National Park After Dark - Leaving Earth to Join the Aliens: North Cowichan Municipal Forest Reserve

Episode Date: August 17, 2026

In November 1980, Granger Taylor vanished after leaving a note claiming he was departing on a 42-month journey aboard an alien spacecraft and was never seen again. What followed sparked decades of theories and left many unanswered questions, the most important of which was - is Granger still out there somewhere on a mission with extraterrestrial forces? JOIN US ON TOUR For a full list of our sources, visit npadpodcast.com/episodes For the latest NPAD updates, group travel details, merch and more, follow us on npadpodcast.com and our socials: Instagram: @‌nationalparkafterdarkTikTok: @‌nationalparkafterdark Support the show by becoming an Outsider and receive ad free listening, bonus content and more on Patreon or Apple Podcasts. Want to see our faces? Catch full episodes on our YouTube Page! Thank you to this week’s partners! Blueland: If you’re looking to make a small change in your routine, you can get 15% off your first order at Podcast | Blueland . That’s 15% off your first order at Podcast | Blueland . Harvest Hosts: Head to Unique RV Camping at Farms, Wineries, Breweries, & More with Harvest Hosts and use code NPAD20 for 20% off a Harvest Hosts membership. IQBAR: Get 20% off all IQBAR products, plus FREE shipping by texting PARK to 64000. Message and data rates may apply. See terms for details. Smalls: For a limited time, get 60% off your first order, plus free shipping, when you head to Fresh Human-Grade Cat Food Delivery | Smalls . Tumble: For a limited time only, our listeners get 10% off + free shipping at Tumble - Spillproof & Washable Rugs . After you purchase, tell them National Park After Dark sent you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On a rainy morning in March 1986, work crews were clearing overgrown forest on the slopes of Mount Prevost, a 2,585-foot peak within British Columbia's Coichin Municipal Forest Reserve. Covered in dense temperate forests and laced with miles of remote logging roads, the mountain has long been a place where locals hunt, hike, and explore the backcountry. It was here that crews stumbled across twisted pieces of metal laid scattered through the trees. As more debris came into view, it became clear that they were looking at the aftermath of a massive explosion. Vehicle parts had been blasted hundreds of feet across the mountainside, with one piece embedded high in the trunk of a nearby tree.

Whatever had happened here had happened with incredible force, and it wasn't long until they called the local authorities. When investigators arrived, they expected to identify the vehicle and reconstruct the events that led to the explosion. Instead, the evidence pointed them towards a missing person case that had gone cold more than five years earlier. However, the deeper they dug, the stranger the story became. Before long, detectives found themselves investigating a man who claimed he had left Earth aboard an alien spacecraft. Welcome to National Park After Dark. Hello, everyone, and welcome back to National Park After Dark. My name is Danielle.

And I'm Cassie. And I'm telling you guys an alien kind of story today. According to that one Kai on YouTube, another fuck-ass UFO story. That is correct. Sorry to that one person, but I am so excited. I am too. I like aliens. And summer feels like a good time to talk about aliens too.

Indeed, indeed. But you did say kind of. So I'm not really sure what that means. But yeah, it's not fully talking about aliens today. But it definitely has a lot to do with aliens. And it's my second one I've covered this summer, which is fun. I'm pretty sure you have now surpassed me in UFO alien stories. Impressive.

You've done Betty and Barney Hill, the Lake Champlain one, and now this. You inspired me to like aliens. Or I like telling you alien stories specifically because I know you like them. Yeah, I like this arrangement. It's working out in my favor. Yeah. For sure. So today I'm going to be telling the story of the disappearance of Granger Taylor. But before we jump into that and all this fun stuff today, we do want to remind you out that we're going on tour if you haven't heard yet from us talking about it every single second that we have a chance.

But if you would like to join us, links are in the show notes here. We have it on our website as well. And you can check out all the cities that we're going to. Yes, please come. It's going to be a very good time. We're in the midst of putting everything together. And we are really excited for everyone to come and have a great time. So grab your tickets, bring a friend, bring someone who has no idea what we're about. That would be fun. It's kind of like a mystery date.

Yeah. And we hope they like us. And you. Yeah. You know, like if it is a true mystery date. I don't know. Maybe that would be kind of weird. Okay.

Go on. Sorry. Like now that I think about it. Yeah, maybe don't do that. Maybe bring someone you actually already know first. Yeah, for sure. Okay, well, going into this story, I am going to be telling the story of the disappearance of Granger Taylor

because his disappearance has sparked decades of speculation. What happened was on a stormy November night in 1980, the 32-year-old mechanical genius left his family farm on Vancouver Island and seemingly vanished into thin air. The only clue he left behind was a strange note that would ignite theories of a tragic accident, a voluntary disappearance, and even an extraterrestrial encounter. More than 40 years later, some believe they know exactly what happened, while others are still waiting for Granger to come home.

So let's dive into his story. Granger Taylor was born on October 7, 1948, in the small town of Duncan on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. Nessled in the Coichin Valley, Duncan is the kind of sleepy rural community where neighbors know one another and people leave their doors unlocked at night. Beyond its modest downtown, the town gives way to sprawling farmland and dense forests. Tragedy struck early in Granger's life when his biological father drowned while they were on vacation, leaving Granger fatherless before he was even old enough to remember him. When he was just two years old, his mother, Grace, married a local man named Jim Taylor, who was also widowed after he lost his wife.

