About Our Podcast
Exploring Strange Encounters, Folklore, and Unsolved Mysteries
Join host Robert Barber as he explores stories that exist at the edge of explanation.
State of the Unknown is a documentary-style podcast that examines strange encounters, unexplained events, folklore, and enduring mysteries. From UFO sightings and creature reports to haunted objects, disappearances, and local legends, each episode begins with the story itself before separating what was reported, what can be explained, and what remains unknown.
Rather than focusing only on the mystery, State of the Unknown explores the people at the center of it—the witnesses, investigators, families, and communities whose lives were shaped by an encounter they could not fully explain.
Some stories have answers. Others leave questions behind.
This isn’t just about ghost stories. It’s about the places they leave behind.
Recent Episodes
Featured podcasts
Fringe Theories: Philip K. Dick | “We Are Living in a Computer-Programmed Reality” — Ep. 65
Philip K. Dick spent his career writing about false memories, alternate worlds, and people discovering that reality wasn’t quite what they thought it was. Then, in 1974, something happened to him. Join host Robert Barber as we follow Philip K. Dick’s 2-3-74 experiences — a series of strange events t...
Fragments | The Kentucky Meat Shower: When Flesh Fell from a Clear Sky — Ep. 05
In March 1876, residents near Olympia Springs in Bath County, Kentucky, reported one of the strangest events ever recorded in the state: pieces of what appeared to be raw meat falling from a perfectly clear sky. Join host Robert Barber as he revisits the bizarre event that became known as the Kentuc...
Fragments | The Leadville Ghost: The Tenants Who Refused to Go Back — Ep. 04
In April 1907, two miners in Leadville, Colorado, rented a small house and paid three weeks in advance. Four nights later, they were done. Join host Robert Barber as he follows a strange newspaper account of a paranormal encounter that frightened two working miners badly enough to abandon the house—...
Reviews
What the people say about us
Very well produced , and great honest storytelling. With perfect narration.
The stories are told with respect to those who lived them. I really like the way Robert narrates! His voice is perfect and he gives the truth. He doesn’t try to add what the story doesn’t need. Just the little sounds added actually makes it feel creepier ! He understands the whole “less is more” deal. I joined the Pat...
Read MoreVery, very interesting!
Just found you. Only listened to 1 episode so far. Very good ! I’ll be catching up . They all sound interesting. Thank you.
New Favorite!
Fantastic, absolutely riveting podcast about the unknown that actually...keeps it real! Love the storytelling, the subtle effects, the delivery and the questioning at the end...Robert Barber does an excellent job of reflecting on each episode by questioning the validity, the possibility, the reasoning and the parallels...
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