Creeper at the park.

I was confronted by a peculiar, old guy the other day while taking a nature walk through a remote section of a nearly uninhabited park. It seemed he’d been waiting for me, because he ran straight over from the tree he was pacing beneath once he caught sight of me. Incredibly, he began rattling off a list of every obscure thing I’d ever looked up on the internet over the past five years, and tried to incorporate them into one big story of his own. It became instantly clear that he was trying to show me, just how much he knew about me personally without actually admitting it. Granted I haven’t really tried hiding my personal identity much on the internet, and there are those who seem to follow me from website to website because of an email address I once left in a post, but some of the odd little details he knew went way beyond what anyone could decipher from only that.
What seemed really weird, was that he began fidgeting with a gold medallion while he went off on a ten minute political tangent. By the way he was spinning the medallion, and from what he said, you could tell he actually was attempting to hypnotize me with it! What annoyed me most was that he kept implying how much better my life could be, how much easier things could go for me if I only steered my politics to the right, and made the Fox news station my primary source of political information. Part of me was waiting for someone to pop out from the bushes and say “surprise you’re on Candid Camera!” but it never happened.

After I got home it really started burning me up, I’m thinking; what if this was some government official who was using his authority to get a hold of my personal information to screw with my life and then threaten me for not sharing his political beliefs? Or maybe it was a democrat pretending to be a republican just to rile me up - I say that because this guy was so over-the-top it almost seemed like a performance. Either way this feels like an extreme intrusion of my privacy - very insidious stuff!

For the record: I’m neither a liberal or a republican, but I’m going to need ‘Dennis Miller’ conversion cash to ride the Fox news boat.

WARNING-because you have no external evidence to back this up, you are probably going to be called a liar.

BTW, why are you posting this here?

reply to post by uberarcanist


I don't care, it's true!

So this stranger starts to basically tell you your life story,
I'm naturally sceptical yet still intrigued,so did you ask him his name
or who he was representing?
Did you ask him what the purpose of his 'speech' was?

Did you ask him why he decided to approach you or what relevance
your internet history had to him?




[edit on 25-10-2007 by pmexplorer]

Originally posted by sexysadie
For the record: I’m neither a liberal or a republican, but I’m going to need ‘Dennis Miller’ conversion cash to ride the Fox news boat.

Does this statement mean that you could be bought?

Would you sell out to the highest bidder?

reply to post by pmexplorer


At the time I’m just kind of shocked that it’s happening. Then I thought it might be best to keep a closed lip and let him keep talking - which he did. Anytime I started talking he rudely interrupted and then began talking louder. It was almost comical. He would point his free hand at my chest every so often too. I was hoping he wouldn’t touch me because I didn’t want to get physical with him since he was an older guy. But I don’t think he was angry with me, he just wanted me to believe what he did.

reply to post by sexysadie



I really wouldn't have expected you to pull out your cell phone and ask him if he minded why you made video of his performance. These type of situations aren't usually recorded I wouldn't expect.

What do you mean about people following you from website to website?

Do they use the same identities to flaunt it at you, or do you figure it out somehow?

Do you think the gold medallian could have been making some kind of reflection to show others watching where you were in the park or something or do you think it was soley to hypnotize you?

This guy seems like a Real Nut Case to me sexysadie! Almost sounds like he's stalking you. Be EXTREMELY CAREFUL! If your going to continue giving out your personal information on the internet......Maybe you should consider a course in Self-Defense or get a permit to carry a Concealed Weapon.

We're allowed to open carry here and it does deter crime.

Originally posted by interestedalways

Originally posted by sexysadie
For the record: I’m neither a liberal or a republican, but I’m going to need ‘Dennis Miller’ conversion cash to ride the Fox news boat.

Does this statement mean that you could be bought?

Would you sell out to the highest bidder?

No, I'm just kidding. I'd have to believe in it before I could defend it. But who knows what any person might do given the chance.

reply to post by MountainStar


Maybe you’re right. Time to go polish off the ole S & W .50 caliber.

reply to post by interestedalways



No they don’t use the same identities themselves .
I’ve had a website that’s been tampered with. Plus They've talked about me in front of me, quite arrogantly just to toy with me it seems. A few times I’ve even seen them use my real name in chats. Plus people have tampered with a website I had. If I go into any political forum - certain people seem to know who I am immediately - beyond just knowing my IP #

Also: That’s a good point about the medallion - maybe someones going to take a pot shot at me someday. I was thinking that too.

That's odd, something similar is happening to me. It's as if obscure details of my life are being posted on the internet for everyone to see. Trauma is a joke i guess. It's hard to describe the details and the oddness of it, as i'm sure you have experienced.

Could just be a coincidence, or i'm a complete delusional paranoid weirdo. I'm with you, though. You're not alone. It feels as if my privacy has been utterly destroyed.

