We Are Not Alone Vol. III

0:00Today's podcast will feature two stories that reveal we may not be alone in this universe. The audio from both 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 Face Peelers, and it's about all these very strange events that took place in Peru. And the second and final story you'll hear is called The Window. This particular case prompted a full-scale military investigation into a subject that can only be described as paranormal. 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.

0:43So if that's of interest to you, please figure out which book the follow button is currently reading, and when they're about halfway done with it, go ahead and spoil the ending. Okay, let's get into our first story called Face Peelers.

1:16Auto insurance should not be one size fits all, especially for people whose lives definitely aren't. That's why USAA Auto Insurance offers coverage designed for the military and their eligible families. When your life demands precision, USAA gets the details right, like helping you find savings on auto insurance when you switch. Visit usaa.com slash auto quote to see how much you could save. Membership eligibility and product restrictions apply and are subject to change. USAA means United Services Automobile Association and its affiliates, San Antonio, Texas. Oh my gosh, have you been to Marshall's lately?

1:53They have all the brand name and designer pieces you love, but without the jaw-dropping price tags. All right, so here's the truth. You should never have to compromise between quality and price. And at Marshall's, you don't have to. Marshall's believes everyone deserves access to the good stuff. And that's why their buyers hustle around the clock to make it happen for you. Visit a Marshall's store near you or shop online at marshalls.com.

2:23At 6.30 p.m. on July 29, 2023, a 15-year-old girl named Talia Davila Diaz stood right outside her back door of her house, staring out at the thick, dense, shadowy rainforest that was her backyard. Talia lived in a tiny, isolated village in Peru that was literally in the middle of the Amazon rainforest. So as she was looking out, I mean, she would have seen these huge tropical trees and heard the sound of howler monkeys and exotic birds and animals moving all about, and the air would have been really thick and humid. But she wasn't thinking about any of that. Instead, she was focused on this grapefruit tree that was only a few yards away from her house.

3:01She wanted to go get a grapefruit and bring it inside and make juice for her family. However, Talia was scared. And she was scared for two reasons. The first reason was, this was the Amazon, an inherently dangerous place, especially at night. There were loads of predators out there, like snakes and jaguars. But the other reason she was scared was that she was worried there could actually be something worse out in the rainforest, worse than any predators she was used to. And that was because, over the last couple of weeks, people in Talia's village had been claiming they were seeing these shadowy figures lurking in the tree line with these bright green eyes that would occasionally seem like they were hunting the people of the village.

3:40Anytime they went out, it was like these figures were lurking off in the distance, but nobody knew what they were. The rumor around the village was that these shadowy figures were actually pelicaras, which translates literally to face peelers. People in Talia's village believed that pelicaras were foreigners who would kidnap locals and cut their throats and peel the skin of their face off and then sell their body fat on the black market. And the locals were so freaked out that palacaras could be around that they began performing nightly patrols to keep the villagers safe. So Talia, again, was very scared to even leave her house at this point, but she was also trying to be reasonable.

4:19I mean, she'd gone out and gotten a grapefruit many times in the past. This was not some new behavior, you know? So she's looking out and she sees the grapefruit tree and she knows there's a nightly patrol out right now and I only have to go a few yards and get the fruit and get right back in the house. Like, how big of a deal could this possibly be? And so after taking one more look around and not seeing anybody or hearing anything that was out of place, she took a breath and then rushed out to the tree, she grabbed a grapefruit, and as she was turning around, she froze. Because her worst nightmare had just been realized.

4:50Now, standing between her and her back door were these two hulking, dark figures. And one of them was like so tall, it was practically the size of a tree. And they both had these piercing, glowing green eyes. and they were looking right at Talia. And Talia was so instantaneously petrified that all she could do was just stand there and stare back into their green eyes. And as she did, she began to notice that their faces were grotesquely elongated, almost like they had masks on. And then before Talia could do anything, the really tall one began sort of gliding towards her. Not stepping towards her, but literally almost hovering off the ground towards Talia.

5:30And then suddenly, Talia was being grabbed and thrown to the ground. And the instant Talia hit the ground, these two figures descended on her and pinned her there. And then one of them reached down and pressed their hand over her mouth and her nose, and she couldn't breathe. And then she sees the other one is holding what looked like a box cutter or a knife, and they put it right up to her neck. And suddenly it's like Talia understands these are Pelicaras. They're going to slit her throat. They're going to kill her. And so she has this sudden burst of energy and she manages to push them off of her.

6:01And when she did, their hand came off her mouth and she screamed out for help. And she heard somewhere in the village voices yelling back to her. And then she heard footsteps and she knew it was the night patrol coming to save her. And so at this point, the figures released Talia and she scrambled to her feet and immediately ran towards her house right as the night patrol came bounding into her yard. And one of the men had a gun and he raised it and began shooting in the direction of the figures. And Talia, you know, she's totally panicked and she turns around and she looks at her attackers. And she's expecting them to, you know, be fleeing into the rainforest.

