WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.560 --> 00:00:04.080 Hello friends, Steve Starkton, back here with you. Do another 2 00:00:04.280 --> 00:00:08.039 cryptid deep dive, this time the Fresno Nightcrawler. 3 00:00:08.800 --> 00:00:13.119 Join me. Let's walk and see now. 4 00:00:13.160 --> 00:00:17.960 In the hierarchy of American monsters, there's usually a biological logic, 5 00:00:18.839 --> 00:00:22.559 say Bigfoot is an ape man, the mothman is a birdman, 6 00:00:23.160 --> 00:00:27.000 the lizard man is well, the lizard man. Their predators 7 00:00:27.000 --> 00:00:32.039 built a flesh bone, sometimes fur. But then there is 8 00:00:32.079 --> 00:00:36.679 the Fresno Nightcrawler. Of all the entities cataloged in the 9 00:00:36.679 --> 00:00:41.359 Annals of Cryptozoology, none are as baffling, as absurd, or 10 00:00:41.439 --> 00:00:45.759 as quietly unsettling as the night Crawlers. They defy any 11 00:00:45.880 --> 00:00:50.719 biological categorization. They do not look like animals. They do 12 00:00:50.799 --> 00:00:53.759 not look like aliens. They look, for lack of a 13 00:00:53.759 --> 00:00:57.200 better description, like a pair of pajama pants that have 14 00:00:57.280 --> 00:01:00.679 decided to go for a walk in the night. Yet, 15 00:01:00.880 --> 00:01:05.079 despite their almost comical appearance, the footage of them triggers 16 00:01:05.079 --> 00:01:09.359 a deep visceral wrongness in the viewer. They're the absolute 17 00:01:09.439 --> 00:01:12.879 zenith of the Uncanny Valley, not because they look human, 18 00:01:13.280 --> 00:01:16.040 but because they move with a fluidity that no puppet 19 00:01:16.200 --> 00:01:20.200 or pair of pants should possess. Now US look at 20 00:01:20.200 --> 00:01:24.239 the origin, starting with the Rosales footage in two thousand 21 00:01:24.239 --> 00:01:29.200 and seven. The legend began quietly. In November two thousand 22 00:01:29.239 --> 00:01:32.799 and seven, a man named Jose Risales in Fresno, California, 23 00:01:33.159 --> 00:01:36.560 heard his dogs barking furiously at night. Living in a 24 00:01:36.599 --> 00:01:39.519 suburban neighborhood. He assumed it was a prowler or maybe 25 00:01:39.519 --> 00:01:42.760 even a story animal. He checked his home security camera 26 00:01:42.760 --> 00:01:46.480 footage the next morning. What he saw became one of 27 00:01:46.519 --> 00:01:51.000 the most debated pieces of paranormal evidence in history. The grainy, 28 00:01:51.159 --> 00:01:54.599 black and white footage shows a suburban front lawn. From 29 00:01:54.640 --> 00:01:57.480 the left side of the screen, a small, pale figure 30 00:01:57.519 --> 00:02:01.640 walks into frame. It's roughly four feet tall, but it 31 00:02:01.680 --> 00:02:05.519 has no arms. It has no torso it appears to 32 00:02:05.560 --> 00:02:09.000 be mostly legs, with a small indistinct head or maybe 33 00:02:09.039 --> 00:02:12.639 simply a connection point at the top. It moves with 34 00:02:12.719 --> 00:02:16.639 a strange gliding stride. The knees bend, but the movement 35 00:02:16.680 --> 00:02:22.120 is incredibly smooth, almost like it's floating underwater. Then a second, 36 00:02:22.280 --> 00:02:25.879 larger figure appears. This one is taller, perhaps five or 37 00:02:25.919 --> 00:02:29.599 six feet. It moves with the same fluid, impossible gait. 38 00:02:30.400 --> 00:02:34.520 They cross the lawn and disappear out of frame. Rosales 39 00:02:34.759 --> 00:02:37.800 was baffled. He showed the footage to the local news, 40 00:02:38.159 --> 00:02:40.560 and it eventually made its way to the classic paranormal 41 00:02:40.560 --> 00:02:45.840 TV show Factor Faith Paranormal Files. Then let's take a 42 00:02:45.840 --> 00:02:49.919 look at the Yosemite sequel in twenty eleven. Now, most 43 00:02:50.000 --> 00:02:53.800 viral cryptid videos are won and done. They appear, get 44 00:02:53.800 --> 00:02:57.919 believed or debunked and vanished. The night Crawler persisted, though, 45 00:02:58.319 --> 00:03:02.319 because the second video surfaced four years later, roughly sixty 46 00:03:02.319 --> 00:03:07.280 miles away. In March twenty eleven, security officials at Yosemite 47 00:03:07.439 --> 00:03:10.759 National Park were reviewing trail camera footage meant to track 48 00:03:10.919 --> 00:03:16.000 vandals or bears. Instead, they captured two familiar white figures. 