Abovetopsecret.com and the Whispers In The Dark hoax
ATS WITD Hoax
Abovetopsecret.com has opened discussions on the Whispers In The Dark hoax. Looks like Netchicken may be the prankster :o
quote by conspiracynut: (Abovetopsecret.com member) I also read posts suggestion NetChickens involvement in the WITD affair. Was Netchicken involved?
Is he a contender for the identity of Whispers?
quote by SkepticOverlord: (Abovetopsecret.com administrator) Given his prankish history, and knack for causing us problems because of his pranks, I
have to admit he could certainly be on the list. However, we never considered him at the time... and I doubt he'd have the one or two bits of arcane
intel knowledge that WITD seemed to have.
OK NC, time for you to spill your guts. What do you know?
LOL
Post your comments today.
Register on
Stuffucanuse Forum
By YCON:
posted on 25-10-2006
Ha!
What a joke.
One of the features of the Whispers In The Dark hoax was
EITHER
the ability to predict the future, with the Jakata bombings being predicted 19 hours before they happened
OR
Someone with the skills and authority to change the date stamp on the posts to make it LOOK like it has been posted 19 hours earlier and hide their IP
making them untraceable.
Neither of which I could/can do.
However the second is a distinct possibility that it could have been Skecpticoverlord himself, who has various sock puppets on the board which he used
to for fun.
I would love to have been the instigator of the hoax, it really showed how quickly the board memebrs were prepared to compromise the boards beliefs
and integrity by quickly calling in the FBI instead of talking with the person themselves.
In our staff forums we were totally disapointed at the speed that what may have been an facinating individual was reported to the authorities by
members.
It showed that if anyone DID want to create a dialogue with people to tell them the truth or warn them then ATS was the last place to go to.
Not only was/ is the site crawling with govt/military personel, but there were organizations who kept a regular eye on posts made as were shown by
the military IP's that were logged.
If it was a board hoax, then it backfired tremendously, in terms of the integrity of the board (even as it created such a tremendous fuss which is the
prime objective of hoaxing) , if it was real it was an opportunity lost and a massive wakeup call for the board.
But it was fun watching the FBI suck out all the data from the board and seeing up to 13000 hits all at once from their bots.
By netchicken:
posted on 26-10-2006
I didn't think you were the prankster just wanted to let you know skepticOverlord had you on the list as a possible. Your right about
SkepticOverlord though, he has all the knowledge to pull that hoax himself. Besides that the script kiddies he keeps pointing his finger at were busy
defacing the site that day.
By YCON:
posted on 26-10-2006
![]()
frankly connie, I couldn't give less of a fuck about Abovetopsecret.com. fuck them.
By theshadowknows:
posted on 26-10-2006
Can I just add that the "hacker" who managed to change the date stamps on the posts, ALSO had to change the date stamps in the Quoted replies that
people made. It was considered at the time to be BEYOND the ability of someone using the XMB exploit.
So whoever did it was not a "script kiddie" Show me a 14yr old who uses terms like "beltway" in their hacks? Also show me a script kiddie with the
desire to hoax a board in such a mature and articulate manner. This was no "sux 2 U" type "hack" but a sophisticated attempt to decieve (if it
wasn't real).
Also show me a script kiddie who didn't want to advertise his achievement at the time or soon after. The purpose of hacking is often to gain
notoriety, this would have been a perfect opportunity to get kudos from the hacking community.
But there is nothing but silence.
So the final analysis leads me to suspect it was either of the following 3 options.
1. An "expert", but why would an expert pull a hoax like this.... unless it was someone wanting to test just how Abovetopsecret.com dealt with
information like this. Maybe an intelligence operative seeing if we would report it. Now this is not a wild guess, ATS has been the focus of
intelligence operations in the past, and the focus of intelligence "testing".
2. Or "real" in which case Abovetopsecret.com screwed up really bad, and the guy disappeared into the sunset.
3. Or a joke to gain some board drama by SkepticOverlord that went horribly wrong and could never be admitted.
By netchicken:
posted on 27-10-2006
*yawn*
AT-who?
I'm with the Shadow.
I gave them a visitor count by accident the other day when I googled something and clicked onto their place without meaning to do so.
From all accounts by people who think I am concerned, the board has deteriorated into childish crap rather than any actual discussion of "secret"
stuff, and Melissa still thinks she is a "prolific" writer.
Interesting how you are still the boogey man over there! Kudos to you!!
By Thomas_Crowne:
posted on 27-10-2006
hehehe I tormented them when I was there and torment them in my absence :)
Actually I have no feelings over Abovetopsecret.com, neither a desire to visit nor any negative feelings over what happened, its just now a detatched
intellectual objectiveness.
I went back and read the relevent thread because I was told about it, and had a quick look over the board. Man there are same topics, the same teenage
/ adolescent debates, the same wacko theories, as when I left. Its like nothing has changed in the last 6 months! I remember the repeditiveness of the
board being a drag when I was there, but now you see it as it really is. The truest and most original thread there is the one by the member who
claims to have been paid to post deliberatly wacko threads about 9/11!
