March 17, 2025 • 37 mins
In 1993, something impossible was captured on tape. An inhuman voice, growing weaker with each call, contacted an Air Force Captain with knowledge no stranger could possess. The Sudbrink Calls remain the only case with actual recorded evidence of potential alien contact.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:16):
Strange mysteries, unexplained phenomena.
And the shadows in between.
This is The InBetween Official Podcastwith your host,
Carol Ann!
(00:36):
A simple phone call.
We get them every day, right?
But in 1993, a series of late nightcalls to an Air Force
Captain would blurthe line between prank and paranormal.
The caller knew things they should know,spoke in ways that weren't quite human,
and left behind somethingmost mysteries don't have.
Actual proof.
(00:57):
Welcome to The InBetween.
I'm Carol Ann, and todaywe're diving into the chilling case
of what has become knownas the Sudbrink Calls.
don't.
Hey, it's Carol Ann.
You know the drill.
Leave your deets at the beep,and I'll call you back as soon as I can.
(01:20):
Answering machines.
The bane of the 90s, right?
Well, hate them if you want,but it's an answering machine that gives
this strange case something most mysteriesdon't have - proof.
But proof of what?
30 years later,that question is still unanswered.
But before I get toodeep, let's go back to the beginning.
(01:42):
This story brings us all the way backto 1993.
February 7th to be exact.
Gary is a 27 year old Air ForceCaptain stationed in Texas.
Texas is great, but he'd rather be in LongIsland, New York,
where his mom, dad and two brothers,Stephen and Brian, all live.
Lucky for him, he sees a few empty days
(02:03):
on his calendar and decides to fly hometo surprise his family with a visit.
So, not telling anyone,he heads to the airport on February 7th,
wearing his uniform with a sweater on top,to catch his flight home.
While he's waiting at the gate, he'sapproached by a regular
looking guywho strikes up a regular conversation
(02:24):
as the airline startscalling rows for boarding.
The guy whips out a notepadand asks for Gary's name.
Gary says, “Gary.”And then the guy asks for his last name.
Thankfully for Gary, the sweaterhe had on covered his military nametag,
because this guy has instantlyweirded him out.
(02:44):
Gary says,
“I don't think so,” and leavesto board the plane.
Once he's seated in his window seatand is settled in, a different guy
comes by, sits down on the aisleseat and starts chatting with Gary.
Again, nothing exceptionalabout the conversation.
Another passenger comes byand says, “You're sitting in my seat.”
(03:06):
So the guy moves overone to the middle seat and keeps chatting.
Another passenger comes byand says, “You're sitting in my seat,”
and the flight attendant tells the guyhe's got to go to his assigned seat.
The guy gets up,but instead of going to his seat,
he stands behind Gary's seat,which is the wider emergency
(03:28):
exit row, continuing the chatand asking Gary for his name.
It doesn't take longbefore the flight attendant chases
the guy back to his own seat,and Gary finally has some peace.
Once the flight arrives at LaGuardiaairport, and much to his relief,
Gary does not see the man when he'sgetting off the plane or at baggage claim.
(03:51):
But between those two guys, Gary'snow paranoid that it might be some ploy
to figure out how long he's going to beout of town so they can rob his apartment.
So he puts in a call to his landlord,
asking them to keep an eye on his placejust in case.
He makes his way to his parents house.
And all is well.
(04:11):
The next day, Monday, February 8th.
It's pretty uneventful.
That night, around 10:30 p.m.,
Gary decides to surprise his good friendMike.
Tell him he's in townand see if they can make
some plans to see each otherwhile Gary's in the area.
He calls Mike.
I'm in town. I know.
(04:32):
How do you know?
You told me yesterday.
I didn't talk to you yesterday.
This.
You did you call me to let you knowthat you're flying into JFK,
but that you have a bit of a cold.
So you weren't sureif we're going to be able to get together?
I didn't fly into JFK, and I feel fine.
Well, that's what you told me.
Before Gary can wrap his head aroundwhat Mike is saying,
(04:54):
he hears the call waiting beep in his ear.
Someone else is calling the Sudbrinks.
So Gary tells Mike to hang on and answersthe incoming call.
The voicehe hears and the things being said by
the caller are so bizarre,that Gary hits the record button
on the answering machine to recordwhat is happening.
