Welcome to a thrill-packed episode of 'Studio Sinister', where your hosts, Farrah and Courtney, explore the intersection of the strange, unexplained, and downright sinister. With discussions ranging from unconventional social media trends to their personal experiences with paranormal activities, this episode provides a multifaceted view into the mysterious unknown. The episode climaxes with the listener favorite, "What's Haunting You" with a bone-chilling narration of Monica White's dreadful encounter with an alleged serial killer, providing an eerie perspective on the dangers lurking behind seemingly harmless digital interactions. Courtney wants Farrah to join the MARS simulation program so she can live vicariously through her! It's a year long program and the entry deadline is April 2nd. If you'd like to apply, see the information at the end of the show notes.
Further carving the path of suspense, we chronicle the gripping tale of submariners Roger Mallinson and Roger Chapman, trapped 1,575 feet underwater and left to battle against dwindling oxygen supplies and horrifying isolation. An inspiring testament to human resilience, the story draws on their raw determination to survive a life-threatening ordeal within the oppressing depths of the sea.
The episode also allows listeners to delve into the distinct lives of Chapman and Mallinson, two seasoned Royal Navy servicemen. This regular-day turned survival saga, due to an unprecedented incident on board the Pisces III, is sure to keep you on edge. Throughout the harrowing ordeal, we highlight the poignant support by international rescue teams and the stranded submariners' incredible endurance, creating an unforgettable narrative about the lengths people can go when faced with despairing circumstances.
This power-packed episode of 'Studio Sinister' promises to immerse listeners in chilling narratives that span from the supernatural to an unparalleled underwater survival epic. Whether you are a deep-sea enthusiast or are captivated by exotic survival stories, this episode promises to leave you enthralled and pondering the bounds of the human spirit.
Stay connected with Studio Sinister for your regular dose of the sinister and supernatural! We drop spine-chilling episodes on the 1st, 10th, and 20th of each month—mark your calendar for a sinister delight.
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Explore the depths of our sinister tales even further on our episode/blog site, Studio Sessions Blog. Discover detailed show notes, extra details, audio-visual aids, links, and additional resources to enrich your Studio Sinister experience.
Our blog isn't just about the episodes; it's a haven for scary stories. Be part of it by subscribing and never missing a post. We feature spine-chilling narratives, including stories sent in by our listeners—real encounters with the strange and inspirational tales showcasing the resilience of the human spirit.
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Until next time, stay true, stay you, stay sinister!
Farrah & Courtney
Entry for Mars Simulation https://chapea.nasa.gov
Information on Martians needed
Shopping Cart Killer Linked to 6th Death
Monica's Story
Roger Chapman & Roger Mallison Story
Survival Story
things eerie. I'm Courtney.
We are your guides through the twisted paths of the strange,
the unexplained, and the downright sinister.
So nice to see you, my friend. We have so much to talk about today.
(00:23):
But first, have you experienced any little hauntings, anything strange going on? Yeah. Do tell.
I mean, I should just say, I don't want to necessarily say that we have been.
I just feel like everything is always going on in our house.
But specifically, I was recording like a co-host episode with John on Dairyland
Frights and we were talking about it.
(00:44):
And we were talking about the various different haunts that are like going on in our houses, right?
And our connections that we've had. and he was saying that a lot of his guests
on his show have been like also experiencing.
Kind of the same hauntings that we have shadow figures just around
out of the corner of their eye as well as feeling under the weather the same
(01:06):
things that have been happening to us have been happening to other creators
in this space and we were talking about how we think it might be the planets
because they've been weird this year okay and i have not been able to stop That
isn't my What's Haunting You fact this week,
but I just had to bring that up to you because when he mentioned it yesterday, I was freaked out.
Enlighten me about this planet thing. What does that mean? That's terribly,
(01:29):
if that's the right word for it.
I heard somewhere that I want to say it was on what podcast?
Morbid Podcast. I was listening to them and Ashkel said that the planets were,
aligning in a way that they haven't ever in our lifetime.
And it's creating some like insane energy. I'm not like huge into astrology,
(01:50):
so I don't know the ins and outs of it.
But I think that I've had a strange start to the year, not a bad start,
just strange. You know what I mean? Just weirdly busy.
And I feel like you've had the same as well. So I thought there was some like
credence to the idea that maybe this is causing some paranormal activity,
not just for us, but just for everybody who works in this space.
(02:11):
Wonder if that has anything to do with the cell phone outage that happened the
other day. Maybe, maybe.
That, I didn't even realize that was happening until after it had happened.
I was not affected by it. And then my coworker, we were in a meeting and she
said that she couldn't use her phone at all.
Jake's friends that are in his class, they had no cell phone service.
(02:34):
And have you been watching some reels that came up of people practically beating
on the doors of AT&T and screaming?
At the fucking poor associates there was
this one late and she was
in her running gear her hat and ponytail and
she's i had a job interview at 9 a.m
(02:56):
and that just got fucked up and they were like ma'am this is a nationwide outage
it's not just at&t she comes up real close to the girl's shirt and points it
says you provide nationwide coverage right there so fix it oh no i love how
people people as someone who works in customer service,
(03:16):
talk to customer service.
I don't want to get into it because this is my time off the clock.
They thought, get a grip.
That sucks about your job interview. It really does. And I feel where you're coming from.
But also if you're, if you are having an outage, they're having an outage.
And they even, they explain that they're like, it's not just us. It's Verizon.
(03:37):
It's a, it's cricket. And she's, I don't care. I don't care.
Fix it. Are you that clueless, lady?
It just threw me for a loop that somebody could be that horrible.
Just like you said, if we in customer service were to treat a customer like
that, we'd be written up or fired.
Just point blank. Off topic, but also on the same topic.
(04:00):
Have you been seeing those like reels and TikToks of people pretending to be
at their call center job or at
the remote customer service job and the way that they like talk to them?
Like customers are the way that they want to, they're hysterical.
