The Why Files: Operation Podcast

The Dark Watchers: Silent Guardians of the PinesThe Santa Lucia mountain range runs from Monterey and down the coast of California.For hundreds of years, stories have been told about entities that keep watch over the mountains. Sometimes seen out of the corner of the eye, always from a distance. Stare too long and they vanish.If you're ever hiking the wilderness of Big Sur and feel like you're being watched? It's because you are.twpmaa3h--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

On March 16, 1957, at 8 o'clock in the morning, a 300 ft long spacecraft landed in a field in Alexandria Virginia.Two local police officers arrived on the scene. The door of the craft slowly opened. The officers drew their guns, not sure what to expect.To their surprise, out walked a normal-looking guy. He smiled at the stunned officers and actually waved hello.Before the policemen could say a word, the stranger said, in clear English: "I need to see the president."Nine months after this event, NASA was founded.This is the story of what happened in-between. This is the story of Valiant Thor.If you don't know this one, hold on tight. We're going on a hell of a ride.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

In 12th century England, two children were found lost in a forest. They spoke only gibberish, wore strange clothing and had bright green skin. When the children finally learned to speak English, they described where they were from. And that's why, after almost 1,000 years, people still talk about The Green Children of Woolpit. In 1828, a teenage boy was shuffling through a public square in Nuremburg. He seemed confused and disoriented. He had trouble walking and speaking. When police finally approached him, he was holding an envelope containing two letters. And those letters sparked the mystery of Kaspar Hauser. In April 1922, in Brittany, France, 2-year-old Pauline Picard went missing. A massive search turned up nothing. The family was losing hope. A month later, Pauline was found wandering around a village over 200 miles away. Though her parents were overjoyed to have her back, they soon realized something wasn't quite right with their daughter. These are three unsolved cases of the most mysterious children in history.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

In the past year or so, three internet mysteries popped up that really got my attention. They may seem very different, but trust me, they're connected. The first one is about a girl who found a door in the basement of her AirBnB. She opened it and inside was an abandoned shopping mall. The second story is about Javier aka Unico Sobreviviente, who woke up in a hospital in the year 2027, in an alternate universe. In his version of the future -- everyone on earth has vanished. He's the only one left, and he has video to prove it. The third mystery is known as the Backdoors. A reality adjacent to ours that, if the conditions are just right, you can accidentally slip into. Then you find yourself lost in an endless maze of dingy carpet, fluorescent light, and yellow wallpaper. And around every corner----- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

The Moon is a Hollow Spaceship | Who Built it and Why? Despite it being humanity's constant companion through all of recorded time, the moon is still a mystery. Science hasn't been able to explain how the moon was formed, its unusual orbit, its distance from us, its density, its composition, its structure. These are all still questions. There are theories about the moon that solve some of these puzzles, but not others. There is only one theory that answers every scientific question about the moon. Just one. That the moon is a hollow, artificial structure, brought here by -- someone else. Let's find out why.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

Vatican City is an inspirational place. You don't need to be Catholic or even religious to appreciate the architecture, art, and the city's historical significance.But there is a place within the Vatican that's rarely seen. Hidden beneath the city is an underground fortress. Inaccessible to the public and protected by armed guards and state-of-the-art security. The Secret Apostolic Archives.Within the stone and steel reinforced walls are vaults, climate controlled rooms and over 50 miles of shelves. And on those shelves are countless texts, relics and artificacts collected by the church for over a thousand years.One of the most intriguing objects hidden in the archive is called the Chronovisor. A device that can view events anywhere and any time in history.For years, its existence was just a rumor. No proof of the Chronovisor was ever found.But a book released by a Vatican priest would change all that.Let's find out why.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

THE BLACK KNIGHT SATELLITEIn 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1. It was the first satellite in Earth's orbit. Or was it?For over a hundred years, an object has been seen, heard and *photographed* by people all around the world. This object became known as the Black Knight Satellite.The signals coming from the Black Knight Satellite have been decoded.And if the translation is correct, it's been watching us for 13,000 years.The existence of the Black Knight Satellite has been confirmed by astronauts, but covered up by governments. It's been filmed by astronomers, but the film erased. Supporters of the Black Knight Satellite have been shunned and ridiculed, but now they're speaking up. Let's find out why.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