49 00:03:16.960 --> 00:03:20.319 The setting was different, a wooded slope rather than a lawn, 50 00:03:20.879 --> 00:03:25.319 but the anatomy was identical. Two white bipeds, mostly legs, 51 00:03:25.439 --> 00:03:28.879 moving through the trees. The Yosemite footage is clearer than 52 00:03:28.879 --> 00:03:32.199 the Fresno clip, showing the fabric like quality of their 53 00:03:32.240 --> 00:03:36.199 skin or clothing or whatever it is. This second sighting 54 00:03:36.280 --> 00:03:40.360 cemented the night Crawler status. It wasn't just a suburban glitch. 55 00:03:40.719 --> 00:03:43.919 It was some sort of species. It had a range. 56 00:03:45.159 --> 00:03:49.360 This brings forth an anatomy of an impossibility. Why is 57 00:03:49.400 --> 00:03:53.080 the Nightcrawler so uncanny? It comes down to the complete 58 00:03:53.159 --> 00:03:58.280 lack of functional biology. First, there's the missing torso. Every 59 00:03:58.360 --> 00:04:02.879 vertebrant on Earth follows a basic body plant head torso limbs. 60 00:04:03.520 --> 00:04:06.960 The torso houses the by organs such as heart, long, stomach, 61 00:04:07.520 --> 00:04:10.719 But the night Crawler has no torso. It's all limb. 62 00:04:11.680 --> 00:04:15.599 This raises disturbing questions. Where does it eat, how does 63 00:04:15.639 --> 00:04:18.839 it breathe? How does it go to the bathroom. It 64 00:04:18.879 --> 00:04:21.839 looks like a fragment of a creature, a lower half 65 00:04:21.879 --> 00:04:26.600 that has been severed but continues to walk. Secondly, there's 66 00:04:26.639 --> 00:04:31.680 the gate the inverse kinematics. In animation and robotics, inverse 67 00:04:31.759 --> 00:04:35.279 kinematics refers to how joints move to place a foot. 68 00:04:35.040 --> 00:04:35.680 On the ground. 69 00:04:36.600 --> 00:04:40.199 The night Crawler's walk is often described as unnatural. It 70 00:04:40.240 --> 00:04:43.319 doesn't bob up and down like a human. It places 71 00:04:43.360 --> 00:04:45.439 one foot directly in front of the other, like a 72 00:04:45.480 --> 00:04:49.800 tightrope style of walking. The stride length is disportionately long 73 00:04:49.879 --> 00:04:52.879 for its height, and the knees seem to possess a 74 00:04:52.920 --> 00:04:56.360 loose quality, snapping back and forth with a pendulum motion 75 00:04:56.759 --> 00:04:59.639 that suggests they aren't powered by muscles, but by some 76 00:04:59.680 --> 00:05:03.120 other Then there's the sheet texture. 77 00:05:03.199 --> 00:05:04.959 Thirdly, in both. 78 00:05:04.800 --> 00:05:08.639 Videos, the entities appear white and billowy. They don't look 79 00:05:08.720 --> 00:05:12.680 like skin or fur, they look like fabric. This taps 80 00:05:12.720 --> 00:05:16.279 into the ancient ghost archetype, the sheet wearing ghost, but 81 00:05:16.519 --> 00:05:20.920 subverts it. It's not a floating sheet, it's a walking sheet. 82 00:05:21.240 --> 00:05:25.120 It suggests mimicry, an organism trying to look like laundry, 83 00:05:25.240 --> 00:05:30.000 or maybe laundry that's been possessed. Now, theories abound. Are 84 00:05:30.040 --> 00:05:34.360 they puppets, aliens or ancestors. The Internet has spent the 85 00:05:34.480 --> 00:05:37.720 last fifteen years trying to explain the night Crawlers. The 86 00:05:37.720 --> 00:05:41.639 theories range from the cynical to the spiritual. First, let's 87 00:05:41.680 --> 00:05:44.199 look at the puppet theory, which would be a hoax. 88 00:05:44.920 --> 00:05:48.040 The most prominent skeptical explanation is that the night Crawlers 89 00:05:48.120 --> 00:05:51.800 are simple puppets. The method a wire is strung between 90 00:05:51.800 --> 00:05:54.600 two trees or poles. A pair of white pants or 91 00:05:54.680 --> 00:05:57.439 fabric tubes is waiting at the bottom, and a stirring 92 00:05:57.439 --> 00:06:00.759 pulls them along the wire. The evidence would the gliding 93 00:06:00.800 --> 00:06:04.240 motion because it fits the physics of a marionette. The 94 00:06:04.360 --> 00:06:06.959 lack of our movement supports the idea that they're just 95 00:06:07.160 --> 00:06:11.720 hanging cubes. Now the counter argument, recreating the exact fluid 96 00:06:11.800 --> 00:06:15.680 stride is difficult. The TV show I mentioned Factor Faked 97 00:06:15.959 --> 00:06:19.079 attempted to recreate the video using pumpets and even children 98 00:06:19.120 --> 00:06:22.959 in costumes, but struggled to match the weird, effortless smoothness 99 00:06:23.000 --> 00:06:28.639 of the original Rosales footage. Second theory the alien probe. 