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The Fortean/paranormal/conspiracy thread


Astro Hollywood

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Wow, had never heard of those things before. A bit grim. Any podcasts about it? Will try and find The Nightmare.

 

Not sure how Fortean this is, but apparently a bunch of scientists have been studying the possibility of civilisation on Earth before humanity:

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/video/topvideos/was-there-civilization-on-earth-before-humans/vi-AAw3Sc5?ocid=spartanntp

 

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And concluded "no" :D  Love the early 90s X Files type synth in the music there, really sells the video.

I was a huge Fingerprints of the Gods fan when an impressionable young teenager, and so I'd be totally up for this sort of revelation.  Anything as advanced as us, I think they're right would have left indelible marks, but anything pre-Industrial is fair game.  I reckon "civilisation" goes back a lot further than conventional theory, which keeps getting pushed back anyway with discoveries like Göbekli Tepe.  That puts major monument construction back to 10,000 BC.  If there's anything earlier than that, all signs of it would have been completely erased by now.

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16 hours ago, Carbomb said:

Not sure how Fortean this is, but apparently a bunch of scientists have been studying the possibility of civilisation on Earth before humanity:

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/video/topvideos/was-there-civilization-on-earth-before-humans/vi-AAw3Sc5?ocid=spartanntp

 

The reporting of this paper's more than a little misleading - though that was probably the scientists' intention in giving it such an attention-grabbing headline. They're not really looking at whether there was a civilisation before humanity, so much as using that as a thought experiment - asking the question that if there were a civilisation, would we know about it, how would we, and what should we be looking for? It's about considering what long-term impact our civilisation will leave behind, more than any Chariots Of The Gods? scenario.

I do find it funny how the Ancient Aliens/Alternative History brigade who have spent decades complaining about how science, academia, and "mainstream" history and archaeology are all a closed-minded bunch of charlatans, and there's a conspiracy to stop people questioning the official line, are jumping all over this as proof, though; turns out academia's just fine when it looks like it might agree with you.

 

I've been fascinated by the whole idea of secret history and so on for most of my life. It's one of those areas where it's conceivable that we could quite easily have it all wrong, and that's what all this is about really, isn't it? We want everything we know to be wrong, on some fundamental level. History and science are, for the most part, boring - it's all a matter of tiny incremental changes over unfathomable stretches of time, or gradual readjustments of theories in light of new information, when all we really want is one huge blockbuster discovery that either explains everything, or is the equivalent of big flashing lights saying "EVERYTHING YOU THOUGHT YOU KNEW IS WRONG". We want discovery.

16 hours ago, Astro Hollywood said:

 I wonder what the next thing will be that future generations imagine is suffocating them during a sleep paralysis attack?

Probably some stupid meme from 4chan.

Basically Slenderman, then?

Actually, that's an interesting thing - with Slenderman and its ilk, we've basically seen this process happen in real time. A fictional construct taking on a life of its own, being mapped against existing tropes and folklore, and then being used as explanation/justification in a real life murder case - that's about as good a case study you're likely to find of a "how do these beliefs come about?" scenario that we've been able to witness from the very beginning through to a horrific conclusion, rather than having to pore over historical and anecdotal evidence.

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Yeah, I was a bit hasty there - had to attend to something urgent, so stopped watching about two-thirds of the way through. But up to that point, it seemed like it would fit here.

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Still an interesting talking point, though. I've really been on an Ancient Aliens kick lately - not because I believe any of it, but because I'm fascinated by everything that underpins it all, and the psychology of why people might believe this or try and string it all together, and how it ties in with the kind of folk memory we were talking about.

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I didn't know where to put this. I toyed with the idea of starting a catch-all serial killer thread, but otherwise, it seems best fitting here.

In amazing news, it's been announced they've possibly arrested the Original Nightstalker/East Area Rapist/Golden State Killer. There's a press conference at 7pm our time.

Besides the Zodiac and Jack the Ripper, this is probably the most notoriously unsolved serial killer ever, with 50 home invasion rapes, 12 murders, and a bunch of other horrible shit, through the 70s to mid-80s. It wasn't until DNA testing in 2001 that the East Area Rapist became connected with the murders, and there was a renewed public drive for information in 2016.

Most famously, during the spate of rapes, the police held a town meeting in an attempt to quell public panic. During it, a man stood up and announced that he'd never let anyone break into his home, tie him up, and make him watch his wife being raped. Seven months later, that's exactly what happened, meaning the East Area Rapist was at that meeting. There's a bunch of unsubstantiated shit flying around now (supposedly, he is talking), but soon a press conference, where they'll very possibly name an elderly man as one of the worst people ever, finally behind bars.

Edited by Astro Hollywood
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Now his name's out there, there's some incredible (though still officially unconfirmed) stuff coming out.

It's like the last 5 minutes of a detective show, when everything gets explained. He used to be a cop, until he was fired for shoplifting dog-repellent and a hammer -- one of the mysteries was how he managed to evade family dogs when housebreaking. Learned his knot-tying in the navy. The 'Bonnie' whose name he sobbed a few times during his attacks was his wife. The big gaps in his crimes match up with the births of his kids. He's also supposedly confirmed he was the Visalia Ransacker, on top of being the East Area Rapist and Original Nightstalker, since renamed as the Golden State Killer. He's the Brutus Beefcake of criminals. Plus, look at this.

 

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Just came here to post this!

It's an incredible victory for law enforcement, they've not given up on this case even after all these years.  EAR/ONS was definitely the serial killer I thought they'd never catch, who'd go into legend like Jack The Ripper.  

It also goes to show how powerful DNA is in solving even very old crimes - it's just taking California decades to process all their DNA evidence, which is why this hasn't happened until now!

If they can catch this guy, they can work out who the Zodiac was!

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1 hour ago, Onyx2 said:

I keep seeing Patton Oswalt mentioned in association with this killer. What's the link?

He's a shit comedian, and narcissist, whose ex-wife (deceased) wrote a true crime book about the killer.

The police have since said that the book had precisely nothing to do with the case being closed, despite his grandstanding.

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14 hours ago, NoUseforaUsername said:

He's a shit comedian, and narcissist, whose ex-wife (deceased) wrote a true crime book about the killer.

The police have since said that the book had precisely nothing to do with the case being closed, despite his grandstanding.

Yeah what a cunt he is for trying to attribute meaning to his deceased wife's work. Wouldn't want their daughter taking false pride in her mother's life's work or anything. 

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2 hours ago, Wrasslin said:

Yeah what a cunt he is for trying to attribute meaning to his deceased wife's work. Wouldn't want their daughter taking false pride in her mother's life's work or anything. 

This is really it. He went through the most unimaginable tragedy last year, finished the book his wife devoted her final years to, then he sees her greatest wish fulfilled and wants to shout it from the rooftops. WHAT A DICK.

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