By netchicken:
posted on 27-10-2006
Hmm Abovetopsecret.com again! What the hell is this WITD thing anyways ??
There seems to be an active attempt by the board to smear you netty. Seems so from the "member" responses. Anyway the kids there seem to swallowing
any thing that SO or the rest of the "amigos" dish out, . If there were truly any INTEL people there they would know that the site is a scam anyway.
You're right though, its much easier to see it now for what it truly is!
By IAF:
posted on 28-10-2006
NC....if I were you I would take the glory. You earned it. I have thought all these years you had something to do with it.....and I am sure others
do too. Even if you didnt...think about it....it was an AWESOME hoax. As soon as someone steps up to the plate and solves the mystery.....it'll be
over. No more WITD threads....no more "Where's DragonRider?"
Steal their damn thunder!:sp
By Venus:
posted on 28-10-2006
LOL!
That wouldn't be fair, if I had done it I would certianly admit it, afterall I don't have anything to lose.
This is an ingroup/outgroup thing that subconsiously sucks you in on Abovetopsecret.com.
To be part of the "ingroup" you need to define and vilify the "outgroup". Its a cry for acceptance and belonging in a sterile and alienating
world. The best outgroup to vilify are ingroup people who get kicked out. (err if this makes sence) because they are automatically identified as
"not of this group".
Whereas if you attack someone less obvious, such as a politician, you may find to your horror that others of the ingroup with whom you wish to belong
actually like the person. So you get personal kudos for attacking a clearly defined outgroup because you get the feeling of unity and aceptance from
other members of the ingroup you want to belong to.
Heck look at adolescent street gangs and their immature turf wars for an exact example of what I mean. Kids with no identification or sence of
belonging in the real world make their own tribes to achieve that sence of acceptance among themselves.
I was part of this process on Abovetopsecret.com for years, and its reinforced by the exclusivity of being a staff, and by the "I love
Abovetopsecret.com" threads that generate frequently.
You don't notice it when you are in it, but the "I love Abovetopsecret.com" threads are often a cry of "me too, I want to belong here" however
sometimes they do contain some truth, for those who feel that they don't fit in elsewhere in the world.
ATS had premade outgroups to vilify such as Shadowdependancy (or something I forget the name) who had members in exactly the same position, seeing us
as their outgroup and trying to maintain their own sence of "belonging" by attacking Abovetopsecret.com.
Abovetopsecret.com staff also deliberatly fostered "I love Abovetopsecret.com" threads purely to engender the "ingroup" belonging feeling on the
board when it was getting too negative.
Guess what, you see in society this happening everywhere. This happens in the real world in places like North Korea, and even closer to home. But
instead of hating North Koreans because they hate the rest of the world, we should pity and understand the psychological pressures they are under to
conform and the propaganda they are fed by their leaders.
So the same with Abovetopsecret.com, if the members there have some unjustified grievence with members of the outgroup then we should see that as part
of the social conditioning of the board and the absence of objective reality on behalf of the the instigators.
Rising above this desire to be a participant in an "ingroup" is a development of maturity. It only occurs when you start to become disilusioned with
the falsity of what you see in the labels being attached to both the ingroup and the outgroups.
Despite the sence of belonging on Abovetopsecret.com the truth on the internet is that you are merely an individual with 1 month of acceptance. There
is no real community, or ingroup, if someone drops out then they are not encouraged back in, its a straw house instead of a home. The sence of
belonging is purely illusory.
For example I read a thread on Abovetopsecret.com about a very popular member of the board (and one whom I respect greatly) with members saying how
much they liked and loved the person.
Yet if that person decided to leave, his absence would be missed for about a month, and the board would move on as if he never existed. Its not a real
relationship, as you find in the real world, this is merely shadow play of the real world.
You could also draw a comparison between the experience of having a personal relationship with a partner, and that of someone who only has porn to
entertain them. One is a real experience of intimacy, the other is merely imaginary.
So ultimatly ingroups on the internet are illusory and transient, they are not the true supportive, belonging, and encouraging structures you see in
the world, but shadows of what people want to experience in the real world.
If you were part of such an group in your daily life there would not be the need to try and recreate it on the internet.
Its a sad inditement on our global society that people want so desperatly to be part of a group and cannot find it in their community.
Good gracious, I have written a thesis!
By netchicken:
posted on 28-10-2006
Netchicken, I just did a post in the Abovetopsecret.com WITD it included some of your ideas about the script kiddies not knowing the beltway term and
how to change the time stamp on other members posts when quoting WITD.
ATS WITD thread
By YCON:
posted on 28-10-2006
Interesting, don't forget at around that time TBATS had SO's work telephone number, I recall him wanting to resign over that as they were ringing
his employment.
There was also Echelon, and another person (of russian extraction I think) who had hacked the board. We are compressing events over months, into one
time frame, SO's desire to leave the board was seperate from the WITD stuff.
As for the hacking, as far as I can see, when a post is quoted, it becomes merely text in the entry of the person who quoted it . So there is no
connection between the original post, and the quoted post. Therefore changing the original post, using an Update command has no
effect upon the quote itself, only on the original post.