100 00:06:28.839 --> 00:06:31.959 Given their lack of biological features such as no eyes, 101 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:35.439 no mouth, or no hands, some eupologists theorize they are 102 00:06:35.439 --> 00:06:40.560 not organisms but biological drones. They are planetary explorers sent 103 00:06:40.600 --> 00:06:43.759 to walk around, maybe collect soil data through their feet, 104 00:06:44.199 --> 00:06:48.120 and report back. This explains why they don't interact, eat, 105 00:06:48.360 --> 00:06:53.399 or attack. They're just walking cameras in effect. Thirdly, the 106 00:06:53.519 --> 00:06:58.040 Native American connection, which has been contested. A popular Internet 107 00:06:58.079 --> 00:07:01.040 myth claims that the yokal Yo cuts or autotribes have 108 00:07:01.160 --> 00:07:04.879 ancient legends of standing stick people or totem poles that 109 00:07:04.920 --> 00:07:08.800 look exactly like the Nightcrawlers, but in reality, this connection 110 00:07:09.000 --> 00:07:13.560 is largely considered a modern fabrication. The often cited totem 111 00:07:13.560 --> 00:07:17.199 poles that look like nightcrawlers are actually wood carvings created 112 00:07:17.199 --> 00:07:21.839 by a modern artist rather than being ancient artifacts. While 113 00:07:21.879 --> 00:07:26.279 indigenous folklore is rich with strange beings, the specific walking 114 00:07:26.360 --> 00:07:30.360 pants archetype appears to be a modern invention projected onto 115 00:07:30.439 --> 00:07:34.720 Native history to give it validity. Now, let's talk about 116 00:07:34.720 --> 00:07:39.959 the cultural phenomenon from scary to cute. An interesting evolution 117 00:07:40.240 --> 00:07:43.720 has happened to the Nightcrawler. Unlike the skin walker, which 118 00:07:43.879 --> 00:07:48.680 remains terrifying, for the Mothman, which is ominous, the nightcrawler 119 00:07:48.720 --> 00:07:53.079 has been embraced by the Internet as well cute because 120 00:07:53.120 --> 00:07:55.399 they have no mouse to scream with or no class 121 00:07:55.439 --> 00:07:58.480 to slash with, and they just waddle around. They have 122 00:07:58.560 --> 00:08:02.279 become the little guys of the crypted world. For example, 123 00:08:02.319 --> 00:08:06.000 in the Etsy and art worlds, you can buy Nightcrawler plushies, 124 00:08:06.120 --> 00:08:09.600 enamel pins, and t shirts. They're often depicted as shy, 125 00:08:09.800 --> 00:08:13.600 misunderstood beings just out for a stroll. Then there's the 126 00:08:13.639 --> 00:08:18.439 sympathy factor. Their awkward walk makes them relatable. They look 127 00:08:18.560 --> 00:08:21.279 like a toddler trying to walk in their dad's trousers. 128 00:08:21.800 --> 00:08:25.040 The terror has transmuted into affection. We don't want to 129 00:08:25.079 --> 00:08:27.279 shoot the night Crawler, we want to neit it a 130 00:08:27.360 --> 00:08:31.519 sweater for it's non existent torso. Now, as far as 131 00:08:31.560 --> 00:08:36.799 a psychological analysis goes, this is a minimalist monster. Despite 132 00:08:36.840 --> 00:08:40.840 their acute reputation in pop culture, the original footage remains 133 00:08:40.879 --> 00:08:44.559 deeply unsettling to watch alone at night. This is due 134 00:08:44.679 --> 00:08:50.120 mainly to minimalism. Now, good horror often relies on too 135 00:08:50.159 --> 00:08:53.879 many features, too many teeth, too many eyes, too much slime. 136 00:08:54.559 --> 00:08:59.000 But the night Crawler is a horror vias attraction. It's 137 00:08:59.039 --> 00:09:02.279 a human with a humananity removed. It's a body with 138 00:09:02.399 --> 00:09:07.759 no vital organs, its movement with the intent removed. It 139 00:09:07.840 --> 00:09:11.720 represents the fear of the glitch. In the digital age. 140 00:09:11.919 --> 00:09:15.519 We're used to seeing video game characters glitch textures, fail 141 00:09:15.559 --> 00:09:19.039 to load, models losing their torsos. Seeing a Nightcrawler in 142 00:09:19.080 --> 00:09:22.559 the real world looks like reality itself is rendering incorrectly. 143 00:09:23.200 --> 00:09:26.279 It suggests that the universe is a simulation and the 144 00:09:26.320 --> 00:09:30.159 code for humanoid just failed to compile properly in Fresno 145 00:09:30.799 --> 00:09:36.440 or Yosemite. In conclusion, they are pants that walk. Basically, 146 00:09:37.279 --> 00:09:40.480 the Fresno Nightcrawler is the perfect cryptid for the twenty 147 00:09:40.480 --> 00:09:43.759 first century. It was born on a security camera. It 148 00:09:43.840 --> 00:09:48.440 lives on the Internet. It is debuncable yet stubborn. It 149 00:09:48.559 --> 00:09:52.480 challenges us to decide just what we're looking at. Is 150 00:09:52.480 --> 00:09:54.879 it a hoax perpetrated by our board suburban night with 151 00:09:54.879 --> 00:09:57.600 some fishing line, pajama bottoms and a lot of talent. 