Imagine you wake up one morning and notice everything around you is just a tiny bit different. Maybe you're in the same house, but furniture is slightly out of place. Your favorite coffee mug is there, but it has a crack you don't remember. You could have sworn your coffee maker was black, but this one is chrome. Just as you think you're going crazy, you feel a strange tingling sensation; and hear a buzzing in your ears. A flash of light; the buzzing stops, and you feel dizzy. As you regain your balance, you look around. Everything seems back to normal. The coffee maker *is* black, your mug is *not* cracked. What was that? A dream, your imagination? It seemed so real. Are you just overtired? Are you going crazy? Or maybe, you somehow slipped through the multiverse. For a brief moment, you switched lives with yourself in an alternate reality. There are documented cases of this happening to people all over the world. Usually, the differences between realities are small. But every once in a while, the changes are so different, that you're another person entirely. This happened to a man traveling through a Tokyo airport. When he presented his passport, the authorities were baffled. The passport was genuine, the only problem was, the country that issued it? It didn't exist. ---- SUPPORT THE WHY FILES & GET A WHOLE BUCKET O' PERKS 🙏https://www.patreon.com/thewhyfiles--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

OPERATION: HIGHJUMP Operation Highjump commenced in August 1946. It was the largest, most heavily armed naval task force ever sent to Antarctica. Leading the mission was Admiral Richard E Byrd, one of the most famous naval officers in history. The official purpose for the expedition was scientific research and military training. But that was just a cover story. Operation Highjump had other goals. One was to extend American sovereignty over Antarctica. Something that was denied many times by the US government. Another was to locate and destroy a secret Nazi base. AND, capture the nazi's new secret weapon: the flying saucer. UFOs were seen all over the area; suspected to be Nazi test flights. Admiral Byrd was sent to find out. When he finally arrived to Antarctica, he found a lot more than that. Let's find out why.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

MYSTERY OF THE CIRCLEVILLE LETTERSWe all keep secrets.For most of us, these are nothing more than minor embarrassing details about ourselves. But some of us have dark secrets which, if discovered, could destroy lives.For years, the residents of Circleville, Ohio, received bizarre, threatening letters; from someone who somehow knew every salacious detail of their personal lives.The letters cost people their jobs, their marriages, their freedom, and sometimes, their lives.Over a thousand letters were sent over *20 years*.Yet somehow, whoever wrote them got away with it. Or did they?Officially this case is closed. But for decades, many people felt that the real culprit is still at large.Let's find out why. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

SOUNDS FROM THE HOLE TO HELL In 1989, Dr. Dimitry Azacov and a group of scientists were working on a borehole drilling project in Siberia. When the drill reached 14.4 kilometers, or 9 miles deep, the drill bit started rotating wildly. It had somehow broken through solid rock and into a hollow area under the earth's crust. This cavity wasn't supposed to be there. When the drill returned to the surface, it was literally glowing red hot. This, also, was unexpected. The temperatures at these depths should be about 100 degrees. 150 degrees at most. Instruments were reading temperatures of over 1,100 degrees. Dr. Azacov said, "It seems like an inferno in the center of the Earth". The next discovery, according to Dr. Azacov, was the most shocking; and caused some people to leave the project. At the surface, they heard strange sounds coming from the hole. At first, the engineers thought it was their equipment. So they shut down all the machinery, but the sound was still there. Part of the research done at the site was recording the sound of the movement of the earth using specialized microphones. So they lowered one of these microphones into the hole. Even though it was designed to operate at high temperatures, it overheated in just a few seconds. But a few seconds was enough to prove the sound was definitely coming from the Earth's interior. He said the sound was unsettling. 9 miles below the surface, in a superheated cavern, they heard humans voice screaming in pain. Let's find out why.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

PROOF THAT EVERYTHING - INCLUDING GOD - IS A SIMULATION Is this reality? Well, we're experiencing ... something right now so maybe the better question is: *what* is reality? Could everything we see, everything we experience, everything that exists in our entire universe -- be artificial? Supporters of Simulation Theory believe that not only is it *possible* that we're living in a simulation; it's likely. And the more we look for evidence, the more we find. Philip K Dick believed deja vu was the simulation adjusting to new code. Many people experience The Mandela Effect, a or "false memory" shared by a large number of people. But the biggest clues of Simulation Theory come from science. Specifically: quantum mechanics. The only way the Double-Slit Experiment makes sense is if we live in a program. Quantum Entanglement also defies logic. Only our program would have the ability to defy the laws of physics - and the concept of time. Let's find out why.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

THE BATTLE OF LOS ANGELES On February 25, 1942, at about 2:30 in the morning, the people of Los Angeles were jolted awake by the sound of air-raid sirens. The city was ordered to blackout and prepare for an attack. Searchlights sprang to life, frantically scanning the sky above the city for enemy aircraft. Finally, the lights converged on a single object. As frightened citizens stepped on to their porches and lawns to get a glimpse of the target, the sky erupted with hundreds of explosions of fire, smoke and steel. The Battle of Los Angeles had begun.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

