Bizarre internet behaviour/mysteries

[Darles Chickens]

I remember him. He used to post his unhinged stream of consciousness stuff to the cam.misc newsgroup (an olden days version of one of these 'ere forums) in the 90s.

One of his paranoid delusions was of Chris Tarrant addressing him directly through the TV screen (and he posted transcripts and video evidence of it). It always amounted to persecution, led by MI5.

Hope the poor guy got through it.

[Famous Mortimer]

I remember him. He used to post his unhinged stream of consciousness stuff to the cam.misc newsgroup (an olden days version of one of these 'ere forums) in the 90s.

One of his paranoid delusions was of Chris Tarrant addressing him directly through the TV screen (and he posted transcripts and video evidence of it). It always amounted to persecution, led by MI5.

Hope the poor guy got through it.

I never did the usenet thing, although I'm old enough to have had a computer and the internet when it was still a thing (I mostly just used it for playing Diablo 2 online).

He's mentioned on here a few times, and (I think) it was mentioned he was still posting those walls of text as recently as 2012. He was paying for mi5.com up to 2018, too - or maybe the people in charge of the hosting just forgot to take it down.

[Icehaven]

I remember reading an article about this a few years back but didn't actually know it was called 'Elsagate'
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elsagate

[kngen]

I remember reading an article about this a few years back but didn't actually know it was called 'Elsagate'
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elsagate

Experienced that as it unfolded as my daughter was exactly the right age to be transfixed by those cheap-as-fuck 'Spiderman cooks dinner for Elsa but burns the toast' and millions of variations thereof. They were slightly preferable to the unboxing videos she also liked, but I'd still watch them with her because something about them seemed a bit rogue. And, tbh, my curiousity was piqued by who the hell was making these pieces of drivel - and where? (I'd look closely for signifiers like car number plates and street signs, but I could only go on the general feeling that they were Eastern European judging by the architecture.

Then, one day, a syringe appeared in one of the thumbnails, and the video was called 'Elsa goes to the doctor but operation goes wrong' - and that was it. No more Youtube; Netflix only - despite my wee one's long and voluminous protestations. At the time, 2015-ish, there seemed to be no investigations - or even outrage - about the rather dark turn these videos had made, apart from a few angry comments on the videos themselves, and other parents I spoke to seemed completely oblivious. But it seems like I intervened at just the right time, as it snowballed after that, and eventually the press started to cover it (I'd considered pitching a piece myself, but I had two major projects on the go, and just didn't have the time).

The shit-awful music is still burned into my brain though - I suppose it's iMovie or Final Cut library music or something. Fucking dreadful.

[C_Larence]

I've long been fascinated by the effect that the internet, and specifically social media, has had on people with mental illness. A while ago I joined a load of groups set up for victims of "Gangstalking". These people, who refer to themselves as TIs (or Targeted Individuals) all believe that they are being monitored and/or controlled by higher conspiratorial forces. Sometimes it's the FBI or the CIA, other times it's a specific person, usually an authority figure. I have never and will never interact with anyone in the groups, as they are clearly suffering from schizophrenic symptoms, but sometimes you get people coming in and trying to make them see reason. They are instantly labelled as "perps", which is what TIs call the people who they believe are harassing them. I don't believe there is any way to help these people, as everything feeds into the delusion. Something as mundane and tangible as two cars being parked next to each other, or in this example, someone wearing red, can be proof of the conspiracy.



Another problem is that many TIs experience the same symptoms, but of course they don't agree on what's causing it. Having said that, V2K (Voice To Skull) comes up a lot. It's a theory that the government can use microwaves to insert thoughts into people's heads. I don't really understand why that specifically is agreed upon.




Something I want to read more into, is whether gangstalking exists outside of western society. It's my understanding that different cultures experience schizophrenia differently. In individualistic societies like our own, hallucinations are often distressing, not only because of their perceived malevolence, but also because they prove that the individual is malfunctioning. However, in countries with more collective natures, like India for example, voices are a source of comfort, and are more often thought of as coming from dead relatives.

[bgmnts]

Thankfully my little cousin Corey watched this youtube channel where a guy played with his Thomas the Tank Engine trains and created a storyline out of it, so nothing too insidious.

