Our story today is not a ghost story, but I’m sure it will go down as one of the strangest tales you have heard in RAS history. At least it is for me. Why? This is true and it happened to me. Before I tell my story there is a fact that you should know. WE don’t get much snow in the Pacific Northwest. Not during the winter and most certainly NOT in April.
Sunday was like any other day. I went to church, met my nephew Chad for dinner at the local mall, and watched some sports on TV. It was, generally, a good day. However, I did catch some of the local news and they said that it would snow that night. I laughed and said, “Yeah Right!” Little did I know that my life was about to be turned upside down.
I went to bed thinking of the absurdity of a snowstorm. During the night there arose such a clatter that I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter. Snow! And not just any snow, but at the end of it, we had at least six inches of the stuff. What was the matter? Well, a tree fell in my backyard. It struck a second tree and it also came down with a crack and a thud. Both landed on a shed. It took out the power line to the shed and that caused the whole house to go dark. I killed the breaker to the shed and reset the power it came back up. (See the photo!) – Ron
That was not to be the end of my story. You see a lot of trees came down in Vancouver taking out power lines, cars, and buildings. Not a good day for our fair city. Our neighbor, Portland, Ore, reported over 400 trees taken out by this storm. There were periodic power outages all day. So, I didn’t power up any of my computers and this has put this week’s podcast in jeopardy.
This Week’s Podcast:
Honestly, I don’t know what I am going to do this week. But, you can listen to whatever this podcast will be on Thursday at Ron’s Amazing Stories, download it from Apple Podcasts, stream it on Stitcher Radio, or on the mobile version of Spotify. Do you prefer the radio? We are heard every Thursday at 10:00 pm and Sunday Night at 11:00 PM (EST) on AMFM247.COM. Check your local listing or find the station closest to you at this link
Ron’s Amazing Storiesis a real hodgepodge of stories this week. The word fits perfectly! We have a confusing mixture. We begin with a UFO story that makes no sense, followed by a spirited ghost pirate who wants to party. Then we take a trip around the world in 72 days, 6 hours, 11 minutes, and 14 seconds. Our Featured story is “out there” and is titledFirst Contact. We end the show with a quick edition of Johnny Is It True – Documented or Not. So, prepare to be amazed.
Featured Story – First Contact
Our featured story comes from the science fiction OTR seriesDimension X. The story presents a problem that I think could happen with any alien First Contact. What is first contact? Simply put, it is the first meeting between peoples of two previously unknown cultures. How could this go down? Would it be peaceful? That is what our story addresses. It is titled, appropriately enough,First Contactand it originally aired on September 9th, 1951.
Other Stories Include– The Return Of Mr. Lawrence, The Day the Earth Stood Still, UFO Coincidence, Night Of Fright, Around The World In 72 Days, First Contact, and Johnny Is It True – Documented or Not
Our story for this week comes from our old friend Ray Peyton from Urania, Louisiana. Urania is a small town in the La Salle Parish of Louisiana. Ray is a writer and has submitted other stories to the show. He was a guest on Episode #201 in 2015 and told us what it is like to be a contractor in Iraq. He also shared his short story called Toy Soldiers. Here is another story of Ray’s from his series: Adventures of an Oilman and it is called, An Owl Attack. You can listen to his story in Episode #341.
Ray Peyton
In the mid-80s I worked as a dispatcher for Frank’s Casing Crew, which is an oilfield service company in Alvin, Texas. We had three dispatchers on staff. We worked 12-Hour shifts and rotated from days to nights, to off. The story I’m about to tell you happened to me and is forever emblazoned into my memory. The time frame of the entire story is about 5 minutes.
I was often alone there at night, and I didn’t see a living soul until 6:00 AM when my relief arrived to take over. Sometimes, if the business was slow, it would be so boring that at least once a shift I would take my cordless phone and my .22 caliber Ruger Pistol for a walk around the entire facility – you might call it a “Security Check”. In reality, I was just screwing off and taking a smoke break.
Now, there was this forty-foot flagpole sitting outside in front of the office by the parking lot. Most nights you could walk outside, look up, and see an old white owl perched at the very top of that pole. On this particular night I looked straight up that flag-less pole, and sure enough there sat the owl and she was looking down at me. We made “Eye Contact” I swear. At forty feet away the owl didn’t look all that big or even threatening. It was at that moment “it happened”.
I must admit I briefly considered shooting that owl. I know it was an evil thought – call it temptation – I wouldn’t have done it. I knew better. You just don’t kill a bird for the sake of killing – and especially not an endangered federally protected species like the owl. You could end up in the penitentiary. Also, no taxidermist would stuff it, so you couldn’t hang it on your wall. Federal game wardens love to use rule breakers to set an example for others and I knew it. It’s kind of like coveting your neighbor’s property and doing nothing. The bible says you’re still just as guilty. So anyway, at the very moment when I looked up at that owl and that evil thought passed quickly through my head.
The owl must have read my mind. It left its perch, dove headfirst straight down that pole towards me like a guided missile or a torpedo headed for an enemy ship – with its wings tucked close up to its body for less wind resistance and speed. It happened so fast and this brave white hunter was paralyzed with fear!