CHASING THE IMMORTAL COUNT The Count of Saint Germain has been called a prophet, a sorcerer, and an immortal. He's been spotted all over the world for a thousand years. And every time he's seen, he looks exactly the same age. The Count of Saint Germain advised Kings, Queens and Emperors. He was present at every significant event in European history. And even was an important contributor to America's struggle for Independence. He spoke a dozen languages fluently. He played piano and violin like a virtuoso. He was an expert in art, science, politics, philosophy and history. Some say he walked the earth during the time of Christ. Some say he walks the earth still. This is his story.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

Here's a philosophical question for you. If a color doesn't have a name, can we still see it? Many years ago, the human eye evolved to give us the ability to see about a million colors. That's a lot. Then how come, until very recently, nobody saw or even heard of the color blue? Well, it's because blue just -- didn't exist yet. Let's find out why.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

MYSTERIES OF MOUNT SHASTA There is no other place on earth steeped in more mystery than Mount Shasta. Aliens, ghosts, underground bases and interdimensional portals. Check. Lost cities, strange disappearances, bigfoot, gods and demons. Check. Atlantis, Lemuria, reptilian humanoids and giants. Mount Shasta has it all. Let's find out why.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

What do Ponce De Leon, Alexander The Great and Jason Giambi all have in common? Superstitions. What are superstitions? Why do we believe them? Although there are a lot of weird superstitions out there, there may be psychological benefits to believing them. Let's find out why.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

WE'RE DUE FOR ANOTHER CARRINGTON EVENT On September 1, 1859, astronomer Richard Carrington was observing a huge sunspot. Suddenly, a flash of intense white light burst from the sun's surface. He had become the first eye-witness of a major Coronal Mass Ejection or CME. And it was headed straight for earth. Seventeen hours later, the night sky in North America lit up like the day. Aurora Borealis, typically only seen near the north pole, were visible as far south as Colombia. In the southern hemisphere, Aurora Australis were visible North of Brisbane. A few hours later, on September 2, the most powerful solar storm ever recorded crashed into the Earth's atmosphere. Our magnetic field was immediately overpowered and created chaos around the world. Nobody had ever seen anything like this before. This became known as the Carrington Event. At the time, scientists thought this was a unique phenomenon. It wasn't. It's happened before, it's happened since and it will happen again. And when it does, it could be the worst natural disaster in human history. Let's find out why.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

THE MAN WHO SAW ALIEN BASES ON THE MOON Ingo Swann claimed to be a psychic who was employed by the CIA to remote-view the dark side of the moon. Specifically to look for an alien presence. It sounded like science fiction. But in 2006, when the CIA started releasing documents on the Stargate Project, Swann's participation in the program was confirmed. When Swann was asked about the existence of extraterrestrials, he said not only were they already here, but they *are* building something on the far side of the moon. And, according to Swann, these aliens -- aren't friendly. Let's find out why.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

What if all of our online existence is fake? You, me, everyone; we're living in a real-life Matrix. Designed to distract us from the truth: that we're just drones in a digital ant-hill. We live, work and die so that the wealthy and powerful can grow more wealthy and powerful. This is called the Dead Internet Theory. And there's compelling evidence that it's real. Let's find out why.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

LEGEND OF THE MOON-EYED PEOPLE Across the Southern Appalachian mountains, from Georgia up through North Carolina, hundreds of unusual stone structures have been discovered. Some date back hundreds of years. Some date back thousands. Archaeologists aren't sure who created these monuments. But the Cherokee people claim they know exactly who built them. The Cherokee say the structures were built by the Moon-Eyed people, a race of fair-skinned, light-haired, bearded humans. Their large blue eyes were so sensitive to the sun that they lived in caves and only came out at night. Which is why they're called Moon-Eyed. But, the story gets even stranger. Let's find out why.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

COMPUTER PREDICTS WORLD WILL END IN 2040 In 1704, using a series of calculations, Isaac Newton predicted the world would end sometime around the year 2060. Almost 300 years later, in 1973, a computer at MIT made the prediction that life as we know it will end around the year 2040. It also predicted that some of the first signs would be seen in the year 2020. Some of its predictions have come true and scientists are taking this seriously. But can we trust the study? Can we trust ANY study? Probably not. Let's find out why.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

THE COMPUTER THAT PROVED TIME TRAVEL | THE DODLESTON MESSAGES In December 1984, Ken Webster, a high-school teacher, was living with his friend Nic and girlfriend Debbie in the small village of Dodleston.One evening, the three were walking home from the local pub when they saw a pulsing green light emanating from their cottage windows. When they got inside, they saw something that terrified them. Though their computer wasn't connected to any network, and everyone in the house was gone all night, a strange message was written on the screen. A message addressed to them, by name. Over the next few months, more messages appeared. Eventually, Ken and his friends begin corresponding with the person on the other side. At first, Ken thinks this is a hoax or a prank. But over time, he comes to believe that not only are the messages real, they're being written by someone living in the very same house -- in the year 1541. Let's find out why.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

