Bigfoot Collectors Club

Episode: "Strange Kentucky" with Nathan Isaac

Date: March 5, 2025
Podcast by: Wood Elf Media
Guests: Nathan Isaac (co-creator of Penny Royal podcast)
Hosts: Michael McMillian, Riley Bray

Overview

In this delightfully strange episode, Michael and Riley are joined by Nathan Isaac, creator and host of the acclaimed podcast Penny Royal, for a deep-dive into the shadowy, high-strangeness riddled, and curiously layered world of Somerset, Kentucky. Nathan shares colorful local legends, mind-bending UFO encounters, secret society intrigues, the infamous Kentucky Meat Shower, and his own journey from strict religious upbringing to chronicler of the weird. The conversation oscillates between laughter and awe as the crew attempts to piece together why Kentucky—especially Somerset—seems to be a paranormal "layer cake" of history, mystery, and magnetic oddities.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Intro & Paranormal Banter

• [01:18] Michael kicks off the episode with their signature comedic banter, introducing Nathan Isaac: co-creator of Penny Royal, "purveyor of all things weird in Kentucky."
• [02:21] Nathan is welcomed as a friend of Steve Berg (paranormal regular) and set up as the guide to "weird Kentucky."

Five Star Club Scout of the Week

• [02:58] Riley highlights a humorous 5-star review from "Dog Knows Media":

  “5 stars, even though they refused to sell me any Bigfoot steaks.”

  Michael & Riley joke about black-market Bigfoot meat:

  "We got a toe guy, too." (Riley, 03:31)

The Kentucky Meat Shower and Other Odd Precipitations

• [03:34] Michael brings up Penny Royal's coverage of the "Kentucky Meat Shower"—mysterious meat raining from the sky in the late 1800s.

  Nathan explains:

  “Meat just started falling out of the sky one day, and the family there...invited everybody over and tasted the meat. They said it tasted like mutton.” (Nathan, 03:52)

• Discussion of explanations:

  • Vultures vomiting en masse (Smithsonian's view)
  • Exotic theories: extraterrestrial meat ("star jelly")
  • Nathan reveals his alma mater, Transylvania University, holds the only known preserved sample of the meat shower (05:16).

  “They actually have a sample—the only known sample of the Kentucky Meat Shower—preserved in alcohol.” (Nathan, 05:59)

• Kentucky’s other "falls from the sky":

  • Frog rain in Somerset in the early 20th century (06:45)
  • Stories of cookie showers and other miscellaneous objects
  • Joking references to the Keebler elves and Magnolia's frog finale

Nathan’s Own Paranormal Experience

• [09:10] Nathan shares his first direct UFO sighting, witnessed with Steve Berg and TV crew at the "Kentucky Anomaly" (an area with the highest geomagnetic spike in North America and many strange sightings).

  • The landowner claimed a glowing orb appears every five years at 9pm; Nathan and crew witness it on cue.
  • 14 people, cell phone footage, and collective astonishment:

    “We watched that thing fly all over the sky for 45 minutes...everybody screaming, ‘Oh my God!’” (Nathan, 12:07)

  • Afterward: "And then, you know, then we went to Buc-ee's and got some fudge." (Nathan, 12:42)

• Further weirdness:

  • The property owner claims other anomalies—Bigfoot, portals, giants, and odd archeological finds confirmed by newspaper clippings about a medieval armored skeleton.

  “Come to find out, I found the newspaper article…they found the bones of an individual…in Welsh armor.” (Nathan, 11:13)

• Emotional impact:

  “It was actually a very emotional experience...you can't explain it. Your mind can't wrap around what this possibly could be that you're seeing.” (Nathan, 14:14)

Upbringing & Introduction to the Occult

• [15:01] Nathan’s childhood in rural, fire-and-brimstone Appalachian Kentucky, surrounded by stories of devils and hellfire.
• Exposure to religious fears led Nathan to seek out books and early internet resources on the occult:

  "If these people don't like this, there must be something good about it." (Nathan, 17:46)

The High Strangeness of Somerset & The Magic of Place

• [22:16] Nathan moved to Somerset (Pulaski County), discovering a place cloaked in "idyllic" conservatism but rife with whispers of cults, political assassination, and rumor-mongered murders.

