Death In Disguise

0:00Today's podcast will feature three stories that all prove sometimes the deadliest threats are the hardest to recognize. The audio from all three of these stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel and has been remastered for today's episode. The links to the original YouTube videos are in the description. The first story you'll hear is called Hot Snow, and it's about a summer camp that experiences this weather phenomenon. But it's not quite what it seems. The second story you'll hear is called Extra Help, and it's about an elderly woman who falls in her bathroom. And the third and final story you'll hear is called Thump, Thump, Thump, and it's about a nightmare scenario that unfolds on a train during World War II.

0:39But before we get into today's stories, if you're a fan of the Strange, Dark, and Mysterious delivered in story format, then you've come to the right podcast because that's all we do, and we upload four times a week, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. So if that's of interest to you, please sneak into the Follow Buttons house and superglue all their eggs into the carton. Okay, let's get into our first story called Hot Snow.

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2:27At 5.30 a.m. on July 16, 1945, a 13-year-old girl named Barbara Kent was sleeping inside of a cabin in Ruidoso, New Mexico, where she was staying for a sleepover summer dance camp. And as she slept, suddenly there was this loud booming sound that literally shook her awake and actually caused her to fall out of her bed onto the floor. Barbara sat up feeling totally confused and she looked around the cabin and she saw the nine other girls that were also here for the sleepover camp, they too were wide awake and some of them also had fallen onto the floor. And so the girls, they're all freaking out.

2:59They're looking at each other like, what's going on here? What was that? And as this kind of pandemonium is ensuing, their lead dance instructor came running into the cabin and told the girls that she thought one of the cabin's heaters had exploded and that potentially there could be a fire somewhere on the camp. And so all the girls, they're already totally panicked. Now they're getting really scared. And the instructor's just like, all right, girls, go outside, stand by the river. I'm going to go find wherever this explosion happened and make sure everything is okay. And so the girls, they were let outside, totally a mess.

3:27And they went and stood by this river near the cabin and waited for their instructor to go look around. And so Barbara and the nine other girls, they're totally terrified. And they're standing by this riverbank and they're looking around the property, seeing if they can see smoke or fire, but they can't. And as they're standing there waiting for their instructor to come back, Barbara felt something hit the tip of her nose, and it was cold and soft. And she looked up, and she realized it was snowing. But it's July in New Mexico. It should not be snowing. But sure enough, snow was coming down from the sky.

3:57And as the snow came down on Barbara, she looked at the other girls, and they too were looking up and putting their hands up and letting the snow hit them in the face. They couldn't believe it. I mean, this was like a totally rare weather event. And so a minute later, their dance instructor came back and told the girls that, you know, she looked all over the camp and there did not appear to be a fire or an explosion of any kind, but everything seemed fine. You know, they didn't know what that loud sound was, but you know, by all accounts, it seems safe here. And so the girls were very relieved to hear this, but already their attention had completely shifted to the snow.

4:28I mean, again, it's July in New Mexico. There shouldn't be snow. And so the girls, they turned to their instructor and they're like, okay, well, you know, now that it's safe, would it be okay if we put on our bathing suits and just went swimming in the river while it snowed on us? I mean, this is incredible. And the instructor, who to this point had really been focused on finding the fire and the hazard or whatever, you know, now that she knew things were safe, she kind of took in the scene and also suddenly appreciated how unbelievable it was that there was snow coming down. And so she told the girls, yeah, get your bathing suits, go swimming, enjoy this.

4:58This is totally like a once-in-a-lifetime moment here. And so very excitedly, Barbara and the other girls ran back into the cabin. They changed into their swimwear. And then a moment later, they were out frolicking in the river as the snow fell on top of them. And for hours, they just played in the river and enjoyed the snow. And the snow was kind of building up on the riverbanks. And so some of the girls went over and scooped it up and rubbed it on their faces and made snowballs. And they just had a great time. And at one point, the dance instructor came by and actually took a picture of Barbara, who was right in the middle of the river, enjoying this bizarre scene.

5:29But eventually, despite how fun the snow was, the novelty of it all sort of wore off. And the girls got tired of swimming. So they changed into their regular clothes and went about their day. And over the course of the next few days, summer camp went as normal. The girls had a great time, and when summer camp ended, all the girls went home. Now, the girls never got an explanation for why it had snowed. They all just assumed it was some super rare weather event that they had been lucky enough to experience. Until 17 years later, when Barbara was 30 years old at this point, and she learned that all the other girls she had gone to the dance camp with had died.

6:02One by one, each of those girls were diagnosed with aggressive forms of cancer that killed them. Barbara was the only one who was spared, and she wouldn't get any clarification as to why that had happened until decades later in 2006 when Barbara was in her 70s when the government finally came out and admitted the truth. It would turn out Barbara's dance instructor was correct in thinking there had been an explosion on July 16, 1945. But of course it was not any of the cabin's heaters or anything local to the cabin or the camp. Instead, the explosion occurred 40 miles away at a U.S. government testing site in the middle of the New Mexico desert.

