March 19, 2026

Susto Swap: Cryptid Cocktail Party (The Black Flash Of Provincetown)

Susto Swap: Cryptid Cocktail Party (The Black Flash Of Provincetown)
Spotify podcast player badge
Apple Podcasts podcast player badge
Castro podcast player badge
RSS Feed podcast player badge
Spotify podcast player iconApple Podcasts podcast player iconCastro podcast player iconRSS Feed podcast player icon

Hey ghoul friend! What's spring break without a party? This week, we are featuring Cryptid Cocktail Party in a Susto Swap!

Cryptid Cocktail Party is a cryptid comedy podcast started in 2023 and hosted by Dave and Sarge. Each week Sarge goes in blind to the episodes topic that Dave has researched to get Sarge's genuine reaction to it. And thats really all the show is lol. Dave does a bunch of research and Sarge derails it with jokes. Its a good time.

Today's episode is about The Black Flash Of Provincetown (The Devil of the Dunes), where Dave & Sarge cover the high jumping, flame spitting, cloaked entity that terrorized Provincetown, MA during the late 1930s/early 1940s.

Follow Cryptid Cocktail Party!

Want to hear your story on Susto? Fill out the Letters From the Beyond form or visit SustoPodcast.com to be shared on the show!

Become a Patron here! Subscribe to Susto's YouTube channel!

WEBVTT

1
00:00:24.359 --> 00:00:27.559
A cool friends. It's me Adrian or Aiden.

2
00:00:27.679 --> 00:00:30.359
Either way, I am still your host, and you are

3
00:00:30.399 --> 00:00:33.600
still listening to Sustal, the podcast of paranormal folks or

4
00:00:33.600 --> 00:00:36.960
from Latin American cultures. And today you actually won't be

5
00:00:37.000 --> 00:00:39.840
listening to Sustal. I have a treat for you all.

6
00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:40.320
Today.

7
00:00:40.320 --> 00:00:42.880
We are featuring an episode from our friends Dave and

8
00:00:43.000 --> 00:00:46.320
Sarge over at Cryptid Cocktail Party. I just started listening

9
00:00:46.320 --> 00:00:49.679
to the show recently, and I am such a huge fan.

10
00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:51.520
I think if you're a fan of Sustal, then you're

11
00:00:51.560 --> 00:00:54.479
really gonna enjoy Cryptid Cocktail Party. David Sarge does such

12
00:00:54.479 --> 00:00:57.960
a great job at telling these stories. And I'm also

13
00:00:58.119 --> 00:01:00.880
just not gonna lie a big fan of of their

14
00:01:00.920 --> 00:01:04.480
personalities online, so make sure that you also follow them.

15
00:01:04.519 --> 00:01:07.280
I will be linking everything in the description below so

16
00:01:07.319 --> 00:01:09.040
that you can go ahead and give them a follow online,

17
00:01:09.120 --> 00:01:11.760
not only on social media of course, but especially their show.

18
00:01:11.879 --> 00:01:13.920
So I hope that you enjoy the episode that they

19
00:01:13.959 --> 00:01:15.840
shared with us today and I will.

20
00:01:15.640 --> 00:01:31.040
Talk to you all later. Bye.

21
00:01:31.519 --> 00:01:42.519
You are now listening to Cryptied Cocktail Party. Great Black.

22
00:01:44.920 --> 00:01:47.400
Rod, Crag and got Crag.

23
00:01:50.000 --> 00:01:57.120
Joy Joy Joy Joy, sad.

24
00:02:01.319 --> 00:02:08.479
God old Now Lord.

25
00:02:12.159 --> 00:02:14.840
Welcome back, everyone to another episode of Crypto Cocktail Party,

26
00:02:14.840 --> 00:02:16.199
the show where we have a few drinks, share a

27
00:02:16.199 --> 00:02:18.439
few laughs, take a dive into the unknown. I'm your

28
00:02:18.439 --> 00:02:21.360
host Dave, joined as always by a wonderful co host, Sarge.

29
00:02:21.360 --> 00:02:23.960
How's it going, Sarge, I'm fucking amazing.

30
00:02:24.319 --> 00:02:29.039
Yeah, amazing. Yeah, that's a bold statement. It is.

31
00:02:29.199 --> 00:02:30.840
It is bold, but I'm gonna stick.

32
00:02:30.680 --> 00:02:32.560
With it, all right. You better have some fucking reasons

33
00:02:32.560 --> 00:02:33.240
to back that up.

34
00:02:34.280 --> 00:02:39.159
Ah well, I mean, in light of recent events, I

35
00:02:39.159 --> 00:02:41.159
think we can all be very excited about the fact

36
00:02:41.159 --> 00:02:43.680
that they may have found some really definitive proofs of

37
00:02:43.719 --> 00:02:44.599
the life on Mars.

38
00:02:45.120 --> 00:02:49.080
Oh oh, yeah, you sent me that. I didn't. I

39
00:02:49.080 --> 00:02:50.319
didn't watch it. I'm not gonna lie.

40
00:02:50.560 --> 00:02:54.080
That's okay. It's a long video, but the guy breaks

41
00:02:54.080 --> 00:02:59.319
it down really, really succinctly and kind of explains like

42
00:02:59.360 --> 00:03:01.759
why this is different from all those other times they

43
00:03:01.759 --> 00:03:05.840
thought maybe they found life somewhere. Basically, the crux of

44
00:03:05.879 --> 00:03:10.759
it is, like the evidence would be very easy to

45
00:03:10.840 --> 00:03:14.080
explain if it was caused by living organisms. It would

46
00:03:14.120 --> 00:03:17.560
be very difficult to explain if it wasn't caused by

47
00:03:17.560 --> 00:03:18.479
living organisms.

48
00:03:18.560 --> 00:03:20.599
Okay, but I mean they said the same thing about

49
00:03:20.639 --> 00:03:23.919
like the moon, Like it's easier to explain it's easier

50
00:03:23.960 --> 00:03:25.840
to disprove the existence of the moon than it is

51
00:03:25.879 --> 00:03:29.319
to prove its existence. So you can't trust mainstream science,

52
00:03:29.400 --> 00:03:30.400
is all I'm saying, Sorrge.

53
00:03:30.400 --> 00:03:35.439
All right, yikes, have you ever gone outside at night?

54
00:03:36.439 --> 00:03:38.080
Yeah?

55
00:03:38.639 --> 00:03:41.000
In in in the big the big white orbit in

56
00:03:41.039 --> 00:03:42.759
the sky. What do you think that is?

57
00:03:43.319 --> 00:03:44.120
Hologram?

58
00:03:44.759 --> 00:03:45.879
I need a new podcast.

59
00:03:48.639 --> 00:03:51.360
Sorry, dude, my fucking ever since the incident, my fucking

60
00:03:51.400 --> 00:03:55.639
TikTok for you page has been so out of whack

61
00:03:55.680 --> 00:03:57.360
that all I'm seeing is all these crazy right wing

62
00:03:57.400 --> 00:04:00.120
people and it's I mean, it's melting my brain in

63
00:04:00.159 --> 00:04:00.639
a little bit.

64
00:04:00.680 --> 00:04:04.919
But some of the incident what what what incident? Are

65
00:04:04.919 --> 00:04:09.599
you talking about? The pain in the neck.

66
00:04:09.719 --> 00:04:16.040
Let's move on, all right, Serge, I got an episode

67
00:04:16.040 --> 00:04:18.399
for us today. I think it's pretty good. It's you'll

68
00:04:18.560 --> 00:04:22.279
we're gonna be some familiar territory today. Uh you you

69
00:04:22.360 --> 00:04:25.839
might remember this topic from a while back. We we

70
00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:28.079
touched on it briefly, but I figured it kind of

71
00:04:28.120 --> 00:04:34.199
needed its own, its own full episode, if that makes sense. Sure, okay,

72
00:04:35.079 --> 00:04:37.000
are you ready to dive in? Also, I'm doing great,

73
00:04:37.000 --> 00:04:38.079
by the way, thanks for asking.

74
00:04:41.279 --> 00:04:44.800
You know what, Dave, you know what that's on me.

75
00:04:45.680 --> 00:04:50.000
I'm a bad friend, and I'm sorry. Let's let's pause here.

76
00:04:50.199 --> 00:04:52.600
How are you doing? You already told me how you

77
00:04:52.600 --> 00:04:53.720
were doing. Your dog threw up.

78
00:04:54.000 --> 00:04:58.920
Yeah, that was before we started recording. I'm just fucking

79
00:04:58.920 --> 00:04:59.639
with you, all right.

80
00:05:02.560 --> 00:05:04.279
I am a bad friend. I'm a bad friend. Look,

81
00:05:04.279 --> 00:05:06.000
get it all right, go let's move on.

