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I would say this is the beginning of a plethora of episodes, but we aren't trying to lie to all you good people. 

BUT!

We are starting off with one of those glossed over points in American history. When I think about witch hunts in America, I immediately think of the Salem witch trials. However, there are other points in time, a lot more recently, that had a similar impact–The Red Scares. The Red Scare was hysteria over the perceived threat posed by Communists in the U.S. As a curious cat, I wanted to learn more about these 20th century witch trials in America and I decided I would take you all along for the ride…for better or worse. In this episode, we will touch lightly on what is communism, fear of communism, the lead up and duration of the two Red Scares, and some major players in them. 

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Young and sweet, only from fifteen eighteeeeeen!

Who doesn't like a little ABBA tie-in?

But have you heard about the Dancing Plague of 1518? In 1518, a 'dance plague' saw citizens of French city Strasbourg reportedly dancing uncontrollably for days on end – with fatal results. It's a bizarre event that continues to fascinate those that have happened upon the story. But how did this begin? Just like a middle school dance, it takes one person dancing alone to the beat of their own heart before the rest join in. It was July, 1518, and a sweltering day at that; a woman named Lady Troffea steps into the square of Strasbourg and begins to dance. At first those around her only watch; curiosity getting the better of them as they stand and watch her dance dance dance with her hands hands hands. They watch a woman who will not, cannot, stop. She dances for nearly a week, occasionally tripping over her dancing shoes by exhaustion but largely unfazed by hunger, pain, or the need for sleep. There was no music to be heard. Where the music came from for this dance is a mystery; maybe it was internal, birds, the celestials–who knows!

Join Matt and I as we go into this not too conspiracy theory, but a little bit of a mystery. 

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Have you heard about Juliane Koepcke? At only 17 years old, she became the sole survivor of one of the worst aviation disasters. Juliane Koepcke was aboard LANSA Flight 508 on December 24, 1971 when it was struck by lightning, causing her to plummet 10,000 feet to the Amazon rainforest below. The plane was enroute from Lima to Pucallpa in Peru. Juliane was flying with her mother the day after graduating, making their way to her parents' research area in the Amazon. 
After the plane was struck by lightning and torn apart, Juliane awoke still in her seat with severe injuries. Somehow, she not only survived the fall, but was the only passenger to survive the upcoming days. 
Listen in for this short and sweet story of survival that would honestly be a featured story on Beyond Belief that I would assume was fabricated. 

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On this week's episode of But Have You Heard About Conspiracy Theory Edition, Matt and I discuss how the power outage that delayed Super Bowl XLVII (47) wasn’t an accident, but an intentional way to inject life into a game that was turning into a blowout.

Super Bowl XLVII was played between the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers on February 3, 2012. The Ravens defeated the 49ers by the score of 34–31, handing the 49ers their first Super Bowl loss in their franchise history. The game was played at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. Baltimore had been dominating the first half of the game, thanks to Joe Flacco's three touchdown passes that gave the Ravens a 21-6 lead going into the half. After Beyonce performed her amazing heart out during halftime, the Ravens immediately picked back up their all gas no breaks approach that would give them a 28–6 lead. 

However, a partial power outage occurred with 13:22 remaining in the third quarter. Play was interrupted for 34 minutes because of a 22-minute partial power outage. After this outage, the 49ers came back and RALLIED to make the game a close finish. Listen in to all of the theories as to why this may have been more than an accident.... though most likely it was an accident, let's be real. 

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Well hey there listeners, did you miss me? Probably not, but I'll pretend that you've been in a void of interesting history factoids. It's been a literal year plus since I uploaded an episode. And I am starting this party off with some fun history. 

On today's first episode back in 2024, Trisha and I discussed the MOVE bombing in Philly--who is MOVE, why did everyone (especially their neighbors) hate them, what shout out, and the bombing. Originally called the Christian Movement for Life, MOVE is a communal organization that advocates for nature laws and natural living. At times, it has been viewed as a cult, like many movements that started in the 70s. It was founded in 1972 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, by John Africa (born Vincent Leaphart). John was a West Philadelphia native and Korean War veteran. The name, styled in all capital letters, is not an acronym. MOVE lived in a communal setting in West Philadelphia, abiding by philosophies of anarcho-primitivism, meaning that they wanted to go back to hunter-gatherer type living. The pre-industrial revolutionary world at minimum. WIIIILD. Their ideology combined a wide array of ideologies, including environmentalism, animal rights and an end to capitalism–OR anti-government, anti-technology, and anti-corporation. The group's activities were closely watched by law enforcement, at times leading to armed confrontation, including the 1977 stand-off we touch on in this episode, and the bombing in 1985. Take a listen and let us know what we should talk about next!

Sources:
https://whyy.org/episodes/the-move-bombing-in-philadelphia-memory-and-justice/

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jun/18/debbie-sims-africa-free-prison-move-nine-philadelphia-police 

https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2019/8/8/20747198/philadelphia-bombing-1985-move 

https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2015/05/13/406243272/im-from-philly-30-years-later-im-still-trying-to-make-sense-of-the-move-bombing 

https://whyy.org/articles/how-the-philly-medical-examiners-office-mishandled-move-victims-remains-for-36-years/ 

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On this week's episode of But Have You Heard About, Matt and I talk about Starseeds, or star people. Have you heard about this awakening? There’s a growing group of people on Earth who believe they’re aliens, or descendants of former alien interactions with humans.  They are awakening to their Starseed origins and are here now to help in the transition of earth, where earth changes will precede our joining a greater star community of planets. The thought is that Starseeds originate from other planets and realms and possess spiritual and scientific knowledge dating back hundreds of thousands of years. There are two common thoughts among Starseed enthusiasts on how one becomes a Starseed. Whether they ARE aliens that are living on earth, a descendant of an alien, OR the descendant of someone that had alien interactions. Most Starseeds believe they have come to Earth from other dimensions to help heal the planet and guide humanity into the “golden age” – a period of great happiness, prosperity and achievement. Sounds like a groovy thing.

