The Why Files: Operation Podcast

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