strA.I.nge

About strA.I.nge

The world of high strangeness meets AI with ChatGPT as the referee! StrA.I.nge looks at the world of UFOs, Ghosts, Cryptids, and other phenomena in an effort to prove that even machines are fascinated by things that go bump in the night.

Publisher

Ay Eye

Category

fiction · history · religion & spirituality

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

21 Aug 2024

Latest episode

3 Nov 2026

Latest episodes

39 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   3 Nov 2026

   Ogopogo is...strAInge

   strAInge: Ogopogo, Canada's Lake Monster Deep beneath the waters of British Columbia's Okanagan Lake, something may be moving. For generations, witnesses have described a long, dark creature with a serpentine body, an unusual head, and a remarkable ability to disappear beneath the surface. Its name is Ogopogo, and it has become Canada's most famous lake monster. But the story began long before anyone called it Ogopogo. In this episode of strAInge, we explore the Indigenous traditions surrounding nx̌aʔx̌ʔitkʷ, the sacred Spirit of the Lake recognized by the Syilx Okanagan people, and how that spiritual tradition became entangled with a modern monster legend. We follow more than a century of reported encounters, including eyewitness testimony, the controversial Folden film, other photographic evidence, and attempts to find something extraordinary beneath the lake. We examine the strange shapes captured on camera, the searches conducted with sonar, and the scientific explanations offered for the sightings. Could waves, floating logs, swimming animals, and optical illusions explain the reports? Or might Okanagan Lake conceal an unidentified creature? Along the way, we examine how tourism, popular culture, and the enduring appeal of unexplained phenomena transformed a regional mystery into an international cryptozoological legend. Ogopogo has never been scientifically verified as an unknown animal. Yet reports continue, and the creature remains an important part of the Okanagan's popular imagination. What happens when an ancient spiritual tradition, modern eyewitness accounts, and the search for monsters converge in one enormous lake? Next time on strAInge: We travel to the swamps of Florida in search of the Skunk Ape, the Sunshine State's mysterious, foul-smelling answer to Bigfoot. Sources and Further Reading Westbank Museum: The Ogopogo, including the distinction between Ogopogo folklore and the Syilx understanding of nx̌aʔx̌ʔitkʷ. https://westbankmuseum.com/ogopogo/ (https://westbankmuseum.com/ogopogo/) Tourism Kelowna: The Legend, The Spirit, The Creature: The History of Ogopogo. https://www.tourismkelowna.com/blog/stories/post/the-legend-the-spirit-the-creature-the-history-of-ogopogo/ (https://www.tourismkelowna.com/blog/stories/post/the-legend-the-spirit-the-creature-the-history-of-ogopogo/) British Columbia Folklore Society: Ogopogo. https://folklore.bc.ca/ogopogo/ (https://folklore.bc.ca/ogopogo/) Joe Nickell: Research into Ogopogo sightings, photographs, and investigative expeditions, published in Skeptical Inquirer. Arlene Gaal: Ogopogo: The Million-Dollar Lake Monster (1986). Keywords Ogopogo, Okanagan Lake, British Columbia, Canadian lake monsters, cryptozoology, nx̌aʔx̌ʔitkʷ, Syilx Okanagan, N'ha-a-itk, lake monster sightings, Folden film, unexplained mysteries, paranormal, folklore, Skunk Ape, strAInge podcast. This podcast is powered by Pinecast (https://pinecast.com).

2. 

