LYS Podcast Episode 10

-Intro-

**Amanda Morrison**
Voiceover (AM V/O): **Welcome back to the Leap Year Society. Before we move**
forward with the story, I’m going to take a few minutes to briefly catch you up
on what happened in our last episode. So, first things first: let’s talk about
the video. I’m sure if you’re following everything happening surrounding the
world of this podcast that you’ve seen it by now. If not, you can go to our
website at www.lyspodcast.com and check
it out. Near the end of the first nine episodes of these series, we planned to
have Mitch infiltrate a meeting of the Bolchester Alliance in search of
answers. What were they all about? What was there purpose or mission statement?
Were they connected to the Leap Year Society? And if so, how? Unknown to us at
the time, we were also about to infiltrate the same meeting under different
circumstances. Colin and I, in search of the strange video containing what
appeared to be the evidence of something ancient and perhaps even otherworldly,
arrived at the same address. Whatever the Bolchester Alliance was doing, it was
most likely, at least peripherally, connected to what was happening in that
video. Colin and I had been discovered just as we were about to enter the
building where the video was to be screened and we were escorted from the
Bolchester Alliance meeting and guided firmly, but gently to my car. Unbeknownst
to Mitch and I at the time, Colin had electronically intercepted and recorded
that video, which we then uploaded to a secure server online for our protection
and that is where we left you last time. So, what was on the video? Well, as I
mentioned earlier, you can watch it on our website. But the main takeaways are
these: a young woman named Amy, her friend Sienna, Jason and Amy’s brother,
Mark, are on a geocaching hunt. They find something buried beneath the final
‘cache’, the location of the prize they were looking for. Something strange and
otherworldly, featuring a kind of blue ethereal glow. We’re calling it the
“Artifact”, for lack of a better term. It appears to be some sort of
dodecahedron, which means it’s shaped like a twelve-sided roleplaying game die.
It looks like it’s made of stone, very similar in appearance to something
called the Antikythera Mechanism, an ancient computing device discovered in wreckage
in 1902. Most historians agree that the shipwreck that produced the Antikythera
Mechanism occurred sometime between 60-70 BCE. It’s believed that this ancient
computer had been designed, built and used by the Greeks around 205-87 BCE. In
the centre of the ancient device appearing in that video are additional
spherical sections, perhaps some kind of iris mechanism or something. These
inner sections appear to be made out of type of black metal or glass, maybe
obsidian or something similar. Further in, beyond the spherical sections, is
something else. Its shape and material are hard to make out, but whatever it
is, this the section of the artifact that appears to be glowing slightly blue.
The young woman who discovered the item, her friend and her bother surround her
and together, the teenagers stare intently at the strange object. The artifact
appears to be affecting the teenagers in a strange way. One of them leaves and
the others look deeper into what they’ve found. The young woman, her name is
Amy, begins experimenting with the artifact, adjusting the inner devices (the
black metal parts of the thing that look like some kind of iris or something)
and stares through the object into the blue. She appears to see something
amazing and excitedly hands the artifact to one of her friends. He stares
through it and reacts the same. He’s amazed but he goes further, slipping a
finger through the inner metal sections and briefly touching whatever it is
that’s glowing blue in the centre. And this is where something really strange
happens. As soon as he touches the blue section, he slowly fades from the world
and we hear a voice that doesn’t appear to belong to any of the kids. The
disappearing friend then flickers in and out of the world, the others scream
and react in panic, then a loud banging sound like a distant clap. And then,
the video ends. You’re listening to the Leap Year Society. I’m Amanda Morrison.
Stay with us.

*-End of Intro-*

**AM V/O:** We’ve
been looking into the teenagers that discovered the Artifact; Amy, Sienna,
Jason and Amy’s brother Mark. They haven’t done any interviews or made any
public statements about that video. We’re still waiting to hear from a contact
in Idaho about their current situation and hopefully we’ll have an update by
the end of this episode. Right now, we’re going to quickly address two of the
other videos we shared with you in our previous nine episodes.

**MITCH SORENSON:**
You want me to just start?

**AM:** Sounds good.

**MS:** Ok, so...

**AM:** Maybe a quick
refresher about what was on those two videos?

**MS:** Oh yeah, ok.
We received two video files from somebody, or somebodies, calling themselves
the Forgotten Friends of Fortune. Both videos featured some kind of
surveillance or security camera footage. One appeared to be exterior footage of
Weylen Taylor’s residence, dated September 29th, 2011, the night of
his disappearance. The other was footage from the security camera of Weylen
Taylor sitting in a bar somewhere.