If you work in this industry, go on TikTok or on Instagram and look them up
because they're so relatable and funny and they give me life.
(04:22):
I should do those. I have many great conversations that I have done as a customer service rep.
But back to the whole haunting, I also think, and again, my opinion,
but I think the way that the country has turned a little negative, a lot of people do,
(04:42):
link that to demonic forces at play.
Is it really? Wow. I can see that. In the past two weeks, I've watched two priests
that were interviewed and they were talking about their times performing real exorcisms.
You have to send me those videos.
Oh my God. I am going to try to get the one priest on because he does a lot of interviews.
(05:09):
So I'm going to reach out to him. but yes, I will send them to you.
He gets like 700 requests a week.
750 requests a week. Oh my God.
People that think they are possessed or family members that have called in and
think that their loved one is possessed.
They have seen a rise in the numbers where they have to actually go through
(05:34):
a class a short two months compared to a six month that they used to do.
So get out Out there, they don't even have enough exorcists for the rampage
that is going on in our country and overseas.
Can we, and you may not know the answer to this question, but just to ask,
are they seeing a higher number of, because obviously you have to go through
(05:57):
a whole kit and caboodle with the psych testing and a bunch of other stuff in
order to be able to verify whether or not it's a bona fide demonic possession or attachment.
Have they seen an uptick of people who have or who they believe to have an actual
possession or attachment?
Do you know? It's not a huge uptick, but yes, they have more,
(06:21):
but it's also a lot more mental illness.
But he said people that haven't had an illness all their life and then all of
a sudden do at 34, 35 years old, it's because they have encountered a weak part in their life.
They have maybe cheated on their spouse.
Maybe they tried a drug. And once you do that, it knocks that veil down for
(06:47):
something to enter in. Exactly.
That's why you have to be so careful, not only like working in the work that
we do, obviously, but just in your everyday life.
Once you let that door squeak open, even a tiny bit, it's going to fucking fly
open if anything dark or negative comes through.
That's so interesting. I want to watch more of those. Yes, ma'am.
(07:10):
And I tell you what, to hear some of the stories that he describes of the exorcisms
that he's done are just shocking.
And what I will do for our listeners too, I'll add these into the show notes,
the couple different videos that I watch.
I think it's a very interesting occupation to have as an exorcist.
And the fact that they're real blows my mind. I would love to be an exorcist.
(07:36):
I know I can't because don't you have to be a priest to be an exorcist?
A verifiable one, but there are many people that practice demonology that are
just as good, if not the same.
As long as you are blessed by someone higher in the church, then,
of course, you can attempt even real exorcists that are approved from the Vatican.
(07:58):
Even though they're approved and they're like God's army, it doesn't mean that
when they go into somewhere that it won't make it any worse.
Sometimes it takes a couple tries because that
force is very powerful but the
thing that just really struck me as well is that
he had mentioned the name that starts with a b oh no and i won't i mean we all
(08:22):
we i have heard that come through spirit boxes in a lot of investigations that
have turned out to be a negative haunting just goes to show holy shit these
things walk on our earth They walk among us.
And that is terrifying.
Dude. The other thing that's worth mentioning too is there are a lot,
(08:43):
I don't want to say a lot, but I've seen it come up where it's like something
is saying that it's that, and then it's just an ordinary, I don't want to say ordinary,
but like a trickster spirit pretending to, not to bring this up every time we
record, but like in the conjuring house, that comes up all the time.
And they don't believe that is an entity that's haunting there.
(09:03):
In the slightest a lot of times there are little demonic minions that aren't
as strong as a true demon like the b-man but they are the tricksters and the
shitheads that can ruin your life
hide all your stuff change things around create arguments in the house.
(09:24):
But let's get in to our What's Haunting You.
So, Courtney, why don't you go ahead and go to first?
So I picked this one out specifically for you.
I had one that I was going to do, and it was like the Amelia Earhart plane stuff
because it fits in with this episode.
But I came across this and it just overtook me as something that I want you
(09:48):
to do so I can live vicariously through you because I don't fit the qualifications. agents.
NASA, of all places, is, or all things, is creating a Mars simulation here on Earth, obviously.
It's a year-long program. They're accepting applications and volunteers to do this.
You are supposedly going to, not you specifically, but whoever volunteers for
(10:12):
this, is supposedly going to be living in a simulated Mars habitat for approximately
a year, doing Mars-like chores,
going out on simulated moonwalks with spacewalks, as well as operating robots
and maintaining the habitat,
getting exercise, as well as growing crops.
You have to be in between the ages of 30 and 55 to do this, so I can't, unfortunately.
(10:37):
They want you to be proficient in the English language, as well as have a strong
desire for unique, rewarding adventures. Ventures.
And they also said that they do want somebody who has a scientific educational
background, but they will accept veterans and families of veterans.
I'm really excited. I'm intrigued.
(10:57):
I wonder if this has anything to do with Elon's program,
because Elon was supposedly creating a Mars group to go and do a habitat and
be up there for seven to eight years in little domes that they're putting on Mars.
They're little domes like this where you get your own little place.
This was years ago that I heard this.
(11:20):
NASA was doing it. They were taking applications where they were doing like
a job hunt kind of thing to go up there.
And then I haven't heard anything about them, but then you hear that Elon is working on something.
I wonder if this is the first stage of, let's see
people in this type of zone in a simulation and
(11:40):
then if they're really good then we'll put them up there yeah this
is nasa too i think this might be like an ongoing thing
that they do but i just thought that was interesting i don't know if anybody
listening wants to apply but if you do the deadline is tuesday april 2nd and
you can apply at https slash i'm gonna mess this up chapia.nasa.gov we'll have that in the notes,
(12:06):
Yeah, we'll have it linked. I just thought that was so cool that you can like
effectively live on Mars for a year and get that sort of experience.
So if anyone would love to do that, you know me, I'll I'm that raise my hand
every time something comes around. Yeah.