(05:17):
Before I play this recording,just so you know, you're
also going to hear Gary's mom and dadeach pop on at different times as well.
And there are places in the recordingthat are very difficult to hear.
This is what is recorded.
(09:04):
I don't know about you,
but that is one of the creepiest thingsI have ever heard.
Just a note
that when Gary's mentioning Steven, he'stalking about his older brother.
He thinks it's his brother punking him.
Now, I don't know if he ever calledMike back or not, but according to Gary,
he then sits down with his parentstalking about how weird that was
(09:27):
when at 11:10, the phone rings again.
Once Gary figures outit's the same caller, he hits record on
the answering machine again.
(13:07):
The voice is so mechanical sounding.
And it's so quiet at times,like it's running out of juice.
But don't go off into Sherlock Holmes modejust yet.
We're not done.
At 11:38, so just a couple of minuteslater, the phone rings again.
And just a heads up.
When Gary's dad mentionsBrian, he's just accidentally calling Gary
(13:31):
by his little brother's name.
(16:56):
Wow. That's insanity.
The third call turns outto be the last of the evening.
So the Sudbrink family headsto bed for the night.
Although I would betthat none of them got much sleep.
The next day, it's uneventfuluntil 10:21 that night.
The phone rings and you guessed it,it's our mysterious anonymous caller.
(17:18):
In this phone call,you are also going to hear Gary's Uncle
Tom pop in for a moment.
(21:12):
And with that,
the call is over and our strange, creepycaller is never heard from again.
Now, it's important to notethat Gary's dad and his uncle Tom,
who got on the line there for a bit,are way into the UFO phenomenon.
Gary's dad even had his ownsighting in West Virginia a while back.
He and Tom drove to Green
(21:33):
Bank, West Virginiato see the telescope that had collapsed.
They drove in separate cars.
So Tom wasn't around when Gary's dadhappened to spot a flying object
that looked like a hat with a bandaround it, about the size of a small VW,
hovering just 20 or 30ft from his car,before it blinked out of existence.
(21:55):
So if you're thinking that his questionin the first phone call
as to whether or notthe caller is an intergalactic
person seemed random, now you know why.
But I have to say, when you listen to thatrecording, don't visions of E.T.
and Men in Black startsswirling through your head?
Of course, the caller's mention of thingslike “keep your eyes on the sky” and “to
(22:19):
be within this planet” kind of makeit almost impossible not to think that.
understandably,most people think it's a hoax.
If you speed up the voice,it actually sounds like a regular person.
The movie “Home
Alone 2 (22:38):
Lost in New York” came out just two months
before this, which featured little Kevinpulling a fast one on the hotel staff
using something called a Talk Boy.
(23:02):
After seeing the popularity of the movie,
Tiger Electronics produceda real life version of the movie toy
that had the capability to change the tapespeed
to change the pitchof the original recording.
Easy peasy.
Are we done here?
The real Talk Boy
with the voicechanging feature did not hit the markets
(23:26):
until April of 1993, so whatever happened
here is not that simple.
So let's take a look at what we have.
We have a recorded voicethat doesn't sound at all natural
that is repeating the same phrasesover and over again.
Some of those phrases are demonstrablythe same recording.
(23:47):
For example, let's take a look atthe phrase “You are being impersonated
by the other voice.”Before we go any further,
I would just like to point outthat I am not an audio expert,
although I did play one in college,which gave me just enough
knowledge to be a danger to myselfand those in close proximity.
(24:08):
When you overlay the two clips and listen,you can't hear any difference between
the two And the spectrograph of these twoclips shows an identical signature.
The same is true for the phrase “Keepyour eye on the sky” in call number two.
Here's the spectrograph for this one.
Same exact soundclip.
(24:29):
But then there are other phrasessuch as “How long are you going to be back
from Texas” that are differentbetween call one and call two.
both the waveforms and spectrograph showthat they don't match.
And it's not justthat one is stretched out.
I tried that too,and it still didn't work.
I will say that the second onethat is longer sounds a little deeper,
(24:53):
like the recorder is running outof batteries and playing slower.
But like I said, I tried to stretch oneto match the other and it didn't work.
They, in my opinion, are different clips.
So this is a different phrase.
Why would somebody do that?