82
00:05:07.439 --> 00:05:10.519
Cape Cod in the summertime, Oh yes, what a place

83
00:05:10.560 --> 00:05:14.560
to be. Beaches, boat shoes, lobster rolls, and more sun

84
00:05:14.600 --> 00:05:17.720
burnt douchebags than a Trump rally. But once the season

85
00:05:17.800 --> 00:05:20.519
starts to change and the tourists go home, everything kind

86
00:05:20.519 --> 00:05:23.319
of shuts down, all right. The air gets cold, and

87
00:05:23.360 --> 00:05:25.839
the wind coming off the ocean turns a bit sharp.

88
00:05:25.839 --> 00:05:27.240
And everyone starts doing meth.

89
00:05:29.199 --> 00:05:31.319
The streets go quiet, and towns that were once bright

90
00:05:31.360 --> 00:05:34.079
and alive just a few months earlier are now desolate

91
00:05:34.120 --> 00:05:35.879
and take on kind of like a whole different type

92
00:05:35.879 --> 00:05:39.160
of vibe. Yes, and in October of nineteen thirty nine, Provincetown,

93
00:05:39.199 --> 00:05:41.879
Massachusetts felt the vibe shift in a very real way.

94
00:05:41.959 --> 00:05:44.240
And it wasn't just the usual eerie off season vibe

95
00:05:44.240 --> 00:05:47.519
that normal that normally comes with the territory. People were

96
00:05:47.560 --> 00:05:50.199
whispering about something lurking in the dunes and creeping around

97
00:05:50.199 --> 00:05:52.839
the streets at night, something that could move faster than

98
00:05:52.879 --> 00:05:56.040
any human, leap over ten foot fences and disappear into

99
00:05:56.040 --> 00:05:58.959
the night without a trace. Some say it had glowing eyes,

100
00:05:59.079 --> 00:06:03.680
others say blue fire. And by Halloween, Provincetown wasn't just uneasy,

101
00:06:04.040 --> 00:06:06.600
it was in a full blown state of panic. So today, Sarge,

102
00:06:06.639 --> 00:06:08.839
we're going to be revisiting one of the very first

103
00:06:08.839 --> 00:06:11.839
topics I ever talked to you about, the Devil of

104
00:06:11.879 --> 00:06:15.519
the Dunes a k a. The Black Flash of Provincetown.

105
00:06:15.600 --> 00:06:16.720
Do you remember this one?

106
00:06:16.839 --> 00:06:17.279
Wow?

107
00:06:17.600 --> 00:06:21.000
Yes, you know from your description, I thought you were

108
00:06:21.040 --> 00:06:28.199
just describing like a very committed drag queen. Well, uh,

109
00:06:28.639 --> 00:06:31.279
she was just giving like really good face the whole time.

110
00:06:34.279 --> 00:06:35.720
All right, So what do you What do you remember

111
00:06:35.720 --> 00:06:36.680
about the story?

112
00:06:37.600 --> 00:06:41.839
I famously don't remember much.

113
00:06:42.839 --> 00:06:44.439
This is over, Like, this is over, like a year

114
00:06:44.439 --> 00:06:46.079
and a half ago. We did this. This is this

115
00:06:46.160 --> 00:06:48.120
is you. You weren't even the host yet, you were

116
00:06:48.120 --> 00:06:49.759
just a guest when we talked about this one.

117
00:06:49.839 --> 00:06:53.079
Yeah, it because we was just a short episode, right,

118
00:06:53.079 --> 00:06:54.800
because we were just covering a bunch of different things.

119
00:06:55.040 --> 00:06:57.319
Then we covered like two or three in that one.

120
00:06:57.639 --> 00:07:02.199
Shit, all I really remember were the angry villagers. But

121
00:07:02.240 --> 00:07:07.279
that's like a normal cryptid scenario. Yeah, and I think

122
00:07:07.480 --> 00:07:10.079
there were just a lot of sightings. H I don't

123
00:07:10.079 --> 00:07:11.759
recall it doing anything violent.

124
00:07:12.600 --> 00:07:14.319
Kind of well, you know what, Okay, why don't we

125
00:07:14.360 --> 00:07:14.839
get into it.

126
00:07:15.439 --> 00:07:17.120
Let's do it. Let's get into it, all right.

127
00:07:17.160 --> 00:07:19.879
So whispers of the Flash actually started the year before that,

128
00:07:20.040 --> 00:07:23.160
like the real panic set in sometime in late nineteen

129
00:07:23.279 --> 00:07:25.240
thirty eight, a group of school kids claim that they

130
00:07:25.279 --> 00:07:28.680
saw a strange man out near the dunes. They described

131
00:07:28.680 --> 00:07:31.160
this figure as being dressed head to toe in black,

132
00:07:31.199 --> 00:07:33.720
with a long cape and hood. Some of them swore

133
00:07:33.759 --> 00:07:35.399
that his eyes glowed in the dark. And if you

134
00:07:35.560 --> 00:07:38.480
even said that, they noticed he had long, shiny silver

135
00:07:38.600 --> 00:07:41.759
ears sticking out from his head. Now, because children are

136
00:07:41.800 --> 00:07:44.319
stupid and nothing they say should ever be taken seriously,

137
00:07:44.680 --> 00:07:46.839
most of the adults brush this story off as nothing

138
00:07:46.879 --> 00:07:50.360
more than overactive imaginations. I mean, I get it, it

139
00:07:50.480 --> 00:07:54.000
was the off season, it's quieter, it's colder, getting dark out. Earlier,

140
00:07:54.639 --> 00:07:56.639
they thought the kids were bound to end up spooking

141
00:07:56.639 --> 00:07:59.399
themselves walking home from school anyways, because that shit probably

142
00:07:59.439 --> 00:08:00.879
happens every year around.

143
00:08:01.240 --> 00:08:04.120
It's a spooky fucking place in the winter time, I

144
00:08:04.160 --> 00:08:04.480
believe it.

145
00:08:04.480 --> 00:08:05.399
I don't think I've ever been.

146
00:08:06.160 --> 00:08:09.560
I've been, and it's it's just very haunting. It's like

147
00:08:09.600 --> 00:08:11.000
a dystopian movie.

148
00:08:11.519 --> 00:08:14.560
Yeah. The other thing, I mean, do you watch American

149
00:08:14.560 --> 00:08:15.399
horror story at all?

150
00:08:16.319 --> 00:08:17.120
Yeah, I've watched some.

151
00:08:17.720 --> 00:08:19.480
There was a season where it was like a season

152
00:08:19.480 --> 00:08:22.399
that was like split in two. One took place like

153
00:08:22.680 --> 00:08:25.000
on the Cape during the off season, and like a

154
00:08:25.000 --> 00:08:28.600
bunch of vampires. It is kind of an eerie vibe

155
00:08:28.639 --> 00:08:30.199
maybe that eerie.

156
00:08:29.879 --> 00:08:32.720
Place, yeah, winter, so that would be actually a great

157
00:08:32.759 --> 00:08:33.879
setting for a horror movie.

158
00:08:34.039 --> 00:08:35.600
Yeah. And then the other half of the season I

159
00:08:35.600 --> 00:08:40.159
think was like Valiant Thor or something like similar to it.

160
00:08:40.159 --> 00:08:43.879
It was weird, Yeah, but been in October of nineteen

161
00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:46.159
thirty nine, the story's got a little harder to ignore

162
00:08:46.200 --> 00:08:48.120
because one night, a young woman by the name of

163
00:08:48.200 --> 00:08:50.679
Marie A Costa was walking past town Hall when she

164
00:08:50.759 --> 00:08:53.879
noticed a figure standing in the shadows. She described it

165
00:08:53.919 --> 00:08:57.480
as inhumanly tall cloaks, all in black, with glowing eyes

166
00:08:57.879 --> 00:09:00.000
and the same silver ears that the kid had mentioned,

167
00:09:00.080 --> 00:09:03.279
And before she even had a chance to like react

168
00:09:03.399 --> 00:09:05.960
or even really like acknowledge what she was seeing, it

169
00:09:06.039 --> 00:09:09.480
leapt out at her while emitting a strange like buzzing

170
00:09:09.639 --> 00:09:11.840
like growl. I don't know what that would have sounded

171
00:09:11.919 --> 00:09:14.600
like to me. It's probably like a cicada sound right,

172
00:09:14.720 --> 00:09:17.679
Maybe I don't know. Either way, it sounds not great.

