We Are Not Alone Vol. III

Summary

MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories

Episode: We Are Not Alone Vol. III
Host: MrBallen (John Allen)
Date: November 20, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this gripping episode, MrBallen explores the chilling possibility that humans may not be alone in the universe. Through two deeply unsettling stories—one set in the Peruvian Amazon and another in rural Brazil—the episode delves into encounters with unknown entities, mystery, folklore, and the unexplained. Combining immersive narrative style and real-world details, both stories leave listeners questioning what’s truly possible in the shadowy corners of our world.

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Story One: "Face Peelers" (Peru, 2023)

Timestamps: [02:06] – [07:49]

Setting and Context

• Amazonian village in Peru, July 2023.
• Focus on a 15-year-old girl, Talia Davila Diaz, and the tight-knit, isolated community.
• Local rumors and fear surrounding mysterious “shadowy figures” with glowing green eyes seen lurking in the rainforest.
• Folklore of the “Pelicaras” (Face Peelers): macabre legends about foreigners abducting villagers, skinning faces, and selling body fat on the black market.

Main Events

• Talia faces her fear while attempting to harvest a grapefruit for her family ([02:45]):
  • "She wanted to go get a grapefruit and bring it inside and make juice for her family.” – MrBallen ([02:44])
  • She weighs the risks, noting the increased patrols due to rising fears.
• Sudden confrontation:
  • Talia is confronted by two enormous, dark humanoid figures with piercing green eyes, one so tall as to appear “practically the size of a tree” ([04:18]).
  • They “sort of glided towards her… almost hovering off the ground” ([05:13]).
• Attack and rescue:
  • Figures pin her to the ground, attempt to suffocate her, and brandish a knife-like tool ([05:23]).
  • “Suddenly, Talia was being grabbed and thrown to the ground. And the instant Talia hit the ground, these two figures disturbed on her and pinned her there.” – Co-host/Narrator ([05:29])
  • Talia fights back, manages to scream, attracting the attention of the nightly patrol, who begin firing at the figures.
• Supernatural escape:
  • “Instead, these dark figures… were like, levitating in the sky, and they were looking down at Talia and the night patrol with their glowing green eyes as they literally began to levitate into the sky.” – Co-host/Narrator ([06:18])
  • The figures vanish into the rainforest sky, unscathed by gunfire.

Aftermath and Theories

• The village is left in a state of extreme terror; mental trauma lingers.
• The Peruvian government launches an official investigation.
  • Official explanation: Illegal miners using jetpacks, armor, and masks to terrify locals and keep them away from mining sites ([07:08]–[07:34]).
    • “They got their hands on jetpacks, wore armor and masks, and then went into villages… and basically pretended to be aliens and then did… fly off on their jetpacks. That is the official story as of right now.” – MrBallen ([07:08]–[07:34])
  • Local residents, including Talia, dismiss this explanation, asserting:
    • “Those are no miners. Those are either Pelikaras or they are creatures from another world.” – MrBallen ([07:46])

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Story Two: "The Window" (Brazil, 1946)

Timestamps: [11:15] – [31:34]

Setting and Introduction

• March 1946, rural Arasariguama, Brazil.
• Nearly all townsfolk have left for Carnival, except 44-year-old farmer Joao Prestes Filho.
• Joao stays behind to enjoy a day of fishing with his best friend in the lush (but potentially hazardous) rainforest.

The Encounter

• As Joao returns, he is “flooded with the feeling of being watched” on lonely nighttime roads ([13:40]).
• Joao enters his own house, expecting safety, but the feeling only intensifies.
• Area steeped in local legends: haunted mines, the fiery serpent Boitata, and forest demons ([15:52]).

The Attack

• Joao “feels the presence right outside his window.”

• Looking out, he sees a “dark figure hovering over the ground, staring right at” him ([16:37]).

• He is suddenly struck by a blinding, burning ray of light fired from the figure outside, causing instant agony.

  • “What he saw right outside of his property was so terrifying that for a second, Joao couldn't even breathe… and then he tried to put his hands up to protect himself, but it was already too late.” – Narrator ([16:55])

• In a desperate panic, Joao wraps himself in a blanket, staggers outside, and runs through the ghost-town village, screaming incoherently ([17:24]).