152 00:09:58.600 --> 00:10:01.120 Or is it a visitor from a mention where evolution 153 00:10:01.240 --> 00:10:05.320 took a strange, leg heavy turn, as it were. If 154 00:10:05.320 --> 00:10:07.919 you ever find yourself in the Central Valley of California 155 00:10:08.480 --> 00:10:10.759 walking past the manicured lawn at two o'clock in the 156 00:10:10.799 --> 00:10:13.679 morning and you see a pair of pants walking towards you, 157 00:10:13.960 --> 00:10:17.519 don't worry. They probably won't hurt you. They have no 158 00:10:17.679 --> 00:10:21.159 arms to grab you with. But just try to stop 159 00:10:21.200 --> 00:10:24.080 your brain from screaming when you realize there is no 160 00:10:24.279 --> 00:10:30.080 waistline where the waistline should be. Well, friends, there you 161 00:10:30.120 --> 00:10:32.480 have it. As always, I have looked forward to your 162 00:10:32.480 --> 00:10:36.240 thoughts on this one. I'm Steve Stockton and me and 163 00:10:36.320 --> 00:10:38.480 my pants. We'll see you a little further on down 164 00:10:38.519 --> 00:10:42.279 the trail. Tell your animals I said, hi, thanks for listening. 165 00:11:06.399 --> 00:11:09.120 Hello friends, Steve Stalkton here with you. Welcome back to 166 00:11:09.159 --> 00:11:12.720 another cryptid deep dive. This time we're looking at the 167 00:11:12.799 --> 00:11:17.039 mirrored men. The synchronized stalkers. Join me, let's take a 168 00:11:17.080 --> 00:11:21.200 walk and see now in the ever evolving landscape of 169 00:11:21.279 --> 00:11:25.320 high strangeness, the monsters of the nineteenth century, the hairy 170 00:11:25.360 --> 00:11:28.600 wild men, and the lake serpents, are slowly being replaced 171 00:11:28.639 --> 00:11:31.279 by entities that reflect the anxieties. 172 00:11:30.679 --> 00:11:31.799 Of the digital age. 173 00:11:32.320 --> 00:11:36.080 Enter the mirrored Men, also known as the Three Men 174 00:11:36.200 --> 00:11:39.960 or the synchronized Men. This phenomenon is distinctly twenty first 175 00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:43.000 century horror. They are not spirits of the forest, nor 176 00:11:43.080 --> 00:11:46.720 are they radioactive mutants. They're pud to be glitches in 177 00:11:46.759 --> 00:11:50.519 the code of reality itself. Witnesses describe seeing three men 178 00:11:50.600 --> 00:11:54.000 who look identical, best identical, and move with a mechanical, 179 00:11:54.120 --> 00:12:00.600 horrifying synchronization. They are the uncanny Valley of individuality. They 180 00:12:00.679 --> 00:12:03.639 terrify us because they suggest that human beings can be 181 00:12:03.679 --> 00:12:07.360 mass produced from that the person standing across the street 182 00:12:07.639 --> 00:12:10.320 might not be a person at all, but a duplicate 183 00:12:10.360 --> 00:12:14.799 file and a simulation that it's running out of memory now. 184 00:12:14.840 --> 00:12:18.960 The origin was a podcast phenomenon. Unlike the Jersey Devil, 185 00:12:19.000 --> 00:12:21.440 which came about in the seventeen hundreds, or even the 186 00:12:21.440 --> 00:12:25.720 Mothman in nineteen sixty six, The mirrored men are a 187 00:12:25.720 --> 00:12:29.840 baby in the world of cryptozoology. The phenomenon was largely 188 00:12:29.960 --> 00:12:33.480 categorized and named by Derrick Hayes, host of the popular 189 00:12:33.519 --> 00:12:38.840 podcast Monsters among Us. Around twenty eighteen, Hayes began receiving 190 00:12:38.879 --> 00:12:43.519 calls from listeners that followed the bizarrely specific pattern. Callers, 191 00:12:43.679 --> 00:12:46.960 often from completely different parts of the country, were describing 192 00:12:47.000 --> 00:12:50.639 the same impossible event, seeing three men standing in a 193 00:12:50.679 --> 00:12:55.080 triangle formation moving in perfect unison. Now this wasn't a 194 00:12:55.120 --> 00:12:58.919 case of mass hysteria propagated by movie. These were isolated 195 00:12:58.960 --> 00:13:03.039 witnesses describing it specific, distinct anomaly that had no prior 196 00:13:03.120 --> 00:13:07.519 name in folklore. The consistency of the reports, the number three, 197 00:13:07.799 --> 00:13:12.120 the synchronization, the lack of verbal contact suggest to the genuine, 198 00:13:12.200 --> 00:13:16.320 albeit baffling phenomenon. Now let's take a look at the 199 00:13:16.360 --> 00:13:20.279 anatomy of the glitch. So