Transcript
Speaker: Welcome to Beneath the Evergreens, where murder, mysteries, and mayhem lurk in the shadows of the Pacific Northwest. I'm Jess. And I'm Anna. From haunted forests and unsolved disappearances, to true crime cases buried deep in the moss and the mist, we're digging into the dark secrets hiding under the evergreens.
Speaker: Each episode will explore real cases, eerie encounters, and the legends that keep the Pacific Northwest up at night. So grab your flashlight, lock your doors, and join us...
Speaker: he the
Speaker: that was a good one but good one nice welcome back everyone october mid-october by the time you hear this whoa whoa time is like time is flying by to you i feel like i blinked and it was thanksgiving yeah last thanksgiving and now it's already happening again oh my god 1000 i feel like the older you get the more you realize time isn't real ah And I don't know why when you're a kid it like seems forever to do anything, but god damn, if I could just go back and just even get a fraction of time back, that'd be nice.
Speaker: Oh, yeah. and I went to the metaphysical market in Tacoma this weekend. Ooh. Tell me it wasn't necessarily what I was expecting, but there's two things I need to bring to your attention. Okay. Okay.
Speaker: one of which was a like a witchcraft booth which i'm on the fence about w witchcraft i definitely like the the positive side of it but there's this like negative side that i'm creeps me out well this one stand booth i think was more into like the black magic of it all oh and they had two jars massive jars One had a puppy in it.
Speaker: What? Let me do trigger warning. One had a puppy in it. The other one had a cat in it. Like, like, like a jar full of, I am guessing it's, what is the liquid that they, formaldehyde. I'm guessing that i like, it was just a huge jar.
Speaker: with like a puppy and it was filled with formaldehyde. And then then right next to it, there was this cat jar. and And what's even crazier about this, like my heart broke and it's like in the middle, like it's on the side of the stand. So everyone walking by like gets this view in front of it. It just says, has this tiny little sign that says ethically sourced.
Speaker: What does that mean? but Yeah. That is what I was like, what the hell? And so I kind of was like, had to walk by again because I was like what is going on and then they had like a whole bunch of like um like bones and also the kind of creepy stuff and this was like a lot of negative energy but I was very upset that they brought and it was like the event was live music and bring your kids because it's trick-or-treating and all this other kind of stuff I'm like I don't want kids little baby children to be seeing yeah and dogs floating in formaldehyde
Speaker: Oh my gosh. I feel like that it gives everything like metaphysical, in my opinion, a bad name because you see shit like that and you're like, these people are fucking nuts. and I don't like it. yeah No.
Speaker: like i feel like there's something very tame about like, oh, i like a little crystal because it makes me feel better. or I love to... like listen like It helps me like meditate and feel yeah calmer and better about myself, right? Very different worlds, but people kind of lump everything in together because it's so shocking to see a puppy in formaldehyde.
Speaker: Yeah, it's not... It's not a good feeling for sure. And I maybe even dabble a little deeper than just like my little crystals, but the, yeah, that it was, it was uncalled for. Well, while I am looking at this formaldehyde puppy, um I turn around and there's a man and a woman. This man has a choker.
Speaker: around his neck, which is actually not a choker. It was a fucking snake. And then around around his wrist is another snake. What? And then the girl has some sort of dragon just chilling on her. And I just want to bring to your doorstep, Anna. what that What do you feel about, I mean, gentle listener, if this is you, I apologize, but like, what level of insane do you have to be to take your snakes for a walk?
Speaker: Ugh. Oh, I'm going to be honest. When you first told me about this metaphysical market, I was like, I'm a little sad she didn't invite me. And now I'm like, oh, I'm so happy I was there. ah Yeah, I there was a whole bunch of just like and then there was also like a pop up tattoo parlor.
Speaker: Like but it was in like a farmer's market gazebo tent. So I have a funny story about that. I, yeah so I compete in strong man for everyone that doesn't know. Yeah. And they are not like the most sanitary of places. Like you got chalk floating around, you got some blood sometimes like they're just like sweat. Like it's not clean. And this was at like a, it was powerlifting and strongman. there's like a lot of people, a lot of stuff happening. They had a tattoo pop-up stand there as well.
