Unreal Vol. II

0:00Today's podcast will feature three stories that sound impossible, moments so unlikely they literally shouldn't exist, yet somehow they do. 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 Scooped, and it's about a tragedy at sea and then a truly unbelievable discovery that is made after. The second story you'll hear is called One for the Road, and it's about a man's drunken walk home that would take a dark turn.

0:35And the third and final story you'll hear is called Her Face, and it's about a woman who wakes up in the middle of the night from a nightmare, only to realize her dreams may be bleeding into reality. But 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 Fridays. So if that's of interest to you, please swap out the Follow Button spray deodorant for extremely harmful pesticide. Okay, let's get into our first story called Scooped.

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2:35In 1956, the SS Andrea Doria, which was a beautiful ocean liner, was considered to be Italy's largest, fastest, and safest ship. But those things would not be what this ship was remembered for. On July 25th of that year, the ship was sailing towards the east coast of the United States when it ran into some very heavy fog. And so following procedure, the captain slowed the vessel down and turned on their fog whistle. A little while later, another vessel, the Swedish ocean liner called the SS Stockholm, entered the fog as well, but they were unaware of Andrea Doria's position. Now, both vessels were using radar, but unfortunately, both vessels misinterpreted what they were seeing, and so neither of them communicated with the other as they careened towards each other.

3:19When visual contact was finally made between the two ships, it was too late, a collision was imminent. At 11.10pm that night, the bow of the Stockholm plowed directly into the side of the Andriadoria, penetrating over 40 feet inside the ship before coming back out again. The impact killed 46 people on the Andriadoria and 5 people on the Stockholm. own. When the story broke, every major news outlet around the world picked it up, including ABC News in the United States. And the news correspondent that they chose to cover this story was a man named Edward Morgan. And unbeknownst to his co-workers, his 14-year-old daughter, Linda Morgan, was on board the Andrea Doria.

4:00And just before he went on, he was informed that she was amongst the missing and presumed dead, and there was virtually nothing he could do but wait for more information. And so despite his incredible burden, Edward still went on the air and reported the story without ever losing his composure and without ever mentioning his daughter. But after he got off the air, another story began to develop about the crash. Apparently, a girl who was asleep in one of the rooms on the Andrea Doria that experienced a direct hit from the Stockholm woke up after the crash and didn't know where she was. And she began yelling out for her mother.

4:33Meanwhile, a man on board the Stockholm heard the girl's cries, and he ran towards the front of the Stockholm, which is where he heard these cries coming from, and when he got up there, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Perched on the destroyed bow of the Stockholm was a bed, and on that bed was a relatively unhurt 14-year-old girl named Linda Morgan. It would turn out when the Stockholm penetrated into the Andrea Doria, the bow of the Stockholm scooped the bed Linda Morgan was on up and kind of dragged her into the ship and then when it retracted out of the Andrea Doria it brought that bed and Linda Morgan with it.

5:11When Edward Morgan found out that his daughter was the so-called miracle girl he was overcome with emotions and he would go back on the air and this time he would talk about his daughter and her incredible survival story and he would also talk about how hard it was to deliver the news when it was about someone he loved. Linda would make a full physical recovery, she only suffered from a broken arm, but she would suffer enormously from survivor's guilt as her stepfather and her half-sister were both killed in the crash.

5:46Our next story is called One for the Road.

6:00Late on the night of Friday, September 18, 2015, a 45-year-old man named Latori Barman stumbled down a pitch-black street in a small village in central India. Latori was stumbling because he was very, very drunk. He and his wife had spent most of the night together out at this local fair having loads to drink and partying, and then at some point his wife had actually broken off and gone to her parents' house in another village, but Latori had decided to stay out and keep the fun rolling. So once she was gone, Latori had gone to a liquor store and had more to drink there. And then now he had finally decided he had had enough, he was extremely intoxicated, and he just wanted to get back home.

