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Hey, it's your favorite secret host here from your favorite, hopefully still a secret podcast.
Today's adventure is all about a mysterious explosion.
A hundred years ago, a big boom went off in a tree-covered valley and no one could figure out why.
So stick around as I search for some explosive clues.
I'm Carly Q, and this is Who, When, Wow!
Mystery Edition.
Our past is vast and wild Many things have brought us to this day As history has been compiled Some important details have slipped away
In our spectacular shared existence, we consider it our business to recognize a few folks you may not know.
Made important inventions.
Asked all the right questions.
History will never be the same.
I arrived at the office today in a pretty great mood, if also a little addled.
See, I'd been playing this new Hungry Snake game on HDAD, and I was pretty hooked.
I was so distracted with the game, I almost bumped right into Carol when I walked in.
Whoa, are you okay, Carl?
Yeah, sorry, just been a little distracted recently.
And it wasn't just Hungry Snake that had me off my game.
It was also that mysterious letter writer.
I still had no idea who had been spying on Lewis and me.
And why they would leave an anonymous note on my desk.
What I needed was a juicy new clue to sink my teeth into.
So imagine my delight when I got down to the basement and... Lewis, where are you?
Lewis was in the back corner of the basement kitchen, on the ground with a magnifying glass in his hands.
And there on the dusty tile floor beneath him was...
Footprint?
A weird footprint.
And only one?
It was big and a little oddly misshapen.
I was coming down here for a fizzy water when I noticed it.
Any idea who it belongs to?
Has anyone else been down here recently?
Just me, Odie, and Nibbles.
But if I'm picking up what you're laying down, are you wondering if this footprint belongs to whoever's on to us?
It's like you're reading my mind.
This could be our culprit.
Just then, my rat friend Nibbles scurried in.
Yeah, we don't know whose footprint it is either, Nibs.
If you're still thinking what I'm thinking, Carly, then you're probably thinking we need to make a list that shows the shoe sizes of everyone who works here at Butthead.
What'd she say?
That she already has a list like that.
Also, hat sizes for every...
Wait, what?
But just then...
A new time seal files!
Event, June 30th, 1908.
Siberia, Russia.
Explosion.
Siberian explosion?
Ooh, I gotta know more.
I know, I know, I love explosions too, but what exploded?
I pulled out HDAD, my handheld digital assistance device.
Relaunching Hungry Snake, level 44, game mode activated.
And plugged in the clues from the file.
IP.
Siberia explosion.
This file most likely refers to the Tunguska event, a huge explosion in a remote area of Siberia in 1908.
It flattened an estimated 80 million trees over an area of nearly 800 square miles.
Scientists spent many years trying to determine what caused it.
Tree emoji.
Russian flag emoji.
An explosion that was almost half the size of Delaware?
Well, Delaware is a pretty small state, Carly.
Cool.
Oh.
Giant foot that somehow made an explosive print?
I like where your head's at, Lewis.
Always on the case.
Ugh, and I would love to keep working it.
Unfortunately, I gotta go get some actual work done before lunchtime, but I'll keep an eye out for any weird footwear.
Good call.
Eyes on the toes, Lewis.
I checked to see if H. Dad had any more info, but all I got was... Analyzing.
Analyzing.
Analyzing.
So I got down to work, too.
And a few hours later...
Attention, butt-head employees.
It's Eat Like an Astronaut Day.
Lunchtime!
I grabbed Nibbles and H-Dad, and we all took off for the elevator.
All right.
You know, all those facts about Delaware were true.
I looked them up.
Louis, you can always come visit.
My parents would love to have you.
Pass.
Hi, Odie.
Good afternoon, basement companion.
Hello, D-Odie.
Don't do that.
How are we today?
We are so great.
We have a truly explosive time-sealed mystery.
Ever heard of the Tunguska event?
Ah, the mysterious explosion in the remote woods of Siberia?
Who hasn't?
Me.
That is not surprising, Louis.
This was an unexplained mystery for many years and wasn't even properly investigated until the 1920s by a Russian scientist named Leonid Kulik.
We are going on a scientific expedition to the site of a mysterious explosion?
This is like being in a sci-fi novel.
Could it be a graphic novel?
I don't like all those words.
So tiring.
Let's remember our time travel rules.
