The Atlas Obscura Podcast National Parks Week: The Allagash Four
Jun 5, 2025
Danielle LaRock, co-host of National Park After Dark and a purveyor of eerie outdoor tales, shares chilling insights into the Allagash Four's infamous 1976 camping experience in Maine. The conversation dives into unsettling themes of alien abductions, group hypnosis, and the thin line between reality and memory. Listeners will explore the haunting aftereffects that followed the friends, alongside the broader cultural fascination with UFOs. Plus, there’s a candid discussion about the thrill and fear of camping in the wilderness, especially in grizzly bear territory.
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Jim and Jack's Shared Nightmares
- Jim Weiner experienced sleep paralysis and nightmares with vivid hallucinations involving his friends after a camping trip. - His twin brother Jack had the same experiences, linking these to a mysterious incident a decade earlier in Maine.
The Allagash Four's Strange Encounter
- In 1976, four friends camping in Maine's Allagash Wilderness spotted a strange, bright light hovering near the trees. - They experienced losing time and an eerie silence before suddenly returning to camp with no memory of what happened in between.
Hypnotic Regression Reveals Alien Abduction
- Under hypnosis, all four men recalled being aboard an alien spacecraft undergoing medical exams by humanoid beings. - They described the entities as having large heads, dark eyes, and communicating telepathically.