"Darth Vader's Ghost"

Summary

Bigfoot Collectors Club – "Darth Vader's Ghost"
Release Date: January 21, 2026
Hosts: Michael McMillian & Riley Bray

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EPISODE OVERVIEW

Main Theme / Purpose
Michael and Riley kick off 2026 with an "L Files" episode (listener stories of high strangeness), deviating from their traditional schedule. The episode blends their signature humor, personal life updates, current UFO news, and multiple eerie listener submissions. Michael also shares deeply personal and moving experiences surrounding his father's recent passing, focusing on subtle paranormal and symbolic occurrences. The Clubhouse maintains its trademark vibe: all topics, from genuine loss to shadowy Darth Vader ghosts, are explored with warmth, curiosity, and a dash of irreverence.

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EPISODE STRUCTURE & KEY DISCUSSION POINTS

1. Opening Banter & New Year (01:24–04:02)

• The hosts joke about Discord nicknames and Riley’s annual sword-based Christmas tree disposal tradition ("Either like metal or just like abstract ambient, you know?" – Riley Bray, 03:26).
• Light, improvisational energy, setting a relaxed and playful tone for the episode.

2. Life Updates & Personal Catch-Up (04:14–07:38)

• Riley details his hectic end-of-year schedule, playing drums at a New York festival, officiating his cousin’s wedding in Guatemala, and working with Jungle at Art Basel in Miami.
  • "It was awesome. We played on this circular stage in the round." – Riley Bray, 04:54
  • "Michael and I are now co-ministers." – Riley Bray, 05:19
• They joke about launching BCC-themed weddings, with humor skewering the intersection between nerd and privilege.

3. Housekeeping & Club Announcements (07:38–09:10)

• Michael invites listeners to join their Fourth Wall shop (merchandise) and BCC Clubhouse for bonus content and ad-free episodes.
• Classic episodes are being released ad-free every Monday, sparking new discussion on Discord.

4. BCC News – UFOs, Disclosure, and Catalina Island (09:19–18:50)

• Ongoing UFO disclosure talk, with Steven Spielberg teasing a new disclosure-themed UFO movie ("All will be disclosed" – Michael McMillan, 10:24).
• Discussion about right-wing influence on UFO narratives in mainstream media.
• Attention turns to underwater UFO bases and recent News Nation coverage involving Catalina Island.
  • "Catalina Island is a hot spot right now. It always has been, but it's back in the conversation." – Michael McMillan, 13:53
• Boat captain Thor Lacens’ sightings of unexplained underwater lights and orange orbs off Catalina.
  • "Sat there the rest of the night with a gun in my hand, waiting for something to come creeping out of the water...I was scared." – Thor Lacens via News Nation report, retold by Michael, 17:01
• Discussing the idea of a BCC UFO-spotting quest to Catalina.
  • "I think we got to go out and spend a night Catalina island and see Quest Catal." – Michael McMillan, 17:30

5. Listener Engagement & Five Star Club Review (20:14–22:05)

• Encourages podcast reviews for algorithm visibility.
• Readout of a listener's whimsical "pie breakdown" analogy of the show.

6. Personal Paranormal Update: Michael’s Recent Loss (22:05–43:54)

[Main Segment; Highly Notable and Deep]

• Michael shares the recent, sudden death of his father in early December.
• Discusses "animal symbolism": finding deceased animals (e.g., a favorite squirrel "Tiger") prior to family members’ deaths, and the emotional prescience or intuition attached ("...when I saw that squirrel, I thought, my dad's gonna die." – Michael, 24:44).
• Recounts his father’s end-of-life experiences in hospital: seeing multiple apparitions (a white-haired man, "onion lady," and an elderly woman), with Michael acting as witness and confidant.
  • "'Do you see her?' ...'You can't see that woman?' ...'You can't see things that I cannot see.'" – Michael, narrating his father, 31:02
  • "He goes...I have seen the man with the beard before...when your mother was in the hospital." – Michael’s father, 32:01
• After his father's passing, other symbolic events: family of deer seen the day after his mother’s death; a large buck appears near his cousin’s house after his father dies, in a neighborhood where deer are never seen.
  • "For a second I was like, oh, that's wild. And then I was like, wait, we saw deer the morning after my mom died, you know, So I don't know." – Michael, 36:33
• Discusses meaning-making, nature symbolism, what "paranormal" signs might represent in grief. Riley theorizes Michael is a "nature wizard."
  • "I think you have, like, nature magic blood. Like, you're like, the type of wizard you are is the one that's, like, in the woods...” – Riley, 37:03
• Emphasis on beauty and reassurance found in painful transitions; recognition that paying attention to nature and personal meaning can be powerful, even if not strictly "paranormal."

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NOTABLE QUOTES

• "What is a hallucination?" – Riley Bray, 31:02, reflecting on Michael’s father’s visions.
• "It's hard not to be like, in the world of Michael's book of symbols, this seems to...there seems to be a direct correlation." – Michael, 38:48
• "Throughout this very difficult process, you found these moments of, like, poetry and beauty." – Riley, 42:13

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7. L Files (Listener Stories) & Paranormal Letters (45:01–65:32)

Segment includes:

A. Heather’s New UFO Sighting (45:41–49:38)

• Listener Heather (returning after a previous "blue UFO" sighting) reports seeing a "classic UFO" with six lights, near an airport, moving with odd speed and trajectory ("Within three seconds it was coming in the opposite direction over me again." – Heather, 46:39).
• The hosts request video next time and express interest in the region for possible flap/corroboration.
• "You gotta get out of the car and you gotta take some video." – Michael, 48:33

B. T’s Haunted Childhood Home (50:14–54:34)

• Multiple sightings: green-glowing ghost girl with a teddy bear, a void-black male entity with dreadlocks looming over T, and a spooky Cat in the Hat clothes hamper "always watching."
• "My closet and bathroom especially felt straight up murderous. And stuff would move around in there when I was wasn't looking." – T, 53:56

C. James’ “Darth Vader’s Ghost” (55:17–64:09)

• Repeat shadow entity over years, described as a tall figure "with a weird shaped head like Darth Vader’s helmet," seen by both James, his brother, and his girlfriend at different times—with zero prior collusion.
• Hauntings include moving toys, doors opening on their own, and the family dog reacting.
• "He said the figure was so tall it took up the whole doorway. And his head looked like Darth Vader's helmet." – James, 59:14
• Suggestion that the shadow might be an egregore—an entity shaped by collective thought and fear.

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8. Voice Memo Appeal & Closing (65:38–67:01)

• Call for listeners to send stories via voice memo (ideally ~5 minutes).
• Collector’s Corner skipped except for Riley’s new Guatemalan flute.
• Friendly reminders to join the Clubhouse and submit listener mail.

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MEMORABLE MOMENTS & TONE

• Michael’s vulnerable, detailed sharing about his father's passing and the symbolism of animal encounters, as well as hospital visions, stands out as the emotional core of the episode. The tone is gentle, earnest, and a bit mystical, but always with warmth and curiosity.
• Playful Clubhouse banter: habitual swords for Christmas trees; the playful riff on naming club members after pies.
• The ongoing thread of "UFO Quest"—the idea of making a YouTube adventure out of Catalina Island’s mysterious lights—injects adventure and lightness.
• Listener stories are told tongue-in-cheek but with real respect for experience, especially the “Darth Vader’s Ghost” shadow entity—equal parts Spooky 80s Movie and familial mystery.

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TIMESTAMPS FOR IMPORTANT SEGMENTS

• Opening/New Year, Banter: 01:24–04:02
• Big Club Announcements: 07:38–09:10
• BCC News: Spielberg, Catalina Island, Underwater UFOs: 09:19–18:50
• Five Star Club Review - 'BCC Pie Breakdown': 20:14–22:05
• Michael’s Personal Paranormal Update (father's passing & animal symbolism): 22:05–43:54
• L Files Segment Start: 45:01
  • Heather’s UFO: 45:41–49:38
  • T’s Haunted Childhood: 50:14–54:34
  • Darth Vader’s Ghost (James): 55:17–64:09
• Appeal for Voice Memos & Wrap-up: 65:38–67:01

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CONCLUSION

The episode embodies the full spirit of Bigfoot Collectors Club: blending personal vulnerability, light-hearted banter, deep dives into Fortean news, and a batch of lively listener tales. It’s a quintessential Clubhouse hang: weird, welcoming, and woven with moments of genuine beauty and sadness. The hosts make sure both laughter and sincerity are given space, especially as they encourage the sharing of personal paranormal stories and the pursuit of cosmic meaning in everyday life.

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Transcript

[Michael McMillan]

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[Riley Bray]

It's bigfoot collectors club with michael and riley. I know a story of highest ranges or two. Let's do this.

[Michael McMillan]

Hello everybody and welcome back to Bigfoot Collectors Club. The show where we talk to amazing guests about their personal paranormal history and share stories of high strangeness. I'm your host, Michael McMillan and with me always is the synthe Mental Solier Sommelier. Sorry.

[Riley Bray]

Riley Bray, sentimental sommelier.

[Michael McMillan]

Sommelier. That was submitted by 34 year old man over on the BCC discord.

[Riley Bray]

Doing great. You don't look a day over 33.

[Michael McMillan]

I mean this is maybe my favorite handle that we've had over over there so far.

[Riley Bray]

There's a lot of wordplay going on there. Yeah.

[Michael McMillan]

Synthemental Sommelier. Sorry I fucked it up first.

[Riley Bray]

Pouring glasses of synth with a great sweet sentiment.

[Michael McMillan]

That's right. That was my first mistake of 2026 by the way.

[Riley Bray]

Hey, you know what? Get it out of the way.

[Michael McMillan]

Kicking it getting. Getting it started now won't be the last. Happy New Year, everybody. Happy New Year. It's just your boys this week. We're doing things a little bit differently this year. Usually we end the month with an L Files episode, but this year we're kicking it off with an L Files episode. And then I have a very personal paranormal update I guess for. For Riley and everybody that we will get into. But happ year, Riley.

[Riley Bray]

Happy New Year.

[Michael McMillan]

I mean it's not.

[Riley Bray]

It's not quite New Year behind me. I haven't even decorated the tree yet that just landed just behind my desk.

[Michael McMillan]

Just pretend you've taken all the ornaments off.

[Riley Bray]

Right? Yes. I'm about to go do my yearly tradition of chopping it up with a sword.

[Michael McMillan]

Yeah, yeah, that's right. I forget that you do that.

[Riley Bray]

Do you really do that every year? It's a good way. You got to cut it down. You might as well use a sword, you know?

[Michael McMillan]

Yeah. No, it's.

[Riley Bray]

Logic holds.

[Michael McMillan]

What music are you playing while you chop your tree up with a sword?

[Riley Bray]

Either like metal or just like abstract ambient, you know?

[Michael McMillan]

Yeah.

[Riley Bray]

Depending on the mood of the year.

[Michael McMillan]

So basically just the music you always.

[Riley Bray]

Have playing, I guess. Yeah.

[Michael McMillan]

Are you using a broadsword or a katana? I cannot.

[Riley Bray]

It's a. It's. It's a katana. Purchased from ebay. Battle ready, as it said in the description.

[Michael McMillan]

Amazing. This is like when Naruto run to Area 51 was taking off and people.

[Riley Bray]

Were like, I just want to be prepared, you know, Just arm up now.

[Michael McMillan]

Yeah, that's. That's great. Yes. We are in the time machine. It's. It's 2026 for you. It's still 2025 for us.

[Riley Bray]

But don't.

[Michael McMillan]

That doesn't matter because Riley. Riley and I have actually not seen each other or spoken to each other in about the same amount of time as the holiday break, so.

[Riley Bray]

That's true. Yeah.

[Michael McMillan]

Riley, you've been on adventures, haven't you?

[Riley Bray]

I have been. The last week was crazy. I went to New York to play drums for riot at a festival at this place called Powerhouse International. It's this really cool art space in Brooklyn that it's like. It's a whole building with like a bunch of floors and they have all these art studios of like every kind of thing, like down to like, machining and like, really modern stuff. And then also all these, like, maker spaces and then there's a big open hall and they did a. They did. I think it was the first year of this festival they're doing there. And it was awesome. We played on this circular stage in the round.

[Michael McMillan]

Cool.

[Riley Bray]

It was fun. Yeah, it was really fun. But then I went directly from there to Antigua, Guatemala, which was also very tricky packing.

[Michael McMillan]

Yeah.

[Riley Bray]

Very cold in New York. And I drum stuff with me, so I had to like coordinate. Send that back. Okay. And then go to Guatemala. And then I officiated my cousin's wedding, which was really fun. And Michael and I are now co ministers.

[Michael McMillan]

Welcome to the Universal Church, my brother.

[Riley Bray]

Thank you, my brother. Yes, the Universal Life Church. So, you know, maybe you. Maybe we'll perform a wedding.

[Michael McMillan]

I mean, we have talked about just launching BCC weddings.

[Riley Bray]

We could. We could get you married. We could dj. We got the whole thing locked down.

[Michael McMillan]

Yeah. It's only $100,000, please.

[Riley Bray]

If anyone's dad is like the CEO of Oracle or something and wants to get married, you know, you're the like.

[Michael McMillan]

Rich kid that instead of Taylor Swift or Nicki Minaj, you get Bigfoot Collectors Club to do your wedding because you're the nerdiest. Hey, yeah, we appreciate. I mean, come on. This is why it's a club. Please.

[Riley Bray]

That's it. Yeah. That was great, man. That was so fun. It was. I've never performed a wedding before and I wrote this whole speech about love and knowing oneself and all this stuff. It was really fun and the wedding was gorgeous and it's just really. This is such a good time.

[Michael McMillan]

It's great. It's always tricky when you're a performer and you're the officiant to like not make it about you.

[Riley Bray]

I know, I know, but I think I did. I think I managed to. But then the very. The next morning, like, so like the wedding is Saturday night, Sunday morning. I had to leave the hotel at like 6am to get on a flight to Miami because I was doing visuals for that band Jungle I work with for their DJ sets at like this electronic music festival at. At Art Basel. It was like the last night of it. So, like that I was just like, you know, I had to like, okay, like, pace yourself. The wedding, like, don't get drunk, don't get drunk. Don't want to be hungover tomorrow. I did it just honestly, at a wedding, tricky because they're just like. More wine? Oh, yeah. So and then yeah, just did this amazing gig at this, the festival. Controlling this massive stage with this lighting director was really good. And we're like on comms, you know, calling the show. There were flame cannons, lasers, you know, just fun stuff. It was a great week. And then I came home and busy boy worked. And the day after I got home and now here we are.

[Michael McMillan]

Man, busy artist. You're like a hardcore multimedia artist trying.

[Riley Bray]

To be, man, running around the world.

[Michael McMillan]

Well, great. Well, I'm glad to be back with you and I guess since it's the new year, I'll just remind everybody that even though the holidays are over, there is some merch still available as always in our fourth wall shop. So find a link to that in the show notes. And if you want to submit a name like 34 Year Old man, then come join us over at BCC clubhouse on bcc.supercast.com where you will get access to three bonus episodes every month. If you were missing us over the Holidays, you would have gotten all new episodes over the course of December. And you can also choose to upgrade to receive ad free episodes and cosmic tracks from Riley. And now we're doing a thing where we're releasing every Monday classic ad free episodes going all the way back to the first episode. We're like kitting around episode 10 at this point. And I will say people are loving it. There's a whole channel devoted to it on the Discord. I know there's a lot of y' all that haven't like started over from the beginning or started from the beginning. And this is a really way great way to do it because you don't have to listen to any advertisements, which is the way that we would prefer this show to be. But in order to keep the lights on, we have to do stuff like this. So come on over to bcc.supercast.com. okay, well what should we do? Should we do a little BCC news or should we do a little. Let's do some little BCC news first, I'm going to say. And then we'll get into my own update.

[Riley Bray]

Okay, so you want to do some.

