In Episode 431, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger drive along Route 44 in Avon, Connecticut, searching for the Talcott Mountain Robot. In 1967, a robot or spaceman was seen late one night moving awkwardly and trying to get the attention of passing cars. The police received multiple calls on the sightings. Was it a prank? A spaceman? A real robot?
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Produced and hosted by: Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger
Edited by: Ray Auger
Theme Music by: John Judd
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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:
*A note on the text: Please forgive punctuation, spelling, and grammar mistakes. Like us, the transcripts ain’t perfect.
[CAR DRIVING]
JEFF: So we’re cruising along on historic Route 44.
RAY: We are. It’s a two-lane highway where we are right now. Route 44 starts in Plymouth, Mass., runs across northern Rhode Island, across northern Connecticut, and ends in upstate New York.
JEFF: It’s an historic road.
RAY: That’s true. Right now we’re driving through the section of 44 that runs through Avon, Connecticut. We’re just a few miles northwest of Hartford.
JEFF: Right, we’re going to have to find a spot to pull over somewhere around here.
RAY: There’s an area up ahead just next to the breakdown lane.
[BLINKAH]
JEFF: Looks good.
[CAR STOPS / DOORS CLOSE]
[CARS PASSING BY]
JEFF: Okay, this is the spot! We’re right near Talcott Mountain.
RAY: The spot for what? I don’t see much but trees, a small clearing, and Route 44. What are we looking for?
JEFF: Ray, I’m not sure whether to call this a cryptid, alien, or roadside oddity, but whatever it is, it’s weird.
RAY: Weird is kind of our thing.
JEFF: We’ve come to Avon, Connecticut, to search for the Talcott Mountain Robot.
[INTRO]
JEFF: I’m Jeff Belanger.
RAY: And I’m Ray Auger. Welcome to Episode 431 of the New England Legends podcast. Thank you for joining us on our mission to chronicle every wicked strange legend in New England one story at a time. From cryptids, aliens, ghost, to roadside oddities, and now… I guess robots? Did you know most of our story leads come from you? This one did! Thanks to Jon Peckman…
JEFF: Hey! He’s my cousin-in-law
RAY: Thanks Jon, for letting us know about this one. If you’ve got a story you think we should check out, reach out to us anytime through our website.
JEFF: Say Ray. What are you doing for Valentine’s Day.
RAY: Why Jeff, I’m going to be attending the New England Legends Freak Formal!
JEFF: Freak Formal? Tell me more, Ray!
RAY: This is our big annual charity bash. It’s going to be Saturday, February 14th at 6:30PM at the DoubleTree Hotel in Milford, Massachusetts. It costs $25 at the door, though you can buy tickets for a little less online. Come dressed as your favorite movie monster, zombie, or any weird thing you like. We’ll have DJ dancing with DJ Neato Neato, yard games, food, raffles, a cash bar, and more. All proceeds go to benefit Project Just Because. What a unique thing to do for Valentines Day. Bring friends, come solo, or bring a date, it’s all good here. If you hate Valentine’s Day… you should go! If you love Valentine’s Day… you should go! You can buy a ticket online through our website or from the link in our episode description.
JEFF: We’ll go searching for the Talcott Mountain Robot right after these words from our sponsor.
SPONSOR
[CARS DRIVING BY]
RAY: This may be the first robot we’ve ever searched for.
JEFF: I think you’re right. Though to be fair, some witnesses believe he could have been a space man.
RAY: Okayyyy. I guess I stand partially corrected.
JEFF: There is something unknown here. But one thing is certain, these strange events took place right here on Route 44 near Talcott Mountain in Avon.
RAY: Here’s a little background on Talcott Mountain. The mountain is only 950 feet high. It’s a 13-mile ridge with some cliffs you can see from the Farmington River Valley. Today there are hiking trails and two state parks. It’s a great wooded section of the state just outside of the capital city of Hartford. The Talcott family was a prominent and wealthy family from this area. The mountain is named for them.
JEFF: Got it. Being a little rural and outside of the city, Talcott Mountain can feel like a long way from anywhere. Close, but not too close. To find out what happened, let’s head back to 1967 and look for the Talcott Mountain Robot.
[TRANSITION]
RAY: It’s early September of 1967 here in Avon, Connecticut. Lyndon B. Johnson is in the White House, American is at war in Vietnam, and “Ode to Billie Joe” by Bobbie Gentry is the number one song on the radio.
JEFF: It’s a great time for movies too. James Bond’s You Only Live Twice came out in June, the movie Countdown came out this year. It’s a drama that focuses on a race to land on the moon. Night of the Big Heat is out – that’s a British science fiction film that features aliens. Oh, and there’s Cyborg 2087 – a movie about future cyborg robots. It’s a great time for science fiction double features at the movies.
RAY: Here in Avon, it’s Labor Day weekend. The unofficial end to summer. The kids will be going back to school in a couple of days, so people are trying to squeeze in their last cookouts, parties, and hikes of the season.
JEFF: That they are. It’s a curious time. There’s been a lot of news coverage of UFOs all over the world. The witnesses seem credible, the government calls them kooks, and are quick to define any sightings or even photographs of UFOs as either weather balloons, or some atmospheric trick.