what makes the mirrored men 200 00:13:20.360 --> 00:13:24.200 so disturbing. It's not that they look monstrous. In fact, 201 00:13:24.240 --> 00:13:27.879 their terrifying nature lies in how boring they look until 202 00:13:27.919 --> 00:13:33.639 they move. First, there's the NPC aesthetic. Witnesses almost always 203 00:13:33.639 --> 00:13:37.000 describe the men as looking generic. They're often dressed in 204 00:13:37.080 --> 00:13:41.240 business casual attire, which slacks and button up shirts, gray suits, 205 00:13:41.320 --> 00:13:45.399 or even workmen's clothes. They're described as having average faces, 206 00:13:45.440 --> 00:13:48.919 no scars, no glowing eyes, no fangs. They look like 207 00:13:49.279 --> 00:13:53.799 NPCs or non player characters in a video game, background 208 00:13:53.879 --> 00:13:57.120 extras designed to fill space, not to be interacted with. 209 00:13:58.159 --> 00:14:02.000 Then there's the triangle formation. This is the signature of 210 00:14:02.000 --> 00:14:04.960 the phenomenon. The men are almost always standing in a 211 00:14:05.000 --> 00:14:08.039 perfect triangle or even a straight line. They do not 212 00:14:08.159 --> 00:14:11.799 cluster naturally like a group of friends would. They stand 213 00:14:11.840 --> 00:14:14.799 equal distant from one another, like chess pieces placed on 214 00:14:14.840 --> 00:14:19.320 a board. Then there's the synchronization, or the mirror. The 215 00:14:19.399 --> 00:14:22.720 horror begins when they start to move. If one man 216 00:14:22.840 --> 00:14:25.600 raises his left hand, the other two raise their left 217 00:14:25.639 --> 00:14:29.240 hands at the exact same millisecond. If one man takes 218 00:14:29.240 --> 00:14:32.240 a step, they all step. If they turn to look 219 00:14:32.279 --> 00:14:36.799 at the witness, the head snap happens simultaneously. Now, this 220 00:14:36.919 --> 00:14:39.720 is not the synchronization of a well rehearsed dance team 221 00:14:39.840 --> 00:14:44.399 or a military marching bed. Witnesses describe it as mechanical 222 00:14:44.519 --> 00:14:49.279 in appearance. It lacks the micro variations of human muscle. 223 00:14:49.960 --> 00:14:52.399 It looks like a single signal is being sent to 224 00:14:52.440 --> 00:14:55.559 three different bodies instantly. It looks like a lag or 225 00:14:55.600 --> 00:14:59.440 a duplicate air in a video game. The typical encounter, 226 00:14:59.639 --> 00:15:01.840 usually ha happens either at a parking lot or at 227 00:15:01.879 --> 00:15:06.480 a pier. Strangely enough, while sightings have occurred in woods 228 00:15:06.519 --> 00:15:09.559 and fields, the mirrored men seem to prefer liminal, transient 229 00:15:09.639 --> 00:15:14.799 spaces parking lots, roadsides, and peers. There's the retail encounter. 230 00:15:15.360 --> 00:15:19.000 A typical report of this nature involves a witness sitting 231 00:15:19.000 --> 00:15:21.320 in their car in a grocery store parking lot late 232 00:15:21.360 --> 00:15:24.919 at night. They noticed three men standing under a streetlight. 233 00:15:25.519 --> 00:15:29.279 The men aren't talking, They're just standing. The witness looks 234 00:15:29.320 --> 00:15:32.000 down to check their phone. When they look up, the 235 00:15:32.080 --> 00:15:35.559 men are five feet or so closer. The witness freezes. 236 00:15:36.200 --> 00:15:39.360 The men then turn in perfect unison and begin to 237 00:15:39.399 --> 00:15:42.600 walk toward the car. Their footsteps hit the pavement as 238 00:15:42.600 --> 00:15:47.679 a single sound click click, click, panics that's in. The 239 00:15:47.720 --> 00:15:51.360 witness drives away. Looking in their rear view mirror, they 240 00:15:51.360 --> 00:15:54.600 see the men stop instantly turning to watch the car leave, 241 00:15:55.080 --> 00:15:57.320 their heads rotating like owls. 242 00:15:58.519 --> 00:15:58.679 Now. 243 00:15:58.759 --> 00:16:02.000 There was one known as the Santa Monica peer incident. 244 00:16:03.039 --> 00:16:05.480 It's one of the most chilling accounts and popularized on 245 00:16:05.600 --> 00:16:08.720 Monsters among us. It involves a witness under the Santa 246 00:16:08.720 --> 00:16:12.120 Monica peer. They saw three men walking in the sand. 247 00:16:12.759 --> 00:16:15.519 The men were lifting their legs unnaturally high. Now, this 248 00:16:15.720 --> 00:16:19.240 high step gate was often seen in the Smiling Man legends. 