Chapters
Shownotes Transcript
Ever dream of a three-row SUV where everything for every passenger feels just right? Introducing the all-new Infiniti QX80, with available features like biometric cooling, electronic air suspension, and segment-first individual audio that isolates sound.
Right to the driver's seat. Discover every just right feature in the all new QX80 at infinityusa.com. 2025 QX80 is not yet available for purchase. Expected availability summer 2024. Individual audio cannot buffer all interior sounds. See owner's manual for details.
For thousands of years, we've pondered the meaning of dreams. Dreams offer insight into our subconscious. Dreams help us process emotions and organize our memories. Most of us live our waking lives giving a sort of performance. Whether through dishonesty, embarrassment, or simply by being polite, there are thoughts we do not share. But while you sleep, your inhibitions disappear, and you're left with the raw, unforgiving truth, the real you.
But dreams can be more than that. Some claim dreams are the realm between ours and the spirit world. Some dreams can predict the future. Studies have shown that dreams can be shared between people. Lucid dreaming is when you, not your dreaming self, your conscious self, controls the dream. You are literally a god. The universe is your playground. It's exhilarating and powerful. But there is a dark side.
What if, while lucid dreaming, you weren't in control of the dream, but someone else was? Well, that's no longer a dream. It's a nightmare. And it's no longer a playground. It's a prison. And every night the lights go out, you close your eyes, and he is waiting for you. Hello. I'm so glad to see you again. You remember me, don't you?
In 2006, Jeannie, a woman living in New York, was at her weekly session with her psychiatrist, Dr. Brian Stone. Jeannie wanted to discuss a recurring dream she was having. Psychiatrists can often help a patient cope with stress by helping them unravel the meaning of a dream. And Jeannie found sharing her dreams comforting.
She said each of her dreams were different, but they all had something in common. No matter what was actually happening in her dream, she was visited by a man, a man she didn't know. She called him "this man." Now, most of the time, the man would just stand there saying nothing. But once in a while, he would offer words of encouragement. He knew things about her that nobody knew. He'd tell her everything was going to be all right, not to worry and that he was her friend.
Now recurring dreams are not unusual, but Jeannie found this one very unsettling. Dr. Stone asked her to sketch the man. Often confronting a dream, especially a nightmare, is a way to bring it out of the subconscious and deal with it rationally. Usually the issue is resolved and the nightmares stop. Jeannie drew a man with a round face, short black hair and a receding hairline. He had prominent eyebrows, a small nose and very thin lips.
Jeannie's session ended, and Dr. Stone set the portrait on his cluttered desk where it lay forgotten for a few days. About a week later, a different patient had finished his session with Dr. Stone. As the man was leaving the office, he caught a glimpse of the drawing on the doctor's desk. He asked where he'd gotten the picture. Of course, Dr. Stone couldn't say, but he did ask why he wanted to know. The patient said, "'Well, every night for the past few months, I've been dreaming of this man.'"
He says he's my friend and that I should come with him. Well, Dr. Stone told him not to worry about it and they would discuss it next week. Oh, no service unless the meat is running, huh? I guess not. Frickin' shrinks. The patient left, but Dr. Stone was intrigued. So he scanned the image and emailed it to about a dozen psychiatrists and psychologists that he knew. No more than 90 seconds later, his phone rang.
What are dreams and why do we have them? Well, short answer, nobody really knows for sure. There are theories that dreams serve many purposes. One is memory consolidation. Our brains are constantly absorbing stimuli. Dreaming is our brain sorting through all the data, throwing out what we don't need and filing away the good stuff. Dreams also help us prepare for real life conflict.
Now, as far as we know, all mammals dream and all mammals have an amygdala. This is the part of the brain that processes emotion, especially fear. While sleeping, an animal's brain goes through various dangerous scenarios and prepares them to deal with these situations in real life.
You've seen dogs twitch while they're sleeping. They're probably dreaming about chasing something or being chased. You've seen cats dream too. Oh, they're dreaming about how to escape the burlap sack they're in, along with a couple of bricks that's slowly sinking underwater. Um, no. Oh, right. That's my dream about cats. Uh, your brain is dark. Oh, you have no idea. You wouldn't last five minutes in here, pal. Well, I wouldn't want to be in there. Good, because you're not invited. Good. Fine. Do you always have to have the last word?