Jim brought children from his previous marriage, and together he and Grace had another son, creating a blended family of eight children. As the oldest, Granger grew up with three step-siblings, three biological siblings, and one younger half-brother. The Taylor family lived on a 21-acre property where Granger spent most of his childhood, roaming the farm, helping with chores, exploring the woods and constantly tinkering with anything he could get his hands on. While he was close with all of his siblings, he shared a particularly strong bond with his sister, Gay. During the summer, the two would spend nearly every day swimming in the nearby lake, just a short walk from their home.

In the evenings, Gay and Granger would listen to records together for hours. Granger was equally close with his mother and stepfather, Jim, who he came to see as his real father. Even as a child, he was quiet, soft-spoken, and happiest when he was by himself. Rather than playing with toys, he preferred taking them apart to figure out exactly how they were made before carefully putting every piece back together. Which I've never heard of a child doing. As a child, I never. I never once had the inclination to do that.

No, never thought of it. Maybe destroy a toy occasionally. I don't know. I don't really remember playing with toys. Really? I don't imagine you playing with toys, actually. I can't really picture it. Thanks.

I actually take that as a compliment. Yeah. No, I don't know. We've talked about this before, though, but I don't really, were we just talking about this? How I was just saying, I just, oh, no, I was talking to Netaya about it. Wow, this is so weird. I was just having a conversation about this. How I feel like I was always just ready to be an adult.

Like growing up, I just felt like not a real true child. And I just kind of felt like, okay, let's get through this so I can be grown now. Yeah, that's funny because I have a hard time imagining you as a child. It never happened. I was always in here. I was like, it's me. Jessica. I'm in here.

I was like, please, just let this body grow and catch up to my soul. Yeah. No, I was, I don't know, back to the whole, like, taking things apart and wondering how they work type of thing. I'm not sure I even knew anyone like that. Me either. I feel like it's very abnormal for a child to be thinking that way. Well, despite being very smart, Granger had little interest in school and struggled in the traditional classroom. He dropped out after eighth grade, which is crazy.

I knew people who dropped out in high school when we were like 17. but eighth grade is. I didn't even know that was an option. It must not be in some places. Because eighth grade or what? Like 14? Yeah. You've got to be like 14.

14, 15. Yeah. I only known a couple people who dropped out and eventually just they didn't like to conform to traditional school structure. Not to say that they like had anything else going on. They just really were like, I can't do this another second longer. And they just ended up being their G.

You know, I think school is hard for specific people. And for Granger, we find that out for sure because he drops out in eighth grade. And he actually, instead of going to school, he takes a job at a local mechanics garage. And it actually proved to be a perfect fit. It was way better for him than school was. Surrounded by engines and machinery instead of textbooks, Granger finally found a place where his curiosity and natural talent could thrive, setting him on a path that would make him one of the most gifted mechanics anyone in Duncan had ever known. It didn't take long for the people around him to realize that Granger wasn't just mechanically

inclined. He was a mechanical genius. At just 14 years old, he found an abandoned 1926 Packard, which is a luxury automobile that was built two decades before he was born, and decided to bring it back to life. In less than a year, he had completely rebuilt the car and got its engine running again at 14. What is, is it, McGiver? That's really, really smart in doing those things. I have no idea.

You've never heard of that? I haven't heard of a lot of things. Yeah. Oh, McGiver is an American Action Adventure TV series about Angus McGuver, a resourceful secret agent who uses scientific knowledge and everyday objects to solve problems. That makes sense. It's TV. And famously.

avoided guns and used items like paper clips and duct tape. Ah, that's super interesting. But it's not real. It's just a show, right? No, but I think it's just infiltrated the lingo. Like, McGiver is just kind of someone that's ingenious and is, yeah, things outside of the box to solve problems type of thing. I'll use that someday. Yeah.

Sneak it in conversation in the future, yeah. I will. And they'll be like, what's that? And I'll be like, oh, and now I know. Oh, just a famous TV. reference yeah like don't you know that next time you see someone doing something really unique or smart just be like oh to the person actually be like he's a real mcgiver and they'll be so impressed so impressed or they'll ask me to explain it and i'll have to think back to this moment and remember well a few years

later after renovating that's how much i know about cars after renovating a vehicle um just 17 years old Granger stumbled across a wrecked bulldozer. Most people saw this as a heap of rusting scrap metal, but Granger saw its potential. He restored it to working condition and then used it to help neighbors with projects around their properties. He's like, yeah, I'll build this for you. As his confidence and skills grew, so did his mechanical ambitions. In his early 20s, Granger learned about an abandoned steam locomotive resting away in the nearby woods. trees had grown through the engine and years of exposure had left it beyond repair.

With the help of friends, though, he hauled the locomotive piece by piece back to his parents' property where he had converted the family shed into a workshop. He completely disassembled the engine, restored every component he could salvage, and spent the next two years putting it back together. When he was finished, the locomotive ran as if it had never been abandoned. Granger even laid several hundred feet of tracks across his parents' property and spent countless afternoons giving neighborhood kids rides. He would chug to the end of the line, throw the locomotive into reverse, and back all the way to the beginning before doing it over again.