Therefore the hacker would have to manually find the post with the quote in it on the DB, then manually change the date. Easy to do
as admin, but not below that, as Edited by: would get added to the post with the editors name on it.
We went through these senarios ad nausum in the staff forums and via private messages. DR was prolific in outlining the situation, and he had a good
grasp of what we are discussing today.
Also the language and actions of the "hacker" do not fit the profile of a script kiddie, as I outlined earlier, this is either a red herring, or an
admission of a lack of knowledge about who did it.
By netchicken:
posted on 28-10-2006
yes I mentioned the TBATS group and other things.
He responded pretty quick
By YCON:
posted on 28-10-2006
The standard strategy is to have a "We're being victimized" drama to occur... have a bad guy or group to have to face as a board so that the rank
and file can close ranks and stand united. This ploy has been used on many occasions.
They so much want ATS to be what Little Green Footballs actually is but it will never be. If it was ever going to attract anyone of that caliber the
day has come and gone.
Their main desire is to have a big membership..numbers-numbers-numbers. If you notice... Little Green Footballs is closed to new membership; they
aren't always in the membership drive mode.
If you notice... LGF is mentioned on both the net as well as TV and talk radio for actual revelations (such as the Reuters photo scandal)... whereas
ATS is nothing more than a regurgitation.
Abovetopsecret.com is a place that is a source of food for a few overfed egos with huge appetites... the work is done for them by a group of people
who want to achive the innermost circles of trust and get a peek into the chambers where the "real" meetings take place. what the "unwashed
masses" in the streets of Abovetopsecret.com don't know is that Abovetopsecret.com is the biggest conspiracy they have ever bumped into. If you get
right down to it... though... it is the most irrelevant one they will ever see.
Take it from TC, the one who got ran off because I was aware of the fact that one of the owners' wives was taking the work of others' as her own
(Yes, even taking the work of French magazines is stealing). If you are a mere member, that will get you bounced, if you are an owner's wife, that
is "prolific"... as Simon told me as he asked for me resignation. Remember when she did that "How to speak French" podcast; what do you think
gave her the idea? LOL
By Thomas_Crowne:
posted on 28-10-2006
everytime I think of the owners wife, I hear her voice from Parr's podcast, what a hoot... :j
Your e-mail has been returned due to insufficient voltage.
By mike:
posted on 28-10-2006
To be fair TC, LGF is one out of the box :)
One of the problems stems from the type of board Abovetopsecret.com is, a conspiracy board.
LGF is a one issue one sided site with dedicated members pumping out great content. If ATS had the same focus it too would have been a great success,
but 90% of the energy is wasted on internal divisions and debates and just drop dead stupid topics usually along "Aliens are among us" and
"everyone is a cointellpro site and are spying on us"
Remember the original reason SO came on board on the site was to build a community and investigate the techniques needed to do so, the actual topic of
the board could have been crochet for all that mattered. To that end he has succeeded admirably, however its a pity that the focus of the site is at
such an extreme end of the human interest spectrum.
SO's techniques of board building are fine and show great skills, heck I wish I had the programming skills he has, combined with the creative ideas.
The problems all stem from the subject matter and the ancillary people, such as the person who literally bought his way into power, and would never
have been allowed in on merit, ability or aptitude. These are the weak points and the sources of frustration.
By netchicken:
posted on 28-10-2006
Yup, no doubt thed ability to build a board, but to be the investigative power rather than the regurgitative power, that just ain't never happened.
The driving desire to be "THE Board" regardless of quality, the drive for numbers, and the willingness to lose standards and ethics in order to
drive the numbers up, that has a LOT to do with what it ain't, if you ask me.
To insure that everyone had a a place to go it was divided and redivided, you know. ATS, BTS, PTS....but it seemed to draw a stagnant crowd of
blowhards like myself, rather than talented people and eagle-eyed investigators.
The place obviously fills a void for many people who want so badly to join a cyber-gang but as far as anything from denying ignorance to displaying
moral backbone, that just isn't the place. Playing the victim and lying is old hat from the Oklahoma area of ownership, so it wouldn't surprise me
that your guilt is being insinuated rather than asserted, so that plausible deniability is still within reach.
And, I wouldn't admit to doing that, by the way, because all that would do is hand them what they want - a flag around which to rally the
peasants.
If you'll excuse me, I'm going back to my happy place and again forgetting about the House That Lies Built. I prefer to remember the days the old
gang was there, before marketing and advertising ruled the day.
By Thomas_Crowne:
posted on 29-10-2006
... Quote:
Originally posted by Thomas_Crowne
I prefer to remember the days the old gang was there, before marketing and advertising ruled the day.
Recreating THAT would be a blast;)
By Venus:
posted on 29-10-2006
It is recreated, here, DT, and many other boards around the world.
Look at this board, no egos, no BS, just a watering hole where we meet and pass on interesting tidbits and do a little socializing. There are no
demands, no agendas and no smoke and mirrors.
And the board is very attractive!
By Thomas_Crowne:
posted on 29-10-2006
Well looks like they banned me over there. Not sure if it's because I wouldn't answer valhall or if skeptic didn't like my question from the day
he resigned.
By YCON:
posted on 29-10-2006
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