249 00:16:20.080 --> 00:16:22.200 Every time they took a step, they did it together 250 00:16:22.360 --> 00:16:26.440 in synchronization. The witness felled a wave of nausea and wrongness, 251 00:16:26.759 --> 00:16:29.840 the biological alarm bell that rings when we see something 252 00:16:29.879 --> 00:16:33.360 that defies physics. The witness fled before the men could 253 00:16:33.399 --> 00:16:36.720 reach the stairs. Now us look at some theories. Who 254 00:16:36.840 --> 00:16:40.879 are they? The mirrored men phenomena is a Rushark test 255 00:16:41.039 --> 00:16:44.799 for modern paranoia. Depending on your worldview, they are either 256 00:16:44.919 --> 00:16:48.440 government agents, aliens, or some sort of software error that's 257 00:16:48.519 --> 00:16:51.399 causing a glitch in the matrix, which is the first theory, 258 00:16:51.440 --> 00:16:55.919 the simulation theory. This is the most popular modern explanation. 259 00:16:57.039 --> 00:16:59.720 If we do, indeed live in a simulation has proposed 260 00:16:59.720 --> 00:17:03.240 by the simulation hypothesis, then the mirrored men are a 261 00:17:03.279 --> 00:17:07.000 rendering error. The system needed to populate a scene with people, 262 00:17:07.319 --> 00:17:10.119 so it copied and pasted, in effect, the same model 263 00:17:10.200 --> 00:17:13.799 three times. The synchronization as a result of the models 264 00:17:13.839 --> 00:17:18.400 sharing the same AI script. This explains their generic appearance 265 00:17:18.480 --> 00:17:22.440 and lack of interaction. They are essentially background assets that 266 00:17:22.599 --> 00:17:27.160 glitched into the foreground. Then theory number two is the 267 00:17:27.200 --> 00:17:32.559 Bluebeam and psyops theory. Now, some conspiracy theorists believe the 268 00:17:32.599 --> 00:17:37.079 mired men or holographic projections or even military psyops the 269 00:17:37.200 --> 00:17:40.480 unnatural movement is due to the frame rate of the hologram. 270 00:17:41.079 --> 00:17:42.039 The purpose is to. 271 00:17:41.920 --> 00:17:45.279 Test public reaction to anomalous events, or even to test 272 00:17:45.319 --> 00:17:49.759 advanced projection technology, such as Project Bluebeam, which is allegedly 273 00:17:49.839 --> 00:17:52.799 meant to fake an alien invasion or religious event at 274 00:17:52.799 --> 00:17:57.000 some point. The third theory the men in black or 275 00:17:57.160 --> 00:18:02.000 MiB rebranded. There's a strong overlap between the mirrored men 276 00:18:02.079 --> 00:18:05.920 and the classic Men in Black. MIBs also often travel 277 00:18:05.960 --> 00:18:11.240 In theories, MIBs move stiffly and act robotically, and MIB's 278 00:18:11.440 --> 00:18:16.160 dress and identical clothing. However, MIBs usually have a purpose. 279 00:18:16.640 --> 00:18:20.400 They intimidate UFO witnesses. Mirrod men don't seem to care 280 00:18:20.440 --> 00:18:24.079 about UFOs. They just stand there. They're like the MIBs, 281 00:18:24.160 --> 00:18:28.440 but without a mission, or perhaps MIBs who simply malfunctioned. 282 00:18:29.839 --> 00:18:35.079 The fourth theory the ultra terrestrial mind hive theory. John Keel, 283 00:18:35.319 --> 00:18:40.240 author of the Mothman Prophecies, deorizes that many entities are ultraterrestrials, 284 00:18:40.720 --> 00:18:44.160 beings that can manipulate matter and take any form they choose. 285 00:18:45.000 --> 00:18:47.359 If an entity is a hive mind, which is one 286 00:18:47.400 --> 00:18:51.119 consciousness controlling multiple bodies, it would struggle to make those 287 00:18:51.160 --> 00:18:55.039 bodies act independently. Imagine trying to play a video game 288 00:18:55.079 --> 00:18:58.440 with three controllers plugged in, all mapped to the same joystick. 289 00:18:59.160 --> 00:19:02.640 If you push four, all three characters move forward. The 290 00:19:02.680 --> 00:19:06.559 mirrored men might be a single entity piloting three meat 291 00:19:06.599 --> 00:19:11.640 suits if you will simultaneously. Now there's also an auditory clue, 292 00:19:11.720 --> 00:19:16.000 the mechanical click. A recurring detail in these encounters is sound, 293 00:19:16.200 --> 00:19:19.920 or sometimes the lack of it. Now there's the odds factor. 294 00:19:20.200 --> 00:19:23.319 Like in the Gliverer Man. Sightings are often preceded by 295 00:19:23.319 --> 00:19:27.640 sudden silence, and then there's the click. Some witnesses report 296 00:19:27.640 --> 00:19:31.400 a strange mechanical clicking sound accompanying the movement of the men. 297 00:19:31.759 --> 00:19:34.519 It sounds like a camera shutter or maybe a clock ticking. 