Podcast Summary: Monsters Among Us

S20 Ep29: "Paranormal Whiteout: White UFOs, Ladies in White, and a White Thing in the River"

Host: Derek Hayes
Date: February 3, 2026

Main Theme & Purpose

This chilling, nostalgia-soaked episode of Monsters Among Us revolves around real-life encounters with the color white in the paranormal realm—ranging from apparitions and “ladies in white,” to luminous UFOs, mysterious white beasts, and cryptids. Host Derek Hayes takes listeners on a spectral journey through firsthand witness calls describing encounters that defy logic and touch on folklore, family history, personal terror, and the unknown.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Paranormal Power of the Color White [02:22]

• Derek introduces the night’s theme: “white” as a symbol of purity, death, virtue, and transformation across cultures—and its rich history in both ancient art and ghostly lore.
• Tonight’s calls will focus on how this color manifests in various supernatural confrontations.

2. Ghostly Women in White

(a) Chris’ “Lady in White” — Southern California [04:28]

• Story: As children, Chris and his brother routinely saw the spectral “top half” of a lady in a white dress and brimmed hat in their hallway after midnight.
  • “It was almost like electricity in the air. Like you just got shocked. Like you got static shocked. You just feel the static electricity. It was crazy.” [05:15]
• Years later, an old family photo reveals the woman, validating the brothers’ shared experiences.
• Quote: “Just that moment was, like, more scary than how lady was because we were just like, oh, my God, I'm not crazy. You're not crazy. You've been seeing the same thing I've been seeing.” [06:16]
• Derek’s Take: Wonders about the spirit’s identity and role as a familial protector or observer.

(b) Anonymous’ White Witch Sleep Paralysis — West Coast [07:25]

• Story: Similar to a previous caller, Anonymous experienced recurring sleep paralysis episodes featuring a faceless woman in white, dubbed “the white witch.”
• Insight: Derek questions coincidence—are “white women" apparitions connected phenomena?

(c) Tim’s “Woman in White Tracksuit” — Massachusetts [43:17]

• Story: Teenagers repeatedly encounter an ethereal, faceless woman in white that glides along a deserted road, always facing away and impossibly outpacing them.
• Notable Moment: The entity seems to “toy” with the group, waiting at each bend (“traveling hundreds of feet in seconds”) [48:30], instilling deep fear.
• Quote: “It was almost like toying with us. Like maybe playing, but it seemed more like, ‘Hey, you want to, you know, follow me? Let me shatter your concept of reality here.’” [48:12]
• Validation: Multiple witnesses confirm the entity, and it remains a formative, mysterious memory for everyone involved.

3. Men in White, Sleep Paralysis, and Paranormal “Follow-Alongs”

Will’s Man in White & Haunted Houses — Buffalo, NY [08:46]

• Story: Will encounters a strangely glowing man in white outside a funeral home during a downpour at midnight; soon after, sleep paralysis and haunting phenomena follow him across homes.
• Detail: A dream entity names itself “Darius”—later discovered is an ancient Hebrew word meaning "he who possesses." The haunting escalates to physical phenomena (rocking bed, eerie growls).
• Quote: "I heard this evil growl right next to my ear. And I jumped up, I ran out of the house." [11:12]
• Memorable Synchronicity: Will’s girlfriend dreams of him being attacked at the same time he experiences a violent haunting, highlighting possible psychic/spiritual interference.

4. White UFOs: Rods, Orbs, and Spheres

(a) Neon Rod UFO — Eau Claire, Wisconsin [15:15]

• Story: Witness sees a glowing “stick of light... like neon white” move across the sky at 3:15 AM, immediately fixing her streaming service afterward.
• Quote: "It was just like this stick or this rod... It was at a slant and it was moving from white west to east at a pretty decent speed." [15:46]
• Corroboration: Derek shares a matching New Fork UFO report from the same time/place; both see a rectangular, solid white light silently crossing the sky.
  • “There’s no denying that they both saw the exact same thing, whatever that was.” [18:34]

(b) Expanding White Sphere — West Texas [19:25]

• Story: Miriam and her skeptical husband witness an enormous, perfectly spherical white light expanding and contracting in the night sky, illuminating the ground below without visible structure.
• Quote: “It starts at a center point and then explodes out into a perfect sphere… and then basically reversed in. It shrunk down into its center and everything was utter blackness again.” [20:21]
• Husband, versed in astronomy and military tech, is baffled.

(c) Aurora Orbs & Lake Erie Lights — Ohio [23:37]

• Story: Logan and a fisherman witness recurring, flickering white balls of light near a nuclear plant during an aurora. The lights appear nightly, move unusually, sometimes forming triangles, “shooting out” at right angles, and merging in highly unnatural ways.
• Quote: “The triangle actually two of the orbs shoot away from each other ... almost at the same exact time. And it made one orb and that one orb after a few seconds, phases out into the darkness.” [28:53]
• Historical Context: Locally known as “Lake Erie lights” or “wizard lights”—with similar phenomena recorded since the 1800s and compared to Norway’s Hessdalen lights.

