The HMS Daedalus Sea Monster | 200 Sailors Saw The Creature, The Royal Navy Wished They Hadn't!

The HMS Daedalus Sea Monster | 200 Sailors Saw The Creature, The Royal Navy Wished They Hadn't!

Author: Darren Marlar | Weird Darkness | Full-Time Voice Actor April 15, 2026 Duration: 53:14
On the afternoon of August 6, 1848, the HMS Daedalus was cutting through the gray waters of the south Atlantic when something surfaced alongside the ship — something enormous, something alive, and something that no man aboard had ever seen before. The officers who witnessed it were not excitable young sailors prone to ghost stories. They were Royal Navy men, educated and disciplined, with careers and reputations built on precision and credibility. Yet every one of them would go on record to describe the same thing: a massive serpentine creature moving through the open ocean as though it owned it. What followed their report would shake the British Admiralty, ignite a media firestorm across Victorian England, and launch a debate that has never been fully resolved.
FEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: On August 6th, 1848 the crew of the HMS Daedalus spotted something monstrous from the deep – and it has become the most well-documented sea serpent sighting in history. (The HMS Daedalus Sea Monster) *** A notorious criminal is brought to justice, and later found to have just as notorious of a brain. (Hanging of a Notorious Brain) *** A burst of UFO activity took place on New Year’s Eve outside of New York in 1982… so many sightings and reports it was impossible to ignore, even by skeptics. (The Hudson Valley Flap) *** A social experiment initiated by Stalin’s Soviet Union ends with hundreds dead on the first day – but that was only the beginning of the horrors of what would later be known as “Cannibal Island”. (Joseph Stalin’s Cannibal Island) *** A woman is involved in an accident, and once out of the hospital everyone appears to be afraid upon looking at her face… even her. But it’s not the scars that are causing terror. (The Reflection That Drove To Death) *** One day in 1863 Doctor Joseph Rogers found himself dealing with a very distressing case. A young pregnant woman had been sent to a workhouse because her circumstances were so dire. Her name was Sarah Ann Eldridge, and her husband, Alfred Eldridge, was in prison waiting to be executed. (The Murderer’s Wife)
CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…
00:00:00.000 = The Foreboding
00:00:33.861 = Show Open
00:02:42.625 = The HMS Daedalus Sea Monster
00:12:50.838 = The Murderer’s Wife ***
00:33:28.625 = The Hudson Valley Flap ***
00:39:09.082 = Hanging of a Notorious Brain
00:43:36.092 = The Reflection That Drove to Death
00:47:38.268 = Joseph Stalin’s Cannibal Island ***
00:52:09.154 = Show Close
*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad break
LISTEN ON PODCAST APPS: Look for this podcast on YouTube Music, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and other apps. Get the full list of options here: https://pod.link/1078714736
*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*
EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources and full transcript): https://weirddarkness.com/HMSDaedalus
SOURCES and RESOURCES:
“Hanging Of a Notorious Brain” by Traci Taylor for 981TheHawk.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/y7t456fm
“Joseph Stalin’s Cannibal Island” by Garret S. Griffin for MSN.com: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/4pfxptws
BOOK: “Cannibal Island: Death In a Siberian Gulag” by Nicolas Werth: https://amzn.to/3Waxw6J)
“The Reflection That Drove To Death” by Julia Njord on Medium.com:

Step into the shadows with Weird Darkness: Paranormal & True Crime Stories, where professional voice actor Darren Marlar brings a chilling depth to narratives often left untold. This award-winning daily podcast explores the intricate tapestry of human experience and mystery, weaving together documented history, cultural folklore, and unsettling true crime. Each episode is a deep dive into the unexplained, from long-forgotten legends and supernatural encounters to meticulously researched accounts of dark deeds and unsolved conspiracies. Marlar’s skill as a storyteller, recognized by industry voices like the Podcast Business Journal, transforms these accounts into immersive audio experiences, allowing the strange and the macabre to feel vividly real. The consistent seven-day-a-week schedule means there’s always a new story waiting, a fresh journey into the corners of society and documentary evidence that most prefer to avoid. This isn't just a collection of scary stories; it's a persistent exploration of the questions that linger at the edges of our understanding, all delivered with a compelling vocal performance that has defined the distinctive atmosphere of this podcast. You'll find the lines between history, mystery, and the purely paranatural blurring as you listen, making Weird Darkness a unique destination for those drawn to the darker side of reality.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Weird Darkness: Paranormal & True Crime Stories
Podcast Episodes
Who Or What Are Shadow People? | #WDRadio – May 03, 2026 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:57:05
Shadow people slip through the dark in three escalating forms — fleeting glimpses, lingering watchers, and rare physical encounters that defy every rational explanation. But what are they?HOUR ONE: When you think of huma…
Battle of the Magicians: The Dead Man’s Hand | #RetroRadio [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 4:59:06
When an airline president comes to the investigator Saladin after a black magician's extortion threat brings down one of his planes in mid-flight, the two old enemies meet again across a battlefield of stolen corpses, ra…
The Shadow People: They Wait In The Dark | #RetroRadio [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 4:55:17
When Elaine begins seeing a hulking shape that only appears in darkness and dissolves the instant a light comes on, an aging scholar of the supernatural warns her fiancé that something ancient has marked her — and is met…
A Miser’s Murder: The Unsolved Killing of Charles Henry [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:15:57
When a reclusive miser turns up dead with an axe to the head, his family's buried secrets and bitter rivalries start spilling out, and no one walks away clean.EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources and full transcript): htt…
THE CLOWNS | #MicroTerrors [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 14:18
A silent clown stands at the front door clutching old photographs of Dad — and what Mom doesn’t know yet is that there’s another one waiting in the kitchen.Look for this podcast on YouTube Music, Apple Podcasts, Spotify,…
BREAKING: Chandra Levy's Parents Tie Her D.C. Murder to UFO Disclosure [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 30:55
Twenty-five years after their daughter vanished in Washington, Susan and Bob Levy now say Chandra's curiosity about UFOs — and Congressman Gary Condit's classified work on them — may explain what really happened to her i…