Why go through all the effortof recording the phrase
(25:13):
a second time, when you already haveit loaded on your tape?
And that's not the only instance.
When they ask the question“Is Gary Sudbrink there?”
the clip with the stutter fromthe first call
is replaced by a clearer versionin calls three and four.
Why would he ask, “Who is this?”That seems more than a little random,
(25:35):
but let's just saysomeone has a Walkman or something
and they figured out how to slow it downwhen playing, so the voice sounds deeper.
They recorded a bunch of weird phrases,and they're rewinding
back to different phrases as they go.
In fact, sometimes you can hear noise thatsounds like a recorder is being rewound.
(26:00):
If that whirring sound is a tape recorder
rewinding,how do they know how far to rewind?
Well, they probably don't.
A couple of the phrasesare actually parts of longer phrases.
Or maybe they had a few bucksand owned a sampler.
You know, something like this.
(26:28):
If they were using a sampler,
that would make it way easier to throw outrandom phrases in no particular order.
However, it's not just random.
There is some order,at least to some of it.
The easiest to spot is call number one.
The phrases “is Gary Sud-Sudbrinkthere,” “so how long are you going
(26:50):
to be back from Texas?” and “you'rebeing impersonated by the other voice,”
show up in the same orderfor the entire call.
Same goes for call number two with “keepyour eye on the skies”,
“near Orion”, and “the full moon”.
Interestingly enough, the call ends
with a new phrase, “show double from you”.
(27:13):
Random.
But keep that tidbitin the back of your brain for a moment.
Call number four starts with some oldiesbut goodies phrases from the prior
three calls, but then goes off the railswith a bunch of new ones,
which are way more intriguing,obvious hints
that these are calls being madefrom someone not of this world.
(27:36):
However, put your headinto the mind of a punk prankster.
You make the calls the first nightand hear Gary's dad immediately
jump to the assumptionthat it's an intergalactic person,
it would be very easyto add some new phrases
overnightto further that idea for the second night.
(27:56):
But let's go back to that phrase “showdouble from you”.
That phrase is the last phrase spokenin calls two and three,
and the second to last in call four,and nowhere else.
That doesn't seem random.
If the prankster is using a cassetterecorder, their phrases are recorded
linearly on the tape,so they would have to know precisely
(28:19):
how far back to go on the tapeto hit the right phrase at the end.
And that is possible.
Many cassette playershad counters on them,
and they could have made a note of whereon the tape each phrase is recorded.
But why go through the trouble?
Of course, if they're using a sampler,
going back to prior phraseswould be as simple as hitting a button.
(28:42):
But why use that phraseat the end of the last three calls?
That implies some kind of structureor message that is certainly not apparent.
If this is a prankster trying to fool Garyinto thinking he's an alien
trying to make contact,then why be this random?
You could certainly create phrasesthat would do a much better job
(29:03):
of heating up a tinfoil hatwithout being too obvious.
And if they were using a sampler,how do you account
for the growing weakness in the voice?
The quality of the voice is much louderand clearer in call one than in calls two
and three, but it seems to be rechargedfor the next day for call number four.
(29:24):
I guesswhoever this was could be moving the phone
further and further away from the source.
But why?
And the voice and callstwo and three doesn't just sound quieter.
It sounds weaker,but not necessarily slowed down.
Now, there is a common thread throughmany MIB stories of these beings
(29:47):
seeming to slow downlike they're losing energy.
One such case is that of Doctor HerbertHopkins that we cover in another episode.
A link to that episode will be inthe description if you want to dig deeper.
But suffice to say that his story
sounds a lotlike what you hear on these phone calls.
And it's not uncommon for peoplewho have had a UFO sighting
(30:10):
to report getting a visitfrom these mysterious men in black.
However, usually that happenswithin a few days of the sighting.
Gary'sdad's sighting was way back in 1988.
But in the end,I have to say that the chances
that someone was just punkingGary are pretty high.
(30:30):
But then the question becomes,who and why?
In the three decadessince these calls were made.
No one has fessed up to being the caller.
Let's think about this for a second.
Whoever called would have to know Gary'sfirst and last name,
his parent's phone number, that he'sactually in town staying with his parents,
(30:52):
that he lives in Texas, know Mike's
phone number,and be able to imitate Gary's voice.
It's not his mom or dad.