173
00:09:18.080 --> 00:09:22.600
So rightfully terrified, Maria booked it into a nearby cafe,

174
00:09:22.639 --> 00:09:25.919
screaming for help. Now, lucky for her, the cafe just

175
00:09:25.960 --> 00:09:29.000
happened to be filled with whatever the nineteen thirties version

176
00:09:29.080 --> 00:09:32.200
of quote unquote good guys with guns are, and they

177
00:09:32.279 --> 00:09:35.600
rushed outside to search the street, but whatever whatever had

178
00:09:35.679 --> 00:09:38.440
jumped out at her was already gone by them. So

179
00:09:38.919 --> 00:09:43.360
now this wasn't just like kids with overactive imaginations. Whatever

180
00:09:43.399 --> 00:09:46.000
Maria encountered was real enough to shake her to record,

181
00:09:46.279 --> 00:09:49.000
and everyone who winister come into that cafe that night

182
00:09:49.440 --> 00:09:51.799
they noticed it. So now for the first time, the

183
00:09:52.200 --> 00:09:55.039
adults of Pee Town had to like seriously consider that

184
00:09:55.200 --> 00:09:59.759
maybe there's a giant glowing eye demon elf prowling the

185
00:10:00.039 --> 00:10:00.879
reads at night.

186
00:10:01.679 --> 00:10:05.559
So this woman, this woman was walking down the street

187
00:10:06.960 --> 00:10:08.840
and saw this horrifying creature.

188
00:10:09.919 --> 00:10:12.320
I don't. I don't think she saw it like it

189
00:10:12.360 --> 00:10:14.360
was in the shadows like. I don't think she really

190
00:10:14.360 --> 00:10:17.279
got like until like it really jumped out of her

191
00:10:17.320 --> 00:10:18.919
that she got the good look at it. I might

192
00:10:18.960 --> 00:10:20.360
have written that weird.

193
00:10:20.320 --> 00:10:29.799
Okay, So but like first she was afraid. She was petrified. Yeah,

194
00:10:30.360 --> 00:10:33.279
say that it was the first drag show ever. That's

195
00:10:33.320 --> 00:10:34.720
what it was. So she just didn't know what to.

196
00:10:34.679 --> 00:10:42.440
Expect real quick. I keep saying Providence when I mean Provincetown.

197
00:10:42.639 --> 00:10:45.039
So if you hear me say the Black Flash of Providence,

198
00:10:45.080 --> 00:10:49.519
I really mean the Black Flash of Provincetown. I it's

199
00:10:49.600 --> 00:10:52.960
easy to mix up, guys, leave me alone. Yes, yes,

200
00:10:53.000 --> 00:10:55.799
the origins of drag don't come from anything else, but

201
00:10:57.279 --> 00:11:00.519
the Black Flash of Providence. Not gonna lie. Black Clash

202
00:11:00.519 --> 00:11:02.639
of Providence. Not a bad drag name.

203
00:11:03.440 --> 00:11:04.879
That's a great drag name.

204
00:11:05.000 --> 00:11:07.879
Not bad. Also, the Devil of the Dunes also.

205
00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:11.279
Come on, that's like a burlesque show.

206
00:11:11.399 --> 00:11:13.240
I feel like there should be a drag show in

207
00:11:13.279 --> 00:11:16.639
p Town called Devils of the Dunes and it's all

208
00:11:16.679 --> 00:11:18.440
like a dark drag show.

209
00:11:19.240 --> 00:11:19.960
I like it a lot.

210
00:11:20.159 --> 00:11:24.039
No one steal this idea. If you're hearing this, pregar.

211
00:11:24.159 --> 00:11:29.480
If you need directors, Dave and I will help two

212
00:11:29.519 --> 00:11:32.639
straight men directing a drag show. I mean, nothing could

213
00:11:32.679 --> 00:11:33.200
go wrong.

214
00:11:34.360 --> 00:11:35.159
It'd be fun.

215
00:11:35.440 --> 00:11:37.080
I feel like it would be hilarious.

216
00:11:37.200 --> 00:11:42.320
Yeah uh so. Yeah, so there's the people are taking

217
00:11:42.360 --> 00:11:45.159
it seriously now, and it only got worse from here.

218
00:11:45.200 --> 00:11:47.679
Like in the days that followed Maria Cossa's encounter, promised

219
00:11:47.679 --> 00:11:50.840
town went from quote these kids in their stories they

220
00:11:50.840 --> 00:11:52.799
should be in the textile factories where they.

221
00:11:52.679 --> 00:11:56.159
Belong to tiny hands fixing big machines.

222
00:11:56.159 --> 00:12:00.440
To oh, fuck, shit is getting real real quick. What

223
00:12:00.519 --> 00:12:02.879
had started out as like just like scattered rumors and

224
00:12:03.320 --> 00:12:07.240
one actual encounter that all snowballed into like an avalanche

225
00:12:07.240 --> 00:12:10.120
of shit. People were spotting the flash all over town

226
00:12:10.279 --> 00:12:13.639
and the details just kept getting weirder. Some claimed like

227
00:12:13.879 --> 00:12:15.879
they saw the flash sprinting through the yards in the

228
00:12:15.879 --> 00:12:18.279
West End, while minutes later other calls came in from

229
00:12:18.320 --> 00:12:20.279
the East End saying it goes over there now, which

230
00:12:20.720 --> 00:12:24.480
I feel goes without saying is physically impossible for the

231
00:12:24.600 --> 00:12:25.879
average person to do.

232
00:12:26.960 --> 00:12:27.320
Yeah.

233
00:12:27.399 --> 00:12:29.759
Yeah, this thing was everywhere, all the time, all at once,

234
00:12:29.799 --> 00:12:32.960
which made everyone a little on edge. It could be

235
00:12:33.000 --> 00:12:33.799
anywhere at any time.

236
00:12:33.840 --> 00:12:34.879
That makes me uncomfortable.

237
00:12:35.159 --> 00:12:39.000
Yeah, parents kept their kids home from school. Everyone was

238
00:12:39.039 --> 00:12:42.159
locking their windows and doors, and almost no one was

239
00:12:42.200 --> 00:12:43.919
out and about after dark. It was it was pretty

240
00:12:43.960 --> 00:12:46.799
much like after sunset, like the already quiet town just

241
00:12:46.799 --> 00:12:50.559
got like a lot, a whole lot quieter. But that

242
00:12:50.600 --> 00:12:53.600
doesn't mean the encounter stop, because, like I said, almost

243
00:12:54.240 --> 00:12:56.440
no one went out after dark.

244
00:12:57.279 --> 00:12:57.399
Uh.

245
00:12:57.799 --> 00:13:00.840
For example, one night, a teenage boy ran the police station,

246
00:13:01.440 --> 00:13:05.519
tears in his eyes, swearing up and down. That's my

247
00:13:05.519 --> 00:13:06.200
Trump impression.

248
00:13:06.200 --> 00:13:10.759
It's really bad, sir, You're doing a great job as president,

249
00:13:10.799 --> 00:13:11.559
but there's a demon.

250
00:13:14.080 --> 00:13:16.159
Tears in his eyes, swearing up and down. That the

251
00:13:16.240 --> 00:13:19.639
flash jumped out at him and spit blue flames in

252
00:13:19.720 --> 00:13:22.159
his face while he was walking home from the library.

253
00:13:23.759 --> 00:13:26.559
It's not funny, but it is. It's a little funny,

254
00:13:26.720 --> 00:13:31.200
others said they now. Others said they saw it grab

255
00:13:31.320 --> 00:13:33.919
a grab out a woman from an alley before disappearing

256
00:13:33.960 --> 00:13:36.399
into the night. Not like with the woman. That would

257
00:13:36.399 --> 00:13:42.360
be an even crazier story, carrying her off and in

258
00:13:42.399 --> 00:13:46.080
at least two separate instances, men who confronted the Flash

259
00:13:46.159 --> 00:13:48.399
were knocked right on their ass with a single blow,

260
00:13:48.480 --> 00:13:50.279
with one of the men waking up the next morning

261
00:13:50.279 --> 00:13:52.759
to find a red hand shaped welt on his face,

262
00:13:53.840 --> 00:13:56.080
kind of like Chris Rock the morning after the Oscars.

263
00:13:56.240 --> 00:14:03.799
Very similar scenario. Bitch slapped hard, dude, he fucking knocked

264
00:14:03.840 --> 00:14:05.080
down to the next boarding.

265
00:14:05.960 --> 00:14:08.279
The other man got a lap dance to share to

266
00:14:08.320 --> 00:14:09.000
a share song.

267
00:14:11.679 --> 00:14:15.120
So so so far we got spitting blue flames into

268
00:14:15.159 --> 00:14:17.759
the faces of children, grabbing at woman and open palm

269
00:14:17.879 --> 00:14:20.519
slapping dudes on the street. Now, from some of the

270
00:14:20.559 --> 00:14:22.480
things we cover, that's pretty tame behavior.