There are over 7 billion people living on the earth right now. Tens of millions are born and die each year. Every single one of us leaves signs of our existence in the air, water, soil -- even space. But these signs won't last forever. Our buildings will be gone in a few hundred years. Our stone monuments, plastic, styrofoam, twinkies, even evidence of our inevitable nuclear destruction will eventually be gone. So how can we be sure that we were the first advanced civilization on earth? Well, according to the Silurian Hypothesis: we can't. Let's find out why.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

In 1924, Paul Amadeus Dienach had been teaching the German language in Greece. Dying of tuberculosis, he wanted to return home to Switzerland. Before he left, he gave hundreds of pages of handwritten notes to his favorite language student Georgios Papachatzis. Dienach thought translating his notes would help Papachatzis in his study of the German language. They said goodbye and never saw each other again. Papahatzis began translating the pages. There were whole passages about a coming nuclear war, colonizing Mars, and a global government. Sections about flying vehicles, holographic technology, and contact with alien life. Papchatzis thought it was a science fiction novel. But as more and more of the text was revealed, Papahatzis was shocked at what he discovered. This wasn't a novel at all. This was actually Dienach's personal diary. Dienach wrote about how he went into a coma and woke up 2000 years in the future. It seems that Paul Amadeus Dienach had experienced some kind of time slip that caused him to fall asleep in the year 1921, and wake up in the year 3906. He spent a *whole year* in the future. And he wrote down everything he saw. This is his story.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

ATLANTIS, WORLD WARS AND THE POLE SHIFT Terrifying predictions of Edgar Cayce Edgar Cayce gave over 14,000 psychic readings. He made a number of predictions about future events — many of which have come true. And some of them are terrifying. Some people are worried. Let's find out why.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

KGB, BIGFOOT or ALIENS? WHAT REALLY HAPPENED AT DYATLOV PASS? When the helicopter rescue team arrived at the Dyatlov Pass in February 1959, the nine missing hikers had been dead for weeks. The more the investigators tried to piece together what happened, the more the story didn't seem to add up. Their tent had been cut open from the inside and abandoned, but there was no sign of a struggle. Over a half-mile away, two victims were almost completely naked. Though temperatures were 30 below zero that night. Other bodies were found even farther away. Two had fractured skulls, two more had major chest injuries, one was missing his eyes; another was missing her tongue. And reports show that two of the hikers had been exposed to unusually high amounts of radiation. Soviet investigators listed the cause of death as "a compelling natural force," and closed the case a few weeks later. The Dyatlov Pass Incident has been a mystery for over 60 years. Theories include a military cover-up, a KGB operation gone wrong, a bigfoot attack and of course -- aliens. One researcher believes he knows what happened that night. Others are not so sure. Let's find out why.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

PROJECT STARGATE: CIA, PSYCHICS, MARS AND ... TIME TRAVEL When the first human visits Mars, it will be the biggest scientific breakthrough since landing on the Moon. Probably bigger. But what if I told you the CIA and United States Military have already been to Mars? But they didn't use space-ships to get there. They used psychics. Let's find out why.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

FOR SEVEN YEARS, SOVIET AGENTS SPIED ON THE AMERICAN EMBASSY UNDETECTED In 1945, Soviet children presented the ambassador with a gift to commemorate the friendship of the US and the Soviet Union. A hand-carved wooden replica of the Great Seal of the United States. The ambassador was so pleased with the carving that he hung it in his office at the official ambassador residence in Moscow: the Spaso house. But the wooden carving was more than just a decoration. Now hanging on the wall, just behind the ambassador's desk was a state of the art, high-frequency listening device that was completely undetectable. The intelligence community called the device "The Thing". And The Thing was on the office wall of five different ambassadors over 7 years. This was an electronic listening device that -- didn't require electricity. Let's find out why.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

Do some horror movies use sounds of a *specific frequency* to amp up the scare factor? Yes. Can infrasound and ultrasound damage the human body? Yes. Has sound been used as a real-world weapon? Yes. Is sound being deployed by America's enemies to cause serious physical harm? Yes. Let's find out why.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

When will we upload our consciousness to the cloud? As long as people have been alive, they've wanted to stay alive. For centuries, explorers have searched for the fountain of youth. And today, scientists are hard at work researching technology that can extend the human lifespan, stop or reverse aging; and even preserve a terminally ill person indefinitely, until a cure for their disease is discovered. But what if -- instead of preserving our *bodies* -- we could preserve our *consciousness*; by uploading it to a powerful computer. This is called *mind uploading*. And one startup has developed a procedure to do exactly this. It's scientifically sound, there's a waiting list to participate, and the procedure -- is one hundred percent fatal. Let's find out why.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