Speaker: Not even like closed off, like just like in like on the, um against a wall. We were just randomly getting tattoos. And I was like, it's probably the same thing that you're thinking. I feel there's better places to do this. And I feel like I don't always need a tattoo everywhere I go. Maybe after compete, I shouldn't be getting a tattoo.
Speaker: I'm just like, yeah. i I have questions. Because I too i do like i do like a tattoo. And I have been thinking of getting one. But I'm not sure a medical physical hello metaphysical market.
Speaker: On like a random ass Saturday, I'm going to go and ask some person I've never vetted before. Just like give me something permanent on my skin forever. But yes, teach their own.
Speaker: I don't know how do it. Like a bunch of people around like maybe this is just the me specific thing, but I'm ah I really don't like getting tattoos. They hurt a lot. And I really don't want people to see me be either hyperventilating or crying a little bit.
Speaker: And it's also like you only have a ah selection like a small selection of what you can actually get. So you're definitely not being original. I don't know. So that combined with the formaldehyde poppy combined with the guy who's just walking around with a snake.
Speaker: It just... And there there was a guy when when me and my daughter er went to to Disneyland, there was a guy standing outside of the Disneyland walk with like two snakes like holding up by the tails. And they're just like... There's something just so... It makes me uneasy when someone is just so comfortable with walking a snake.
Speaker: Yes. Yes. People... like ah i don't I don't get the appeal of snakes, I'm being honest. They... make me very uncomfortable. my My mother is actually people that, like, she is more afraid of snakes than anyone I've ever met.
Speaker: i was in school at the time, but we were going on a walk, like, down the street. Yeah. On sidewalk, and there like, woods next to us. She saw a snake. Jessie, I kid you not, she almost pushed me into the street to get away from this snake.
Speaker: Afterwards, very apologetic. My mother is fantastic. Me and your mom, yeah.
Speaker: There's something about them I can't. If they're still and behind glass, I can figure it out. But the moment they start moving, even behind glass, something in my brain is just like, you need to run immediately.
Speaker: Good survival instinct. I feel like it's very rare that a snake is going to be a good company for you. Well, are ready to get into the story for today? Yeah. So...
Speaker: Jessie, I'm going to ask you a bit of a silly question that I already know the answer to, but are you aware of Boeing? I don't. I've never heard of them, actually. No? Really? It's a faint, distant memory. Yeah.
Speaker: Actually, yes. I have heard about Boeing. Fun fact, at the Boeing Museum of Flight, the jet I worked on is there. No way. Which one? The Prowler, E-A-6B, when I was in the Navy.
Speaker: Is it the one, like, one of ones, like, the full planes, like, out in the, like, hangar? Yeah, so if you go over the sky bridge and you go down, it's, like, in the very back right-hand corner. We need to go to the Museum of Flight together because I would love to see it. I love the Museum of Flight.
Speaker: Me I went for the first time with my dad. it was like a father's a present I got him. oh And yeah, it was so cool. It is really... i think it's probably one of the most slept on museums. It's oh actually really cool to see all that stuff.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. Well, I love... like seeing the history and like how we've refined engineering since then. Like, you know, when you walk into the museum and there's is the the blackbird that's like hanging kind of over top.
Speaker: Yeah. And all every single rivet that went into that, that was the one that stood out to me that you had someone so literally with a rivet gun, just like standing there going like, yeah, that's so much work. That's insane.
Speaker: It is. It's a fascinating museum. it a I think it's really cool. I also love that you can like walk inside the planes and like see it. Yeah. So those are listeners that don't know. Jesse and I both have worked in aerospace before. Yes. um And so my one of my favorite things to do, is especially with my husband when we're at the airport, is point out like everything that like I've worked on. I know that. And I know that. And I know that. Yeah. we um Last time we were at the airport, we had some time to kill because...
Speaker: True Taipei fashion. We were there so early. i thought it was going to take like an hour to get like check our bag, get through security. It took a whopping 15 minutes. So we had like three hours to go. And so...
Speaker: He was not quite of pleased with it as I was. This is going swimmingly. My vacation can start. Yes. yeah um But we're standing in front of the big window.