So he literally put like a railway in his parents' property. Wholesome. It is wholesome. I mean, I've never heard of a child. I mean, he's 17. He's not a child at this point, but a 17-year-old building a locomotive railway. station in your backyard. I'd be so curious to know what his parents were thinking when this was happening, when they

just look in the backyard. And he's like, oh, this is just my train I built. And they're like, okay, that's great, sweetie. I think probably they'd be impressed. Yeah, I think so, too. And very proud. Yeah. Well, of course, the local kids were fascinated by him and everything that he could do.

But no one was more fascinated with him than a boy named Robert Keller. who first met Granger when he was just seven years old. Robert's father occasionally worked alongside Granger on restoration projects, and whenever he had the chance, Robert tagged along. To him, the steam locomotive in the Taylor's family yard was the equivalent of Disneyland, and Granger might as well have been a magician, so he was just so enthralled with him. By his mid-20s, Granger had grown into a big, burly man, and was the definition of a gentle giant.

He stood over six feet tall with a round face, kind eyes, and perpetually messy brown hair. His beard was usually a little scruffy and his clothes, typically a t-shirt layered beneath a sweater, blue jeans, and well-worned lager boots were almost always streaked with grease from whatever machine he happened to be rebuilding that day. His sister Gay affectionately described him as an industrial archaeologist, because he had a knack for bringing forgotten pieces of history back to life. Although Granger was quiet, socially awkward, and viewed by some in town as the local eccentric, those who truly knew him, adored him. He was gentle, generous, and endlessly patient, especially with kids like Robert. He also adored his three-legged Labradormics lady, who was always by his side.

Another person with a three-legged pet owners, rise up. Yeah. It's like, is there a club for that? There's probably a club for that. need to join it. You know how they do a parade for Goldens in Golden, Colorado? Yeah. Like all the, it would be so cute if there was like a three-legged dog parade somewhere. Convention. Yeah. That'd be really cute. Gator would be not friendly.

That's okay. He's the same skater. He bites. Yeah, he bites. He's getting more and more comfortable in his own skin and more confident, which is leading him. to become a little bit fresh to other dogs. Oh, no. Namely, my sister's dog Atticus, who is spending the week with us. And he just doesn't like competing for my attention, I think, is what it is. And he gets snippy. He doesn't like other dogs in his space.

It's taken him three days to start to warm up, and now they're like kind of okay. Oh, okay. So he warms up eventually when he's like back off my mom. mom. Yeah. So maybe he could go to a three-legged dog convention. Yeah, if it's like three days long, he'll warm up over that time. By day four, we'll be good to go. Yeah, the first few days will just be rough. Yeah. Kia, we make things just for college life like the Rosenmandal blackout curtains in gray. They say you can't put a price on sleep, but we did for the low low price of $49.99. Why are you in my room?

Shh, go back to sleep. You have a big exam tomorrow. Shop back to school at IKEA. Well, anyway, back to the story, he has a three-legged Labrador mix named Lady, and she was always by his side, whether he was driving through town in his pickup or heading into the woods for a long walk. Lady was almost always either with him or riding shotgun. Granger loved sharing what he knew and was always happy to teach local kids the ins and outs of machinery. They often helped with his restoration projects, handing him tools or watching him work. But no one benefited from his mentorship more than Robert Keller, who Granger took under his wing.

When Robert decided he was going to follow in Granger's footsteps and drop out of school after the eighth grade, Granger asked him what he planned to do with his days. and Robert shrugged and said he'd probably just be hanging around the streets, and Granger replied by saying, well, why don't you just hang out with me instead? For the next three years, Granger picked Robert up every morning at 8 a.m., putting him to work on whatever project he happened to be working on. One day, they might be combing junkyards for scrap metal. The next, repairing old engines, or even repainting Granger's brown Datson pickup, a bright pepto-bismal pink color. Oh, that's a choice. I would do that for the record. Looking back, Robert has often said that Granger changed the course of his life, crediting him with keeping him out of trouble and ultimately out of prison.

By his late 20s, Granger was still living with his parents on the family farm. The property gave him room to work and allowed him to help his family. After successfully bringing a steam locomotive back to life, Granger was ready for an even bigger challenge. fascinated by aviation and the mechanics of flight, he earned his pilot's license and set out to build what would become his most ambitious creation yet, a full-scale replica of a World War II-era Kitty Hawk fighter plane. There was just one problem with this. He didn't have a set of plans to work from. So instead, Granger bought every photograph of the aircraft he could get his hands on. Using nothing more than a ruler, he measured every visible part in each. photo before scaling those measurements up to the dimensions of a real plane. It was a tedious process, but somehow it actually worked. Like so many of his other projects, the Kitty Hawk was built almost entirely from salvaged materials. Granger scavenged junkyards for sheet metal, repurposing everything

from old water heaters to large Coca-Cola advertising signs. He hand-shaped the metal, built parts that didn't exist anymore and assembled the aircraft piece by piece in his workshop from his parents' farm. When it was finally finished, aviation enthusiasts were astonished. Despite building it almost entirely from photographs, the replica matched the dimensions of an original kitty hawk within just a few millimeters. That's astounding. His brain is just incredible.