  • Example: Sheriff Sammy Catron, beloved local legend, assassinated at a fish fry. His call sign and helicopter (No. 111), became county iconography—including grocery store rides for children (24:36).
  • Secret societies: Somerset had as many as seven, including Freemasons, Odd Fellows, Lodges, with real monuments (pyramids, "All-Seeing Eye", etc.) dotting the town.

  “So he was supposedly...involved in a lot of darker stuff. Right. But loved! If I brought his name up, people would fucking shoot me for talking bad about him.” (Nathan, 25:10) “How many towns have a pyramid in the center of town?” (Nathan, 26:22)

• The town’s folklore:

  • Old money, generational intrigue, murder, rumors of baby-eating, classic small-town mythos, all centered on a stretch riddled with geological anomalies—heavy quartz, geomagnetic spikes, and violent crime.

  "It was like a layer cake of weird stuff...something about the place that seems to be spawning all of the phenomena." (Nathan, 28:38)

Geology & Geomagnetism: The Kentucky Anomaly & The 37th Parallel

• [29:56] Discussion of the Kentucky Anomaly—a spike in geomagnetic readings, strong piezoelectric (quartz and magnetism) effects linked to mood, suicide, and violent behavior in studies.
  • Somerset is right on the “paranormal highway”: the 37th parallel.
• Nathan traces the geological “edge” from Hudson Valley through Somerset and Sedona to Alaska—a corridor of high weirdness (33:11):

  “There really is a clustering of strange places, strange events, and it cuts exactly through Somerset.” (Nathan, 32:00)

• Daniel Boone National Forest as a source of the region’s strangeness.

Government Conspiracy & Legendary Crime at the Mine

• [35:31] Detailed story of the Mount Victory mine—focal point of the anomaly and local lore:

  • Ownership transferred through international con man “Mr. X” (Alexander Guterma), Spiro Agnew, to the U.S. government.
  • Guterma’s mysterious death before testifying in the JFK assassination investigation; ties to shadowy figures and CIA history.
  • Nathan recounts a bizarre night with a group filming a Penny Royal promo at the mine, accosted by a man selling snakes for Pentecostal churches (41:30).

  “He pulls this tarp back, and there’s all of these plastic tubs...and it’s full of snakes. Right? And the guy’s like, ‘Do you want to buy some snakes?’” (Nathan, 42:24)

Cave Systems, Tunnel Lore & Subterranean Kentucky

• [44:29] Michael asks about the name "Penny Royal"—named after a region defined by the Pennyroyal Plateau, running from Mammoth Cave (world’s largest cave system) to Somerset.
• Mammoth Cave’s lore: birthplace of both Agartha legends and the beginnings of Lovecraftian horror.
  • Caves and “karst” landscape underpin many paranormal stories—people claim to see orbs (Indian lanterns), speculate on hidden worlds, and report Bigfoot and goblin sightings emerging from caves.
• Somerset’s vast system of mysterious brick tunnels: potential Civil War, freemason, and Cold War nuclear shelter constructions, further feeding speculation (50:10).

“In addition to the caves, it’s like there are these tunnel stories.” (Nathan, 51:28)

Bigfoot, Satan’s Cave, & Backwoods Strangeness

• [51:57] Bigfoot lore: stories of rangers walling off "Satan’s Cave" (reportedly home to a cave-dwelling Bigfoot) under cover of "endangered bats."

  • “He lives in a cave down the road. [Rangers] walled him in there with bars…put a sign up about endangered bats.” (Nathan, 54:04)

• The Lake Cumberland area: Bigfoot tracks, casts, tales of crime and hidden bodies during its 1970s “houseboat town” heyday.

• Bizarre environmental finds:

  • Park ranger finds a 40-foot “pyramid” of trash, appliances, and a fresh cow head—deep in roadless forest (58:09).

• Daniel Boone's own alleged Bigfoot encounter—the “Yahoo,” possibly armored and shot dead by Boone (60:00).

  • Michael: "There are all these stories of Bigfoot being shot and then … hearing metal sounds."

