A Terrifying First Date Story You’ll Want to Tell Your Friends - MrBallen
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In this episode, MrBallen recounts a chilling true story set in Utah during the 1970s involving an anonymous young couple on their first date. The pair met at college and initially went to a diner where they felt no immediate chemistry, leading both parties to sense that the relationship would not progress beyond that single evening. Seeking to salvage the night or perhaps just for fun, the man proposed taking a spontaneous walk in Provo Canyon after dark. Despite his suggestion being somewhat unusual given their lack of established connection, the woman agreed, and they left the diner heading toward the parking lot near the canyon trails. Once inside the woods on what was described as a well-used paved trail rather than an obscure goat path, the atmosphere shifted dramatically from excitement to intense dread without either person speaking up about it. As they walked silently through the dark forest holding hands, neither looked at the other; instead, they simply felt a growing anxiety and began walking faster in silence. The tension escalated when the man stepped on something soft while hearing rustling sounds nearby. Without exchanging words or looking down to investigate what he had touched, both individuals instinctively turned around and practically ran back to their car, treating the encounter as a bizarre but ultimately safe adventure that they later laughed about with relief. The true horror of the date was revealed years later when the couple heard an interview on television featuring Ted Bundy, one of history's most infamous serial killers. During the broadcast, Bundy recounted how he had been in Provo Canyon shortly before killing a young woman and dragging her body along that same trail to dispose of it. He explained that as he stood over the corpse waiting for prey, this specific couple walked right past him; they did not look down or investigate the disturbance but simply turned around and fled upon hearing noises. Bundy noted that had the couple paused even briefly, their lives would have ended, making their survival a miraculous close call documented in his final interviews before execution. The narrative expands to highlight how common such narrow escapes were for Ted Bundy throughout his criminal career. MrBallen points out other instances where potential victims sensed something was wrong and canceled dates or avoided situations that nearly resulted in tragedy, including one woman who dated Bundy for a year while he simultaneously killed others without harming her or her family before abruptly ending the relationship once she left town. These anecdotes underscore the terrifying unpredictability of interacting with a predator like Bundy, whose charming demeanor allowed him to blend seamlessly into society even as he committed horrific acts nearby. Ultimately, the story serves as a stark reminder that danger can exist in seemingly ordinary places and situations, transforming what should have been a mundane first date into a life-or-death encounter by sheer chance. The couple's decision not to investigate the strange noises or look down at their feet saved them from Bundy's grasp, turning a night of nervous energy into an unspoken bond over shared fear that eventually led to marriage. This event remains one of MrBallen's earliest covered stories because it perfectly encapsulates the visceral nature of encountering evil in plain sight and how intuition alone can sometimes be the only thing standing between life and death.
Read the full video transcript
we're here in a spooky field with a a
car on fire and a full moon in a weird
house over the far side yeah have you
got any stories that fit this
environment I do I do I have a really
good one uh from uh out in Utah in the
1970s um this is actually one of the
earliest stories that I covered actually
this is one of the first ones so um we
don't have the names of the people
involved I'm going to call them a man
and a woman but you know they this is
every bit their story we just don't use
their names I think they didn't want
their names used that's what I recall so
back in the 1970s there was this this
young guy and young girl who the main
characters of the story and they I think
they met in college and they go out on
this first date uh they go to a
restaurant a diner and they got along
fine but there wasn't any magic it was
you know kind of a nothing date that
they both kind of instinctively knew
that this was likely not going to go
anywhere Beyond this first date there's
no chemistry however they both both kind
of intuitively noticed it and the the
guy towards the end of the date when
it's kind of like okay time to wrap
things up now he decided to take a
chance he figured what's what's what's
the worst that can happen I already can
tell this isn't going anywhere and he
says to the to a date he says you know
do you want to do something kind of
unexpected you want to like go do
something kind of crazy with me right
now and the girl was actually like kind
of taking a back she okay wait what what
do you want to do and he's like well I I
often times go for walks out in Provo
Canyon this beautiful Canyon that's not
near that's nearby it's got this amazing
Trail it brings you out to this Overlook
with this incredible view of the Stars
like it's a really cool spot and I go
there you know later in the day and no
one's there and it's it's pretty cool
but it's you know we're hiking in the
woods in the middle of the night you
know what I mean and she's
like okay let's do it you know it's like
suddenly the date went from going
nowhere to it's kind of exciting and so
now there's there's chemistry that's
like they're going into the unknown
together and so they they quickly leave