HOW LONG DO ANIMALS (and people) SURVIVE WITHOUT THEIR HEADS? Does a human head remain conscious after being separated from its body? It sure does. But just how long do you actually survive? Not that long. But, if we look at other animals, some of them can survive for longer than you think. Let's find out why.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

THE LATITUDE. How do you join a cult without knowing it? Here's how it happened to thousands of people in San Francisco just a few years ago. You're with a trusted friend; maybe on a hike, or sitting in a bar or just hanging out. Out of nowhere, your friend asks you: "Can you keep a secret?" Of course you reply that you can. Your friend hands you a small black sleeve, about the size of a credit card. On one side of the sleeve is a geometric pattern. On the other side, the words "Absolute Discretion". Inside is a security card. Printed with a website and a code. Later that night, you go to the site and enter the code. The website responds with: "Congratulations. You've been invited to the Latitude." What happens next, changes you forever. Let's find out why.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

According to a German historian, the year is actually 1724. He says our calendar is a lie and a big chunk of the Middle Ages never happened. Which says that back in 1000 AD, there was a conspiracy between the church and the Holy Roman emperor to change the calendar. The years 614 through 911 were completely made up. Those 300 years just didn't happen. So all that history you learned about Charlemagne and the middle ages. Completely fabricated. In fact, the theory says that Charlemagne was specifically designed as propaganda to support the calendar change. To give the emperor and the pope more power. Sounds crazy? Well, there may proof. Let's find out why.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

GHOST PHONE vs SPIRIT RADIO. Edison versus Tesla. One of history's greatest rivalries. They would never admit it but as different as these men were, they also had many similarities. For instance, they also both dabbled in paranormal technology. Nikola Tesla was convinced he could invent a device to communicate with the spirit world. And Thomas Edison was convinced he could get there first. Let's find out why.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

TITANPOINTE. New York City has skyscrapers of all shapes and sizes. But why does this 500 foot tall, 29-story building have no windows, no lights and no markings at all? Because it's a top-secret NSA spy station built to withstand nuclear war. Officially, this is an AT&T telecommunications building. But thanks to leaked documents, we now know that 33 Thomas Street is actually a top secret NSA mass surveillance hub. It's code name is: TitanPointe. And right now, as we speak, TitanPointe is listening. The gray, granite tower is located at 33 Thomas Street in Lower Manhattan. Locals know the building as the "Long Lines Building" and it's been a source of mystery for years. What jumps out is that the building has no windows and no exterior lighting. During the day, it fades into the background of the New York City skyline. And at night, it becomes an invisible shadow. Thanks to NSA documents leaked by Edward Snowden, we now know that creating an invisible building wasn't an accident. It was absolutely by design. 33 Thomas Street operates under NSA codename TITANPOINTE. And Titanpointe is a core location used for a controversial, and possibly illegal, NSA-sponsored mass surveillance program. According to leaked documents, this program has targeted the communications of the UN, the World Bank, the IMF. It's been used to spy on at least 38 countries, including US allies like France, Germany and Japan. It's common knowledge that AT&T is very cooperative with the NSA. Using an AT&T cell phone? Eh, you might want to rethink that. Let's find out why.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

JANET AIRLINES. Heard of Janet Airlines? No? Good. That's exactly what the US government wants. One of the government's biggest secrets is hiding in plain sight. In Las Vegas. Janet is the top-secret government airline that doesn't exist. Next time you're in Vegas, visit one of the big casinos next to McCarran Airport. I'm talking about Luxor, Excalibur, Mandalay Bay. When you get there, look East at the airport. All day long, but especially early in the morning and late in the evening; you'll see mysterious planes taking off and landing. You can't miss them. They're big. They're Boeing 737s. They have no markings. No logos. They're plain white with a single red stripe. This is Janet Airlines. Janet is a top-secret, air-force owned commuter airline. For civilians. But the destination Janet goes to the most -- I'm talking a few times a day-- is... Area 51. Let's find out why.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

Was Polybius real? In 1981, an arcade in Portland was the scene of countless gamers coming down with migraines, having heart attacks, seizures and strokes. Local teens were suffering from amnesia and having hallucinations. All due to a mysterious game that seemed to arrive out of thin air. The game was called Polybius. And even though playing the game was dangerous, it was highly addictive and caused some teens to become hyper-aggressive. Fights started breaking out at the arcade. One player was stabbed to death. All traced back to people who played Polybius. Why would the government allow the public to play such a dangerous game? Because the government created it. Let's find out why.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

