The Why Files: Operation Podcast

In 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. Let's find out why.

26 Okt 202329min

Since grade school, we’ve been taught that gravity is what keeps our feet firmly planted on the ground, but what if that’s all been a lie? I'm not saying if you jump off a bridge, you fall up, instead of down. But what if Newton and Einstein were wrong and what *really* ties our universe together is not gravity, but electricity? The Electric Universe Theory says that, instead of gravity, the universe's *true* attractive force comes from invisible electric currents that surround our planet, our solar system, the galaxy and... everything. We are all living in one, giant, universe-spanning circuit. Mainstream science ignores this possibility. But ignoring the electric universe blinds us to an unknown risk. The myths of our ancestors describe cataclysmic, global disasters in the distant past. They knew about the electric universe too, not from science, but from experience. And our ancestors have sent us a strange, but dire warning: Beware the shocking fury of planet Saturn.

24 Okt 202345min

In 1966 a well-known engineer released a book with information that could impact everyone on earth. But before anyone could read it, it was classified by the CIA. We only learned of its existence a few years ago because of a Freedom of Information request. The CIA only released 57 pages of the original 284-page manuscript. And those pages have been, in the CIA's own words, "sanitized". Why does the CIA think this book is so dangerous that they had to hide it from the public for 60 years; and continue to hide most of it? It's because the man who wrote it describes the end of the world. #CIA #Conspiracy #EndOfTheWorld

18 Okt 202353min

The story of the human race is a story of technology. One of our ancestors created fire and passed that knowledge along to the next generation. Then the invention of the wheel. Then agriculture, a writing system, mathematics, space travel. Within our story, empires rise and fall. Technology progresses. Civilizations are born and die. The human race continues to innovate. All of our innovations are built on previous ones. There could be no aqueduct without the arch. There could be no metal plow until someone learned how to mine iron. There could be no light bulb, no smart phone and no computer without first understanding electricity. Our progress is linear. It's orderly. But sometimes an object is discovered that's completely out of place and out of time. A computer found on a sunken Roman ship. A power plant found in a 100,000 year old cave. Evidence of a nuclear reactor from over a billion years ago. These objects shouldn't exist. But they do. Their existence violates the natural order of human progress. So if humans didn't create these items, who did? --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

13 Okt 202339min

The Book of Revelation says the end of the world will be announced with the sound of seven trumpets. Each blowing of the trumpet brings a new apocalyptic event. After the seventh trumpet: armageddon. For centuries, people have reported low-frequency hums, the crack of thunder on a clear day and the sound of cannon-fire in the middle of nowhere. Mysterious sounds have been heard at the bottom of the ocean and in outer space. And they’ve been heard long before modern machines and industry. Recently, people have been recording and sharing videos of these loud, unnatural sounds. And some of them? They sound a lot like trumpets. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

11 Okt 202334min

In July 2008, the carcass of an animal washed up on the beach at Montauk Point Long Island. Local beachcombers are used to seeing dead animals. Seagulls, fish, crabs, even the occasional whale. But they had never seen anything like this. Animal experts were brought in to identify it. They were stumped. It looked like part dog, part reptile and part rodent - with the beak of a bird. This animal, whatever it was, became known as the Montauk Monster. But where did the Monster come from? There could be only one answer. Plum Island. Plum Island is just a few miles from where the monster was found. Locals had heard rumors that this was a top-secret government facility that created bioweapons, engineered animal hybrids and maybe even experimented on people. Sounds like a wild theory. But then another animal washed up on the beach. Again, it couldn't be identified. And then another animal. And then two more. In 2010, the *rumors* about Plum Island seemed to be true when something else was found on the beach. This time it wasn't a strange animal. It was a body. A human body. Well... it was almost human. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

29 Sep 202334min

The night after Christmas, 1980, was the last time Airman First Class John Burroughs would ever lead a normal life. He was on patrol at an American-operated Woodbridge Air Force base in southern England. Woodbridge and nearby Bentwaters - called the Twin Bases were rumored to possess nuclear materials. This was the middle of the Cold War, and tensions were high. The threat of nuclear attack, global escalation, and more, sat heavy on the shoulders of Burroughs and his fellow servicemen. But their job was simple: keep themselves, their nation, and their allies safe. So, Burroughs conducted his nightly rounds, checking the perimeter for anything that threatened the peace. Suddenly, a bright light descended from the sky. Then another. Burroughs watched as the lights fell into the forest surrounding the base. When he and his team arrived to inspect the crash site, they were worried it was a Soviet incursion. But, what they found was far more terrifying than anything the Soviets could think of. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

23 Sep 202333min

So, tell me... how do you like being a movie star? I can't imagine your life. You can't walk down the street without being mobbed by adoring fans. You attend power-lunches with your agent. You pose for pictures on the red carpet on your way to collect your third Academy Award. Your life sounds fun. Wait, what? You're not a movie star? That's not your life? Well, maybe not in *this* universe, but there is a universe out there where your life is exactly as I described. The "Many Worlds" or "Multiple Universes" theory says that anything that can possibly happen *does* happen. It just happens in a different reality that exists parallel to our own. There's a reality out there somewhere where you're a best-selling author. There's one where you're a Nobel Prize winning scientist who cured cancer. There's even a reality out there, where you're an evil dictator plotting to take over the world. And you enforce your will with an army of AI robots that you invented when you were a grad student at Stanford. Yes, some of these alternate realities are more far-fetched than others. But they *are* all out there. Scientists know how these realities are formed and people are working on technology to detect them. But even if we *could* detect alternate universes, there's no way to visit them. Or is there? --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

15 Sep 202338min