   15 Oct 2026

   The Smurl Haunting was...strAInge

   strAInge: The Smurl Haunting Episode Show Notes In 1986, a family living in a duplex in West Pittston, Pennsylvania, became the center of one of America's most notorious paranormal investigations. Jack and Janet Smurl claimed their home was plagued by terrifying noises, foul odors, moving objects, physical attacks, and a malevolent presence that seemed determined to drive them from their home. After years of increasingly frightening experiences, the family turned to paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. The Warrens declared that the house contained several spirits and a powerful demon. Religious intervention followed, but the disturbances reportedly continued, eventually attracting national news coverage, skeptical investigators, and curious visitors. This episode of strAInge examines the Smurl family's experiences, the Warrens' investigation, the attempted exorcisms, the media frenzy of 1986, and the lasting legacy of a haunting that inspired books, television, and The Conjuring: Last Rites. Sources and Further Reading United Press International. "Haunted Family Overwhelmed by Attention." August 21, 1986. Contemporary reporting on the Smurl family, religious intervention, and the arrival of national media. https://www.upi.com/Archives/1986/08/21/Haunted-family-overwhelmed-by-attention/9516524980800/ (https://www.upi.com/Archives/1986/08/21/Haunted-family-overwhelmed-by-attention/9516524980800/) Paul Kurtz. "A Case Study of the West Pittston 'Haunted' House." Skeptical Inquirer, Winter 1986–1987. An extensive contemporary skeptical investigation of the claims, witnesses, and available evidence. https://skepticalinquirer.org/1987/01/a-case-study-of-the-west-pittston-haunted-house/ (https://skepticalinquirer.org/1987/01/a-case-study-of-the-west-pittston-haunted-house/) Paul Kurtz. "A Case Study of the West Pittston 'Haunted' House." Original article in PDF format. https://centerforinquiry.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/1987/01/22165319/p27.pdf (https://centerforinquiry.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/1987/01/22165319/p27.pdf) United Press International. "Amazing Kreskin 'Haunts' Home." October 29, 1986. Reporting on the reported cessation of disturbances and Kreskin's demonstration of how apparently inexplicable events could occur. https://www.upi.com/Archives/1986/10/29/Amazing-Kreskin-haunts-home/2944530946000/ (https://www.upi.com/Archives/1986/10/29/Amazing-Kreskin-haunts-home/2944530946000/) United Press International. "Duplex for Rent; Exorcist Not Included." January 19, 1988. Contemporary reporting on the property's sale, the difficulties finding tenants, and Jack Smurl's statements after leaving. https://www.upi.com/Archives/1988/01/19/Duplex-for-rent-exorcist-not-included/4948569566800/ (https://www.upi.com/Archives/1988/01/19/Duplex-for-rent-exorcist-not-included/4948569566800/) Kenny Biddle. "The Uninspired Conjuring: Last Rites." Skeptical Inquirer, February 2026. A critical examination of the Smurl case and the historical inaccuracies introduced by subsequent dramatizations. https://skepticalinquirer.org/2026/02/the-uninspired-conjuring-last-rites/ (https://skepticalinquirer.org/2026/02/the-uninspired-conjuring-last-rites/) People. "Is The Conjuring 4 Based on a True Story? Inside the Real Haunting That Inspired the Upcoming Last Rites Movie." Background on the family, the Warrens, the religious investigations, and the film adaptation. https://people.com/the-conjuring-last-rites-true-story-11730782 (https://people.com/the-conjuring-last-rites-true-story-11730782) Motion Picture Association. "The Conjuring: Last Rites Production Designer John Frankish on Creating the Hellish Smurl House." October 2025. Discussion of the film's production design and invented supernatural elements. https://www.motionpictures.org/2025/10/the-conjuring-last-rites-production-designer-john-frankish-on-creating-the-hellish-smurl-house/ (https://www.motionpictures.org/2025/10/the-conjuring-last-rites-production-designer-john-frankish-on-creating-the-hellish-smurl-house/) Books and Adaptations Robert Curran, with Ed and Lorraine Warren and Jack and Janet Smurl. The Haunted: One Family's Nightmare. 1988. The Haunted. Television film directed by Robert Mandel, starring Sally Kirkland and Jeffrey DeMunn. 1991. The Conjuring: Last Rites. Directed by Michael Chaves, starring Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga. 2025. This podcast is powered by Pinecast (https://pinecast.com).

3. 