No changing the past.
Be back by the end of lunchtime.
Remember, too, that the time cloak function on the elevator will make your clothes more appropriate to the time period.
And I will activate the translation function so you can understand Russian.
Ah, that means yes.
And when you write me into your sci-fi graphic novel...
Give me a cool outfit and a funky hairdo, yes?
Funky, funky, sci-fi, oldie, here you come!
That's a bit much.
The explosion event is covered by the time seal, but I can send you back to the day after.
And of course, you can always fast forward to other dates on the file.
Sound good?
Let's do it.
Oh, and also, don't forget to
We made it!
We are in the Russian wilderness, 1908.
You know, I was expecting it to be colder.
Me too.
Ah, welcome to Russia in the summertime.
Just because it's Siberia doesn't mean it's always freezing.
True fact.
Ooh, look at our clothes.
Russian peasant garb?
Really?
I hate gray.
We took in the scenery around us.
We were standing on a hilltop near a small village.
Things looked okay in the town, but in the distance, we could see miles and miles of flattened trees.
Totally horizontal.
They look like they were blown over by hurricane winds.
The explosion that did that must have been huge.
Let's go talk to some villagers and figure out what caused it.
We walked down the hill to the village.
I pulled out Hdad and discreetly played some Hungry Snake as we walked, while Louis scoped out the village.
Small houses, a few stores along a main street.
Just a one horse town, huh?
Does it remind you of Delaware?
Kind of, yes.
We spotted an older woman sitting out on a porch.
Nibbles ducked into my backpack while I mournfully put away Hungry Snake.
We walked over to say hello.
Stay quiet.
I don't want any trouble with these Russian chickens.
I am Olga.
You two must be from Vorogovol, the town of the way.
Ah, yes.
We are just a couple of villagers from the town of... Too many Volgos.
Anyway, Olga, we're curious about this thing that happened yesterday.
The explosion that bent over all those trees.
Yes, it was very strange.
There was an incredible wave of heat and it looked like the sky had been torn open.
I was worried about my chickens.
But then it all ended.
The heat and the light went away, only to be followed by a great booming crash that sounded like thunder.
It has all the classic signs of an explosion.
The question is, what exploded?
That is the question, isn't it?
Whatever it was, it caused some kind of earthquake.
It shook all the buildings in town.
But you didn't see anything else?
Only a slight ashen cloud off in the distance.
It didn't last long, though.
A few hours later, it was gone.
Okay, so something explodes, it lights up the sky, there's great waves of heat and sound, some kind of shockwave that literally shakes the Earth, and then an ash cloud, and that's it.
That is all, yes.
Though I can also tell you about the effect it had on my chickens.
Alexei was very distraught.
He clucked all night.
Vronsky, the rooster, seemed to love it, but Tatiana, she was not so happy about it.
She hasn't laid any eggs since the thing, and... Carly Q, can I talk to you?
In private.
Da?
Da, da?
What is it?
Not that I don't love our chicken farmer friend here, but what if we fast forward to a later date on the file?
Like when that scientist Leonid Kulik came to investigate.
Oh, yeah, good call.
We thanked Olga, wished her luck with her chickens, and walked back to the elevator.
The other date on the file was in 1927, so I punched in the coordinates and... Dasvidaniya!
We stepped back out of the elevator at a different spot, much closer now to ground zero and with our clothing now looking a tad more modern.
It was 1927 after all.
There were a dozen or so people nearby.
We started walking over.
Notice anything funky about the trees here?
The ones we saw before had all been flattened.
These.
Are all standing straight up.
And without their branches.
They look like telephone poles without the have you seen my cat postage.
So weird.
What do you think caused it?
I'm guessing the explosion, but I'm not sure why it wouldn't have flattened the trees like those other ones we saw.
Uh-oh.
Nibbles, I think it's time to hide again.
Nibbles ducked down into my backpack just as the scientists saw us.
Hello there.
Who are you two?
Uh, we are... Just, you know, a couple of... Villagers!
From the town of...
Don't make me say it again.
You have no need to lie.
You were sent here by the ruling party of our new Soviet Union to keep tabs on us, no?
Check up on our work?
Uh, yep.
You caught us.
We are just a couple of party members here to make sure your investigation is going well.
It is going very well.