Originally posted by rationalgaze
That's odd, something similar is happening to me. It's as if obscure details of my life are being posted on the internet for everyone to see. Trauma is a joke i guess. It's hard to describe the details and the oddness of it, as i'm sure you have experienced.

Could just be a coincidence, or i'm a complete delusional paranoid weirdo. I'm with you, though. You're not alone. It feels as if my privacy has been utterly destroyed.

Do you feel like it's some sort of political retribution, or something else? Really interested.

it's more like someone is out to get me just for existing and being alive. There are some seriously crazy people out there. Not that i support restrictions, but some people need to be locked up for good and they're the ones who make it in this country. i've felt this way for about a year now, ever since i opened my mind a little there are subliminal messages everywhere that are completely against my way of thinking, as if the entire internet is a program created to alter my cognitive abilities. It gets really strange, there are too many coincidences to overlook and i get really depressed. I sometimes wonder if its the same for anyone else and they're too afraid of being called crazy to come out and say it. There are definitely elitists who control content on the internet. It hasn't always been this way (i think) but lately it's maddening. Everything i see is just someone mocking me, doesn't matter if it's my political beliefs (pretty left-wing) or just my train of though, even my art style. someone is out to get me and i feel unsafe just speaking what i think on the internet.

reply to post by rationalgaze


I would hope for your sake it’s just your imagination, but it’s probably not. It’s sad that every little detail of our meger lives can be so scrutinized, while such blatant unmonitored corruption takes place at higher levels. But maybe there are people watching the people who are watching / mocking you.

Most likely. It's common knowledge that everything on the internet is accessible to anyone, pretty much, which could explain the creep in the park. That's always been a fear of mine, to have someone just randomly come up who knows everything about me and wants to push their dogma onto me. The more i learn about the way the world works the more possibilities pop up, and it becomes a scary place to be. There are threats from all directions and the only thing protecting you is your own will to survive. I'd be careful if I were you. it seems that the only thing people can do anymore is disagree with eachother, and those who agree turn into factions with extremist beliefs who dispel any notion of different thought. Alot of websites are designed with thought control in mind, pushing their agenda and contorting peoples' opinions into a mass of agreement/disagreement. There's a war against the individual and the internet is on the front lines.

sorry for going into whacko territory, i know there are too many skeptics on this site to express "out-there" beliefs without being ridiculed in some form.

see, this is what i mean:

www.sciencedaily.com...

I personally have a strong disbelief in psychology or psychiatry, though some may argue i need it desperately, but picking up social cues from noise? It really seems to me like they're trying to cover up the subliminal messages and blame it on "crazy schizophrenics". This happens to me sometimes, but i think most mental disorders are to be blamed on unhealthiness in general.

[edit on 25-10-2007 by rationalgaze]

this hasn't happened to me over the internet or from crazy people. but the past 2 years friends have said things to me that i have only thought. like last year i was gonna ask a girl to the movies and i decided not to and the next day she's like "why didn't you invite me to the movies" before i even told her i went.

Please be careful SexySadie. If what you characterize happened it would put me on the defensive that's for sure. This guys lucky because I would have popped him one and then asked questions concerning his motives. Be careful walking alone in far off places. I hope this was just a nightmare. Be careful.
Peace

reply to post by sexysadie


Hello Sadie... I would be interested to hear more about your encounter with this man.

How did the encounter end? Did he walk away, run away, get into a car?

With all due respect, this sounds like malarkey.

For one, you said some old guy. Old guys aren't usually computer savvy enough to stalk someone on line.

Secondly, I sincerely doubt that you are important enough for anyone to try to "turn your political views." What would be the point of some weirdo trying to convert you to republicanism? One more vote? Yeah, that'll help.

Thirdly, unless someone has it in for you and knows you personally there's very little chance of them cyberstalking you, and they can't do it by an email. They have to know your username from site to site or be able to track you through other clues. How do I know this? Because I actually DO have a cyberstalker.

It's my abusive ex's girlfriend. He's had her follow me around on line for over two years. I used to use the same username from site to site and that's how she was tracking me. I have proof of it because posts from four different forums and a Yahoo group have ended up in our court records as evidence against me. He just pulled a bunch more of this stuff out in our support hearing yesterday, for all the good it did him.

As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure that the woman with no life who is my ex's current unpaid secretary and all-around ill-doer is on this site. I even think I know what her username is. For all the good it will do her. I've pretty much stopped venting about my court battles here out in public. It's just sad that she has nothing better to do than my ex's dirty work. I can't do anything about it, either, because the internet is public domain.

I'm pretty sure she found ATS through a reference in my Photobucket account, but she would have had to dig a bit to figure it out.

So, sorry, I don't believe your story. It feels like a fabrication. And having been married to the Incredible Lying Man for the past twelve years, I believe I know a fabrication when I encounter one.

Naturally this is just my opinion, but based on the story given, that is the opinion I have.

[edit on 25-10-2007 by MajorMalfunction]