6:37And so as Latori stumbled down this road, he could really only see maybe a foot in front of him. Not only because he was so drunk, but also because the streets in his village did not have lights. And so it was totally dark. However, this wasn't unusual for Latori. I mean, this is where he lived. He'd walked the street many, many times and knew how to navigate without any lighting. And so he just continued walking along, you know, business as usual. But what did strike him as odd is that, you know, late at night here, as he's making his way home, he thought it was weird that there was a lot of people out on the road.

7:08He couldn't really see them because, again, there's no lighting. He could definitely hear them. Like, there was people sort of all over the place. And he also sort of in his intoxicated state saw some lights that, you know, maybe were vehicles sort of moving around. So there was like more activity on this road than usual. But at the same time, like this is a main road and sometimes there's lots of people and cars on it, even late at night. So this didn't really strike him as odd enough to stop and investigate. He just kept on walking towards his house. But as he's walking through with all this commotion all around him, at some point he goes to step.

7:40But instead of his foot striking the ground again, there's nothing there. And suddenly he feels himself falling and he smashes into the ground. and now truly it's pitch black. He can't see anything. And he blacks out. The following morning, a group of villagers were walking down the same street that Latori had been on the night before. And as they were walking, now in broad daylight, they looked up ahead and they noticed something odd right in the middle of the street. And at first they had no idea what it was, and so they walked closer to it to get a better look. And as they walked up on this thing, they instantly understood what it was.

8:14And they screamed and ran to tell authorities. It would turn out the reason LaTorre was hearing and seeing all these people and, you know, vehicles on the street the night before, which seemed sort of out of place, was because there was actually a construction crew repairing potholes in that road. This road was known for being very dangerous because of these deep potholes. And LaTorre, as he was stumbling along, accidentally fell into one of these deep potholes, smashed the ground, and was knocked unconscious. And because this work site was so chaotic and there was all this, you know, movement and there was bad lighting, you know, none of the crew saw LaTori fall in.

8:52And LaTori, even after, you know, coming to inside the hole, was too drunk to get out of the hole. And so at some point that night, the construction crew reached the pothole that LaTori was in. They didn't see him, and they poured molten tar into the hole and then rolled over it with a roller, all with LaTori inside the hole. And so after they were done and moved on to the next pothole, Latori in his final moments tried to kind of pull himself out of this tar, but he only managed to get his hand up and out of the tar. And so the next day, the group of villagers that walked down the road, what did they see?

9:28They saw Latori's hand poking out of the ground. Latori's body was removed from the street and he was given a proper burial. There were two construction workers who were on duty on the night of Latori's death who were ultimately arrested and charged with culpable homicide. As for Latori's family, authorities would give them a compensation payment for Latori's death, but it was only worth approximately$760.

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13:32One evening in September of 1885, a young woman named Mary stepped out of the backseat of a carriage onto a dirt road in rural England. She had traveled 100 miles from London to the countryside because her husband's aunt had invited her to come visit. Standing on the dirt road, Mary looked up at the big country house, then she grabbed her suitcase and walked up to the front door and knocked. Then a moment later, the aunt's maid opened the door. She greeted Mary and took her suitcase and brought the suitcase to the guest room while Mary headed straight down the hallway to her aunt's bedroom. When she got there, Mary gently knocked on the door and then opened it up.

14:08And when she looked inside, she saw the aunt lying in bed. And, you know, the aunt looked up and saw Mary and she smiled, but she was very old and very frail, you know, not doing too well physically. And now that's part of the reason Mary was here, to just kind of see her while she still could. But the aunt looked up and saw Mary and recognized her, and so she smiled, and Mary came in and sat down next to her, and for a couple of minutes, the two women just had some small talk. You know, Mary talked about her journey from London to, you know, the countryside where she was now, and, you know, the aunt talked about what she was up to.