They were in the room.
It's most likely not his brother's.
Steven was not known to be a pranksterkind of guy.
And if you're going to go to these lengthsto prank your brother,
you're going to tell him at some pointjust so you can see his face.
(31:18):
That's how siblings work.
It's not his friend, Mike.
Mike was on the linewhen the first call came in.
It's most likely not Garyplaying a hoax on everyone, since
he has never sought any kind of attentionor money making opportunities.
The case is pretty muchreally only been discussed
(31:38):
at UFO conferencesor on panels by other people.
Could it be some of his Air Force buddies?
Some of them might have known he was gone,
and they could probably get their handson Gary's parents number.
But how would they get Mike's number?
And if they're the pranksters?
Why wouldn't they allhave had a good laugh
(32:01):
at Gary's expensewhen he got back to Texas?
Gary has done some interviewsover the years, but it's not like he's
out there trying to sell a book,trying to promote himself and his story.
But in the end, all of these possibilities
still leave the lingering question of why.
(32:21):
What's the motive?
A prank is no fun if there isn't a payoff.
It could be a random stranger.
Never underestimatethe creativity of a board teenager.
And the payoff is the laughs of knowingyou pulled it off.
But a random punk is not going to know
all of the details necessaryto pull off these calls.
(32:46):
But before you put everything togetherin your head
to make a decision on this creepy case,you might want to pump
those brakes a little.
Because just like I like to eat my cake,sometimes
I leave the frosting for last.
A year earlier, Steven was on the highwaydriving to his wedding
(33:07):
when he sees Garypull up next to him in his car,
make some faces at himand then keeps driving.
Steven thinks, “That's odd.
But hey, it's my wedding day!”And he's just glad to see his brother
made it in from Texas to be there.
The funny thing is, Steven didn'ttell Gary anything about this
(33:28):
until after he'dheard about the creepy phone calls.
And Garydidn't bring his car for the wedding.
He flew in. So his car is back in Texas.
Gary says he never saw his brother onthe highway much less make faces at him.
But Steven is adamantthat whoever it was looked
just like Garyand had the same car as Gary.
(33:53):
Kind of puts a new spin on the phrasefrom the phone calls
that says “shows double from you”.
And considering the phonecall to his friend Mike the day before,
the phrase “you're being impersonated by
the other voice”also becomes very interesting.
So if you take all these events together- the phone calls,
(34:14):
the impersonated call to his friend Mike,the weird guys at the airport
and on the plane from Texas to New York,maybe even his dad's UFO sighting -
if you take all of thatas one giant collection of weirdness
surrounding Gary, the theory of a random
prankster becomes next to impossible,just because of the immense
(34:36):
amount of planning involved and knowledgerequired. Oh!
Add to the mix that as his momwas being treated for cancer back in 2000,
the clinic told herthat her daughter had called
asking how her renal function was doing.
But Gary doesn't have any sisters.
And if you separate them, the phone calls
(34:58):
being independent of the other weirdness,then what's up with this average
Long Islander who attractsso many bizarre happenings?
The odds of that seem equally as unlikely.
And even if you put all of the extrainformation aside
and considerthis just a series of prank calls.
(35:19):
How creepy is that?
Someone callingyou knowing all these things about you
and you have no idea who it is,what they want.
Even in the simplest of terms, this ranks
very high on my creepy meter.
The only thing creepier is...
(35:40):
But whatever happened,
Gary has not received another callfrom said creep and has just continued
living his life in relative quiet,working as a pharmacist in Pennsylvania.
No one has been able to figure out who
or what placed those calls.
But you never know.
He was under 30 when all this happened,
which makes him less than 60 years oldtoday.
(36:03):
Chances are he'sgot plenty of time left on this earth.
What if this creep is playingthe long game?
I don't know about you,
but after hearing those calls,I feel like I need a shower.
Creepy.
If you want to go deeper,I did read a book that went much deeper
(36:24):
into Gary's dad's connectionswith the UFO world.
It's only a small part of the book,but I'll put a link to it
in the description below,if you want to take a look.
If you would prefer to stick aroundfor more unnatural
creepiness, go ahead and click right here.
Be careful out there.
And I will see youhere again, on The InBetween.
(36:49):
Thanks for tuning into The InBetween Podcast.