When it got about ten feet from me it folded out its wings, flipped from headfirst to feet first in a millisecond – like Batman! Those damn birds have “Talons”! It grabbed on to me everywhere – my shoulders, my ears, the hair of my head, and beat the living daylights out of me. I’m serious! That white owl had a five-foot wingspan. I swung my arms around in the air trying to get that damn bird off me. I think my eyes were closed half the time so they wouldn’t get clawed out!
Finally, I guess she beat me up to her satisfaction and let me go. Not because I won the battle or she was scared of me, that much I am sure of. I figure she flew away to check on her little baby owls. I put the pistol back in my car immediately, headed straight for a first-aid kit, and never went near that flagpole again – owl or no owl, flag or no flag. I believe smart people refer to it as “behavioral modification”.
The moral of this story is? Don’t ever think an owl is only wise and non-threatening. They are also very tough and extremely vicious! It’s just another lesson I had to learn the hard way – something they don’t teach you in books. – Ray Peyton – Louisiana.
This Week’s Podcast:
On the show this week we will ponder the question, What would it be like to meet an alien race? We listen to a story called First Contact from the Sci-Fi series Dimension X. This is a good one! You can listen to this podcast on Thursday at Ron’s Amazing Stories, download it from Apple Podcasts, stream it on Stitcher Radio or on the mobile version of Spotify. Do you prefer the radio? We are heard every Thursday at 10:00 pm and Sunday Night at 11:00 PM (EST) on AMFM247.COM. Check your local listing or find the station closest to you at this link
OnRon’s Amazing StoriesI ask the question, “Do you like stories about the old west?” If you do then you are in for a treat. OnThese Are Your Storieswe have two campfire-style ghost tales that are right out of the old west. Then we debut an OTR series calledFrontier Town. This series had a short run in 1949, but the adventures were amazing. Even our audible review takes us into the world of Louis L’Amour. So are you ready for western stuff? Press that play button and enjoy the show.
Featured Story – The Opening Of Tioga Reserve
Our featured story for this week comes from an OTR western seriesFrontier Town. It was syndicated by Bruce Eells Productions. The 30-minute program was broadcast in 1949 and ran for 47 episodes. The main character was Chad Remington. His quest to bring his father’s killer to justice served as a springboard for a career as a crime-fighting attorney in the small town of Dos Rios. We will hear episode #9 and it is titledThe Opening Of Tioga Reserve. Cherokee has a plan to rent horses to the participants of a land run.
Other Stories Include– Death By Cave Gas, Sackett’s Land, Vulture City, The Ghost Of Swamp Park, and The Opening Of Tioga Reserve
Program Links: On today’s show Brandon Miller of Fort Worth Texas shares his ghost town experience. He sent two photos for us and you can see them here.
Michael from Cleveland, Ohio sent in this story he calls The Moonville Tunnel, but before we get to the story here is a bit of history first:
The darkest, most desolate stretch of the Marietta and Cincinnati Railroad ran through Moonville, Ohio. According to local legend, an epidemic once spread through the tiny community, and trains were forbidden from stopping there. Running low on supplies the residents sent a volunteer with a lantern to flag down a cargo train on the edge of town. The idea was that the train’s conductor would start to slow down after seeing the man outside town and come to a stop by the time he cleared the passage. But the plan never had a chance. The volunteer was late getting to the tunnel, and the oncoming train struck and killed him before he could reach the other side. Today, the Moonville Tunnel is one of the few remaining landmarks from the defunct mining town. Some visitors still claim to see a ghostly figure carrying a lantern in the darkness.
That is the history and this is Michael’s story:
Let me start by saying that I am not a ghost hunter. However, I have been known to go to haunted places just to see if something will ever happen to me. Nothing ever did and for the most part, left me as a skeptic until that day in June when I was turned from skeptic to believer.
The Moonville Tunnel today is a favorite hiking stop. My wife and I made plans to not only hike a section of the ten-mile trail but do it towards the evening in hopes of seeing something. We got to the tunnel, hung out for a picnic, and waited to see what would happen.
For the most part, it was trouble-free and quite fun. We enjoyed the rich history provided by markers on the trail itself and our picnic was pleasant. I will admit we had brought some other forms of entertainment that was …shall we say is not entirely legal. For my wife, it’s a medical necessity. We were enjoying that near the bridge that leads to the tunnel when it happened.
We both saw a figure moving towards the entrance. It was mostly mist, but there was a bright light about where its arms were. It moved towards the center of the tunnel and then rapidly moved inside. We dropped what we were doing and ran after it. About halfway down the tunnel it stopped, reversed direction, then shot right by us and was gone.
That’s it. Everyone we tell this story to says that it was the weed. Anyone who smokes knows that the mild stuff does not produce anything, but a pleasant buzz. We saw what we saw. There was no one else around and we never even thought to record it on a cell phone. – Michael
This Week’s Podcast: On the show this week we debut a new old-time radio western called Frontier Town. It stars Jeff Chandler who was a popular actor in the ’40s and ’50s. In fact, the entire show is western-themed and should be a lot of fun. You can listen to this podcast on Thursday at Ron’s Amazing Stories, download it from Apple Podcasts, stream it on Stitcher Radio or on the mobile version of Spotify. Do you prefer the radio? We are heard every Thursday at 10:00 pm and Sunday Night at 11:00 PM (EST) on AMFM247.COM. Check your local listing or find the station closest to you at this link
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