Conspiracy Theories

Who will strike it rich next? The gold mine that made Jacob Waltz a wealthy man has apparently never been found again. But maybe there are still those who know exactly where the gold came from, who’s protecting it, and what it’ll cost to discover it again... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A trove of gold is rumored to be hidden in Arizona’s Superstition Mountains. Legend has it, a German immigrant named Jacob Waltz found the cache in the late 1800s and later revealed its location in a deathbed confession. But no one’s been able to find it since... and for good reason. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Was Marlowe’s death truly a tragic accident? Unsatisfied with that explanation, some believe his death was ordered by a scorned wife seeking revenge. Others think his connections with a secret society sealed his fate. And most mysteriously of all, there’s the theory that Marlowe faked his death, and for the rest of his life wrote under a pen name: William Shakespeare.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A brilliant playwright fell out of favor with Queen Elizabeth I. Then he was murdered. Officially, his killer acted in self-defense. But for centuries, scholars have wondered if there was more to the story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There are a few different theories about how our moon was formed. One of them proposes it didn’t form naturally — it was designed. And what’s more, it may even be harboring alien life inside. NASA’s Apollo space program might’ve uncovered the evidence. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ever since his flight in 1961, Yuri Gagarin has been considered the first person to go to space. What if he wasn’t? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Church Committee found that the CIA had in fact tried to assassinate foreign leaders – but never succeeded. But given what we know about the agency’s violent operations in places like Guatemala and Afghanistan, how likely is that conclusion? And what did President Ford’s ban on assassinations do — if anything — to curb CIA abuses? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1975, a Senate panel known as the Church Committee began investigating CIA abuses, including its alleged assassinations. Their probe came after decades of CIA-backed violence and spying, both abroad and in America. How did they go unchecked for so many years? And what did the public do once they found out? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For so long, the government’s stance when it came to UFOs was to deny and debunk. But when declassified and new information started hitting the mainstream — thanks to the work of engineers, private investors, and even musician Tom DeLonge — a new era began. One that chipped away at the taboo surrounding ufology… and has paved a way for incredible new research. This is the last episode of our four-part special with Unexplained Mysteries, celebrating the 75th anniversary of the infamous Roswell crash. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

By the late 1940s the U.S. government knew it had a problem on its hands. “Flying saucers” posed a threat to other aircraft, and possibly even the planet. So they created programs to study UFOs in secret, and stored the evidence in the highly classified Hangar 18. What do we know about their discoveries? And what exactly did they find in the Roswell wreckage? This is the third episode of our 75th Roswell anniversary special. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices