Hysteria 51

This week on Hysteria 51, we’re pinballing between cartoon conspiracy corners and a middle-schooler casually building the future in his garage.
First up: Simpsons sleuths are doing what Simpsons sleuths do, pausing a 25-year-old episode like it’s the Zapruder film and claiming it “predicted” the Epstein scandal. The episode in question (Season 12’s “The Computer Wore Menace Shoes”) features Homer stumbling into a creepy-island situation, and the internet has been connecting dots with the enthusiasm of a caffeinated detective with no bedtime. We’ll break down what the episode actually shows, what people are claiming, and why “The Simpsons predicted it” has become its own paranormal phenomenon.
Then we hard cut to Dallas, where a 12-year-old has reportedly achieved nuclear fusion with a homebuilt setup and is aiming for a Guinness World Records title. Yes, at 12, some kids are mastering long division, and this one is out here speedrunning the sun. We’ll talk what “fusion” means in this context, why it’s a big deal, and how close he is to beating the current Guinness record.
So buckle in for an episode loaded with Simpsons theories, weird news whiplash, Epstein-adjacent internet speculation, and kid-genius nuclear fusion. One story screams “someone call the FBI,” the other screams “someone call the science fair,” and somehow they both end up right here.
Links & Resources
📌Simpson's Predict
📌Pre-Pubescent Fusion
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This week we dig into the Blurry Photos coffers for a cryptid adventure on the high seas!
Man the oars and put yer backs into it, the Kraken surfaces! A legendary sea-beast the size of an island, the Kraken is said to swallow men whole and snap ships in half effortlessly, but what’s true and what’s a fish story? Join Flora as he braves the open seas of historical folklore for a deep dive on this fascinating fiend. The oceans are big, but are they big enough to hide a colossal cephalopod? David seeks answers to the questions on its origins, descriptions, and possible real-life species. So much culture has been inspired by this mega-monster, could there be a kernel of truth to the tales? Grab your trident and prepare to release this episode into your ears!
Music
Myst on the Moor, Big Eyes, Dark Fog, Dark Standoff, Danse Macabre, Evil Incoming, Infinite Peace, Some Amount of Evil, Spider Eyes, Temple of the Manes – Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Cornfield Chase, Lonely Mountain, Mothership – Rafael Krux
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Sources
Anderson, Nate. Release the kraken! 2,000 years of tall tales (and a smattering of truth). ArsTechnica.com. Web. Jan. 9, 2013. https://arstechnica.com/science/2013/01/release-the-kraken-2000-years-of-tall-tales-and-a-smattering-of-truth/

Denys de Montfort, Pierre. Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière des mollusques. Paris: L’Imprimerie de F. Dufart. pp. 256–412 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library. 1801–1805.

Haslam, Garth. Kraken: Myths, Legends, and History. Anomalyinfo.com. Web. 2017. http://anomalyinfo.com/Topics/kraken-myths-legends-and-history

Jardine, Sir William. The Naturalist’s Library. Edinburgh. W.H. Lizars. 1833
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/60177#page/398/mode/1up

Pontoppidan, Erich. The Natural History of Norway. Copenhagen: Berlingske Arvingers Bogtrykkerie, 1752. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/131226#page/520/mode/1up

SALVADOR, Rodrigo B.; TOMOTANI, Barbara M. The Kraken: when myth encounters science. História, Ciências, Saúde – Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro, v.21, n.3, jul.-set. 2014, p.971-994. http://www.scielo.br/pdf/hcsm/v21n3/0104-5970-hcsm-21-3-0971.pdf

Wallenberg, J. Min son på galejan, eller en ostindisk resa innehållande allehanda bläckhornskram, samlade på skeppet Finland, som afseglade ifrån Götheborg i Dec. 1769, och återkom dersammastädes i Junii 1771. (5th ed.). Elméns och Granbergs Tryckeri, Stockholm. (in Swedish). 1835.

Williams, Wendy. Kraken: The Curious, Exciting, and Slightly Disturbing Science of Squid. New York. Abrams Image. Mar. 4, 2011.

