Project Nightglass

The Lost Journal of Meriwether Lewis — Missouri River, 1804

Commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson, the Lewis and Clark Expedition was tasked with charting the vast, uncharted territory acquired in the Louisiana Purchase. Their journey is one of the most documented and celebrated explorations in American history. But what if a fragment of that history—long buried—revealed something entirely unexpected? In this episode, we examine a little-known journal entry attributed to Meriwether Lewis, recovered in 1997 during renovations at Jefferson’s secluded retreat, Poplar Forest. The entry, authenticated by handwriting analysis but never officially released to the public, details an extraordinary encounter along the upper Missouri River—an experience Lewis himself seemed reluctant to share. Join us as we revisit the Corps of Discovery’s journey into the unknown and uncover a moment of contact that history left behind.

Buffalo Bill, Denver, Colorado, 1916

William “Buffalo Bill” Cody was a showman, a scout, and a legend—famous for bringing the American frontier to life on stages across the world. But in the winter of 1916, just weeks before his death, he wrote something never meant for the spotlight. This episode uncovers a forgotten document—verified as authentic and penned in Cody’s own hand—that describes a most unusual addition to his Wild West show: a being not of this Earth. Presented as entertainment, it may have been something far more real. This is Project Nightglass—a classified archive of forgotten encounters and buried voices. Join us as we open the Cody file.

Ernest Hemmingway, Tanganyika Territory, 1934

In January 1934, Ernest Hemingway stood at the rim of Tanzania’s Ngorongoro Crater—a hunter, a writer, and a man already larger than life. His official safari account would go on to shape Green Hills of Africa and inspire two of his finest short stories. But one day from that expedition was never published. In this episode of Project Nightglass, we uncover a long-lost diary entry, recovered in 2002 from a private archive in Arusha. What it reveals is a moment Hemingway never shared publicly—one that shook even his unshakable worldview. Project Nightglass is a classified archive of forgotten encounters, buried testimony, and lost voices from history. Each episode bears witness to a moment of contact—between our world and something other.

Charles Darwin – South Atlantic, 1833

Aboard HMS Beagle, Charles Darwin kept journals of tides, fossils, birdsong, and bone. But one page—never published, misfiled for nearly two centuries—describes something stranger. Something luminous. Something alive. In this premiere episode of Project Nightglass, we recover that lost entry. April 9th, 1833. A calm sea. A voice of reason, brought to the edge of something it could not explain. Project Nightglass is a fictional anthology presented in the style of recovered historical archives. Each episode features a different voice from the past encountering something… not of this world.