271
00:14:23.360 --> 00:14:27.159
It's also very much like a drag show. You really

272
00:14:27.159 --> 00:14:30.559
aren't getting very far away from a drag show at all.

273
00:14:30.759 --> 00:14:35.200
Well, them drag shows may come up later, okay, all right,

274
00:14:36.559 --> 00:14:39.679
But soon the encounters became a little more violent. And

275
00:14:39.759 --> 00:14:42.080
it's here that we get into Sarge's favorite part of

276
00:14:42.120 --> 00:14:45.879
any story, Americans exercising their Second Amendment right to blind

277
00:14:45.919 --> 00:14:53.000
finely fire at things they don't understand. Am I wrong?

278
00:14:54.039 --> 00:14:56.039
It's my favorite part every time we do one of

279
00:14:56.080 --> 00:14:59.200
these shows. My favorite part is always when the villagers

280
00:14:59.399 --> 00:15:07.200
get armed. So nothing like irresponsible Americans with a firearm.

281
00:15:05.720 --> 00:15:11.320
So a local farmer, Charles Farley claimed that he spotted

282
00:15:11.320 --> 00:15:14.960
the flash skulking around his fenced in backyard. So Charlie,

283
00:15:14.960 --> 00:15:17.679
not one to hesitate when it comes to trespassers, grabbed

284
00:15:17.679 --> 00:15:21.240
his shotgun, flung open his door, and fired point blank

285
00:15:21.279 --> 00:15:22.320
into this motherfucker.

286
00:15:22.759 --> 00:15:24.759
There you go, but to.

287
00:15:24.799 --> 00:15:28.440
Chuck surprise instead of like just crumpling into an absolute pile.

288
00:15:29.399 --> 00:15:32.399
The creature just laughed this horrible, like distorted laugh that

289
00:15:32.480 --> 00:15:35.279
he said quote cut straight through his skull. Then, in

290
00:15:35.320 --> 00:15:38.639
a single bound, the Flash hopped over the eight foot

291
00:15:38.639 --> 00:15:42.240
fence and then just disappeared into the night. Now, Farley

292
00:15:42.320 --> 00:15:45.440
swore he couldn't have missed from the distance he fired at.

293
00:15:45.759 --> 00:15:48.000
And I assume he's speaking from experience. I'm sure this

294
00:15:48.080 --> 00:15:50.360
dude has probably marked a few vagrants in his time.

295
00:15:50.639 --> 00:15:53.000
Yeah, no doubt, no doubt. There's there's a lot of

296
00:15:53.039 --> 00:15:55.879
symbols on his fence out front, warning the other hoboes

297
00:15:55.919 --> 00:15:57.080
that there's a man with a gun.

298
00:15:57.200 --> 00:16:00.679
Yeah, he claimed it was like the thing was bulletproof

299
00:16:00.919 --> 00:16:04.000
or somehow not entirely human. But this is nothing compared

300
00:16:04.039 --> 00:16:06.519
to what went down not long after or before. I'm

301
00:16:06.559 --> 00:16:08.759
not entirely sure of the timeline. Some of them get

302
00:16:08.759 --> 00:16:11.919
a little bit murky. It doesn't matter because one one

303
00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:15.960
night the police got multiple calls from some concerned citizens

304
00:16:15.960 --> 00:16:19.679
that the flash was lurking down near the local school playground.

305
00:16:19.799 --> 00:16:22.720
Like that you can't have you can't have that, yeah.

306
00:16:22.480 --> 00:16:25.759
So four officers responded, all armed with pistols and flashlights

307
00:16:25.759 --> 00:16:28.399
that already Now, the playground, it is important to note,

308
00:16:28.519 --> 00:16:31.919
is surrounded by a ten foot high fence, so there's

309
00:16:31.960 --> 00:16:34.039
really no way in or out unless you come in

310
00:16:34.200 --> 00:16:38.759
through like the main gate. So they thought that if

311
00:16:38.759 --> 00:16:40.679
they could just get in there and corner it like

312
00:16:40.720 --> 00:16:44.480
this whole ordeal would finally be over. So the four

313
00:16:44.519 --> 00:16:47.600
officers went to the playground, spread out and began sweeping

314
00:16:47.759 --> 00:16:50.320
the playground with their flashlights. Now, for a moment, everything

315
00:16:50.399 --> 00:16:54.399
was silent. Then they heard that same inhuman laugh echoing

316
00:16:54.519 --> 00:16:57.320
across the playground. They all shown their flashlights in the

317
00:16:57.360 --> 00:16:59.679
direction of the laugh, and there in the corner was

318
00:16:59.720 --> 00:17:03.879
the flat just like just watching them.

319
00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:08.400
Yeah, they shouted out, it's not good. No, I don't

320
00:17:08.519 --> 00:17:08.880
like it.

321
00:17:09.720 --> 00:17:13.279
They shouted at it to freeze like the whole like

322
00:17:14.119 --> 00:17:16.519
hands were consume. I assume I don't know what cops

323
00:17:16.519 --> 00:17:17.400
were like back then.

324
00:17:18.599 --> 00:17:20.119
Get over here.

325
00:17:22.079 --> 00:17:25.960
But instead of complying with the lawful order. It tilted

326
00:17:26.000 --> 00:17:29.079
its head back and let out another mocking guttural laugh

327
00:17:29.160 --> 00:17:33.039
before making its move at them. The officers responded by

328
00:17:33.400 --> 00:17:37.279
opening fire empty emptying their pistols into this thing. But

329
00:17:37.880 --> 00:17:39.720
it didn't go down. I mean, some shots may have

330
00:17:39.759 --> 00:17:41.359
missed in its chaos, but at least some of them

331
00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:44.599
had to have hit, I assume. But still it just

332
00:17:44.680 --> 00:17:47.559
kept moving. Then, in a single impossible leap, the flash

333
00:17:47.599 --> 00:17:50.240
cleared the ten foot tall fence, landed on the other side,

334
00:17:50.319 --> 00:17:55.160
and just like the other encounters, vanished into the night Jesus. Afterwards,

335
00:17:55.240 --> 00:17:57.960
one of the officers, Francis Marshall, gave a statement about

336
00:17:57.960 --> 00:18:00.960
what he saw. He admitted the creature wasn't quite as

337
00:18:01.000 --> 00:18:03.799
impossibly tall as some people have claimed. That it was

338
00:18:03.799 --> 00:18:06.680
definitely above average hype, but more.

339
00:18:06.720 --> 00:18:09.680
Drag queens usually are, but more important heels.

340
00:18:11.559 --> 00:18:13.559
We're gonna get canceled for you bringing up drag queens

341
00:18:13.559 --> 00:18:13.960
this much.

342
00:18:14.839 --> 00:18:17.920
I'm celebrating them. I think this is fucking great. Literally,

343
00:18:17.960 --> 00:18:21.279
nothing that you've described so far has disproven the drag

344
00:18:21.359 --> 00:18:29.160
queen jumping over high fences, impossibly tall, extremely fast and nimble.

345
00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:32.000
Are they known for their vertical leap.

346
00:18:33.359 --> 00:18:38.799
I mean, I assume, I don't know, there's a lot

347
00:18:38.839 --> 00:18:40.440
of things that they need to be able to do,

348
00:18:40.599 --> 00:18:44.279
like splits. Yeah, and so I feel like they should

349
00:18:44.319 --> 00:18:45.960
have pretty good like strength.

350
00:18:45.680 --> 00:18:47.480
Right, I guess, I don't know.

351
00:18:49.359 --> 00:18:50.240
We'll go, we'll find out.

352
00:18:50.279 --> 00:18:53.960
Yeah. But more importantly, he swore that close up he

353
00:18:54.039 --> 00:18:57.480
saw that its face quote unquote wasn't a face at all,

354
00:18:58.440 --> 00:19:01.000
and not like in like a demond way. It looked

355
00:19:01.000 --> 00:19:03.480
more like a metal mask, possibly even like an old

356
00:19:03.559 --> 00:19:06.960
flower sifter being used as a mask, with like the

357
00:19:07.039 --> 00:19:09.599
mesh over the face and then two long handles sticking

358
00:19:09.680 --> 00:19:10.680
up like point of ears.

359
00:19:10.480 --> 00:19:12.880
Which okay, yeah, which might Yeah, I know, I know

360
00:19:12.920 --> 00:19:15.319
what you mean. Now when you said flower sifter, at first,

361
00:19:15.359 --> 00:19:19.519
I was like, what the fuck is this? Like, like

362
00:19:19.559 --> 00:19:22.319
thought it was like a gardening tool, No, like like

363
00:19:22.319 --> 00:19:25.799
a flower like yeah yeah, No, now I know, like

364
00:19:25.440 --> 00:19:26.960
a like a fencing mask.

