By Tim Binnall
Along with our annual Ghost-to-Ghost festivities, paranormal hotspot Marley Woods and the ancient humanoid species nicknamed 'hobbits' were among the fascinating topics explored this past week on Coast to Coast AM. And, here at the C2C website, we told you about a possible Ogopogo sighting, a bizarre battle between a man and a goose, and a lottery winner who donned a mascot costume to hide the jackpot from his family. Check out our round-up of highlights from the past week ... In Coast You Missed It.
C2C celebrated the culmination of spooky season this week with several episodes devoted to Halloween staples, beginning with Saturday night's program, wherein Wiccan archpriest Demire Coffin-William discussed witchcraft and, in the latter half, British paranormal author Paul Sinclair talked about werewolves. On Monday night, 'Ghost whisperer' Mary Ann Winkowski shared insights and stories from her work with those on the 'other side', and our traditional Halloween night Ghost-to-Ghost festivities featured an array of chilling tales from callers. The proverbial paranormal party continued on Tuesday night as Bill Bean recounted stories from his work battling demons as a professional exorcist.
Canada's legendary lake monster Ogopogo was in the news this week after a couple sailing on Okanagan Lake, where the creature is said to reside, snapped a photo of a curious anomaly that some suspect could be the famed cryptid. Dale and Colleen Hanchar were initially left scratching their heads when they caught sight of the strange object off in the distance and, when they got closer, their confusion was only compounded after taking a photo of the oddity in the water and seeing that it sported what seemed to be a pair of horns. While the image stirred suspicions that perhaps it was a clear view of Ogopogo, an expert who examined the image argued that the creature was likely an aquatic bird, like a duck or goose.
Rather than having died out around 12,000 years ago, could the diminutive humanoid species Homo floresiensis, or 'hobbits' as they are more affectionately known, actually still be living in remote parts of Indonesia? Anthropology professor Gregory Forth explored this intriguing scenario on Thursday night's program, arguing that it very well could be possible. He noted that many indigenous people claim that the humanoids still reside in a mountainous region of the island of Flores and are said to dwell in its jungles and caves. Forth also explained how this particular case is different from the legend of Bigfoot, which has never actually been officially documented, unlike Homo floresiensis, the remains of which were first discovered back in 2003.
For some strange reason, this past week saw a pair of bizarre incidents centered around clashes between humans and the animal kingdom. First, in Taiwan, a trip to the park took a terrifying turn for a man and his granddaughter when they encountered an ornery goose that went on the attack. The dutiful granddad actually picked up the tot to shield her from the angry bird and, left with no recourse when it would not stop stalking them, whipped the child's legs into the animal, which caused it to give up the fight. Then, in India, a young boy escaped from a potentially fatal cobra snake attack by biting the creature to death as it was wrapped around his hand.
Often likened to Skinwalker Ranch, a puzzling paranormal hotspot in Missouri known as Marley Woods took center stage on Sunday night's program as researcher Thomas Ferrario provided a first-hand perspective on the site by way of his on-the-ground investigations at the mysterious location. Positing that there is some kind of unseen intelligent force influencing the area, he recounted incidents of inexplicable balls of light, bizarre creatures, and animal mutilations. Remarkably, Ferrario suggested that there are two or three portals located at Marley Woods and that these spots serve as doorways to some kind of other dimension.
By far, the weirdest story of the week came by way of China, where a lottery winner went to comically extreme measures to make sure his family didn't know about the jackpot. After winning a whopping $30 million, the lucky man feared that such a massive sum of money would cause his wife and kids to become arrogant and lazy. With that in mind, he decided to keep his win secret, sneaking out of the house to collect the prize and doing so while wearing a colorful mascot costume that concealed his identity. Amazingly, the man's loved ones still do not know he won the lottery, though one imagines he may not be able to keep the secret much longer now that his stunt spawned worldwide headlines.
Coast Insiders can check out all this week's shows as well as the last seven years of C2C programs in our enormous archive. Not a Coast Insider yet? Sign up today.