   29 Sept 2026

   The Phoenix Lights were...strAInge

   On March 13, 1997, thousands of people across Arizona looked into the night sky and saw something strange. Some reported a formation of lights. Others described an enormous, silent V-shaped or triangular object moving slowly overhead. Hours later, brilliant lights appeared beyond Phoenix and seemed to hang above the mountains. Military officials would eventually attribute those later lights to illumination flares, but witnesses have continued to argue that the explanation does not account for everything seen that night. The Phoenix Lights became one of the most famous mass UFO sightings in American history, but they were not the first reports of enormous triangular objects. Years earlier, Belgium experienced an extraordinary wave of sightings involving dark triangles, police witnesses, radar contacts, and even F-16 interceptors. In this episode of strAInge, we look at the Phoenix Lights, the Belgian UFO wave, the strange history of the flying triangle, and the difficult question at the heart of these cases: when hundreds of people describe something extraordinary in the sky, what exactly did they see? National UFO Reporting Center: The Phoenix Lights NUFORC’s original 1997 account assembled reports from witnesses throughout Arizona, beginning near Paulden and Prescott and continuing south toward Phoenix. It remains one of the most useful collections of contemporary eyewitness accounts from the night of March 13, 1997. https://nuforc.org/phoenix/ (https://nuforc.org/phoenix/) National UFO Reporting Center: The Phoenix Lights, Two Years Later NUFORC’s later examination of the case includes additional witness testimony, discussion of the military activity reported that night, and the controversial claim that fighters may have been launched from Luke Air Force Base. https://nuforc.org/phoenix2/ (https://nuforc.org/phoenix2/) National UFO Reporting Center: Arizona UFO Reports NUFORC’s Arizona database contains individual reports from March 13, 1997, including witnesses describing formations, triangular objects, orange lights, and enormous apparent craft over the Phoenix area. https://nuforc.org/subndx/?id=lAZ (https://nuforc.org/subndx/?id=lAZ) Skeptical Inquirer: The Phoenix Lights Become an Incident Robert Sheaffer examines the Phoenix Lights from a skeptical perspective and argues that the events normally grouped together as the Phoenix Lights actually involved separate sightings, including aircraft formations and Air National Guard illumination flares. https://skepticalinquirer.org/2016/11/the-phoenix-lights-become-an-incident/ (https://skepticalinquirer.org/2016/11/the-phoenix-lights-become-an-incident/) Skeptical Inquirer: Alien Lights? At Phoenix, Stephenville, and Elsewhere Joe Nickell and James McGaha examine the flare explanation for the later Phoenix Lights and discuss Operation Snowbird, in which Air National Guard aircraft conducted nighttime training exercises involving parachute illumination flares. https://skepticalinquirer.org/2015/03/alien-lights-at-phoenix-stephenville-and-elsewhere-a-postmortem/ (https://skepticalinquirer.org/2015/03/alien-lights-at-phoenix-stephenville-and-elsewhere-a-postmortem/) Skeptical Inquirer: Out of Balance An examination of media coverage of UFO cases, including the Phoenix Lights and the disagreement between witnesses who believed they saw a massive object and investigators who attributed the visible lights to conventional sources. https://skepticalinquirer.org/exclusive/out-of-balance/ (https://skepticalinquirer.org/exclusive/out-of-balance/) FOX 10 Phoenix: Former Arizona Governor Fife Symington on the Phoenix Lights Years after publicly joking about the sightings, former Arizona governor Fife Symington said that he had personally witnessed the Phoenix Lights and believed he had seen an enormous unidentified object. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1Fh0g5wJ7A (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1Fh0g5wJ7A) Belgian Air Force F-16 Radar Records, March 30–31, 1990 Material relating to the Belgian Air Force investigation of the extraordinary 1989–1990 Belgian UFO wave. On March 30 and 31, 1990, two F-16 fighters were scrambled after unidentified radar returns were detected by Belgian military radar stations. Colonel Wilfried De Brouwer later presented information from the investigation publicly. The source reproduced here includes radar material and analysis associated with the Belgian Air Force case. https://ufotransparency.com/files/intl-be-f16-radar-charts-1990-meessen-f16-radar-analysis-belgium-1990 (https://ufotransparency.com/files/intl-be-f16-radar-charts-1990-meessen-f16-radar-analysis-belgium-1990) Belgian Air Force F-16 Radar Trace Charts Additional records from the March 1990 F-16 interception, including radar trace charts associated with the Belgian Air Force investigation. https://ufotransparency.com/files/intl-be-f16-radar-charts-1990-f16radarnx1 (https://ufotransparency.com/files/intl-be-f16-radar-charts-1990-f16radarnx1) Belgian UFO Wave: Belgian Air Force Summary Report An English-language reproduction of the Belgian Air Force summary describing the conditions under which F-16s were authorized to intercept unidentified objects and the events of March 30–31, 1990. The report notes that sightings had been reported by police and that military radar stations participated in the investigation. https://ufologie.patrickgross.org/htm/belrap02.htm (https://ufologie.patrickgross.org/htm/belrap02.htm) Belgian F-16 Interception and Major General Wilfried De Brouwer Archival video discussing the Belgian UFO wave, including radar material and an interview with former Belgian Air Force Major General Wilfried De Brouwer about the investigation and F-16 interception. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfSl1Ao1pFo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfSl1Ao1pFo) This podcast is powered by Pinecast (https://pinecast.com).

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