[Michael McMillan]

BCC News. Well, Riley, towards the end of 2025 and now the beginning of 2020 26, it's just impossible to escape the conversation about disclosure. In fact, as of this recording yesterday, Steven Spielberg just teased the new UFO movie that he's releasing this summer. Yeah. With a billboard in Times Square that features like a, an outline of a bird and an eyeball looking through it. And it said like disclosure is coming. Something like that. Okay, like what did, what did it actually say? But, but it's teasing that this UFO movie is going to tie into the disclos conversation that we've been basically having for the past five years at least, if not seven years. No title for the movie yet, which maybe we'll have by the time this episode drops. I'm just looking up Disclosure Steven Spielberg billboard to see if I can get the correct. All will be disclosed. That's what the catchphrase was.

[Riley Bray]

So. All right, all right, let's.

[Michael McMillan]

It's interesting. You know, that's kind of. I wonder, it seems sounds like that they're going to have a, like maybe this is going to be about Tic Tacs. You know what I mean?

[Riley Bray]

Oh yeah. Real kind of like heady, bureaucratic maybe.

[Michael McMillan]

I mean maybe this is going to be like his close encounter of, you know, the modern era where it's going to really kind of tie into the real. Less ET and more of the worlds and more like real world. What's going on with UFO politics and hopefully some spaceships and aliens. We'll find out. I can't imagine that it'll just be about congressional hearings.

[Riley Bray]

It's all just hearings and meetings.

[Michael McMillan]

Yeah, it's just all congressional hearings and MAGA congressmen. That's like basically all it is.

[Riley Bray]

It's like what a fun movie this movie is.

[Michael McMillan]

Not what I was expecting. Speaking of which, one of the big conversations that's been happening is this idea of underwater UFO bases and maga. Congressman Tim Burchett of Tennessee has been going on record as saying he thinks they're like five or six UFO underwater bases that these things are flying in and out of now. I don't know. Based on what?

[Riley Bray]

That was the question. Yeah, I was like, he thinks based. Based on what? I mean, what does he know?

[Michael McMillan]

Here he's in these closed meetings with congressional leaders and, and you know, people who are in the know in the government, I guess about what they've got now. Look, the more, the longer all this goes on, the more I just feel like this is all just. We're not going to learn anything from the government. I, I really don't, I don't believe this.

[Riley Bray]

Yeah, I tend to agree.

[Michael McMillan]

I don't think it's coming, it's never going to come through them. I, I don't know where it's going to come. But this all led to me finding out about a recent news story on the, the, the increasingly right wing question mark website, News Nation. But one of the best places to get UFO information. I, I, News Nation started out as pretty like center and now I'm not sure.

[Riley Bray]

So I, I guess I always thought of it as like kind of, it's.

[Michael McMillan]

Neutral, it's neutral, but I don't know, there's a lot of. Again, this, this is a problem. Look, we're not trying to get political here, but the thing is like UFOs, the, the right wing has such an ironclad grip on the UFO narrative when it comes to, you know, disclosure. So it's just hard to not bump into some of these people that I'd rather not read about. Fortunately, this story is not about Tim Burchett, but it's Tim Burett underwater base adjacent, which is Catalina, California. Catalina Island.

[Riley Bray]

That is close.

[Michael McMillan]

Okay, so there was an article recently on News Nation. I'll put a link to the show notes where this guy, this boat captain named Thor Lysens has basically been recording lights off the coast of Catalina. He's seen an underwater lights claiming to see usos. And there was recently a Google Earth image where people thought that they were seeing, like, a Catalina island underwater base in Google Earth. So, like, Catalina Island.

[Riley Bray]

Yeah.

[Michael McMillan]

Is a hot spot right now. It always has been, but it's back in the conversation. So here we go. Catalina, California, is an area known for strange sightings. And News Nation traveled to investigate the waters in the area. And here one witnesses terrifying story. News Nation correspondent Ben Hansen traveled to the area using a remote operated vehicle underwater to see how an unidentified submersible object, or uso, could hide under the waves and evade detection using an underwater canyon. Because they can zip around with all the underwater caves and canyons down there.

[Riley Bray]

Okay.

[Michael McMillan]

Hanson interviewed a man who has had multiple strange experiences while on the water near Catalina Island. Boat captain Thor Lacens recorded a video in 2021 showing three orange orbs over the waters around Catalina Island. The video was also taken in the same general area where the famous Tic Tac UFO encounter was documented by the military. Now, I did not know that the US Nimitz Tic Tac UFO video was off the coast of Catalina Island.

[Riley Bray]

I didn't know that either.

[Michael McMillan]

Why did this never come up in in now all, you know, eight years of doing the show?

[Riley Bray]

Yeah, it was right in our backyard, man.

[Michael McMillan]

Man. So there's a link that I'm gonna put in the show notes. And around the 3 minute 34 mark in the embedded videos where you can see the l see this orange light spoiler. It's just a dark video with, like, orange lights and a shaky handheld cam, but they're there if you want to look at them. The article goes on to say that video was tested for a logical explanation with little found. There were no emergencies or flares fired in that area and no nighttime drills from nearby Camp Pendleton. The Vandenberg. Vandenberg did launch a SpaceX rocket with Starlink satellites that night, but it was 25 minutes before Lasen signing and 150 miles to the north. And I will say, having seen the video, it does not look like that. We still get friends of the show who send in, like, what am I looking at? And it's the Starlink. So, public service announcement. Here's how you identify Starlink. If it looks like a long train of lights and it looks like something super spooky, it's Starlink.

[Riley Bray]

It's Starlink. Yeah. Yeah.

[Michael McMillan]

But those lights weren't Lazen's only encounter with something unexplained. One night on the water, Lesin's had another encounter when the boat drove over the object, Lazen said it began flashing lights up, which he described as similar to stadium lights with a bright white appearance. We drove over something. I know the water's like 1300, 1400ft deep. It drops off really deep out there, he said. Lazens rejects the idea that it could have been naturally occurring phosphorescence or algae, which he is familiar with. Yeah, I've seen that, too. And it's a very, like, beautiful, dull blue or green color out there. It glows a green color, he said, not the bright light he saw. The lights were in an area about 50 yards of. About 50 yards, Lazens told New Nation. Sat there the rest of the night with a gun in my hand, waiting for something to come creeping out of the water, ladies and gentlemen. Said I was scared.

[Riley Bray]

Hell yeah, you did. Captain Thor.

[Michael McMillan]

Captain Thor, gun ready. Ready to shoot them aliens.

[Riley Bray]

I. I believe Captain Thor. I mean, the ocean is so mysterious. If I were aliens, I would be hiding in the ocean.

[Michael McMillan]

You know, we've talked about doing a, like, UFO quest out in the desert at some point with friends and see if we could summon some UFOs for the YouTube channel. I think we got to go out and spend a night Catalina island and see Quest Catal.

[Riley Bray]

Can we get anybody have a sailboat we can borrow?

[Michael McMillan]

Yeah. So ufo. UFO Quest Catalina, and UFO Quest Death.

[Riley Bray]

Valley, something, you know, These are the goals of 2026. Right there.

[Michael McMillan]

Right there, baby.

[Riley Bray]

Let's make this happen.

[Michael McMillan]

New Year's resolution. So, yeah, I don't know. This area is very. It's got a lot of activity. I think it's very fun that it's back in the news chatter, you know, Also, I think, like, the UFO channels are like, filling. Filling the, you know, the airwaves with stories until something else really, truly breaks. But sure. We have not covered Catalina island on the show yet. I've never been there.

[Riley Bray]

I've been there. It's cool.

[Michael McMillan]

Yeah, I mean, it's relatively easy for us to get there, you know, so there's a.

[Riley Bray]

There's a ferry you can take from la.

[Michael McMillan]

We can take a ferry there. Like, we should absolutely go. I think that'd be a blast.

[Riley Bray]

I don't know. Yeah, dude, we should absolutely go to Catalina.

[Michael McMillan]

Okay. Catalina Quest 2020.

[Riley Bray]

Really cool. If we could. If we could find someone who has a boat, we can go out there.

[Michael McMillan]

I know.

[Riley Bray]

Although, you know, getting on a boat of a stranger from the Internet and going out into the oceans, probably so good.

[Michael McMillan]

I Made sure to bring a gun too.

[Riley Bray]

Boys, Captain Thor's on board.

[Michael McMillan]

Let's talk to Captain Thor. Maybe he'll take us out there.

[Riley Bray]

That would rule.