RAY: Between the war, political turmoil, and UFOs, it is a strange time for the world.
[DRIVING IN CAR]
JEFF: It’s late Sunday night. About 11:30PM. September second. We’re driving along Route 44 in Avon.
RAY: It’s a dark night. There aren’t a lot of cars around. Uhhhm… what IS that?!
JEFF: I… I don’t know. It looks like a man in some metal suit. Or a robot?
RAY: Whatever it is, it’s covered in metal from its head to feet. I don’t see a face. It’s kind of in shadow under its hood or helmet.
JEFF: But look at the way the headlights are reflecting off it!
RAY: It’s moving pretty strangely too. I can’t tell if it’s waving at us, or if it’s trying to get us to pull over. Should we stop?!
JEFF: No way. There are no houses around here, it’s late, it’s dark. This is weird, man. Let’s get out of here.
[CAR SPEEDS UP]
JEFF: Next time we see a gas station, let’s stop and use the pay phone to call the police.
RAY: Yeah. Good idea.
[CAR DRIVING]
RAY: Okay, there’s a place up ahead. I see a payphone by the road.
[CAR STOPS / DOORS OPEN AND CLOSE]
[PAY PHONE SOUNDS, ROTARY DIALING]
JEFF: Hello, police? Yeah, we just passed a… well… well… a robot on the side of Route 44 by Talcott Mountain. Yes, a robot. I don’t know, we didn’t stop. Hello? Hello!? He hung up.
RAY: Because you sound like a kook.
JEFF: You saw it too!
RAY: I know! But over the phone that probably sounded pretty nutty.
JEFF: It’s now Wednesday, and the Hartford Courant newspaper has run not one but TWO short articles on the robot sighting. GO ahead and give Tuesday’s a read, Ray.
[SHUFFLES PAPERS]
RAY: Okay… the headline reads: Mystery Robot Seen Roaming Talcott Mountain. Three separate reports of a robot or spaceman clad in a silver reflective suit were received by Avon police here Sunday night and Monday.
JEFF: See!? We weren’t the only people who saw it and called.
RAY: Right. The article continues: Police said the first call came from a motorist about 11:30 PM Sunday night who saw what he described as a robot or spaceman trying to stop cars on top of Talcott Mountain on Route 44. According to reports the “spaceman” was standing on or near the highway in a one-piece silver suit that covered its hands and feet. The hood was of a reflective, metallic material. Motorists said it appeared to be trying to stop cars, although it moved stiffly and awkwardly. Avon police went immediately to the scene but found no trace of the mysterious “robot” after a thorough search of the area.
JEFF: Wild, right?
RAY: Yeah. If three people called, you know plenty of other cars saw the robot but didn’t call.
JEFF: Exactly. The sightings continued until just after midnight, but by the time the police arrived, the robot was gone. Today, the Hartford Courant ran another follow up article on the robot. Check this one out.
[SHUFFLE PAPER]
RAY: Okay, this headline reads: Science Center Head Is Amused by ‘Robot.’ It says Talcott Mountain Science Center Director Donald LaSalle was highly entertained Tuesday by the Courant’s account of a mystery robot reported trying to flag down cars on Route 44 at the top of Talcott Mountain.
JEFF: The article goes on to claim LaSalle thinks the whole thing was a joke or a fraternity prank initiation. Or maybe some motorcyclist in some fancy suit and helmet and people were mistaken. After that, the story isn’t mentioned again in the newspapers. The Talcott Mountain Robot story died, but a legend was born. And that brings us back to today.
[TRANSITION]
RAY: So in the end, we have no idea if that was a robot, a spaceman, or a prank.
JEFF: We don’t.
RAY: Which is why we’re still talking about it.
JEFF: Right. The Talcott Mountain Robot shows up in various books about cryptids and Connecticut oddities. But the source are these two Hartford Courant newspaper articles from September 5th and 6th 1967.
RAY: As we mentioned earlier, in 1967 UFOs, science fiction, and the like were on a lot of minds.
JEFF: True.
RAY: So someone pulling a prank like this isn’t that much of a stretch.
JEFF: No it’s not. And nobody loves a good prank more than me! But for a prank to be great, you need that reveal moment. That: hey! I did this event.
RAY: Maybe once the police were involved, whoever pulled the prank might have been worried they’d be arrested or fined?
JEFF: Maybe. Or maybe… it was a real robot from outer space and it went back to its ship.
[BEEPING ROBOT SOUNDS]
[UFO FLIES AWAY]
[OUTRO]
RAY: Maybe. We may never know for sure unless the robot returns. And that takes us to After the Legend where we dive deeper into this week’s story and sometimes we veer off course.
JEFF: After the Legend is brought to you by our patreon patrons! We can’t do it without them! This group of Legenarians help us financially with our hosting costs, productions, travel, charities, and marketing efforts. Putting these episodes together takes a lot of time and money, so we’re grateful to work for them. It’s just $3 bucks per month and for that they get early ad-free episodes plus bonus episodes and content that no one else gets to hear. To help us out click over to patreon.com/newenglandlegends to sign up.
To see some pictures related to this week’s story, click on the link in our episode description, or go to our website and click on episode 431
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