The run
- Network
- Mutual
- Years active
- 1940–1950
- Surviving broadcasts
- 80
- Genre
- mystery
INCREDIBLE, BUT TRUE Program Format: Information/Entertainment Broadcast Years: 1950-1951 (Mutual) This series consisted of 15 minute shows, similar in format to Ripley's Believe It Or Not that had aired from 1930 to 1948. It was hosted/narrated by Ken Nordine and was produced by Unusual Features Syndicate. This syndicated series was heard on the Mutual network during 1950 and 1951 on various days and at various times. For example, according to "The Ultimate History of Network Radio Programming and Guide To All Circulating Shows" by Jay Hickerson, it aired on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9:30 PM from April 17, 1950 through June 5, 1951 and on Saturdays at 5:15 PM from June 30, 1951 through December 22, 1951. Besides the 15-minute shows, another syndication of 3-minute shows was also produced, again hosted by Ken Nordine. References: 1. Digitised by the Old Time Radio Researchers and streamed from the Internet Archive item “OTRR_Incredible_But_True_Singles”; these recordings are in the public domain.
Source collection
Old Time Radio Researchers Group
Rights
Public domain — no renewed US copyright
Cataloguing
Air dates and notes from the Archive item record
The shape of the run
What survives, year by year
0 dated broadcasts across 11 years on the air, with 11 years where nothing is known to survive. Brightness is transfer quality; empty cells are months lost to time.
Episodes
Start here
Listen to the run in order
Restored broadcasts from NaN, in original transmission order.
- 1. The Man Who Walked Behind · Date unknown
- 2. Footprints in the Sand · Date unknown
- 3. The Abominable Snowman · Date unknown
- 01
The Man Who Walked Behind
Date unknown · 3 min
Broadcast on Mutual. Transferred from the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio Researchers collection (public domain).
- 02
Footprints in the Sand
Date unknown · 3 min
Broadcast on Mutual. Transferred from the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio Researchers collection (public domain).
- 03
The Abominable Snowman
Date unknown · 3 min
Broadcast on Mutual. Transferred from the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio Researchers collection (public domain).
- 04
The One That Got Away
Date unknown · 3 min
Broadcast on Mutual. Transferred from the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio Researchers collection (public domain).
- 05
Water Wheel
Date unknown · 3 min
Broadcast on Mutual. Transferred from the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio Researchers collection (public domain).
- 06
Death Has a Will
Date unknown · 3 min
Broadcast on Mutual. Transferred from the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio Researchers collection (public domain).
- 07
Premonition
Date unknown · 3 min
Broadcast on Mutual. Transferred from the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio Researchers collection (public domain).
- 08
Beware My Son
Date unknown · 3 min
Broadcast on Mutual. Transferred from the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio Researchers collection (public domain).
Also on Mutual
Mutual in 1940–1950
Other series the network carried while Incredible, But True was on the air.
Same seasons
mystery on the air then
Series in the same genre whose runs overlapped this one.
What it became
The lesson on the air
Radio built as a classroom — a curious question, an expert, and an explanation pitched at anyone. Adventures in Research and the university theatres did teaching as entertainment.
Lineage is written by our editors, not inferred from listening data.
Descendants
Working in the tradition of Incredible, But True
Modern series carrying this form forward.
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