Enjoy the full visual experiencewith me over on YouTube.
Just search for @TheInBetweentales.
I'm Carol Ann,and until next time, be careful
out there.
Strange mysteries, unexplained phenomena.
And the shadows in between.
This is The InBetween Official Podcastwith your host,
Carol Ann!
(00:36):
A simple phone call.
We get them every day, right?
But in 1993, a series of late nightcalls to an Air Force
Captain would blurthe line between prank and paranormal.
The caller knew things they should know,spoke in ways that weren't quite human,
and left behind somethingmost mysteries don't have.
Actual proof.
(00:57):
Welcome to The InBetween.
I'm Carol Ann, and todaywe're diving into the chilling case
of what has become knownas the Sudbrink Calls.
don't.
Hey, it's Carol Ann.
You know the drill.
Leave your deets at the beep,and I'll call you back as soon as I can.
(01:20):
Answering machines.
The bane of the 90s, right?
Well, hate them if you want,but it's an answering machine that gives
this strange case something most mysteriesdon't have - proof.
But proof of what?
30 years later,that question is still unanswered.
But before I get toodeep, let's go back to the beginning.
(01:42):
This story brings us all the way backto 1993.
February 7th to be exact.
Gary is a 27 year old Air ForceCaptain stationed in Texas.
Texas is great, but he'd rather be in LongIsland, New York,
where his mom, dad and two brothers,Stephen and Brian, all live.
Lucky for him, he sees a few empty days
(02:03):
on his calendar and decides to fly hometo surprise his family with a visit.
So, not telling anyone,he heads to the airport on February 7th,
wearing his uniform with a sweater on top,to catch his flight home.
While he's waiting at the gate, he'sapproached by a regular
looking guywho strikes up a regular conversation
(02:24):
as the airline startscalling rows for boarding.
The guy whips out a notepadand asks for Gary's name.
Gary says, “Gary.”And then the guy asks for his last name.
Thankfully for Gary, the sweaterhe had on covered his military nametag,
because this guy has instantlyweirded him out.
(02:44):
Gary says,
“I don't think so,” and leavesto board the plane.
Once he's seated in his window seatand is settled in, a different guy
comes by, sits down on the aisleseat and starts chatting with Gary.
Again, nothing exceptionalabout the conversation.
Another passenger comes byand says, “You're sitting in my seat.”
(03:06):
So the guy moves overone to the middle seat and keeps chatting.
Another passenger comes byand says, “You're sitting in my seat,”
and the flight attendant tells the guyhe's got to go to his assigned seat.
The guy gets up,but instead of going to his seat,
he stands behind Gary's seat,which is the wider emergency
(03:28):
exit row, continuing the chatand asking Gary for his name.
It doesn't take longbefore the flight attendant chases
the guy back to his own seat,and Gary finally has some peace.
Once the flight arrives at LaGuardiaairport, and much to his relief,
Gary does not see the man when he'sgetting off the plane or at baggage claim.
(03:51):
But between those two guys, Gary'snow paranoid that it might be some ploy
to figure out how long he's going to beout of town so they can rob his apartment.
So he puts in a call to his landlord,
asking them to keep an eye on his placejust in case.
He makes his way to his parents house.
And all is well.
(04:11):
The next day, Monday, February 8th.
It's pretty uneventful.
That night, around 10:30 p.m.,
Gary decides to surprise his good friendMike.
Tell him he's in townand see if they can make
some plans to see each otherwhile Gary's in the area.
He calls Mike.
I'm in town. I know.
(04:32):
How do you know?
You told me yesterday.
I didn't talk to you yesterday.
This.
You did you call me to let you knowthat you're flying into JFK,
but that you have a bit of a cold.
So you weren't sureif we're going to be able to get together?
I didn't fly into JFK, and I feel fine.
Well, that's what you told me.
Before Gary can wrap his head aroundwhat Mike is saying,
(04:54):
he hears the call waiting beep in his ear.
Someone else is calling the Sudbrinks.
So Gary tells Mike to hang on and answersthe incoming call.
The voicehe hears and the things being said by
the caller are so bizarre,that Gary hits the record button
on the answering machine to recordwhat is happening.
(05:17):
Before I play this recording,just so you know, you're
also going to hear Gary's mom and dadeach pop on at different times as well.
