Are some of these “cases” bunk?

[Schmo]

When you only have one person’s word that something did or didn’t happen, why should he or she be believed? Or all the evidence is just hearsay and wouldn’t pass muster in court?

[TripleG]

The Sarah Powell case always sticks out to me because I could never think of it as more than a 14 year old girl lashing out against mommy and daddy and got too deep into the lie, so she had to double down on it.

There are also cases of family members committing suicide and the family members not buying it. Heck, we got one of these in the new Netflix series. My heart goes out to them, but in most of these cases, suicide feels like the more likely outcome and the segment stretches to great lengths to make the possibility of murder seem more plausible.

In later seasons, they tackled stuff like spontaneous combustion and things like that, and those felt like fillers because they didn't know what else to do.

And then in other cases, they would spout ludicrous theories, like the Unibomber and The Zodiac Killer were the same guy or MLK had more than one killer. I guess anything is possible, but I'd classify these theories as highly unlikely.

And then of course you have some of the ghost and UFO stories where you just have to consider the source of those talking about what is happening. Some times the people seem credible, but other times, it feels like people with, uh, lets call it overactive imaginations.

[unsolved88]

Originally Posted by TripleG

In later seasons, they tackled stuff like spontaneous combustion and things like that, and those felt like fillers because they didn't know what else to do.

I always felt like the show did this because they knew they were running out of steam by about season 8 or 9. When UM began in 1987, the concept was unique and as a result, the focus was mostly unsolved crimes. By the mid-90s, shows like X-Files were all the rage, all with impressive (for that era) special effects and graphics. UM knew that they had to appeal to this new demographic, hence the piggybacking off the popularity of the Men In Black movie or Xena: Warrior Princess. The primary focus was still crime, but there was a noticeable uptick in supernatural type cases because that was the new "thing" on TV at the time. Gotta keep it current.

There were also countless segments dedicated to celebrities, such as Bobby Fuller's "mysterious" death and Elvis' twin. These always struck me as the UM equivalent of name-dropping.

[ctgrumpybear]

The woman who believes she was kidnap as an baby-It just feels like she was someone who had problems with her parents but also had Metal Problems. It’s sounds like relatives would found and even an half sister. By all reports it’s sounds like it was nothing more than adoption of the record.

The Baseball player who had amnesia and got better as an player- seeing he never where in MLB it’s feel like it’s was just he having an little Hot streak more than anything

Woman get amnesia from an surgery and forget most of her life- this one just leave me so confuse every time I see

Woman who was cured by an small ufo- I love the ufo stories but this case was BS and the chick was nuts

The Guardian ufo- well it been exposed as an hoax by an local ufo nut and the witness in the case was in on it

[Labonte18]

Originally Posted by unsolved88

I always felt like the show did this because they knew they were running out of steam by about season 8 or 9. When UM began in 1987, the concept was unique and as a result, the focus was mostly unsolved crimes. By the mid-90s, shows like X-Files were all the rage, all with impressive (for that era) special effects and graphics. UM knew that they had to appeal to this new demographic, hence the piggybacking off the popularity of the Men In Black movie or Xena: Warrior Princess. The primary focus was still crime, but there was a noticeable uptick in supernatural type cases because that was the new "thing" on TV at the time. Gotta keep it current.

There were also countless segments dedicated to celebrities, such as Bobby Fuller's "mysterious" death and Elvis' twin. These always struck me as the UM equivalent of name-dropping.

They also were in competition with AMW.. believe that or not.. They were. And they had a much longer production time as well. If they started a case and AMW picked it up.. They could get it on air far faster than UM. Plus, AMW aired new shows 52 weeks a year as I recall.

So, the angle of 'unsolved' was what they used to set themselves apart. NORMALLY quite well. Again, I've said it before.. the Amelia Earhardt segment was one of the best I had ever seen at that point. There were theories there that I had never heard of. Of course, I'll never forgive UM for introducing TIGHAR to the world.. Ugh.. I hate that publicity hound, even though I think he has the best theory outside of crash and sink.

I'm just willing to bet that guy from TIGHAR has contacted UM over the years asking them to run a "Solved" update on it... Because every time he puts out a press release, that's basically what he says.

Nazca lines was also very well done. Hell.. even the "Jesus' Staircase" or the various 'hum' or 'lights' whatever.. It was told so well.. With such enthusiasm. lol..

Yes, once they got into mothman and stuff like that. National Enquirer territory... I wasn't a huge fan.

[pardilia]

Originally Posted by ctgrumpybear

The woman who believes she was kidnap as an baby-It just feels like she was someone who had problems with her parents but also had Metal Problems. It’s sounds like relatives would found and even an half sister. By all reports it’s sounds like it was nothing more than adoption of the record.

She's done DNA tests and isn't related at all to her sister and has found some distant cousins who don't know her/whose child she could be. I was on the fence about her story until I read about the DNA tests - all the moving around, her social security number not being hers, that's more than an "off record adoption", imo.

The woman who had amnesia post-surgery - she had multiple strokes and a brain aneurysm! It's totally believable she'd wake up from surgery missing a chunk of memory. (Honestly, it's amazing she woke up at all, imo.)

To answer the title though, yeah some of these cases are bunk. You've got segments like "Katie" the housewife who sweats gold. It seemed like UM kept trying to have a variety of segments and as they were running out of UFO/Hauntings/etc. they kept reaching for more and more "Weekly World News" sort of stories for filler between all the true crime segments. I think some of them stand out more for members of this board as a segment about aphrodisiac chocolates is very much Lifetime's demographic - which I'm sure impacted the episodes they chose to run more frequently than others.