the diner they hop in his car and it's a
short drive over to the parking lot
where provoc Canyon is you know he pulls
into the spot there's nobody there they
get out and and now they really is
they're they're getting along they're
kind of laughing telling jokes they're
holding hands and they walk right from
the parking lot onto this paved trail
that goes right into the forest and so
it's it's nighttime you know just a very
it's a this is a this is a well this is
a well-used trail this is not some Goat
Trail in the middle of nowhere this is a
well-used
trail and so they start walking into the
forest and uh after a while
and this is something they would say
after the fact but we know this is what
was happening as they were walking their
the the the feel the vibe of the night
really changed as soon as they got into
the woods you know they're excited the
states suddenly become exciting and then
they get into the forest they're on the
trail they're holding hands they're
walking and both of them began feeling
this really intense dread as they're
walking in but they don't know each
other they just this is their first date
they don't have the the background of a
relationship to begin touching on
something that's hard to point out you
know neither of them turned to the other
and Saidi feel uncomfortable instead
they just kept their mouth shut and and
thought okay I'll just keep on going so
they stopped talking they begin walking
faster out of this kind of nervous
energy they have now they're holding
hands and and they're just walking
through this Trail because they're
trying to get to this Overlook basically
get it out of the way and come on back
but it's all unspoken they haven't said
boy this is anxious they just they're
feeling that way and so they're walking
on this Trail again surrounded by trees
there's nobody else out there and it's
pretty dark they don't have a flashlight
and as they're basically speed walking
at this point in silence at some point
they hear a rustling sound kind of off
to the side and at the exact same time
the guy steps on something that he
described as being soft and he stepped
on it and he has no idea what he's
stepping on no clue it's something soft
and he's heard this rustling sound and
they're feeling anxious and he
immediately stops because he stepped on
something and the girl she's sensing
okay what's going on here and without
any communication they turned and walked
out didn't even look down they didn't
they have no idea what's going on it was
like they both knew let's get the [ __ ]
out of here I don't know what's going on
out here and they practically ran back
to their car totally safe they get in
their car and now that they're in the
safety of their car they kind of began
laughing about it like yeah I wonder
what that was I stepped on something out
there I don't know something moving
around maybe there's a big animal I
don't know but that was it it was just
that was the whole date and actually
they wound up getting married because
this date was like this kind of amazing
thing where they bonded over the fear of
being in this this forest and so they
get married and 10 years later they're
at home and the TV is on it's it's tuned
to to like a date line type of show like
a a true crime show and neither of them
are really watching but an an interview
comes on and it's it's a journalist
talking to a death row inmate it's a
very famous death row inmate and he's
very near his execution date and he's
giving this kind of full-blown interview
about you know what he did and at some
point the journalist asked him was there
ever a time that you almost got caught
before you got caught and the serial
killer is like yeah there was a time I
was out in Provo Canyon and I just
killed a girl and I was trying to
dispose of her body and I dragged her
across the trail and this young couple
comes turning around the corner and they
stepped on the body and I was maybe a
foot away holding her looking up at them
in the darkness waiting to see what they
were going to do but for some reason the
couple didn't look down they didn't look
around they just turned and left and so
that was it that was the that was the
time I was got caught
and so it turn out the guy or they had
come in contact with Ted Bundy like one
of the most infamous serial killers of
all time who effectively said had he
investigated he would have had to kill
the
couple it's crazy so they got their
first date was running into Ted
Bundy wow yeah oh my God and actually I
there if if you're interested there's
several other close calls with Ted Bundy
that if you Google close calls with Ted
Bundy he he came close to killing people
several times and it's like I I don't
have the vwb it was something with the
vwb I forget what it was unfortunately I
don't remember all the anecdotes but
there's quite a few that are that one is
the most startling because it's so like
visceral what happened but the others
were you know this girl who almost went
on a date with Ted Bundy but then got a
bad feeling about it and cancelled and
it like the day later he gets arrested
for being Ted Bundy um stuff like or one
person who Ted Bundy randomly befriended
this this woman and I think they were
dating for a while and he was very close
with her child and it was I mean he's
like in their family while he's killing
other people at the same time and then
he just broke up with her and moved on
like he didn't do anything to her or her
family while he's actively killing all
these women but there for some reason he
just had this normal family happy
wholesome relationship with this girl
for like a year and she would find out
after he was executed that she was
actively dating a serial killer so it's
just Ted Bundy had all these weird
interactions with people that have been
documented but that one to me is the
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