This week on Hysteria 51, we’re chasing two flavors of “are we alone?” and one of them is suspiciously nacho-adjacent.

First, the skies over Area 51 served up a late-night special: a mysterious “Dorito-shaped” aircraft spotted cruising near the world’s most side-eye-worthy patch of desert. Was it a classified test flight, a stealth prototype, or the most aggressive brand sponsorship in aviation history? Either way, if it looks like a triangle and haunts the Nevada night, we’re legally obligated (by podcast law) to investigate.

Then we rocket to Mars, where NASA says the Perseverance rover found a rock with intriguing “leopard spot” patterns inside Jezero Crater that could be a potential biosignature, meaning ancient chemical reactions that might be consistent with microbial life. Not “we found Martians,” but definitely “this rock is acting extremely sus.”

So buckle up for an episode packed with UFO vibes, Area 51 sightings, Mars rover discoveries, and the eternal question: are we staring at evidence of secret tech… or secret life… or just humanity’s unstoppable urge to turn every weird shape into a headline?

Links & Resources

📌Black Project Snacks

📌Mars Relatives

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Brent & David are traveling this week so we are digging back into the H51 coffers for a retro episode. It's Satanic Panic time this week on Hysteria 61!

Original Description:

Remember that year or two in the 80’s when you weren’t allowed to do anything? Yeah – this week’s topic was pretty much the problem. The “Satanic Panic” was this all too real period mostly during the 80’s that America’s housewives knew their kid’s souls were being stolen by “beelzebub”, Ozzy, and anyone else they were listening to on that “devil machine”. The problem with this joke is real people suffered. Real lives were lost and the “devil” had nothing to do with any of it. We break out our black t-shirts, dye our hair, and get to the HYSTERIA (too obvious?) behind it all this week. Plus, C-Bot makes it as a comedian (he thinks), Brent goes chaotic neutral (an upgrade?), and the boys welcome a “pentagram” of guests (it really was an accident). All of that an more on the podcast that’s never been the victim of Satanic Ritual Abuse, but if they were they’re sure it would be at the hands…check that…pincers…of Conspiracy Bot – Hysteria 51.

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Pack your bags (and maybe a clothespin for your nose) because this week on Hysteria 51 we’re going interplanetary and intestinal.

First up: luxury travel has officially left Earth. A startup is taking reservations—yes, real money—to be among the first guests at a proposed hotel on the Moon. We’re talking deposits that can range from “casual quarter-mil” to a full $1,000,000 just to hold your spot, with the total trip potentially climbing far beyond that once you factor in the whole “rocket commute” situation. It’s space tourism with a side of “do they validate parking in low gravity?”

Then we come crashing back down to Earth with science that sounds like it was invented in a middle-school cafeteria: the idea that “sniffing farts” could help protect your brain. Under the jokes is a real research thread around hydrogen sulfide (the “rotten egg” gas associated with flatulence) and how it may help protect brain cells in Alzheimer’s-related mouse studies—less “weaponized crop dusting,” more “biochemistry doing something weird and promising.”

So if you like your weird news with equal parts sci-fi dreams and “please don’t say that out loud,” this episode is your perfect storm: moon hotel reservations, space-tourism absurdity, and the unexpectedly serious science of stink.

Links & Resources

📌Moon Vacancy

📌Stinky Mental Progress

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This week, we’re turning the mic over to you.

It’s a full-on voicemail spectacular—packed with listener reactions, hot takes, strange questions, wild theories, and the kind of chaotic energy that can only come from people brave enough to leave a message for this show. We’re hitting play, reacting in real time, and laughing our way through the best kind of audience participation: the unfiltered kind.

If you’ve ever yelled at your speaker during an episode… congratulations. This one’s for you.

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This week on Hysteria 51, we’re tackling two stories that prove nature and sports both have a wildly unhinged sense of humor.

First up: science says blocking reproduction may be linked to longer lifespans in mammals—with a large analysis across 117 species suggesting animals that were sterilized or given contraception lived about 10% longer on average. It’s the ultimate “live long and prosper” headline… with a twist that’ll make every mammal in the room cross its legs and reconsider its life choices.

Then we pivot to baseball’s most statistically improbable “sorry about your face” moment: the legendary tale of Phillies great Richie Ashburn, who once hit a foul ball that struck a fan—and then struck the same fan again during the same at-bat as she was being carried away. It’s slapstick destiny, but with stadium seating.

So if you like your weird news podcast with longevity science, evolutionary trade-offs, and a side of baseball history so absurd it sounds invented, hit play and let’s get strange.

Links & Resources

📌Unsullied Longevity

📌Just a Bit Outside...

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Two Brazilian electronics techs take a totally normal work trip… and wind up on a hillside in suits, raincoats, and homemade lead eye masks, clutching a note that reads like the world’s creepiest calendar invite: “16:30 be at the location. 18:30 ingest capsules. Protect metals. Await signal. Mask.” And then—nothing. No clear cause of death. No satisfying answers. Just one of the strangest unsolved cases in modern history, gift-wrapped for conspiracy lovers everywhere.