[Michael McMillan]

Come on, we're prestigious. We can get a. We can get an interview with him, get him on the podcast. We'll figure it. Okay, we're gonna take a break. When we come back, it'll be time for my personal paranormal update. Right now, get up to 20% off select online storage solutions put heavy duty HDX totes to good use, protecting what's important to you. The solid impact resistant design prevents cracking and the clear base and sides make items easy to find even when the totes are stacked. Find select online shelving and tote storage up to 20% off at the Home Depot. To organize every room in your home from your garage to your attic, visit homedepot.com how doers get more done New year same extra value meals at McDonald's. So now get two snack wraps plus fries and a medium soft drink for.

[Riley Bray]

Just $8 for a limited time only. Prices and participation may vary. Prices may hire in Hawaii, Alaska and California. And for delivery.

[Michael McMillan]

Okay, everybody, before we get back into the show, Riley, I thought it would be nice to nominate our five star club Scout of the week. This is a friend who has gone on to Apple podcasts and given us a five star review. We're running low on these lately. If you guys, gals and non binary friends could hop over and do that, that would be great because the more activity we have in reviews, the more likely Apple podcasts is to bump up the visibility of the show. So we would appreciate it.

[Riley Bray]

Please help us appease our overlords.

[Michael McMillan]

That's right.

[Riley Bray]

Please be. Yeah, help us appease. Like Jennifer Mary, who says BCC PI breakdown. I don't know what that means, but that's the subject. I love this podcast. If this podcast happened to be a pie. There you go. There would be a slice of paranormal, a slice of spooky, a slice of history, a slice of humor, a slice of magical music and a leftover heap of fun. Goodbye. Michael and Riley are the best and their guests are always interesting and entertaining. Thanks for making my commute so fun. Oh, well, thank you. Jennifer Mary.

[Michael McMillan]

I love this.

[Riley Bray]

Welcome.

[Michael McMillan]

I love being a BCC pie.

[Riley Bray]

I do too. I like the pie breakdown.

[Michael McMillan]

What kind of pie would. We'd have to be an apple pie, obviously.

[Riley Bray]

Is that obvious? I'm kind of like a lemon meringue. Like pecan.

[Michael McMillan]

I think given a certain someone who haunts the clubhouse, we need to be an apple pie.

[Riley Bray]

You're right. It's an apple pie. Yeah.

[Michael McMillan]

Is there such thing as applesauce pie? You ain't putting me in no pie. I ain't gonna be baked into a pie.

[Riley Bray]

An applesauce pie also sounds like something we can't discuss on this show.

[Michael McMillan]

Sometimes we find them left around the clubhouse. Yeah, it's pretty gross. Okay, so let's, let's get into a little personal paranormal update of my own now. Let's just get to it if Follow me on Instagram or social media. Unfortunately, in early December my dad passed away. So I have lost both parents now within a two year time span. Wild. It's, it's been very wild. As we record this, it's still very fresh. Yeah. So, but, but some, nothing like mind blowing. But like there have been already a couple things around that my dad's passing that I was like, well, it would not be true to the spirit of the podcast for me not to talk about some of these things. So because we've had guests share similar things like this on the show. So I thought, you know, it, you know, let's talk about it. So I thought I would share some, some of the, some strangeness around the passing of my dad, if that's okay with you, Riley, of course.

[Riley Bray]

Yeah, no, of course, man. Hear about it.

[Michael McMillan]

So, so my dad wasn't like deathly ill or anything, so this was kind of sudden, but he did, he, he basically died of liver failure. And it, when it happened, it happened very, very quickly. You know, we knew that the liver didn't look great, but it wasn't like, like people the doctors were saying last summer, like, you know, he'll be around for a while, don't worry about it. And then that turned out not to be true. But the weird. So, so I, so this is very strange. And this also sounds like I'm. This also sounds like a humble brag, which I'm very aware of, which I don't want this to be because it's sort of like, oh, I was right that my dad was going to die. But so you may recall, and if you are a listener of bcc, the Other side, I have been feeding the squirrels in my driveway, my yard, basically for a couple months. And this was a thing that I loved, filming videos of the squirrels and sending them to my dad. And I had this big fat squirrel name that I nicknamed Tiger because he looked like he had tiger stripes on his arms. He was like, he was my big fat boy.

[Riley Bray]

Yeah.

[Michael McMillan]

So Earl, in November, we Had a bunch of rains in Los Angeles. It was right before Thanksgiving, maybe a week or so. And I went out into the driveway in the morning after one of the rainstorms, and there was all of this palm debris on the back of my driveway, like, big chunks of palm bark everywhere. And I almost didn't notice that laying among the palm chunks was Tiger. Tiger had died and was laying there, like, waterlogged in the. In the back driveway. And I don't know what happened to him. I don't know if he was up in the palm tree. And we had a bunch of winds that night, and he fell out and died. He didn't look like he'd been hit by a car. There wasn't anything. Didn't look like he'd been attacked, but he was just laying there dead. And I. You know, I was like. And then first I thought I was like, oh, my God, it's a huge rat. And then I realized that it was one of my squirrels. And the first thought I had was, oh, no, my dad's going to die. I had that. I had this thought, weird. And that's because when other family members, including my mother, have passed, like, I found a dead hummingbird in one of my flower pots, like, a couple weeks before my mom died. And hummingbirds are the other thing that I take care of. And my mother loved hummingbirds. And then there's, like, been another dead bird associated with a death in the family. So I was just like, I had that thought. It was kind of an intrusive thought, you know? And then I quickly, like, went and got gloves tended to. Poor Tiger. I was, like, kind of crying, and I called, of course. Yeah, I didn't want to, like, throw him in the dumpster. So I, like, called animal control, and they're like, put him in a bag and, you know, send them out on the curb, and they'll be by within 24 hours. Well, of course, like, I put him in a cardboard box. I laid flowers on top of him. You know, like, I put a little note that was like, dead squirrel, sad face, don't touch. City coming to get. City never came to get him. So I ultimately had to.

[Riley Bray]

Oh, my God. They're like, yeah, we'll. We'll come tomorrow.

[Michael McMillan]

Yeah, they never showed up. And then I was like, I had to bury him gently in the dumpster, but still in the box. So that was just also like. So that was, like, the precursor. And it was a weird thing because I had a bad. I just got this bad feeling. And I had that Intrusive thought about my father. And then the weekend before Thanksgiving, Kate was in town. And my dad sounded a little weird when I spoke to him on that Saturday. But then he was texting me all the rest of the day and he sounded okay. Sunday, I was busy with stuff and checked in with him in the evening and he didn't get back to me. And that night I. I looked over at Kate and her friend was there, and I was like, I got a bad feeling. I was like, my dad didn't check in with me today. It's so late. I knew he was having trouble sleeping, so I was like, it's so late right now that I don't want to call and wake him up, you know, but if I haven't heard from him by mid morning tomorrow, I'm gonna check in. Now, he lived in independent living in this really great community where they have security going by and checking on people. And they have, like, a system where they can tell whether or not people have, like, opened their front doors for the day. So I knew. I knew he would be checked on. And he also has, like, pull cords in there in case he fell, which he has in the past. And he could, like, like, crawl and like, pull a pull emergency cord. So there's like, there were bumpers in place, but.

[Riley Bray]

Right, right, right.

[Michael McMillan]

So Monday morning, I'm texting, nothing back. I text again, nothing back. And finally I start calling and doesn't answer. Kate's like, oh. But the night before, I even told Kate and her friend, I was like, I have a bad feeling. And when I saw that. And then she's like, okay. And then I was like, when I saw that squirrel, I thought, my dad's gonna die. And Kate was like, okay, well, let's try not to read too much into the squirrel thing, right?

[Riley Bray]

Yeah.