6:35But instead, these dark figures, they were like levitating in the sky. And they were looking down at Talia and the night patrol with their glowing green eyes as they literally began to levitate into the sky. And the whole time, the night patrol is firing repeatedly at these things. And they just drifted off into the night and disappeared.

6:58Talia ultimately would not suffer any physical injuries from this encounter, but mentally, she was a wreck. And frankly, so was the rest of the people in her village, especially those who were on the night patrol and with Talia witnessed these figures with green eyes flying away into the sky. I mean, the fear in this village following this encounter was through the roof. And in fact, ultimately, the Peruvian government would get involved after this encounter and they would investigate to try to figure out, you know, what happened to Talia. And they would ultimately conclude that there was an illegal mining operation happening somewhere in the rainforest, and some of these miners, in an effort to scare people away from coming anywhere near their operation, they got their hands on jetpacks, wore armor and masks, and then went into villages like Talia's, and basically pretended to be aliens, and then did, you know, fly off on their jetpacks.

7:49That is the official story as of right now. However, people like Talia and the other people in her village and many other people who live in the Amazon rainforest who have come in contact with these figures with green eyes, they say those are no miners. Those are either Palakaras or they are creatures from another world.

8:15There's a lot of ways to feel alive. One way is to forget everything and be in the moment of excitement. And that's the idea behind the Genesis GV70. It's built to thrill. A thrilling yet elegant design always makes driving the Genesis GV70 an exciting adventure. Its powerful athletic stance screams performance and turns heads. Command the road and experience a class-leading standard 300 horsepower. Plus, discover the different dynamic drive modes for all different terrains. Choose between the different terrain modes for whatever road conditions you may encounter. The Genesis GV70's award-winning technology and performance lets you drive with comfort and drive with confidence.

8:57It's an exciting SUV with intuitive tech that can make your ride smooth, even where the road is not. And its blind spot cameras allow you to see what's next to you. Its performance is measured not only in power, but also in how it makes you feel. The Genesis GV70. Learn more at Genesis.com and feel the GV70. This is a paid ad by BetterHelp. Even in 2026, stigma can get in the way of a lot of things, like, for example, getting support for your mental health. Maybe you've encouraged friends to consider therapy while avoiding taking the first step yourself because you're busy, or maybe you're worried about what others might think, or maybe you're just telling yourself you should handle it alone.

9:37I mean, I've definitely had times when I told myself I could handle it on my own and just kept pushing forward instead of taking care of what was bothering me, but now, looking back, that really usually just made things way harder than they had to be. But therapy with BetterHelp, the world's largest online therapy platform, can be a space to slow down and talk through what's been building before it feels unmanageable. Just take a short questionnaire and BetterHelp will handle the initial therapist matching work for you. And their industry-leading match rate means BetterHelp typically gets it right the first time.

10:09And you'll feel confident knowing BetterHelp therapists work according to a strict code of conduct and are fully qualified. Don't let hesitation hold you back. Find support with BetterHelp. Sign up and get 10 % off at BetterHelp.com slash MrBallandPod. That's BetterHelp.com slash MrBallandPod. You know how you look around your house and you think, man, this room could really use an update, but then you also convince yourself that it'll be so expensive or just like a massive project and so you don't do it. I've definitely done that, until I realized even a few small changes can still completely transform a space.

10:46Wayfair has thousands of products to help you make your space feel like you, from furniture and decor to outdoor essentials and storage solutions, also without breaking the bank. Plus, Wayfair Verified makes shopping way easier by highlighting hand-vetted items that have been checked for quality, functionality, and just overall value. I've used Wayfair for a couple of different projects around my house. I ordered Adirondack chairs for outside and bar stools for inside, and both of those purchases instantly made those spaces feel way more put together. I'd recommend Wayfair to anyone who's been putting off a home refresh because Wayfair makes it really easy to update your home without overthinking or overpaying for it.

11:27Ready to upgrade your home for way less? Head to Wayfair.com right now to shop all things home and get your space ready for less. That's W-A-Y-F-A-I-R.com. Wayfair. Every style, every home. Wayfair. Every style, every home.

11:47The next and final story of today's episode is called The Window.

12:02On March 4, 1946, nearly every resident of a rural Brazilian town called Arasariguama packed up a few days' worth of food and drink and headed south to the nearest big city to celebrate the Festival of Carnival. This festival is an opportunity for folks to cut loose and eat good food right before most of them go into a religious fasting period. One resident who opted not to join the fun at this festival was a 44-year-old man named Joao Prestige Filou. Joao was a farmer, he had five kids, he was a very quiet guy, and he did not enjoy things like the festival for Carnival. The crowds and the noise made him anxious, and he really hated dancing, which there was a lot of at these festivals.