I would love to get a glimpse into a brain like that. Like, I would like to switch brains for a day just because you know he looks at the world through such a different lens. For sure. And has such a different understanding of how things operate than we do. Like, I would love to just get a peek behind that curtain. See what he sees. Yeah. I agree.

And of course, after he built this plane, there wasn't exactly a runway on his family property. But that didn't stop Granger. seeing what this plane could do if it could actually operate. So he reinforced the tail of the aircraft, anchored it securely to a massive tree, climbed into the cockpit, and fired up the engine. As the propeller screamed to life, he slowly advanced the throttle. It generated enough lift for the wheels to leave the ground while still tethered to the tree, proving that his backyard creation actually kind of worked, even though he didn't fully fly it himself. He's like, I just want to see if I can get this thing off the ground, I'm not going to take it into the air. But it worked.

Word spread quickly and people traveled from around the region just to watch the self-taught mechanic run the plane. Eventually, Granger sold the kitty hawk to a private collector in North Dakota for $20,000, which would be worth more than $100,000 today. It wasn't long after that until he was on to his next project. By the late 1970s, public fascination with UFOs was at an all-time high. Decades of reported sightings, government investigations, best-selling books, and blockbuster films had sparked widespread curiosity about whether intelligent life existed beyond Earth. Granger wasn't immune to that fascination. But unlike many people who were captivated by stories of aliens, he found himself fixated on the engineering aspects of their supposed crafts. He had so many questions on how they worked.

if even a fraction of the reported UFO sightings were real, how could a craft accelerate, hover, or change direction in ways that conventional aircrafts couldn't? What kind of propulsion system would make that possible? The more Granger thought about those questions, the more determined he became to find an answer. So naturally, he decided to build his own flying saucer. But not one that actually worked. From a local junkyard, Granger scavenged two large satellite dishes. from radio towers and welded them together, creating a circular metal structure that he mounted on stilts at the edge of his parents' farm. He cut a small, eye-shaped window into the side,

painted a lightning bolt across the exterior, and outfitted the inside with a cast-iron wood-burning stove, a couch, and a television. More than anything, though, the saucer became his personal think tank. Shelves filled with science fiction novels, astronomy books, and UFO literature surrounded him as he spent hours reading, sketching ideas, and trying to solve the mystery of how a flying saucer might actually work. So he basically just created like the coolest tree house ever. I was going to say man cave. Yeah. And he's just, he's in a UFO he created researching UFOs.

Oh, my God. I want to be his friend so bad. That's the coolest thing ever. Yeah. And I can tell that or I can understand how he got. this reputation for being like the local eccentric. For sure. But he's on to something, you know.

But I like him. He's living life the way he wants to live it. And I think that's great. Yes, I agree. So before long, Granger became consumed by the question of UFO propulsion, a problem that no one had come close to solving. He devoured books on rocket technology, space exploration, and theoretical physics, searching for clues that might explain how an advanced craft could move the way witnesses claimed they did.

Usually quiet and reserved, Granger suddenly had a topic he couldn't stop talking about. His favorite person to discuss it with was Robert Keller. If Earth was just one planet orbiting one star among billions in the universe, Granger reasoned, then it seemed almost impossible that humanity was alone. Like I've been saying, I know. I fucking say it. By November 1980, Granger's fascination with extraterristerials intensified. According to those closest to him, he began talking about a series of unusually vivid dreams that repeated night after night.

In the dreams, he was visited by intelligent beings from another planet who told him they needed his knowledge and mechanical expertise. They claimed they wanted him to accompany them on an interstellar journey. so they could show him the universe and teach him things humanity had not yet discovered. Granger said the dreams became more detailed with each passing night. Rather than replaying the same events over and over, they unfolded like chapters in a story. Every night he believed the visitors revealed a little more information, eventually telling him that they would return on a specific night to take him aboard their craft. According to Granger, it would happen during a powerful storm several

weeks later. He also insisted that there was a reason the pickup had to happen in bad weather. Granger explained to Robert Keller that the spacecraft was nearly a mile across and would conceal itself within the storm clouds, using the thunder and lightning as cover so it couldn't be seen from the ground. Beyond that, though, he refused to say much more. Robert, of course, he kind of found the story difficult to believe. Having lived his entire life in Duncan, he actually didn't believe it because he knew thunderstorms were incredibly rare along that part of Vancouver Island. And he was like, I don't see how a thunderstorm's going to get here. If Granger's mysterious visitors were really waiting for a violent thunderstorm,

Robert figured they might be waiting for a really long time. But on November 29th, 1980, the weather began to change. What started as dark clouds and steady rain that morning intensified throughout the day until by evening, Duncan was being battered by hurricane force winds, thunder, and flashes of lightning. The storm was unlike anything the town had experienced in years, later being described by local newspapers as the storm of the century. To Granger, it was proof that his reoccurring dreams had been telling the truth. Granger spent the day making preparations for what he believed would be his departure.

Before leaving town, he stopped at a local grill for a quick bite to eat, where he had already told several people about his upcoming space voyage. Mo smiled, wished him lucked, and assumed that he was joking. Then he drove to Robert Keller's house, the two hugged goodbye, and Granger climbed into his bright pink pickup. As rain poured from the sky, he waved one last time before pulling away into the storm. And that was the last time anyone would ever see him. The next morning, after the storm passed, Granger still hadn't returned home. At first, his stepdad wasn't overly concerned.