THE KARDASHEV SCALE. We have no idea what an alien civilization would look like. Humans are evolved primates. What if an alien species is reptilian? Or more like an insect? Or a hybrid of these? Or maybe something completely unique that we couldn't even imagine. There is only one set of universal laws that every species must follow. Physics. Specifically energy. One way to measure a civilization is by its energy consumption. This is done with the Kardashev Scale. By using the Kardashev Scale, we can address some big questions about alien civilizations. Like: Fermi's Paradox. It's estimated that there are 40 billion Earth-like planets in the Milky Way that could support life. Certainly a few of these should have given rise to intelligent life. And if so, where is everyone? A recent study done by researchers at JPL and CalTech states that when a civilization finally reaches a certain point on the Kardashev Scale, it destroys itself. Which is why we haven't discovered any evidence. They're gone. And the Kardashev Scale addresses the most worrisome theory of all. If there are advanced civilizations in our universe, it's probably best if we don't make contact with them. Let's find out why.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

THE DOG SUICIDE BRIDGE. In Dumbarton, Scotland, there's a 19th-century gothic bridge that crosses a 50-foot ravine. It's *officially* called Overtoun Bridge. But it's *unofficial* name is the "dog suicide bridge." Built in 1895, the ornate bridge leads up to Overtoun House, a 19th century manor built by wealthy industrialist James White on the outskirts of the village of Milton in the Scottish Lowlands. It spans Overtoun Burn, a deep gorge with a small river. Hundreds of dogs have attempted to commit suicide by jumping off this bridge. Stories about Overtoun Bridge are all over the internet and have been featured on the TV series The Unexplained Files. There's even an entire book dedicated to the phenomenon. But despite all this attention, the mystery is still unsolved. Let's find out why.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

THE MAX HEADROOM INCIDENT. November 22nd, 1987 was a pretty normal evening for television viewers in Chicago. That night, like every night, Dan Roan was covering sports on WGN-TV, Channel 9. Then suddenly, the signal was disrupted and screens across the city cut to black. Engineers at WGN-TV thought their transmitters were failing. They weren't. A few seconds later, something crazy happened. WGN's broadcast signal had been hijacked in what is now known as "The Max Headroom Incident". WGN-TV was able to act quickly and get their signal back. But, Two hours later, it would happen again to another TV station and there was nothing they could do to stop it. What happens next remains one of the most bizarre unsolved crimes in television history. Let's find out why.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

LEVITATION. The ruins of several ancient civilizations - like the pyramids of Giza, Stonehenge in the UK, and many others - are monuments constructed of massive stones. How the great pyramids of Egypt were built has been the subject of debate for a long time. The fact is, no one really knows for certain exactly how some of these megaliths were constructed. Some researchers think ancient cultures may have mastered levitation through sound which allowed them to easily manipulate massive objects. Unfortunately, anyone suggesting the use of this kind of technology is attacked and labeled a "pseudoscientist". Abul Hasan Ali Al-Masudi is known as the Herodotus of the Arabs. Like everyone, he was awestruck by the pyramids. He wrote a very intriguing passage about how the giant stone blocks were transported -- through levitation. The Great Pyramid of Giza does possess some extraordinary acoustic properties, and can dramatically amplify sounds at certain frequencies. The Egyptians clearly knew a lot about sound science. Let's explore the Coral Castle in Florida, built by Edward Leedskalnin, who cut, transported and sculpted over 1,000 tons of rock into a sprawling complex -- alone, without heavy machinery. We'll visit The Temple of Jupiter at Baalbek in Lebanon which boasts the largest stones ever carved by human hands. Nan Madol is an archaeological site in Micronesia. It's been called the Machu Picchu of the Pacific. The engineering of Nan Madol is so complex, no one can figure out how it was built. Let's hear the story told by Dr. Jarl about Tibetan monks who lifted stones by chanting and playing instruments -- which Jarl put on film. There is science behind all these stories, yet "mainstream" academia dismisses each and every one as pseudoscience. Why is it wrong to want to explore ancient knowledge that contradicts modern beliefs? Isn't this the exact purpose of science? I think so. Let's find out why.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

NOSTRADAMUS. 2022 Predictions: Earthquakes, Asteroids & Zombies? If you believe the predictions of Nostradamus and you enjoyed 2020, you're gonna *love* 2021. While many astrologers, seers and mystics are predicting a hopeful future. If you believe Nostradamus, you better start kissing your mommies and saying your goodbyes. He predicted that 2020 would be a "great trouble for humanity". Well, that was true. And he says a greater trouble is coming in the form of a global famine. According to Nostradamus, the famine will be the worst the world has ever faced and will ultimately end in a disruption of social hierarchies and state power. Nostradamus predicted solar storms will take place. He said: "We shall see the water rising and the earth falling under it". Then he predicts a comet or asteroid will hit the earth or come very close to striking the planet which will cause earthquakes and other natural disasters: "In the sky, one sees fire and a long trail of sparks." FYI, we did have a few close calls with asteroids this past year. And NASA's automated asteroid watching system -- called Sentry -- is currently tracking asteroid 2009 JF1. JF1 is around 130 meters in diameter. About the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza. This could hit Earth in 2022. Nostradamus predicted a great calamity would shake through the New World in the "Lands of the West" causing it to fall into the ocean. This is thought to be California. He suggested that this great calamity will happen when "Mercury in Sagittarius, Saturn fading". The date when Mars and Saturn will be in those exact positions in the sky is Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 2021. And the last prediction is a doozie. Two words: Zombie Apocalypse.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