And on the vein of mental illness, its amazing how carefree that is flung round now in order to explain mysteries or disappearances. Elisa Lam is a good example.

Is current society actually CREATING mental illness? Scary as fuck.

Also I highly doubt much of this exists outside of developed, western society.

[Mister Six]

Something I want to read more into, is whether gangstalking exists outside of western society. It's my understanding that different cultures experience schizophrenia differently. In individualistic societies like our own, hallucinations are often distressing, not only because of their perceived malevolence, but also because they prove that the individual is malfunctioning. However, in countries with more collective natures, like India for example, voices are a source of comfort, and are more often thought of as coming from dead relatives.

Really?! I've never heard of this, but that's fascinating if true.

[C_Larence]

Really?! I've never heard of this, but that's fascinating if true.

It really is isn't it! https://news.stanford.edu/2014/07/16/voices-culture-luhrmann-071614/
There's an article about it. The study sample is quite small unfortunately.

[Icehaven]

Experienced that as it unfolded as my daughter was exactly the right age to be transfixed by those cheap-as-fuck 'Spiderman cooks dinner for Elsa but burns the toast' and millions of variations thereof. They were slightly preferable to the unboxing videos she also liked, but I'd still watch them with her because something about them seemed a bit rogue. And, tbh, my curiousity was piqued by who the hell was making these pieces of drivel - and where? (I'd look closely for signifiers like car number plates and street signs, but I could only go on the general feeling that they were Eastern European judging by the architecture.

Then, one day, a syringe appeared in one of the thumbnails, and the video was called 'Elsa goes to the doctor but operation goes wrong' - and that was it. No more Youtube; Netflix only - despite my wee one's long and voluminous protestations. At the time, 2015-ish, there seemed to be no investigations - or even outrage - about the rather dark turn these videos had made, apart from a few angry comments on the videos themselves, and other parents I spoke to seemed completely oblivious. But it seems like I intervened at just the right time, as it snowballed after that, and eventually the press started to cover it (I'd considered pitching a piece myself, but I had two major projects on the go, and just didn't have the time).

The shit-awful music is still burned into my brain though - I suppose it's iMovie or Final Cut library music or something. Fucking dreadful.

It's the lack of any obvious source or purpose that got me I think, like they existed for some impenetrable secret sinister reason, like kid's versions of The Room.

[druss]

A lady at a train station once asked me if I was in "one of them stalking gangs".

Is that related to gangstalking?

[Bobby Dazzler]

I think Padma McCord would unnerve anyone eh, I definitely support the theories I've seen that it's a possibly schizophrenic woman who, as people with delusions and mania often can, has inexplicably zeroed in on this completely random person on the internet and worked to insert herself into what tiny snippets of their life she can find. There's a guy who's done a pretty sound little speculation video about it - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hn7BBBdl7GQ he's obvs just thrown it together but I pretty much agree with him. That Padma McCord eh what a silly bugger. Also, I've just noticed, if you search Padma McCord on Youtube sure enough there's a load of meaningless picture slideshow videos of her face and weirdly doctored weddiing photos. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qyXeft_6e8  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjB0Wz3stNY&t=15s Classic Padma

I was watching Fred Knudsen's video on Chris Chan last night This is the kind of channel I get pure sucked into. The right combination of video length, clear and direct narration and weirdness of content is oddly relaxing sometimes

Padma is definitely an eerie one. Having only done about 20 mins of research -- what are the chances that it's Brian McCord behind all this? Hear me out:

In a lot of these Padma photos, there are two blokes with her who are distinctly un-Photoshopped: 1) Another Indian fella (Jeevan) with natural and relaxed body language, smiling for the camera like a normal human being, who is apparently this couple's son; and 2) A middle-aged gammon (Brian) who looks like he's shoving himself awkwardly into every picture, standing a mite too close to Padma and/or touching her stiffly, and who has the paucity of expression and deadness of eye reminiscent of Levi Bellfield, apparently Padma's husband.