No. Cats, dogs, horses, sheep, people. It's a dream all animals share. Chasing something or more often being chased. Even birds, fish, reptiles. Every animal has an amygdala or something analogous to it. There's research that shows that dreams can be used for problem solving. Have you ever been stuck in a problem, gone to sleep,
and woken up with the answer i have now nobody knows for sure how this works but while we sleep we know the primal parts of our brain are most active the least active are parts of the brain like the prefrontal cortex which is associated with logic and our sense of self with our ego suppressed and logic suppressed our brains are free to explore solutions to problems we might not have thought of while awake
All animals do this to some extent. There are even songbirds that practice their songs while they sleep, like they're working out the kinks before an actual performance. - Like a sound check. - Exactly like that.
Sleep happens in stages. Stage one is light sleep, really just being drowsy. Even daydreaming is considered stage one sleep because even though you're technically awake, you're producing theta waves. Now during stage two, you become less aware of your surroundings. Brain waves slow down, your heart rate slows, your body temperature drops.
Stage three and four, your brain produces delta waves. During these stages, your body and brain do self-maintenance. And if you wake someone up during stage three or four, they're gonna be very drowsy or very cranky. Finally, there's the REM stage.
Random eye movement. This happens for the first time about 90 minutes after falling asleep. But you'll go through these phases multiple times a night. And you can dream during any one of them. But each time you go into REM sleep, your dreams become more vivid and more intense. You may not realize it, but most dreams are negative. They're full of anxiety. Our brains try and make us forget these dreams as quickly as possible, and that's a good thing.
But this is the land of nightmares, and this is where people kept seeing this man.
Did you know a 2018 study showed half of prenatal vitamins tested had unacceptable levels of heavy metals? I'm Kat, mother of three and founder of Ritual. When I was four months pregnant, I couldn't find a prenatal I could trust, so I created my own. Ours is matricible, third-party tested for heavy metals, and recently earned the Purity Award from the Clean Label Project.
But don't just take my word for it. Get 25% off at ritual.com slash podcast. Have you heard about the 2018 study that showed half of prenatal vitamins tested had unacceptable levels of heavy metals? No? Well, now you have. I'm Kat, mother of three and founder of Ritual, the company making traceability the new standard in the supplement industry. I remember staring at my prenatal vitamins and finding all these things I was trying to avoid.
high amounts of heavy metals, synthetic colorants, and unnecessary ingredients. So, at four months pregnant, I quit my job and started Ritual because I believe that all women deserve to know what they're putting in their bodies and why. I'm so proud of our prenatal vitamin. The ingredients are 100% traceable, it's third-party tested for microbes and heavy metals, and recently received the Purity Award from the Clean Label Project. You see, we trace like a mother because
Let's be honest, no one cares quite like a mother. But don't just take my word for it. Trace for yourself with 25% off at ritual.com slash prenatal. No, no, no, no. Don't be afraid. I'm your friend, remember? Your friend. Now, now, I need you to listen very closely. You have to follow me.
Dr. Stone's phone was ringing nonstop. His inbox was flooded. He was being contacted by psychiatrists, psychologists, neurologists, even priests. Dozens of people had reported seeing this man in their dreams. He looks exactly the same. And the story is always the same. He shows up every night. He rarely speaks. He wants something and he wants you to go somewhere.
Now, this had been going on for a couple of months, and although nobody was being threatened, people were terrified. Most found his features unnerving. His thin, emotionless smile. His empty stare. His unibrow. Unibrow bothers you, huh? Are you kidding? That thing is two weeks away from becoming a butterfly. Ugh. Entomology jokes bug you? Ha ha ha ha ha ha!
By the end of the week, Dr. Stone had documented 80 cases of people seeing this man in their dreams. It was too much of a coincidence. As Dr. Stone pondered, he received an email from a colleague in Berlin. The email contained a link to a website, thisman.org. On the site were reports of this man from all over the world. L.A., Tehran, Sao Paulo, Rome, Beijing, Barcelona, Stockholm, Paris, New Delhi, Moscow, really everywhere.