365
00:19:27.200 --> 00:19:30.759
Kind of yeah, pretty much okay, And so this might

366
00:19:30.839 --> 00:19:34.160
explain the reports of the long silver ears and earlier sightings,

367
00:19:34.200 --> 00:19:36.640
but this is just one guy's opinion, and even if

368
00:19:36.720 --> 00:19:39.960
it was just a shorter, tall man wearing a mask,

369
00:19:41.880 --> 00:19:44.079
it didn't really explain how anyone could move like the

370
00:19:44.160 --> 00:19:46.079
Flash did, or how he was able to shrug off

371
00:19:46.119 --> 00:19:48.160
a shotgun blast to the chest like it was a

372
00:19:48.200 --> 00:19:52.240
fucking mosquito bite. Like yeah, yeah, So now at this point,

373
00:19:52.400 --> 00:19:54.440
the town is in chaos. Some people are now armed

374
00:19:54.480 --> 00:19:57.519
and patrolling their streets. The police are chasing reports left

375
00:19:57.519 --> 00:20:00.960
and right, and the Flash seemed to always kind of

376
00:20:00.960 --> 00:20:04.079
be just like one step ahead of everyone. And then

377
00:20:04.359 --> 00:20:06.559
so what went from like a kid's story has now

378
00:20:06.680 --> 00:20:10.440
turned into pretty much a full on public safety crisis.

379
00:20:10.960 --> 00:20:14.119
Yeah. Well that's because everyone keeps opening their door and

380
00:20:14.200 --> 00:20:15.400
just firing into the night.

381
00:20:15.559 --> 00:20:18.319
Yeah, you got people fucking just shooting, willy nilly, people

382
00:20:19.039 --> 00:20:21.440
roaming their blocks to make sure it's safe. And then

383
00:20:21.480 --> 00:20:24.359
now the police are fucking stretched in because they're running

384
00:20:24.400 --> 00:20:27.440
all over town trying to find this fucking phantom.

385
00:20:27.079 --> 00:20:28.200
While dodging gunfire.

386
00:20:31.799 --> 00:20:35.680
So the police are completely overwhelmed, and the Provincetown Police Chief,

387
00:20:35.720 --> 00:20:38.960
Anthony P. Tarver's was starting to feel the pressure. People

388
00:20:39.000 --> 00:20:41.960
wanted answers, they wanted to rest, but most importantly, they

389
00:20:42.000 --> 00:20:44.200
just people just wanted to feel safe again. They wanted

390
00:20:44.240 --> 00:20:47.119
to be able to go outside at night. So he

391
00:20:47.240 --> 00:20:49.359
just started grasping at straws to try and figure this

392
00:20:49.400 --> 00:20:51.880
whole thing out. Like, for instance, on October twenty sixth,

393
00:20:52.319 --> 00:20:55.400
he brought three local youths into the station for questioning. Now,

394
00:20:55.440 --> 00:20:57.880
these weren't just like three random kids, like you didn't

395
00:20:57.880 --> 00:20:59.559
like open the door of the station, go you, you,

396
00:20:59.640 --> 00:21:01.000
and you come here.

397
00:21:01.240 --> 00:21:03.799
No, he found them walking down the street, one on

398
00:21:03.880 --> 00:21:08.519
top of the other wearing a giant trench coat.

399
00:21:10.759 --> 00:21:12.839
Yeah. Uh No, these kids were like, they're like known

400
00:21:12.920 --> 00:21:15.599
troublemakers in the area. Like one was a tall high

401
00:21:15.599 --> 00:21:20.279
school track star and hurdler names nickname Stretch, uh.

402
00:21:20.759 --> 00:21:24.000
Which is it's the greatest nickname, but it's so obvious

403
00:21:24.039 --> 00:21:26.640
for a tall person, right, you know what? He might

404
00:21:26.680 --> 00:21:29.240
have been the first one, considering this was the nineteen thirties.

405
00:21:33.119 --> 00:21:33.240
Uh.

406
00:21:33.359 --> 00:21:36.279
The other was just another tall kid named Ford, And

407
00:21:36.319 --> 00:21:38.279
the third was a kid named I don't know if

408
00:21:38.279 --> 00:21:41.720
it's Rego or Reggo. It's r e g O. I'm

409
00:21:41.720 --> 00:21:43.880
gonna go REGI. Rego sounds fun.

410
00:21:44.000 --> 00:21:45.799
I would say, yeah, Reggio sounds good.

411
00:21:46.000 --> 00:21:49.319
Yeah. Now, the chiefs theory was that if anyone in

412
00:21:49.359 --> 00:21:51.359
town could pull off a stunt like scaring people half

413
00:21:51.440 --> 00:21:53.799
to death and then leaping tall ass fences. It would

414
00:21:53.839 --> 00:21:55.720
be these boys again. One of them was a high

415
00:21:55.759 --> 00:21:58.200
school track star and hurdler, so he might have a

416
00:21:58.240 --> 00:22:02.839
pretty decent jump to him eye idea. So Travers began

417
00:22:03.480 --> 00:22:07.240
grilling them about the sightings, the attacks, anything related to

418
00:22:07.240 --> 00:22:09.079
the flash. He also questioned them about a string of

419
00:22:09.440 --> 00:22:12.759
mysterious arsons that I guess were also happening at the time,

420
00:22:13.319 --> 00:22:20.720
because of course there was something else going on, of course,

421
00:22:22.079 --> 00:22:25.000
But after hours of questioning, the boys denied everything, and

422
00:22:25.119 --> 00:22:28.720
with nothing really solid to hold them on, he had

423
00:22:28.759 --> 00:22:32.519
to let them go. So that went nowhere, but he

424
00:22:32.559 --> 00:22:36.400
didn't stop. So now Halloween is just a few days away,

425
00:22:36.519 --> 00:22:38.519
and the last thing the town needed was more chaos.

426
00:22:38.559 --> 00:22:41.119
So Tavers came up with an idea, if you can't

427
00:22:41.200 --> 00:22:44.720
catch the pranksters, give them nowhere and no one to

428
00:22:44.720 --> 00:22:48.319
play with. Does that make sense a little bit?

429
00:22:48.359 --> 00:22:50.200
So, what are you like, kick everybody out of town?

430
00:22:52.200 --> 00:22:58.960
Everybody leave, You're close? He gathered them all into one location. Okay,

431
00:22:59.160 --> 00:23:02.240
so he organized a town wide Halloween party. It's kind

432
00:23:02.240 --> 00:23:04.119
of like a pressure valve, but also to kind of

433
00:23:04.200 --> 00:23:08.200
like very smart. Yeah, And on October thirty first, that

434
00:23:08.279 --> 00:23:12.720
party was bumping practically the entire town showed up. Hundreds

435
00:23:12.759 --> 00:23:15.240
of kids and adults packed in for nights of games,

436
00:23:15.599 --> 00:23:18.519
costume contests, and even an obstacle course. For some reason,

437
00:23:18.599 --> 00:23:21.160
I didn't get the details on what it would be.

438
00:23:21.200 --> 00:23:24.039
I assume I had to be Halloween theme somehow, right,

439
00:23:24.720 --> 00:23:26.880
you know, unless this this is like a weird way

440
00:23:26.920 --> 00:23:29.680
of one of the things that maybe they met, like

441
00:23:29.680 --> 00:23:31.400
a corn maze. But I feel like you can't do

442
00:23:31.400 --> 00:23:31.880
that inside.

443
00:23:31.880 --> 00:23:34.039
That'd be hard, it'd be difficult. So they probably just

444
00:23:34.039 --> 00:23:37.240
did like bobbing for apples or well, this was like

445
00:23:37.279 --> 00:23:40.039
the nineteen thirty so it's probably like bobbing bobbing for

446
00:23:40.200 --> 00:23:42.720
cocaine because it was still.

447
00:23:42.599 --> 00:23:45.519
Legal medicinal cocaine, all right. So yeah, so the party's

448
00:23:45.519 --> 00:23:47.559
bump him. Everyone's having a good time. And as a

449
00:23:47.559 --> 00:23:50.599
little lighthearted fact in the story, a three year old

450
00:23:50.640 --> 00:23:54.440
boy named Manuel Jason Junior won the costume contest dressed

451
00:23:54.480 --> 00:23:56.880
as none other than the Black Flash. He had like

452
00:23:56.880 --> 00:23:59.440
a little tiny cape and glowing eyes. People loved it.

453
00:23:59.440 --> 00:24:01.160
It was like a little dark humor, I guess kind

454
00:24:01.160 --> 00:24:02.920
of maybe not dark humor, but I mean.

455
00:24:02.839 --> 00:24:04.920
Nothing says New England like dressing up the thing that

456
00:24:05.000 --> 00:24:05.880
terrifies you the most.