Marie's House: Escalating Horror

• Joao's sister, Marie, is the first to see him in this state.
• Joao’s eyes are described as “so alien. They were wide and totally unfocused.” – Narrator ([18:26])
• He hisses “It burns. It burns” through clenched teeth ([19:44]).
• His skin color rapidly shifts to dark purple; swelling and severe blistering spreads across his body.

Medical Mystery

• With the help of the local sheriff and doctor Arasi Gumiji, Joao is rushed to a hospital. No one has ever seen injuries like his; flesh literally falls off, exposing bone ([23:37]).
• Staff can only treat pain; Joao’s skin continues to “cook off” him in a “sight… must have just been horrific. He literally had huge chunks of his flesh just missing.” – Narrator ([24:45])
• On high doses of painkillers, Joao recounts his experience:
  • Describes “being watched,” a “floating figure,” and then being burned by a “ray of light” through his window ([25:46]).
  • “It wasn't of this world.” ([26:56]) – Joao to the doctor.
  • Water poured in his mouth leaks from a hole in his burnt face ([27:20]).

Speculation and Theories

• Joao dies a few hours later; the official cause is listed as "cardiac arrest and generalized burns" ([28:25]).
• Theories include:
  • Ancient serpent Boitata or mine demons (local folklore).
  • Accidental (or malicious) exposure to high-dose radiation (modern theory), but with no plausible source.
  • UFO or “weapon” attack: In the 1970s, multiple similar cases of deaths caused by mysterious “rays of light” led to a military probe—Operation Saucer—which officially found “no evidence that UFOs were in any way involved.” ([31:17])
• Doubt lingers among both locals and outside researchers, fueling enduring speculation about extraterrestrial involvement.

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Key Quotes and Memorable Moments

• “Those are either Palakaras or they are creatures from another world.” – MrBallen ([07:49])
• “Her worst nightmare had just been realized. Now. Standing between her and her back door were these two hulking dark figures… with piercing, glowing green eyes.” – Co-host/Narrator ([04:18])
• “He saw this dark figure kind of hovering over the ground, and it was staring right at Joao… this figure shot this bright ray of light directly into Joao's home through that window, which hit Joao in the chest and the face. And immediately, Joao was blinded and confused by this light. And then it really started to burn.” – Narrator ([26:01])
• “It wasn't of this world.” – Joao Prestes Filho ([26:56])
• “Joao would not be the only person in Brazil to die from mysterious rays of light…” – Narrator ([29:32])
• After Joao’s death: "People… believe they were attacked by a UFO.” ([29:32])
• On the official investigation: “The military actually looked into this theory in 1977. It was called Operation Saucer… officially they found no evidence that UFOs were in any way involved… However, many people are skeptical that we're really getting the truth.” – MrBallen ([31:17])

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Notable Timestamps

• [02:06] – Face Peelers story begins
• [06:18] – Levitating figures escape into the sky
• [07:34] – Official explanation from Peruvian authorities
• [11:15] – The Window story begins (Joao’s day fishing)
• [16:55] – Joao’s encounter with the floating figure and burning ray
• [19:44] – “It burns. It burns.” Joao’s agony and transformation
• [23:37] – Unprecedented medical injuries; Joao rushed to hospital
• [25:46] – Joao describes the attack to Dr. Arasi
• [29:32] – Link to military investigation and other cases
• [31:17] – Operation Saucer and ongoing debate

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Tone and Delivery

• MrBallen’s hallmark style: tense, atmospheric, and immersive, with careful attention to folklore and the inexplicable.
• Frequent collaboration with co-host/narrator for conversational storytelling and scene setting.
• Quote-rich, using direct dialogue to amplify listener empathy and unease.
• Stories blend fact, speculation, and the eerie ambiguity of “unexplained” events.

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Final Thoughts

This episode weaves together ancient fears and modern mysteries, leaving listeners ruminating on the boundaries of reality and the unknown. The striking similarities between decades-apart cases—the green-eyed “Face Peelers” in Peru and the fatal rays in Brazil—underscore a chilling message: sometimes the greatest mysteries lie just beyond our perception, looking back.

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For more chilling tales, explore the MrBallen Podcast archives or visit the MrBallen YouTube channel.

Transcript

[Mr. Ballin]

Today's podcast will feature two stories that reveal we may not be alone in this universe. The audio from both of these stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel and has been remastered for today's episode. The links to the original YouTube videos are in the description. The first story you'll hear is called.