Speaker: And I'm like, yeah, look at that. like My team made that. My team made that. look at like Look at how many of these there are. Yeah. And you thought it was cool. And then I kept doing it. And I'm sure that the novelty wore off We went over this last time and the time before that I'm gonna keep telling you about it every single time But anyways, Boeing, definitely big name in the Pacific Northwest One of the biggest? Yes, big name I would say in the whole world, but yeah, very big in the Pacific Northwest I feel like everyone has either worked for some company affiliated with Boeing, has a family member that's worked for Boeing Everyone knows about Boeing Yes
Speaker: Well, while I thought I knew a lot about Boeing the history and like I've been to Museum of Flight, like love to read about aerospace, I found a story that I hadn't heard earlier this week. Oh, did you tell? Yeah, Plant 2. Have you heard about Plant 2?
Speaker: No. So this is going be really fun then. Okay. Boeing, let let me give you everyone a brief backstory of Boeing. So essentially... Plant 2, Boeing opened it in 1936 to build the prototype of the B-17 Flying Fortress. Okay. So eventually like 13,000 B-17s were actually built.
Speaker: um About half of those were built in Plant 2. And it also, Plant 2 also produced the B-29, the one that dropped the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Okay. Big, big time in the world ah in the war effort, specifically, obviously, World War II is what we're talking about here. But we had, like, thousands of people that worked here during World War II.
Speaker: And about half of the time, they were women. Which is actually where, like, Rosie the Riveter... like Yeah. I believe she worked or she actually worked at Plan II. Which... Nice. I did not know. And I wish would have been more common knowledge in the Pacific Northwest. like, ah everyone's heard of Rosie the Riveter.
Speaker: At no point was like, oh, yeah, no, she worked just down the street. Hold up. I thought she worked in New York. I... So... Maybe this is... Maybe I'm finding false information. But what I'm finding is that she was in Boeing, at Boeing. Rosie was at Boeing. God damn. It could be one of our ancestors. Yes.
Speaker: And i mean maybe maybe there was multiple Rosie the Riveters. But, like, in my mind, it makes a little bit more sense for her to be in the Pacific Northwest working where all the planes are being built, you know? I mean, riveting planes. Like, that's a huge... Especially back in the day. Like, everything was riveting. I mean, it still is. Yeah.
Speaker: So... The plant, is they had they ran three shifts. They were going all of the time. um However... Plant 2, the big worry at the time was that they were going to bombed, right? Like, they're working on all these planes that are going part of the war effort.
Speaker: um So they started building, like, underground tunnels that led to, like, cafeterias, like, meeting rooms, bathrooms, things so that people wouldn't have to, like, go outside and, like, go in between different shops. um And they kind of, like, stay hidden from anyone that was, like, looking to do something nefarious to the area. Yeah.
Speaker: That wasn't enough. And they were there. could Worry continued to be that someone was going to bomb this plant, which was in South Seattle, which is still like it's not far from actually where like like Boeing Tukwila kind of is right now.
Speaker: But like it was not for those of you that are familiar with like the South Seattle, like Georgetown area. It was kind of right around there. It was on East Marginal, kind of close to the Duwamish. um looking at a map it's like it's near um boeing field as well from my understanding they tore down the old plant too yes it's not yeah there's no nothing has come back up but it's like the whole campus it's it's essentially where this was i think isn't the red bar the red barn that was the original and then right across is essentially plant two right I think something similar. Yeah. okay yeah
Speaker: Obviously, this is it's close to the to the city of Seattle, downtown Seattle, which at the time wasn't as big as it is now, but it's still a big population center. So the government in particular was really worried about someone, one bombing the city and then bombing this huge plant where a lot of these plants are being built.
Speaker: So what they decided to do was disguise this building and make it seem like it wasn't actually there. Yes. Yes. I do remember this part. I didn't realize this was planned too.
Speaker: Yes. So essentially what they did, they brought in like an art director from MGM and like a camouflage enthusiast slash magician.
Speaker: And they essentially recreated a city on top of the the roof of this building. They build like like six feet tall homes and like like roads, driveways. um And they made that side of the building, like all camouflaged.
Speaker: Yes. And they had, like, netting and stuff over the parking lots. so you could, like, you could kind of drive your car in. but it be covered in, like, leaves and just, like, foliage. Yeah. And, like, we can include some photos from the from the air. um But, like, it legitimately looked like just another part of the city. Like, they they even, like, blended in roads that, like, like legit roads. Kind of blended it in so it looked like it, like, just continued right on top of the the building.