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This week on Hysteria 51, we’re serving up a double feature where nature chooses violence… and humanity chooses unhinged.
First: Janesville, Wisconsin is apparently living inside a Thanksgiving-themed action movie. A flock of wild turkeys has been chasing people, hassling a postal worker, blocking traffic, and generally running the neighborhood like feathery little HOA enforcers with anger issues. One local even caught the chaos on camera. If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to be offering peace and goodwill to all… while a bird the size of a small child sprints at you with murder in its eyes, welcome home.
Then we pivot from “street menace” to “please evacuate the entire building”: a man showed up at a hospital with a World War I artillery shell lodged in his rectum, prompting a hospital evacuation and a bomb squad response because, yes, it was reported as potentially live. Doctors had to remove it surgically, and everyone involved probably aged ten years in one evening. It’s the kind of headline that makes you whisper, “how” and then immediately decide you don’t actually want the answer.
So buckle up for an episode packed with weird news, small-town terror turkeys, and ER chaos so intense it came with its own security perimeter. If you like your comedy dark, your science nonexistent, and your survival instincts activated by poultry… this one’s for you.
Links & Resources
📌Jive Turkeys
📌Preparation H-Bomb
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Nashville woke up to the strangest Christmas soundtrack imaginable in 2020: an RV parked on 2nd Avenue, a calm recorded warning to evacuate… and “Downtown” playing like a twisted holiday playlist no one asked for. We are going to walk through the accepted timeline of the Christmas Day bombing, what investigators say happened, and what the FBI concluded about the man behind it.
Then we follow the story into the weird side streets, where reality starts to bend. Reincarnation loops. “High energy events.” Alleged reptilian watchers in the woods. A camping trip that turned into a front-row seat to paranoia, strange gear, and a belief that something evil was hiding in plain sight.
We’ll separate confirmed facts from internet fog, explore what fringe and UFO circles claim it all really meant, and bring it home with the uncomfortable truth: sometimes the most unsettling part isn’t the conspiracy… it’s how fast a mind can build one when everything else is falling apart. All that and more this week on Hysteria 51!

Special thanks to this week’s research sources:
PRIMARY / OFFICIAL
1) FBI Nashville Field Office. “FBI Releases Report on Nashville Bombing.” March 15, 2021.
https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/nashville/news/fbi-releases-report-on-nashville-bombing
2) FBI Nashville Field Office. “Seeking Information Concerning Operator or Owner of RV Linked to Explosion.” December 25, 2020.
https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/nashville/news/seeking-information-concerning-operator-or-owner-of-rv-linked-to-explosion
3) FBI Nashville Field Office. “FBI Memphis Special Agent in Charge Announces Identity of Remains Discovered in Nashville Explosion Site; Multi-Agency Investigation Continues.” December 27, 2020.
https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/nashville/news/fbi-memphis-special-agent-in-charge-announces-identity-of-remains-discovered-in-nashville-explosion-site-multi-agency-investigation-continues
4) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). “SAFE-COM and NCSWIC Release Communications Dependencies Case Study: Nashville.” June 13, 2022.
https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/news/safecom-and-ncswic-release-communications-dependencies-case-study-nashville

LOCAL / INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING
5) Finley, Jeremy (WSMV4 Investigates). “FBI: Nashville Christmas Day bomber wanted explosion to break ‘reincarnation loop’ (New photos show Anthony Warner’s device…).” December 22, 2025.
https://www.wsmv.com/2025/12/22/fbi-nashville-christmas-day-bomber-wanted-explosion-break-reincarnation-loop/
6) Hall, Ben & Wisniewski, Kevin (NewsChannel 5 Investigates / WTVF). “Nashville bomber’s bizarre writings reveal belief in aliens and lizard people.” January 4, 2021.
https://www.newschannel5.com/news/newschannel-5-investigates/nashville-bombers-bizarre-writings-reveal-belief-in-aliens-and-lizard-people

