Today’s podcast will feature 3 stories that all demonstrate how one seemingly small action can have massive ripple effects on the future. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast. Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos: #3 -- "Skills" -- An aspiring teacher makes an emotional decision... (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/wa...
Oct 10, 2024•31 min•Ep. 272
On the day after Thanksgiving in 1998, a police officer responded to a 9-1-1 call at an apartment in a Florida beach town. But the 9-1-1 call had been vague, so the officer did not know if he was responding to an accident, a break-in, or something else. He knocked on the front door, and nobody answered. He tried the doorknob, but it was locked. So the officer walked around the outside of the apartment, and he found an open window that led into the kitchen. The officer climbed in t...
Oct 07, 2024•35 min•Ep. 271
Today’s podcast will feature 4 stories that will remind you to take caution before your next outdoor adventure. The audio from all four stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast. Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos: #4 -- "Livestream" -- Man climbs Mt. Fuji in the winter (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtDAo7jS8Z4 ) #3 -- "Into the Wild" --&...
Oct 03, 2024•33 min•Ep. 270
On a spring night in 2009, a middle aged married couple was closing up the local pizza place they ran in a small Virginia mountain town. The husband walked to the back of the restaurant and grabbed a large bucket of ice. He carried the bucket out the back door, and dumped the ice into the grass. He stood up and felt the cool breeze on his face – it was a nice change from the hot pizza ovens he’d been working around all night. But then, he heard screaming coming from inside the restaura...
Sep 30, 2024•36 min•Ep. 269
Today’s podcast will feature 3 horrifying stories about couple’s romantic vacations. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast. Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos: #3 -- "Honeymoon" -- Newlyweds travel to one of the most beautiful places in the world, but don't realize how dangerous it is (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/wat...
Sep 26, 2024•24 min•Ep. 268
On a February night in a secluded suburban neighborhood, a man sat down to eat at his dining room table. When suddenly, he heard a "POP, POP, POP" coming from somewhere nearby. The man dropped his fork on the plate and ran to the window at the front of his house, but everything outside looked completely normal and calm. Still, the man could not shake the feeling that something bad might have just happened. So he called the police and explained what happened, and they sent an officer ou...
Sep 23, 2024•36 min•Ep. 267
Today’s podcast will feature 3 stories of missing people that we just can’t explain. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast. Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos: #3 -- "Todd Geib" -- A man who goes missing after leaving a party (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/idNX6Dm6li8?feature=shared ) #2 -- "40 Years Later…" -- Man found...
Sep 19, 2024•27 min•Ep. 266
On a hot summer day in Illinois, police officers made their way through a field out in the middle of nowhere. They pushed aside the tall grass, and they could see and hear flies buzzing all around them. Suddenly, the officer at the front of the group stopped, crouched down, and called back to the others – he had finally found the body. The other officers rushed to him, and they all stared down at the dead young woman. The cops knew something like this would leave people in the small town ne...
Sep 16, 2024•38 min•Ep. 265
This story is a fan favorite from MrBallen's Medical Mysteries. In 1983, an Italian man finds himself completely unable to sleep, and when he looks in the mirror, his own eyes frighten him. A sense of doom washes over the man. He knows that within a year, he’ll be dead – because he’s just fallen prey to a centuries-old family curse. Listen Now: Wondery.fm/MBMM For 100s more stories like this one, check out my YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen If y...
Sep 12, 2024•33 min•Ep. 264
Just before dawn on the last Saturday of June 2013, an employee at a Toys ‘R’ Us store in upstate New York was working in the stock room, when suddenly he heard an alarm going off somewhere inside the store. He radioed his manager to turn off that alarm, but the manager didn’t respond. Another employee went to the front office to check on the manager, and they found him unconscious and bleeding from a hole in his chest. Police and paramedics responded and rushed the man to the hospital, but sadl...
Sep 09, 2024•40 min•Ep. 263
Today’s podcast will feature 2 camping horror stories. The audio from both of these stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel and has been remastered for today's episode. Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos: #2 -- "Pelican Valley" -- A beautiful camping spot with a dark secret (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/o-ywxRasv5s?feature=shared ) #1 -- "Blood on the Mountain" -- A middle-aged fisherman cast his line out into the creek’s waters when he ...