I feel like when I saw this, I was like, I have to tell Farrah about it.
And I was just like, I'll save it for the episode because someone out there might be interested.
(12:29):
And if you guys listening are interested and end up getting to go to the program,
send us an email once it's over so we can learn about it. Yeah.
We want to hear your story. That is great. I'm going to look that up and just
review it and see, you know, what all entails of that, because it would be something
that I would definitely try. Interesting.
I'm sending it to you now, just before I forget. Okay.
(12:52):
I'll put it in the show notes for everybody so they can take a gander at it
as well and see maybe if it's something that they feel like they want to take
on and good luck to anyone that does.
That's a great little story. That was a good one. Very unique. Thank you.
So for my What's Haunting Us, it is a true crime case that has come to light and shocked the nation.
(13:17):
A woman named Monica White had met a man online who turned out to be,
we'll just say, a real creep.
She had started dating this dude, Anthony Robinson, who she went on some type
of dating app. Turns out he's now being called the, quote, shopping cart killer.
Oh. Because they think that he has killed at least six women and left most of
(13:43):
the body in or around a shopping cart.
Is it like a fetish? Is it supposed to be funny?
It's for sure his M.O. Exactly.
But it's like, what's the psychology behind that? And after they had matched,
Monica and Anthony would call and video chat each other every day.
Monica said she really wasn't looking for anything serious, just someone to
(14:09):
talk to since she's been divorced for a few years, which is normal.
Anthony told her that he had a daughter and worked taking out trash.
At first, Monica thought he seemed normal.
In January, though, Anthony took a bus from Virginia to Pennsylvania to meet Monica in person.
(14:31):
But Monica said from the minute she picked him up, something felt off.
He was saying weird things like, don't judge me right away. Get to know me first.
Right there, that's a red flag already. That's a red flag. Somebody says that,
kick them out of your fucking car.
Dude, what are you doing? That's just awfully strange.
(14:54):
It's just is weird. I don't like when women reject me. Second big flag, right there.".
Music.
So Monica decided to give him a chance.
But then in bed, he really creeped her out.
She went to first, second, and third base with this man.
(15:17):
He really creeped her out, trying to tie her up and grabbing her neck when she said no. Oh, my God.
During that visit, he also wanted to move in with her already.
We're going a bit too fast. Girl, go off if you want to, like,
have a fun fling, but he is going way... I'm sure she also felt trapped, obviously.
(15:42):
That's awful. It's going to get worse, isn't it? And she said, whoa, slow down, dude.
Anthony asked to come back the next month for Monica's birthday.
He showed up a week early with a one-way bus ticket, saying that he had job offers in her area. up.
Monica wasn't having it though and didn't want to be physical with him again.
(16:06):
Then on her birthday. Oh God, you're just gonna.
On her. Just take a guess. On her birthday, what did he do? Did he get her an engagement ring?
No. Worse. That's what I'm saying. You're not even gonna be able to guess this.
That's the, to me, the scary second date you're bringing out a diamond diamond
(16:26):
ring? He peed in her fucking bed.
What? He peed in her fucking bed. On purpose?
I think it, yeah, on purpose. It was, I think it was something like a territorial thing.
The man was like fucked up in the head, dude. Moving on.
Monica flipped out about that. Now, after that, Monica told Anthony she didn't want a relationship.
(16:48):
That's when he started acting all crazy.
Monica made him leave. He was already acting off the chain, dude. Okay, keep going.
Monica made him leave, but gave him $20 for the train ticket.
Then he tried getting her to come to his motel room, offering her $500.
(17:12):
But Monica said, no way. So right there, he doesn't think very highly of women.
And she was an upstanding woman, had children, had a good job, had her own place.
But to degrade her and say, come to my motel room for 500 bucks.
Okay, that means that he is a thing for prostitutes.
(17:34):
This poor woman, like just a nice person to spend time with.
I, okay. And maybe a good fuck once in a while. There's nothing wrong with that.
Absolutely not. Like his companionship. A while later, Monica said Anthony was
outside the motel acting totally different, like something snapped.
Months later, Monica's cousin showed her an article about Anthony's arrest for being a serial killer.
(18:00):
Monica started putting it all together. She thinks rejecting Anthony may have made him snap.
And that's why he was trying to get her to come to the hotel or the motel?
Maybe to kill her, but since she denied, he went on a fucking spree.
But crazy to think that she let that dude stay in her house.
(18:25):
She slept with that man.
Poor thing. Oh, my God. But also, she had to change sheets of an adult male that pissed in her bed.
Like, who the fuck does that? Dean has to clean her mattress.
To be honest, it reminds me of the defamation lawsuit with Johnny Depp where
(18:45):
he was like, she pooped in my bed.
And they were like, how do you know it was her?
I know that shit anywhere. Sorry, I really shouldn't laugh and make light because
this is a really unfortunate situation.
But I'm so uncomfortable. And also, that's where my mind went,
where he was like, because I only have two Yorkies.
(19:07):
I know that shit anywhere. That was wild. We watched that at work.
That is a red flag, though.
That is a sign. that dude is
he does not respect women number one because
he wants to choke him out he wants to piss like
it's his territory just off the
wall and shit put yourself in her shoes the
(19:28):
first thing or one of the first things he says to her is monica i don't like
it when women reject me she probably was like seeing these signs and not wanting
to upset him and hoping maybe if she She doesn't say anything verbally and just
gives off body language or something.
Maybe he'll just go away or maybe she can fade out without causing any upset.
(19:52):
And then when it finally came to a head, but obviously it wasn't the case,
but I can imagine she was petrified because I would be.
I don't know what I would do in that situation, but I probably wouldn't outright
immediately be like, get out of my car, even though that's the logical thing to do.
It's scary. I'm someone that I would have a gun in my car.
So I would be like, excuse me, baby, let me grab a breath mint real quick.
(20:15):
Get the fuck out my car. And then I open up the freaking door and pick him out.