[Co-host or Narrator]

Face Peelers and it's about all these.

[Mr. Ballin]

Very strange events that took place in Peru. And the second and final story you'll hear is called the Window. This particular case prompted a full scale military investigation into a subject that can only be described as paranormal. But before we get into today's stories, if you're a fan of the strange, dark and mysterious delivered in story format, then you've come to the right podcast, because that's all we do. So if that's of interest to you, please figure out which book the follow button is currently reading and when they're about halfway done with it, go ahead and spoil the ending. Okay, let's get into our first story called Face Peelers.

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[Narrator or Storyteller]

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[Mr. Ballin]

At 6:30pm on July 29, 2023, a 15 year old girl named Talia Davila Diaz stood right outside her back door.

[Co-host or Narrator]

Of her house, staring out at the thick, dense, shadowy rainforest that was her backyard.

[Mr. Ballin]

Talia lived in a tiny isolated village in Peru that was literally in the.

[Co-host or Narrator]

Middle of the Amazon rainforest.

[Mr. Ballin]

So as she was looking out, I.

[Co-host or Narrator]

Mean, she would have seen these huge tropical trees and heard the sound of howler monkeys and exotic birds and animals moving all about. And the air would have been really thick and humid.

[Mr. Ballin]

But she wasn't thinking about any of that.

[Co-host or Narrator]

Instead, she was focused on this grapefruit.

[Mr. Ballin]

Tree that was only a few yards.

[Co-host or Narrator]

Away from her house.

[Mr. Ballin]

She wanted to go get a grapefruit.

[Co-host or Narrator]

And bring it inside and make juice for her family.

[Mr. Ballin]

However, Talia was scared, and she was scared for two reasons. The first reason was this was the.

[Co-host or Narrator]

Amazon, an inherently dangerous place, especially at night.

[Narrator or Storyteller]

There were loads of predators out there.

[Co-host or Narrator]

Like snakes and jaguars.

[Mr. Ballin]

But the other reason she was scared.

[Co-host or Narrator]

Was that she was worried there could actually be something worse out in the rainforests, worse than any predators she was used to.

[Mr. Ballin]

And that was because over the last couple of weeks, people in Talia's village.

[Co-host or Narrator]

Had been claiming they were seeing these shadowy figures lurking in the treeline with these bright green eyes that would occasionally seem like they were hunting the people of the village. Like, anytime they. It was like these figures were kind of lurking off in the distance, but nobody knew what they were.

[Mr. Ballin]

The rumor around the village was that these shadowy figures were actually Pelikaras, which.

[Co-host or Narrator]

Translates literally to face peelers.

[Mr. Ballin]

People in Talia's village believed that Pelikaras.

[Co-host or Narrator]

Were foreigners who would kidnap locals and cut their throats and peel the skin of their face off and then sell their body fat on the black market. And the locals were so freaked out that Pelikaras could be around that they began performing nightly patrols to keep the villagers safe. So Talia, again, was very scared to even leave her house at this point. But she was also trying to be reasonable. I mean, she'd gone out and gotten a grapefruit many times in the past. This was not some new behavior, you know.

[Narrator or Storyteller]

So she's looking out and she sees.

[Co-host or Narrator]

The grapefruit tree, and she knows there's a nightly patrol out right now, and I only have to go a few yards and get the fruit and get right back in the house.

[Mr. Ballin]

Like, how big of a deal could this possibly be?

[Co-host or Narrator]

And so after taking one more look around and not seeing anybody or hearing anything that was out of place, she took a breath and then rushed out to the tree. She grabbed a grapefruit. And as she was turning around, she froze, because her worst nightmare had just been realized. Now. Standing between her and her back door were these two hulking dark figures. And one of them was, like, so tall, it was practically the size of a tree. And they both had these piercing, glowing green eyes, and they were looking right at Talia. And Talia was so instantaneously petrified that all she could do was just stand there and stare back into their green eyes. And as she did, she began to notice that their faces were grotesquely elongated, almost like they had masks on. And then before Talia could do anything, the really tall one began sort of gliding towards her. Not stepping towards her, but literally almost hovering off the ground towards Talia and then suddenly, Talia was being grabbed and thrown to the ground. And the instant Talia hit the ground, these two figures disturbed on her and pinned her there. And then one of them reached down and pressed their hand over her mouth and her nose, and she couldn't breathe. And then she sees the other one is holding what looked like a box cutter or a knife, and they put it right up to her neck. And suddenly it's like Talia understands these are pelikaras.