[Michael McMillan]

So. So then I call a call. She's like, call one more time. My dad picks up the phone and he sounds very confused. And then I hear other voices in the room. And security has found him. He's been on the floor. I'm not sure for how long, goes to the hospital. I fly out immediately the next morning. And then we're in the hospital for eight days. And as his, like, liver starts to, like, shut down and he goes into organ failure. But the crazy. One of the crazy things was he was seeing people in the room, in the hospital room. And the way that you hear stories about people seeing people in the hospital, like, yeah, he was confused. He had been hallucinating. But even a couple days into the Hospital. He kept saying that there was a man with a. With white hair and a white beard who was peeking out from behind the doorway. He said there was another woman that he called the onion lady in the room with him, because when he got his food delivered, she said, save some onions for me. And said that. And then. And then he said that there was another woman who would stand in the hallway and look through the hallway door at him, and he would be lucid, carrying on conversation with you. And. And he. At one point, he was like, michael, okay, Michael, come here. And he calls me over and he points out the doorway to the hall and he goes, do you see her? And this is so not like my dad at all. You know what I mean? This is like, not like him at all. And I'm like, no, I can't. He's like, you can't see that woman? And I'm like, no, I think you're. You know, he could have been hallucinating.

[Riley Bray]

Sure.

[Michael McMillan]

But I was also.

[Riley Bray]

Even. Even if he is like, what is a hallucination?

[Michael McMillan]

Right? And I go, I think you're. He goes, I am seeing a woman there. And I go, I believe you. I think you're seeing things that I cannot see. And I said, describe her to me. And he's looking at. Looking out, like, he's like, she's. I don't know, in her 80s, elderly woman, Gray hair. And he turns his head away and he starts talking. And you know, after about 30 seconds, I'm like, is she still watching us? And he looked back over and he goes, yeah. And I go, what is she doing? Goes, she's just staring at the two of us. And I was like, okay. But he kept talking. Oh, and then the other thing he said to me later in the week is I had said, have your friends been around? And he said, no. And I think by this point he was a little. He was getting more elusive. But I also think he was self conscious that, like, you know, he wanted to get out of the hospital, so he didn't want to keep talking about people that weren't there.

[Riley Bray]

Right, right.

[Michael McMillan]

But he did say to me, he goes, you know, I have seen the man with the beard before. And I said, when? And he goes, when your mother was in the hospital? And it was the same hospital that my mom passed in. And I said, you saw that guy when mom was dying here? And he nodded his head. He went, yeah. So he didn't recognize him. He didn't know who he was. But I just thought this was like, very Very wild.

[Riley Bray]

You know what? Yeah. I mean, truly, what a surreal experience to have your telling you this, like.

[Michael McMillan]

And he'd be like, there he is right now. And I go, what did he do? He's like. He just gave me the thumbs up. He's like, they always show up when the food arrives. But that stuff was crazy because you hear about, like, people start. I mean, we were trying to. He. He never knew his father, so we're like, maybe the guy with the beards, his dad. And then my cousin thought his niece thought that maybe the onion lady could have been my dad's sister who passed when she was, like, in her late 40s. You know, we don't know. Or they're just like, people around the hospital who.

[Riley Bray]

Hanging out.

[Michael McMillan]

Around. Hang out. Yeah. Or some sort of, you know, spirit guide or ancestor or something, or. I don't know. He's tripping his balls off. I. I don't know. But what was so strange is he'd be so locked in talking about something that, like, fully engaged and lucid, and then be like, oh, there they are. And just be completely distracted. Be like, look, can you see them? Can you see them? Him, you know?

[Riley Bray]

Wow, dude, that is really wild.

[Michael McMillan]

Yeah. Super strange. And then he passed on. He basically slipped into a deep sleep and then passed on the evening of December 2nd. And so then, of course, like, you know, I was like, oh, this is so strange, because I had that thought when I saw the squirrel. And, like, in a weird way, I felt like I knew. I was like, this is so up. Like, this is. I knew this was gonna happen. Like, I just had this guilty, weird feeling about it, you know? And even. Even Kate was like. And her friend were like, holy, dude, I cannot believe you said that. And then, you know what I mean, it happened.

[Riley Bray]

Yeah.

[Michael McMillan]

And it happened. And the one other thing that. Around it that I thought was interesting. And again, this could be easily explained. This might be a coincidence, but I didn't think about it right away. But the morning after my mother died, a family of deer walked into my sister's front yard, which is not unusual. They're deer in that neighborhood all the time. But it was like. It was like a female deer and her young were standing in the yard, like, looking through the window, like, yeah. 10ft from the window from us.

[Riley Bray]

Yeah.

[Michael McMillan]

And I even took pictures of that moment. I was just like, even if this isn't a sign from mom, this was just like a very beautiful, poignant, poignant image to wake up to, you know?

[Riley Bray]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Michael McMillan]

And the day My father died. It was really interesting because we had had this horrible snowstorm the day before. And then the day that he passed, it was sunny and it was beautiful. And he loved painting. When he was younger, he was. He was an incredible artist. And when he was younger, he used to paint these, like, really pretty snowscapes. And so the day he passed, I was like, man, it looks like one of dad's paintings today. You know, so that, like, really brought me, you know, just some nice, you know, peace with the moment that was. That was happening.

[Riley Bray]

Yeah.

[Michael McMillan]

So anyway, the next morning, I had spent the night at my cousin's house.

[Riley Bray]

Actually.

[Michael McMillan]

So it wasn't the exact next morning, but the morning after I was at. At my cousin's house.

[Riley Bray]

Okay.

[Michael McMillan]

And I woke up and my cousin's wife was like, we. I woke up this morning and she took a photo and she goes, there was a huge buck with. With like, eight point antlers walking down the middle of the street. And where they live, they never get deer crossing through, let alone this, like, big boy, you know, Daddy. Yeah, like a deer walking through.

[Riley Bray]

Yeah.

[Michael McMillan]

And she took photos of it. And they've lived in that neighborhood for close to two decades, and they're like, we have never seen a deer wandering on its own up this deep into the neighborhood. And I. But I. But, you know, for a second I was like, oh, that's wild. And then I was like, wait, we saw deer the morning after my mom died, you know, So I don't know. So there was some, like, correlating symbol symbolism there. You know, I mean, I would.

[Riley Bray]

I would take it further than that. I think you have, like, nature magic blood. Like, you're like, the type of wizard you are is the one that's, like, in the woods.

[Michael McMillan]

Right, right, right, right.

[Riley Bray]

Yeah.

[Michael McMillan]

Like the.

[Riley Bray]

You go into the tree and then it's this big manor. Yeah.

[Michael McMillan]

Radagast. The brown style.

[Riley Bray]

Yes. That's. Yeah. Like, this is full. Everything you told me is like, you are, like, nature wizard. And it's been, like, passed, even if unknowingly through your blood. Like. Yeah. No, those stories are wild, I think.

[Michael McMillan]

Beautiful, too. I think it runs in the family for sure, because my sister's so good with animals. My parents were great with animals. So, you know, I. It's just very strange that there was so much, like, animal symbology throughout this, you know, and then couched with my dad seeing people who were not there in the hospital and being able to take his eyes away for a long period of time and look back and see Them still standing there, you know? Yeah, yeah, it was. Why it was wild. So again, nothing. Nothing, like overtly, you know, quote unquote, paranormal, but just weird, you know? I don't know, some weirdness going on, some strangeness around, around his passing, for sure.

[Riley Bray]

Yeah. You know, all of this too, is also, like, you paying attention, like, to these symbols as they come up around you and like, interpreting them and making sense of them, like.

[Michael McMillan]

Right, right.

[Riley Bray]

You're open to the reading your, these things that are happening, you know.

[Michael McMillan]

Yeah. And I think at the end of the day, that's all that it even matters, you know? Like, the squirrel thing could have been an intrusive thought, but it happened, you know?

[Riley Bray]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Michael McMillan]

And I guess, like, if I, like, if you had been. If I'd been, if I dreamt that, if I dreamt that I found that squirrel, then I would have, like, maybe come to the same conclusion of like, oh, this, you connect this squirrel with you, your dad, and like, you're worried about your dad, you know. So I think sometimes it is just about like, what can you, what reading into this, the, the living symbology that's around you. And it's hard to like, go, well, the morning after my mom passed, I, we saw a female deer in the front yard. And then two mornings after my dad passed, in a place where we shouldn't have seen one, there was a male deer walking down the street. You know, it's kind of hard not to be like, in the world of Michael's book of symbols, this seems to, there seems to be a direct correlation. Yeah. It's like, okay, Mom's spirit and now dad spirit, you know, it's like, okay, they've passed. Passed on, you know, and him like.

