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Radiolab

WNYC Studios

History, Science, Documentary, Natural Sciences, Society & Culture

4.6 • 44.5K Ratings

🗓️ 25 April 2019

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week we’re going back to a favorite episode from 2015. During World War II, something happened that nobody ever talks about. This is a tale of mysterious balloons, cowboy sheriffs, and young children caught up in the winds of war. And silence, the terror of silence. Reporters Peter Lang-Stanton and Nick Farago tell us the story of a seemingly ridiculous, almost whimsical series of attacks on the US between November of 1944 and May of 1945. With the help of writer Ross Coen, geologist Elisa Bergslien, and professor Mike Sweeney, we uncover a national secret that led to tragedy in a sleepy logging town in south central Oregon. Check out pictures of the ghostly balloons here. Special thanks to Annie Patzke, Leda and Wayne Hunter, and Ilana Sol. Special thanks also for the use of their music to Jeff Taylor, David Wingo for the use of "Opening" and "Doghouse" - from the Take Shelter soundtrack, Justin Walter's "Mind Shapes" from his album Lullabies and Nightmares, and Michael Manning for the use of "Save". Support Radiolab today at Radiolab.org/donate.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Wait, you're listening.
0:01.1	Okay.
0:02.4	All right.
0:03.6	Okay.
0:05.0	All right.
0:06.4	You're listening to Radio Lab.
0:09.4	Radio Lab.
0:09.8	From W. N. Y.
0:11.9	C.
0:12.8	See?
0:13.1	Yep.
0:17.2	Hello. Today we wanted to bring back a story that's one, I mean, one of my personal favorite stories that we've done.
0:24.3	This particular story, we aired in 2015, so a lot of you may not have heard it.
0:32.8	And it goes like this.
0:34.1	Hey, I'm Chad.
0:34.7	I'm Robert Krollwitch.
0:36.2	This is Radio Lab.
0:37.1	And today, my name is Peter Lang Stanton. My name's Nick Farago. Well, we're going to get a story from two reporters. I'm a freelance filmmaker. Freelance reporter? Writer slash radio producer. Too many slashes. It's a story that goes back about 70 years. It's, it all feels like unreal in some way.
0:56.2	But there's something about the story that just, you hear it and you can't help think about now.
1:00.9	Yeah.
1:01.1	Should we start with, with air currents or like with, I mean, I, I want to start with,
1:06.0	could we go to Thermopolis, Wyoming?
	...

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