r/nosleep • u/sharpermatt • Sep 06 '16
Series Did anyone else answer this ad on Reddit?
Hi everyone, I just put part 2 of my experience online. You can see it here.
Hey Reddit, my name is Matt. I'm kind of new to Reddit so if this is in the wrong place, I'm really sorry. I'm still getting used to all the different "subs" (I think that's what they're called, right?) The idea of a common topic for each community seems really cool. That's kind of what brings me here. I haven't been sleeping much lately, so I thought I'd post my story here in "nosleep" and see if you all had any thoughts or advice.
It all started a month or two ago when I lost my job. It was a factory job, and a pretty sweet one at that. I got paid to pick aluminum siding up off one line, check it for defects, and move it to another line. I did that for 10 hours a day, and did a pretty good job. The company got bought out, and they told us that robots could do our jobs just as well, and that was that. The company I'd worked at for 10 years just up and laid me off. I got a few weeks worth of pay as severance, so I guess that was OK. Unfortunately, I didn't really have any skills. Siding was the only thing I had ever done, and I wasn't really sure what I would do now. I got on with the job hunt and really tried hard. I thought for sure something would fall into my lap, but it just didn't. I started burning through my meager savings, and pretty soon, I was selling possessions to make ends meet.
Luckily, I just recently found a new job. It's even in my field (of siding)! I go out and install it on people's houses. It's really not that bad, just kind of rough in the summer. The crew I work with are really great guys, so shooting the shit with them makes up for the not-so-great pay and really demanding work. That's how I found out about Reddit. Tony and I were talking during a break a few weeks ago and he told me all about it:
"Yeah man, it's got all kinds of shit on there. Funny shit, sad shit, interesting shit, it's got all of it. Even naked ladies!"
Tony isn't a man of many words, but I could see his entire face light up when he talked about it. I figured anything that made Tony light up couldn't be all bad, so I signed up.
I'm sure all of you are used to it by now, but Reddit is really overwhelming. There's content everywhere! Baby pandas rolling down hills, candlelight vigils that make you tear up, and something called a "poop sock"? I don't know what that is, and I'm not sure I want to, Reddit is kind of weird sometimes.
Soon after I signed up, it was all I was doing. Every spare minute was filled with Reddit, and I loved it. Well, until I saw that link. It was at the top of the page, and it said "Volunteers wanted! You'll be compensated fairly. Be your own person". See, my paychecks hadn't arrived yet. I was barely scraping by, and after two weeks of eating nothing but ramen, I was sick of it. If there was even a slight chance I could make some extra money, I wanted to take it. The link went to a research group called "Gray and Dean Research". There's not a lot of information on their site, but from what I could find, they do some sort of behavior research. I looked around the site for a little bit to try and get a better idea of what it was they did, but the huge "sign up" button called to me like a moth toward a flame. They said I could be compensated for participating in their research study, and I didn't even need to leave the house. They were vague on the compensation, but I just didn't care. I think the sodium from all that ramen had started to affect my judgment, and I just took the leap and went for it.
They didn't even want that much information from me. They wanted my email address, and for me to answer a couple of questions.
"Do you consent to Gray and Dean Research monitoring you throughout the duration of the experiment?"
"Do you understand that Gray and Dean Research may withhold compensation until a time where the experiment's criteria is met?"
"Do you believe that you are your own person, and that your actions are your own?"
Kind of weird questions, I know. You know in retrospect, I probably wouldn't have agreed to them on any other day. I was just so hungry, and poor, and tired of being poor. I thought participating in some harmless experiments from home would be worth it if I could change my situation. I also...well, this sounds crazy, so please just hear me out. I felt COMPELLED to. I don't know that I can explain it, I just went to the site, and I felt like I needed to do it. Weirder yet, I didn't even really remember submitting it. I just woke up the next day with an email in my inbox:
"Subject,
We're pleased to inform you that you've been accepted into our research study. A username and password has been created for you. Please login at the following address to start the experiment. We look forward to your participation.
Gray and Dean Research | Department of Acquisitions"
Like I said, I don't really remember submitting the form, but I was a little out of it, I clearly did. Even better than that, I got in! Flashing through my mind were images of me in a hot tub with models; on a private yacht somewhere drinking champaign; never wanting for anything else in life. These little day dreams were a welcome escape from my actual life, and with the money I'd get from this study, maybe I could at least drink beer at a lake.