14:37It was all just kind of, you know, pleasantries. But at some point, the aunt kind of stopped and looked up at Mary, and she had this obvious look of pity on her face. And Mary immediately picked up on it. She's kind of looking back at the aunt, wondering what's going on here. And then the aunt just says to Mary, really, how are you holding up? And immediately, Mary, when she heard this, she felt this knot in her throat and she had to fight back tears. I mean, she knew exactly what the aunt was talking about. So even though Mary was a young woman, she was already a widow. Her husband had died in an accident about two years earlier, and it had sent Mary into this spiraling deep depression.

15:12I mean, she was still completely grieving the loss of her husband. He had been the love of her life. And, you know, her extended family and her husband's extended family were all well aware of how badly Mary had been doing. And so they had been extending her invitations constantly to come visit and basically just not be alone. I mean, that was the reason really why her husband's aunt had invited her here, is because she knew Mary likely wasn't doing well. Now, to Mary, you know, this was nice in a way. I mean, she felt very comforted by the family members, and it did seem like people genuinely cared about her.

15:44But at the same time, she started to get the impression from basically everybody in her and her husband's family that they kind of expected her to, you know, grieve this loss, but ultimately move on. Like, find somebody else, basically. You're young. Like, get remarried. You know, start a new life. But to marry, she just wanted to be like, no, I'm never gonna find anyone like my husband. He was the love of my life, and no one will ever match him, ever. Like, I'm done. I probably will never get married again. Like, he was it for me. And so, at that moment, Mary really just wanted to end this conversation with her husband's aunt.

16:17Like, she didn't want to get into how she was feeling about her husband because it was bad. She felt bad. But instead of saying that to her husband's aunt, she just said, you know what? I'm okay. I'm just totally exhausted from travel, and I'm going to go to bed. The aunt nodded and told Mary that, you know, we'll have plenty of time to visit tomorrow, so go get some sleep. So the two women hugged, and then Mary got up, she left the bedroom, headed to the guest room, she found her suitcase, got on some pajamas, and then crawled into bed. But a few hours later, in the middle of the night, Mary suddenly bolted upright in her bed.

16:50She was sweating, she was shaking, she was totally disoriented, it took her a few minutes to even remember where she was. But then finally, when she did and she realized she was safe, she realized she had just had this awful, visceral nightmare that she really couldn't even make sense of. In this nightmare, she was looking out at this huge open field. It's nighttime, and there's nothing but this field. But off in the distance, there was this broken down small shed. It was just sitting there conspicuously right in the middle of this field. And even though Mary was terrified of the shed, she felt this overwhelming urge to go to the shed and investigate.

17:25And so it's like with every step as she walked through this field closer and closer to the shed, her fear was rising. And then finally, when she got close to the shed, she began to hear what sounded like somebody moaning inside of the structure. And so now she's really scared, but she keeps walking towards the shed. And then she's right outside. She can't see into the shed, but she can hear the moaning. And she sees her hand just come down and fling the door open, almost like she didn't want to, but her body's acting on autopilot. And then she looks into the shed, and there's this figure tucked into the corner, kind of in the shadows.

17:57And it's the thing making these moaning sounds. And it turns, and Mary sees it's this woman, this emaciated, destroyed-looking woman, but her face is the same face as Mary's dead husband. And as soon as she saw that, it jolted her awake. And so that's where she was, sitting in her bedroom, trying to make sense of what she had just seen. And so after 15 or 20 minutes of Mary trying and failing to fall back asleep because of this horrible nightmare, Mary finally says, you know what, I'm just going to go outside, clear my head, go for a walk. I know it's the middle of the night, whatever. You know, I'll bring some brandy along and sip that to calm my nerves and just kind of walk around until I'm calm, and then I'll go back to sleep.

