I witnessed a conspiracy unfold

27  2013-09-15 by [deleted]

I've been carrying this burden for a very long time. I'll try to keep this brief.

Late October 1996, I often drew, wrote and read late at night and for background noise I would watch a news program that would basically play over and over and over, the same show all night long. One night, something happened: it changed. It was probably 3 or 4 in the morning, the stories changed (The wording, the words they stressed, with one addition: school kids discovered mutating frogs), this never happened. At the end of the show, a screen came up and read something to the affect of "Information has been released by court order in the case against the CIA and it's dealings of crack cocaine in the US. This information will appear in regularly written articles in your local paper tomorrow." The last bit, I'm tempted to omit, was a man screaming shaking his head, then it went black. A few seconds later, the original news cast that should have been repeated, started again.

Obviously, I was the only asshole that keeps that show on loop and the only asshole that saw the notice and the only asshole who could tell something was very different on TV the next day.

I tried to tell others, tried to find the info in the papers, but didn't know what I was supposed to be looking for and didn't really know much about that kind of thing anyway, so I didn't find anything but the LBJ/Kennedy bit.

Here's the reply posted elsewhere:

Late 1996 every newspaper released de-classified information "encoded" throughout. Had something with the CIA selling drugs (crack) in inner city neighborhoods. The obituaries in the SF Chronicle listed a gun shop owner who died who had sold rifles to two secret service agents sent by LBJ. Source: not the original obit, but still. Another source, compare them

Media outlets were also aware, David Letterman, referred to it, his mood was dismal, at the end of the show the guy with the sandwich shop came on and asked that people view a particular page on a website. I had no internet at the time, but I'm certain it contained more info or leads to discover some of the info released.

I've never been able to find this information again, but then again, I haven't put a lot of effort in it as the discovery and exposure of it to others lead to troubling events I'd rather not have to endure again.

edit: de-classified

edit 2: You might want to read about the journalist who broke the initial stories.

edit 3: search newspapers around October 17th 1996, the info is intertwined in normal stories, but still stands out as odd.

NY Times October 17th, 1996 archive

CIA Director at the time, read the part about his career

Weird. Someone reposted this to pastebin.

TL;DR: de-classified CIA documents were released to the public in late 1996. No one knows it happened.

6 comments

17  Three_Letter_Agency 2013-09-15

Yup, I've done a lot of research on Gary Webb and the Dark Alliance series. The CIA helped the Contras sell cocaine in the United States to finance their insurgency in Nicaragua. The NYT, Washington Post, LA Times, all slandered Webb relentlessly. Once it was eventually proven that it was true, they simply stopped discussing it.

Webb died in 04 I think, from 2 gunshots to the head, ruled a suicide.

Thanks for sharing your story.

Edit: Here is Gary Webbs Dark Alliance story

10  tbow2000 2013-09-15

He probably wanted to make sure he died from a suicide so he shot himself twice in the head, you know, just to be sure in case the first shot didn't do it.

5  mortalwind 2013-09-15

Wow that read like short horror story, especially the man screaming and shaking his head. Very interesting. One time I was trapped in Huston International for 24 + hours and was sitting in a empty terminal early in the morning watching CNN when a story about an airplane crash somewhere overseas came on no sooner then the words airline crash were said the the screen went to a picture of kite floating in clear blue sky with the words " We will be right back" I had heard airlines censored the news, but it left me with a distinctly eerie feeling.

3  [deleted] 2013-09-15

[deleted]

3  baenre 2013-09-15

Ever considered turning this into a book? I'm not sure the original material is enough for a book, maybe if you went into a little more detail about your initial reaction and the subsequent search for a meaning to it all. In any case, the whole thing is a great book idea in the making. From what I've read on the original post I'd say you're not bad with words either.

2  Bacore 2013-09-15

Back in the day I was watching CNN when it had reporters stationed all over the world doing actual reporting from real locations, not their parking lots when the news of Jessica Lynch's (female soldier captured in Iraq) rescue came on in a news bulletin.... they explained she was found sobbing and a mess, totally understandable.... but within the hour, the story had changed to the white wash it is today. And I may have done the same thing, both crying AND changing the story to protect her BUT it was then that I knew our "news" was really doctored info.

just saying....

-6  cccpcharm 2013-09-15

snowy downs had replaced the dew lit morning, the sun, now low in the sky cast long shadows over the near lit bramble and cranberry bogs I had roamed as a child. The smell of the cool damp leaves were like keys to the locks that held the memories of my childhood behind doors barricaded by the years of resentment....

of, shit, sorry, thought this was creative writing 101, wrong class, sorry