[Riley Bray]

Seeing through the veil, you know, in the hospital. Huh? Yeah, that's, dude, that's really.

[Michael McMillan]

That stuff. Even the nurses were like, oh, yeah, people see stuff all the time here. You know, it's like, not, it's really not. It's, it's not uncommon for people to start seeing, seeing strangers or, you know, sometimes people talk about seeing loved ones in the room. My dad didn't do any of that. These were all people he didn't know. But, but really weird stuff.

[Riley Bray]

Yeah.

[Michael McMillan]

Yeah. And sad, you know, but yeah, it's just, it was a wild, wild couple weeks and, you know, I, I, I, I think, you know, I was going through my dad's phone the other day and I happened to go into his podcast app and he had an episode of the show pulled up, you know, that he had hit pause through. And you know, my dad, he, you know, I, I like telling funny stories about my dad on the show over the years and on, on the other side. But he did love animals and like, you know, he kind of rolled his eyes that ghosts and UFOs. But weirdly, he was very open to the idea of Bigfoot. Like, he really thought, you know, we lived in Colorado when I was a baby. He's, I think he always held the door wide open for the idea that there could have been a primate, like, but, you know, he would have been into the. The. But. But he was very, very much, like, open to the idea of there being an undiscovered primate that was very intelligent and very good at avoiding humans, you know?

[Riley Bray]

Yeah.

[Michael McMillan]

Like a rel. Accompanist. And I, I appreciate that about him. You know, I think I, I, I got some of my early love of Bigfoot from him because he never was like, ugh, whatever, you know.

[Riley Bray]

Right. Yeah, he had a little. He kept the door open for a little whimsy. He's like, well, maybe.

[Michael McMillan]

Yeah, yeah, he would surprise. He'd surprise you like that every now and then. So I appreciate it, dad. And, and I love you and I'm. And I'll miss you. But, yeah, some weird stuff. I just wanted to make note for the record, for the clubhouse, and if anything else pops up, no dreams yet, no visitation feelings, none of that stuff. But if anything else pops up, I'll, of course, talk about it, because I think we should encourage people to share these things, you know, as they happen.

[Riley Bray]

Absolutely. And it's nice that throughout this very, you know, difficult process, you found these moments of, like, poetry and beauty, you know, and, like, a sense of, like, knowing of your universe and your environment, you know, like, yeah, it is nice that you found those moments and had those, had those moments, and they've carried through both of these. Like, I mean, those are like. This is like, one of the hardest things. It's like losing your parents, you know, it's like, yeah, truly. So having had those, like, I don't know, it's, it's, it's impressive. It's nice. It's beautiful. And, you know it.

[Michael McMillan]

I will say with both, with both of them and my uncle, who I was also very close to, like, some of the worst moments were juxtaposed with some of the most beautiful moments I've ever had in my life, you know, and there's something so reassuring in those moments to have something that feels so clear that, like, things are okay. Ultimately, you know.

[Riley Bray]

Yeah, that's the word. Reassurance. That really is. Yeah.

[Michael McMillan]

Whether it's. And, and for me, to your point, it's always been through something in nature, you know.

[Riley Bray]

Yeah.

[Michael McMillan]

Which is, I think we have to lean on, you know, in moments where you're like, okay, there's a cycle to life and like, look at this beautiful thing that we're a part of, you know, like this, this is it. You know, nature is the biggest, you know, the mother nature oversees all of this. So I don't know. Yeah. Anyway, thanks for letting me share.

[Riley Bray]

Of course. Let's read some letters.

[Michael McMillan]

All right, let's get into it. Why don't we take a break? We'll come. Yeah, let's take a break.

[Riley Bray]

Yeah.

[Michael McMillan]

And then we'll come back and let's dive into some L files. All right, this is pro linebacker TJ Watt. And I'm back with YPB by Abercrombie for another activewear drop. My second co design collection has new shorts and tanks that keep up with all all my in season workouts. And their new restore collection is a game changer off the field too, because even pro athletes like me need rest days. Shop YPB by Abercrombie in the app, online and in stores because your personal best is greater than anything. Carvana is so easy. Just a click and we've got ourselves a car. See so many cars. That's a clicktastic inventory. And check out the financing options payments to fit our budget.

[Riley Bray]

I mean, that's Clickonomics 101 delivery to our door.

[Michael McMillan]

Just a hop, skip and a click away. And bought no better feeling than when everything just clicks.

[Odoo Sponsor]

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[Michael McMillan]

Delivery fees may apply. Okay, club scouts, it's time to dip back into the L files, also known as the listener files. These are stories of the unexplained that have happened to you. And we're going to kick off with a couple of follow ups. So do you remember mystery yeet person, our friend Heather? How could I forget who saw the blue, blue UFO floating through the trees? And we're like, yes, you had a personal UFO experience. Well, Heather's back with another follow up about UFOs.

[Riley Bray]

Riley. Whoa. Okay, all right, let's get into it. Heather says, y', all, I saw another more classic UFO literally a street over. Whoa. Same time, almost 6am now, since I've seen the blue light, I've seen aircraft in the sky that you could clearly make out as an airplane. The blinking light, the light on the wings the shape of it clearly. Airplane. There is an airport nearby. I don't know how to describe the shape of it. It wasn't a triangle. It wasn't an octagon, but kind of a combination of the two. Could cover it with my palm. If I had to guess, I'd say it was not very far above the tree line. It had six lights on it and. And one and additional blinking in the middle. Okay. Six lights on it and an additional one blinking in the middle. I saw it go over the tree line so I was trying to hurry to get to the clearing so I could see it clearer. Within three seconds it was coming in the opposite direction over me again.

[Michael McMillan]

Whoa.

[Riley Bray]

That is wild. Yeah, I definitely think there's something to the correlation of Fay and the ufo. Cuz that blue light did seem more like Faye. As Riley mentioned, it had six lights, three on each side. But it didn't come to a point like a triangle. The other part was hard to see because the craft was black against a night sky and the lights only accented part of it. It wasn't going very fast. There were just a lot of trees passed over by my car. And then I couldn't see it anymore. Almost wish I got out to look at it, but then again, I don't want to be abducted. Smart move. Much appreciation for the outlet to talk about these things. Heart emoji, Heather.

[Michael McMillan]

And if you scroll down, she did a little doodle. I like the drawing to show us how the six lights. So it's basically like a V shape where the point of the V is like the cone is shaved off a little bit and then a sort of a question mark and a dome over the area.

[Riley Bray]

Ice cream comb shape.

[Michael McMillan]

Yeah. I would say this is like diamond shaped or ice cream cone shaped maybe. But I mean this is wild. This is like a full other type cruising around.

[Riley Bray]

Yeah.

[Michael McMillan]

What I wonder if the area is this.

[Riley Bray]

Yeah. Where are you mystery each person.

[Michael McMillan]

Why are you so mysterious Ye person?

[Riley Bray]

It's. But it sounds like kind of like the movement was sort of interactive a little bit. Doesn't it like it kind of as she's noticing it, it's like sort of cruising around, coming in and out.

[Michael McMillan]

It had six lights, three on each side. The other part was hard to see. But the craft was black against the night sky and the lights only accented part of it. Yeah, it was just. It was just going past a lot of trees passed over my car and I couldn't see it anymore. I mean I gotta. I hate to tell you, Heather, you See one more of these. You gotta get out of the car and you gotta take some video.

[Riley Bray]

Yeah, they're come, they're coming specifically for you. At that point, you gotta, you gotta go say what's up.

[Michael McMillan]

Yeah. They're gonna pick you up whether you like to or not. So get a video. This seems like it's moving slow enough that you could have gotten us some video. So. Yeah, you've been, you've been commissioned. Next time. I don't know. What do you think? I'd like to know where this is at this point. I would like to look up your area, Heather, so we won't blast it out on the show, but if you can give me and Riley some, like, coordinates or a Google map pin, I want to start looking into where you're at because I want to see if there's other UFO activity happening in the area that people are witnessing. Because, you know that first one, the little blue light, that seems like maybe that was just for you, but something like this, I feel like other people are going to see.

