The Russian Roswell

Exactly a century ago, teacher John Scopes was charged with the “crime” of teaching evolution. But Scopes was hardly a defiant Galileo, nobly standing up for truth. In fact, he never even taught evolution. (Really.) But despite the unseemly origins of the Monkey Trial, Scopes pro ...  Show more

Astronomer Jules Janssen was desperate to escape the siege of Paris in 1870 and observe an eclipse in Africa—work that he hoped would confirm his discovery of a brand new element in the Sun, helium. So he devised a plan to escape the city in a hot-air balloon, despite promises by ...  Show more

While we’re hard at work on some exciting new things, we wanted to start the new year off with one of our favorites from 2017: If These Bones Could Talk. Explorer, scholar and 19th Century Smithsonian darling Robert Kennicott seemed destined to lead a full and adventurous li ...

In 1955, a United States Senator claimed he saw a "greenish-yellow ball rising rapidly" over the Soviet Union. Was it a Soviet secret weapon, an extraterrestrial visitation, or something else entirely? And why was the CIA so intent on keeping its UFO investigations under wraps? F ...  Show more

June 30, 1908. A massive and mysterious explosion occurs near the Tunguska River in Siberia, Russia that will puzzle scientists and researchers for over a century. This episode originally aired in 2023. Support the show! Join Into History for ad-free listening and more. History D ...  Show more

In 1947 in the desert of New Mexico, something strange crash landed, that much is certain. Many eyewitnesses claimed it was something not of this world, while the US government did everything they could to keep it under wraps. But why, what were they hiding? Is there a grand cons ...  Show more