Welcome to Unexplained Extra, with me, Richard McLean Smith, where for the weeks and

between episodes, we look at stories and ideas that for one reason or other didn't make

it into the previous show.

Last week's episode, wilderness be still, told the tragic story of the Jamison family, whose

mysterious deaths in 2009 remain unsolved, despite all sorts of salacious rumour-mongering

about the family and what they may or may not have been involved in.

No official explanation has been given to explain the incident, and no arrests have been made

in connection with it.

Ordinarily, with these extra episodes, we explore something relevant to the previous

week's story, however this week's is a little different.

The following story was something I came across while conducting research for the episode

because it took place in a region close to where the Jamison family went missing, so apologies

for the rather tenuous link.

The place in question is Robbers Cave State Park, a large wooded area of Oklahoma's

Sands Boys Mountains, five miles north of the town of Wilburton.

The area became infamous during the American Civil War as a place of refuge for fugitives

such as Jesse James, who used its dense forest and treacherous terrain to evade capture

by the law.

However, more recently, its name became synonymous with one of the most audacious and controversial

social psychology experiments ever carried out in the name of science.

Known as the 1954 Robbers Cave Experiment, it remains a highly valued textbook example

of realistic conflict theory, and one that it's fair to say would never be allowed to

...