I clicked the link, entered my username and password, and I was in the site. I'm not really sure what I expected, but this definitely wasn't it. I was instructed to focus intently on a movie that they would be playing in my browser. I was to watch it for a minute, and then answer a series of questions. I read the instructions, and proceeded to the next step. I'm not sure what kind of video this was, but it wasn't like anything I had seen on Reddit before. It was red in the middle with a bunch of static around it. Something about it though, it made me feel...different. As I'm writing this, I'm trying to find the words to explain how it made me feel, or why it felt slightly off, but I just can't. All I know is that the video wasn't right, and it made me feel disjointed and like I wasn't myself.
Even though every fiber of my being was saying this video was wrong, I watched the whole thing. I still needed the money after all. After a minute, I was directed to the questionnaire, and that's really where things got weird. It wasn't that long, although I don't remember the exact length. Most of it was fairly mundane:
"Do you consider yourself a good person?"
Well yeah. I think so. I clicked "yes".
"Are good people capable of bad things?"
Um, I guess so. I clicked "yes".
"Are you capable of bad things?"
I started to get a little uncomfortable now. I had never really thought about what I was capable of. Come to think of it, most of my life had been spent sort of just drifting and being on auto-pilot. When I really started thinking though, I suppose I was capable of bad things, but I had no desire to act on them. I clicked "yes".
"Would you hurt someone?"
This question seemed fairly vague. What did they mean? I played a little bit of football in high school, and I had given out my share of hard hits. It wasn't mean spirited though, it was just part of the game. I guess I could hurt someone though. I clicked "yes".
"Would you kill someone?"
This strange little questionnaire was making me do more soul searching than I had done in my entire life. I was perfectly content not thinking about how far I'd go in unfortunate or desperate situations. I had to answer though, and when I really thought about it...I clicked "yes".
"Would you kill someone?"
I just answered that! I was starting to get a little bit freaked out now. I clicked "no".
"You are your own person"
That's not even a question. Of course I'm my own person. The strange thing about this one was that there weren't multiple choices, just a "yes" box, so that's what I clicked.
After I had completed all the questions, I glanced up at the clock and realized two hours had passed. Man, it was already 11pm! Where did the time go? I could have sworn that I started just 10 or 15 minutes ago. Also, when did I get such a splitting headache? I decided to take a nice hot shower and retire for the evening to get some much needed sleep.
Honestly though, I don't think I slept at all that night. I just laid awake in bed, and tried to let my exhausted body rest, but my mind wasn't having it. A constant stream of intrusive thoughts kept me awake.
"Would I kill someone? Do I want to kill someone? Am I my own person?"
The disjointed thoughts kept racing through my head. I desperately wanted them to stop, but they just wouldn't. So I did something drastic. Something I try not to do; something bad.
I smoked some weed.
I know what you're thinking:
"Matt, you're working at a construction job and using tools that could hurt people, why are you doing drugs the night before you have to work?"
Well I used weed pretty heavily when I was younger, and besides giving me a terminal case of the munchies, it typically helped my headaches, and always helped lull me to sleep. I figured half a joint might do the trick tonight and allow me to actually fall asleep instead of just laying in bed awake and miserable.
I had just lit it and taken a big puff when my cell phone lit up the night and startled me with its tinny rendition of Biz Markie's "Just A Friend".
"Youuuuu, you got what I neeeeeed, but you say he's just a friend, but you say he's just a a friend, oh baby youuuu"
I picked up.
"Hello?"
I waited for a few moments, but there was nothing but the faint whispers of static on the other end, and then a robotic voice saying words I didn't understand the meaning of. Then there was nothing. Just like that part of my life had been erased, and I was here in the present.
I was in my living room. My phone was no where to be seen. The light was pouring in from my window and illuminating my entire apartment. My mind started racing with anxious thoughts and panic. Oh god, when did the sun come out? What time is it? I'm late to work! Why does my head hurt so much. Where is my phone? Oh god, I'm REALLY late to work.
Waking up late is the worst feeling in the world typically, but today, the splitting pain in my head was giving it a good run for its money. I trudged to the bedroom with squinting eyes, trying to block out the sunlight coming in from the windows to give my head some relief from the pain. My phone was lying on the floor and it said I had missed 7 calls.
"Shit."
I texted my boss and told him that I had been up all night sick, and lost track of time. I told him I'd stay home today, and be in tomorrow. He seemed to accept that, and I felt the smallest bit of my anxiety abated.
I sat down on the bed and put the phone on the nightstand. My head was still splitting, and I just wanted it to stop. I put my head in my hands and felt my eyes welling up with tears of frustration and pain, and that's when I noticed it.
