Podcast Summary: "And That's Why We Drink"

Episode 459: Radioactive Acorns and Chicken Tricks
Hosts: Christine Schiefer & Em Schulz
Release Date: November 23, 2025

Episode Overview

This Thanksgiving-themed episode delivers the classic ATWWD blend of chilling mystery, hilarious banter, and wild speculative theories. Christine covers Pennsylvania’s infamous Kecksburg UFO incident (aka “Pennsylvania’s Roswell”)—a story of glowing acorns, a military swarm, and government secrecy. Em follows with the bizarre true tale of Lawrence Joseph Bader—a cookware salesman who vanished, reappeared as the flamboyant “Fritz Johnson,” and left two astonished families in his wake. The episode is peppered with memorable confessions (from school pranks to chicken bone eating), deep dives into government coverups, and the kind of oddball content that keeps fans coming back every week.

Notable Banter & Opening Segment (03:59–24:17)

• Thanksgiving Song Chaos (04:25): The hosts attempt a word-by-word Thanksgiving song (“The cranberry sauce, we’re having mashed potatoes...”). Christine: “Everyone’s thinking, the whole world’s thanking you. For thanking us for thanking you... kill the turkey, Lynn.” [06:01]
• Life Updates:
  • Em’s heater woes lead to “space heater purgatory” with their dog, Hank. (06:29–08:01)
  • Christine recounts her rainy day tea ritual and her recent wild trip to Hawaii: attending a rum safari, feeding pigs tortillas, meeting eclectic friends, and being gifted a resin “graveyard” filled with preserved insects. (09:44–12:44)
  • Emotional moments as Christine describes attending a childhood friend’s wedding and confesses to being the Great Backpack Switcher of first grade. (“I switched everybody’s backpack in the entire grade. 65 kids.” [13:37])
• Childhood Prank Confession:
  • Christine details a prank involving switching all classmates’ backpacks—complete with dissociation and later revelation to the unwitting victim at a Skyline Chili dinner, a decade later (18:03–20:31).
  • Em and Christine psychoanalyze the prank (“You just needed some control. You were six. Who cares?” – [21:00]).

Story #1: The Kecksburg Incident – “Radioactive Acorns from Outer Space” (24:17–74:17)

Introduction (24:17–27:16)

• Em explains the struggle to contain this story to one episode due to troves of documentaries and information. “I want to do those UFO stories justice! …The limit does not exist!” – [26:39]

The Incident:

December 1965, Kecksburg, PA (27:18–34:53)

• What Happened:

  • Residents see a massive “fireball in the sky”—variously described as football-sized, on-fire, trailing smoke, glowing so brightly that you couldn’t look at it, with some falling debris.
  • Tied reports from multiple states: Ohio, Indiana, Virginia, even Canada. “It sounds like they all saw the same thing, but as it was passing through their areas.” – Em [30:39]

• Crash Landing:

  • In Kecksburg, locals see the object land in the woods; some report a “sonic boom” and the ground shaking.
  • The first on the scene describe “a giant metallic acorn, no seams, glowing, covered in some kind of symbols or hieroglyphics.” [36:06]
  • Volunteer fireman James:

    “The object looked exactly like a fresh acorn that you would pick off a tree… stars, shapes, figures and circles and lines. What it was, I don’t know. …Here come two men… ‘We are in charge. We’re taking command. Get out of here.’” [38:29]

• Military Response (39:02–42:01):

  • The military, police, and FBI “descend within an hour,” block off the area, strong-arm locals out, and set up roadblocks.
  • Local reporter John Murphy claims early access and photos, later confiscated; he bases a radio docudrama on the experience.

• Radioactive Concerns & Coverup (43:02–47:30):

  • Some locals warn it might be radioactive. Authorities mention military engineers and scientists.
  • Family living near the crash site, the Hayeses, host military and “men in suits”—clearly in charge—who use their house as a command post for the night.

