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
Fragments | Zozo: When a Ouija Board Gives You the Name of a Demon — Ep. 10
Some Ouija board stories disappear as soon as the planchette stops moving. Others keep returning, attached to the same strange name. In this episode of State of the Unknown: Fragments, Robert Barber explores the Zozo demon legend, a modern paranormal story involving Ouija boards, alleged demonic enc...
Fragments | The Eliza Battle: The Ghost Ship on the Tombigbee — Ep. 09
The Eliza Battle ghost ship legend is one of the most enduring paranormal stories connected to the American South. Along Alabama’s Tombigbee River, people have passed down a story about a steamboat, a terrible night, and something that may still appear on the water. In this episode of State of the U...
Fragments | Ryan Hammons: The Boy Who Remembered a Past Life in Hollywood — Ep. 08
The Ryan Hammons reincarnation case is one of the most compelling paranormal stories involving a child who claimed to remember a past life. Beginning in Oklahoma around 2008, four-year-old Ryan started asking his mother to take him home. But he didn’t mean the house where they lived. He meant Hollyw...
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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