18:36So she hopped out of bed, she grabbed her flask of brandy, grabbed her jacket, got her shoes on, and walked out the front door. About 15 minutes later, Mary was walking up a hill with the moonlight casting down on her. She was sipping her brandy as she went and was already beginning to calm down. Now, Mary was used to living in the city, in London, and so being out here in the countryside was so different. It was so beautiful and peaceful and spaced out that she'd kind of just begun walking and not stopped. I mean, she originally thought she would just stay on the aunt's property, but already she was well beyond the property lines and was basically just out exploring in the middle of the night, and she was having a nice time.

19:13And so up the hill Mary goes. Now, remember, Mary has never been to this area. This is basically an all-new place. She has no idea what's over here. And she goes up this hill, she crests the top, and she gets a look at what's up there for the first time. And when she sees what's up there, she freezes. She's looking out at this huge field, basically in all directions. And in the center of this field, maybe a couple hundred yards away, is a single small structure. A broken down wooden shed that looks nearly identical to the shed she had just seen in her nightmare. And as soon as she saw that, she's terrified because she knows it's the same one or it's eerily similar.

19:53But worse than that, when she saw it, despite her own fears and trepidations about being up here, she felt herself moving towards the shed. It was like her body went into autopilot the same way it did in her dream. It was like she had to go to the shed, even though everything inside of her logically is saying, don't go. But into the field she goes. She deviates off the path and just starts walking towards the shed. Her heart is beating like mad. And as she's getting closer and closer, she even begins to hear moaning sounds coming from the shed. It's like she's living out the nightmare in real life.

20:26She can't make sense of it. She wants to go back the other way, but she can't stop herself. She's just going towards the shed. And then finally, she reaches the shed. And now for sure, she can hear moaning coming from in this building. And she sees her hand reach down. And she flings open the shed. And she looks in. And sure enough, there is this dark figure tucked in the corner, clearly moaning. Like this is her nightmare in real life. But when the person inside the shed turned to look at Mary, it was a woman, but they didn't have her dead husband's face. Instead, it was a woman who practically looked like she was dead or close to death.

21:00She obviously needed help. Now, at this point, Mary was kind of relieved. I mean, this whole situation is terrifying. But she was expecting to, you know, somehow see her dead husband's face on this person in the shed. And so when it wasn't, and it was just like a normal person, albeit in a very strange set of circumstances, it was a relief. But now Mary didn't know what to do. It's like she's standing there looking at this woman, having no idea what to do. She doesn't understand how she could have dreamed this and now basically lived it too. Like nothing's adding up. But again, it was like her body continued to operate in this autopilot mode.

21:32She suddenly had this really intense desire to go into the shed and help this woman. She didn't know who she was. This is a total stranger in the middle of a field in a shed who's moaning and looks terrible. She has no idea what's going on. But in she goes. and she sits down next to this woman who's now kind of eyeing Mary like, what are you doing in here with me? And Mary says to her like, hey, what's going on? How'd you get here? What's wrong? Like, what's happening? But the woman, it was clear she wanted to respond to Mary and, you know, tell her what was going on. But, you know, she was too weak.

22:03It was like she really was on death's door here. And Mary could clearly see that. Like, she didn't need to be told this woman is in a very bad way here. Now, Mary knew what needed to happen is this woman needs to get to a hospital. But they were nowhere near a hospital. and this woman clearly can't get up and walk. And Mary's thinking, I'm not strong enough to carry this woman to the hospital. Like, what am I going to do? And Mary's thinking, maybe if I just run and get help and they can come back here. But she's looking at this woman thinking, I don't know if she'll survive. She's probably going to die soon.

22:31Like, this is going to happen now. And so Mary, again, sort of in this weird autopilot mode, decides, you know what? I'm going to stay right here with this woman. She can't even talk. She can't tell me what's going on. But I am going to be here with her. I'm going to be present with her. and if she dies, I'll be here to support her. And so Mary just made herself comfortable. She took her jacket off. She put it over this woman and then she began letting this woman sip from her brandy flask to, you know, maybe kind of ease the pain. And all night, the two women just kind of sat there and laid together.