diving too deep into this, if you aren’t familiar with the incident we recommend that you take a look at its Wikipedia page to get an overview of it. From that same page, we were able to pull a few choice quotes that start to pull the focus towards the importance of these binoculars:

“Betty, looking through binoculars, observed an ‘odd-shaped’ craft flashing multicolored lights travelling across the face of the Moon.”

“Through binoculars, Barney observed what he reasoned was a commercial airliner traveling toward Vermont on its way to Montreal.”

“Using the binoculars, Barney claimed to have seen eight to eleven humanoid figures, who were peering out of the craft's windows, seeming to look at him.”

“Barney said that the leather strap for the binoculars was torn, though he could not recall it tearing.”

“Under hypnosis with Dr. Benjamin Simon (as was consistent with his conscious recall), Barney reported that the binocular strap had broken when he ran from the UFO back to his car.”

Then, from the book The Interrupted Journey: Two Lost Hours “Aboard a Flying Saucer” by John G. Fuller from 1966, we were able to pull some quotes that bring even more focus to the ones above (pun intended):

“[Betty] took from the front seat a pair of 7 x 50 Crescent binoculars she had brought along for their holiday scenery, especially Niagara Falls, which [she] had never seen before.”

“For a reason she couldn’t pinpoint, Betty asked him to put the luggage in the back hall, instead of having it in the house. He complied, then went to clear out the rest of the car. Picking up the binoculars, he noticed for the first time an unusual thing: the leather strap that had been around his neck the night before was freshly and cleanly broken in half.”

“I suddenly realized how I had broken my binocular straps. And I remembered for days after Indian Head, I had an intense soreness in the back of my neck. Listening to the tapes, this came back to me sharply – the violent thrust of my arms breaking the binocular strap.”

Then, the book Captured!: The Betty and Barney Hill UFO Experience has a few excerpts which mention that Barney, under hypnotic regression, found it difficult to put down his binoculars during the initial incident – almost as if the beings were compelling him to observe what was happening on the craft. 

If you actually want to listen to Barney Hill himself talk about this compulsion he had to observe through the binoculars, you can listen to this segment from his original hypnosis section. And to really zoom in and get a better picture, below is a sample picture of the model of the binoculars used that night. So if you happen to be birding at night and see something strange in the sky, maybe think twice before bringing those bins to your eyes.

We’re now going to take a trip back to yesteryear, so please for a moment flash back to the feeling of pulling your brand new Nokia flip phone from your low rise jeans to call your friend and plan who you’re both going to see at Warped Tour. On Thursday’s episode, an anonymous caller told the story of her flip phone bursting into flames the same night her and a friend tried to perform a makeshift exorcism on her haunted apartment. 

First of all, if we want to be totally, like, lame about the whole thing - here is the scientific explanation for why this might have happened as explained by a kind user on Reddit,

“Lithium is a metal used in many modern batteries for its light weight and high performance. It's also very volatile, burning even in water and nitrogen, so lithium batteries are packed into several layers of protective shells.

All electronics produce heat as electric current passes through them. If a device is very compact, it will transfer some of the heat to the battery; excessive heat may warp its layers, wearing out the internal structure. As a lithium battery wears out, its internal resistance grows, causing even more excess heat; it also emits flammable gases that bloat the shell.

If the emergency overheat shutdown malfunctions or you neglect a visibly warped/bloated battery, it may turn into a runaway cycle of heating, rupturing the battery and turning it into a fireball.”

However, there are also plenty of more mysterious cases of electronics performing self-immolation. One of the more famous instances is the Canneto di Caronia fires, as per the Wikipedia entry,

“Canneto di Caronia is a village in Sicily, home to roughly 150 people.

Events began on 23 December 2003, at Antonino Pezzino's home on Via Mare; Pezzino's television reportedly exploded. Similar malfunctions reportedly affected fuse boxes, air conditioners, kitchen appliances, computers, and electronic car door locks. 

Fires were also said to have struck wedding presents and a piece of furniture. At least one person was said to have observed an unplugged electrical cable ignite while he was directly observing it.

On 11 February, an investigation was announced by the local prosecutor. On 16 March, fires resumed, and investigators reportedly witnessed malfunctions in compasses, electronic car locks, and cell phones.

From January through to March, 92 fires were reported.

Explanations for the events have ranged from the mundane to the paranormal. Public speculation attributed the events to poltergeists, demons, or UFOs. In 2007, it was proposed that the phenomena were caused by intermittent electromagnetic emissions.”

If you want to go on an even deeper dive into the fires, The Unexplained Files did a segment on it, as well as the Youtube channel Lunar Librarian. 

One of the more startling stories from Thursday’s show was Elliot’s encounter with an apparent invisible creature at the same time as he heard a strange bass-note frequency. As a brief primer, this encounter took place at Neffs Creek, which according to Hidden Water is, “Less than a mile south of Mill Creek Canyon, Neffs Canyon was named after Franklin Neff, son of John Neff, who built the first flour mill [in the area].”