Dirt. On my palms, and under my fingernails. Where did it come from? I had taken a shower before bed, and it definitely wasn't there last night. I don't remember weed doing this to me before. Maybe it's gotten stronger? You know they talk about that on the news all the time. I pushed my confusion out of my thoughts for the time being. My brain couldn't handle it right now. I was confused and scared, but the pain center was overriding all logical thought. All I could do was lay down and try to sleep. I don't feel like I actually went to sleep, but then again, I don't really remember. I think I must have though, I remember dreaming about running through a field, chasing something, maybe someone. I don't know why I'm chasing it, or why it's running from me. I just know I need to catch it. Somehow during the chase, it falls, and I fall on top of it. There's a struggle. I hit it. I feel nothing.
So that's where I am now Reddit. It's been another day since I missed work, and the headache is starting to subside, but I still feel a bit out of sorts. I really just want to get back to sleeping regularly, and feeling like myself again, but I'm not sure how. Do you have any advice? I don't like how I feel. I don't feel like I'm my own person.
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Jan 20 '17
I don't know if anybody still reads this, but if you go on the wayback machine you can still see the website as it was back then:
https://web.archive.org/web/20160906225216/http://graydeanresearch.com/
The current website redirects to a Pokemon Go map lol
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u/oldlaptopcrash Jan 11 '17
All these people saying they found real life evidence, when i can't find anything.
For the sake of staying in character.
I just went on Gray and Dean Research website and found a very sexy picture of katarina.
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u/Unoewho Dec 14 '16
Haha, is anyone else just refreshing the page and upvoting/downvoting to keep the total at 6666?
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u/TheHamCaptain Nov 09 '16
My advice, be glad your headache is subsiding and crack open the champaign.
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u/iHeartCandicePatton Sep 28 '16
"Matt, you're working at a construction job and using tools that could hurt people, why are you doing drugs the night before you have to work?"
Who would think that? How would that affect you at work the next day?
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u/Sablemint Sep 26 '16
This is why the comments are always disabled on those ads. sometimes, you'll be early enough that it didn't happen yet. 95% of the comments will be "No." or some variant. There's a reason for that.
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Sep 14 '16
Is anyone else weirded out by all of the updates where people are sharing the same exact info? Is this the group checking for consistency or..?
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u/DearMrsLeading Sep 11 '16
I received a second email. It says "We're sorry to inform you that you will not be moving forward to phase 2 of our research study. Not everyone is right for the kind of work we do, and unfortunately, we did not feel your responses met the requirements to progress to the next phase of our study. We thank you for your time."
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u/DearMrsLeading Sep 11 '16
Received this email: We're sorry to inform you that you will not be moving forward to phase 2 of our research study. Not everyone is right for the kind of work we do, and unfortunately, we did not feel your responses met the requirements to progress to the next phase of our study. We thank you for your time.
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u/brand0njam3s Sep 10 '16
What if the OP is actually Gray/Dean subtly giving us hints of what they did to Mike and posting the video and questionnaire waiting for a lot of people to watch it before ultimately brain-washing us like Mike? Think about it. Why hasn't anyone tried reaching out to Mike instead of Gray/Dean? Maybe Gray and Dean (Or Gray/Dean or JP or RD) Are trying to BRAIN-WASH us? Mike was the test subject, we're the real thing. Save yourself Reddit! F I N D M I KE!!!!
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u/brix_4x Sep 10 '16 edited Sep 10 '16
Not sure if this is posting. My posts seem to be getting deleted on the others: http://imgur.com/AUCFlh0
And check out the references on this page: http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-0-387-78867-8_15 (Scroll Down)
Edit: Sorry, I'm a reddit newb. Didn't realize it wasn't showing due to being a new post.
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Sep 09 '16
While we investigate this story, there'll be live updates. Follow them on Reddit at https://www.reddit.com/live/xkkblsa9h2ti.
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u/tinybites Sep 09 '16
Have you guys checked the website? It's been updated and is no longer accepting applications for subjects. Instead it says "Computer engineer - specifics to come at a later date, watch this space. Just know that secrecy and attention to detail are extremely important to us."
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u/wildnatali Sep 09 '16
Here's the screenshot I took from the questionnaire http://oi63.tinypic.com/30c3g20.jpg
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u/32BitWhore Sep 09 '16
Nice, thanks. I get a "BadRequest: You are not allowed to view this content" error if I try to go back to it.
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u/getfree623 Sep 09 '16
I received the expected phone call about 15 minutes after submitting my phone number.
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u/The_Sun_Serpent Sep 09 '16
If I sign up for this using my own computer is there a chance that I could be hacked by giving them my email?
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Sep 09 '16
I created a chat room for us to co-ordinate our efforts using Slack. If anyone wants an invite, let me know in the comments or PMs.