People were putting up signs asking, "Have you dreamed this man?" And the answer around the world was yes. It seemed as if in every country and every culture around the world, this man was appearing in people's dreams. This man had been seen at least 2,000 times. Nobody knew who he was, but the theories covered everything. People of faith thought he was a religious figure, though whether he was good or evil, they didn't know.
A more pragmatic theory said that because there were posters of him everywhere and his image was disturbing, people couldn't help but dream of him. Then there was the darkest theory, the one nobody wanted to talk about. I want to talk about it. Well, remember Project Stargate, where the CIA was using psychics for remote viewing locations around the world? I'll leave a link below. Thanks.
The CIA had a sub-project within Stargate, Lucid Dreaming. Of course they did. They wanted to see if they could communicate with someone who was dreaming and potentially implant thoughts or images into the sleeping person's mind. This is the plot to the movie Inception, you know. I know, but Inception came out in 2010. The CIA project started 20 years earlier, in 1991.
So now there are a few frightening questions. Did the CIA get this to work? Who is this man? And most importantly, what does he want? While these questions were being asked, the number of people reported seeing this man in their dreams was up to 8,000. So either this was a dream experiment gone completely out of control or it was working perfectly.
The ancient Greeks and Romans believed that some people had the ability to dream of the future. And there could be evidence of that. On April 11th, 1865, Abraham Lincoln entered the East Room of the White House. There was a coffin in the middle of the room. The president asked one of the guards, "What happened?" The guard said, "An assassin killed the president."
Now, that wasn't Lincoln's first dream about his death, but it was his last. He was killed four days later. Mark Twain had a dream about his brother in a metal coffin. Those were rare at the time. Brothers? Metal coffins. Ah. A few weeks later, his brother died and was buried in a metal coffin. Twenty passengers canceled their tickets for the Titanic after having dreams about the ship sinking, freezing water, and drowning.
And whenever there's a disaster, you hear stories of coincidences, like I was supposed to be on that boat, that plane, or that train that crashed. How many stories have you heard from New Yorkers who were supposed to be in or near the World Trade Center on 9-11, but something kept them away? My brother Gino and I had a meeting scheduled one block away from Ground Zero that morning, but for some reason they canceled the meeting last minute.
Now, considering the time of day, those buildings should have been much more crowded. But they weren't. Lots of people stayed home or were running late that day. Now, it's hard not to believe in the paranormal when you hear stories like this. Jojo Billingsley was a backup singer for Leonard Skinner. But if I stay here with you, human, things just couldn't be the same.
'Cause I'm as free as a fish now And there's fish you cannot change Oh, oh, oh, oh Okay, okay, okay Okay, okay Sorry, Lord knows I can't change
Anyway, she dreamed the band was in a plane crash. They were due to fly the next day. She refused to get on the plane and begged the rest of the band to do the same. They ignored her. Later that day, the plane ran out of gas and crashed near Gillsburg, Mississippi. Out of the 26 people aboard, six were killed, and the other 20 almost were. The story's even creepier because the crash happened three days after they released the album Street Survivors. The album cover was later changed, but it
but it was originally the band members surrounded by flames. Now, stories of dream precognition are anecdotal and should be viewed skeptically, but still, the stories can't be ignored. On October 19th, 1966, in Aberfan, a small mining village in South Wales, 10-year-old Aromay Jones told her mother about her dream. She said, I dreamt I went to school and there was no school there. Something black had come down all over it.
Two days later, the top of the mine collapsed and caused a landslide. 140,000 cubic yards of water, coal, and mud poured into the village and covered the school. 116 children and 28 adults were killed, including 10-year-old Errol May-Jones.
Psychiatrist John Barker heard about the young girl's prediction. Barker visited the site and learned that a number of people had dreams about the landslide before it happened. This led him to form the British Premonitions Bureau. He would document this and other events where dreams preceded them. Barker found two people who could predict events with remarkable accuracy. The first was Alan Henscher. Alan was from Aberfan and dreamed of the coal mine disaster.
Allen called Barker in a frenzy one evening. He said he saw a plane crash over mountains. There were 124 people killed. Nine days later, a Britannia passenger aircraft carrying 130 people was flying in bad weather. It tried to land in Cyprus. Visibility was poor. It crashed into a high hill, broke into pieces and caught fire.