But again, you want to be safe too in that kind of instant.
Just think about this. They only talked for two months over chat.
And then he comes into town. First of all, her messing with him too.
(20:36):
That was just too early because he just sounded like a freak already in the car.
But regardless, I'm glad to know that she is alive.
Live it's horrible to hear about six
other women that lost their lives and
you just wonder what were those cases like
what happened in all those right i was gonna ask obviously there's probably
(20:58):
no way to tell it's too soon but that is absolutely off the wall scary i don't
blame her for wanting That can be a dip, but it's terrifying.
Stop for a second. Did you just make noises over there? I heard my door knocking.
(21:18):
It was like... Yeah, I felt it knocking. I don't know. It wasn't me.
I don't know if that was my dog. I'm going to say it was.
I heard that shit loud and clear. But anyway, if you are dating someone that
just doesn't, it doesn't feel right. right?
They're saying crazy things and
treating you more like property than a person. That is a huge red flag.
(21:41):
Do not take it as, oh, look how much they're protective of me. No way.
There's a difference between protection and going overboard and wanting to know your every move.
That is your sign to get out now. I've been in.
Domestic violence before. It took me eight different times to leave because
you're knocked down to nothing.
(22:03):
So there are so many resources out there for women nowadays.
Make sure that you take advantage of it. Reach out if you need help.
And friends, if you see a friend that is struggling with a relationship, say something.
Sometimes people feel bad asking, hey, can I stay at your house?
You reach out to them and say, hey, how about you come and stay at my house?
(22:24):
Because Because they don't want to think they're a burden.
It's so much easier for the person on the outside who's seeing it to reach out
and step in and be a good Samaritan and be a good friend than it is for the
person who's on the inside.
Because they quite literally are trapped. And it's sad. And it's terrifying.
But anyways. Very terrifying. But let's move on.
(22:45):
So tonight's episode, I don't know too much about this particular subject.
I know you're going to love it. Courtney, the floor is yours. worse.
The best way to describe why I picked it is because when you and I first started
talking about having a podcast together, we didn't want it to be just ghost
(23:07):
stories or just one topic.
We wanted it to be stories that haunt us and stories that haunt everyone.
And the reason why I picked this fresh out the gate, because I came up with
it, I want to say the first day when we were brainstorming ideas,
is because this situation, to me,
is one of the most terrifying terrifying situations any person can be in.
(23:28):
And I think you guys will see why the people in this story survive.
It's a survivor tale. I'd like to start out this segment by asking you guys
to imagine yourself in a very dark space.
It's cramped. You can't stand. You can't even sit up straight for the most part.
It's cold, wet, and you can barely breathe. You aren't alone, but you may as well be.
(23:50):
You have a companion with you, but you can't talk to them, except for in the
event of a life-threatening emergency, because even talking can be a threat to life itself.
For many of us, this sounds like our worst nightmare, but for Roger Mallinson
and Roger Chapman, this was their real-life experience aboard the Pisces III,
a Vickers Oceanic Submersible that went missing in August of 1973. 1973.
(24:13):
Theirs is a tale of resilience, trust, and quick thinking throughout a three-day
ordeal, during which they were submerged 1,575 feet below the water's surface.
Under the Sea, the survival tale of two Rogers starts now.
(24:33):
Nationwide crime is dominating the headlines here in America.
Someone was murdered, I think. Where? I lost it. The CTA.
I lost it. I lost it. I just shot and killed my son, Max, and my wife, Michelle.
(24:53):
We are attempting to stay one week at the official car right now. Yes.
Recipes. Poverty. Drugs. Ties of you. Cold night. I'm sorry.
There's someone standing there. You're back where you came from. Studio Sinister.
When the Pisces III went missing in August of 1973, based off of that alone,
(25:17):
what would you do in that situation?
Number one, I'm claustrophobic. Would already be difficult for me to go through that.
And one of my biggest fear of death is drowning.
I don't like that feeling of suffocation. So the fact of being hundreds of feet in the dark ocean,
(25:41):
and even if we could escape without being the depressurized thing and we could
float up to the top with no issues.
That's such a journey, you wouldn't make it to the top.
You know what I mean? Yeah, that would be terrifying.
The most recent submersible that lost those people, the fact that it crushed them.
(26:03):
Because one thing that bothered me about it, Jake and I were talking about it.
I said, could you imagine that last 24 hours where they knew that it was going to happen?
And thank goodness the one guy had his son there and that they got to go together.
But it was heartbreaking to know that, oh my God, we're going to run out of air soon.
(26:25):
And they were probably probably crying and talking about good times and their kids and their wives.
I think the thing too is, didn't that one completely crush instantly or no?
It imploded. They ran out of oxygen and they- Oh, I didn't realize.
Okay. The pressure thing then in turn disabled and they just crumbled into nothing.
(26:48):
That is literally terrifying, but that's why I picked it because not that story specifically,
But just the idea of being stuck in what is essentially a tin can miles below
the surface, not knowing whether or not you're going to be able to make it out
of the situation, that is the epitome of a haunting story.
(27:09):
And that is what would you do? What would you do? Yeah.
I would, number one, I wouldn't be caught dead in a point blank.
But in the event that I was, I like to think after reading this story,
I would try to mimic their efforts as much as possible.
I am not obviously an expert when it comes to submarines or anything like that.
(27:34):
So their engineering skills would probably be able to take them a lot further.
But there are some, I think, key things that if I was thinking logically,
I would want to try to do. And we'll get into that in a moment. it.
But mainly, I think the biggest thing would be trying to conserve as much oxygen
as possible in the hope that maybe we could be rescued.
(27:59):
Because it's a time game. It's not just, we're absolutely doomed.
It's more of when will they find us? And if they do find us,
and how long will that take?
And can we beat that clock? It's terrifying.
Let's get into it. Like I said, this story is for sure a haunting one.
I think we can all see that.
