Series 5: Case 3: The Devil's Den UFO

Uncanny

BBC

Personal Journals, Documentary, Society & Culture

4.7 • 2.8K Ratings

🗓️ 11 November 2025

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

1977. Terry and his friend Toby are serving at a United States Air Force base in Missouri. One weekend Toby suggests they go camping just across the Arkansas border, at Devil's Den State Park. What happens that night will change Terry and Toby’s lives forever.

Danny Robins attempts to make sense of a bizarre encounter and a secret that stayed buried for 40 years. With guest experts psychologist Nilufar Ahmed and podcaster Andy McGrillen, author of Atlas of Unidentified Flying Objects.

Written and presented by Danny Robins Experts: Nilufar Ahmed and Andy McGrillen Editing and sound design: Charlie Brandon-King Music: Evelyn Sykes Theme music by Lanterns on the Lake Commissioning executive: Paula McDonnell Commissioning editor: Rhian Roberts Produced by Danny Robins and Simon Barnard

A Bafflegab and Uncanny Media production for BBC Radio 4

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, radio, podcasts.
0:07.3	Hello, I'm Kimberly Wilson. I'm a psychologist, and in my new podcast, Complex, I'll be your guide
0:14.4	through all the information and misinformation that's out there about mental health.
0:19.0	I'm joined by expert guests covering topics from people-pleasing to perfectionism,
0:24.2	burnout to empathy, to find tangible advice so we can understand ourselves a little better.
0:30.5	Complex with me, Kimberly Wilson.
0:33.0	Listen on BBC Sounds.
0:37.7	This has haunted my sleep since 1977.
0:41.0	I know what's going to play out.
0:42.7	I know how everything's going to go.
0:44.5	And I wake up screaming and, yeah,
0:47.7	scared the hell out of my wife many times.
0:51.0	The word para in Greek means beyond.
0:53.4	So paranormal is literally beyond the normal. It's a good way of
0:57.4	describing the cases that we investigate on uncanny, events that seem impossible to explain,
1:03.8	moments that forever rewire those who witness them. Most often on uncanny, we tell ghost stories, but there is more than one
1:12.2	way to be haunted. And in this episode, we are exploring a UFO sighting. We watched it glide down,
1:18.7	and it silently slid right over us. And then it started to descend. If you thought that involved spotting some harmless lights in the sky, think again.
1:31.0	This is an experience with real fear at its heart.
1:36.6	It was clear after a minute or two that this thing was headed in our direction.
1:41.4	And while I'm watching, I am scared to death.
1:45.0	It's time to investigate.
	...

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