**AM:** This second
video was taken after the first?

**MS:** Yeah, it’s
from December, 2017.

**AM:** So, what do
we know?

**MS:** Well, one of
us knows where that bar is located.

**AM:** I know it’s
not me!

**MS:** It’s not me
either.

**CO:** But it’s nice
to hear your voice!

**AM:** Yours too.

**CO:** Mitch?

**MS:** Right here.

**CO:** Cool. So you
want me to get right into it?

**AM:** That would be
great.

**CO:** Ok, so I
spent a lot of time going over that video footage of Weylen Taylor in the bar.
Not a very long clip.

**MS:** Yeah, maybe a
minute?

**CO:** Or a minute
and eleven seconds.

**MS:** Yeah, ok.

**CO:** Yeah, so I
tried all the tricks; zooming in, augmenting sharpness, enhancing audio.

**AM:** But…there
wasn’t any audio.

**CO:** Well, that’s
not exactly true.

**AM:** No?

**CO:** No, there was
a track of audio included in the video file, it was just very quiet and also
highly compressed and tricky to separate and enhance.

**AM:** But, you were
able to find something?

**CO:** Two things.
First, I was able to enhance the audio enough to make out a familiar sound,
especially to those living in and around the Bay area.

**MS:** What sounds?

**CO:** You want me
to play it for you?

**AM:** Sure.

*Bell sound is heard in*
the background.

**CO:** Ok, what is
it?

**AM:** It’s a
streetcar bell.

**MS:** From where?

**CO:** We’re not
there yet.

**AM:** Ok, let’s get
there. We have a lot to cover.

**CO:** Fine. So it
was the combination of the sound of the streetcar bell and something I found in
the video footage that gave us what I believe was the location of that bar.

**MS:** What else did
you find?

**CO:** A sign in the
window. It was hard to put together, but I believe I found part of the name of
the bar reflected in the front window of the place in the mirror behind the bar
between two bottles of vodka.

**MS:** Well done!

**CO:** Thanks, I’m
proud of this one.

**AM:** What’s the
place?

**CO:** I found the
letters D O C H ‘ S.

**MS:** Doch’s?

**CO:** I believe it
is Mur- doch’s pub. Murdoch’s Pub.

**AM:** What makes
you sure?

**CO:** I’m not sure,
but it’s right on the trolley line and the last five letters are right.

**AM:** How far away
is it?

**CO:** Over a
thousand miles away for me, but it’s pretty close to you.

*Sound of a computer*
mouse clicking.

**AM:** It’s about
fifteen minutes from here.

**MS:** I could use a
drink.

**AM:** Thanks Colin.

**CO:** Don’t I get a
drink?

**MS:** We’ll
Facetime.

**CO:** Really?

**MS:** No. Thanks
Colin!

**AM V/O:** So, we
drove over to Murdoch’s Pub in search of a drink for Mitch and, of course, information
about Weylen Taylor.

*-Murdoch’s Pub-*

**AM:** This is the
place.

**MS:** It looks…

**AM:** Cool?

**MS:** …old.

**AM V/O:** Murdoch’s
Pub was a place out of time; a hole in the wall with actual holes in the wall.
We didn’t get lucky that day. After convincing them that we weren’t somehow
tapping into their security system, the bartender and serving staff told us
that they didn’t recognize the man in the bar in our screen capture. They did
promise to ask the rest of the staff if they recognized him. So, back to that video-
the other video. Could that video of those teenagers finding that strange
artifact actually be real? Could it really contain proof of something
otherworldly or supernatural?

**CO:** Well, it
certainly appears to be real.

**AM:** Based on
what?

**CO:** Professional
opinion.

**AM:** Whose?

**CO:** I had video; Photoshop
and forensic evidence analyst look at it.

**AM:** Wow!

**CO:** Yeah I have
some cool friends.

**AM:** Sounds like
it.

**CO:** But, that
doesn’t mean it isn’t a fake.

**AM:** No?

**CO:** No, it just
means it’s either real or an extremely expensive and complex fake.

**AM:** That seems
unlikely, given the circumstances.

**CO:** I agree, but
you never know.

**AM:** I suppose
not.

**CO:** But there
might be other corroborating evidence.

**AM:** Like what?

**CO:** Well, since
we’re on the subject of videos featuring strange blue light, I sent you
something a few minutes ago; a link to another video file and a few pages of
research documents.

