How former Navy SEAL John Allen became true crime star MrBallen

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John Allen has the social media Midas touch.

In 2020, the former Navy SEAL posted a video on TikTok about the mysterious deaths of nine Russian hikers, known as the Dyatlov Pass incident, in the late 1950s. He then left his phone at home and went to a water park with his family.

When he came back, the post had 5 million views.

“I literally thought there was a glitch with my phone,” Allen told The Post.

That viral video launched Allen’s social media career. Posting under the moniker MrBallen, his YouTube channel has 5.4 million subscribers, and his new podcast, Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories, has skyrocketed to the number one spot on Spotify’s true crime podcast chart. In doing so, it surpassed established hits like Crime Junkie and Murder, Mystery & Makeup.

Allen’s new podcast, Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories, has skyrocketed to the number one spot on Spotify’s true crime podcast chart.
Courtesy of John Allen

Allen, 33, was raised outside of Boston in Quincy, Massachusetts. His dad was a journalist, but Allen wasn’t initially drawn to storytelling himself.

After graduating from high school, he “didn’t really have a direction,” and decided to join the military.

He went to bootcamp in December 2010 and trained to become a Navy SEAL. In 2014, he was deployed to Afghanistan, where he was nearly killed by a grenade that detonated near him. The shrapnel hit his arms and legs, according to The Patriot Ledger.

“I remember having the thought, ‘This is the end of my life,’” Allen told The Post.

John Allen with his wife Amanda and their two daughters and son.
Allen with his wife Amanda and their two daughters and son.
John Allen
Allen told The Post he looks for tales that have a twist. “It is so fun to build tension in the story,” he said.
Courtesy of John Allen

He continued serving in the military until 2017, then went on to work in fundraising for veterans. Allen would regularly post to social media about his military service, but when he made the TikTok video about the incident at Dyatlov Pass, he experienced an entirely new level of popularity.

“People were so into it,” he said.

In subsequent posts, Allen pivoted his focus from the military to mysteries and strange occurrences. As @mrballen on TikTok, he has nearly 8 million followers, while MrBallen on Youtube has garnered millions of subscribers through short 15 to 20 minute videos on topics ranging from the “female Hannibal Lecter” to the “WORST medical screw up ever.”

John Allen in his military uniform
Allen joined the military in late 2010 and said it took about two years of training to become a Navy SEAL. He left the military in 2017.
Courtesy of John Allen

“I love telling stories. I love getting people’s reactions to interesting stories,” Allen said.

His true crime podcast, which premiered last Monday, lets him spend even more time with a story, with episodes ranging from 30 to 40 minutes. The first episode focused on a witness coming forward in the 2002 case of murdered Washington state teen Rachel Burkheimer. A new original episode will run each Monday.

Not only is the “MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories” currently the top true crime offering on Spotify — it’s the second most popular podcast on the whole platform.

“Even to be mentioned [with] some of these other creators is so surreal,” said Allen, a married father-of-three. “I don’t really understand how any of this happened.”