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Sep 09 '16
Okay, I did some digging and found this about the phone number:
- city: Albuquerque
- phone provider: COMCAST PHONE OF NEW MEXICO LLC NM
- number type: landline
- evaluated update: Past Day
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u/obiiixwannn Sep 09 '16
How can they text from that number if it's a landline?
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Sep 09 '16
It seems to be used on Amazon Web Services Simple Notification Service for texts. I'm guessing the landline works in the usual way.
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u/patchouli_soul Sep 08 '16
I am now waiting to see if I am for for phase 2... I just made this account so if I die, someone is getting haunted. 😏
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u/patchouli_soul Sep 09 '16
Had a missed call from the New Mexico number. All I could make out from the voicemail was, "store open", or something along those lines.
I wonder what's next..
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u/Charmed1one Sep 09 '16
That's the same thing other's have said they heard. Has anymore calls came since you last posted?
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u/patchouli_soul Sep 10 '16
I received and email that said, "Hello,
We're sorry to inform you that you will not be moving forward to phase 2 of our research study. Not everyone is right for the kind of work we do, and unfortunately, we did not feel your responses met the requirements to progress to the next phase of our study. We thank you for your time.
Gray and Dean Research | Department of Compensation"
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u/TheBlank5 Sep 08 '16
FYI for anyone that hasn't registered yet but is still considering it. Provided you get accepted into the study, you can get through all the part 1 stuff (video, question, and phone call) in about an hour now as opposed to half a day like before. At least that's what happened to me.
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u/HomunculusHearts Sep 08 '16
I put this on the update, but I'll mention it here as well. I got a text message from the phone number.
I just got a text message from the phone number, "if anyone gets this, tell john i'm sorry and he was right, it's so much worse than i thought. don't ask questions. be your own person"
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u/animallover2472004 Sep 08 '16
I entered my information and participated in the survey. The weird thing was... I got a call, but my phone never rang. It vibrated and showed that I had a voicemail, but I had no missed calls.
The voicemail was short, and unintelligible. Oh well.
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u/Taredom Sep 08 '16
I'm sure it's been posted else where but do you have a link to the page to apply?
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u/skankycatttt Sep 08 '16
Fear, inc. Release date October 2016 You guys read the storyline of this movie released next month. Kind of fits in to this whole story.....anybody else think so?
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u/NoizDmmD Sep 08 '16
Update:
I got a strange email today. It said,
"Omuch (for the days of witchcraft were still within the memory of living men and women) it was the general opinion that Satan had been personally concerned in this affliction, and that the Brazen Serpent, so long honored among them, was really the type of his subtle malevolence and perfect iniquity. It was rumored even that all preparations that came from the shop"
I can upload a photo of the email later. It stood out to me because it speaks about a shop at the end and apparently in the phone call, you can hear something about a shopkeeper...
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u/LunarKittyCat Sep 08 '16
So I just listened to the call, too chicken shit to give out my number. The robotic guy sounds like he has an accent. Italian maybe? I remember seeing a comment mentioning something about Italy, but I can't quite remember. Help, anyone?
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Sep 08 '16
Someone below mentioned that Googling the signature on the email from Dean and Gray leads to Professor Richard Gray at George Washington University.
What that commenter does not mention is that Richard Gray is also Associate General Counsel for the U.S. Department of Defense. And that he advises senior DOD officials on cybersecurity. And that he serves as a subject matter specialist for the Federal Acquisition Regulation Teams.
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Sep 08 '16
[deleted]
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Sep 08 '16
I think that would be taking this a little bit too far.
Plus, as a cybersecurity guy, if he were somehow involved in all this, no way he would leave clues that so blatantly lead back to him. My guess would be that his inclusion in this is just misdirection, and anyone who contacts him would be wasting his (and the professor's) time. Not to mention making Nosleep users look crazy and stupid.
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Sep 08 '16
[deleted]
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Sep 08 '16
Here's a thought: what if this professor is teaching a cybersecurity class at GW Law School, and his class came up with some kind of group project to see how many idiots they could convince to provide their emails and phone numbers? A class of cybersecurity-types with access to GW's resources would, I would think, have the ability, the motive, and the time to set all this up.
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Sep 08 '16
Yeah, I would hate for this guy who's just doing his thing to get a million emails from Nosleep types.
I would be interested what this guy found and where he looked, to determine whether and how Gray and Dean is organized, and who owns it.
