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Skeptoid

Skeptoid #1024: The Van Meter Visitors

Skeptoid

Brian Dunning

History, Skeptic, Social Sciences, Conspiracy Theories, Urban Legends, Skepticism, Paranormal, Science

4.63K Ratings

🗓️ 20 January 2026

⏱️ 19 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

A century-old hoax takes wing again, proof that good stories never stay buried.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

Late on an autumn night in 1903, the citizens of a small Iowa town were torn from their slumber

0:10.6

by the sinister appearance of a large creature with a glowing horn, four limbs, and bat-like wings.

0:19.2

Notable locals engaged the creature with firearms, but their weapons had no

0:23.3

effect. More than a century later, how can we make sense of the chilling tell of the van meter

0:29.7

visitors? And in our extended content for premium members, we're going to talk about what drives

0:35.8

the creation of amazing but implausible

0:38.3

stories in mass media.

0:40.3

Coming up next on Skeptoid.

0:43.3

Before we dig into today's episode, a quick word about how skeptoid stays on the air.

0:55.1

Skeptoid depends on listeners like you.

0:57.7

We're funded almost entirely by donations, which means your support directly enables us to bring high-quality science and critical thinking programming to schools and audiences worldwide.

1:08.7

Completely free.

1:10.3

When you become a premium member for just $5 a month or more,

1:14.1

you get ad-free episodes with extended content,

1:17.3

plus various other perks,

1:19.1

and the best part, your contributions qualify as a charitable donation.

1:23.3

Ready to go ad-free, visit sceptoid.com slash go premium to join today. That's sceptoid.com

1:30.8

slash go premium. Now, let's get skeptical. You're listening to Sceptoid. I'm Blake Smith, guest hosting for Skeptoid.com.

1:47.9

The Van Meter Visitors

1:49.3

This episode was sponsored by Rich Sagle.

1:53.8

To personally sponsor your own episode, come to Skeptoid.com forward slash sponsor.

2:00.7

Welcome to the show that separates fact from fiction, science from pseudos, sceptoid.com forward slash sponsor.

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