12:51Instead, Joao would rather spend his spare time out in nature. And so, when Joao's friends and family and everybody else disappeared to head off to this festival, Joao did just that. He and his best friend packed up Joao's horse and cart, and they traveled across the dirt roads through the woods to the nearby Tiete River, where they spent the day fishing for catfish. And as Joao stood on the rocks casting out his line, he listened to the birds sing and the parrots swooping by. It was beautiful and sunny out. I mean, this was a perfect day for Joao. As sunset drew near, though, both Joao and his best friend knew that while the rainforest they were in was beautiful during the day, at night it could become quite hazardous with the animals that come out at night, and so they knew they needed to leave.

13:39And so they packed up all the fish they caught back into Joao's cart, and then the two of them hopped onto the cart and began making the journey back towards the town of Arasariguam. When the pair got to a split in the road, Joao's best friend hopped off the cart and walked on foot down one path because his house was actually just outside of the town, and Joao, still in his cart with his horse, said bye to his friend and went the other direction. Now by this point, the sun had completely set, and so it was totally dark out as Joao is going down this dirt road in the final stretch towards his town.

14:17At this time in 1946, Arasariguama was a beautiful place, but by no means a modern place. They had no running water, no electricity, there was no sewage, no paved roads, no access to main roads, and nobody had a telephone. It was basically like this little patch of civilization with about a hundred people living there. There was a church in the middle of the town and a couple of small huts that kind of sat around it. And Joao and his family lived in one of those huts. Joao usually loved walking along or traveling along this particular stretch of dirt road, especially at night, like he was doing right now.

14:57He really enjoyed looking up at the stars and listening to the animals off in the forest that he couldn't see. But this night, Joao just had a bad feeling as he was making this final approach towards his town. Now remember, there's almost no one in the town. They're all at this festival, so it's kind of like a ghost town in the middle of a forest. But Joao, as he's going down this dirt road and he can see the church up ahead, he's a couple hundred feet away, he began getting this very unnerving sense that he was being watched. And so Joao, as he's in his cart, began looking into the trees and all around him, wondering if maybe an animal or a person was nearby, but there was no one.

15:37Finally, Joao actually reached the church and he could see his little house and he could also see that his wife who was at the festival had opened up one of the windows just slightly so he could open it up the rest of the way and crawl into the house when he was back from fishing because she had locked the doors when she left. And so by this point Joao was trying to be very calm and collected despite the stress of feeling like he's being watched but when he saw that window and he saw how close he was to his house, he basically just had the horse sprint the rest of the way to his home. He just wanted to get off the streets.

16:11And so finally, Joao, he reaches his house, he crawls in through the window, he shuts it behind him, and immediately Joao expected to feel totally relieved that he was now behind locked and closed doors and windows. He was safe. But despite being inside of his home, he still had the sense that there was someone or something around him that was watching him. Joao, like many other residents of this village, was fairly superstitious. There was an old abandoned mine that was near the town, and Joao and his peers had grown up hearing stories about some monster that lived in the mine that would come out at night and roam the forest.

16:52And older people in this village would talk about this ancient serpent called Boitata that would come out at night and it would appear in a burst of fire. And so Joao, he's thinking about the mine and these demons and ghosts that roam in the forest, and he's all alone because everyone's at this festival, and he doesn't feel safe inside of his house, and so he's really starting to panic. And it's at this moment that he suddenly feels this sense that whatever or whoever has been watching him is right out his window to his left. And so Joao, as he's turning to look out the window, he's anticipating seeing a person out there, or maybe a jaguar, or some other animal that's followed him from the rainforest.

17:32But when When Joao turns and looks out the window into the dark night, what he sees right outside of his property was so terrifying that for a second Joao couldn't even breathe. And he just stood there staring at this thing. And then he tried to put his hands up to protect himself, but it was already too late. Minutes later, Joao would come stumbling out of his front door, out into the dark night. He's got a big blanket wrapped around him and he was just screaming incoherently. And as he screamed all this nonsense, he began running in this kind of zigzag pattern with no clear destination in mind.

18:09It was just like this mindless running all through the village. And as he's running, he's got no shoes on and he's stepping on sharp rocks and glass and trash. He's cutting his feet up horribly, but he doesn't seem to even notice. And so as he's doing this, he's causing this huge scene, but everybody's gone. It's a ghost town. It's just him in this abandoned village in the middle of a rainforest in Brazil. But eventually, Joao kind of calmed himself down and ran to his sister's house, Marie, because he noticed there was a lamp on inside of her house, and he was hoping that maybe she too had stayed back from the festival.