Seven people survived the crash, leaving... Yeah, 123, huh? So he was off by one. Not bad. Well, not exactly. Another passenger died soon after the crash. Okay, this is getting scary. Should I stop? Nope. Then Barker met Kathleen Middleton. In her first dream, she saw a petrified astronaut. That same day, a Russian astronaut... Cosmonaut. Cosmonaut, sorry. Nah, it's possible.
That same day, cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov was killed when the Soyuz 1 capsule crash landed. On March 11th, 1968, Kathleen tried to reach Robert Kennedy to warn him that his life was in danger. The senator's staff didn't respond. On June 4th, Kathleen called Barker three times in a panic. She needed someone to warn the senator.
Shortly after midnight on June 5th, 1968, RFK was assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan. Barker didn't pass along the warning. John Barker wasn't sure if ESP or psychic powers or premonitions were real. He was open-minded, but in his words, he wasn't sold.
But when Alan Hensher and Kathleen Middleton both predicted his death, he admitted to being a little nervous. Don't tell me. Well, John Barker died within a year. Brain hemorrhage. He was only 42 years old. You told me. No, don't look away. Look at me. Look at me. You need to follow me. It's for your own safety. That's right. That's right. Come with me. Remember, our new friends.
In 2015, the creator of the site thisman.org gave an interview to Vice. Andrea Nutella said he first dreamt of this man in the winter of 2008. The man asked him to create the website to try and discover his identity. Andrea used facial composite software, like a police sketch artist might use. He then sketched the man from his dreams. Round face, thick eyebrows, thin lips, thinning hair. An actual person that looked like this man was never identified.
But Andrea received thousands of letters and emails from people who also saw him in their dreams. Starting when I was seven, I had the exact same dream for 10 years. I'm 17 now and I have become very familiar with this man, although I do not have very nice dreams about him. I dream that he's leaning over me and making a strange noise, almost as if he was growling at me. And on his shirt is a gold round pendant that is molded into the gold, go north.
Palm Beach, Australia.
The behavior of this man varied from witness to witness. Some people had romantic fantasies about him. Don't judge. Yo, he scared a lot of people. Some people dreamt of this man scaring, chasing, kidnapping, and sometimes killing the dreamer.
On April 9th, 2021, go normal.
After saying this, the man ran away. I tried to catch up to him to ask more, but I couldn't keep up. March 7th, 2013, Utah. Some encounters with this man were vivid and violent. I dreamt of this man when I was in the 10th grade. A few feet away from me, there was a television set. Then this man showed up on the screen. I begged him not to harm me. He didn't change his blank expression or speak. He slit my throat and I woke up.
Yeah, see, that makes sense. He looks kind of stabby. Yeah, there's no question. Something about his appearance is unsettling. Now, most people reported him giving them cryptic life advice, though it was hard for the witnesses to be specific because this man rarely spoke. Even when he did speak, people had trouble describing his voice. Some said it was high-pitched. Others said he had a deep voice. Many people said he sounded like multiple voices layered on top of each other.
Despite the differences in the stories, there were some recurring themes in his messages. He would often tell dreamers to go north or ask if they follow him somewhere if they want to survive.
I dreamt of this man. A couple years ago, I had to see a therapist because I was having reoccurring dreams about this middle-aged man who kept attacking me. He never said anything. I woke up soaking wet in sweat every night. I was put on Triazegon to help me get through the nights. I also have a dream where someone is always telling me to go north. I got it tattooed on my ankle because I swore it meant something. I'm almost positive this man is the one who comes to see me in my dreams.
January 9th, 2011, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
As Andrea did more research, he found evidence of people dreaming of this man going back at least 30 years. And there is a theory that dreams are more than disjointed images, that dreams are glimpses into other realities. Andrea describes this man as a traveler stuck out of time, a place between dimensions. Now, maybe there's a reality where we all see this man. Maybe he's someone important, a spiritual figure, a leader, a god.
Nobody knows. But now that you've seen a picture of this man, your brain can't help but look for him. Oh, great. But witnesses claim he knows who's looking for him. So don't be surprised if tonight you find him. Or rather, he finds you. ♪
The earliest records of dream interpretation come from ancient Mesopotamia. The famous Assyrian dream book in the library of King Ashurbanipal goes back to the 7th century BC. In ancient Egypt, dreams were considered a direct means of communication with the gods. They wrote manuals of symbols and dream interpretations. Pharaohs even used dream priests to decipher their dreams to help them make political decisions.
