Burrows Cave: Lost Treasure, Wild Claims & Southern Illinois Mysteries | 455

Grab your torches, your questionable treasure maps, and maybe a chisel or two (for research purposes), because this week Hysteria 51 returns with regular episodes as we digs into Burrows Cave — Southern Illinois’ most controversial cavern of supposed mysteries. From alleged ancient tablets to world-changing artifacts no one can ever seem to produce on command, this saga has everything: secret chambers, wild treasure legends, feuding researchers, and enough fringe archaeology to make Indiana Jones ask for a transfer.

Brent, David, and Conspiracy Bot tunnel into the strange history, the skeptical takedowns, the die-hard believers, and the many, many reasons this cave might be more fiction than fossil record. But hey — that never stopped us before.

Is Burrows Cave a hidden archaeological jackpot, an elaborate hoax, or just the Midwest being the Midwest? Grab your hard hat and find out as we descend into one of America’s weirdest underground mysteries.

Special thanks to this week’s research sources:

Books
Burrows, Russell E., and Fred Rydholm. The Mystery Cave of Many Faces: A History of Burrows Cave. Marquette, MI: Superior Heartland, Inc., 1992.

Websites
Critical Enquiry - https://www.criticalenquiry.org/burrowscave/burrows.shtml
Burrows Cave- https://burrowscave.io/
USGENWEB - https://www.wvgw.net/calhoun/russ.htm
Jason Colavito Blog - https://www.jasoncolavito.com/blog/harry-hubbard-answers-your-questions-on-the-illinois-caves-and-america-unearthed
Jason Colavito Blog - https://www.jasoncolavito.com/blog/harry-hubbard-tries-to-sell-me-an-ancient-artifact

Music
Anxiety Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Email us your favorite WEIRD news stories:
weird@hysteria51.com

Support the Show
Get exclusive content & perks as well as an ad and sponsor free experience
at https://www.patreon.com/Hysteria51 from just $1

Shop
Be the Best Dressed at your Cult Meeting!
https://www.teepublic.com/stores/hysteria51?ref_id=9022