[Narrator or Storyteller]

They're gonna slit her throat.

[Co-host or Narrator]

They're gonna kill her. And so she has this sudden burst of energy and she manages to push them off of her. And when she did, their hand came off her mouth. And she screamed out for help. And she heard somewhere in the village, voices yelling back to her. And then she heard footsteps, and she knew it was the night patrol coming to save her. And so at this point, the figures released Talia and she scrambled to her feet and immediately ran towards her house right as the night patrol came bounding into her yard. And one of the men had a gun, and he raised it and began shooting in the direction of the figures. And Talia, you know, she's totally panicked, and she turns around and she looks at her attackers, and she's expecting them to be fleeing into the rainforest.

[Mr. Ballin]

And.

[Co-host or Narrator]

But instead, these dark figures, they were like, levitating in the sky, and they were looking down at Talia and the night patrol with their glowing green eyes as they literally began to levitate into the sky. And the whole time the night patrol is firing repeatedly at these things, and they just drifted off into the night and disappeared.

[Mr. Ballin]

Talia ultimately would not suffer any physical injuries from this encounter, but mentally, she was a wreck.

[Co-host or Narrator]

And frankly, so was the rest of.

[Mr. Ballin]

The people in her village, especially those.

[Co-host or Narrator]

Who were on the night patrol. And with Talia witnessed these figures with green eyes flying away into the sky.

[Mr. Ballin]

I mean, the fear in this village.

[Co-host or Narrator]

Following this encounter was through the roof. And in fact, ultimately, the Peruvian government.

[Mr. Ballin]

Would get involved after this encounter, and.

[Co-host or Narrator]

They would investigate to try to figure.

[Mr. Ballin]

Out, you know, what happened to Talia.

[Co-host or Narrator]

And they would ultimately conclude that there was an illegal mining operation happening somewhere in the rainforest. And some of these miners, in an effort to scare people away from coming any near their operation, they got their hands on jetpacks, wore armor and masks, and then went into villages like Thalia's and basically pretended to be aliens and then did, you know, fly off on their jetpacks. That is the official story as of right now.

[Mr. Ballin]

However, people like Talia and the Other.

[Co-host or Narrator]

People in her village and many other people who live in the Amazon rainforest who have come in contact with these figures with green eyes. They say those are no miners.

[Mr. Ballin]

Those are either Palakaras or they are.

[Co-host or Narrator]

Creatures from another world.

[Mr. Ballin]

The show is sponsored by BetterHelp. There are lots of people in my life that realistically I should be reaching out to more often, namely, you know, friends and family. But you know, to be honest, life just happens and, you know, time goes on and it gets harder and harder to do that outreach. It takes courage in some ways to do that outreach because you're opening up a part of your life that you've sort of moved on from in a way. And also it takes courage when maybe you're the friend that you wished other people were connecting with, that you sort of lack that emotional connection with somebody else that maybe, maybe you're struggling and you don't really have an outlet. And so this holiday season, Better Help is encouraging people to not just have the courage to reach out to old friends and family, but also have the courage to reach out to other people because you need that connection that you need a check in that you need help. And with over 30,000 therapists, BetterHelp is one of the world's largest online therapy platforms, which means they are a great place to go if you're asking for help. BetterHelp therapists are fully licensed in the United States. They do the initial matching work for you so you can focus just on your therapy goals. This month, don't wait to reach out. Whether you're checking in on a friend or reaching out to a therapist yourself, BetterHelp makes it easier to take that first step. Our listeners get 10% off their first month at betterhelp.com mrballandpod that's betterhelp.com mrballenpod do you wish you could share pictures with your long distance family without needing to send them constant text messages, you know, to share the important moments or all the goofy everyday stuff? Well, you can do that with Aura frames. It keeps you connected even when you're miles apart by sharing photos and videos effortlessly straight from your phone using the Aura app.