STUXNET. The virus that prevented; then started the next world war. Cyberwar is being waged right now in your name. No matter what country you call home, your government is engaged in highly dangerous combat on the Internet. Infrastructure around the world is under siege and everyone is at risk. Even you. In 2010, the Stuxnet virus was discovered in Natanz, Iran and thousands of control systems that operate factories, power plants and nuclear reactors around the world. It was 20 times more sophisticated than any malware ever recorded. It could halt oil pipelines, destroy water treatment plants and bring down entire power grids. Stuxnet is back, stronger than ever. And we should *all* be concerned. Cyber-security experts knew Stuxnet wasn't ordinary malware thrown together by some basement hacker. This was something different. Let's find out why.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

NUMBERS STATIONS. Not a relic of the past. Intelligence agencies use shortwave to communicate with spies, agents and assets in the field. Right now. Today. Let's listen to a few and learn how to tune in from home -- for free. Since World War One, numbers stations have been transmitting coded messages to spies around the world using shortwave radio. And they're still transmitting right now. We're going to listen to a few in this episode. These transmissions sound strange to casual listeners. But to the right set of ears, they contain information that could change the course of history. In fact, numbers stations *have* changed the course of history. Countless numbers stations are on the air right now -- for what purpose, few really know. And the people that *do* know? They aren't talking. They're essentially pirate stations -- operating illegally. But, nobody shuts them down. And no government acknowledges they even exist. Let's find out why.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

Is time travel possible? According to physicists, yes. Time travel *to the future* is not only possible, it's been scientifically proven. But what about traveling to the past? Well, that's a little trickier. BUT, there does seem to be evidence that travelers from the future have visited us in the past; and may be among us right now. The human race has been fascinated with traveling through time ever since, well, ever since the human race understood what time was. But has time travel been achieved by future humans? And if so, did they leave us clues that they were here? We've scoured the internet for the best time travel stories we could find. You may know some of them. Some are hoaxes. A few have been debunked. But there are a couple of stories that defy explanation. Why are we so obsessed with time travel? Probably because we're obsessed with time. Time rules our lives. Who doesn't wish they could go back and talk to our younger selves, or meet our ancestors, or witness historical events. Time creates possibilities; but time also *ends* possibilities. It's finite. When a moment is over. It's over. There are no second chances. The expression "time is money" isn't exactly true. Time is much more valuable than money. Wealth can be made; lost and made again. But time? Once we lose it, we can never get it back. Time is the most valuable thing you have. Spend it wisely.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

The Aztec Death Whistle. If hell has a sound, I bet it sounds alot like the Aztec Death Whistle. The Aztec Death Whistle sounds like a shriek of death mixed with howling wind. It's so unnerving, that the significance of the horrifying sound of the Aztec Death Whistle has fascinated and perplexed scholars for years. I'm going to play the sound of the Aztec Death Whistle for you today. When Spanish conquistador Cortés and his men arrived in the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán in 1521, they described witnessing a gruesome ceremony. Aztec priests, using razor-sharp obsidian blades, sliced open the chests of sacrificial victims and offered their still-beating hearts to the gods. They then tossed the victims' lifeless bodies down the steps of the Great Temple known as Templo Mayor; in Mexico City. Andrés de Tapia, also a conquistador, described two rounded towers flanking the Templo Mayor made entirely of human skulls. And between them, a *huge* wooden rack displaying thousands more skulls with holes bored through either side to allow them to slide onto the wooden poles. Reading these accounts hundreds of years later, many historians dismissed the 16th-century reports as wildly exaggerated. *But* over just the past few years, archeologists working at the Templo Mayor excavation site discovered *proof* of widespread human sacrifice among the Aztecs. And the proof was *none other* than the very skull towers and skull racks that the conquistadors had described centuries ago. The Aztec Death Whistle has been described as sounding like humans howling in pain, or as one researcher said, the 'scream of a thousand corpses'. Let's find out why.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