Granger was independent, often disappearing for a day or two while working on projects or exploring the backroads around Duncan. But as he looked around the house for some clues as to where his stepson might have gone, he noticed an envelope taped to the outside of their bedroom door. Inside was a handwritten letter that read, Dear mother and father, I have gone away to walk aboard an alien spaceship as reoccurring dreams assured a 42-month interstellar voyage to explore the vast universe, then return.

I am leaving behind all my possessions to you, as I will no longer require the use of any. Please use the instructions in my will as a guide to help. Love Granger. Alongside the letter, Granger had left a copy of his will, carefully outlining what he wanted done with his belongings, and making sure his beloved three-legged dog lady would be cared for. But there were also two handwritten changes that stood out. Everywhere the document referred to his funeral, Granger had crossed the word out. Then, anywhere it mentioned his death, he had neatly replaced it with a different word, departure. His mother, Grace, was vacationing in Hawaii when Granger disappeared.

By the time she returned home and learned what had happened, Granger was still nowhere to be found. Together, she and Jim reported him missing to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, launching an extensive search. Investigators began where they believed Granger was most likely to be, the rugged forests and the maze of logging roads surrounding Mount Provost, the mountain that rises just west of Duncan, within North Quoichan Municipal Forest Reserve. Covering more than 5,000 hectares, roughly a quarter of the land base,

the reserve is a sprawling network of working forests, recreational trails, and steep backcountry terrain that Granger knew well and frequently explored. Search dogs comb the mountain sides while helicopters searched from above and officers interviewed family, friends, and anyone who might have seen him after he left Duncan on the night of the storm. Despite the massive effort, investigators found nothing. There was no sign of Granger or his distinctive bright pink pickup truck. As the days turned into weeks and weeks into months, the official investigation gradually lost momentum, but Granger's family refused to give up hope. They followed every lead, no matter how unlikely, and waited for the phone to ring with news that someone had finally found him. For more than three years, Granger's parents left the back door unlocked every night just in case that was the night he finally returned home.

Even many of the townspeople who had always viewed Granger as a harmless eccentric, found themselves watching the calendar as the 42-month mark approached. On some level, they wanted to believe him too. On the night Granger was supposed to return, his stepbrother Doug was aboard the Canadian Coast Guard vessel called the wolf. He stayed on deck throughout the night, scanning the sky and waiting for some sign that Granger was finally coming home. Years later, Doug explained, when Granger said he was going to do something, I knew he did it. But Granger never came back. For Robert and Gay, however, the missed deadline wasn't necessarily proof that Granger's story had been false. Granger had once explained that if he really was traveling through space at incredible speeds,

time wouldn't pass the same way for him as it would on Earth. 42 months might pass for Granger, while decades or even centuries pass back home. If that were true, they reasoned, they might all be old or even gone before Granger ever made it back. Yeah, interstellar. Yeah, have you ever seen? That's a movie I've seen. Yeah, don't you really like that movie? I do.

I think I actually have it downloaded on my Apple movies or something from like years ago and it's just always on my phone now. I listen to the, sometimes when I'm writing episodes, I'll listen to Han Zimmerman, like Spotify radio or whatever. And this interstellar soundtrack is always like the most played. So it comes up a lot. So I hear interstellar a lot, but I haven't seen it in a number of years. But yeah, that's the whole thing, right? The whole premise. Yeah.

I'm also a Matthew McConaughey enthusiast. So that's also why I like the movie for sure. Yeah, you are. Yeah, I am. Maybe that's, this happened before that movie came out. So maybe he was the inspiration for the movie. I don't know. As the years passed, the investigation reached a dead end.

With so few answers, the mystery quickly took on a life of its own. Depending on who you asked, Granger Taylor's disappearance was either an incredible true story, a carefully orchestrated disappearance, or something far more tragic. Some people speculated he had severe mental health issues, but his family always said that that was not the case. More than four decades later, there are still several competing theories about what really happened that night. The first came from the people who knew Granger best, that he had gone exactly where he said he was going. To those closest to him, Granger wasn't someone who lied or made up elaborate stories for attention.

They described him as honest, kind, and remarkably intelligent. His sister, Gay, acknowledged that Granger had experimented with LSD in his 20s, as many people did during that era, but said he hadn't used hallucinogens for years before his disappearance, because some people were like, was he on drugs? Like, what's going on here? Other than occasionally drinking alcohol or smoking marijuana, his family said there was nothing to suggest he was abusing drugs or suffering from mental illness. If Granger truly believed he was going aboard an alien spacecraft, they believed he had a reason for believing it.

Robert Keller has held on to that belief for decades. He readily admits he can't prove Granger boarded in alien spacecraft, but he also points out that no evidence has definitively disproven it either. Robert believes intelligent life almost certainly exists somewhere else in the universe, and if those beings ever chose to make contact with someone on Earth, he believes Granger's extraordinary mind and mechanical abilities made him the logical choice. His sister, Gay, has expressed similar feelings, saying she isn't willing to dismiss the possibility that her brother simply kept his promise and will someday return. Others have proposed a much more earthly explanation. Some believe Granger staged the entire disappearance and started over somewhere else.