[Narrator or Storyteller]

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[Mr. Ballin]

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[Narrator or Storyteller]

On March 4, 1946, nearly every resident of a rural Brazilian town called Arasariguama packed up a few days worth of food and drink and headed south to the nearest big city to celebrate the festival of Carnival. This festival is an opportunity for folks to cut loose and eat good food right before most of them go into a religious fasting period. One resident who opted not to join the fun at this Festival was a 44 year old man named Joao Prestige Filou. Joao was a farmer. He had five kids, he was a very quiet guy and he did not enjoy things like the festival for Carnival. The crowds and the noise made him anxious and he really hated dancing, which there was a lot of at these festivals. Instead, Joao would rather spend his spare time out in nature. And so when Joao's friends and family and everybody else disappeared to head off to this festival, Joao did just that. He and his best friend packed up Joao's horse and cart and they traveled across the dirt roads through the woods to the nearby Tiete river, where they spent the day fishing for catfish. And as Joao stood on the rocks casting out his line, he listened to the birds sing and the parrots swooping by. It was beautiful and sunny out. I mean, this was a perfect day for Joao. As sunset drew near, though, both Joao and his best friend knew that while the rainforest they were in was beautiful during the day, at night it could become quite hazardous with the animals that come out at night. And so they knew they needed to leave. And so they packed up all the fish they caught back into Joao's cart. And then the two of them hopped onto the cart and began making the journey back towards the town of Arasariguam. When the pair got to a split in the road, Joao's best friend hopped off the cart and walked on foot down one path, because his house was actually just outside of the town. And Joao, still in his cart with his horse, said bye to his friend and went the other direction. Now, by this point, the sun had completely set, and so it was totally dark out. As Joao is going down this dirt road in the final stretch towards his town. At this time in 1946, Arasariguama was a beautiful place, but by no means a modern place. They had no running water, no electricity. There was no sewage, no paved roads, no access to main roads, and nobody had a telephone. It was basically like this little patch of civilization with about 100 people living there. There was a church in the middle of the town and a couple of small huts that kind of sat around it. And Joao and his family lived in one of those huts. Joao usually loved walking along or traveling along this particular stretch of dirt road, especially at night, like he was doing right now. He really enjoyed looking up at the stars and listening to the animals off in the forest that he couldn't see. But this night, Joel just had a bad feeling as he was making this final approach towards his town. Now, remember, there's almost no one in the town. They're all at this festival. So it's kind of like a ghost town in the middle of a forest. But Joao, as he's going down this dirt road and he can see the church up ahead, he's a couple hundred feet away. He began getting this very unnerving sense that he was being watched. And so Joao, as he's in his cart, began looking into the trees and all around him, wondering if maybe an animal or a person was nearby. But there was no one. Finally, Joao actually reached the church, and he could see his little house. And he could also see that his wife, who was at the festival, had opened up one of the windows just slightly, so he could open it up the rest of the way and crawl into the house when he was back from fishing, because she had locked the doors when she left. And so by this point, Joao was trying to be very calm and collected despite the stress of feeling like he's being watched. But when he saw that window and he saw how close he was to his house, he basically just had the horse sprint the rest of the way to his home. He just wanted to get off the streets. And so finally, Joao, he reaches his house. He crawls in through the window, he shuts it behind him. And immediately, Joao expected to feel totally relieved that he was now behind locked and closed doors and windows. He was safe. But despite being inside of his home, despite. He still had the sense that there was someone or something around him that was watching him. Joao, like many other residents of this.

[Mr. Ballin]

Village, was fairly superstitious.

[Narrator or Storyteller]