[Riley Bray]

See. Yeah, yeah. It'd be interesting to kind of cross correlate that and see if anyone else is seeing these things. It's interesting too when it's by an airport and you know what you usually see, you're used to seeing things in the sky.

[Michael McMillan]

Yep.

[Riley Bray]

And then you see something, you're like, that's not right, you know? Yep.

[Michael McMillan]

And listen, as someone who grew up next to an airport, we got very used to seeing lights overhead and planes, small commercial planes and prop planes. Like you know it because it's like, like it's like cars driving by your house at that point.

[Riley Bray]

Yeah. You know the sound, you know what it feels like. You feel it approaching all that.

[Michael McMillan]

Yeah. You'll be so used to the sound, you won't even look up to. To see the plane going overhead. So.

[Riley Bray]

Right.

[Michael McMillan]

Yeah. You people know. So I think something's happening here. I want to hear more. Keep us updated, Heather, and get us some video. Come on.

[Riley Bray]

This is the exclusive.

[Michael McMillan]

Yeah. All right, let's see. We have something from T. Hello again, BCC boys. And maybe a guest. Another follow up. I'm T. And this email will just be a quick rundown of all the ghosts I have seen in my old childhood home in Reidsville, North Carolina. Great. Here we go.

[Riley Bray]

Perfect. Yeah.

[Michael McMillan]

Buckle up for childhood ghost house. All right, let's begin. My family moved from New Hampshire to this home in 2000, 2005, and I was around 7 years old. We spent five years in this big, beautiful Unique and totally spooky as hell house. This one place would forever cement the belief in the paranormal in me. And for good reason. Anyway, it all started one night soon after moving in. I was in the living room doing my homework when I got the feeling on the back of my neck that I. I was being watched. I quickly turned around and saw for a full two seconds on the upstairs balcony, behind the railing, a little girl with long dark hair in light colored pajamas holding a teddy bear.

[Riley Bray]

Oh God.

[Michael McMillan]

She had this cliche ghostly green glow to her and she freaked me out so much that I didn't finish my homework. Now that's a very good excuse.

[Riley Bray]

That is a good excuse. Yeah.

[Michael McMillan]

I'm sorry, Teddy bear girl. The green teddy bear girl was staring at me from the balcony.

[Riley Bray]

I couldn't finish my fractions.

[Michael McMillan]

The next encounter I remember was just lying in bed one night, holding the blankets over my head, terrified of the dark presence I felt slowly dominating my room. When I took down the blankets to check if anything was actually there, I was met with the solid black as void silhouette of a man with short dreadlocks looming over me six inches from my face.

[Riley Bray]

Oh God.

[Michael McMillan]

Predator. The predators in her room.

[Riley Bray]

Yeah.

[Michael McMillan]

I screamed. And the memory ended there. Next is the haunted clothes hamper my younger sister had hanging from her closet door.

[Riley Bray]

This is great because I do love the Adams family. This person grew up in.

[Michael McMillan]

I'm full. I've had too many dirty clothes today. Save some for another day. I do love like the kid. Like what inanimate objects scared you in your house when you grew up? You know? Okay. It was the top half of the cat in the hat with the net hanging from its outstretched arms. Okay, so this was a hamper that had eyeballs. This makes sense.

[Riley Bray]

Yeah.

[Michael McMillan]

Its gaze would follow me or my sister around the room constantly, no matter what. We would close the windows, open them, blow on it, push it or twist it, run by it, and it would always follow us. Was constantly watching. Now while that's it for the direct encounters. Wait, so just this cat in the hat hamper wasn't necessarily there's it just.

[Riley Bray]

It was just always watching.

[Michael McMillan]

It was just always watching. Okay.

[Riley Bray]

Always watching. Yeah.

[Michael McMillan]

While that's it for the direct encounters, there were many parts of the house itself that had just a terrible vibe to them that I couldn't stand to be there alone. Namely the laundry room, my mom's den, my grandmother's downstairs apartment, and worst of all, the whole upstairs with my sisters and my room and bathrooms.

[Riley Bray]

Okay, so, so that sounds like the house?

[Michael McMillan]

The whole house.

[Riley Bray]

Yeah.

[Michael McMillan]

So like the kitchen and the mud room, I guess, are basically fun. Yeah. My closet and bathroom especially felt straight up murderous. And stuff would move around in there when I was wasn't looking. By the way, the house was only built in 1995, so not old at all. Well, again, we'll say it's not the house, it's the land. We finally moved to another town, but I'm pretty sure some things followed me because the activity hasn't stopped. But that's a story for another probably super long l file. Sorry. Anyway, till next time. Tea.

[Riley Bray]

What a sign off. Leave him wanting more, huh?

[Michael McMillan]

Setting up part two.

[Riley Bray]

Yeah.

[Michael McMillan]

Okay.

[Riley Bray]

Yeah. What a childhood too.

[Michael McMillan]

Yeah, that cat thing. I don't even think that cat in the hat hamper needs to be haunted to be spooky. It just sounded unknown.

[Riley Bray]

That's a spooky hamper is all that.

[Michael McMillan]

Is just a spooky hamper. Okay, should we do. Gosh, we're already almost at an hour. Should we do one more?

[Riley Bray]

Yeah, let's do one more.

[Michael McMillan]

Okay. Let me. Let me pull this one. There's a little bit of a longer one. I think it'll flesh it out. If you don't mind, do you mind if I read back to back my.

[Riley Bray]

My brother? Go for it.

[Michael McMillan]

Okay. You'll see why I wanted to read this one.

[Riley Bray]

Okay.

[Michael McMillan]

Okay. Hey, BCC boys and guests? No, just us. Long time listener, first time caller. I'm a big fan of the podcast. You guys are awesome. I love hearing all the stories of high strangeness and you got that you guys share there. I think it's about time I shared one of my stories of high strangeness. Michael, you will appreciate this one. I call it the Ghost of Darth Vader.

[Riley Bray]

Okay.

[Michael McMillan]

Growing up, I was scared of everything. It doesn't help that I'm sensitive to the paranormal. Oh, unfortunately. My dad loved scary movies. He was always watching them. We'll come back to this. I shared a room with my younger brother that looked into the living room of the house. I had a lamp that I used as a nightlight because I was was scared of the dark. I'm not sure if this helped or hindered because I could see everything Hard relate. I used to sleep with the lights on when I was a kid. Weird stuff happened all over that house. I would often wake up in the middle of the night when no one else was awake. This is when the weird stuff would happen either in my bedroom or on the long walk to the bathroom. My toys would move on their own. The TV in the living room turned on by itself. One night, I had a gravedigger monster truck flag that I had pinned to the wall fall off the wall and stand straight up.

[Riley Bray]

What?

[Michael McMillan]

I had a robot monkey alarm clock started talking to me with no batteries in it.

[Riley Bray]

Whoa.

[Michael McMillan]

Some nights, I would try to close the door only to wake up to it being open. I had a beaded curtain that I pulled in the doorway, thinking Put in the doorway thinking it would be cool. That made was. Yeah, it was, dude. It's like the divider between the. The family friendly section and the not so family friendly of the video store.

[Riley Bray]

Yes, the chill zone.

[Michael McMillan]

That made it worse because the curtain would move on its own at night, like something was coming through it. I had a mean ex feral pet cat named Hot rod. First of all, you lived in the coolest 80s room of all time.

[Riley Bray]

This whole story is just. Yeah, just like the like super cool.

[Michael McMillan]

80S Eddie Munson from Stranger Things. My dad found him in the engine of his car at work and brought him home. I would pick Hot rod up and make him lay at the end of my bed at night. I figured if the ghost wanted me, it could have to. It would have to go through him. And he was a badass. He would sometimes perk up in the middle of the night and stare out the door. Honestly, I think Hot Rod helped because the weird stuff slowed down when he was there. This is why you always need a familiar. Sometimes I would get freaked out so much, I could literally run upstairs to my parents bedroom and sleep on the. On the floor by their bed. I would literally run up the stairs and sleep on the floor by their bed. That was to save space. My parents bedroom, second floor, was an add on to the original house, which is why I think nothing really happened there. I slept on that floor for several nights over the years. And then almost a month in a row, My dad had had enough. My dad chalked all the weirdness up to my overactive imagination and the fact that he was scaring me with the movies that he watched. He told me it was all in my head and that I needed to sleep in my own bed. He bribed me. Dad wasn't getting late.