Exhibit A: https://padmamccord.wordpress.com/category/marriage-married-padma-mccord-brian-mccord/
Exhibit B: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXHPCrsHwHM
Exhibit C: https://marrriagepadmamccordbrianmccord.blogspot.com/2015/12/marriage-wedding-married-padma-mccord.html

What if it's Jeevan who's actually Padma's fiance in the wedding pics, and Brian is a delusional stalker obsessed with an unrequited love? Was he the best man? Tried dropping by her house at night with cue cards and a boombox pretending he's carollers before he tried the whole Photoshop thing? Note also how the "son" often gets cropped out or obscured by filters, too -- would you really crop your own son out of your wedding photos? Or is pretending that he's your "son" instead of your nemesis more acceptable to a batshit happy families narrative? A psychotic guy developing an obsession with a former porn star / fantasy woman strikes me as more depressingly plausible than a psychotic woman living out her questionable fantasies digitally, although you never know. Brian, if you're reading this and you're just fuck-awful at posing for photos, mea culpa.

On another note: the obligatory mention of Time Cube https://timecube.2enp.com/
Classic internet, straight out of Hypnospace Outlaw.

[Icehaven]

I've long been fascinated by the effect that the internet, and specifically social media, has had on people with mental illness. A while ago I joined a load of groups set up for victims of "Gangstalking". These people, who refer to themselves as TIs (or Targeted Individuals) all believe that they are being monitored and/or controlled by higher conspiratorial forces. Sometimes it's the FBI or the CIA, other times it's a specific person, usually an authority figure. I have never and will never interact with anyone in the groups, as they are clearly suffering from schizophrenic symptoms, but sometimes you get people coming in and trying to make them see reason. They are instantly labelled as "perps", which is what TIs call the people who they believe are harassing them. I don't believe there is any way to help these people, as everything feeds into the delusion. Something as mundane and tangible as two cars being parked next to each other, or in this example, someone wearing red, can be proof of the conspiracy.



Another problem is that many TIs experience the same symptoms, but of course they don't agree on what's causing it. Having said that, V2K (Voice To Skull) comes up a lot. It's a theory that the government can use microwaves to insert thoughts into people's heads. I don't really understand why that specifically is agreed upon.




Something I want to read more into, is whether gangstalking exists outside of western society. It's my understanding that different cultures experience schizophrenia differently. In individualistic societies like our own, hallucinations are often distressing, not only because of their perceived malevolence, but also because they prove that the individual is malfunctioning. However, in countries with more collective natures, like India for example, voices are a source of comfort, and are more often thought of as coming from dead relatives.

I've often had similar wonderings about how schizophrenia/paranoid delusions manifested historically, before there were any such things as the CIA, black helicopters, phone lines to tap etc. or any concept of conspiracy theories, surveillance, covert ops etc. I suppose it would have just been things like thinking God had it in for you or the village elders were having you followed or something. William Blake had visions which it's latterly been suggested could have been due to schizophrenia but (afaik) he wasn't paranoid or anything like that.

[FredNurke]

This chap thought that he was being molested by tribesmen while he was asleep. If he'd been born a century later, he would almost certainly have reckoned he'd been abducted by aliens.

[bgmnts]

This chap thought that he was being molested by tribesmen while he was asleep. If he'd been born a century later, he would almost certainly have reckoned he'd been abducted by aliens.

After the end of the U.S. Civil War, Minor saw duty in New York City. He was strongly attracted to the red-light district of the city and devoted much of his off-duty time to going with prostitutes. By 1867, his behavior had come to the attention of the Army and he was transferred to a remote post in the Florida Panhandle. By 1868, his condition had progressed to the point that he was admitted to St. Elizabeths Hospital, a lunatic asylum (as mental hospitals were then called) in Washington, D.C. After eighteen months he showed no improvement.

He was also held in a psychiatric hospital from 1872 to 1910 after he murdered George Merrett.

Def sounds like nowadays he'd say he got abducted by aliens.

[Thomas]

I'm friends on Facebook with a man who frequently proclaims that he is Jesus, having heard God's voice in his head back in 1994. He's always posting drawings of cosmic and domestic inventions he's come up with.

A radio host often has him on air as a regular guest, giggling away as this man tries to explain his latest invention. Is he indulging an eccentric character in a lighthearted, friendly way - the host seems to have known him for years - or using a mentally man as late night content fodder? I don't know, I haven't tuned in enough.