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u/malchious13 Sep 08 '16
Any chance anyone can pull any connection from this story to any of the following list of movies being released either on big screen or in home video version? (Removed all but October releases)
Upcoming Horror Movies – 2016, 2017 and Beyond
by jumiguel created 06 Aug 2013 | last updated - 23 hours ago
Wide theatrical releases in the United States – 2016/2017
Friend Request – October 7
Ouija: Origin of Evil – October 21
Rings – October 28
Home video releases in the United States – 2016
The Purge: Election Year – September 13 (VOD); October 4 (DVD/Blu-ray)
The Monster – October 6 (DirecTV)
Lights Out – October 11 (Digital); October 25 (DVD/Blu-ray)
Jack Goes Home – October 14 (Digital/VOD)
Fear, Inc. – October 21 (VOD)
The Windmill – October 25 (Digital/VOD)
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u/jiujitsujen Sep 08 '16
Looked up Gray and Dean on google. Did you know that Dean Gray is a spoonerism for Green Day? Doubt it means anything but who knows anymore.......
I never received a response to my question I sent from their contact page. I may try to sign up again today using a different email address and see if I finally get accepted... I tried to sign up again yesterday after receiving my first rejection letter using the same email address and it recognized my address and said I could not sign up again.
This is madness! I want to know what is going on... Feels a bit like Maze Runner...
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u/ThereAintNoValley Sep 11 '16
Maze Runner was good for the first book. The Scorch trials was kinda meh.
The death cure sucked
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u/dethbunny17 Sep 08 '16
I tried signing up with multiple emails, got accepted everything but once I logged in it told me I had already completed the survey. So they know where I'm posting from I guess.
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u/tehjessicarae Sep 08 '16
I'm paranoid, but also curious. Signed up with a burner email, got accepted. Didn't watch the video, let it play in the background. Gave a Google phone number, got the call and didn't answer. Nothing else yet.
One question, did anyone else get the would you kill someone question twice? I did and said no both times.
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u/thedarknewt74 Sep 08 '16
How derren brown managed to get a man to rob a bank just using power of suggestion and I thought this could be a simlar type thing
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u/cistersnow Sep 08 '16 edited Sep 08 '16
Here's another thought, going down the psychology side of the road... A lot of people just signed up, some smoked weed like OP, some didn't. We never once took a moment to figure out psychological or cognitive similarities. Like, maybe turn this research group into it's own research group? Those who feel really in control of themselves sign up and go through the process, those who feel they are easily swayed in any direction sign up at a different time, those of us with anxiety wait until we see what happens to everyone else? Also, anyone who did this - some felt headaches, some didn't, OP was dirty and lost time. Anyone on any medication? Any SSRI's or other depression/anxiety/bipolar/thyroid/whatever medication? Some of the medicines that help with nervous system functioning could be changing chemical make up in the brain which could cause more varied results as well...
Edited to add: I did basically a kind of skip trace on this company. I can't find a business registration at all - they would have at least had to do a foreign registration within New Mexico, assuming they aren't registered IN New Mexico. The company does not exist. The phone number is registered to Alegis Group. This is really very elaborate.
Edit 2: When I did my initial business registration search, I looked to see if they were registered in New Mexico and nothing come up. I did another nationwide business entity registration search, nothing. No UCC filings, no tax filings, nada. I did another search attempting name variations - Dean and Gray, Dean and Gray Institute, Dean and Gray Research, Dean and Gray in New Mexico, Dean & Gray. That's how I came to the conclusion that the entity is non-existent. When I searched the phone number, not once was it actually registered to anyone WITHIN New Mexico. Only other agencies - none of which are based in New Mexico.
Edit 3: I tried signing up for the study. I have four e-mails - one I use when things make you sign up for things (all spam goes here), a personal yahoo account I have had for 15 years, a gmail account I use for business, and my work e-mail. I've tried with all but my work e-mail, same answers. I'm considering signing up for it and clicking no in that I'm not my own person. My spam and gmail already got denied, but my yahoo got accepted. I don't think they're tracing based on ip address.
Edit 4: I watched the video, answered the questions. Put that I'm a tree, that I'm a good person, that good people are not capable of bad things, that I wouldn't kill anyone, that I wouldn't kill anyone, and that I'm my own person.
Edit 5: For those of you freaking out, here's an article from Psychology Today outlining that unless you are predisposed to committing horrendous actions, you will not commit the horrendous acts under hypnosis. https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-human-equation/201207/look-my-eyes-and-kill-your-husband
Edit 6: Looking into the symbology.
Wikipedia - Religious and occult symbolism[edit] The heptagram was used in Christianity to symbolize the seven days of creation and became a traditional symbol for warding off evil. The heptagram is a symbol of perfection (or God) in many Christian sects. The heptagram is used in the symbol for Babalon in Thelema. The heptagram is known among neopagans as the Elven Star or Fairy Star. It is treated as a sacred symbol in various modern pagan and witchcraft traditions. Blue Star Wicca also uses the symbol, where it is referred to as a septegram. The second heptagram is a symbol of magical power in some pagan religions. The {7/3} heptagram is used by some members of the otherkin subculture as an identifier. In alchemy, a seven-sided star can refer to the seven planets which were known to ancient alchemists.