(28:20):
But again, Chapman and Mallinson do live through this story.
They were able to survive solely off of their resilience, trust,
quick thinking, and it went over the course of about three days in which they
were submerged about 1,575 feet below the water's surface. Oh, Farrah, I'm sorry.
(28:42):
I'm literally the depths of hell with this one. I just look over and she has
her head in her hands. That's terrifying to me because that's dark.
And it's already one thing when you're in such a small, compact thing like that.
But when you're down where nobody can get to you quickly and you can't get to
the service quickly, that is just...
Correct me if I'm wrong, too. You can't just quickly go up to the surface anyways,
(29:06):
because the pressure change will cause it to. That's what I'm saying.
Even if you could open up and scuba dive out, but you don't have anything or
you can even have oxygen on and go up, you have to do it at a certain pace or you'll get the bends,
which causes hallucinations or a clot will pop in your brain.
(29:27):
So I wouldn't be caught dead in one of those anyway.
But if I was a researcher and I had studied and practiced and everything to
do that, then, okay, that's so be it. That's my career.
But God, just hearing the scenes, it's horrifying.
And to be that far below the surface, it's not hundreds of feet.
(29:49):
It's 1,500 and some change is so beyond.
I can't even fathom that, these poor men. But before we get into the actual
story, I want to talk a little bit about the survivors, because obviously that's why we're here.
Roger Ralph Chapman was a British submariner and businessman who was born in
(30:11):
Hong Kong, of all places, in July of 1945.
When he was 18 years old, he joined the Royal Navy, which is where he got his start as a submariner.
He rose the ranks, but he was eventually discharged due to problems with his vision.
So obviously, that isn't going to help you in military service.
(30:33):
So he went on to be the founder of a small UK-based telephone cable-laying service.
And it was the first UK company to use a remotely created underwater vehicle
to lay those cables in the ocean.
So even after he was discharged, he's still obviously working in this field.
(30:53):
I'm assuming he probably has a
real passion for it. If you have a sense of adventure, I can imagine that.
Going and exploring the depths of the sea is probably really exciting.
Like we've talked about, it's not something that either of us would want to do by any means.
But I guess these two men really enjoyed it. Good for them for following that passion.
(31:14):
This company was later acquired by Vickers Oceanics, where Chapman continued
to work there until up into this incident in 1973.
1973 in 1971 he married
julia sanson and later had two sons
named marcus and sam and
they were very young when i
(31:35):
believe that this occurred after the whole
incident on the submersible that we're about to talk about he founded the rummik
foundation which is a charity for sick and disabled children so that's his whole
life story he seems like a great guy like i said very very passionate about
the ocean and exploring that sort of terrain,
(31:57):
which I cannot imagine.
But I will say Roger Mallinson was unfortunately a little bit harder to track
down. I think he lived somewhat of a more quiet life.
He was also a pilot for the British Royal Navy.
So they were both servicemen at one point in their life. Today,
he's about 85 years old, and he's the owner of the the Shamrock Trust,
(32:18):
which is dedicated to preserving the historic Shamrock, a freshwater barge cruise
ship that sails England's largest lake, the Windermere, if I'm pronouncing that correctly.
That's all the information, honestly, I could find about him.
Like I said, I think he lives a quieter life.
But I still wanted to explain who these men were prior to getting into the horrors
(32:41):
that they endured in 1973.
They were normal citizens that had a career that they loved.
And it's sad when that career one day could possibly kill you.
And I think the other thing, too, is it seems like after the fact,
they no longer work in the career that they loved. That was their entire life.
(33:01):
And they were in it at first for military service, but I assume they really
enjoyed it if after the fact they went to work as a civilian with submersibles.
So there was a real passion there, at least from my understanding.
Now that we know who these men are, let's go ahead and talk about the life-altering
incident that they shared together.
It was August 29, 1973, when the commercial sub Pisces III dove into the Celtic
(33:27):
Sea off the coast of Ireland.
The craft was measuring in about 20 feet long, 7 feet wide, and about 6 feet in diameter.
I know that sounds big, but imagine yourself as a full-grown man with all of
the equipment that would be in there and how claustrophobic that would be.
Yeah, and I've seen the inside of a sub, even a ship.
(33:49):
I've gone to the USS New Wilmington in North Carolina.
The areas are small. They're compact. packed.
You have to think too, like this is the third in the Pisces fleet per se, right?
And we'll get into that later, but there were two more before it. No problems.
However, during the rescue operations, they were all having problems.
(34:11):
That's interesting to me. These are top of the line equipment for back in the day.
And these men were experienced that they knew what they were doing and it was just a freak accident.
But going off of that, like I said, the two of them have a lot lot of experience
being that they had careers in the Royal Navy.
This trip would have started out pretty routine, right? They were meant to be
(34:34):
laying transatlantic telephone cables on the seabed floor.
That's the whole purpose of the company in and of itself. So it was a routine job.
They were supposed to be down there for about eight hours where they would use
water jets to liquefy the mud on the seafloor and then lay the cable on the
floor, if that makes sense.
I was having trouble visualizing that, but I think they had jets on the outside
(34:56):
to soften often the seabed floor so that they could lay the cable in a more
safe or durable location.
And just think, this is an eight-hour job.
This is just like you and I going to a job, like it was just their regular day.
Normal shift, typical day at the office, right?
So it was supposed to take them about 40 minutes to get to the bottom.
(35:17):
So not long, really, in terms of your entire shift.
So 40 minutes down there, you're working like a little more than six hours,
And then you come back up to the surface over the course of the next 40 minutes.
I should probably also mention that every 40 minutes as well,
they had to turn on the sub's lithium hydroxide fan to remove carbon dioxide
(35:37):
from the inside of the sub and bring in obviously fresh air and I think neutralize
the cabin pressure maybe.
Again, I'm no scientist, so don't quote me on this, but that was my general understanding.