There was an old abandoned mine that was near the town. And Joao and his peers had grown up hearing stories about some monster that lived in the mine that would come out at night and roam the forest. And older people in this village would talk about this ancient serpent called boitata that would come out at night and it would appear in a burst of fire. And so Joao, he's thinking about the mine and these demons and ghosts that roam in the forest. And he's all alone because everyone's at this festival, and he doesn't feel safe inside of his house. And so he's really starting to panic. And it's at this moment that he suddenly feels this sense that whatever or whoever has been watching him is right out his window to his left. And so Joao, as he's turning to look out the window, he's anticipating seeing a person out there, or maybe a jaguar or some other animal that's followed him from the rainforest. But when Joe out turns and looks out the window into the dark night, what he sees right outside of his property was so terrifying that for a second, Joao couldn't even breathe. And he just stood there staring at this thing. And then he tried to put his hands up to protect himself, but it was already too late. Minutes later, Joel would come stumbling out of his front door, out into the dark night. He's got a big blanket wrapped around him, and he was just screaming incoherently. And as he screamed all this nonsense, he began running in this kind of zigzag pattern with no clear destination in mind. It was just like this mindless running all through the village. And as he's running, he's got no shoes on, and he's stepping on sharp rocks and glass and trash. He's cutting his feet up horribly, but he doesn't seem to even notice. And so as he's doing this, he's causing this huge scene, but everybody's gone. It's a ghost town. It's just him in this abandoned village in the middle of a rainforest in Brazil. But eventually, Joao kind of calmed himself down and ran to his sister's house. Marie because he noticed there was a lamp on inside of her house. And he was hoping that maybe she, too, had stayed back from the festival. And it would turn out Marie had not gone to the festival. She, too, did not really like big gatherings like that. And so she was home. And so Marie was in her kitchen when she began hearing outside this horrible screaming sound, almost guttural sounds coming from someone or some animal out there. And then before she could even figure out what it was, she heard this loud thud against her door. Marie was terrified, and she ran to her front window to look out and see what it was that had just collided with her door.

[Mr. Ballin]

And.

[Narrator or Storyteller]

And what she saw made no sense. It was her brother, Joao. But he was wrapped in that big blanket, and his feet were all bloody, and he was screaming at the top of his lungs, but he wasn't saying anything. He was just kind of babbling. And so Marie was about to run over and open the door for her brother, but right before she did, as she's looking out the window, Joao turned and looked at her. And when he did, she screamed because his eyes looked so alien. They were wide and totally unfocused. And she thought, that can't be my brother. What's wrong with him? But she would go over and open the door, because after all, it is her brother. And so she opens the door, Joao kind of falls into the room and began writhing around on the ground, continuing this scream he was emitting that didn't even seem human.

[Co-host or Narrator]

And the whole time, Marie is trying.

[Narrator or Storyteller]

To ask him, what's wrong?

[Co-host or Narrator]

What's going on here?

[Narrator or Storyteller]

She's scanning him. And besides the cuts all over his feet, he didn't appear to have other injuries. And so eventually, Marie just knelt down, and she was about to grab Joao and try to kind of stop him from moving around to just look at him and try to have a conversation with him. But before she grabbed him, Joao rolled over and his lips opened up, exposing his teeth. And he kind of grimaced at her.

[Co-host or Narrator]

With those wild, unfocused eyes. And again, Marie just kind of backed up in horror.

[Narrator or Storyteller]

Who is this? What's happened to my brother? And as Marie stood up to get away from Joao, Joao, still with that sickening grin, with his teeth exposed, had this kind of low hiss come out of his mouth. And so Marie, thinking he was trying to talk, she leaned in, and through this hiss, she heard him repeating, it burns. It burns. And so Marie, thinking her brother must have been burned, instinctively began removing the blanket and pulling his clothes off to find the source of this burn on her brother. But besides the cuts all over his feet, as she's looking at his body, his skin looked totally normal. He looked completely unhurt. And so Marie turned up to look at Joao's face again to ask him more questions, in hopes maybe he could tell her something. And it was at that moment she noticed that even though he didn't seem to have any other injuries, his complexion on his. His face was now starting to change. Now Joao's cheeks had turned this kind of dark purple and almost looked like they were starting to swell. And so at this point, Marie knew, okay, I can't handle this. I don't know what's going on here. And so she would stand up and just kind of back away from Joao, who's still got that grimace with his teeth exposed and his purple cheeks, he's staring up at Marie. And Marie, she finally backs out, and she goes out the front door, and she begins running to the. To the other side of town. Marie knew that there were two other men who had stayed home from this festival. It was the town sheriff and the town doctor, whose name was Arasi Gumiji. And those two men lived close together on the other side of town. And when Marie arrived in front of their homes and began pounding on their doors and yelling for help, the two men quickly came outside, at which point Marie tried to explain what was happening to her brother, but she didn't really have the words. And so she just said, he needs your help. And so the two men just went with Marie, and they ran back across town to Marie's house, where Joel was still on the ground, writhing in pain when they went inside.

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[Narrator or Storyteller]

You're the best.

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Thanks, Mark. I'm Mayra Amit, founder of Mochi Health. To find your mochi moment, visit joinmochi.com.