And there are places in the recordingthat are very difficult to hear.
This is what is recorded.
(09:04):
I don't know about you,
but that is one of the creepiest thingsI have ever heard.
Just a note
that when Gary's mentioning Steven, he'stalking about his older brother.
He thinks it's his brother punking him.
Now, I don't know if he ever calledMike back or not, but according to Gary,
he then sits down with his parentstalking about how weird that was
(09:27):
when at 11:10, the phone rings again.
Once Gary figures outit's the same caller, he hits record on
the answering machine again.
(13:07):
The voice is so mechanical sounding.
And it's so quiet at times,like it's running out of juice.
But don't go off into Sherlock Holmes modejust yet.
We're not done.
At 11:38, so just a couple of minuteslater, the phone rings again.
And just a heads up.
When Gary's dad mentionsBrian, he's just accidentally calling Gary
(13:31):
by his little brother's name.
(16:56):
Wow. That's insanity.
The third call turns outto be the last of the evening.
So the Sudbrink family headsto bed for the night.
Although I would betthat none of them got much sleep.
The next day, it's uneventfuluntil 10:21 that night.
The phone rings and you guessed it,it's our mysterious anonymous caller.
(17:18):
In this phone call,you are also going to hear Gary's Uncle
Tom pop in for a moment.
(21:12):
And with that,
the call is over and our strange, creepycaller is never heard from again.
Now, it's important to notethat Gary's dad and his uncle Tom,
who got on the line there for a bit,are way into the UFO phenomenon.
Gary's dad even had his ownsighting in West Virginia a while back.
He and Tom drove to Green
(21:33):
Bank, West Virginiato see the telescope that had collapsed.
They drove in separate cars.
So Tom wasn't around when Gary's dadhappened to spot a flying object
that looked like a hat with a bandaround it, about the size of a small VW,
hovering just 20 or 30ft from his car,before it blinked out of existence.
(21:55):
So if you're thinking that his questionin the first phone call
as to whether or notthe caller is an intergalactic
person seemed random, now you know why.
But I have to say, when you listen to thatrecording, don't visions of E.T.
and Men in Black startsswirling through your head?
Of course, the caller's mention of thingslike “keep your eyes on the sky” and “to
(22:19):
be within this planet” kind of makeit almost impossible not to think that.
understandably,most people think it's a hoax.
If you speed up the voice,it actually sounds like a regular person.
The movie “Home
Alone 2 (22:38):
Lost in New York” came out just two months
before this, which featured little Kevinpulling a fast one on the hotel staff
using something called a Talk Boy.
(23:02):
After seeing the popularity of the movie,
Tiger Electronics produceda real life version of the movie toy
that had the capability to change the tapespeed
to change the pitchof the original recording.
Easy peasy.
Are we done here?
The real Talk Boy
with the voicechanging feature did not hit the markets
(23:26):
until April of 1993, so whatever happened
here is not that simple.
So let's take a look at what we have.
We have a recorded voicethat doesn't sound at all natural
that is repeating the same phrasesover and over again.
Some of those phrases are demonstrablythe same recording.
(23:47):
For example, let's take a look atthe phrase “You are being impersonated
by the other voice.”Before we go any further,
I would just like to point outthat I am not an audio expert,
although I did play one in college,which gave me just enough
knowledge to be a danger to myselfand those in close proximity.
(24:08):
When you overlay the two clips and listen,you can't hear any difference between
the two And the spectrograph of these twoclips shows an identical signature.
The same is true for the phrase “Keepyour eye on the sky” in call number two.
Here's the spectrograph for this one.
Same exact soundclip.
(24:29):
But then there are other phrasessuch as “How long are you going to be back
from Texas” that are differentbetween call one and call two.
both the waveforms and spectrograph showthat they don't match.
And it's not justthat one is stretched out.
I tried that too,and it still didn't work.
I will say that the second onethat is longer sounds a little deeper,
(24:53):
like the recorder is running outof batteries and playing slower.
But like I said, I tried to stretch oneto match the other and it didn't work.
They, in my opinion, are different clips.
So this is a different phrase.
Why would somebody do that?
Why go through all the effortof recording the phrase
(25:13):
a second time, when you already haveit loaded on your tape?
And that's not the only instance.