  “I saw six guys in radiation suits take a box down there, and I didn’t see them bring it out.” – John Hayes [47:02]
  “No calls turned up on my bill.” – John’s mother [47:54]

  • Military seen later removing a large tarped object on a flatbed truck.

Theories & Government Response

• Secrecy and Disinformation:

  • Conflicting explanations: some say meteor, others a Russian probe, others “experimental reentry vehicle.” All official agencies (military, NASA, Coast Guard) deny responsibility.
  • NASA at one point blames a Russian satellite (Cosmos 96), but the timeline/debris don’t add up. NASA says supporting documents have gone “missing.” [53:47]
  • SciFi Network funds lawsuits for more information; after legal wrangling, NASA only admits to “recovery and examination of space object debris”—revealing nothing.

• Skeptical and Local Views:

  • Most officials declare it a meteor, but trajectory and behavior (controlled descent, gliding, odd shape, and bizarre symbols) spark continued debate. “Meteors do not make controlled turns… either we’re dealing with some highly advanced space probe, or… we may indeed be dealing with an extraterrestrial spacecraft.” – UFO researcher Stan Gordon [59:53][60:54]

• Ufology Pop-Culture Legacy:

  • Unsolved Mysteries (1990) dramatizes the case, leaving the production’s acorn UFO replica as a town monument.
  • Kecksburg stages an annual UFO festival featuring “space acorn” parades, fireworks, and UFO speakers. [61:45]
  • Many documentaries referenced for further research.

Quotes

• “The eeriest part is that other people said it looked like it was trying to control its landing.” – Em [34:22]
• “What was more jarring…was how quickly the military appeared.” – Em [41:06]
• “If it was nothing, why didn’t you just let everyone see what it was?” – Christine [67:06]

Story #2: The Double Life of Lawrence Joseph Bader (“Chicken Bones, Amnesia, and ‘Fritz’ Johnson”) (74:17–124:05)

Lawrence Joseph Bader – Origins, Disappearance (74:24–84:49)

• Born 1926, Akron, Ohio; financially comfortable background but notorious local risk-taker and schemer.

• Known for party trick: eating a whole roast chicken, bones and all.

  “He would eat an entire roast chicken, bones and all.” – Christine [78:05]

• March 1957: With IRS, marriage, and debt stress mounting, he tells his pregnant wife he might not return from a solo fishing trip at Lake Erie, rents a boat, sails off in a storm, and vanishes. Boat and life jackets found; Larry and his suitcase of cash are gone. [80:38]

The Rebirth as Fritz Johnson (84:49–94:57)

• Days later: In Omaha, Nebraska, a man calling himself John “Fritz” Johnson walks into a bar, instantly becomes a quirky local celebrity.
  • Outlandish stunts: wears an eyepatch (real, after eye tumor surgery); sports a curled mustache; deposits tips by “quart”; dates women, rides in a hearse with plush seats, and refuses to use dates on checks (“Late summer” instead of “August 5”).
  • “He wrote checks using the season instead of the date... would take tips to the bank in a glass milk jug and write deposit slip: ‘one quart of tip.’” [89:07]
• Known for speeches, magic tricks, winning state archery titles (despite one eye), and impromptu toasts (“vaudeville ready”).
• Publicity Stunt: Volunteers to live for days atop a pole in a small box (“a publicity roost”), supplied by friends via pulley—another example of his odd charisma. [92:54]

The Unmasking (94:57–105:47)

• At a Chicago sports expo (1960), a visitor from Akron recognizes Fritz as the presumably-dead Larry Bader. Larry’s family confirms via fingerprint analysis.
• Fritz, stunned, says: “If the fingerprints say it, I guess that’s my identity...” He insists on no memory of his Ohio life. [102:05]
• Theories emerge: Did he fake amnesia—concocting a flamboyant new life (informed by the looming presence of a brain tumor)? Or was it a genuine dissociative fugue—a rare but documented stress response?