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Mochi members have access to licensed physicians and nutritionists and are compensated for their stories. Results may vary.

[Narrator or Storyteller]

Marie had only been gone for a couple of minutes, but by now, it wasn't just Joao's cheeks that had Turned that purplish color. His chest and arms were also turning purple. At this point, the sheriff leaned over Joao and began asking him some questions. And Joao, he was obviously in horrible pain from something. But by this point, he had calmed down enough to where he was speaking a little bit more. But what he was saying made no sense. He told the sheriff that he had been followed home, and then he got burned. And when the sheriff asked him who burned you, all Joao could say was, no one is to blame. At this point, the sheriff left Marie's house and jogged over to Joao's house to look for some sign of how he got burned. But when he got there, the house was completely unburned. Everything was exactly as it should have been.

[Co-host or Narrator]

There was no scorch marks.

[Narrator or Storyteller]

There was not even a lit candle anywhere. So there was no clues as to what happened to Joao. By the time the sheriff got back to Marie's, it had been about 45 minutes from when Joao first got hurt. And now whatever was happening to his body that was turning him purple appeared to be getting much worse. Joao's skin, all over his face and his chest and his arms was now not only a very dark purple, but his skin was starting to blister and pop. In fact, there was one area on his arm that had bubbled up so much that when it burst, you could actually see the bone in his arm. It was almost like Joao had been boiled in water, like the way you would boil meat on a bone until the meat was tender enough that it fell off the bone. It was like that was happening to Joab. And so as Joao's flesh just sort of began cooking off of him, the town doctor, Arasi, said, we have to get him to a hospital right now. But because the roads were not paved and it was dangerous traveling at night, they knew they couldn't get him to the big city hospital. They would have to take him to a local hospital. And so the sheriff, who had a truck, said, let's just put him in the truck and I will drive him there. And so Arasi, the sheriff, and Marie, they got a new sheet. They wrapped up Joao inside of it, and they brought him outside, they put him in the sheriff's truck, and they began driving towards the hospital. Arasi stayed in the back with Joao as they made this drive. And every time the truck went over a bump, Joao would let out a cry of pain. And Arsei would look over and he would literally see these bumps were causing his skin to kind of fall off of his body. When they finally arrived, at the local hospital, the staff there pulled Joe out inside. They put him in a private room, they put him on a bed, and they had no idea how to treat him. It was like his injuries looked nothing like they had ever seen. They didn't even know where to begin. And they kind of assumed that Joao would not survive whatever was happening to him. And so the first thing they did is just pumped him full of painkillers. And while these painkillers didn't actually do anything to stop basically Joao's body from decomposing while he was still alive, they did at least allow Joao to stop feeling this horrible pain of his flesh falling off of him. And so Joao finally just kind of sunk back in his bed. And the sight of him must have just been horrific. He literally had huge chunks of his flesh just missing. I mean, literally, parts of his skeleton were exposed to the naked eye. After the doctors had gotten Joao as stable as they could get him, Arasi, the local town doctor, sat down next to Joao and just began asking him questions. And for the first time, Joao was able to talk somewhat normally because he was on such a high dose of painkillers. And so Arasi began asking Joao to go over everything that happened from the time he left fishing for catfish until he arrived at his house and got burned. This is roughly what Joao told Arasi. He said on his walk home from fishing, he started getting that feeling that he was being watched. And it got more and more intense as he got into town, until finally he basically sprinted the rest of the way to his house, practically dove through that open window, shut it behind him, and expected to feel relief being in his own home again. But he didn't. The feeling only intensified that he was being watched. And at some point, he got that sense that whoever or whatever was watching him was to his left, out the window, out into his yard. And when Joao turned to look, what he saw standing outside was this dark figure kind of hovering over the ground, and it was staring right at Joel. And before Joao could even put his hands up to protect himself from whatever or whoever this was, this figure shot this bright ray of light directly into Joao's home through that window, which hit Joao in the chest and the face. And immediately, Joao was blinded and confused by this light. And then it really started to burn. He believed he was on fire, which is why he grabbed that blanket and wrapped it around himself. He was trying to put out a non existent fire. And that's when he stumbled outside and kind of zigged and zagged kind of half trying to put this fire out until he arrived at Marie's house. But when he got there, that sensation of feeling like he was on fire didn't go away. It just got worse and worse and worse. And then his skin began falling off. When Arasi asked Joao, you know, who do you think did this to you? Who do you think that figure was? And Joao, with bulging eyes, would sit forward and say to Arasi, it wasn't of this world. And as Joao said this, a chunk from his cheek from fell off, exposing his jaw and teeth. And as this happened, Joao asked one of the nurses for a water. And so Arasi is sitting there having heard the story, as Joao, who's all hopped up on painkillers, is grabbing this water and drinking. And Arasi is watching the water dribble out of the hole now on the side of Joao's face. About four hours later, Joao would pass away from his injuries. There has never been any official explanation for what actually happened to Joao. The doctors just wrote cardiac arrest and generalized burns on his death certificate because they really had no idea what else to call this. Joao's family believed the boytata, the ancient serpent that lived in the forest and appeared at night in a ball of fire, was responsible for what happened to Joao, Other people in town thought maybe it was the monsters or demons from the old abandoned mine that had come.