Sigmund Freud wrote a book called The Interpretation of Dreams, which many consider the foundation of psychoanalysis. Freud introduced the idea that dreams are a window into the unconscious mind. He believed dreams were representations of our innermost desires. Many of Freud's theories were highly focused on sex.
For example, if you dreamt about a door, a suitcase, an unopened flower, these were female symbols. If you dreamt of a baseball bat, a stick, a sword, these were phallic symbols. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. Right. But sometimes it's a penis. Okay. I'm not saying that that horny old shrink said it. Well, he did. And for years, Freud's theories were dismissed as manifestations of his own sexual repression.
But there are universal dreams we all have that tend to reflect how we're feeling about what's happening in our daily lives. The most common dream humans have, like all mammals, is being chased. That's our amygdala at work, being pursued as our most primal fear.
Dreaming about falling often means you're feeling out of control. I used to have a recurring dream about floods and giant waves and tsunamis. This dream happens when we're feeling overwhelmed, which I was at the time. Ever dream about your teeth falling out? I have that one too. Oh, that would be a nightmare. Look at my gorgeous chappers. It's hard not to look at those things. Psst!
Well, teeth falling out can represent feeling insecure about your appearance or the fear of aging and declining health.
Being naked in public is also a common dream. This reflects your vulnerability. Some people have this dream after lying. It's a fear of being exposed. I still have dreams of being unprepared for school or late for an exam or a dream where I'm lost. These dreams speak to life's uncertainties. You might have these dreams when you're at a crossroads before a major life decision.
Though most dreams are negative, not all of them are. Everyone's favorite dream is flying. This represents freedom, liberation, and empowerment. You might have this dream after leaving an abusive relationship or getting a promotion at work.
But there's no better dream than a lucid dream. This is where you're actually in control of the dream. Normally, you're just a participant in the dream. You don't really have free will. Whether a dream is good or bad, you just have to let it play out. This is because your prefrontal cortex is disengaged. Remember, this is where your sense of self comes from, your consciousness.
When you lose a dream, you switch this part of your brain back on. Suddenly your dream is whatever you want it to be. Want to travel to ancient Egypt? Just will it and it will happen. Want to visit Mars or an alien planet in another galaxy? Just will it to happen. Want to be a professional baseball player, superhero, or maybe spend a little quality time with your favorite celebrity doing, well, whatever you want? Just will it to happen.
If you've had a lucid dream by accident, you know how fun they are. But lucid dreaming is a skill that can be taught. And this is something I've learned, and I'm pretty sure I can teach you to do it too. So if that's something you'd like me to cover or do some video on it somewhere, let me know. It's the most fun you'll ever have, I guarantee it. But what about this man? What does he mean? Oh, this man. Well, that story takes a turn.
When Vice published the article about this man in 2015, they had to publish a follow-up article later that day. What was the second article? An apology. Oh, no. On January 15th, 2015, Vice published an article about this man.
A person seen by thousands of people in their dreams. Vice even interviewed Andrea Nutella, who created the website thisman.org. Later that day, Vice published a second article apologizing. Not only was this man a hoax, it was debunked years earlier. Oh, the media published the story without fact-checking it first, eh? Yep. I thought journalism was about integrity, being a voice for the people, and they're seeking the truth.
Yeah, you better grab a bucket. I'm oozing sarcasm all over the place over here. The truth is, Andrea Nutella, the creator of the This Man Myth, was an advertising executive. He specialized in guerrilla marketing. You use monkeys? Guerrilla marketing is usually low-cost, local viral marketing. Ah, that makes more sense. Monkeys are expensive. Do you mind? You're distracting me. Sorry, I was confused by the homonym about the homonym.
You don't realize it, but that's the smartest joke I've ever made. You say so.
Anyway, Nutella wanted to see if he could create an urban legend, and he did. He made up the origin story of the New York psychiatrist, then he built the website. On the site were flyers you can download and print, and people were encouraged to post flyers in their neighborhoods, and they did. Everywhere. Flyers turned up all over the world in 35 different languages. The website is still up and doesn't mention it's a hoax, though Nutella later admitted he made the whole thing up.