The Hopkinsville Goblin Case: Conjuring, CIA, and High Strangeness

• [63:28] Nathan discusses his take on the famous Hopkinsville Goblin case:

  • Points to a detailed report by investigator Isabel Davis, which reveals the Sutton family had just left a snake-handling tent revival and discussed a "little silver man" magazine hoax immediately before their sighting.
  • Suggests the event may have been influenced or even engineered by heightened collective psychology—or MKUltra-style dosing.
  • Raises an alternate theory: a U2 spy plane test crash, covered up by the “goblin” narrative, could account for the attention from CIA-affiliated stage magician John Mulholland.

  "That is one of the more plausible theories covering that whole thing that I’ve heard...it really does kind of track." (Riley, 71:16)

Summary of Kentucky’s High Strangeness

• [72:02] The hosts recap the paranormal “layer cake”:
  • “Quartz deposit edge of an ancient continent. Gravity anomaly, magnetic anomaly, cult history, secret societies, murders, giant cave system, severed cow heads, pyramid…” (Riley, 72:30)
  • Nathan: “Don’t forget about the meat, guys.” (72:17)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "We watched that thing fly all over the sky for 45 minutes...Everybody screaming, 'Oh my God!'"
  — Nathan Isaac, [12:07]
• "How many towns have a pyramid in the center of town?"
  — Nathan Isaac, [26:22]
• “It was like a layer cake of weird stuff... It’s something about the place that seems to be spawning all of the phenomena.”
  — Nathan Isaac, [28:38]
• "He pulls this tarp back, and there’s all of these plastic tubs... full of snakes. ‘Do you want to buy some snakes?’"
  — Nathan Isaac, [42:24]
• "There’s tons of stories of lights coming up out of the sinkholes. They’re called Indian lanterns here. They’re orbs, right? ...Supposedly they move through the cave systems."
  — Nathan Isaac, [48:55]
• "So Daniel Boone killed Bigfoot out there. You didn’t tell us the story, dude."
  — Michael McMillan, [60:00]
• “Don’t forget about the meat, guys. Don’t forget about the meat.”
  — Nathan Isaac, [72:17]

Where to Find Nathan Isaac & Penny Royal

“Pennyroyal: Two seasons out on Spotify, Apple, all the podcasts. Third season’s coming out later this year. Also got a Patreon, Liminal Lodge—weekly livestreams about the research.” (Nathan, 72:30)

Hosts recommend the show as a true audio documentary—field recordings, interviews, original research.

Final Takeaways

• This episode is a whirlwind of paranormal tales, Kentucky local color, high-voltage geology, and skeptical analysis.
• Nathan Isaac brings together layers of history, wild legend, real crime, and sincere mystery that turn Somerset and the Pennyroyal Plateau into one of America’s most oddly magnetic “windows” for anomalous phenomena.
• For listeners new to the Kentucky weirdness—this episode is a primer you won’t soon forget.

Timestamps of Important Segments

• 03:34 — "Kentucky Meat Shower" & other falls from the sky
• 09:10 — Nathan’s first UFO sighting at the Kentucky Anomaly
• 22:16 — Nathan’s move to Somerset and the beginning of Penny Royal
• 26:22 — Secret societies, Freemasons, and the town pyramid
• 29:56 — Geology, the Kentucky Anomaly, 37th parallel & piezoelectric effects
• 35:31 — Dark history: Mount Victory Mine, Mr. X, governmental conspiracy
• 41:30 — Snake man at the mine & local surrealism
• 44:29 — The truth behind "Penny Royal" and the Mammoth Cave system
• 50:10 — The tunnels beneath Somerset
• 51:57 — Bigfoot, Satan’s Cave, and boarded-up mysteries
• 58:09 — Park ranger’s trash pyramid and cow head story
• 60:00 — Daniel Boone’s Bigfoot encounter
• 63:28 — Hopkinsville Goblins: psychological, folkloric, or covert ops?
• 72:02 — Show wrap-up, final list of Kentucky weirdness

Closing Thoughts

If you’re seeking a masterclass in “high strangeness” or simply want to see how a place’s land, culture, and secrets can generate a paranormal reputation, this episode is essential listening. Nathan Isaac’s blend of skepticism, humor, and deep research brings Kentucky’s weirdest stories to life—and might just leave you plotting a road trip down Route 37.

“Go get regressed!”
— Michael McMillan, sign off