Now, obviously there was a lot going on as they were starting things out,
but for the For the most part, it was pretty normal.
That is until they reached a depth of only 175 feet in comparison to the 1500
(36:02):
feet that they would eventually get to.
That's when the sub jolted to an abrupt stop.
Oh my God, I could just feel that. Kind of jerk. It's at 175 feet.
We still have 20, 25 minutes to go.
What's up with this? You think too, they were probably not going for all that long.
(36:22):
This was the first little bit of their journey.
Right. And at this point, when the kind of jerk happens to the submersible,
come to find out the nylon tow line that connected the Pisces III to the surface
where they were calling it the the mothership, which kind of made me laugh, I'm not going to lie.
It reached its max length, and
I guess no one was there to oversee the process of letting out the rope.
(36:45):
And the tension from the abrupt stop caused the line to basically just snap.
And they were, at that point, sinking further and further with only about 64 hours of oxygen left.
And they were officially, at this point, lost at sea.
Oh my god, this honestly sounds like a movie.
The question I I have is where were the people that were overseeing that cable?
(37:07):
Come on. No matter how many times that it went without a flaw.
You got to account for that one time that something could happen.
I shouldn't say that no one was there.
I'm not entirely sure why it would have snapped or how it got to the point of
being at that length without anyone noticing.
But either way, it should have been something that was being paid attention to.
(37:28):
It's somebody's job is that job to look at that
part and that's their job for eight hours when they
come in is to make sure that these people are safe
i wonder what those men when they felt that jolt i'm sure they looked at each
other and were like oh shit you have to think at first to maybe in those first
couple seconds maybe they were like oh that was weird and then the reality started
(37:50):
sinking in as they were literally sinking to the bottom of the ocean without
any sort of controls that's.
You have to imagine that is the most terrifying experience that either of these
men have ever endured, even with their military experience.
And I know from what you told me that they survived.
Kudos for them. This was their job.
(38:11):
They got trained on what ifs and they made it through.
So that's refreshing that they kept it together to get through this.
And it truly was a bond of teamwork between the two of them.
So by 9.30 that morning, the Pisces III was crashing onto the seabed floor.
Like I said, it was 1,575 feet below the surface.
(38:35):
They had been sinking at an estimated speed of, get this, 40 miles per hour.
That's like as fast as your car is going down the road on a relatively busy
street. They were sinking that quickly.
Talk about the bends, because you shouldn't be going that fast.
Fortunately, they were able to call the Vickers Oceanic ship on the surface
to let them know we're sinking, by the way.
(38:56):
And in the meantime, once they reached the bottom, they decided to take a moment
to their surroundings in the scene.
Like I said, by some miracle, they were both alive.
Because when you're going that fast down, like you said, you can pop a blood vessel.
The pressure is changing in the cabin of the... Cabin might not be the right word,
but inside the submarine could be changing so quickly that you
just are instantly as harsh as it is to say smushed and
(39:20):
or pass out but definitely the impact the
imploding so that said given the pressure of
the water and the force at which the sub had hit the
sea floor they were pretty surprised to see that the sub didn't sustain any
major damage or any sort of life-threatening issue to the point where rescue
wouldn't have been an option that said they knew that they still had to work
(39:40):
with one another for survival they spent Spent the first few hours checking
the sub for leaks and preparing for rescue, essentially,
because after that, all they can really do is wait.
They did decide, like I said, that they needed to conserve oxygen as much as possible.
And they also wanted to limit their physical exertion. So they decided to stop
(40:01):
talking to one another unless something were to happen that literally posed
an even bigger threat to life than the possibility of running out of oxygen.
You know what I mean? They also decided to allow the carbon dioxide to build
up beyond the normal 40 minutes to conserve oxygen,
and that would ultimately lead to lethargy and drowsiness, but at least there
(40:23):
was something to breathe. That's the reality of the situation.
It was literally like, we can be sluggish and hopefully it'll string things
along a little bit further, or we can have fresh oxygen and more of it in a short amount of time.
The other thing that really freaks me out about this, and just it really hits
close to home to know that one of them are still living.
One of them, unfortunately, has passed away, but they lived a full life.
(40:47):
They only had a single sandwich and one can of lemonade aboard the submersible.
And that was supposed to last them until rescue. Obviously, that's all they had.
So imagine yourself, you're already in the dregs of it in terms of a survival scenario.
And that is all you have to sustain yourself between two grown men.
Which I don't understand that. I would think that a submarine for a job that
(41:13):
is underwater and it is a risky job, why wouldn't you have things to be prepared?
Prepared that's like you going to be an office clerk and
there's no printer and computer i didn't think about
that but i will say todd's the kind of person who like sometimes he doesn't
remember to grab something to eat he's just oh i'll have dinner when i get home
what if it was just that simple as oh i just didn't have a chance to make myself
(41:36):
something to eat today i won't have but there has to be somebody that their
job is to stock that ship make sure that there's a first aid extra tools or anything. I don't know.
I'm just put it up. Yeah. Or just some sort of like emergency food kit.
Emergency kit. Interesting.
Yeah. I didn't consider that when I was reading it. I just thought that was
(41:56):
super haunting that all they had to sustain themselves is a single sandwich and one can of lemonade.
Funny story as like a side note, though, when I was researching this,
for whatever reason, I thought it said one sandwich and one lemon.
And I was like, Like, what kind of a lunch is that?
And I was like, squeeze that juice and eat the seed. Well, I'm like one single
(42:16):
lemon. But I'm like, oh, lemonade.
I was a little, I don't want to say frantic when I was like reading this,
but I was obviously pretty stressed out just by the whole lost at sea aspect of it.
So I think that's where my... They say when you have lemons,
though, make lemonade. They did eventually.
Thank God for them. Sorry, I don't mean to make light, but also at the same
(42:36):
time, we need a bit of a palate cleanser. And I did get a chuckle out of that.
So meanwhile, back on the surface, rescue efforts began.