The Philadelphia Experiment. It was October 1943. The day the US Navy mastered time travel, teleportation, and invisibility. Actually, they didn't master anything. The experiment had disastrous consequences for the crew of the USS Eldridge. In the summer of 1943, two years after the US entered World War II, American destroyers were being decimated by the infamous German U-boat submarines and German mines were making combat... and commerce dangerous enterprises. The United States Navy knew something had to be done. A few months later, on October 28th, 1943, the USS Eldridge, a Cannon-class destroyer, was docked in the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. And the Eldridge held some secrets. It was a newly commissioned vessel that was equipped with several large generators as part of a top-secret mission to win the Battle of the Atlantic once and for all. Rumor aboard the ship was that the generators were designed to power a new kind of magnetic field that would make the warship invisible to enemy radar and undetectable to enemy mines. With the full crew on board, it was time to test the system. In broad daylight, and in plain sight of nearby ships, the switches were thrown on the powerful generators, which hummed to life. What happened next was unexpected. And it would baffle scientists and fuel decades of speculation. Witnesses described a murky green fog that surrounded the entire hull of the ship; and then swallowed it whole. When the fog faded away seconds later, the USS Eldridge... was gone. It wasn't just invisible to military radar. It was invisible to everyone. It was gone... That is, until it mysteriously turned up in Norfolk, Virginia. That's a distance of about 250 miles. And the strangest part? When it arrived in Norfolk – it was ten minutes earlier in the day than when it disappeared from Philadelphia. The Eldridge then reappeared in Philadelphia twenty minutes later. Or, uh, ten minutes later? Because of the whole, uh, time travel thing? Hard to tell. Either way, it came back. But something had gone terribly wrong. According to reports, when the ship rematerialized, members of the Eldridge crew suffered from terrible burns and disorientation. And some of its crew had been fused into the metal walls at the molecular level. They were unable to move. Unable to free their skin from the metal that it clung to; and died in agony. Other crew members went insane. And some of the crew? They disappeared altogether. Let's find out why.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

Most of us have heard of the Bermuda Triangle, where planes and ships have mysteriously gone missing in the Atlantic Ocean for decades. Did you know there is a similar place in Nevada? The Nevada Triangle. In a region of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Nevada and California, 2,000 planes have been lost in the last 60 years. In this remotely populated area of more than 25,000 miles of mountain desert, many of the crash sites have never been found. The Nevada Triangle is typically defined as spanning from Las Vegas, Nevada in the southeast to Fresno, California in the west, and to Reno, Nevada at the top. Within this wilderness is the mysterious, top-secret Area 51. Along with the dozens of conspiracy theories which include UFOs and paranormal activity that surrounds the air force base, similar theories have long been considered regarding the Nevada Triangle. One plane to go missing was that of a record-setting aviator, sailor, and adventurer named Steve Fossett on September 3, 2007. Fossett, flying a single-engine plane over Nevada's Great Basin Desert, took off and never returned. After hunting for a month for the plane, the search was called off and on February 15, 2008, Fossett was declared dead. Later that year on September 29th, Fossett's identification cards were discovered in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California by a hiker. Throughout the years, many of the missing planes were flown by experienced pilots and have disappeared under mysterious circumstances: and their wreckage never found. The biggest mystery is: nobody really talks about it. Let's find out why.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

What does the moon smell like? Do planets, comets, asteroids and space have their own odors? The smells of the universe are not universal. Different objects in space — comets, planets, moons and gas clouds — all have their own distinctive aroma. Twelve people have walked on the Moon and all of them agree: the Moon smells like gunpowder. According to Space.com, astronaut Jack Schmitt said: “All I can say is that everyone's instant impression of the smell was that of spent gunpowder, not that it was 'metallic' or 'acrid'. Spent gunpowder smell probably was much more implanted in our memories than other comparable odors.” The Earth has a variety of smells, depending on what environment you're in. But what about the other planets in our solar system? Venus has a crushing carbon dioxide atmosphere, while Jupiter's atmosphere is stormy and turbulent. While we can see what color and understand the conditions on these planets, what do they actually smell like? Scientists hadn’t found clear evidence of the planet’s chemical composition until now. Yes, it has been confirmed that Uranus smells like... farts. Astronomers recently found that the atmosphere of Uranus has high levels of hydrogen sulphide, a compound that smells like rotten eggs. Mercury has a very sparse atmosphere and so would not have much of a smell at all. Venus and Mars, much like Uranus, have substantial quantities of eggy hydrogen sulphide. For Jupiter, the smell would depend on where you were in the atmosphere. Some regions have high concentrations of ammonia, hydrogen sulphide and others hydrogen cyanide (bitter almonds). Saturn and Neptune probably don’t have much of a smell because they’re composed chiefly of the odorless gases hydrogen and helium. Let's find out why.--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support