457
00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:07.519
Yeah, and I feel like it probably helped the use

458
00:24:07.559 --> 00:24:11.680
the tension a bit. Yeah, you know. So with the

459
00:24:11.720 --> 00:24:14.960
event wrapping up, Tarvar's addressed the crowd and the present

460
00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:18.160
attendants directly and in front of everyone, declared, quote, as

461
00:24:18.160 --> 00:24:20.960
far as I'm concerned, the Black Flash is dead and gone.

462
00:24:21.079 --> 00:24:23.880
End quote. He then went on to tell the reporters

463
00:24:23.880 --> 00:24:25.920
that the whole thing was more than likely a prank

464
00:24:25.960 --> 00:24:28.039
gone too far by local teens, and that it was

465
00:24:28.039 --> 00:24:32.680
officially over now. He had absolutely no fucking reason to

466
00:24:32.720 --> 00:24:35.359
think this or say this and had nothing to back

467
00:24:35.400 --> 00:24:37.319
it up. He was just talking out of his ass.

468
00:24:37.799 --> 00:24:43.720
But it worked, like just just like that, the attacks stopped.

469
00:24:43.759 --> 00:24:47.480
There was no more sightings, no more shootouts, no chaos.

470
00:24:48.000 --> 00:24:50.000
It's kind of like he read like the secret or

471
00:24:50.039 --> 00:24:52.599
something and just manifested it into being true.

472
00:24:55.079 --> 00:24:57.960
Nothing stops a bullet like saying it's just a prank,

473
00:24:58.680 --> 00:24:59.480
like I just.

474
00:24:59.440 --> 00:25:03.960
Don't understan out like he just like, yeah, it's over,

475
00:25:04.079 --> 00:25:05.480
and then it was and then it was over.

476
00:25:05.839 --> 00:25:10.680
Amazing, just incredible police work.

477
00:25:13.240 --> 00:25:15.799
But yeah, behind the scenes, nothing was ever officially solved, like,

478
00:25:16.119 --> 00:25:18.319
no one was arrested, there was no names giving, nothing,

479
00:25:18.920 --> 00:25:22.680
and by early November, Peatown began to finally breathe again,

480
00:25:22.720 --> 00:25:26.359
like families got their kids back outside, businesses reopened at night.

481
00:25:26.920 --> 00:25:32.079
It was all normal until the fall of nineteen forty five,

482
00:25:32.359 --> 00:25:34.480
when the Flash decided he wanted to just check in,

483
00:25:35.160 --> 00:25:36.839
see how see everyone's holding up.

484
00:25:37.359 --> 00:25:41.200
You know, he heard the war was over. He wanted

485
00:25:41.240 --> 00:25:41.960
to swing back.

486
00:25:42.440 --> 00:25:45.359
Yeah. At first it started out the same as before,

487
00:25:45.480 --> 00:25:48.359
just whispers, you know, people swearing they'd seen something tall

488
00:25:48.400 --> 00:25:50.440
and cloak moving through the dunes, or a dark figure

489
00:25:50.480 --> 00:25:53.720
lurking in your backyards after sunset. And the sightings were

490
00:25:53.759 --> 00:25:56.200
pretty like few and far between, but enough to make

491
00:25:56.240 --> 00:25:59.799
people feel a bit uneasy, maybe trigger some right PTSD,

492
00:26:00.279 --> 00:26:06.400
you know, certainly, Yeah, and then things escalated. In early November,

493
00:26:06.440 --> 00:26:08.519
police received a report of a prowler at the old

494
00:26:08.640 --> 00:26:12.519
Bradford Street School, which by then had been abandoned. Officers

495
00:26:12.559 --> 00:26:15.759
responded and briefly sighted the figure. It matched the description

496
00:26:15.799 --> 00:26:19.160
from six years earlier, long, black cape, metallic quote unquote,

497
00:26:19.200 --> 00:26:21.640
silver ears, but like always, before they could close in,

498
00:26:22.240 --> 00:26:24.400
it leapt over the tall fence and vanished into the night.

499
00:26:24.799 --> 00:26:28.279
Now the department went on full on hiler, fearing the

500
00:26:28.319 --> 00:26:31.240
return of the panic they'd worked so hard to bury,

501
00:26:31.400 --> 00:26:32.680
like they didn't want to have to deal with this

502
00:26:32.680 --> 00:26:35.920
shit again. Right, but the Flash did not care what

503
00:26:35.960 --> 00:26:38.960
they wanted, and for a few weeks there were scattered

504
00:26:38.960 --> 00:26:41.079
reports of the Black Flash being spotted near the edge

505
00:26:41.079 --> 00:26:45.640
of town, but nothing really concrete until one night in

506
00:26:45.720 --> 00:26:50.240
late December. That night, four children from the Jannered family,

507
00:26:50.319 --> 00:26:54.359
I think sure the Janner family were playing outside their

508
00:26:54.359 --> 00:26:57.640
home when they saw a massive, dark figure creeping towards

509
00:26:57.680 --> 00:27:01.920
them through the mist. The kids bolted inside, slammed the door,

510
00:27:01.960 --> 00:27:04.960
and locked it. Now, their parents weren't home, so they're

511
00:27:05.000 --> 00:27:09.319
just kind of inside being terrified by themselves, and right,

512
00:27:09.519 --> 00:27:12.880
the creature began pounding on the doors, rattling the doorknobs.

513
00:27:12.960 --> 00:27:18.920
It was circling the house, and the children, scary, huddled together, terrified,

514
00:27:18.960 --> 00:27:20.799
and they were certain that this thing was going to

515
00:27:20.880 --> 00:27:21.240
get in.

516
00:27:21.480 --> 00:27:24.480
Yeah, Like, as a little kid, that's fucking terrifying. Yeah.

517
00:27:24.720 --> 00:27:28.680
But finally, thirteen year old Alan Janners decided they couldn't

518
00:27:28.720 --> 00:27:30.519
just sit there, and he was about to take some action,

519
00:27:30.640 --> 00:27:33.759
so he grabbed a bucket, filled it with boiling hot

520
00:27:33.799 --> 00:27:37.480
water from the stove, snuck upstairs, and then peering out

521
00:27:37.480 --> 00:27:40.519
a second story window. He caught the flash standing near

522
00:27:40.559 --> 00:27:45.279
the back door and just dumps the scolding hot water

523
00:27:45.359 --> 00:27:46.759
right on top of its heads.

524
00:27:46.799 --> 00:27:49.680
Oh shit, it was a home alone situation.

525
00:27:50.200 --> 00:27:53.519
Yeah, the figure let out this fucking guttural scream, it

526
00:27:53.599 --> 00:27:56.240
staggered backwards, and then it just fucked right off back

527
00:27:56.279 --> 00:28:00.920
into the mist. As folkloris Robert Cahill later quote, they

528
00:28:00.920 --> 00:28:04.000
saw him retreat through the backyard, a dripping black phantom,

529
00:28:04.119 --> 00:28:13.200
not looking half as fearsome as when he arrived, and quote.

530
00:28:11.759 --> 00:28:15.640
Robert LSK. Hill is a legend. That guy has written

531
00:28:15.680 --> 00:28:18.279
so many stories about folklore New England. I've read a

532
00:28:18.319 --> 00:28:21.279
ton of his books. Oh but that's such a it's

533
00:28:21.319 --> 00:28:24.519
such a great description. But that seemed to do the trick.

534
00:28:24.599 --> 00:28:27.680
Apparently, if you just pour boiling hot water on someone,

535
00:28:27.759 --> 00:28:29.680
they just don't ever want to come back. And that

536
00:28:29.799 --> 00:28:32.000
was the last thing noted. Yeah the flash was ever

537
00:28:32.079 --> 00:28:36.359
seen again. Yeah, how you feel so far? Does any

538
00:28:36.359 --> 00:28:37.720
of this ring a bell from the first time we

539
00:28:37.720 --> 00:28:39.279
talked about it? Yeah?

540
00:28:39.319 --> 00:28:42.880
Yeah, I fucking love this story. I I don't even

541
00:28:43.000 --> 00:28:45.240
care if it's true, because I think it's just such

542
00:28:45.319 --> 00:28:49.160
a such like a a great setting because it closed

543
00:28:49.160 --> 00:28:51.519
down New England town in the summer to you know,

544
00:28:51.599 --> 00:28:56.440
in the fall when everybody's gone back home. Just it's

545
00:28:56.480 --> 00:28:58.640
so perfect. It's such a great setting.

546
00:28:59.160 --> 00:29:02.880
Oh yeah, for sure. I love the story so much.

547
00:29:03.119 --> 00:29:07.079
It's so funny to me. And oh yeah, it's very new.