Your superiors have no need to worry.
Excellent.
Then, Leonid, can you tell us exactly what you've found so far?
Yeah, we've noticed these trees that look like telephone poles.
What's the story there?
Yes, the steel standing trees.
A real mystery, no?
Big time.
Also, shouldn't there be some kind of crater or something?
Usually when something explodes, it leaves a big hole in the ground.
You are very perceptive.
I have wondered the exact same things.
No wonder the party chose you to come check on us.
Stop.
Okay, so about the explosion.
Right, yes.
What you have said about the crater is true.
Upon first hearing of this event, my initial supposition was that this was caused by a meteor.
But if that were the case, there would indeed be a very large crater here.
So maybe it wasn't a meteor after all?
This is what I now wonder myself.
So what could it have been instead?
Maybe some kind of hidden volcano?
Explosion of gases?
Alien spaceship that was about to land and its thrusters created the giant blast wave?
Excuse me?
Did you just say aliens?
Yeah, you know, just like, as a theory.
I feel I must ask, who exactly is it that sent you here?
Um...
The ruling party of the new Soviet Union.
Names.
I want names.
Nice try, Mr. Comrade Kulik, sir, but we can't tell you that.
That's right.
Not under any circumstances.
Not a single one.
Luckily for you, we've actually gotten all the info we need.
So we will be leaving.
That is all?
That is all.
Bye.
I see, Lewis.
And just as we got out of earshot of the scientists...
Analysis complete.
Yes.
H-10, what have you got?
What exploded here?
The most likely explanation for the Tunguska event is an explosion that occurred in the air well above the...
Wait.
What?
I think I may have just figured it out.
Remember Odie's riddle?
Um... Don't forget to look up.
Lewis and Nibbles both looked up at the sky.
Uh, it's just an empty sky.
Pretty nice day, actually.
But there's nothing up there.
Exactly.
OK, this might seem random, but just go with me.
Remember our adventure trying to figure out what happened to the dinosaurs?
Woo-wee!
Who could forget that?
Well, I got really into asteroids again after that.
And for like a whole week, I stayed up late in bed each night reading about them, imagining myself as an interplanetary asteroid scientist flying through the galaxy in my brand new super sh... Earth
To Carly?
Can you get to the point?
Uh...
Yeah, sorry.
Here's the important part.
In one of those books, I read about something called meteor air bursts.
Say what about a what burst?
A meteor air burst.
It's when a meteor coming in through Earth's atmosphere is so big and so fast, it heats up the air around it until it's literally ripped apart by its own speed.
If this happened in the air a few miles above Tunguska, it could explain what happened here and why there's no impact crater.
So you're saying that there's no crater on the ground because the meteor exploded in the sky.
That is what I'm saying.
Okay.
Well, H-Dad.
Is Carly right?
Can this possibly be true?
H-Dead, seriously impressed.
High five emoji.
Ten points to Team Carly.
Scientists believe a space rock that was roughly 130 feet wide exploded in the sky above Tunguska.
This meteor airburst theory explains all of the available evidence.
Yes!
I knew it!
Then what about those telephone pole-looking trees?
How are they still standing?
The shockwaves
Transfer the momentum of the shock wave to the trunk of the tree.
Similar effects have been observed in other meteor airburst events.
Explosion emoji.
Ooh, that must have been one fast shock wave.
While there is still some debate among scientists about what caused the explosion, the meteor airburst hypothesis remains the most widely accepted theory.
I guess you were right, Carly.
Yes!
Way to go, me!
High five to myself, oh yeah.
Incoming message from Butthead HQ.
Attention, Butthead employees.
Guess it's time to head back.
Oh, muggle crust.
I didn't even get to try any piroshki.
They're like little pies.
That sounds delicious.
I'm a big fan.
Ooh!
Hello, you three.
How was Russia?
Amazing.
Not only was the weather surprisingly warm, but I think we may have figured out what caused the Tunguska event.
Oh?
To be clear, Carly's the one who figured it out.
But she did do it with a little help from your riddle.
Don't forget to look up.
First of all, Louis, thank you for the street cred.
And he's right.
That was the missing piece of the puzzle.
What happened is called a meteor airburst.
It's when a meteor explodes up in the sky, not on the ground.
How fascinating.