NATIONAL / WIRE REPORTING
7) ABC News. “FBI report finds Nashville bomber wanted to kill himself, not motivated by terrorism.” March 15, 2021.
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/fbi-report-finds-nashville-bomber-wanted-kill-motivated/story?id=76471078
8) PBS NewsHour. “FBI says Nashville bomber driven by conspiracies, paranoia.” March 15, 2021.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/fbi-says-nashville-bomber-driven-by-conspiracies-paranoia
9) Associated Press. “FBI: Nashville bomber sent material to ‘acquaintances’.” (Published January 2, 2021.)
https://apnews.com/article/us-news-bombings-8d59b300ed4b41d050a8cc86f500351a
10) CBS News. “Nashville bomber sent writings espousing conspiracy theories to multiple people before explosion.” January 3, 2021.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nashville-bomber-anthony-quinn-sent-conspiracy-theories-to-people-before-explosion/
11) Reuters. “Nashville bombing suspect may have believed in lizard people, aliens — source.” January 3, 2021.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/nashville-bombing-suspect-may-have-believed-lizard-people-aliens-source-2021-01-03/
12) Reuters. “‘He was not on our radar’: authorities search for motive in Nashville blast.” December 29, 2020.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/he-was-not-our-radar-authorities-search-motive-nashville-blast-2020-12-28/
13) Reuters. “Motor home explodes in Nashville, possible human remains found near site.” December 26, 2020.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/motor-home-explodes-nashville-possible-human-remains-found-near-site-2020-12-26/
14) NBC (via NBC San Diego). “Feds probing if Nashville bomber believed in lizard people conspiracy.” December 30, 2020.
https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/national-international/feds-probing-if-nashville-bomber-believed-in-lizard-people-conspiracy/2483371/

FACT CHECKS
15) Reuters Fact Check. “Debunking conspiracy links between Nashville explosion and Dominion.” December 29, 2020.
https://www.reuters.com/article/world/fact-check-debunking-conspiracy-links-between-nashville-explosion-dominion-and-idUSKBN2931AJ/
16) PolitiFact. “No, AT&T was not conducting an audit of Dominion Voting Systems machines in Nashville.” December 29, 2020.
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/dec/29/facebook-posts/no-t-was-not-conducting-audit-dominion-voting-syst/
17) Associated Press Fact Check. “AT&T not conducting voting machine audit near Nashville after explosion.” December 28, 2020.
https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-9898209641
18) WRAL. “Fact check: 3 conspiracy theories about the Nashville bombing.” December 30, 2020.
https://www.wral.com/story/fact-check-3-conspiracy-theories-about-the-nashville-bombing/19450775/

CONTEXT / BACKGROUND
19) Business Insider. “Lizard-people conspiracy theory origins (and why it resurfaced after the Nashville bombing).” January 7, 2021.
https://www.businessinsider.com/lizard-people-conspiracy-theory-origin-nashville-bomber-qanon-2021-1
20) War on the Rocks. “The Nashville Bombing and Threats to Critical Infrastructure: We Saw This Coming.” December 31, 2020.
https://warontherocks.com/2020/12/the-nashville-bombing-and-threats-to-critical-infrastructure-we-saw-this-coming/
21) Domestic Preparedness (Kelly, Robert F. & Alexander, Dean C.). “Four Takeaways From the Nashville Christmas Bombing.” July 20, 2022.
https://domesticpreparedness.com/cbrne/four-takeaways-from-the-nashville-christmas-bombing/
22) DataCenterDynamics (Moss, Sebastian). “FBI does not believe Nashville bomber was targeting AT&T.” August 13, 2021.
https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/fbi-does-not-believe-nashville-bomber-was-targeting-att/
23) Axios. “Girlfriend told police Nashville man was building bombs year before explosion.” December 30, 2020.
https://www.axios.com/2020/12/30/nashville-anthony-warner-bombs

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This week on Hysteria 51, we’re chasing two flavors of “are we alone?” and one of them is suspiciously nacho-adjacent.
First, the skies over Area 51 served up a late-night special: a mysterious “Dorito-shaped” aircraft spotted cruising near the world’s most side-eye-worthy patch of desert. Was it a classified test flight, a stealth prototype, or the most aggressive brand sponsorship in aviation history? Either way, if it looks like a triangle and haunts the Nevada night, we’re legally obligated (by podcast law) to investigate.
Then we rocket to Mars, where NASA says the Perseverance rover found a rock with intriguing “leopard spot” patterns inside Jezero Crater that could be a potential biosignature, meaning ancient chemical reactions that might be consistent with microbial life. Not “we found Martians,” but definitely “this rock is acting extremely sus.”
So buckle up for an episode packed with UFO vibes, Area 51 sightings, Mars rover discoveries, and the eternal question: are we staring at evidence of secret tech… or secret life… or just humanity’s unstoppable urge to turn every weird shape into a headline?
Links & Resources
📌Black Project Snacks
📌Mars Relatives
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