Sep 05, 2024•34 min•Ep. 262
On a winter morning in 2014, a woman walked through a massive two-story house in the beautiful ski town of Aspen, Colorado. She had come to see her friend, who’d just gotten back from a long vacation. The woman walked into the bedroom, but her friend wasn’t there. She called out, but there was no response. So she walked across the room and opened the door to a huge walk-in closet that her friend had transformed into a meditation room. The woman saw prayer flags hanging from the wa...
Sep 02, 2024•37 min•Ep. 261
Today’s podcast will feature 2 stories about drivers who left their route, and then bad things happened. The audio from both of these stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel and has been remastered for today's episode. Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos: #2 -- "Highway Crash" -- Police officers make a mind-blowing discovery along a forested highway in England (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/oWOMY0JQdFs?feature=shared ) #1 -- "Rumble" -- A ...
Aug 29, 2024•33 min•Ep. 260
On a quiet morning in 1995, police cruisers, fire trucks, and ambulances raced down the road in a Queens, New York neighborhood toward an abandoned house that had caught on fire earlier that day. Minutes later, two homicide detectives stepped out of one of the vehicles and made their way inside the smoldering structure. After going down a hallway, they found a door that led to the basement. They descended the stairs, and when they reached the bottom, they froze, because there was something horri...
Aug 26, 2024•39 min•Ep. 259
At around 2 p.m. on March 23, 2015, a 911 call came in to the Vallejo, California police department from this man who sounded totally drunk or high on a drug, claiming that his girlfriend was missing and she had been kidnapped. But his story just didn't make any sense. When the officers got to this man’s house, he looked deranged, and his house looked totally off and had this weird chemical smell. And then when they asked him to give them some information, he would launch into this bizarre ...
Aug 22, 2024•32 min•Ep. 258
On a summer day in 1986, a medical examiner and her assistant stared down at a deceased woman lying on the metal table. Neither of them had ever seen anything like this, the woman appeared to have been completely healthy at the time of her death - she didn't have a stroke, there was no heart attack and there was no sign of a drug overdose. However, this seemingly healthy woman had suddenly collapsed on the floor and been brain dead just minutes later. Just then the assistant took a long deep bre...
Aug 19, 2024•40 min•Ep. 257
Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction. And today’s podcast features 3 stories that demonstrate that. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast. Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos: #3 -- "Bad Blood" -- An infamous medical program in Alabama (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/RK6MIl28b-8?feature=shared ) #2 -- "Suspended" --&nbs...
Aug 15, 2024•27 min•Ep. 256
On the morning of July 7th, 2019, Sergeant Dan Birbeck responded to a call at the home of a 49-year-old woman in a small Texas town. Birbeck got to the house and found a bloody crime scene in the master bedroom – evidence that a violent struggle had taken place there. Three other members of the family were home that night and had been in close proximity to the master bedroom – and none of them heard a thing. The victim’s husband had been asleep on the couch just steps away from the master bedroo...
Aug 12, 2024•40 min•Ep. 255
There are some truly dangerous people in this world whose intent is to mean harm to others, and today’s podcast features 2 stories that demonstrate that. The audio from both of these stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel and has been remastered for today's episode. Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos: #2 -- "Head of the Family" -- Recently separated man decided he needed to do something really special for his estranged wife (Original YouTube link --&...
Aug 08, 2024•31 min•Ep. 254
One Monday morning in May of 2010, a classroom full of sixth graders sat at their desks waiting for their substitute teacher to arrive. But the morning bell rang, and the substitute never showed. A passing administrator noticed the substitute’s absence, and he hurried to the front office to find out what was going on. This substitute had always been reliable, and it was not like her to just not show up for work. The administrator rushed to the office and called the substitute’s son. And he went ...
