Where Things Stand in Up and Vanished

Summary

Episode Summary: "Where Things Stand in Up and Vanished"

Podcast: Up and Vanished (Tenderfoot TV)
Host: Payne Lindsey
Date: February 11, 2026

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Overview of the Episode’s Main Theme

In this special check-in episode, Payne Lindsey provides listeners with an update on the Up and Vanished investigations, emphasizing significant behind-the-scenes developments in the show’s hallmark cold cases. While not offering a full case update just yet, Payne reassures listeners that progress is being made and an in-depth episode is coming soon. The latter half of the episode features a personal recommendation and sample from his other investigative podcast, High Strange, which delves into UFO and unexplained phenomena with the same journalistic rigor as Up and Vanished.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Status Update on Up and Vanished Cases

• Behind-the-Scenes Progress: Payne outlines that recent episodes have covered heavy topics and that efforts to advance the cases are ongoing with law enforcement agencies and families.
  • "A lot's been happening since then. Conversations with different agencies, ongoing steps with the families." [00:24]
• Commitment to Transparency: Payne promises listeners the show will continue to document and share all developments authentically.
  • "Make no mistake at all, we are going to show and we're going to share all of it." [00:31]
• Forward Momentum: There is real, positive movement in several cases due to continued listener support and involvement.
  • "Things are finally moving in the right direction. You've helped keep these stories alive." [00:36]
• Promise of An Upcoming Major Update:
  • “We’re currently preparing for an even more extensive update. ... The next update is coming and when it drops, you'll understand why we took our time.” [00:37], [07:36]

2. Introduction and Rationale for High Strange

• Payne pitches his personal project, High Strange, which pivots from true crime to thoroughly investigating UFOs and other unexplained events. He stresses that the series maintains the same standards in journalism, production, and narrative as Up and Vanished.
  • "It's me applying the same investigative lens, the same production value, the same storytelling discipline you expect from Up and Vanished." [00:55]
• He encourages skeptical listeners to keep an open mind before discounting the subject matter.
  • "Before you roll your eyes and hit stop, just hear me out. It's real, raw journalism." [00:47]
• Personal Connection: Payne characterizes High Strange as a “passion project.” [00:43]

3. Excerpt from High Strange (Story Sample)

• The episode shifts to a suspenseful audio segment from High Strange featuring a first-person account of a possible abduction.
• Narrative Highlights from the Hypnotized Subject:
  • The subject recounts a 1985 experience: waking in an unfamiliar place, immobilized, surrounded by entities resembling “gigantic insects” with “big black eyes.” [01:21–05:58]
  • Describes intense fear and confusion, and the presence of a “mechanical voice” asking, “What can we do to help you? Stop screaming.” [05:24]
  • Remembers a looming medical procedure involving a “needle … put in the side of my head.” [06:17]
  • Insight into hypnosis and forensic memory retrieval, referencing Dr. Donald Klein, a noted forensic hypnotist. [03:38]
  • The segment is atmospheric, unsettling, and pushes listeners to confront the boundary between credible memory and the unexplained.
• Atmosphere and Tone: The sound design, narration, and rawness of the subject’s story underscore Payne’s claim of High Strange being gripping, investigative journalism.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Payne Lindsey reassures and sets expectations:
  • "This is not the big Up and Vanished update you were probably hoping it was. But it's coming and it's coming carefully." [00:10]
• On audience impact:
  • “You’ve helped keep these stories alive.” [00:36]
• On the integrity of his new project, High Strange:
  • "It's real, raw journalism." [00:47]
• From the hypnotized subject’s alien abduction narrative:
  • "I found myself in a room full of what looked like gigantic insects. It was horrifying." [03:07]
  • "They showed me a needle. They're gonna put it in the side of my head." [06:17]
  • “I remembered those faces and they weren’t human.” [04:49]
  • "They would move very slowly and then very quickly. They were not of this world at all." [04:29]
  • "What can we do to help you? Stop screaming." [05:24–05:40]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:08–01:00: Payne’s update on Up and Vanished, commitment to updates, intro to High Strange
• 01:21–06:48: High Strange—subject’s hypnotic recollection of an alien encounter
• 07:05–07:36: Payne’s sign-off, reiteration of updates to come, reminder to check out High Strange

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Conclusion

This episode bridges an interim period for Up and Vanished listeners: Payne offers transparency about ongoing investigations and promises significant forthcoming information, while also inviting listeners to explore the unexplained with High Strange. He maintains the serious, investigative tone fans expect, and the included audio sample is deeply evocative—demonstrating his commitment to storytelling and compelling audio journalism regardless of the subject matter. The episode is a testament to the show's evolving mission: to pursue truth, whether in vanished persons or "high strangeness."

