Hey gang,
It’s that time again: I’ve been traveling (and, indeed, am actually on a plane as we speak), so no longform post today. Our latest Most Dangerous Game will be published on Wednesday as usual, so check back in a few days to see it (or, if you’re a Patreon supporter, check it out via early access over on TGIMM’s Patreon feed); we’ll be back to our regular posting schedule next week. We’ve actually got something brand new in store for next Monday, too — a test of what might become a new regular feature — so stay tuned for that.
In the meantime, though, here’s something to keep you occupied: The mystery of YouTuber Ivan0135 and the “Skinny Bob” videos.
On April 13, 2011, someone going by the name Ivan0135 began posting a series of very short videos on YouTube purporting to show evidence of the existence of extraterrestrial life. (And when I say “short,” I do mean short; the longest one is a mere minute and 44 seconds long.) According to the description of the first video, the footage and documents shown in these videos was collected between the years 1942 and 1969 — years which are notable due to the fact that the Roswell incident occurred during that space of time (1947, to be exact). We start with UFOs, of course — but the most explosive video is no doubt what has become known as the “Skinny Bob” video: A minute-long clip of a test subject referred to as “Skinny Bob” who appears to be a classic Roswell Grey.
Although personally, I believe there’s a high probability that the videos are a hoax — possibly even part of a bigger found footage web series that never quite got off the ground, so to speak — it’s never been conclusively proven whether they’re real or fake.
What we do know, though, is that Ivan0135 stopped posting after May 17, 2011 — and that they haven’t been heard from since.
The “Skinny Bob” video, which is the second in the series, is here; the rest can be seen here. Real? Not real? What do you think?
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Follow The Ghost In My Machine on Twitter @GhostMachine13 and on Facebook @TheGhostInMyMachine. And don’t forget to check out Dangerous Games To Play In The Dark, available now from Chronicle Books!
[Photo via MichaelGaida/Pixabay]
Welp, now I’ll have Poison’s “Unskinny Bop” stuck in my head for three days. Keep up the good work on your writing, though!
a couple people have made analysis of the video and several things point to a hoax, though well made. Things like the time stamp code showing evidence of being added later and not part of the original footage, not to mention the time repeats at some point; the arm and for-arm length is inconsistent between shots, also appears that it was filmed off a monitor perhaps, adding to the authentic aged look; the frame should be 4;3 ratio to be historically genuine, but instead is shot in an aspect available on an iPhone, and presented in wide screen with bars at the side rather than actual 4:3 ratio; artifacts on image denoting aged film etc actually repeat 3 times: identical artifacts point to software to make look aged. Real film wouldn’t have repetition of aging artifacts. Comparing with real footage, side by side, and the alien footage looks much less genuine. I’d add: kind of convenient that they are dressed in black and covered for the most part. And one arm looks longer than the other: i noticed that at first viewing.
Aww!! I’ve been reading your posts all day today! One because this website isn’t blocked at my school but also because I’m a huge fan of the paranormal- I’m so happy I found this site! Thank you Lucia for making these lovely posts ^^
I read your posts as soon as they come out! However, my pockets are empty, so I can’t donate to your Patreon page (for now). Props on the post!
Thanks so much for the kind words! Glad you’re enjoying the site!
I personally think the video is a hoax, the alien’s movements look too smooth for a video from that era, it’s almost like the alien was created using Unreal Engine. Still a cool video.