He had several friends in Columbia who had recently mailed him coca beans after he expressed and interest in growing them on Vancouver Island, though the experiment failed because the climate was all wrong. Some have wondered whether those friendships could have given Granger a place to disappear to. In 1980, crossing international borders required far less documentation than it does today, and without cell phones, surveillance cameras, or a digital footprint, it was considerably easier for someone to vanish if they truly wanted to. For nearly six years, though, every theory remained just a theory. Investigators had no physical evidence pointing in any direction. However, in spring of 1986, everything changed. Were crews clearing overgrown forest in the North

Coichin Municipal Forest Reserve on the slopes of Mount Prevost stumbled across twisted pieces of metal scattered among the trees. At first, it wasn't immediately obvious what they had found, but as they look closer, they realized the fragments appeared to blow. along to a vehicle and contacted police. When investigators arrived, they discovered a scene unlike anything they could have expected. Vehicle debris was scattered across an area nearly 300 feet wide, suggesting an enormous explosion that ripped through the mountainside years earlier. A portion of a wheel had been hurled roughly 60 feet into the air and had become deeply

embedded in the trunk of a nearby tree. Pieces of the engine block were recovered nearly 100 feet from what appeared to be the center of the blast, while two large craters in the ground believed to have been created by the engine in transmission, indicated the force of the explosion had been huge. Investigators concluded that the damage was consistent with a significant amount of dynamite detonating on or near the vehicle. Exactly how the explosives had been positioned, however, could no longer be determined with certainty. Nearly six years of rain, snow, and dense forest, growth had erased much of the physical evidence, leaving investigators to reconstruct what had

happened from the fragments that remained. The recovered vehicle presented another mystery. Some investigators believed the remaining paint suggested it had once been blue. If true, that would have been difficult to reconcile with Granger's well-known pickup, which had originally been brown before he and Robert Keller had painted it the peptobismal pink. So they're like, if this is blue, this doesn't really make any sense. Others have suggested that after years exposed to the elements, it was difficult to determine the truck's original color with confidence. However, even more settling was what investigators found among the wreckage.

Scattered near the blast site were two large human bones, one believed to be part of an upper arm. No skull, teeth, fingerprints, or other identifiable remains were ever recovered. Without dental records or DNA testing, which was still in its infancy at the time, there was no way to conclusively identify the remains. Even so, when investigators considered the location, the vehicle debris, the parent use of dynamite, and Granger's disappearance nearly six years earlier, the coroner concluded the remains were most likely his and ruled that he had died in the explosion.

This episode is brought to you by IQ Bar, our exclusive snack sponsor. IQ bars are better for you, clean plant protein bars packed with fiber and brain boosting nutrients with zero added sugar. You no longer have to choose between healthy or delicious snacks. IQ bars, plant protein bars are packed with high quality ingredients to help you keep physically and mentally fit. You won't find any unrecognizable ingredients on their label and their number one ingredient in their bars is almonds. They're also free from gluten, dairy, soy, GMOs, and artificial sweeteners. So they work for a variety of diets and dietary recipes. restrictions. With over 20,000 five-star reviews and counting, more people than ever are starting

their days on the right foot with IQ bars, brain and body boosting bars, hydration mixes, and mushroom coffees. I always like having an IQ bar with me when I'm traveling or heading out for a long day because they're so easy to just throw in my bag. And unlike a lot of protein bars that can taste a little chalky, these taste really good. There are nine flavors to choose from, but chocolate sea salt and peanut butter chip are two that I am always happy to have on hand. And right now, IQ Bar is offering our special podcast listeners 20% off all IQ Bar products, plus get free shipping. To get your 20% off, text Park to 64,000. Text Park to 64,000.

That's Park to 64,000. Message and data rates may apply. See terms for details. Investigators believe the explosion had likely been caused by dynamite something Granger was familiar with. He occasionally used explosives around his family's farm to blast tree stumps from the ground and clear additional land. for farming, so the idea that he knew how to handle dynamite wasn't unusual. Based on the size of the blast radius, investigators estimated that a significant quantity of dynamite would have been needed to produce an explosion powerful enough to scatter vehicle

parts nearly 300 feet, launch a wheel dozens of feet into a tree, and drive the engine and transmission into the ground. However, there was no record of Granger purchasing that much dynamite in the months leading up to his disappearance, leaving investigators to wonder where it might have come from. Despite the evidence of an explosion, investigators were hesitant to conclude that Granger had intentionally taken his own life. Friends and family consistently described him as optimistic, deeply curious, and excited about the future. He was constantly immersed in new projects, talking about ideas, and dreaming up his next invention. Robert Keller, who knew Granger, better than anyone, believed suicide fit the man that he knew. He said, the best way to put it is that he was so

into life, anybody and everybody who knew him will tell you the same thing. At the same time, an accidental explosion seemed difficult to explain as well. Granger had spent his entire life restoring complicated machinery, operating heavy equipment, and working with tools that demanded precision. Those closest to him described him as meticulous and methodical, making it hard to imagine him carelessly handling enough explosives to produce a blast of that magnitude. But of course, then there was the question of the human remains. Today, those bones would almost certainly be subjected to extensive forensic testing. Modern DNA techniques can often recover genetic material from decades-old skeletal remains,