As our caller mentioned, Neffs Canyon is located within the larger Wasatch Mountains, which run 160 miles from the Utah-Idaho border and sit along the western edge of the Rockies. Neffs Canyon is home to Neffs Cave, which was discovered in 1949 by two brothers, John and Jamie Lyon. The National Park Service declared the cave to be too dangerous, and only experienced spelunkers are granted access to the cave. It’s currently the 2nd deepest cave in Utah and 15th deepest cave in North America. 

Based on our research, Neffs Canyon has been a hotspot for missing persons reports, hiking and mountain climbing injuries, wildfires, and avalanches. However, it also appears that it might be the stomping ground of a certain large, hairy hominid. There are two BRFO reports dating back a few decades that occurred in Salt Lake County. While they aren’t directly linked to Neffs Canyon, they are worth mentioning. So if you want to dig into the Bigfoot of the area, please look no further than:

BRFO Report 38797 (Butterfield Canyon – Summer 1970)

BFRO Report 28095 (Cottonwood Canyon – Summer 1964)

Unfortunately, there have been no other reports from the area of a glimmer-man like creature wielding an as-yet-unknown sonic weapon, but we will be sure to update you if one turns up!

One of the eeriest entries of the week was provided to us by Van, who heard carnival music coming from an empty cornfield while out on a 2 AM walk in Illinois. While we all know that this was clearly caused by killer clowns from outer space, we wanted to keep our options open. One tragic story this reminded us of is told best by the blog A Bottle of Ghosts,

“On June 22, 1918, the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus train was traveling over the South Shore tracks in Northwest Indiana on its way from Michigan to the circus’ next setup in Hammond, Indiana. The train had just cleared the city of Gary when the engineer of a rear-following troop train, Alonzo Sargent, fell asleep and ran his empty train – a locomotive carrying no less than twenty empty Pullman cars – into the back of the Hagenbeck Wallace Circus train. A fire broke out from the oil lamps used to light the Circus train’s sleeping cars, and the flames surged through the old wooden structures, destroying everything in their path. A staggering 86 people died and another 127 were injured, either from the impact or the resulting fire.  Many victims were burned beyond recognition.

Five days after the crash in Indiana, most of those killed in the wreck or fire were buried in a mass grave at Woodlawn Cemetery, in the Chicago suburb of Forest Park. Just a few months before the disaster, the Showmen’s League of America had purchased a substantial plot of land in the cemetery, set aside as ‘Showmen’s Rest’ and earmarked for the burial of circus performers. Most of the dead were not able to be properly identified, due to massive destruction by the fire, and so most graves are marked ‘Unknown Male’ or ‘Unknown Female.’ A few of the remaining graves bear only the circus names of the dead, including ‘Smiley’ and ‘Baldy.’ Four stone elephants mark the corners of the site, their trunks lowered in a gesture of mourning. 

Ever since the burials, visitors to the graves at Showmen’s Rest have reported hearing the sounds of wild animals—lions roaring, elephants trumpeting—and so legends began that circus animals buried at the site were haunting the mass grave. 

But what of the crash site itself? Numerous investigators have recorded ‘spikes’ in the EMF field during investigations, as well as light anomalies captured on film—particular balls of light or ‘orbs,’ believed by some to be spirit energy. One gentleman who used to spend a lot of time trainspotting in the area claims to have seen a figure of a man pacing back and forth at the site of the crash and disappearing.”

There is one more much more illogical explanation that we unfortunately have to entertain here. According to the comments on this Reddit post,

“...some music has the same frequency as birds singing and some farmers actually play classical music to their crops because their stomata open for a longer time and they get more air that helps them grow faster.

The crops actually know when the sun rises due to the sounds of early birds chirping, so the classical music tricks them as it has the same frequency as bird chirps.

And there was a guy who found out that by playing music to his crops, they grew bigger at a faster rate and so many farmers have started playing music to their crops. So if you're not the farmer, then it's probably the farmer who is playing music to his crops.”

Once again, we know that explanation is completely irrational, so I’m kind of sorry we even proposed it here. We’ll try to reign ourselves in for the next missive!

-Here There Be Headlines-

A round-up of bizarre, curious, head-scratching news stories that leave you saying "huh."

On our little break we did a lot of fun things! We dredged up a chimera from the Canadian coast, dug up a weird looking sword scabbard in Norway, and single-handedly convinced the Pentagon to release some cool pictures of aliens! If you want to read about our adventures, here are a few headlines that cover them. We’ll see you back here next week!

Dog head? ✅Camel nose? ✅Reptile body? ✅ Horse tail? ✅

Maybe the ancient sacrificial amulet to the Norwegian gods should stay buried?

Pomp and circumstance or genuine disclosure?

[Hans Zimmer score intensifies]

Haunted Historical Headline