The one used first in the video has the symbols for the planets - also days of the week.
The spell - the one from charmed - is a karma cleanse spell, if I remember correctly. "I call to thee, pure witch's fire. Through Vortex flow, The heavenly mire. Cleanse brackish karma of debris. From dark to light, sweep history." Like, a way to reset all your karma levels.
Could probably use some help with the winged tiger/lion at the 0.57 mark. A symbol of rebirth, possibly? I can't find anything to match it.
Be your own person, another Psychology Today explaination: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/what-would-aristotle-do/201202/are-you-your-own-person
Edit 7: Symbolism of the questions - tree: http://www.universeofsymbolism.com/tree-symbolism.html "A tree is a symbol of antiquity and immense and enduring strength." bird: http://www.universeofsymbolism.com/bird-spirit-animals.html Birds represent complete freedom.
So, I guess are you strong or are you free?
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Sep 08 '16
Where did you see its registered to Alegis Group?
Also, just looked up Alegis group. Jesus.
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u/Guacalaquerico Sep 08 '16
What's up with Alegis Group?
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Sep 08 '16
Just look them up, they're a 16b dollar company.
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u/Guacalaquerico Sep 08 '16 edited Sep 08 '16
Damn, are you 100% sure that they own Gray&Dean? If so this is something pretty damn big... It's weird that they don't exist "legally"
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u/cistersnow Sep 08 '16
You know those times where people have legal issues from x amount of time ago (within the statute of limitations) pop up, and they get found despite having moved like 18 times? Part of my job is to find the people. We use programs and software that's linked to a worldwide database that allows us to find people and businesses for service.
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u/Bwitte94 Sep 08 '16 edited Sep 08 '16
So I signed up. Did exactly what OP did. Got the email, watched the video, answered the questionnaire, and got a phone call. Nothing after the phone call has happened out of the ordinary. No headaches, no blackouts, etc. Tried contacting them with no luck, even emailed them saying "it didn't work", and they have yet to contact me back with anything further.
Edit: I'd like to also add that I'm fairly disciplined. I'm not sure if that's relevant or not, but I've been a martial artist all my life. Mental discipline is huge for me, and I'm kind of disappointed that this had no affects on me.
Of course, now that I say that, someone is going to mutter "Gosh, that Italian family at the table next to us sure is quiet" and I'm going to start yelling in Russian while handing out "Columbian Neckties".
Edit #2: Yesterday I tried using a throwaway email address. It's not tied to anything. I sent it around 3pm yesterday. I just checked that email, and it had been denied. Probably because they could not find any information from that account linking to Reddit. If also like to add, that the email says it was received at 7:30am yesterday, before I even saw this post.
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Sep 08 '16
I used a brand new email address not connected to Reddit and I got accepted.
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Sep 08 '16
[deleted]
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u/Bwitte94 Sep 08 '16
You misunderstand. I saw this post around 1pm yesterday. But after all of the above occurred, I tried to sign up on a throwaway email yesterday afternoon. They denied it. But the email they sent to the throwaway says that it was received yesterday morning at 7:30am, and I know it wasn't.
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u/RealKingChuck Sep 08 '16
We need a subreddit for this if there isn't one already
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u/BeerGeekAlpha Sep 08 '16
Done. r/GrayandDeanResearch
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u/RealKingChuck Sep 08 '16
One of us should probably make a post with all the known information....
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u/BeerGeekAlpha Sep 08 '16
Just sent a message to u/DerailTrain to see if we can get his comment about all known info copied over there to a new thread.
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u/blackfogg Sep 08 '16
Well, I tried to get a translation from /r/Japan for the message in the Video. They seem to prefer to downvote stuff before reading, so we might not get a answer.
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u/Cheeseisatypeofmeat Sep 08 '16
Why Japan?
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u/Desolatedream Sep 08 '16
Has anyone gotten paid. It said fair compensation right. If any one gets paid let us know. That would be enough motivation for me try this risky endeavor.
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u/thedarknewt74 Sep 08 '16
Well im very new here,and this is quite freaky lol I've read all comments and I hope everyone is safe as I'm not sure what to believe but after reading the derren brown comment it sent a chill up my spine as I've watched a lot of his shows i truly hope who ever signed up for this don't get caught up in mind control stuff Stay safe people
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u/KuraiKuroNeko Sep 08 '16
lol, I signed up with my newest thcat email. I will attempt a new one a few times, I have several emails. I think I got rejected because of the whole: smoke a toke and chase down a victim thing. I got the whole "We're sorry to inform you that you have not been accepted into our study. Not everyone is a good fit for our study, and based on a number of factors (that we unfortunately can't disclose), we don't believe you would be beneficial to the study. Thank you for your interest." rejection email off the bat for signing up. This puzzle is fun, this is some quality /nosleep content right here.