18:44And it would turn out Marie had not gone to the festival. She too did not really like big gatherings like that, and so she was home. And so Marie was in her kitchen when she began hearing outside this horrible screaming sound, almost guttural sounds coming from someone or some animal out there, and then before she could even figure out what it was, she heard this loud thud against her door. Marie was terrified, and she ran to her front window to look out and see what it was that had just collided with her door, and what she saw made no sense. It was her brother, Joao, but he was wrapped in that big blanket, and his feet were all bloody, and he was screaming at the top of his lungs, but he wasn't saying anything.

19:25He was just kind of babbling. And so Marie was about to run over and open the door for her brother. But right before she did, as she's looking out the window, Joao turned and looked at her. And when he did, she screamed because his eyes looked so alien. They were wide and totally unfocused. And she thought, that can't be my brother. What's wrong with him? But she would go over and open the door because after all, it is her brother. And so she opens the door. Joao kind falls into the room and began writhing around on the ground, continuing this scream he was emitting that didn't even seem human.

20:00And the whole time, Marie is trying to ask him, what's wrong? What's going on here? She's scanning him. And besides the cuts all over his feet, he didn't appear to have other injuries. And so eventually Marie just knelt down and she was about to grab Joao and try to kind of stop him from moving around to just look at him and try to have a conversation with him but before she grabbed him joao rolled over and his lips opened up exposing his teeth and he kind of grimaced at her with those wild unfocused eyes and again marie just kind of backed up in horror who is this what's happened to my brother and as marie stood up to get away from joao joao still with that sickening grin with his teeth exposed had this kind of low hiss come out of his mouth.

20:45And so Marie, thinking he was trying to talk, she leaned in and through this hiss, she heard him repeating, it burns, it burns. And so Marie, thinking her brother must have been burned, instinctively began removing the blanket and pulling his clothes off to find the source of this burn on her brother. But besides the cuts all over his feet, as she's looking at his body, his skin looked totally normal. He looked completely unhurt. And so Marie turned up to look at Joao's face again to ask him more questions in hopes maybe he could tell her something. And it was at that moment she noticed that even though he didn't seem to have any other injuries, his complexion on his face was now starting to change.

21:30Now Joao's cheeks had turned this kind of dark purple and almost looked like they were starting to swell. And so at this point, Marie knew, okay, I can't handle this. I don't know what's going on here. And so she would stand up and just kind of back away from Joao, who's still got that grimace with his teeth exposed and his purple cheeks. He's staring up at Marie. And Marie, she finally backs out and she goes out the front door and she begins running to the other side of town. Marie knew that there were two other men who had stayed home from this festival. It was the town sheriff and the town doctor, whose name was Arasi Gumiji.

22:05And those two men lived close together on the other side of town, and when Marie arrived in front of their homes and began pounding on their doors and yelling for help, the two men quickly came outside, at which point Marie tried to explain what was happening to her brother, but she didn't really have the words, and so she just said, he needs your help. And so the two men just went with Marie, and they ran back across town to Marie's house, where Joao was still on the ground, writhing in pain when they went inside.

23:02Thank you. Enjoy Sugar B. Apples at hellosugarbee.com. Sugar B. Apples, from B to U. At DSW, we ask the important questions, like, what shoes are you going to wear? Whether you're prepping for wedding season, festival season, or just planning the ultimate vacay, the right shoes can make or break an RSVP. So own the moment. You've got big plans, and we've got just the shoes, at the perfect price, of course. Get ready to get ready with Designer Shoe Warehouse. Head to your DSW store or dsw.com today and let us surprise you.

23:46Marie had only been gone for a couple of minutes, but by now it wasn't just Joao's cheeks that had turned that purplish color. His chest and arms were also turning purple. At this point, the sheriff leaned over Joao and began asking him some questions, and Joao, he was obviously in horrible pain from something, but by this point he had calmed down enough to where he was speaking a little bit more, but what he was saying made no sense. He told the sheriff that he had been followed home and then he got burned, and when the sheriff asked him, who burned you, all Joao could say was, no one is to blame.

24:25At this point, the sheriff left Marie's house and jogged over to Joao's house to look for some sign of how he got burned, but when he got there, the house was completely unburned. Everything was exactly as it should have been. There was no scorch marks. There was not even a lit candle anywhere, so there was no clues as to what happened to Joao. By the time the sheriff got back to Marie's, it had been about 45 minutes from when Joao first got hurt, and now whatever was happening to his body that was turning him purple appeared to be getting much worse. Joao's skin all over his face and his chest and his arms was now not only a very dark purple, but his skin was starting to blister and pop.