And fortunately, because they were able to get that call out,
they had a decent idea of where these guys may have landed.
Obviously, it's not exact, especially back in the 1970s, but they had a jumping
off point, which is more than we can say for a lot of submarine incidents like this.
(43:01):
So by 1035 that morning, the support ship,
the vicar's venturer was ordered
to return to port with the submersible pisces
2 on board the sub would then be flown directly
to island where it could be put into the water and then used for rescue efforts
meanwhile the vicar's venturer was coming from i want to say it was like iceland
(43:26):
or somewhere not super far away but like somewhere in that area and they were
going to with the loss of the weight of the submersible on the ship itself,
basically go full steam ahead to get to the spot that.
Rescue efforts were beginning to go from while the helicopter was flying the
submersible to that point.
Hopefully that makes sense. It was a little bit hard to follow.
(43:47):
I am following just fine. You're doing a great job of explaining it.
Thank you. Again, I'm not an engineer, so if this doesn't make sense, my apologies.
But by midday, the Royal Navy had commandeered the HMS Hackatay.
Let me spell it h-e-c-a-t-e h-e-c-a-t-e
(44:07):
tate okay we'll go with that that sounds good that sounds fancy,
by midday the royal navy had commandeered the hms hakate to assist in the rescue
efforts meanwhile the u.s salvage department and the u.s navy offered their
own remote controlled underwater recovery vehicle and even the canadian coast
guard sent a ship out to support in the the rescue efforts.
(44:29):
So this was a multi-international situation.
Thank God, because they know the severity of it. So that's awesome that everybody joined in to help.
Exactly. And I think, too, that made a huge difference in the grand scheme of
things, because obviously in this kind of situation, all hands on deck is going
to be better than one barge that is out at sea, right?
(44:52):
At approximately 2 a.m. on August 31st, the Voyager was arriving at the scene.
Meanwhile, Meanwhile, the Pisces II, as well as the Pisces V,
so like I said, this is a whole fleet, was arriving by air via helicopter.
Immediately, they launched the Pisces II along with a polypropylene rope attached to it.
And I'm assuming the rope would have been used in the event that they found
(45:15):
the lost submersible to attach.
So unfortunately, the rope came untied from the sub's external arms.
So shortly after they launched, they were forced to return to the ship for repairs.
Following this, the Pisces V went out in search for the lost sub,
and they were forced to return when they ran out of power.
So these ships, it seemed like all of them decided to just stop working at once.
(45:39):
It was a freak thing, and I don't think it was really anyone's fault.
The fact that all of the Pisces ships were literally floating ducks at that point.
The Pisces V around 1245 the following day. and by 1 p.m. the Pisces had actually found the crash site.
So once they were able to make some headway, they were pretty quick to find where they were.
(46:00):
So thank God they were able to get that call out. They tried to attach the polypropylene
ropes that they were bringing out with them to the crash sub,
but those efforts failed due to the buoyancy of the ropes.
So it's like, they're there, they still have a long way to go. It's not gonna be easy.
That said, the Pisces 5 was ordered to stay with Chapman and Mallinson And just,
(46:21):
I think, honestly, for comfort.
To know that someone's there in the event that something's going on.
Then the Pisces II tried to reach them, but their sub sprung a leak and they
were forced to return to the surface.
So the Pisces II, I don't know what was going on there. Again,
I don't think it was anyone's fault, but imagine yourself under the pressure
of knowing that people that you work with and probably know intimately are down
(46:44):
there and everything is going wrong.
It's the Occam's razor of it all, where if it can go wrong, it will.
I just, I can't imagine how that would feel. It's already terrifying enough
that you're down in waters.
You can't get out. But then when you know everybody is trying their hardest
and then the equipment won't work, that would be frustrating.
(47:05):
Especially knowing it's where they are, if you could just get to them.
Exactly. We're like right here. And all we need to do is tie up a rope and pull
them and bring them to the surface.
But it doesn't go that smooth. The other thing, too, that I think is wild,
the Canadian vessel, the John Cabot's, was unable to launch at all due to electrical issues.
(47:27):
So it was literally the Pisces 5 just down there hoping for the best.
Living on a prayer literally. So by midnight, the rescue team decided to regroup
and try to come up with a new plan of action, at which point the Pisces Five
was basically just saying, sorry, and they returned to the surface based off of those orders.
But at least they knew where they were. This, though, unfortunately did leave
(47:49):
Chapman and Malletson completely alone.
They were cold, they were wet, they were running very low on oxygen,
and they were both suffering from severe headaches due to the lack of oxygen.
This just sounds like a horror movie.
It's literally, I don't want to say it's my worst nightmare, but it's up there.
It's one of them. It's for sure up there. By 4 a.m. the following morning on
(48:11):
September 1st, the Pisces II was finally deployed.
By 5 a.m., they had successfully attached the polypropylene rope to the Pisces III.
They were able to fix whatever was happening with that submersible and got them
down there with ropes that weren't quite as buoyant.
Or maybe they were, but they had a little bit more success with getting them
tied to the pisces three following them the john cabots
(48:34):
the other vessel from the canadian coast guard attached a second
tow rope to the stranded submersible so that together they
could carry them up in a level fashion versus
like nose up obviously chapman and mallinson were very relieved when they started
to feel themselves lifting up off of the seabed floor but given the dehydration
and lack of oxygen this whole experience was super distorting because like you
(48:57):
said it can be You can have the bends really quickly. It can be motion sickness.
It's not a pleasant experience, but at least they were on the way to safety.
But they still had 1,500 feet to go.
Not great. Gotta climb that inch by inch and just pray every inch by inch.
And at least they're on the way to the surface.
(49:17):
That said, it became even more disorienting when at about a depth of 350 feet,
the tow ropes got tangled and they had to pause because obviously if they're
getting tangled, they're spinning around.
So they had to pause there, wasting even more time when they were literally
hours, not even hour, let's say, from being out of oxygen entirely.
