REDACTED: Declassified Mysteries with Luke Lamana
Behind the closed doors of government offices and military compounds, are hidden stories and buried secrets from the darkest corners of history. Each week, Luke Lamana, a Marine Corp Reconnaissance Veteran, pulls back the curtain on what once was classified information exposing the secrets and lies behind the world’s most powerful institutions. From the hitmakers at Wondery and Ballen Studios, we bring you REDACTED: Declassified Mysteries with Luke Lamana. The stories are real, and the secrets are shocking. Follow REDACTED: Declassified Mysteries with Luke Lamana on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial by visiting https://wondery.com/links/redacted/?ol=wnd~spot~ap~am now.
Episodes
When Julian Assange released classified footage of a U.S. helicopter strike that killed two journalists and several civilians in 2010, it catapulted WikiLeaks into global headlines. As Assange unleashed a flood of classified documents, he sparked protests, fractured alliances, and ignited a global war over secrecy and truth. But the deeper he dug into the hidden machinery of power, the more isolated—and dangerous—his missi...
On March 1, 1954, a Japanese fishing boat called the Lucky Dragon No. 5 was sailing near the Marshall Islands when its crew was caught in the fallout of a secret U.S. hydrogen bomb test. Code named Castle Bravo, the test released far more radiation than scientists had anticipated, contaminating not only the fishermen but nearby islanders, all without warning. Later labelled the “worst nuclear test in U.S. history,” Castle ...
In this special MrBallen’s Medical Mysteries and Redacted Crossover episode, MrBallen and Luke Lamana join forces to bring you two shocking stories of the military testing bizarre, deadly weapons of war in secret. In “Weather Warriors,"" the U.S. Army goes to extreme lengths to disrupt Viet Cong supply lines through a classified program called Operation Popeye. In “Red Menace,” a 75 year old pipe fitter in San Francisco wa...
A secretive U.S. government operation to track gun traffickers goes horribly wrong when the weapons end up in the hands of criminals—and are used to kill a Border Patrol agent. As the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives scrambles to cover its tracks, one agent defies orders and risks everything to expose the truth.
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During World War II, the U.S. Navy made an unthinkable alliance—with the Mafia. Fearing enemy sabotage in New York Harbor, military officials turned to notorious gangster Charles “Lucky” Luciano and his underworld network for help securing the docks against Nazi spies. But what started as a desperate bid to protect America’s shores soon spiraled into a murky web of power, corruption, and secret deals.
For decades, justice for civil rights leader Medgar Evers remained out of reach. Assassinated in his own driveway in 1963, his killer walked free after two all-white juries refused to convict him. But the story didn’t end there. Nearly 30 years later, long-hidden government documents revealed possible jury tampering, reopening the case and leading to a dramatic trial in which his murderer was finally brought to justice.
In 1894, Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish French officer, was falsely accused of espionage and sentenced to life in prison on the remote Devil’s Island in French Guiana. As evidence came to light pointing to his innocence, a bitter national debate erupted that would change France forever. Some maintained Dreyfus was guilty, while others, like writer Émile Zola, demanded justice for Dreyfus accusing the military of anti-Semitism, c...
In the early 2000s, undercover ATF agent, Jay Dobyns, infiltrated the infamous Hells Angels motorcycle gang. To gain their trust, Dobyns had to walk the walk—trafficking guns, staging violent attacks, and proving his loyalty in ways that pushed the limits of the law. But when the government unexpectedly pulled the plug on the operation, Dobyns found himself a marked man, hunted by the very outlaws he once called brothers.
They were charming, brilliant, and deeply embedded in the British establishment — but they were also secretly working for the enemy. Later dubbed the Cambridge Five, this ring of Soviet spies passed government secrets to Moscow right under British Intelligence’s nose for decades. But when two of them suddenly vanished in 1951, suspicions erupted into one of the biggest espionage scandals in history, shaking the British and...
In 2025, the Trump Administration released long-classified government files about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. At the center of the most obsessed-over murder in American history stands the gunman, Lee Harvey Oswald, a man whose life was marked by political radicalization and personal failure. His actions on November 22, 1963 continue to haunt the nation, fueling a range of theories about his involve...
Towards the end of WWII, Winston Churchill decided it was time for Britain to develop deadly bioweapons. He chose a remote island off of Scotland where experiments could be carried out away from human contact. But toxic secrets often have a way of resurfacing. Years later, a group of environmental activists called ""Dark Harvest"" would force Britain to confront its contaminated past. The story of Anthrax Island is one of ...
Towards the end of WWII, a rogue group of German conspirators realized what they had to do to protect the future of their country: kill Adolf Hitler. But eliminating the Führer was easier said than done. Dud bombs, botched assassination attempts, and cruel twists of fate spared Hitler’s life again and again. In the end, fake news of his death set the gears of Operation Valkyrie into motion – to deadly results.
In Part Two of this two-part series, CIA Director Allen Dules' plan to invade Cuba goes disastrously wrong. Though this political mastermind thinks he has everything under control, he quickly learns that he underestimated the young American President, John F. Kennedy.
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In Part One of this two-part series, the CIA Director and political chessmaster, Allen Dulles, has his eyes set on overthrowing the Cuban Dictator, Fidel Castro. But though Dulles thinks he has every move figured out, he unwittingly puts the pieces in motion for one of the greatest embarrassments in American history.
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In the early 1950s, the US Air Force launched a top-secret program to investigate reports of UFO sightings and determine whether they posed a national security threat. Dubbed Project Blue Book, the program examined nearly 12,000 accounts of UFO activity before it was shut down and classified in 1969. But as rumors spread about the nature of the investigation, the public began to wonder what the government was hiding.
After the tragic events of 9/11, Edward Snowden decides to do his patriotic duty and joins the US Military. When he moves up to systems engineer at the CIA, he stumbles across a secret that will change the world forever: the American Government is spying on its citizens. In the end, Snowden is forced to sacrifice everything he holds dear to make America's dark secret public.
In 1960s New York, cop Frank Serpico discovered a brutal truth: his fellow officers were on the take. Gambling dens and drug rings were being secretly protected by the NYPD. When Serpico refused to join in, he became a marked man. His attempts to expose corruption hit wall after wall. Finally, he went public and sparked the biggest police scandal in NYC history. His sacrifice exposed decades of corruption – and nearly cost...
During the Cold War, the US built a secret underground city 100 feet under Greenland’s ice cap. It was disguised as a research facility but was actually meant as a site to launch missiles at Russia. The project failed and turned into a radioactive wasteland. But in the end, this classified military project accidentally revolutionized climate science.
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As World War II raged on, America deployed its strangest weapon yet: a fake army. Known as the Ghost Army, this group of artists, architects, and actors used inflatable tanks and sound effects to deceive Hitler’s forces about the size and location of Allied troops on the attack. The Ghost Army's top-secret deception saved thousands of lives - but their story stayed buried for decades.
On the night of his 20th birthday, Tim Foley's world was turned upside down when the FBI stormed his home and arrested his parents. At first, it seemed like a terrible mistake. But soon, he learned the truth—his parents were not an ordinary suburban couple. They were Russian spies living a decades-long lie. Their arrest exposed a vast network of ""sleeper agents"" - spies who had spent years building fake American lives, r...
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