**AM:** Thanks, I’ll
take a look!

**CO:** I think you’ll
find them…compelling.

**AM V/O:** The
documents were complex notes and equations related to a 1954 study of atomic nuclei.
Not much relevant or, frankly, understandable there, but the video was…somewhat
familiar, which brings us to CERN. I’m not going to go into a deep history
lesson regarding CERN here; you can Google it if you like. In brief, CERN is a
European research organization that operates the biggest and most powerful
particle physics laboratory in the world. The first particle accelerator at
CERN didn’t officially begin operating until 1957, but they were still
performing some complex experimentation. Rumour has it, that there may have
been a precursor to the larger collider, something smaller and a bit more
experimental. The video was brief; it featured a scientist in a white lab coat
standing in front of a circular device about 5 feet in diameter. It was filmed
in what appeared to be Technicolour, which would have been cutting edge film
technology at the time. The scientist checks some numbers on a small plastic
device of some kind. There are lots of tiny numbers and he moves parts of the
plastic device to reveal some kind of complex calculation. Then he presses a
few buttons on some kind of archaic computer system and waits. There’s a deep
roaring sound and then a few seconds later he opens a small door on the side of
the large, circular container, kneels down and peers into it. At this point,
there’s a flash of familiar blue light. The scientist appears to become
slightly transparent and then there’s a banging and whoever was recording drops
the camera. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

**AM:** So, who is
this guy?

**MS:** Pierre Lacroix
was a researcher and project assistant at CERN in 1954.

**AM:** Sounds good.
Let’s call him.

*-Phone ringing-*

**PIERRE LACROIX (PL):**
*In a heavy French accent* Hello?

**MS:** Hello, Dr.
Lacroix?

**PL:** Oui?

**MS:** I’m here with
Amanda Morrison; she’s the host and producer of this podcast.

**PL:** It’s a
pleasure to meet you.

**AM:** Likewise.

**MS:** If you could
just tell Amanda what you told me over the phone?

**PL:** Certainly.
Well, your friend, Michelle, sent me a copy of a video of some kids who found
an object buried in the ground.

**AM:** Right.

**PL:** I told her
that I believe it’s fairly similar to what happened at CERN and that you should
send that video to Dr. Joan Danler immediately.

**AM:** Can we do
that?

**MS:** We’re trying
to locate Dr. Danler.

**PL:** I believe she
still has most of the research documents related to those experiments.

**AM:** What exactly
were those experiments? What were you trying to do? *Silence….* Dr. Lacroix?

**PL:** We were
trying to contact the other side.

**AM V/O:** They were
trying to contact the other side. I asked him to expand on what that meant, but
he didn’t have an answer. He wasn’t willing to name whatever it was, whatever
they were looking for. Only that they believed that there was some kind of
split or rift in space time, but seeing that old film clip and speaking to Dr. Lacroix
forced us to look at that video of those teenagers in a whole new light. What
if it really was real? We continue to try and contact Dr. Joan Danler. Dr.
Danler was one of Dr. Lacroix’s students. It looks like she retired from public
life around 2002. We’re going to keep looking, but so far we’ve been unable to
locate any information on Dr. Danler’s whereabouts. We will, of course, continue
to look into Dr. Danler and anything and everything connected to that video.
Concurrent to that investigation, we’ll also continue to dig into the
Bolchester Alliance. As of right now, we’ve been unable to find much of
anything on Nancy Robins, the woman whose name had been mysteriously removed
from the Bolchester Alliances website right around the time we began looking
into that group. We have a few people helping us continue our digging into that
organization. If we find anything at all, we will of course share it with you
on this podcast. Which brings us back to something that was central to our
first nine episodes; or perhaps more accurately someone who was central to our
first nine episodes; Patient 81. We have a few remaining audio files from that
original collection of audio featuring Patient 81. We’re going to play one of
those files for you now but first; a brief refresher. This audio is from the
last recording we played for you.

*-Recording-*

**WEYLEN TAYLOR (WT):**
Would you be willing to talk about your visitor?

**PATIENT 81 (81):**
Which one?

**WT:** The woman who
came to see you today.

**81:** What would
you like to know, Dr. Taylor?

**WT:** What did she
talk about?

**81:** She didn’t
tell you?

**WT:** She was only
willing to speak with you, I’m afraid.

**81:** Are you?

**WT:** Am I what?

**81:** Afraid?

**WT:** No. Do you
believe I have a reason to be afraid?

**81:** Maybe.

**WT:** And why is
that?

**81:** Because there
is something in here with me.

**WT:** What do you
mean? I can’t see anything. It’s a small room. I can see it all, every corner.
All I can see is you, I’m afraid.