(d) More Orbs — Utah, US Suburbs [34:36] & [37:00]

• Story 1: Botanist-sized opaque white orb, hovering over neighborhood, perfectly luminous with no drone-like features, puzzles the observer.
• Story 2: Two women witness a tennis-to-softball-sized floating white orb bobbing between rooftops, which vanishes without trace.
• Cultural Reference: Ball lightning is considered, but skeptics are left unsatisfied.

(e) Indoor Orb — Phoenix, Arizona [39:01]

• Story: Child encounters a bright white orb hovering in the family kitchen; the orb speeds into another room and vanishes.
• Witness Validation: Mother recalls the event years later, triggering her son to call in.

5. White Beasts — Supernatural Animals & Cryptids

(a) White vs. Black Dog Showdown — Siskiyou County, CA [56:03]

• Story: During an intense family intervention for a “bad man” turning his life around, the group witnesses a spectral brawl between a “big black dog and a three-legged, big white dog”—interpreted as a metaphorical sign of good triumphing over evil.

(b) The Ghost Horse — Mississippi [59:28]

• Story: Multiple family members witness an ethereal, majestic white horse appearing briefly near their home and vanishing silently—occasionally accompanied by the sound of invisible stampeding hooves.
• Quote: “Really beautiful white horse just sitting there staring at her, hardly moving at all… she looked up, nothing’s there.” [60:32]

(c) The White Thing in the Iowa River [63:42]

• Story: Two men fishing at night hear something heavy splash into the river; their flashlight reveals a white-furred, humanoid head with large, black eyes silently swimming before submerging and vanishing.
• Quote: “A human head with no ears, covered in white fur, and two large, black, glassy eyes with no shine.” [65:49]
• Parallel: Derek links this event geographically to the “Van Meter Visitor” of Iowa folklore, noted for emitting a white light from its horn.

Notable Quotes and Moments

• On spectral validation:
  “More scary than how lady was because we were just like, oh, my God, I'm not crazy. You're not crazy. You've been seeing the same thing I've been seeing.” – Chris, California [06:16]

• On the ambiguous terror of a faceless apparition:
  “It was like a person, but it's not. I'm rubbing my eyes, I'm squinting at it... But before I could even say anything, one of my friends goes, what the heck is that?” – Tim, Massachusetts [44:15]

• On the unexplainable energy of anomalous orbs:
  “If anybody’s a welder... The weld, how it just kind of is sporadic... Not like a solid ball of light. You can see how this energy that it's giving off all around it is making the clouds around it light up.” – Logan, Ohio [29:25]

• On primal, cryptid fear:
  “You see, in Iowa, the biggest threat we face in Mother Nature are tornadoes... So as they sat still in the dark, only tracking the object by ear as it loudly inhaled and exhaled against the water, the current slowly drew whatever it was closer... a human head with no ears, covered in white fur, and two large, black, glassy eyes with no shine.” – SFW (retelling their father’s story), Iowa [65:41]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 02:22 | Derek introduces the "white" theme—history, symbolism, and tonight’s structure.
• 04:28 | Chris’ Lady in White Story (California, family validation)
• 07:25 | Anonymous’ White Witch Sleep Paralysis
• 08:46 | Will’s “Man in White” Visitation & Hauntings (Buffalo, NY)
• 15:15 | Glowing White Rod UFO Sighting (Wisconsin)
• 19:25 | Expanding White Spherical Light (West Texas)
• 23:37 | Lake Erie Lights, Orbs & Triangle Phenomenon (Ohio)
• 34:36 | Backyard White Orb (Utah), followed by another caller’s near-identical orb sighting [37:00]
• 39:01 | White Orb in the Kitchen (Phoenix, AZ)
• 43:17 | Tim’s Woman in a White Tracksuit Apparition (Massachusetts)
• 50:32 | Nate’s Truck Encounter with Amorphous White Shape (Utah)
• 56:03 | White & Black Dog Symbolic Battle (California)
• 59:28 | The Ghost Horse & Stampede (Mississippi)
• 63:42 | White-Furred River Monster — SFW’s Father’s Story (Iowa)

Conclusion & Overarching Insights

• The color white in paranormal reports spans the full spectrum: from ghostly apparitions and “ladies in white,” to often-reported UFOs (rods, spheres, orbs), white animal spirits (dogs, horses), and cryptid beasts.
• Many stories involve corroborating witnesses or physical evidence (videos, photos), and some tie into longstanding local folklore and ongoing international mysteries (e.g., Hessdalen lights, Lake Erie lights).
• Skepticism and belief intersect: even rational, scientifically minded witnesses are left with no plausible explanation.
• Derek underscores the connective tissue—these aren’t isolated tales, but patterns reflecting humanity’s ongoing brush with the unknown.

Tone & Closing

Host Derek maintains an inviting, respectful, slightly playful tone—curating witness calls with warmth, gentle inquiry, and cultural context. He encourages listeners to send in their own experiences, suggesting the community’s ongoing exploration is as important as any single answer.

Keep it spooky!
Listeners are left reminded: look up, look around, and share your stories—because sometimes the most unsettling things are hidden in plain, radiant white.