(49:39):
So they had to pause, detangled the rope, and then they had to pause again when
it was about 100 feet when they needed to attach the lifting cables to the Pisces III.
They are basically going, coming to a stop, going, coming to a stop.
And it was all necessary, but you can imagine with the current,
with the spinning of the the actual submersible as those
(49:59):
lines got tangled and even stopping to put
like other cables onto it it's going to be it's not
a smooth ride to the surface by any now and you're
already sick you're cold you're freaked
out you're running out of oxygen like they were you're hungry
you're almost there and you know that you're about to
see your family and your co-workers and thank
(50:20):
everyone in your life is anything going to go wrong i'm
this close there is no room for error
in this because like i said two days or three
days before they only had 64 hours of oxygen left
almost spent yeah time is of the essence and there's
no room for error by 1 17 p.m they had finally
resurfaced and immediately they opened the hatch door but it took them about
(50:45):
30 minutes to open the sub itself so like they go down to open it and of course
it takes even more time for them to just get it open and i'm assuming that might
have been due to damage to the actual whole of this submersible.
But you can imagine how frustrating that is to know that you are at the water's surface.
There is oxygen outside and you still can't get to it. Absolutely frustrating.
(51:07):
I can just imagine their thoughts.
You're sitting there going, hurry up. I'm right there. But you have to sit back
and be like, hey, they're doing it as fast as they can.
I definitely don't want to fall 1,500 feet again because then I'm screwed.
We would die. That's it. So the sub carried a total of 72 hours of oxygen.
(51:28):
They had 64 when they were lost. And I think to elongate, you know how they
weren't actively using the fan to release the carbon dioxide every 40 minutes? That elongated it.
So they were trapped for a total of 84 hours in 30 minutes.
It gets worse. By the time that they were able to open the hatch,
they had 12 minutes of oxygen left.
(51:51):
So they cut it so close.
Yeah, they did. It was already a terrifying incident, but even more of a tragedy.
But they literally missed that by the skid of their teeth.
That said, to this day, the rescue of the Vickers Oceanics Pisces III is known
as being the deepest successful submarine rescue in history.
And that is the end of this anxiety-inducing tale.
(52:16):
I will have to say the whole time that I listened to you, my chest had that anxiety feeling.
It's great that the military got involved and they were right on it.
So kudos to them for having a great rescue plan and team.
That's what saved them. And credit where credit's due.
I really think that their quick thinking and just the ability that both Mallinson
(52:41):
and Chapman had to, because obviously they can't control this,
but just off of sheer luck and happenstance, they were able to get out a Mayday call.
I think that is what sets them apart from a lot of other incidents that we hear about.
They knew where they were going. Just think if they lost it for that time,
they were playing with minutes.
(53:01):
If they had 12 minutes left when they got that hat finally open,
that call definitely was the savior.
And obviously the crews, because there were multiple different teams,
the crews on the surface were every bit as diligent and did exactly what needed
(53:21):
to be done to get these men back home safe.
But between all of them, like it was a huge team effort while these poor men
are doing their part, still doing their job down 1,500 feet below the surface.
And that to me is a nightmare and a half. Look how many people have a job that is risky like that.
Like men that do, that have to go underwater for oil drilling,
(53:45):
to lay cables, men that are up on top of skyscrapers.
We have so many men that really do risk their lives to help us live.
Live and sometimes I don't think enough of
us sit back and think about that right that not many people
would step up to the plate to do such dangerous
(54:07):
job and we don't give enough credit to those people that really put their lives
to keep our country running gas heat telephone all that so kudos to those men
that survived and the groups that all helped it was a team effort that That
story just leaves me speechless.
Listeners, I want to know, how would you react in a situation like that? Tell me your thoughts.
(54:32):
Are you that patient, pull-it-together kind of person?
Or are you more of the frantic, can't-think-you-would-be-a-good-teammate-to-handle-everything?
I'm really interested to know how people think of themselves when you are faced
with something that scary and traumatizing. I like to think that I am.
(54:53):
What can we do on the individual level to prolong the possibility of survival?
And I like to think that me quit thinking on my toes would be able to do that.
But also knowing me and my anxiety and how frantic I can be.
I don't know if I would sink or swim.
Same here. We can both say what we want to do in that situation.
(55:17):
But until you're really in that situation and you feel that surrounding, you feel that fear.
Pending the impending doom that's coming around you. Anyways,
I hope this story haunts you guys for the next couple of days.
And now it's time for Dawn's quote of the day.
Hey there, Sinister Squad. I picked a great quote for you to start your Monday morning off, right?
(55:41):
You deserve everything beautiful that life still has to give.
You deserve everything beautiful that you still have to give.
I know I can be an ass sometimes, but I literally don't have a heart. What do you expect?
I'm a zombie. All right, Sinister Seekers, we hope that you enjoyed the eerie
tale that we sent for you today.
Remember, we drop episodes on the 1st, the 10th, and the 20th of every month.
(56:06):
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(57:18):
Your love and feedback mean the world to Courtney and I. So until next time,
Sinister Seekers, stay true. Stay you.
Stay Sinister.
Hold on to your seats folks studio sinister
presence portlock where even ghosts fear to tread prepare for a roller coaster
(57:39):
of terror in the ghost town of portlock alaska the place where hairy beasts
roam devilish critters run amok and a wailing spirit takes evening strolls in
the woods oh and let's not forget the unsolved mysteries that'll have you scratching
your head like a confused ghost.
Step right up to witness the 1930s drama unfold with loggers meeting their match in logging equipment.
(58:00):
Seriously, who needs enemies when you have machinery like that,
and residents meeting their mysterious ends?
It's a real estate market crash like no other. Join Studio Sinister for a spooky
episode that'll have you chuckling nervously as you tiptoe through the haunted tales of Portlock.
Are you brave enough to face the ghostly and ghoulish details?
For more details, tune in if you dare, dropping March 10th.