298 00:19:35.240 --> 00:19:40.440 This reinforces the machine or automaton theory. Now, as far 299 00:19:40.480 --> 00:19:45.799 as a psychological analysis. It's the horror of conformity. Why 300 00:19:45.839 --> 00:19:52.160 it does synchronization scare us because humans value agency. We 301 00:19:52.240 --> 00:19:55.559 believe we are individuals with free will. We move at 302 00:19:55.559 --> 00:19:58.759 our own pace. To see three people moving in perfect 303 00:19:58.799 --> 00:20:04.880 unison destroys the illusion of individuality. It suggests loss of self. Now. 304 00:20:04.920 --> 00:20:09.319 One fear is the automaton fear. Froud discussed the uncanny 305 00:20:09.559 --> 00:20:12.680 largely in relation to dolls and wax figures, things that 306 00:20:12.720 --> 00:20:16.559 look human but are automatic. The mirrored men that would 307 00:20:16.599 --> 00:20:20.599 be the ultimate automatons. They represent the fear that we 308 00:20:20.680 --> 00:20:24.759 are just biological machines that can be programmed. And then 309 00:20:24.880 --> 00:20:28.880 there's the fear of conspiracy. The three men archetype is 310 00:20:29.000 --> 00:20:33.240 historically tied to conspiracy, the tribunal, the triumvirate. Three is 311 00:20:33.240 --> 00:20:37.240 a powerful number, a single WEIRDO is an anomaly, two 312 00:20:37.480 --> 00:20:42.200 is a coincidence, Three is a pattern. Three implies an organization. 313 00:20:42.839 --> 00:20:46.559 It implies that they're organized and you are alone. And 314 00:20:46.599 --> 00:20:50.599 then there's the doppel ganger multiplied. Seeing a double of 315 00:20:50.640 --> 00:20:54.440 yourself would be scary the doppelganger theory, but seeing multiples 316 00:20:54.440 --> 00:20:57.359 of a stranger is scary because it suggests that nature 317 00:20:57.359 --> 00:21:01.359 has run out of ideas. It makes the world feel small, fake, 318 00:21:01.640 --> 00:21:07.720 and claustrophobic. In conclusion, the loading hair the Mirrored Men 319 00:21:07.759 --> 00:21:10.759 are arguably the most terrifying crypt of the modern era 320 00:21:11.119 --> 00:21:15.519 because they questioned the nature of reality itself. Like Bigfoot 321 00:21:15.559 --> 00:21:19.240 makes us question if we've explored the whole world. Ghost 322 00:21:19.319 --> 00:21:23.160 sightings make us question what happens after death, the Mirrored 323 00:21:23.200 --> 00:21:26.759 Men make us question if the world as we see 324 00:21:26.799 --> 00:21:30.279 it is even real. So if you're walking through a 325 00:21:30.319 --> 00:21:33.359 parking lot tonight and you see three men standing with 326 00:21:33.440 --> 00:21:37.720 a corner looking away from you, watch their shoulders, wait 327 00:21:37.759 --> 00:21:40.319 for one of them to shift his weight. If they 328 00:21:40.319 --> 00:21:44.039 all shift at the exact same time, don't make eye contact, 329 00:21:44.759 --> 00:21:47.079 Just turn and walk away, Get in your car and 330 00:21:47.200 --> 00:21:51.519 drive away, and hope that the simulation doesn't decide to 331 00:21:51.599 --> 00:21:55.799 delete the witness. Well, friends, I look forward to your 332 00:21:55.799 --> 00:22:00.440 comments on this one. I'm Steve Stockton. Thanks for listening 333 00:22:00.720 --> 00:22:04.079 to your animals, I said, Hi, stay safe out there. 334 00:23:23.279 --> 00:23:23.559 Now. 335 00:23:23.680 --> 00:23:27.799 In the lexicon of American urban legends, most monsters are 336 00:23:27.920 --> 00:23:32.599 creatures of shadowing myth. There are ancient spirits or genetic accidents. 337 00:23:33.359 --> 00:23:37.480 But in Fairfax County, Virginia, just outside the sprawling beltway 338 00:23:37.640 --> 00:23:42.519 of Washington, d C. This monster is terrifyingly mundane and 339 00:23:42.640 --> 00:23:48.160 undeniably ridiculous. He is the bunny Man. At first, the 340 00:23:48.240 --> 00:23:51.160 name sounds like a joke. It evokes images of the 341 00:23:51.200 --> 00:23:54.160 Easter Bunny or a mascot at the theme park. But 342 00:23:54.440 --> 00:23:56.759 the legend of the bunny Man is not a comedy. 