Transcript

[Narrator]

You're listening to a Tenderfoot TV podcast.

[Payne Lindsey]

Hey, guys, it's Payne. I want to start by saying this is not the big up and vanished update you were probably hoping it was. But it's coming and it's coming carefully. The last two episodes we dropped were heavy and behind the scenes. A lot's been happening since then. Conversations with different agencies, ongoing steps with the families. But make no mistake at all, we are going to show and we're going to share all of it. And I can tell you this, things are finally moving in the right direction. You've helped keep these stories alive. We're currently preparing for an even more extensive update. In the meantime, I want to share something with you that's personal to me. A couple years ago, I launched a show called High Strange. It's basically my passion project. A full scale investigation into UFOs and. And the unexplained. Before you roll your eyes and hit stop, just hear me out. It's real, raw journalism. It's me applying the same investigative lens, the same production value, the same storytelling discipline you expect from up and Vanished. It's called High Strange and it's out now. Here's a clip from our new season so you can feel it out yourself.

[Hypnotized Subject]

December 26, 1985. I had a nice day with my family. It was me, my wife, and our son, who was then six. Beautiful afternoon, right after Christmas. We'd have a wonderful Christmas. Little country house we'd bought a year before. Went to bed and in the middle of the night became aware of the fact that there were noises around me, movement. Felt like I was in a room full of people and I was supposed to be in my bedroom alone with my wife. It was just something wrong. Finally, I woke up, opened my eyes. I couldn't get up, couldn't rise off the bed. And I realized I'm not on my bed. I'm somewhere else. This room with an arched door and a little black window in was really weir.

[Narrator]

Who the hell is that? Is there somebody there? Is that somebody there? I don't think I like that.

[Hypnotized Subject]

I saw these big black eyes peering at me from about two feet away.

[Narrator]

Something's like, oh, it looks. It's got eyes on it and eyes and solid eyes.

[Hypnotized Subject]

I found myself in a room full of what looked like gigantic insects. It was horrifying.

[Narrator]

I saw something that looked like it had a hood on it near the corner. And I'm dead, Root. I don't want it to be that.

[Hypnotized Subject]

The head of the New York State Department of Psychiatry Dr. Donald Klein. He had solved many criminal cases with hypnosis. The world's best forensic hypnotist. He was the real deal. The memory began to come back under hypnosis.

[Narrator]

It's deep, comfortable, the last day. So pay attention to my voice. But in the mainstream, make a mistake.

[Hypnotized Subject]

They would move very slowly and then very quickly. They were not of this world at all. That was when I thought, I'm having a nightmare.

[Narrator]

I don't want it to be there.

[Hypnotized Subject]

They didn't go away thinking, God, this is real. I became crazed. I was on a little cot. I couldn't get off of it. I couldn't move. And I kept trying to imagine my bed. I couldn't do that either. So vivid. It was like real life. I remembered those faces and they weren't human.

[Narrator]

It was sticking into my mind. It would make a noise like a voice.

[Hypnotized Subject]

I don't know where it came from, but it was a mechanical voice, clearly. And it would repeat. What can we do to help you?

[Narrator]

Stop screaming, why don't you?

[Hypnotized Subject]

I'm hearing this voice. Jesus. What can we do to help you? Stop screaming. I didn't.

[Narrator]

Help me. Oh, I'm sorry.

[Hypnotized Subject]

Gigantic insects. Very scary. They were not silly looking at all. You ever, when you were a kid, maybe watch a praying mantis? How it creeps so gracefully and smoothly along. And then wah. That gets the little fly that it's after. That's how they moved. One of them was about 5ft tall. The others were all very small. They showed me a needle. They're gonna put it in the side of my head.

[Narrator]

He touches my head with this thing.

[Hypnotized Subject]

I realized then this was physical.

[Payne Lindsey]

Relax.

[Narrator]

Please. Stop it. And second largest. Relax. Like that, you guys. Stay relaxed now.

[Payne Lindsey]

It's called High Strange and it's out now. Thank you for sticking with up and Vanished. The next update is coming and when it drops, you'll understand why we took our time until then. Here's High Strange.