This week on Hysteria 51, we are joined by actor, comedian, and podcaster Steve Berg. He helps us dig into the “most likely” explanations first: a planned experiment, a DIY occult/science mashup, a bad batch of mystery capsules, and the investigative chaos that left toxicology (and common sense) rotting on the vine. Then we crank the dial to full common sense—UFO encounter theories, blinding beams of light, electromagnetic weirdness, and why “protect metals” sounds less like evidence and more like a command from Space OSHA.

It’s time to grab your raincoat, tape some metal to your face, and for the love of all that’s holy… do not ingest capsules from a guy who says he “knows a shortcut to the mothership.”

Check out of Special Guest Steve Berg:

Steve Berg is an actor and comedian who just finished work on Tim Kasher’s film Who’s Watching. He can also be seen in Olivia Wilde’s new film Don’t Worry Darling, and is currently working on the feature film Snack Shack. He’s also been obsessed with UFOs, the paranormal, the occult and all things weird his entire life, and on his podcast Hi, Strangeness, he passionately discusses all these topics in a light-hearted way. He can also be seen in New Line’s comedy feature Tag starring Jon Hamm and Rashida Jones. His credits also include recurring roles on NBC's The Good Place, ABC's The Goldbergs, Comedy Central's Idiotsitter, and BET's The Comedy Get Down. He has appeared in two features for director Joe Swanberg -- the Netflix Original Win It All and the indie Digging For Fire which premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. Other credits include Mike White's directorial debut Year of the Dog, Jared Hess’ Gentlemen Broncos, and Joss Whedon's digital series Dr. Horrible's Sing Along-Along Blog. Berg has been a drunk narrator multiple times on Comedy Central's Drunk History and was a series regular in the Fox Television pilot WTF America produced by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer. He is originally from Omaha, Nebraska.

https://www.instagram.com/bergmaster5000/

linktr.ee/steveberg

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/christina-marie-rappel-consent-a-thoughtful/id1690998245?i=1000744278988

Special thanks to this week’s research sources:

CORE / BACKBONE

https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mist%C3%A9rio_das_m%C3%A1scaras_de_chumbo

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_masks_case

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/70161/bizarre-lead-mask-deaths-1966

BRAZILIAN TV / CASE MATERIAL

https://redeglobo.globo.com/Linhadireta/0%2C26665%2CVYJ0-5259-215835%2C00.html

https://redeglobo.globo.com/Linhadireta/0%2C26665%2CVYJ0-5259-215832%2C00.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjqCQEjgzk4

LOCAL JOURNALISM / LORE

https://infograficos.oglobo.globo.com/rio/bairros/cinco-lendas-urbanas-de-niteroi.html

https://odia.ig.com.br/colunas/coisas-do-rio/2021/02/6090106-mascaras-de-chumbo-caso-envolve-ovnis-e-mortes-estranhas.html

SKEPTICAL ANALYSIS

https://skeptoid.com/episodes/398

UFO / FRINGE CLAIMS WE REFERENCED

https://noufors.com/Documents/Books%2C%20Manuals%20and%20Published%20Papers/Specialty%20UFO%20Publications/Flying%20Saucer%20Review/FSR%2C1967%2CMar-Apr%2CV%2013%2CN%202.pdf

https://vigilia.com.br/o-caso-das-mascaras-de-chumbo-2/

https://aventurasnahistoria.com.br/noticias/reportagem/o-caso-das-mascaras-de-chumbo.phtml

https://www.ranker.com/list/case-of-the-lead-mask-deaths/patrick-thornton

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This week on Hysteria 51, we’re boarding a flight straight into chaos—because one United Airlines flight reportedly had to divert after a passenger disrupted the crew, turning “in-flight service” into “in-flight survival mode.” If you’ve ever wondered how quickly a routine trip can become an unexpected emergency landing plot twist, buckle up and keep your hands, feet, and sense of reality inside the cabin at all times, even if you swear this is "A Simulation!"

Then we hop over to Thailand for a story that’s basically a modern fable: a fortune teller, a stolen phone, and the kind of irony that makes you stare directly into the camera like you’re on The Office. When your job is seeing the future… but you don’t see that coming? That’s premium weird news.

It’s bizarre headlines, travel nightmares, and criminally funny timing—the perfect episode for fans of strange-but-true stories, oddball crime, and “how is this real life?” energy.

Links & Resources

📌Flight Sim

📌Fortune Favors the Bold

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This week on Hysteria 51, we’re taking a scenic drive straight through the Bermuda Triangle of bad decisions—starting in Volusia County, Florida, where a man involved in a crash in a stolen BMW convertible allegedly told deputies he didn’t steal anything… because he “teleported” into the car. Yes, teleported. The keys were reportedly left in the vehicle at a park, the BMW vanished, and minutes later it was wrecked—leaving law enforcement to do the world’s most exhausted sigh and add “quantum parking” to the incident report.

Then we hop across the pond to a seaside mystery that sounds like a Dickens subplot written by a prankster: reports say hundreds of Victorian-era shoes have been washing up on Ogmore beach in south Wales, sparking theories that range from shipwreck history to “the ocean is returning someone’s entire wardrobe, one boot at a time.”