[Mr. Ballin]

Out and attacked Joao.

[Narrator or Storyteller]

Outside of Joao's town, people have theorized that Joao must have been subjected to some really high dose of radiation. And so this theory has led people to believe that, you know, perhaps Joao was the victim of a secret weapon that the government was testing. But to create such a concentrated beam of radiation that only affects Joao would be way more technologically advanced than anything that was available at the time in the world. Not to mention, why would any government randomly target a Brazilian farmer with this weapon? But Joao would not be the only person in Brazil to die from mysterious rays of light in the 1970s. So, 30 years after Joao's death, several people in a city in northern Brazil reported seeing bright lights coming down from the sky. And then they too began turning purple, and their skin began falling off, and they would die. And so, because of this high number of very strange deaths that looked just like Joao's, a new theory has taken root over the years to explain what happened to Joow and these people. People, and that is, they were attacked by a ufo. That Joel, when he looked out the window and saw that dark figure hovering over the ground, that was a ufo. And the light he saw was a weapon. The UFO was firing a ray of radiation that struck him and killed him like it struck and killed the others. In Brazil, the military actually looked into this theory in 1977 and 1970. It was called Operation Saucer, like Flying Saucer. However, officially they came out and said they found no evidence that UFOs were in any way involved in what happened to Joao or these other people. However, many people are skeptical that we're really getting the truth.

[Mr. Ballin]

A quick note about our stories they are all based on true events, but we sometimes use pseudonyms to protect the people involved, and some details are fictionalized for dramatic purposes. The Mr. Ballin podcast Strange, Dark and Mysterious Stories is hosted and executive Produced by me, Mr. Ballin. Our head of writing is Evan Allen. Our head of production is Zach Levitt Produced by Jeremy Bone Research and fact checking by Shelly Shue, Samantha Vanhus, Evan Beamer, Abigail Shumway and Camille Callahan Research and fact checking supervision by Steven Ear Audio editing and post produced by Whit Locasio and Cole Locascio Additional audio editing by Jordan Stidham Mixed and mastered by Brendan Cain Production coordination by Samantha Collins Production support by Antonio Minata and Delaina Corley Artwork by Jessica Claugston Kiner Theme song called Something Wicked by Ross Bugden thank you for listening to the Mr. Ballin podcast. If you enjoyed today's story and you're.

[Narrator or Storyteller]

Looking for more bone chilling content, be.

[Mr. Ballin]

Sure to check out all of our studio's podcasts. There's this one, the Mr. Bolland podcast, as well as Mr. Bolland's Medical Mysteries, Bedtime Stories, Wartime Stories, Run Fool Redacted Late Nights with Nexpo and a Twist of History. All you have to do is search for Ballin Studios wherever you get your podcasts. To watch hundreds more stories just like this one, head over to our YouTube channel, which is just called Mr. Ballin. So that's going to do it. I really appreciate your support. Until next time. See you.

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Mochi moment from Sadie who writes I'm not crying, you're crying. This is what I said during my first appointment with my physician at Mochi because I didn't have to convince him I needed a GLP one he understood and I felt supported, not judged. I came for the weight loss loss and stayed for the empathy. Thanks, Sadie. I'm Myra Amit, founder of Mochi Health. To find your Mochi moment, visit joinmochi.

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Com.

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Mochi members have access to licensed physicians and nutritionists and are compensated for their stories. Results may vary.