Really goes to show you how sometimes you are so busy looking down at your feet.
Or looking at a screen playing a game on a handheld device.
You're talking about me playing Hungry Snake all the time, aren't you?
You think?
Yes, I do think.
Therefore I am.
Guilty as charged.
But the point is, if you never look up, you might completely miss what else could be happening.
Very well said.
I'm glad you had such an enlightening time looking up.
And a warm visit to Russia.
Thank you, Odie.
Have a pleasant rest of your day.
We left Odie to head back to my desk, but Louis wanted to make a quick detour to the kitchen.
I've got a new idea for what might have caused our mysterious footprint.
Oh, yeah?
Back in the kitchen corner, I looked down at the footprint, expecting Louis to point out some new detail.
But instead... Look up.
Huh?
Huh?
Yes, look there, right above the footprint.
By asteroid's thunder.
Lewis, you're right.
On the ceiling above the footprint was an air vent, and one corner was a little leaky.
We could see some water condensing on the edge.
The footprint's not a footprint at all.
It's a series of water droplets that landed in the dust in the shape of a weird footprint.
Ha!
So it is.
Turns out the truth about this was right above us the whole time.
Fancy that.
Another mystery solved.
We high-fived and laughed that it had taken us so long to figure it out.
But truly such a great and simple piece of advice from Odie.
I'm going to take a walk outside.
Bye, Carly cute.
Later, Louis.
Get some fresh air.
And take a long break from Hungry Snake.
Well, with the mystery of the strange footprint solved, that puts us back at square one for solving the OG mystery of the letter writer.
The hunt continues.
And so does the solving of more time-sealed mysteries.
I think I'll leave my game of Hungry Snake off for a while, too, so I can concentrate on looking up.
You should give it a try sometime.
You never know what or who you might see.
Oh, look, a bird.
Hi, Mr. Blue Jay.
Until next time, this is Carly Q signing off.
And remember, you never heard this.
H-DAD initiating end credits mode.
Who Went Wow Mystery Edition is an original Tinkercast production with help from GZM Shows.
Handshake emoji.
High five emoji.
Tinkercast.
The executive producers are Guy Raz, Mindy Thomas, and Meredith Halpern-Ranzer.
The shows are written by Aaron Weissman, Susan Mawady-Diraj, and Tom Van Kalken.
The head writer for Tinkercast is Kenny Curtis, and Carly Shiraki is a producing consultant.
Big shout-outs to the rest of the Tinkercast team, including Jed Anderson, Jessica Bode, Rebecca Caban, Natasha Crandall, Lizzie Freilich, Kristen Jang, Twee Mac, Erica Medina, Henry Moskal, Jody Nussbaum, Ali Paksima, Linda Rothenberg, Steph Sosa, Tyler Thal, Joanna Weber, and Anna Zagorski.
Megaphone emoji.
Applause emoji.
The Who Went Well theme song was composed and performed by The Pop-Ups.
For more information on their three-time Grammy-nominated all-ages music, find them at thepopups.com.
Producers for GZM shows are David Kreisman, Ben Strauss, Chris Terry, Amy Cervini, and Claire McClanahan.
The production manager is Sharon Michaels.
Sound design and editing for Who Went Wow Mystery Edition is done by Chris Terry and Oded Levari.
Headphones emoji, microphone emoji, thumbs up emoji.
Original music was created by Jennifer Rocamp.
Voice editing is by Yoni Reckham.
And voice direction is handled by David Kreisman and Amy Cervini.
Could you give me another one on that, please?
And voice direction is handled by David Kreisman and Amy Cervini.
Our main cast features Carly Shiraki as Carly Q. Brandon Salerno as Lewis.
Melissa Vanderschief as Nibbles the Rat, Kenny Curtis as H-Dad, and Angel Desai as Odie.
Help support Who Went Wow by becoming a member of the World Organization of Wowzers and discover wows all year long.
Sign up today at Tinkercast.com slash membership.
You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel at Tinkercast.com slash YouTube for
For full-length episodes of Who Went Wow Mystery Edition.
And reach out to us at hello at tinkercast.com if you have a mystery you'd like Butthead to investigate.
H-Day, powering off.
Peace sign emoji.
History will never be the same.
Shh, it's starting.
GCN shows Imagination Amplified.