When they ask the question“Is Gary Sudbrink there?”
the clip with the stutter fromthe first call
is replaced by a clearer versionin calls three and four.
Why would he ask, “Who is this?”That seems more than a little random,
(25:35):
but let's just saysomeone has a Walkman or something
and they figured out how to slow it downwhen playing, so the voice sounds deeper.
They recorded a bunch of weird phrases,and they're rewinding
back to different phrases as they go.
In fact, sometimes you can hear noise thatsounds like a recorder is being rewound.
(26:00):
If that whirring sound is a tape recorder
rewinding,how do they know how far to rewind?
Well, they probably don't.
A couple of the phrasesare actually parts of longer phrases.
Or maybe they had a few bucksand owned a sampler.
You know, something like this.
(26:28):
If they were using a sampler,
that would make it way easier to throw outrandom phrases in no particular order.
However, it's not just random.
There is some order,at least to some of it.
The easiest to spot is call number one.
The phrases “is Gary Sud-Sudbrinkthere,” “so how long are you going
(26:50):
to be back from Texas?” and “you'rebeing impersonated by the other voice,”
show up in the same orderfor the entire call.
Same goes for call number two with “keepyour eye on the skies”,
“near Orion”, and “the full moon”.
Interestingly enough, the call ends
with a new phrase, “show double from you”.
(27:13):
Random.
But keep that tidbitin the back of your brain for a moment.
Call number four starts with some oldiesbut goodies phrases from the prior
three calls, but then goes off the railswith a bunch of new ones,
which are way more intriguing,obvious hints
that these are calls being madefrom someone not of this world.
(27:36):
However, put your headinto the mind of a punk prankster.
You make the calls the first nightand hear Gary's dad immediately
jump to the assumptionthat it's an intergalactic person,
it would be very easyto add some new phrases
overnightto further that idea for the second night.
(27:56):
But let's go back to that phrase “showdouble from you”.
That phrase is the last phrase spokenin calls two and three,
and the second to last in call four,and nowhere else.
That doesn't seem random.
If the prankster is using a cassetterecorder, their phrases are recorded
linearly on the tape,so they would have to know precisely
(28:19):
how far back to go on the tapeto hit the right phrase at the end.
And that is possible.
Many cassette playershad counters on them,
and they could have made a note of whereon the tape each phrase is recorded.
But why go through the trouble?
Of course, if they're using a sampler,
going back to prior phraseswould be as simple as hitting a button.
(28:42):
But why use that phraseat the end of the last three calls?
That implies some kind of structureor message that is certainly not apparent.
If this is a prankster trying to fool Garyinto thinking he's an alien
trying to make contact,then why be this random?
You could certainly create phrasesthat would do a much better job
(29:03):
of heating up a tinfoil hatwithout being too obvious.
And if they were using a sampler,how do you account
for the growing weakness in the voice?
The quality of the voice is much louderand clearer in call one than in calls two
and three, but it seems to be rechargedfor the next day for call number four.
(29:24):
I guesswhoever this was could be moving the phone
further and further away from the source.
But why?
And the voice and callstwo and three doesn't just sound quieter.
It sounds weaker,but not necessarily slowed down.
Now, there is a common thread throughmany MIB stories of these beings
(29:47):
seeming to slow downlike they're losing energy.
One such case is that of Doctor HerbertHopkins that we cover in another episode.
A link to that episode will be inthe description if you want to dig deeper.
But suffice to say that his story
sounds a lotlike what you hear on these phone calls.
And it's not uncommon for peoplewho have had a UFO sighting
(30:10):
to report getting a visitfrom these mysterious men in black.
However, usually that happenswithin a few days of the sighting.
Gary'sdad's sighting was way back in 1988.
But in the end,I have to say that the chances
that someone was just punkingGary are pretty high.
(30:30):
But then the question becomes,who and why?
In the three decadessince these calls were made.
No one has fessed up to being the caller.
Let's think about this for a second.
Whoever called would have to know Gary'sfirst and last name,
his parent's phone number, that he'sactually in town staying with his parents,
(30:52):
that he lives in Texas, know Mike's
phone number,and be able to imitate Gary's voice.
It's not his mom or dad.
They were in the room.
It's most likely not his brother's.
Steven was not known to be a pranksterkind of guy.
