Today, I'm going to tell you two wild stories.

The first story is about a little-known invasion of a South American country in 1949 that had absolutely insane unintended consequences.

And the second story is about this very strange ritual that typically did not have horrible consequences.

But one time, in 1851, it did.

So, if you're a fan of the Strange, Dark, and Mysterious delivered in story format,

then you come to the right show, because that's all we do.

So, if that's of interest to you, please offer to take the like button on a nice whale-watching cruise.

Once you're out in the middle of the ocean, just throw them overboard and leave.

Okay, let's get into today's stories. On February 12, 1949, a man in his 30s named Leonardo Pius

paced around a radio station in a city called Quito, which is the capital city of Ecuador.

It was a Saturday night, and Leonardo and all the people around him were working very hard to get ready for an urgent broadcast. So Leonardo was the director of Radio Quito, which was a highly respected news station, owned by a popular newspaper called El Comercio.

Most people in Ecuador basically got all their news,

either from this news station or that newspaper, or both.

And running a radio station with such a great reputation

was really a source of pride for Leonardo,

who had grown up in Quito.

So he took his job very seriously,

which was why tonight was such a big deal for him.

He was about to deliver a potentially life-changing broadcast to the entire city,

and just thinking about the gravity of this moment was making him feel sick and sweaty.

In the room with Leonardo was a team of producers and sound technicians, as well as one of the station's

top news anchors. Most of the last minute work they were all doing involved organizing stacks

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