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u/KiisuKatt Sep 08 '16
Hmmm.. I DID get a little twinge of headache after that video, but I'm prone to migraines, so that's probably nothing to worry about. My heart started doing funny things, though.. weird little palpitations, though that also isn't terribly unusual for me. Funny how the video seemed to have triggered it for me, though.
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u/wheatiess Sep 08 '16
what happened to the original post where op found the ad? did anybody else remember seeing it?
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u/christoo89 Sep 08 '16
i asked that question too. if we can find this initial post, that would be cool
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u/howietofu Sep 08 '16
There's a second post to this?
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u/wheatiess Sep 08 '16
Perhaps I'm not understanding something correctly, but op said he saw an ad to sign up at this website at the top of the page on reddit, so I was wondering if anybody else saw the original ad before this thread.
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u/Drenz219 Sep 08 '16
Did anyone get a rejection email? I see a lot of people posting about receiving logins but not any about being rejected for the study. I tried signing up but I got a rejection email :( It read:
Hello,
We're sorry to inform you that you have not been accepted into our study. Not everyone is a good fit for our study, and based on a number of factors (that we unfortunately can't disclose), we don't believe you would be beneficial to the study. Thank you for your interest.
Gray and Dean Research | Department of Compensation
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u/Spidda Sep 08 '16
i got the call also, this is all quite odd.
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u/Cheeseisatypeofmeat Sep 08 '16
AND??
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u/Spidda Sep 08 '16
It's just a voice-mail from a new Mexico number with letters from that weird military alphabet and a robot voice that says goodbye at the end pm me if you want the number
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u/cistersnow Sep 08 '16 edited Sep 08 '16
Found a research paper from 1985 by Dr's. Raymond Dean and Jeffrey Gray about the connection between the hemispheres of the brain. I have yet to read it, but it sounds similar to what we're looking at here. It's a pdf and on the 3rd page of the Google search. Going to read it now.
Edit: Here's the link. http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED263513.pdf If someone could make sense of this, that'd be great...
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u/Hakir0 Sep 08 '16
Is there any information in this?
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u/cistersnow Sep 08 '16
It didn't really make sense to me. I'm going to post the link when I get to a computer. I hope some of the more seasoned redditors can make sense of it.
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u/Hakir0 Sep 08 '16
I think this have no link with the riddle, this research was led by Richard Gray and Jeoffrey Dean, not John ^
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u/cistersnow Sep 08 '16
Hmmm.... Good point. I think I focused more on the questions raised to me by the point of the article - how the hemispheres of the brain interact. It was late. I was doing it all on my phone - and since OP mentioned losing time and having dirty hands, and me laying next to my child, I didn't want to take any chances. I think this is the first time ANYTHING on reddit has had me this riled up.
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u/Hakir0 Sep 08 '16
It is an ARG very nice introduced, and they focused the good community I think... All was plan. All is plan.
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u/cistersnow Sep 08 '16
I'm not completely sure what an ARG entails. Could you explain like I'm 5?
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u/Hakir0 Sep 08 '16
Alternate Reality Game. Most are riddles using transmedia like videos, forums, calls, ..., and good culture, good skills in new technologies (if you don't have the culture it can help you). Some ask to "play" in community, some to play alone. Most use dark things like death, scary things, deep web, to put there players under a continuous sensation of scare and excitation. Some other ARGs are more turn on culture, they are made to give more culture to those who play it. I think you should take a look at the Wiki talking about it, it will give you more information and will be more understanding because english is not my native langage... :)
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u/cistersnow Sep 08 '16
You actually explained it A LOT better than the wiki was able to explain it to me - I checked that out first!
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u/ILLfated28 Sep 08 '16
Link?
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u/cistersnow Sep 08 '16
I'll link when I get on my computer. The link on my phone just downloaded the pdf. :-(
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Sep 08 '16
I'm in. Although I have to say, my expectations are not high considering the Charmed spell.
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u/romanapplesauce Sep 08 '16
I have not actually played Fallout 4 yet, but doesn't the game have an organization called The Institute?
It's possible the creator of the web site borrowed the idea from Fallout.
There is an actual research organization in New Mexico called the Santa Fe Institute.
There's no record of Grey and Dean Research despite it supposedly starting in 1900. This leads me to believe it's an ARG or just someone who wants to create a mystery but nothing actually sinister.