And if you're going to go to these lengthsto prank your brother,
you're going to tell him at some pointjust so you can see his face.
(31:18):
That's how siblings work.
It's not his friend, Mike.
Mike was on the linewhen the first call came in.
It's most likely not Garyplaying a hoax on everyone, since
he has never sought any kind of attentionor money making opportunities.
The case is pretty muchreally only been discussed
(31:38):
at UFO conferencesor on panels by other people.
Could it be some of his Air Force buddies?
Some of them might have known he was gone,
and they could probably get their handson Gary's parents number.
But how would they get Mike's number?
And if they're the pranksters?
Why wouldn't they allhave had a good laugh
(32:01):
at Gary's expensewhen he got back to Texas?
Gary has done some interviewsover the years, but it's not like he's
out there trying to sell a book,trying to promote himself and his story.
But in the end, all of these possibilities
still leave the lingering question of why.
(32:21):
What's the motive?
A prank is no fun if there isn't a payoff.
It could be a random stranger.
Never underestimatethe creativity of a board teenager.
And the payoff is the laughs of knowingyou pulled it off.
But a random punk is not going to know
all of the details necessaryto pull off these calls.
(32:46):
But before you put everything togetherin your head
to make a decision on this creepy case,you might want to pump
those brakes a little.
Because just like I like to eat my cake,sometimes
I leave the frosting for last.
A year earlier, Steven was on the highwaydriving to his wedding
(33:07):
when he sees Garypull up next to him in his car,
make some faces at himand then keeps driving.
Steven thinks, “That's odd.
But hey, it's my wedding day!”And he's just glad to see his brother
made it in from Texas to be there.
The funny thing is, Steven didn'ttell Gary anything about this
(33:28):
until after he'dheard about the creepy phone calls.
And Garydidn't bring his car for the wedding.
He flew in. So his car is back in Texas.
Gary says he never saw his brother onthe highway much less make faces at him.
But Steven is adamantthat whoever it was looked
just like Garyand had the same car as Gary.
(33:53):
Kind of puts a new spin on the phrasefrom the phone calls
that says “shows double from you”.
And considering the phonecall to his friend Mike the day before,
the phrase “you're being impersonated by
the other voice”also becomes very interesting.
So if you take all these events together- the phone calls,
(34:14):
the impersonated call to his friend Mike,the weird guys at the airport
and on the plane from Texas to New York,maybe even his dad's UFO sighting -
if you take all of thatas one giant collection of weirdness
surrounding Gary, the theory of a random
prankster becomes next to impossible,just because of the immense
(34:36):
amount of planning involved and knowledgerequired. Oh!
Add to the mix that as his momwas being treated for cancer back in 2000,
the clinic told herthat her daughter had called
asking how her renal function was doing.
But Gary doesn't have any sisters.
And if you separate them, the phone calls
(34:58):
being independent of the other weirdness,then what's up with this average
Long Islander who attractsso many bizarre happenings?
The odds of that seem equally as unlikely.
And even if you put all of the extrainformation aside
and considerthis just a series of prank calls.
(35:19):
How creepy is that?
Someone callingyou knowing all these things about you
and you have no idea who it is,what they want.
Even in the simplest of terms, this ranks
very high on my creepy meter.
The only thing creepier is...
(35:40):
But whatever happened,
Gary has not received another callfrom said creep and has just continued
living his life in relative quiet,working as a pharmacist in Pennsylvania.
No one has been able to figure out who
or what placed those calls.
But you never know.
He was under 30 when all this happened,
which makes him less than 60 years oldtoday.
(36:03):
Chances are he'sgot plenty of time left on this earth.
What if this creep is playingthe long game?
I don't know about you,
but after hearing those calls,I feel like I need a shower.
Creepy.
If you want to go deeper,I did read a book that went much deeper
(36:24):
into Gary's dad's connectionswith the UFO world.
It's only a small part of the book,but I'll put a link to it
in the description below,if you want to take a look.
If you would prefer to stick aroundfor more unnatural
creepiness, go ahead and click right here.
Be careful out there.
And I will see youhere again, on The InBetween.
(36:49):
Thanks for tuning into The InBetween Podcast.
Enjoy the full visual experiencewith me over on YouTube.
Just search for @TheInBetweentales.
I'm Carol Ann,and until next time, be careful
out there.
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