6:38And the explosion that literally caused the girls to be dumped out of their beds was from the world's first ever atomic bomb being dropped. It was the Manhattan Project's Trinity test, a test that no civilians in the area had been warned about. And so after this bomb detonated, there was this nuclear fallout that rained from the sky on half a million people that lived within a 150-mile radius of the detonation site. And within those half a million people were those 10 innocent teenage girls at their dance camp. The snow that the girls played in was actually radioactive material from this nuclear fallout raining down from the sky that over the course of 17 years would give nine of the girls various forms of cancer that would kill them.

7:21As for Barbara, she did not die young. However, she would suffer from multiple cancers and illnesses, all associated with radiation exposure.

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10:09That's simplisafe.com slash strange for 50 % off. Also, when you order, please write in Mr. Ballin Podcast's Strange, Dark, and Mysterious Stories in the How Did You Hear About Us survey to let them know we sent you. Don't forget, there's no safe like SimpliSafe. Our next story is called Extra Help.

10:39At about 8.20 in the morning on June 29, 2025, an 83-year-old woman named June Baxter shuffled her way down the hallway of her small home in Attleboro, which is a quiet town in eastern England. As she walked, she had to keep one hand on the wall to keep her balance. She was pretty frail these days and also just had a lot of medical problems. But she also really valued her independence, and so she was determined to keep living alone, even if it was kind of risky. So June used to live with her husband and their dog, but about seven years earlier, her husband had gotten really sick, and so because of that, they'd had to give their dog to their granddaughter because they just couldn't take care of it anymore and also care for him, and then unfortunately, June's husband did pass away, and so she was left all alone.

11:24But even though she was, you know, all alone in terms of living in the house by herself, she wasn't completely isolated. Her granddaughter, who she had given the dog to, lived close by and visited a whole bunch and almost always brought along June's old dog, which June loved. Now, in addition to just being good company, June's granddaughter also regularly made herself available to help June with all sorts of basic things like, you know, picking up her prescriptions and going grocery shopping for her and, you know, driving her to and from doctor's appointments. Like, she was really available to her.

11:54But despite June knowing that, you know, knowing she could always call on her, she tried hard not to call on her granddaughter. Because again, she just really liked being independent. So on this particular day, she continued slowly walking down the hallway, guiding herself by holding onto the wall. And then she turned the corner to go to the bathroom. And when she stepped inside, she slipped on the tile. And as she was falling to the ground, her legs scraped the corner of the bathroom counter. Immediately, June's legs started bleeding and June's yelling out in pain, but she lives alone. Nobody can hear her.

12:29And so June quickly went from, you know, just reacting to the pain and the blood. June was scared. I mean, this is the exact scenario that she was so worried about, you know, getting hurt when she was all alone because she didn't really have a plan. It was like, I'm going to live alone, so help me. But fortunately for June, she had installed throughout her house all these emergency call bells that would allow her to basically, you know, hit the bell, and they were programmed to contact both her granddaughter and also the local emergency services. And in the bathroom, there was one of these bells.

12:59And so once she kind of composed herself a little bit, grabbed the string for this bell, and she pulled it. About 10 minutes later, June was still in the bathroom on the ground, holding onto her leg wound, when she heard the front door of her house swing open. And immediately she heard the sound of her granddaughter calling out for her. And June, as best as she could, even though her voice was a little bit weak, she called out and said where she was. A moment later, June's granddaughter, along with June's old dog she'd brought along, came bombing around the corner and they looked into the bathroom and they saw, you know, June and her horrible leg wound, and clearly the granddaughter is really worried right away.

13:33I mean, this was a very bad cut, but you know, for June, she's looking at her granddaughter and she's just flooded with relief because she knows no matter how bad this is, her granddaughter is here, everything's fine, and also her dog was here, which made everything better already. And so while June's granddaughter began rummaging through the bathroom to look for some bandages, June just kind of relaxed and just began petting her dog, who was clearly very worried about June. You know, this is her dog previously. They had a very strong bond. And so she's just petting her dog. And then, you know, June's granddaughter did find some bandages and she wrapped up June's leg.

14:04And then by the time the paramedics got there, June actually was feeling basically okay. I mean, her leg definitely hurt, but she was very calm at this point. A couple of minutes later, the paramedics arrived, and by this point, you know, June was actually feeling basically back to normal. I mean, her leg definitely still hurt, but again, her granddaughter had put that dressing on it and basically stopped the bleeding, and also June has her dog that she's petting, like her comfort animal, and so she was very calm. Paramedics come in, and they assess her, and they take off the dressing to check the wound, and after they cleaned it, they said, look, this is a pretty minor cut.

14:37You don't even need stitches. I think you're okay. You know, just be careful and maybe have your granddaughter stay here for a little bit just to make sure you don't fall again. But you're okay. Like, we're going to go. And so June, you know, she thanked the paramedics as they walked out the door. And then she and her granddaughter and the dog just sort of sat there feeling grateful that this fall wasn't more serious. However, the next morning when June woke up, she knew something was wrong. Because, you know, all she's doing is laying in bed, but her heart is racing. She's sweating. She's lightheaded.