So if you like your weird news with a side of Florida teleportation claims, stolen car chaos, and creepy beach finds that look like a Victorian ghost got undressed in a tide pool—hit play.

Links & Resources

📌Teleportation Woes

📌Shoe Tide

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This week on Hysteria 51, we’re ping-ponging between “medical science is incredible” and “we are absolutely doomed (pun intended).”

First up: researchers in Japan isolated a gut bacterium from Japanese tree frogs that, in a preclinical mouse model, showed shockingly strong anti-tumor results against colorectal cancer—the kind of headline that makes you whisper, “Nature… what else you hiding in there?” (Answer: apparently a lot.)

Then we pivot to the most important scientific breakthrough since fire: rats trained to play DOOM… and now they’ve learned how to shoot demons using a custom lever setup. Yes, really. Somewhere a lab coat just gained a Metallica patch.

It’s a weird news buffet of frog-gut cancer research, DOOM-playing rodents, and the comforting reminder that the future is equal parts miracle and chaos.

Links & Resources

📌Gut Science

📌Rat DOOM

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An interstellar object just cruised into our cosmic neighborhood and—naturally—humanity immediately responded with calm, measured curiosity… by screaming “ALIENS!” into the void.

This week on Hysteria 51, we’re diving into 3I/ATLAS, the latest confirmed visitor from beyond our solar system. Is it just a dirty, fast-moving comet minding its own business? Or is it something a little more… engineered? We break down what scientists actually know so far, why this thing has the internet acting like it found a Wi-Fi signal in the Kuiper Belt, and what the “completely natural” crowd says (spoiler: they have math and spectra and other buzzkills).

Then we do what we do best: lean into the fun. If 3I/ATLAS is under intelligent control—even hypothetically—what does that mean for humanity? First contact? Surveillance? A cosmic prank? Or just a high-speed reminder that we are absolutely not the main character of the universe.

Strap in, stare into the sky suspiciously, and remember: “closest approach” doesn’t mean “close,” but it does mean the conspiracy machine is about to hit maximum RPM this week on Hysteria 51!

Special thanks to this week’s research sources:

YouTube (video): 3I/ATLAS Is Causing Scientists To Panic. Here’s Why. YouTube. YouTube

NASA Science: NASA. (n.d.). Comet 3I/ATLAS (mission/observation timeline page). NASA Science. NASA Science

Minor Planet Center (MPEC): Minor Planet Center. (2025, Jul 2). MPEC 2025-N12: 3I/ATLAS = C/2025 N1 (ATLAS). Minor Planet Center

arXiv (early discovery & characterization): Discovery and Preliminary Characterization of a Third Interstellar Object: 3I/ATLAS. arXiv:2507.02757. (2025). arXiv

MNRAS (SOAR photometry): Frincke, T. T., et al. (2026). Near-discovery SOAR photometry of the third interstellar object: 3I/ATLAS. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (Advance Article). OUP Academic

MNRAS Letters (spectrum paper): Opitom, C., Snodgrass, C., Jehin, E., et al. (2025, Nov). Snapshot of a new interstellar comet: 3I/ATLAS has a red and featureless spectrum. MNRAS: Letters, 544(1), L31–L36. OUP Academic

A&A (context vs other comets/interstellars): de la Fuente Marcos, R., et al. (2025). Assessing interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS with the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias… Astronomy & Astrophysics. A&A Scientific Journal

arXiv (technological hypothesis paper): Hibberd, A., Crowl, A., & Loeb, A. (2025, Jul 16). Is the Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS Alien Technology? arXiv:2507.12213. arXiv

Jason Wright (rebuttal / anomaly breakdown): Wright, J. (2025, Nov 9). Loeb’s 3I/ATLAS “Anomalies” Explained. AstroWright (Penn State). Penn State Sites

Secondary roundup referencing rebuttal: ScienceAlert. (2025, Nov 13). Don’t Panic! 3I/ATLAS Isn’t an Alien Death Probe, But It Is Wildly Unusual. ScienceAlert

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This week on Hysteria 51, we’re serving up two stories that prove society is being held together by duct tape and pure audacity.

First: GameStop’s “Trade Anything Day.” And they meant anything. Customers reportedly rolled in with a goose, a bobcat, and a Wii Netflix disc—which is basically the Rosetta Stone of “please don’t ask how long this has been in my trunk.” If you’ve ever wondered what retail looks like when chaos is the manager on duty, welcome home.

Then we head to the high-stakes world of competitive stone skimming, where a cheating scandal has allegedly rocked the World Stone Skimming Championships—because apparently even skipping rocks isn’t safe from scandal, suspicion, and somebody’s cousin “who definitely knows a guy.” It’s sports drama, but with wetter pants and more passive-aggressive shoreline energy.

Two stories. Zero dignity. Maximum weird. Hit play and let’s skim straight into the absurd.

Links & Resources

📌GameStop Trade in Chaos

📌Stone Cold Scandal

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