even when the bones have been exposed to the elements for years. Scientists can compare that DNA directly to living relatives to confirm an identity with an exceptionally high degree of confidence. In many cold cases, remains that were once considered impossible to identify have been successfully identified using these methods. However, in 1986, that technology wasn't available. DNA profiling had only just been developed the previous year by British geneticist Sir Alec Jeffreys, and it wouldn't be used in a criminal investigation until later in 1986. In Canada, forensic DNA testing was still years away from becoming a routine investigative tool. At the time Granger's blast site was discovered, investigators relied primarily on dental records, fingerprints, personal effects, or recognizable skeletal

features to identify human remains. Because so little of the body had survived the explosion, none of those methods could conclusively establish whose bones had been found, which makes what happened next all more frustrating. According to the coroner's office, standard procedure is to offer recovered human remains to a victim's family once an investigation has concluded so they can be properly buried. But the Taylor family says that never happened. They were never contacted about retrieving the bones, and when later inquiries were made, the coroner's office could no longer locate them. The official records don't explain what became of the remains, leaving one of the most important pieces of evidence in the case unaccounted for, which has led his

family to really argue how do you know that this was him if there's no remains here and you can't identify these remains at all they've basically been like you have no proof this was him we don't even think that this is this truck you said it's blue i'm chomping at the bit so hard to say what i think but i'll let you finish okay sounds good um so however and this might change what you think because there was one final piece of evidence that seemed to conclude that the explosion was connected to green Taylor. Also, according to the coroner service report, investigators recovered a vehicle identification number from the wreckage that matched Granger Taylor's pickup. Because Evin is unique to an individual vehicle, it provided investigators with compelling evidence that the wreckage did in fact belong

to Granger's truck. Eventually, the Taylor family made the difficult decision to have Granger legally declared dead so they could settle his estate and manage his savings in property. But making that decision didn't mean they believed the mystery had been solved. They never held a funeral because they couldn't say with absolute certainty that Granger was gone. Even after the discovery on Mount Prevost, some family members continue to question whether the evidence truly proved he had died there. The remains were never conclusively identified and they struggled to reconcile the reported

blue vehicle with Granger's unmistakable bright pink pickup. Today, Gay has taken over the family farm where she still keeps Granger's bedroom exactly as he left it in November of 1980, just in case he does return one day. The room has become something of a time capsule. Just a few miles away, visitors to the BC Forest Discovery Center in Duncan can still see several of Granger's remarkable restorations, including the locomotive he wrestlers. rescued from the forest and brought back to life, as well as the 1926 Packard he rebuilt as a teenager. Officially, the investigation is closed, though the Duncan police still encourage anyone with new information to come forward. And unofficially, the mystery continues for his family and those closest to him. And that is my story of Granger Taylor and his serious disappearance.

Okay, can I say it? Yes. I think it was the government. Really? I do. Why? That gave me chills a little bit. I think it was the government because just certain things that you were saying just line up with the government just getting people out of there that know too much or really on to something.

And I just truly think that because you were like, well, there was no record of him buying that much dynamite, but people knew he worked with dynamite. dynamite and he was super chatty about what he was finding out and his plans. And I know he was a little tight-lipped about specifics with like his dreams and things like that. But as far as like what he was doing, his abilities, how intelligent he was, he was clear. He was sitting in a friggin recreated UFO studying extraterrestrial life out in the open. It wasn't a secret. And I think that, for whatever reason. I don't know what that reason is. But I think that the government somehow was threatened by what he was discovering or maybe like, I don't know.

I just feel like the government took him out. Like I do think that he died in that explosion. And I do think that is his truck. I do not think that he ended his own life. And I think somebody else was responsible in that person or group of people. are very high up. And unfortunately, I don't think anything will ever come of it because it was the government. Wow. That's a, that's a theory I didn't even think of. It's the only one I could think of because, I mean, you have a good point. He was researching a lot of. He didn't have a history of mental

illness. It doesn't seem like, I mean, you very clearly laid out that that type of explosion doesn't seem like, It doesn't just happen. Yeah. It doesn't just happen, you know. And with something of that force and that person who was responsible probably knew that it would leave little to no evidence. And what evidence it did leave, there was no way to conclusively link that to, they just, it was the government. It was the freaking government. They knew.

You're like, it's too perfect how he died. Yes. And the questions around it. Wow. Yeah. You know what I mean? That's a crazy theory. Yeah. Yeah, I didn't even, wasn't even on my radar. What did you think? What did you think about it? You know, I was kind of, I do think it was him in the truck because of the VIN number.

I think that's pretty conclusive. But my thought was that it wasn't dynamite and they got that wrong when they were. My thought was that maybe he had created a craft that had gone wrong. in his departure and he accidentally blew himself up. But there was a lot of questions with that theory for mine because he was in his truck. And it doesn't, there was nothing that, like, he said he, like, outfitted his truck to lift into the air or something. I thought he was just going to come get picked up. Yeah, that's kind of like the vibe I got. But then I was like, maybe he was going up to them in the aircraft.