343 00:23:57.440 --> 00:24:00.759 It's a slasher film brought to life. It's the story 344 00:24:00.759 --> 00:24:03.920 of a grown man wearing a dirty, tattered rabbit costume, 345 00:24:04.400 --> 00:24:07.960 building a forestry hatchet, and attacking cars on the only 346 00:24:08.000 --> 00:24:12.880 back roads. Now, the Bundyman occupies a specific, jagged corner 347 00:24:13.119 --> 00:24:17.720 of the uncanny valley. The corruptive mascot, he represents the 348 00:24:17.720 --> 00:24:21.240 horror of the costume, the fear that the smiling, innotant 349 00:24:21.319 --> 00:24:25.240 face of a childhood character is actually a mask hiding 350 00:24:25.319 --> 00:24:29.519 of violent, deranged predator. Now, first, let's take a look 351 00:24:29.519 --> 00:24:34.400 at the location, the Colchester Overpass. Every urban legend needs 352 00:24:34.400 --> 00:24:38.119 a stage, and the bunny Man stage is iconic. It's 353 00:24:38.119 --> 00:24:44.880 the Colchester Overpass, often simply called Bunnyman Bridge, located near Clifton, Virginia. 354 00:24:45.039 --> 00:24:47.599 It's a one lane concrete tunnel that runs under the 355 00:24:47.640 --> 00:24:52.799 railroad tracks. It's unlit, it's narrow, and the acoustics are strange. 356 00:24:53.359 --> 00:24:57.319 Sound amplifies and distorts within the tunnel. To drive through 357 00:24:57.319 --> 00:24:59.359 it at night is to enter a choke point where 358 00:24:59.359 --> 00:25:02.720 there's no esc to the left or right. While the 359 00:25:02.799 --> 00:25:06.200 legend has spread globally, locals know that the bridge is 360 00:25:06.240 --> 00:25:09.640 the heart of the darkness. It's a liminal space, a 361 00:25:09.680 --> 00:25:12.160 threshold between the safety of the suburbs and the dark, 362 00:25:12.279 --> 00:25:16.039 tangled woods of the past. Now let's take a look 363 00:25:16.039 --> 00:25:18.720 at the true events, go all the way back to 364 00:25:18.799 --> 00:25:23.279 Halloween of nineteen seventy. Now, unlike the Skinwalker or the 365 00:25:23.279 --> 00:25:26.039 Wind to Go, which drift in the midst of ancient folklore, 366 00:25:26.440 --> 00:25:29.920 the bunny Man has a definitive start date. He appeared 367 00:25:29.920 --> 00:25:34.680 in October nineteen seventy. These were not ghost stories, These 368 00:25:34.759 --> 00:25:39.839 were police reports. The first incident the Hatchet October nineteenth, 369 00:25:39.960 --> 00:25:43.680 nineteen seventy. It was shortly after midnight and US Air 370 00:25:43.720 --> 00:25:47.319 Force Academy cadet Robert Bennett and his fiancee were driving 371 00:25:47.359 --> 00:25:49.960 home from a football game. They parked their car on 372 00:25:50.039 --> 00:25:53.880 Guinea Road in Burke, Virginia to talk. The engine was running, 373 00:25:54.039 --> 00:25:54.519 the head. 374 00:25:54.400 --> 00:25:54.880 Lights were on. 375 00:25:55.799 --> 00:25:59.720 Suddenly, though, something moved in the rearview mirror. A figure 376 00:26:00.079 --> 00:26:02.440 emerged from the brush and ran toward the back of 377 00:26:02.440 --> 00:26:06.519 the car. Before Bennett could react, the passenger window shattered. 378 00:26:07.160 --> 00:26:10.359 Bennett floored the gas peeling out onto the road, and 379 00:26:10.400 --> 00:26:12.960 as they sped away, his fiance screamed that a man 380 00:26:13.000 --> 00:26:15.799 in a white suit with long bunny ears had smashed 381 00:26:15.799 --> 00:26:19.160 the window. When they later inspected the car, they found 382 00:26:19.200 --> 00:26:22.480 said hatchet on the floorboard. The man in the bunny 383 00:26:22.519 --> 00:26:26.119 suit had thrown it through the glass. Bennett described the 384 00:26:26.160 --> 00:26:29.240 attackers wearing a white suit with bunny ears, but noted 385 00:26:29.279 --> 00:26:33.119 that he couldn't see a face, only the hood. The 386 00:26:33.160 --> 00:26:37.599 second incident happened on October twenty ninth, nineteen seventy, ten 387 00:26:37.720 --> 00:26:41.680 days later after the Bennett experience. Paul Phillips, the security 388 00:26:41.720 --> 00:26:45.160 guard for construction site also on Guinea Road, was on patrol. 389 00:26:45.880 --> 00:26:47.920 He spoted a man standing on the porch of an 390 00:26:48.000 --> 00:26:51.319 unfinished house. The man was wearing a gray, black and 391 00:26:51.359 --> 00:26:54.799 white bunny costume. He was chopping at a porch post 392 00:26:54.839 --> 00:26:58.759 with a long handled ax. Phillips approached the man. The 393 00:26:58.799 --> 00:27:02.880 bunny man stopped chopping and turned. He spoke, clearly, you 394 00:27:02.960 --> 00:27:06.359 are trespassing. If you come any closer, I'll chop off 395 00:27:06.359 --> 00:27:06.799 your head. 396 00:27:07.400 --> 00:27:07.559 Now. 397 00:27:07.680 --> 00:27:10.519 Some reports quot him as saying, all you people trespass 398 00:27:10.599 --> 00:27:13.079 around here. If you don't get out of here, I'm 399 00:27:13.079 --> 00:27:13.759 going to bust you. 400 00:27:13.839 --> 00:27:14.319 On the head. 401 00:27:14.920 --> 00:27:20.160