**81:** Well, you
see, that’s precisely the problem.

**WT:** What do you
mean, what’s the problem?

**81:** You’re
looking in the wrong place.

**WT:** What are you
talking about?

**81:** The thing
that I’m talking about…

**WT:** Yes?

**81:** …is inside my
head.

**AM V/O:** And now
the next recording.

*-Recording-*

**81:** Good morning,
Dr.

**WT:** Good morning.
How are you feeling?

**81:** Tired. Very
tired.

**WT:** I can
understand, looks like you had quite a night.

**81:** It wasn’t me.

**WT:** No?

**81:** No.

**WT:** Well then.
Can you tell me who it was that covered the walls in these…symbols?

**81:** I don’t
remember.

**WT:** You don’t
remember? Or you don’t want to remember. I believe you remember everything.

**81:** Please. I
just want to go home.

**WT:** Ok. You’d
like me to suspend your treatment? Is that what you’re saying?

**81:** I don’t know.

**WT:** We’re working
to make you well again. You do understand that, don’t you? Well?

**81:** I think so.

**WT:** Could you
tell me again about the woman about the woman who told you about the…other
side? Please.

**81:** She told me
she’s coming back. She’s going to help me, to show me things.

**WT:** And you
believed her?

**81:** Yes, I do.

**WT:** And why is
that?

**81:** Because she’s
here.

**WT:** What do you
mean?

**81:** I mean she’s
outside the door, Dr. Aren’t you going to let her in?

**WT:** What are you
talking about?

*There is a knock on*
the door.

**81:** It’s time,
Dr. Taylor.

**AM V/O:** We’ll
have more from those Patient 81 recordings soon, but now we’re going to update
you on somebody else we met over the first nine episodes; Lane Kelly, the man
in the coma. A coma that may have been self-induced. Lake Kelly is the owner of
Silver Cord Road, a blog about conspiracy and the supernatural. Although Kelly’s
research is generally tied directly to scientific studies and experiments, most
everything he looks into has been studied in scientific environments and most
have been double blind peer reviewed, he appears to have little motivation in
the arena of self-promotion and consequently, not a large readership, although
the readers he dos have tend to be loyal and quite active on his site. Lane
Kelly referenced the term “stepping” that we’ve heard mentioned a few times on
this podcast in connection with both Lane Kelly and Dr. Weylen Taylor. Mitch is
going to read another section from Lane Kelly’s diary for you now. His blog,
you’ll remember, is titled “The Silver Cord Research Project”.

*-Diary entry-*

**MS:** They’re still
following me. I can feel them around every corner. I’m convinced it has
something to do with the voices I heard last time. The voices from the other
side. I’ve decided to continue the project. I’m too close now to give up. I’ve
been researching a number of ways to go deeper and based on some initial testing
I believe pentobarbital is going to be the most affective agent. The term “stepping”
continues to appear in my research. I believe the most likely scenario is that
stepping might be a way of becoming a kind of passenger in another’s
consciousness. I’ve begun working with a test subject, a subject I’m calling
Venus. Venus is going to attempt to find the “in-between place” to see if there
might be a way to enter it, to perhaps even discover my consciousness there,
once I cross the threshold. Tomorrow we are going to take the first step.

**AM V/O:** So, Lane
Kelly was working with a test subject he called Venus. We’re looking through
everything we have on Kelly to try and find more on Venus. We’ll update you if
and when we know more. Colin found something interesting regarding Pierre
Lacroix, the research assistant from CERN, the man we spoke with earlier in
this episode.

**CO:** Something
happened at CERN in 1954.

**AM:** What?

**CO:** Two
scientists died.

**AM:** What
happened?

**CO:** They were
involved in a controversial research project; something that hadn’t been
approved or, as it turns out, insured.

**AM:** Wow.

**CO:** There’s more.

**AM:** What?

**CO:** Pierre
Lacroix was involved.

**AM:** How involved?

**CO:** He was one of
only two people left alive who participated in that project. He and another
scientist, Colleen Danler, were fired for gross negligence.

**AM V/O:** Right
after Colin broke that news, Mitch called with some more. The geocaching
teenage girl and her friends who discovered that artifact had been reported
missing.

*-Outro-*