Matt and I go over the characteristics and traits of those that are believers. Get your checklist out and see if you are partially, or just a little bit of a Starseed.
We also go in depth on why anyone is suspectable to believing they're a star person, or the like--going into the Forer/Barnum Effect, source monitoring error, and the Einstein effect. All of these go hand in hand with how many people are led to believe they are Starseeds, or that horoscopes are real, or how psychics make generalized and vague statements that draw people in.

As we discuss, it isn't new-new, but started gaining traction with other New Age ideas in the 70s, and is attributed to Brad Steiger who wrote prolifically about the unknown and was keenly interested in alien life and extraterrestrials. In his 1976 book, Gods of Aquarius, Steiger introduced his notion that some people originate from other dimensions.

If you are looking for more information on Starseeds or what was discussed in this week's episode, I gathered a lot of my information from the below pieces:
https://medium.com/illumination/am-i-a-starseed-a17960247445
https://brill.com/display/book/9789004435537/BP000031.xml
https://theconversation.com/starseeds-psychologists-on-why-some-people-think-theyre-aliens-living-on-earth-197291
https://www.thebookstall.com/book/9781710780444 

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But have you heard about the Lager Beer Riot that occurred on April 21, 1855 in Chicago? Maybe not, unless you're really into Chicago beer or politics. On this week's episode, we are talking about an interesting combo–politics and beer in Chicago. 

With rising immigrants settling in developing Midwest cities like Chicago and bringing much of their home country culture and past times with them. Germans brought with them their love of brewing beer and journalism, with many setting up taverns that many locals and immigrants frequented. Many of these immigrants had participated in the 1848 revolutions across Europe and were accustomed to demonstrations for political reasons. At the same time, all over the country there was a wide spread of distrust when it came to Catholics and immigrants. Many newspapers and politicians depicted immigrants as drunks, and part of a ploy for the Pope to take over the US if they were Catholic. Because of the drunken portrayal, many nativists gravitated towards anti alcoholism, or the Temperance Movement. In the city election of 1855, the Know Nothing Party Candidate Levi Boone won and almost immediately went to work on ways to punish immigrants for just living in the city--increasing the price for liquor license and suspending the sale of alcohol on Sundays. Take a listen and see how messing with German's beer can lead to a revolution.

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Picture it: a 30 year old Michael Jordan has just won his third championship in as many years with the Chicago Bulls. He doesn't look to be stopping--and yet, he retires on October 6th, 1993 to the shock of so many. Why would the greatest athlete at that time retire? His father was murdered that summer, he had taken a physical beating in those playoff games, and emotionally he wasn't in it. All of that adds up. But...what if it had to do with the gambling stories that came out during the NBA Finals in 1993? Or maybe it was all a ruse for him to try out baseball so it could all be included in the critically acclaimed and life changing movie Space Jam.

In this week's conspiracy theory episode, Matt and I tackle how Black Jesus, per Reggie Miller, retired and did it really have something to do with a NBA suspension for gambling? He had a brush with federal authorities in 1992 that made his gambling known, and then the May 24th Atlantic City visit during the Knicks game series, and then Esquinas' book. So...I mean...maybe?

For more information on Michael Jordan's father's death.

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On this week's episode  we are taking a little detour from fun, gripping, or little known history to dive into something a bit more…creepy?  We are talking about the history of haunted and creepy dolls. What makes so many of us shiver in fear of raggedy Anne and Andy? How long have creepy dolls been...a thing? And not just dolls being creepy…but things in general being creepy. 
Dolls have been around for AGES, and mean a lot to many people. Whether they taught young girls skills like sewing, or how to act in certain societal situations--dolls have been there. And dolls can be made of anything and for anyone--cue husk dolls and GI Joe. 
If you ask a group of 15 people what they’re scared of…at least one person will say dolls. And probably one other person in that group will collect dolls. Thanks to psychologists, we have some answers to this idea of what is creepy and why are we so alert to things we deem as creepy. 
But the creepiest thing? Cursed or haunted dolls. We talk briefly about Annabelle, Robert, Lily, Letta, and Okiku in this week's episode--in case you need to go see if you are indeed creeped out by plastic, real hair, and pitter pattering in the night. 

Check out this week's episode and let me know your thoughts about dolls and creepy things.

What did you think of todays' episode?

Maybe you have heard about the face on Mars, or maybe this is your first time...just like Matt. Whatever the case may be, this week we cover the idea of intelligent design, aka aliens/lonely left on Mars human, in regards to the face on Mars photos. If you've never seen the photos, check out this link with a story from NASA. There are also other photos that many claim to see OTHER images in the rock formations/shadows.

Matt and I talk about the conspiracy pusher, Richard Hoagland, and his credentials (or lack thereof.) Without Hoagland's book, The Monuments of Mars, there may not have been such a huge movement of those interested or believing that the Face on Mars was intentionally made. Take a listen and let us know if you liked our first dabble into aliens/space conspiracy theories!

Looking for more information? Check out some of these links below:
https://www.space.com/36751-space-conspiracies.html 
https://www.space.com/17191-face-on-mars.html
http://www.tampabayskeptics.org/Mars_morefaces.html 
https://gpposner.com/Hoagland.html