And he, like, tried to because in his, when he was describing his dreams, he only described portals. he only described portions of it and he was really hush-hush about other things in it, which made me think maybe there was like the way he would get there was maybe part of why he was hush-hush and he accidentally blew himself up. But I do think that that's a little hard to believe given how incredibly smart he is. So I had a lot of questions, but that was my thought. Yeah, I mean what could have happened. accidents can happen for sure extremely intelligent people things go wrong you know still freak accidents happen it's just a little too and can we talk about the storm for a second yeah the storm that came and okay can we talk about how he said that the aircraft would be a mile wide I didn't even flinch for that

you believe I just like I don't know I believe whatever picture them like that it was like wow a mile along aircraft. And then I was just thinking there's, I'm in the Teton's right now and I was just thinking there's so many thunderstorms here. I'm like, are there aliens? Are there aliens in those clouds? Yeah. I'll never look at a lightning storm the same because now I know the aliens are up there using it as a cover. Okay. I think the reason I didn't bat an eye over that is because, and I don't know too, too much about it. And I would be very shocked if you even knew what I was talking about. But there's an incident from the 40s, like right after. World War II. And I'm pretty sure it's called the battle over L.A. or something. But it was one of the

most witnessed alleged UFO sighting on record in U.S. history. And for over an hour, the military was shooting at it and it was this massive big craft. And so many people in L.A. saw it for well over an hour. Yeah. And. It was just like this really big. Yeah. So I think you should look into it. And I don't know too much about it. Is it connected to a national park?

I don't know. Did anyone visiting a national park witness this? Did anyone in a public land area see this craft? Look up and see that. Yeah. Because then we can connect it to NPAD. I would be super interested in knowing more about that. Yeah.

Anywho, it's just the craft was allegedly very big. But anyways, back to Granger's story. Yeah. So I don't know. I think I'm very open to hearing other people's thoughts, feelings, and opinions. But in your research, did you come across any of his friends or family throwing out the government theory? No. Everything that I saw from his friends and family were actually saying that they completely believe that they did not think that he was.

Well, actually one of his family members was like that. was him. I believe that that's him. Didn't say anything about the government. But most of his family and friends said that they think that he's in space. And they're waiting for him to come home. And they fully believed that he made it there. And that's why he hasn't returned. And I don't know what the Canadian government, like if there is effed as the U.S. government or what, but I don't know. I'm shocked by Canada. If Canada is government. Someone like you. I know, our friendly neighbors to the north. I didn't know they were doing stuff like that.

I don't know. I'm not trying to get any Canadian government upset at us, but not saying it's even them. Yeah, please don't come get us. We don't know any, we truly don't know anything Canadian government if you're trying to come after us. Yeah. We're just girls. Well, I'm really glad you told the story because it's very intriguing and I believe Granger. I really do. And who it's, it's just sad that somebody lost their life, whether it's

Granger or not. Clearly somebody. Oh, and the plot thickens. Now you think it's a plant I don't know. I don't know. The government planted it. Well, yeah. And that's the other thing. It's like, oh, we conveniently lost the remains that we have. Yeah. That's something of government would do. is and yeah that is something a government would do for Canada how could you how could you yeah well great I really enjoyed that one and there's a documentary right on this yeah yeah so there's an episode of never seen again it's on Apple TV right now that you can watch it on there and it actually they interview his family and they go into his story if people are interested And they have a lot of pictures of his life.

And it's really interesting. And I'll definitely upload photos onto Instagram of his UFO craft that he created and his airplane and stuff. It's really, really interesting. Oh, his alien craft treehouse man cave? Yeah, that one. I want that in a museum. Yeah, that would be super cool. That would be really, really cool.

I would like to leave us with a wreck that is applicable to your story today. And it is, 2026 has been the year of the book for me. I have really been leaning into all things book. And I've been reading a lot. And when I was in Nova Scotia with my mom earlier this summer, I brought a couple of reads with me. And one of them was probably one of my favorites of the year so far. It's really short and sweet.

But it is by Neil DeGrasse Tyson. and it is titled, Take Me to Your Leader Perspectives on Your First Alien Encounter. Fun. And it is so good. Talking about people who I want to live inside your brain for a day, I don't know if I'd survive, Neil DeGrasse Tyson's brain, but it's a really great read. And it's, like I said, it's short and it's, it tackles a lot of really big, complicated concepts about space. and extraterrestrial life and probability of such things and all that. But it's kind of dumbed down for the normal person like you and I.

And it's really interesting in the way that he formulates it. It's like relatable. It's not dry and boring. But I just loved it so much. And I half listened to it because he voiced the audiobook and I half read it. But if you're looking for something to get your mind engaged and thinking about big things and ideas, then I think you should read it. And if you're interested in whether or not aliens exist. And he isn't, he comes right out and he's like, look, I want to believe as much as the next person, but he is the most logical person out there, I think.

So he just kind of like boils it down to probability and statistically wise. if extraterrestrial life existed, what would that look like in reality versus what we've kind of concocted in our minds through pop culture and things like that. So it's really great. Cool. I love that. An alien book to follow up this alien episode. Yeah.

Well, thanks everyone for listening. We hope to see you next week. But in the meantime, please enjoy the view. But watch you're back. Bye. Bye. Bye. Take me to your window.

Thanks for joining us for another episode. We hope you learned something new and have another location to put on your list. If you want more MPAD content, make sure to follow along with our adventures on all socials at National Park After Dark. For more stories just like this one, with the added bonus of exclusive content, you can join us on Patreon or Apple subscriptions. If you prefer to watch our episodes, head over to our YouTube channel. And if you're enjoying the show, please take a moment to raise it. review and subscribe on your favorite listening platform.