548
00:29:07.240 --> 00:29:09.759
Somebody in Provincetown needs to get on this and do

549
00:29:09.920 --> 00:29:10.680
like a tour.

550
00:29:10.640 --> 00:29:12.480
You live, mesters, is when do you reach out?

551
00:29:13.319 --> 00:29:14.000
I got them?

552
00:29:14.319 --> 00:29:15.960
Yeah, I'm sure you got you know someone in p

553
00:29:16.119 --> 00:29:18.319
town who might have some sort of connection to something.

554
00:29:19.160 --> 00:29:21.279
I don't, but I could, I could try.

555
00:29:21.640 --> 00:29:25.640
Okay, all right, sorry, are you ready to dive into

556
00:29:25.640 --> 00:29:29.039
some theories as to what the fuck the Flash could be? Yes,

557
00:29:29.640 --> 00:29:33.680
let's do it, all right. So first off is the

558
00:29:33.720 --> 00:29:37.480
prankster theory. It's the most straightforward explanation, and it was

559
00:29:37.519 --> 00:29:40.119
the one that Chief Tarvar's himself was trying to push

560
00:29:40.160 --> 00:29:43.640
back in nineteen thirty nine. And this is that the

561
00:29:43.640 --> 00:29:48.079
BlackFlash was just a handful of local pranksters. Travers claimed

562
00:29:48.160 --> 00:29:52.440
it was four young men working together, with one riding

563
00:29:52.480 --> 00:29:55.000
on another's shoulders under a long cape to create the

564
00:29:55.039 --> 00:29:56.680
illusion of towering height.

565
00:29:57.720 --> 00:30:00.119
Did I call it? Did I call it?

566
00:30:01.039 --> 00:30:03.119
And the Silver Years again, those are just the handles

567
00:30:03.160 --> 00:30:05.960
of a flower sifter mass. So there was four kids,

568
00:30:06.319 --> 00:30:11.039
two were on each other's shoulders, but they were across town. Okay,

569
00:30:11.240 --> 00:30:14.039
so that's how like they were able to be spotted

570
00:30:14.440 --> 00:30:18.480
in so many different locations, you know, does that make sense?

571
00:30:18.599 --> 00:30:22.000
Yeah? Yeah, I just I'm still confused as to how

572
00:30:22.000 --> 00:30:23.160
that made them bulletproof.

573
00:30:23.359 --> 00:30:26.160
Oh yeah, it only explained the appearance. It doesn't really

574
00:30:26.240 --> 00:30:28.480
cover how it was bulletproof, able to spit fire or

575
00:30:28.519 --> 00:30:29.839
have a ten foot vertical leap.

576
00:30:29.960 --> 00:30:33.839
But yeah, that's also a problem because I don't even

577
00:30:33.920 --> 00:30:37.119
think I don't even think, like the greatest basketball players

578
00:30:37.119 --> 00:30:39.200
in history can jump that high. So I'd love to

579
00:30:39.279 --> 00:30:40.720
know that explanation.

580
00:30:41.079 --> 00:30:43.440
You you don't You don't know that.

581
00:30:44.799 --> 00:30:49.000
You don't know that competent. That's a tough vertical leap. No,

582
00:30:49.319 --> 00:30:51.119
I mean, stretch was a legend.

583
00:30:51.279 --> 00:30:53.960
Exist what I'm saying, if anyone could do it as stretch,

584
00:30:54.000 --> 00:30:56.119
and he could do it with a kid on his back.

585
00:30:56.240 --> 00:30:59.599
Exactly exactly, stretch was supernaturally amazing.

586
00:31:00.839 --> 00:31:02.599
He was the Aaron Hernandez of his day.

587
00:31:03.839 --> 00:31:07.960
Later went on to become Larry Bird. Oh let alone fact.

588
00:31:07.599 --> 00:31:10.599
So I take back my Aaron Hernandez joke, then yeah,

589
00:31:10.640 --> 00:31:11.279
I should take.

590
00:31:11.160 --> 00:31:17.160
That back, all right, So they hit that out entirely.

591
00:31:15.079 --> 00:31:21.680
The next theory is the outsider theory. Some locals thought

592
00:31:21.720 --> 00:31:23.720
that the Flash wasn't from town at all, maybe like

593
00:31:23.720 --> 00:31:26.799
a leftover tourist or drifter who stayed behind after summer

594
00:31:26.880 --> 00:31:29.960
and promised town. It's always kind of been like a

595
00:31:30.000 --> 00:31:33.119
haven for artists, outsiders, and eccentric so it wasn't like

596
00:31:33.160 --> 00:31:36.960
a stretch to think that someone strange could be camping

597
00:31:36.960 --> 00:31:39.799
out in the dunes and scaring the townsfolk just for fun.

598
00:31:40.759 --> 00:31:41.240
Yeah.

599
00:31:41.319 --> 00:31:45.160
Now, back then this theory even got mixed with prejudice. Unfortunately,

600
00:31:46.599 --> 00:31:48.279
a few whispered it might have been a man in

601
00:31:48.400 --> 00:31:52.720
drag or someone's from someone from Provincetown small, but at

602
00:31:52.720 --> 00:31:55.279
this time growing gay community. They were kind of like.

603
00:31:55.240 --> 00:31:56.759
One of them Italians.

604
00:31:57.000 --> 00:32:01.480
Yeah, they were kind of unfairly scapegoating drag queens in

605
00:32:01.680 --> 00:32:04.559
the gay community, labeling it was like the weirdo was

606
00:32:04.559 --> 00:32:09.359
haunting their streets. Petown wasn't always as open as yeah

607
00:32:09.519 --> 00:32:14.039
it's today, that's correct, And then you got the Devil

608
00:32:14.079 --> 00:32:18.440
of the Dunes of like, no, no, not everyone bought

609
00:32:18.440 --> 00:32:21.359
into the prankster ideas unbelieved or wanted to believe that

610
00:32:21.400 --> 00:32:25.519
the black Flash was something supernatural. Glowing eyes, guttural laugh,

611
00:32:25.599 --> 00:32:32.839
the way it shrugged off, shotgun blasts. Uh, it's it's

612
00:32:32.839 --> 00:32:36.039
hard to explain with just kids in costumes. So the

613
00:32:36.119 --> 00:32:38.839
name devil and the dunes stuck for suck around for

614
00:32:38.880 --> 00:32:40.480
a reason. And for a while there was there was

615
00:32:40.519 --> 00:32:43.599
like real fears that something otherworldly had come to Provincetown,

616
00:32:43.680 --> 00:32:46.920
especially when reports mentioned blue flames spinning from its mouth.

617
00:32:47.599 --> 00:32:50.079
And then the last theory, and finally, probably the most

618
00:32:50.160 --> 00:32:53.799
realistic theory is one that it always comes back down to,

619
00:32:53.960 --> 00:32:59.759
is mass hysteria. Provincetown in the off season is isolated.

620
00:33:00.039 --> 00:33:03.880
It's eerie. There's long nights, empty streets. The wind is

621
00:33:03.960 --> 00:33:06.920
constantly howling through the dunes. Yeah, you add in real

622
00:33:07.000 --> 00:33:09.839
words stress like the looming war in Europe because this

623
00:33:09.960 --> 00:33:11.240
is right before.

624
00:33:11.079 --> 00:33:14.160
Or nineteen thirty nine, right, Yeah, and you got.

625
00:33:14.039 --> 00:33:16.839
Like the perfect recipe for fear, Like one weird encounter

626
00:33:17.000 --> 00:33:20.079
can spiral quickly, like a shadow becomes a monster, a

627
00:33:20.079 --> 00:33:22.799
prank becomes a town wide panic. And by the time

628
00:33:22.839 --> 00:33:25.240
the Janner kids boiled one off their back porch, the

629
00:33:25.279 --> 00:33:32.079
story you know, it was kind of growling. But yeah,

630
00:33:32.119 --> 00:33:34.640
so those are just some of the theories. What do

631
00:33:34.680 --> 00:33:36.000
you how do you what are you thinking?

632
00:33:37.119 --> 00:33:39.119
I want this to be real so bad?

633
00:33:39.200 --> 00:33:40.799
Do you want to be a full on devil in

634
00:33:40.839 --> 00:33:41.799
the dunes type thing?

635
00:33:42.240 --> 00:33:45.880
Yes? Okay, However, I also love the drag queen angle,

636
00:33:46.119 --> 00:33:48.119
but not for the reason that they loved the drag

637
00:33:48.160 --> 00:33:51.720
queen angle. To me, it's like, this is a powerful

638
00:33:51.799 --> 00:33:54.440
athlete that is putting on one hell of a performance.

639
00:33:54.720 --> 00:33:57.400
Yeah, I can. I could fuck with that idea.

640
00:33:57.559 --> 00:34:02.279
Does that be so funny? Just living their best life?