Aug 05, 2024•38 min•Ep. 253
This story is a fan favorite from MrBallen's Medical Mysteries. A young woman working on a fishing vessel in Alaska begins experiencing a strange burning sensation in her eye. What she finds inside her eyelid makes her skin crawl. Listen Now: Wondery.fm/MBMM For 100s more stories like this one, check out my YouTube channel just called "MrBallen" -- https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my user...
Aug 01, 2024•26 min•Ep. 252
On the afternoon of September 10, 2009, an art student walked inside her off-campus apartment in Dallas, Texas, and immediately began making herself a late lunch. Her roommate didn't come out of her bedroom to greet her, but to be honest, this wasn't totally unusual. The two of them, despite being roommates, were not actually very close at all. After eating their food, the student studied for a while, then watched some TV, and then went to bed. All the while, still never hearing a sound coming o...
Jul 29, 2024•39 min•Ep. 251
Today’s podcast features 3 stories that involve people who were trapped – with “ no way out .” The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast. Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos: #3 -- "Behind the Partition" -- A husband wakes up and can't find his wife (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/EQFYw9sRGzc?feature=shared ) #2 -- "Moulding R...
Jul 25, 2024•31 min•Ep. 250
In April of 1990, a bleary-eyed detective stepped into a townhouse in a suburb of Chicago, Illinois. The detective had been on call for days, and all he wanted to do was sleep. But now, he’d been called in to investigate a double homicide. The detective opened the door to the basement, and started walking down the steps. The overhead light cast shadows on the floor below, so he couldn’t get a clear look at what he was walking into. Then the detective reached the bottom of the steps, and he sudde...
Jul 22, 2024•38 min•Ep. 249
Today’s story centers around one of the dumbest criminals EVER. It will be confusing at first, but trust me... at the end, it will all fall into place, and you’ll be left wondering how in the world people like this actually exist. Story name, preview & link to original YouTube video: "Feint of Heart" -- This story centers around one of the dumbest criminals EVER. It will be confusing at first, but trust me, at the end it will all fall into place, and you’ll be left wondering how in the ...
Jul 18, 2024•28 min•Ep. 248
On an evening in 2010, a driver pulled over and parked their car on a residential street, trembling with fear. The driver looked to the passenger seat and saw a six foot tall demon sitting there. And when the demon spoke, it sounded like the famous 1970s R&B and soul singer, Barry White. This demon told the driver there was no need to fear, but they had been chosen for an important mission. Suddenly, the demon disappeared, and an angel who sounded like the actress Olivia Newton-John too...
Jul 15, 2024•39 min•Ep. 247
Today’s podcast will feature 3 stories of heroic acts. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast. Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos: #3 -- "A Father’s Love" -- One father will stop at nothing to protect his child (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/Pzm-T_btfa0?feature=shared ) #2 -- "Transplant" -- The ending is worth the wait&n...
Jul 11, 2024•34 min•Ep. 246
On a cool, spring evening in Green Bay, Wisconsin, a man burst out of a bar and started running down the sidewalk, chasing a woman who had suddenly stormed outside in the middle of their conversation. The guy grabbed the woman’s arm, and she spun around to look at him with a furious expression on her face. He asked her what was going on, and she slurred her words as she said that she didn’t want to talk about it. The guy asked her to please come inside — it was dark and she shouldn’t be walking ...
Jul 08, 2024•38 min•Ep. 245
Today’s podcast will feature 3 horror stories that will have even you questioning your own identity. The audio from all three stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast. Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos: #3 -- "Bamboozled" -- The odds of this ever happening again, are basically zero (Original YouTube link -- https://youtu.be/vj_auGTlcLA?feature=shared ) #2 -- "Luck...
Jul 04, 2024•34 min•Ep. 244
At 6:45 AM on an ordinary Tuesday in Salt Lake City, Utah, a father and son lugged a heavy jewelry case into the lobby of a high-rise building. They ran a jewelry store together on the third floor, and had come in early to set up their new display. They heard the lobby door open behind them and turned to see a man holding a cardboard box. The man said he was making a delivery and asked where the elevator was. The father and his son were heading that way, too — so, all three got on the elevator t...
Jul 01, 2024•40 min•Ep. 243