A Whale of a Tale

by Brian Dunning
November 5, 2019

We tell a lot of stories on Skeptoid, and with this being the 700th episode, it's a good time to reflect on the best. Some of our stories are true, some are merely legends; but all have managed to attract legions of true believers (if they hadn't, they wouldn't have been Skeptoid episodes). In this very special show, we're going to focus on a few of the classics.

Sharing stories is inherently a social activity, so today we're going to go aboard ship with some friends and swap the most Skeptoidiest of yarns sea shanty style. And it goes a little like this...

Got a whale of a tale to tell you friends
A whale of a tale or two
'Bout the groaning ghost and the little green men
In stories you've heard again and again
A whale of a tale to chill your bones
From me to your headphones.

There was Bigfoot Barry
Found him hiding in some canyons
Huge and scary
Surely wished I had companions
Then he saw me
Came charging through the oaks...
Blow me down! and pick me up!
I hope he's just a hoax.

There was Poltergeist Peter
Made a lot of knocks and bumping
I checked my Ghost-o-Meter
Showed he wasn't there or nothing.
Still I saw him
And I had not had a dram...
Blow me down! and pick me up!
He was a hologram.

There was some strange saucer
Floated down to a nearby field
I feared some monster
Might come out as the door unsealed
Then a fearsome figure
Stood like a mannequin
But then he took his helmet off —
It was Von Däniken!

Got a whale of a tale to tell you friends
A whale of a tale or two
'Bout the groaning ghost and the little green men
In stories you've heard again and again
A whale of a tale to chill your bones
From me to your headphones.

That's enough shantying for now — 700 weekly episodes down, and many more to come. Perhaps we'll get out the concertina and the steel drum again in another 700 weeks, as there are certainly more than enough great tales, both old and new. So stay tuned and keep listening, and I'll keep compiling the biggest whale-sized tales out there.

By Brian Dunning
Follow @BrianDunning