Speaker: Yes. So there was a ah joke that... that I heard. And it was that Disney, like Boeing used to be Disneyland because of this remodeled design on top of the building. Yeah. It's really cool. Yeah. It's so also very smart. Very, very smart.
Speaker: Right. Um, yeah. So they had essentially, yeah, they made this into this whole little town and you like, you would like on break. Sometimes they would walk up there make it look like there was actual people like meandering around. So if anyone were to be watching,
Speaker: the area they wouldn't think that it's just a like weirdly uninhabited part of the city oh yeah um but i wonder i wonder if there's any parts i wonder if there's any parts of it that's still remaining i don't think so from what i could find it was like kind of just it was all taken down um but the whole so the whole reason that this became that came into fruition actually is because there was a um a Japanese submarine actually got to the coast near Santa Barbara.
Speaker: Um, and then another attacked Fort Stevens in Washington and then there was something bombed in Southwest Oregon. So i was like, okay, the Japanese are getting really, really close. We definitely need need to like set this up. And yeah, so they ended up doing this with not just plant two at Boeing, but they also did a Douglas aircraft in, a location in Santa Monica.
Speaker: And it was done by a different architect, but it was like, it sounds like they kind of like tested it at a Boeing and were like, that's actually is working really well. Let's do it at other like key locations on the West Coast that are close to where, you know, bad things could be happening.
Speaker: um That's great. I love it. See, we have to have the artists. Oh, yes. Yes. We have to have the artists. I love it. So let me, I'll give you a little bit more of the timeline on how it got to us and like what all this camouflage entailed.
Speaker: Okay. So plant two was first converted to a what's called a blackout plant right after Pearl Harbor, like windows were painted over and the Corps of Engineers began the rooftop camouflage in May of 1942. Okay.
Speaker: go But six months after Pearl Harbor, like they're moving fast. Like it was yeah all hands on deck. Let's get this up and running. Um, so the village but they called, cause it was like literally little town.
Speaker: It covered about 26 acres on the roof of plant two. That's crazy. Yes. so the roof was like kind of sawtooth shaped and like there was a bunch of height variate variations. So it needed a lot of scaffolding in order to do.
Speaker: um The project used an estimated million board board feet of lumber, tons of steel and a half million feet of support wires plus like sprinkler sprinkler systems holy shit that's a lot yes so there was at least three main streets alleys driveways and like hills to kind of meet some of that like the high definition in the um roof um and they had like they had funny names like they literally named the streets like there was a synthetic street crossing burlap boulevard ah i love it
Speaker: and they had um like 300 artificial trees, 53 homes, two dozen garages, three greenhouses, a small store and a gas station, all created up top there.
Speaker: um The house, of the buildings, the houses were made of wood and canvas and they were only about like four to six feet tall. They weren't very big. um Right, because they didn't they didn't really meet me. They just had to look like from the top down that they actually have here.
Speaker: And maybe we could have someone walk in if we needed to. so The trees were made with like tar and feathers. um There was like chicken wire involved and it was just all like, Like, just, like, the most incredible set design I feel like you could imagine was just randomly on top of this building in South Seattle.
Speaker: I wonder why they didn't keep it as, like a like, a Hollywood set and try to, like, just disassemble it and, like, reassemble it somewhere. Right? Part of me wonders if it was, like, a we all need to, like, get back to work and, like, do you know what the reminder of, like, why we had to do all this? Like, I feel like the beauty and the innovation came like the beauty of the innovation came later on when we could all take a step back but when it's not like survival mode um but anyways like i was saying before it like the streets continue to cross boeing field and up to be a beacon hill so there is actually an urban legend that there was a cow roaming on the roof but uh that was actually not the case there were no it was bessie it was passing the burlap cow
Speaker: In the in of this time, it was like pretty and oh like oh like ah openly kept secret that like this is what was happening. And everyone in the Seattle area like kind of knew why this was happening. yeah um But it stayed out of the press, actually, until after the war was just about over. And Boeing's first public announcement came in June of 1945.
