StrangeSpotting

Nick Montelupo
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  • Documentary

StrangeSpotting is a serious anomalistics podcast about strange cases, unresolved sightings, cryptids, folklore, UFO encounters, Fortean events, and the mysteries that survive lazy explanations. Hosted by Nick Montelupo, the show rejects both blind belief and blind dismissal. Each episode separates fact, testimony, pattern, inference, speculation, and proof — not to force a conclusion, but to ask a better question: What pattern remains after bad evidence is removed? StrangeSpotting is for listeners who love the unknown, but refuse to surrender their judgment to sensationalism, debunking theater, or paranormal entertainment clichés. The strange deserves inquiry. Facts first. Conclusions after.

Episodes

  1. Oct 27

    The Van Meter Visitor — A Monster in the Newspapers

    In 1903, a small Iowa town became the setting for one of America's strangest monster stories. According to contemporary newspaper reports, residents of Van Meter encountered an enormous winged creature with a glowing horn, a nauseating odor, and an apparent immunity to gunfire. The sightings reportedly culminated in an armed confrontation at an abandoned coal mine, where two mysterious creatures disappeared underground. Then the Visitor vanished. But the story survived. In this episode of StrangeSpotting: The Strange Case Files, Nick Montelupo investigates the Van Meter Visitor through the historical newspaper record. Who were the alleged witnesses? What did the original reports actually establish? Did multiple newspapers independently corroborate the encounters, or merely circulate the same sensational story? The abandoned mine was real. The newspaper articles were real. But what evidence, if any, supports the existence of the extraordinary animal they described? An investigation into forgotten American cryptozoology, sensational journalism, historical evidence, and the remarkable endurance of a monster that may never have existed. The strange deserves inquiry. Research & Historical Sources Van Meter Public Library — The Van Meter Visitor: https://www.vanmeter.lib.ia.us/resources/van-meter-visitorIowa PBS — Local Lore: The Van Meter Visitor: https://www.iowapbs.org/article/11624/local-lore-van-meter-visitorHistorical newspaper references: Des Moines Daily News (October 4–5, 1903); Des Moines Daily Capitol (October 6, 1903); Saint Paul Globe (October 11, 1903).

    The Van Meter Visitor — A Monster in the Newspapers

  2. Oct 7

    Why Do So Many Creature Encounters Happen Beside Roads?

    Why do so many alleged creature encounters happen beside roads? From the Beast of Bray Road to Mothman and the Loveland Frogman, some of the strangest creature reports share the same setting: a dark road, a passing vehicle, a few seconds of visibility, and an animal that seems to defy easy identification. In this episode of StrangeSpotting: The Pattern Atlas, Nick Montelupo examines why roadside encounters recur so often in cryptid reports. Are roads genuine hotspots for unusual animals? Or do wildlife movement, roadkill, headlights, poor visibility, perspective, memory, and cultural expectations help create the pattern? We compare several famous cases, look at what road ecology and perception can explain, and ask what evidence would be needed before a recurring roadside pattern could support anything more extraordinary. Facts first. Conclusions after.

    Why Do So Many Creature Encounters Happen Beside Roads?

  3. Jul 8

    UAP Disclosure Fatigue: Records Are Not Proof

    A new wave of UAP records, archives, portals, hearings, and official releases has created the feeling that disclosure is always happening — and yet never quite arriving. In this episode of StrangeSpotting, we examine the problem of UAP disclosure fatigue: the exhaustion caused by repeated partial revelation, ambiguous files, unresolved cases, redacted documents, and public expectations that no archive can automatically satisfy. A record is not proof. But a record is not nothing. We separate witness reports, government documents, sensor data, institutional interest, unresolved classifications, and actual evidence. We look at why many UAP cases remain inconclusive, how “unidentified” gets misused, why disclosure headlines often outrun the material itself, and what serious anomalistics should demand before treating any case as strong evidence. No blind belief. No blind dismissal. No fake neutrality.

    UAP Disclosure Fatigue: Records Are Not Proof

  4. Jul 1

    The Dover Demon and the Problem of Small Cases

    The Dover Demon is not the strongest case in anomalistics — but it is one of the most useful. In this first StrangeSpotting podcast episode, we examine the 1977 Dover, Massachusetts sightings as a test case for serious anomalistics: how do we handle a small, strange, fragile case that has too little evidence for certainty, but too much structure to dismiss lazily? Was it a misidentified animal? A teenage hoax? A local legend in formation? A small humanoid encounter that still refuses to become simple? This episode is not about blind belief. It is not about ridicule either. It is about method: separating testimony from legend, evidence from proof, and mystery from mythology. The strange deserves inquiry.

    The Dover Demon and the Problem of Small Cases
  • 4 Episodes

About

StrangeSpotting is a serious anomalistics podcast about strange cases, unresolved sightings, cryptids, folklore, UFO encounters, Fortean events, and the mysteries that survive lazy explanations. Hosted by Nick Montelupo, the show rejects both blind belief and blind dismissal. Each episode separates fact, testimony, pattern, inference, speculation, and proof — not to force a conclusion, but to ask a better question: What pattern remains after bad evidence is removed? StrangeSpotting is for listeners who love the unknown, but refuse to surrender their judgment to sensationalism, debunking theater, or paranormal entertainment clichés. The strange deserves inquiry. Facts first. Conclusions after.

Information

  • Creator
    Nick Montelupo
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    4
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 StrangeSpotting. Created, written, and produced by Nick Montelupo. All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    StrangeSpotting