[TripleG]

Originally Posted by idyla

She's done DNA tests and isn't related at all to her sister and has found some distant cousins who don't know her/whose child she could be. I was on the fence about her story until I read about the DNA tests - all the moving around, her social security number not being hers, that's more than an "off record adoption", imo.

The woman who had amnesia post-surgery - she had multiple strokes and a brain aneurysm! It's totally believable she'd wake up from surgery missing a chunk of memory. (Honestly, it's amazing she woke up at all, imo.)

To answer the title though, yeah some of these cases are bunk. You've got segments like "Katie" the housewife who sweats gold. It seemed like UM kept trying to have a variety of segments and as they were running out of UFO/Hauntings/etc. they kept reaching for more and more "Weekly World News" sort of stories for filler between all the true crime segments. I think some of them stand out more for members of this board as a segment about aphrodisiac chocolates is very much Lifetime's demographic - which I'm sure impacted the episodes they chose to run more frequently than others.

Oh God, the aphrodisiac case. I completely forgot about that one!

I remember watching that case on Lifetime and being like "Why the heck is this even on the show?" lol.

[rusty spike]

Don't forget the Therapeutic Touch and the other holistic medicine eps.

[pardilia]

Originally Posted by rusty spike

Don't forget the Therapeutic Touch and the other holistic medicine eps.

I'm actually okay with most of the holistic medicine segments as I feel most of them were treated somewhat skeptically - though some more than others, for sure. Compared to today's essential oils, I liked that the UM segments more or less presented the info, might have had a skeptic interviewed and left it up for you to decide vs a straight up ringing endorsement.

Totally weren't my favorite segments, but were a fine/okay break between murders and kidnappings.

Audrey Santo was a hard segment for me - total bunk and I was very conflicted with how the family profited off of her and that UM would film it and encourage it? Yikes.

[Necco]

Originally Posted by idyla

Audrey Santo was a hard segment for me - total bunk and I was very conflicted with how the family profited off of her and that UM would film it and encourage it? Yikes.

Unsolved Mysteries was pretty Catholic oriented and Audrey Santos was a big deal in some Catholic circles. I also found it pretty cringy.
Other Catholic centered mysteries included:
-Međugorje
-The Santa Fe staircase
-The blinking statue
-The murdered priests
-The suicide in the church
-Padre Pio

That’s off the top of my head and I know I missing some.

[pardilia]

Originally Posted by Necco

Unsolved Mysteries was pretty Catholic oriented and Audrey Santos was a big deal in some Catholic circles. I also found it pretty cringy.
Other Catholic centered mysteries included:
-Međugorje
-The Santa Fe staircase
-The blinking statue
-The murdered priests
-The suicide in the church
-Padre Pio

That’s off the top of my head and I know I missing some.

I thought it was due to the popularity of Catholicism - even if you weren't Catholic at the time, there was still (mostly) some air of mystery/respect for the church. It's pretty much decimated now with the pedophilia/abuse claims and their (now perceived) backwards ways. Even non-Catholics would believe in "miracles" like crying statues, etc. I always thought there were better ways to do religion mysteries that were less polarizing (or bad) if they stuck more to the ones where it was ambiguous. Was it coincidence or was it divine intervention?

That blinking statue one was SO BAD. I watched that episode with a friend and he's like "how did this make it on? It's so long, too." I DON'T KNOW, MAN!

I think I like the chocolate segment more than that one.

[sharonite]

Catholicism was a good fit for UM because it has a lot more supernatural elements than, say, Mainline Protestantism.

Plus, IIRC Robert Stack was himself a Catholic, and I think that played a role in why the segments were pretty reverent and respectful of the Church.

[Necco]

Originally Posted by sharonite

Catholicism was a good fit for UM because it has a lot more supernatural elements than, say, Mainline Protestantism.

Plus, IIRC Robert Stack was himself a Catholic, and I think that played a role in why the segments were pretty reverent and respectful of the Church.

Yeah. Congregationalist segments would be pretty boring:
-The Miracle of “No one will be out of town for that meeting”
-The mystery of the disappearing casserole dishes
-Who nominated Margaret for secretary of the committee while she was in the ladies rooms?
-What is the family secret in Edie’s coffee cake recipe?
��

[MegtheEgg86]

Originally Posted by Necco

Yeah. Congregationalist segments would be pretty boring:
-The Miracle of “No one will be out of town for that meeting”
-The mystery of the disappearing casserole dishes
-Who nominated Margaret for secretary of the committee while she was in the ladies rooms?
-What is the family secret in Edie’s coffee cake recipe?
��

[MegtheEgg86]

Originally Posted by sharonite

Catholicism was a good fit for UM because it has a lot more supernatural elements than, say, Mainline Protestantism.

Yes.

I spent eight years as a Roman Catholic, after having been raised in a Restorationist church (some members of my mom's side of the family were involved in the Stone-Campbell movement--the Stone side, that is), and then attending an evangelical church later on. Talk about a culture shock.

Although I left the Church and am now a member of a mainline Protestant congregation, I wouldn't trade my time as a Catholic for anything. In a way, some brands of Catholicism and say, Protestant pentecostals have strange, unexpected areas of overlap that I find infinitely fascinating, as theologically and doctrinally they couldn't be more opposed. But I digress.

Some of the Protestant supernatural segments I can recall off the top of my head include Edgar Cayce (who was a member of the Disciples of Christ, I believe) and the alleged ghost lady presumed to be associated with Acton Campground in Indiana (Methodist). I don't believe Edgar Cayce ever had any ability to accurately diagnose disease nor prescribe treatments and I'm not sure I believe in ghosts, so I'd have to file these in the 'bunk' folder.