Speaker: So about three years after they started building it, that was when they officially said, yeah, this is what we did. That's cool that they were able to keep it secret for so long. Right. Right. So the army later announced in July of 1945 that they had been there had been contracts issued to dismantle the village. And an LA firm won a roughly $249,000 contract to remove it from Seattle within 150 days. So they were like really trying to like pack up and move on.
Speaker: um maybe that's why they didn't try and save it for the disney disney park lot or something because they were like get this shit down yeah and it was reported that so the corps of engineers probably put about two million dollars into this i don't know this ordeal um and then i think about another million boeing putting in another like million dollars um to get this up and running which is a lot of money at the time which is kind of crazy but also like an interesting way to stimulate the economy like i feel like feel like in world war two right this is like new deal time we're talking about how do we stimulate the economy and back to work and this would be a really cool way to like give people like what seems like maybe a silly job but a very important job at the time you know yes and just get yeah get people employed and i wonder how much of the if this truly is rosie the riveter how much of this was actually built by women oh yeah right right
Speaker: So Boeing and Douglas staged photo ops with women employees picnicking on the fake lawns before the demolition. And the last traces of the West Coast camouflage were gone by the end of 1946. So that included the the Santa Monica camouflage as Wow.
Speaker: Yeah. That's cool. That's really cool. So it sounds like a Boeing news photographer. They were taking a bunch of photos of it and they actually lost roll of aerial film of the camouflage in 1943. And the FBI questioned this guy for weeks about where it went, what happened to it. Yeah. but That would be so scary.
Speaker: Right? I don't know. i just, i was driving. It's gone. don't know where it's at. I'm so sorry. It was an accident. um And I mean i'm sure that we all can all probably assume this But the camouflage was quite effective In deterring any kind of bombing Or disaster From our adversaries in World War II The Japanese never attacked um It sounds like They certainly never even like so like thought anything of it. um It doubt does sound like some American pilots did get quite disoriented, though.
Speaker: Especially at the um the Douglas base in um Santa Monica. Men with like red flags had to to like guide planes in because they're like, where the hell do I go? What what the hell is going on here? I'm not trying to land ah in a neighborhood yes right now. like What? sounds like...
Speaker: ah it sounds like the kind of the consensus is that one it was like a strategic move in case of anything from the japanese but it was also more like a calming measure for everyone else in the area like i'm like just imagine like you live in seattle you live in like the south sound area and you're like oh my god like i know what we're doing here everyone knows what we're creating like are we yeah should we move should we get out of here what's going on um And so by doing that, it was a very like calming measure. And it was like, okay, the government's actually doing something and Boeing act is actually doing something to make sure that we as a community are staying safe, which I think is like, a yeah i don't know if that was their intention, but I think it's a really interesting and like really cool kind of offshoot of that initial, excuse me. Yeah, I agree. I agree.
Speaker: So that's really cool. Who knew? Yeah. Well, mean, sounds like, sounds like maybe you knew, but I had idea. Yes. Well, I didn't realize that was plant two though. Someone probably did tell me it was plant two, but yeah I've heard vague stories about this, but it is um a really cool safety measure and I wish they kept it so we could walk around it. Oh, that'd be so fun.
Speaker: Absolutely. Absolutely. um I'm gonna send you some photos that we can post with the episode because I want everyone to see how crazy this was um but no it was a really it's a really cool story really interesting story and like a very cool history in Boeing and I think it really just like shows how intertwined like Seattle and Boeing and like just like the Pacific Northwest is um definitely and like just how much they were like willing to go out of their way to keep their people safe and the community safe which I feel like is very different from the Boeing that we see today
Speaker: You don't say. You don't. Maybe we'll come back together one day. But well, this was fascinating. Thank you. Thank you. I can't wait to see the pictures. And um thank you for the story. Absolutely. Absolutely. You get me to talk about aerospace for some time. Like I love it. Any opportunity. A good old happy camper.
Speaker: Well, that's it for today's dive into the dark corners of the Pacific Northwest. If you love the stories or shivered a little, be sure to subscribe and follow so you don't miss what's lurking beneath the evergreens next time. Thanks for joining us on Beneath the Evergreens. We appreciate you diving into the mysteries with us.
Speaker: Until next time, keep your eyes open and your doors locked.