641
00:34:03.599 --> 00:34:07.200
Like fucking with the with the straits? You know, sometimes

642
00:34:07.240 --> 00:34:09.360
you just gotta do that to us. Yeah, you gotta

643
00:34:09.400 --> 00:34:10.320
spook the normies.

644
00:34:12.559 --> 00:34:14.800
Oh ship? All right, Well that's all I got for you, man.

645
00:34:15.719 --> 00:34:17.599
I mean, I love the story. I love it even

646
00:34:17.599 --> 00:34:22.079
more because we went in depth. I want I want

647
00:34:22.119 --> 00:34:24.079
the devil to be real, but I also kind of

648
00:34:24.079 --> 00:34:26.719
love the idea of it being like just some dumb

649
00:34:26.800 --> 00:34:28.840
ass kid who thought he was like going to terrorize

650
00:34:28.840 --> 00:34:31.519
the whole neighborhood and doused with boiling water.

651
00:34:32.320 --> 00:34:34.440
I feel like the second sighting had to have been

652
00:34:35.199 --> 00:34:36.840
like the first ones are harder to explain, but the

653
00:34:36.840 --> 00:34:39.800
second ones since they were like there wasn't really any

654
00:34:39.840 --> 00:34:44.159
real physical like attacks. Yeah that that time, it had

655
00:34:44.239 --> 00:34:46.800
to have been just someone fucking with the town, you

656
00:34:46.840 --> 00:34:47.480
know what I mean, Like.

657
00:34:47.480 --> 00:34:49.280
It could have been a mix of things too, like

658
00:34:50.280 --> 00:34:54.679
there might have been some one very real scary occurrence. Yeah,

659
00:34:54.719 --> 00:34:57.480
and then everybody just jumped onto it.

660
00:34:57.480 --> 00:35:00.400
It could be better. Yeah, the last the in nineteen

661
00:35:00.480 --> 00:35:02.480
forty five signings, I feel like we're more of a prankster.

662
00:35:03.199 --> 00:35:05.480
Yeah. That was probably a prankster I think, and somebody

663
00:35:05.639 --> 00:35:07.280
heard the story and was like, I'm gonna do that.

664
00:35:07.559 --> 00:35:11.480
Yeah, and some fucking thirteen year old kid just fucked

665
00:35:11.519 --> 00:35:12.440
that dude up, like.

666
00:35:12.760 --> 00:35:16.119
Yeah, ruined his fucking day, like what.

667
00:35:16.159 --> 00:35:17.880
I feel like back then, no one probably would have

668
00:35:17.960 --> 00:35:20.119
thought to do it. But I wonder if, like if

669
00:35:20.119 --> 00:35:23.519
you would contacted like hospitals or a doctor's office of.

670
00:35:23.480 --> 00:35:26.760
Like any burn victims, Yeah, any any scolding victims come

671
00:35:26.800 --> 00:35:31.320
through here or like a missed opportunity.

672
00:35:31.400 --> 00:35:33.679
Really hey, because he was in the mist.

673
00:35:34.920 --> 00:35:37.079
I didn't think about that. But that's good, not bad.

674
00:35:37.320 --> 00:35:43.239
I'm good for doing it, all right, man.

675
00:35:43.280 --> 00:35:45.960
Well that's that's all I got. That was uh, yeah,

676
00:35:46.119 --> 00:35:48.239
we brought this up yesterday when we were talking to

677
00:35:48.280 --> 00:35:51.880
the I believe in the Bizarre people this story and

678
00:35:51.880 --> 00:35:53.519
that it dawned on me that we didn't really cover

679
00:35:53.559 --> 00:35:55.360
it in detail, and I wanted to go into it

680
00:35:55.440 --> 00:35:57.679
more because it's such a fun story. It's goofy, it's

681
00:35:57.840 --> 00:36:01.280
very spring heeled Jack. Ye kind of coded. I mean

682
00:36:01.280 --> 00:36:01.880
there were a theory.

683
00:36:02.119 --> 00:36:04.280
I'm glad you. I'm glad you went into it because

684
00:36:04.360 --> 00:36:07.639
I now that I'm I remember the story. I want

685
00:36:07.639 --> 00:36:09.599
to go to Provincetown and see if like any of

686
00:36:09.599 --> 00:36:14.199
those places like have anything about it, you know, like

687
00:36:14.239 --> 00:36:15.519
see if there's a blaque somewhere.

688
00:36:16.199 --> 00:36:20.000
Maybe like there's like a historical society, there might be something. Yeah,

689
00:36:20.079 --> 00:36:21.960
you know, I don't know. I feel like a plaque

690
00:36:22.039 --> 00:36:22.719
is a little much.

691
00:36:23.920 --> 00:36:24.840
I mean, they.

692
00:36:24.719 --> 00:36:26.679
Should, they should put one in front of that kid's house.

693
00:36:26.840 --> 00:36:29.639
Was like, this is the site where the fucking the

694
00:36:29.719 --> 00:36:31.800
Flash got scolded to death.

695
00:36:32.280 --> 00:36:36.760
Where a child poured boiling water on gay icon the Black.

696
00:36:36.559 --> 00:36:43.639
Flash h ship. All right, well, oh no, I was

697
00:36:43.639 --> 00:36:46.559
gonna say real quick, Uh, there was another theory that like, uh,

698
00:36:46.880 --> 00:36:49.559
spring Hill Jack and the Flash were the same thing.

699
00:36:49.920 --> 00:36:51.599
I didn't put it in here because it's kind of stupid.

700
00:36:51.760 --> 00:36:54.519
It doesn't make any sense, but the two are very similar.

701
00:36:55.480 --> 00:36:58.760
They did that with the Servant Girl Annihilator and Jack

702
00:36:58.760 --> 00:37:03.159
the Ripper, was that they were one of the same. Yeah, yeah,

703
00:37:03.199 --> 00:37:05.000
there's it didn't make sense at all.

704
00:37:05.239 --> 00:37:10.599
Yeah, they never do. They just say it, yeah, like.

705
00:37:10.559 --> 00:37:11.679
Haha, problem solved.

706
00:37:11.960 --> 00:37:15.519
Yeah all right. So yeah, so thanks for listening everyone.

707
00:37:15.639 --> 00:37:21.519
Thank you just Sarage for being here. As always, never

708
00:37:21.559 --> 00:37:23.440
miss it. Yeah, if you like what you heard, please

709
00:37:23.480 --> 00:37:25.800
leave us a five star rating and review anywhere you can.

710
00:37:25.840 --> 00:37:29.119
It definitely helps. Follow us on Instagram at Crypto Cocktail,

711
00:37:29.159 --> 00:37:32.840
follow us on TikTok, Crypto Cocktail party, chowner Patreon. It's

712
00:37:32.880 --> 00:37:34.719
gonna get retooled soon, I know, I said the last week.

713
00:37:34.719 --> 00:37:37.719
I'm just lazy and also busy at the same time.

714
00:37:37.760 --> 00:37:39.639
Somehow so busy and lazy, So I get it.

715
00:37:39.920 --> 00:37:43.519
Yeah, yeah, that's all I got started. You gonna think

716
00:37:43.559 --> 00:37:45.239
you want to you wanna plug before we sign off?

717
00:37:45.880 --> 00:37:48.440
You can find me on the social media's periodically. I

718
00:37:48.480 --> 00:37:51.440
do a TikTok video making fun of Tom McDonald, who

719
00:37:51.519 --> 00:37:54.760
is the Monster Energy version of Maclamore.

720
00:37:54.920 --> 00:37:58.159
Dude, My my Toom McDonald's video got uh, it got

721
00:37:58.199 --> 00:38:01.239
flagged for bullying and I got a really all because

722
00:38:01.280 --> 00:38:04.840
I said. All I said was shut up. You're from Canada.

723
00:38:05.920 --> 00:38:08.800
Apparently I'm unbelievable.

724
00:38:09.880 --> 00:38:11.519
All right, well that's insane.

725
00:38:11.800 --> 00:38:12.719
It's pretty fun.

726
00:38:13.440 --> 00:38:15.519
But yeah, you can find me on social media at

727
00:38:15.519 --> 00:38:18.280
Serge the Destroyer. I'm on all the socials except for

728
00:38:18.320 --> 00:38:20.360
Facebook because that place is a dumpster fire.

729
00:38:20.599 --> 00:38:24.280
It's a nightmare. Yeah all right, well, I guess with

730
00:38:24.360 --> 00:38:25.760
that out of the way, Sarge, would you like to

731
00:38:25.760 --> 00:38:28.119
say goodbye and I love you to the audience.

732
00:38:28.719 --> 00:38:40.480
Hey, I fucking love you guys. Goodbye. God deal godal