Aftermath (105:47–124:05)

• Legal and personal chaos:

  • His Akron widow Mary Lou, engaged to remarry, faces the loss of life insurance payouts and government benefits (insurance company wants all money back); his Nebraska wife Nancy learns their marriage is invalid.
  • Publicity explodes in the press; Fritz withdraws from public life, moves into a YMCA room; remains seemingly baffled: “No clue about his past in Ohio and maybe God would end up having to sort this out.”
  • Dies from cancer (the same that cost him his eye) within a year of his rediscovery at age 39.
  • Two funerals held: one for Larry in Akron, one for Fritz in Omaha.

• Theories Discussed:

  • Possible suicide attempt interrupted; accidental injury; true fugue state or elaborate ruse (perhaps enabled by his changing mental state due to the tumor); sudden personality change—possibly frontotemporal injury.
  • Hosts analyze the neuroscience, suggesting possible number/dates confusion as additional evidence (“Maybe it was really something he couldn’t do,” Christine [121:56])

Notable Quotes

• “He did the chicken thing—but he was really chill and reserved. And now he’s wearing bow ties and on the radio… But for some people, some people can NOT help but put themselves in the spotlight.” – Christine [116:36]
• “If you saw this in a movie, you’d be like, no way that would ever happen.”—Christine on the case [119:28]
• “Every time I think of a weird thing, I’m like, no, that’s not the weirdest.” – Em [120:20]
• Em suggests, “I think he had a head injury.” Christine agrees: “It feels like, doesn’t it?” [122:06]

Memorable Moments & Quotes

• Hosts debating acorn anatomy: “Listeners, which is the head and which is the tushy of an acorn?” [41:02]
• Nostalgia-fueled home décor critique: “I really can’t stand the farmhouse look. It’s obviously not a farm, baby.” – Em [70:54]
• Plot-twist glee: “He already sank on a ship!” – Em, drawing Titanic parallels to Bader’s disappearance [97:25]
• Christine, on Bader: “What lives he lived!” [109:40]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 04:25 — Thanksgiving song improvisation
• 13:37 — Christine’s "Backpack Bandit" school confession
• 24:17 — Start of Kecksburg Incident coverage (UFO story)
• 36:06 — Eyewitness description of the “acorn” UFO
• 46:38 — Hayeses’ account of military commandeering their farmhouse
• 61:45 — Unsolved Mysteries/Kecksburg Acorn monument/UFO festival
• 74:17 — Start of Lawrence Bader / “Fritz Johnson” saga
• 78:05 — “Chicken trick” party gag revealed
• 92:54 — Fritz’s “publicity roost” stunt
• 102:05 — Fingerprints confirm Fritz is Larry
• 117:56 — Hosts analyze brain-injury/number confusion theory

Closing Thoughts

• Christine and Em reflect on how stranger-than-fiction stories, like the Bader mystery and Kecksburg’s acorn UFO, provide welcome levity among heavier true-crime fare.
• Mutual appreciation for “palette cleanser” episodes—Em declares: “Throw these in now and then. That was fun.” [113:47]
• Both contemplate returning to more disturbing content, but relish the rare episode where “almost all the crime is weird, not violent.”
• Thanksgiving plans: “I’ll wave to you from afar.” [124:24]

Further Resources (Referenced in Episode)

• "Unsolved Mysteries" (Season 3, Episode 1)
• Sci-Fi Channel’s “New Roswell: Kecksburg Exposed”
• “Kecksburg the Untold Story: Secrets of UFOs, America’s Other Roswell”
• Discovery Channel’s “UFO Hunters”, History Channel’s “Ancient Aliens”, “Nazi UFO Conspiracy”
• Stuff You Should Know (Episode on Bader/Johnson case), Scary Interesting (YouTube feature)

In the Words of the Hosts...

Why do we drink?

• “Because the world’s a scary, bizarre, and sometimes hilarious place.”
• And that’s why we drink.