[Riley Bray]

So yeah, he's like, all right, kid.

[Michael McMillan]

Time for you to go back to bed. He bribed me to stay in my own bed for a month. He said if I could do this, he would give me a medal of bravery from the army surplus store down the road. From. From that point on, I stayed in my own bed and toughed out all the hauntings. Trust me, I earned that medal. I spent those long nights thinking my lucky little brother had no idea the horrors that were happening. Over the years more stuff happened even during the day. One afternoon I was studying for tests in high school with my door open. A book fell off my shelf. And then I heard loud footsteps going towards the door. The doorknob turned and flew open and the footsteps continued around the corner. It sounded like it bumped my book. Then ran out the door. Like it got busted sneaking around. I was. It was so distinct that I thought my brother opened my door and ran off. I went out looking for him. Both my brother and my dad. Dad were playing basketball in the backyard. Fast forward a few years ago. Fast forward a few years or so. I was in college at this point. I don't know how it came up but I jokingly told my brother that I thought our parents house was haunted. He laughed and said oh yeah, it's definitely haunted. I was shocked. I thought this whole time he didn't know. He said he'd used to see a very tall dark human shaped figure with a weird shaped head looking into our bedroom at night. He said sometimes the figure would even come into our room. He said the figure was so tall it took up the whole doorway. And his head looked like Darth Vader's helmet. So we now call this entity Darth Vader. I was mad at him because all those years I was freaked out. He didn't say a word about seeing Darth Vader. He said he thought it would just freak me out more. He was right. Right. Fast forward again A couple more years. In my twenties I was down on my luck and moved back in with my parents. I took back my old room. My parents were out of town. I invited my girlfriend at the time to come over and swim in the hot tub.

[Riley Bray]

Nice.

[Michael McMillan]

I'm going to pause and say I think she was maybe a little sensitive to the supernatural herself. It gets late and I invited her to stay with me for the night because she lives 30 minutes away. Were laying in bed and about to go to sleep when she shrieks. Pulls the COVID over her head and tucks into me. She says something just fucking came into this room. I laughed and said no way. Even though I saw it too. She pulled the blanket off her head and said it was a giant human shaped figure. But its head was weird shaped like it had a helmet on.

[Riley Bray]

Ah, confirmation.

[Michael McMillan]

She was so freaked out she went home. I never told her about my brother seeing Darth Vader on another Night when my parents were gone, we got back from a date late and she reluctantly agreed to stay with me. This time I closed the door thinking it would help. My back was killing me this night so I asked my girlfriend if she would try to pop it. She laughed and said yes. I laid on the floor and she sat on my back. About this time the door handle turned slowly and the door open. Door opened. She hopped off my back and said we weren't doing anything. We thought it was my parents coming home early. There was no one at the door. Needless to say, she did not stay with me that night. Man, Darth Vader. Quite the blocker on multiple generations of this family to this day. I'm 33 now. When I stay with my parents in that old house, weird stuff happens. My old toys move, my dog makes no noises at nothing and I hear unexplained noises. In fact, on October 11th this year I was babysitting my parents dog Rudy. This time I stayed in my brother's high school room that looks into the kitchen. Rudy was sleeping in the doorway. I woke up to him growling. When I looked out into the doorway at what he was looking at, I saw Darth Vader himself standing in the kitchen looking into the building bedroom I was in.

[Riley Bray]

Dude.

[Michael McMillan]

Does anyone want pancakes? I thought I was hallucinating so I tried to get the picture with my phone. When I took the picture, he didn't show up. But he was still there.

[Riley Bray]

What a weird experience.

[Michael McMillan]

I marked on a note in my phone titled Shadow Person. I woke up the next morning and the picture was gone but the note was still there and it was marked that I wrote it at 3am on October 11th. The witching hour.

[Riley Bray]

Dude.

[Michael McMillan]

I do finally have my dad convinced that there's something funky going on in the house since he had witnessed some of these strange happenings. My dad has also mentioned that the house is old. He said that all the houses on our street used to be next to the lake or where the lake currently is. One day the city came through and moved all the houses to where they are today so they wouldn't be washed away. That's creepy. I don't know.

[Riley Bray]

Bizarre.

[Michael McMillan]

I had no idea if this history contributes to the haunting, but maybe it does. What I do know for sure is that for some reason Darth Vader lives there and he's a creeper. That's all I've got for today. I got a little more in depth with this than I thought I would. But it was kind of fun reliving it all. I have so many more stories but I'll have to to save them for another time. I had an email for Bigfoot String Big strange vacation of short spooky stories that all happened to me on vacations but I didn't make it in time. I can some of send some of those other stories over sometime if you'd like. Thanks for reading and thanks for all for all your guys hard work and for making this podcast amazing. Till next time, James. Thank you, James.

[Riley Bray]

Yeah, sure.

[Michael McMillan]

Send us other stories. I love, I love a recurring shadow figure and I love that it's taking the form of Darth Vader and that.

[Riley Bray]

It was seen by multiple people on different occasions without any prior knowledge.

[Michael McMillan]

I wonder if this is some sort of aggregor. That's like thinking pulling into the the boys minds to find a form that might intimidate them in coming out as Darth Vader, you know?

[Riley Bray]

Sure, yeah, yeah.

[Michael McMillan]

Pretty cool. Pretty cool. I gotta say, Darth Vader, shadow. Shadow person's pretty cool.

[Riley Bray]

It's pretty cool.

[Michael McMillan]

And this house is absolutely haunted.

[Riley Bray]

100. Yeah, no question about it. No question there.

[Michael McMillan]

Wow, guys, what are we doing with talking talking monkey alarm clocks?

[Riley Bray]

That's first of all, every one of those little details was such a sort of cinematic 80s movie moment, you know.

[Michael McMillan]

But yeah, no, no, no robot monkeys anymore, everybody.

[Riley Bray]

Let's just not build them. You are asking for a ghost to get in there. Yes.

[Michael McMillan]

We don't need this. Awesome, James. Thank you guys are all sensitive 100.

[Riley Bray]

Okay. I love that at this point in our lives we can get a letter that says long time listener, first time caller and it's like that's a real thing that exists in our lives now.

[Michael McMillan]

Yeah, I know. Technically not a call, but we'll take it.

[Riley Bray]

We'll take it. Yeah, we'll take it.

[Michael McMillan]

By the way, 2026, let's make this year the voice memo. Record a voice memo, email it to us. Let's get your voice on the show. If you can keep it guys to five minutes or less, that would be ideal. But yeah, send those over. We want to get more of your voices on the show. I think that would be so fun. So let's make that another New Year's resolution. All right, Riley, let's just wrap it up. We'll skip Collector's Corner this week. Unless you got something major going on that you want to plug. I don't have anything.

[Riley Bray]

Oh, I got a flute in Guatemala. That's my Collector's Corner.

[Michael McMillan]

Great. All right. If you. Everyone at home you want more? BCC would like to listen ad free. Join us at bcc [e-mail] get three bonus episodes every month on BCC the Other side ad free episodes and monthly music releases from Riley on Cos Cosmic Tracks. Maybe you'll hear that Guatemalan flute at some point in the near future. Find the link to that in our show notes and in our Instagram bio at Bigfoot Collectors Club. If you have a story that want to share, please send it into us@bigfootcollectorsclub mail.com I forgot to mention that at the top of the show. All right, if we don't see you over on the other side, we will see you next Wednesday for an all new episode of bcc. Until then, good night and go get.

[Riley Bray]

Yourself regressed and Happy New Year.

[Michael McMillan]

Happy New Year. Get yourself regressed. Come on now get yourself a grass. I hope it doesn't suck as bad as the other ones did. Break it down. Bigfoot Collectors Club is produced and engineered by Riley Bray and executive produced by Riley bray and Michael McMillan. Our theme song Come Alone is by Suneaters, courtesy of Lotus Pool Records. Follow Suneaters on Spotify for three bonus episodes every month and ad free episodes. Check out BCC the Other side at patreon.com bigfootcollectorsclub.

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