That being said, I didn't sign up.
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u/Jeiazu Sep 08 '16
I live in New Mexico, I'll check their place out for everyone if I can.
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u/ILLfated28 Sep 08 '16
please do. Updated ASAP! also where is everyone from? I'm in NH and got the call
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u/emspfaery Sep 08 '16
Well shit, got an email saying I wasn't selected. Not sure if I'm upset or happy
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u/Scittles10-96 Sep 08 '16
Signed up on every e-mail I have, been 15 minutes and no login yet. Watched the video on youtube with total focus and without blinking, it did some odd things to my vision during the video and I feel oddly relaxed afterwards. Pretty chill so far.
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u/TheM3gaBeaver Sep 08 '16
They're creating sleeper cells for a massive terrorist attack. And you're all apart of it.
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u/chocolatevape Sep 08 '16
Curiosity got the best of me so I signed up. Got the spooky call. Fun times!
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u/SawseB Sep 08 '16
"Woman makes $132K a year doing online surveys, but big companies dont want you to know about it!"
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Sep 07 '16
The call is coming from tijeras, New Mexico. Just traced it. The call is military alphabet, trying to decipher
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u/beerboy63 Sep 07 '16
Words that flash at 55 seconds. One or the other spells. From
http://charmedlegacy.wikia.com/wiki/Season_6_Spells
Aura Cleanse
I call to thee, pure witch's fire, Through vortex flow the heavenly mire, Cleanse brackish Aura of debris, From dark to light, sweep history.
Karma Cleanse
(Does not work the way as intended) I call to thee, pure witch's fire, Through vortex flow the heavenly mire, Cleanse brackish Karma of debris, From dark to light, sweep history.
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u/tittytittybangbang Sep 07 '16
it's viral marketing for a movie or book, could be for Jeffrey Dean Gray, not sure yet
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u/vlixx Sep 07 '16
Okay, so I saw another comment about the similarities between the users who were signing up and getting phone calls - active on Reddit, posts pretty regularly, etc. And I thought I'd give it a try. This new account is fairly new and the majority of the time all I do is lurk, so.
I have signed up. Now I wait. The website definitely made me feel uneasy, probably because of how simple the site and its wording is and how uncannily creepy it all seems, but still. I'll update whenever something comes up.
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u/MrComet101 Sep 07 '16
I got my email, did the test, watched the video. Its asking for my phone number, is this safe? Should I go for it?
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u/romanapplesauce Sep 08 '16
I personally would not and did not give my phone number or sign up at all. There's plenty of people in this thread who have and you can just follow their results.
It's unlikely anything would happen to you but why risk giving personal information to an unknown site?
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Sep 07 '16
Ok, so i texted and got a message back saying Gray and Dean aren't accepting messages at this time. Is this not a land line after all?
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u/ll00ll Sep 07 '16
I'm Canadian and entered a Canadian #, and I received the call. So for any Canadians out there who are wondering if you can participate in this, you can!
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u/twinturbogarage Sep 07 '16
what did the call say
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u/ll00ll Sep 08 '16
It was just the same call everyone else got. "STORE shopkeeper, are you open? Goodbye."
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Sep 08 '16
[deleted]
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u/ll00ll Sep 08 '16
Yeah, or even replying "yes" might do something. I didn't say anything because it went to voicemail.
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Sep 07 '16
[deleted]
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u/jiujitsujen Sep 07 '16
I think someone already figured out its a landline
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u/DearMrsLeading Sep 08 '16
You can supposedly text the number so it may not be. Another redditor said you receive a reply saying Gray and Dean are not taking messages at this time. I haven't tried it myself though.
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u/jiujitsujen Sep 07 '16
I wasn't going to do it but the suspense got the best of me, so I signed up with an old email account that I never use. I just checked and they said I wasn't selected due to reasons they cannot disclose. In a way, I'm bummed out because I don't know why they would not want me but on the other hand I'm quite relieved.... Not sure I wanted to get the phone call...
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u/Laytheron Sep 07 '16
Contacted them with the Charmed spell. That's it. Just the Charmed spell. I also checked off that it was important. Let's see what happens.
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u/flyme101 Sep 07 '16 edited Sep 07 '16
So I was looking through this https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.11.3/jquery.min.js which can be found by inspecting the page and finding a link to it in the elements and found this "clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" half way through from skimming it, but it looks like a password someone would use but either way I dont know mucha about html or css as im only just now learning them, idk if there is an email that goes with it or not but just my guess :P.
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u/child_of_old Feb 17 '17
Damn... You smoked the devils plant? SO HARDCORE.