15:05Like, clearly something is off here. Now, the day before, after the paramedics left, her granddaughter did stick around for a little bit. But really, I mean, June was okay. And so June was alone. And that night, you know, she had some soreness around the cut, but it really wasn't that serious. She really felt like dodged a bullet there. But now, you know, 12 hours later, something's going on here. Now, June had no way of knowing if her current symptoms were indeed connected to her, you know, minor cut on her leg. But, you know, maybe they missed something. Maybe it was infected or something. And so her concern that maybe this was serious and could potentially spiral really quickly made her not pull on one of those emergency bells, but instead she just picked up the phone and called an ambulance to take her to the hospital.

15:49When she got to the hospital, doctors immediately began running all these tests on her. And very quickly, they determined that she did have a very severe bacterial infection, which she must have gotten after cutting her leg. And unfortunately, that infection had already spread into her blood, which would explain why she was feeling sweaty and lightheaded and why her heart was racing. Now, the medical staff definitely had some questions, like how in the world could this have developed so quickly, especially after the paramedics the day before had, at least according to them, properly cleaned this wound before they left.

16:23But their issue now was not how did this happen, but instead just stabilize June, treat her. And so right away, they began treating June with general antibiotics to try to fight off this infection. But it just wasn't working. And June was 83 and already in relatively poor health, and her condition was clearly deteriorating rapidly. So the doctors began running more tests to try to determine exactly what type of bacteria was causing this infection. Because if they knew that, they might be able to give her more targeted treatment than just general antibiotics, which clearly were not working. And they did eventually identify this bacteria.

17:00But by the time they did, June had unfortunately already developed sepsis, which is a life-threatening condition that occurs when a person's body tries so hard to fight off an infection that it basically ends up damaging their vital organs in the process. Medical staff did everything they could, but it wasn't enough. And so eventually, one week after going to the hospital, June passed away. It would turn out the deadly bacteria that found its way into June's open wound was introduced to her by her granddaughter, completely by accident. The bacteria is called Pastorella multicida, and it's found in a very specific place, inside the mouths of domestic dogs.

17:42While June laid on the bathroom floor waiting for her granddaughter to find bandages to wrap up her leg, June's old beloved dog, who her granddaughter had brought over, was trying to comfort June, and June was allowing the dog to do that. But what the dog was doing, actually doing, to comfort June was licking her open wound. And so that led to the bacteria going in, and it would kill June one week later.

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20:23At 1 a.m. on March 3, 1944, a young train operator named Michel Palo stood in the caboose car of a freight train that was slowly going up the side of a mountain in southern Italy. Michel's job was to operate the brakes for the back half of the train. And tonight, he had to be on high alert because they were traveling under really dangerous conditions. In fact, Michel was worried they might not even make it to the next stop. So first of all, it was raining and snowing outside. So the tracks were naturally very slippery, which meant it was going to be harder for the train to get the traction it needed to go up the mountain.

20:57Second, the train's engine wasn't working as well as normal. And that was in large part because the coal the train company had to use was this really cheap, crappy kind of coal. Because this is 1944, World War II is raging, and a coal shortage had been created as a result of that. Because all the good coal was being shipped off to be used in the war. And so this train company had the bad coal. And then finally, the train was just way too heavy. Even though it was only supposed to be carrying the small crew and the freight, The reality was is there were over 500 stowaways on board weighing the train down.

21:34Again, this is World War II. There are all these people that are trying to flee war-torn parts of the world, and one of the ways they would do that is by stowing away on trains. And now Michel and the other crew, they were aware of these stowaways. It was not subtle. They're literally in the cars, they're on top of the cars, and they're just trying to make their way into Italy to get away from, you know, war-torn parts of the world. And Michel and the other crew, they were supposed to call security and, you know, tell these people to get off the train, but they didn't do that. They felt bad. And they sort of felt like, you know, allowing these people to, you know, make their escape was, you know, a morally good thing to do.

22:11But tonight, between the horrible weather making the tracks slick and, you know, the coal that was not very good and sort of made the engine not work very well, and all this additional weight from the stowaways, it just seemed to Michel like if there was ever going to be a time that this train could not make it up the mountain, it was going to be tonight. And so the reason he's on high alert is if the train reached a point where it could not go any higher for any of the reasons I've just told you, the train would start to backslide. And that's incredibly dangerous. And it would be on Michel and also the engineers at the front of the train to hit the brakes and stop the slide.

22:47And so Michel, you know, he's on high alert. He's got the lever for the brakes. He's watching for any sign of like, you know, the train slowing down, something like that. And they begin to make their ascent up this mountain up ahead. And at first, it's going relatively fine. But it was just very clear to Michel, who knew this train well, that it was struggling to get up the tracks. But he saw up ahead there was this tunnel they would have to pass through before they made the trip the rest of the way up and over the mountain. and Michel's thinking, great, the tunnel is going to provide us dry, clean tracks where the train, if we just get into that tunnel, we can sort of get some momentum, get through the tunnel and ride that momentum because we know the tracks are going to be good up and over the rest of the way.