He said the picture of this man is a sketch based on his father as a young man. Even though the story was debunked, when he was interviewed by Vice, Nutella couldn't help himself. He stuck to the story and Vice fell for it. Yeah, I've noticed. If this man is a hoax, what about the 8,000 people saying they saw him in their dreams? Were they lying?
Well, probably not all of them. Suggestion is a powerful thing. And there's something about the image of this man that's haunting and memorable. And now that you've seen this video, there's a chance you'll encounter this man in your dreams. And if that happens, there's only one thing you can do. Go north. Sweet dreams.
Thank you so much for hanging out with us today. My name is AJ. You know, heck of a fish. This has been the Y-Files. If you had fun or learned anything, do him a favor, like, subscribe, comment, share. That stuff really makes his fins get all jiggly. And like most topics we cover on the channel, today's was recommended by you. So if there's a story you'd like to see or learn more about, go to the Y-Files.com slash tips. And remember, the Y-Files is also a podcast.
Twice a week, I post deep dives into the stories we cover here on the channel. I also post episodes that wouldn't be allowed on the channel. It's called the Y-Files Operation Podcast, and it's available everywhere you get your podcasts.
Now, if you need more Y-Files in your life, and look, not everybody does. Some people have too much. But if you do, check out our Discord. There are thousands of people on there 24-7, and they're into the same weird stuff we are. It's a great community, it's lots of fun, and it's free to join. Now, if you want to find out what's going on with the channel at any given time, check out the Y-Files.com slash Cal. That's our production calendar.
You can see what episodes are coming up, what podcasts, what live streams are scheduled. Anything special that's happening will be posted on that calendar. And special thanks to our patrons who make the Y-Files possible. Every episode is dedicated to you. Without your support, there'd be no Y-Files. So I thank you for everything. Ah, yeah, definitely gonna have nightmares now. Yeah, that might have been a mistake.
Anyway, if you'd like to support the channel, consider becoming a member on Patreon. For as little as three bucks a month, you get access to perks like the videos early with no commercials. You get access to merch only available to members. You get special access on Discord. Plus, you get two private live streams every week just for you. Both of our cameras are on. Mine, yours. You don't have to have your camera on, but, you know, if you're proud of yourself and you want to show off a little bit...
Let's get a look at you. Both guys, what I'm saying is, it's fun. So that's just for Patreon members, and it's as little as three bucks a month. Did I say that already? All right, the plugs are almost over. Another great way to support the channel is grab something from the Wafow store. Hey, grab a Hagglefish t-shirt, fishable coffee mug that's filled up with something delicious to drink while you're wearing your t-shirt, and grab one of these squeezy stuffed animal Hagglefish talking fish toys, and you play the Go Hagglefish card game with your fish toy games.
All right, that's it for the plugs. Until next time, be safe, be kind, and know that you are appreciated. I played Philippians in Area 51 A secret code inside the Bible said I would I love my UFOs and paranormal fun As well as music, so I'm singing like I should
But then another conspiracy theory becomes the truth, my friends, and it never ends. No, it never ends. I fear the crab cat and I got stuck inside Mel's home with MKUltra being only two away.
Did Stanley Kubrick fake the moon landing alone On a film set, or were the shadow people there? The Roswell aliens just fought the smiling man I'm told, and his name was cold And I can't believe I'm dancing with the fish Head to fish on Thursday nights with AJ2 And the weather in my eyes
All I ever wanted was to just hear the truth, so what? The Mothman sightings and the solar storm still come To a god, the secret city underground Mysterious number stations, planets are bold too Project Stargate, and where the Dark Watchers found
We're in a simulation, don't you worry though The black knight said a lot, he told me so I can't believe the fish, heck of fish On Thursday nights when they chase you And the white balls of me beat off through the night If I ever wanted one, could you hear the truth? So the white balls of me beat off through the night
And the fish on Thursday nights when they chase you And the white balls of the beat all night And all I ever wanted was to just hear the truth So the white balls of the beat all do go
Because she is a camel. When camels love, the feeling is right.
Wasting time. Getting lucky. Getting lucky. Yeah.
