Erie Photo

The **Erie Photo** is a mysterious photo depicting the Free States watching the film “*Fred*”

# Background

The Erie Photo is a picture taken on Breakfast’s phone. The picture depicts Gray Menace, Cranberry Coyote, Cheems, and Breakfast Break all watching Fred with their backs turned to the camera, unaware of the photo being taken.

The mystery behind the photo comes with the lack of claim over who had taken the photo. After the photograph was discovered months later, rumors circulated pertaining to the origins of the photo, from conspiracies as light as one of the attendants taking a timed photograph all the way to the extremes of potential alien abduction.

## The Prank Theory

the Prank Theory is the simplest attempt at an explanation for the origins of the photo. The theory dictates that one of the attendants of Free States Fest 2021 set the camera up on a timed frequency to take the photo and appear as if a mysterious 5th individual had taken the photo as to cause a fear factor in the other Free States members for comical value.

If the Prank Theory is to be true, then it means one of the participants had to be the planner of the prank. Gray and Cranberry were both too heavily intoxicated to of hatched such a plan Cheems is both too dull and too impatient to of done such actions, as the plan wasn’t revealed until Breakfast found it shortly before Boston, nearly a year later, and Cheems failed to break or show his normal signs of lying, even after continual and prolonged interrogation. Therefore, the only apparent culprit is Breakfast.

The theory dictates that Breakfast was the one to of taken the photo, as it was his phone and he was possibly sober at the time of taking the photo. However, under closer analysis, this theory begins to fall apart. Not only does Breakfast claim it wasn’t him, but the circumstances also appear bizarre if he was the planner of the prank.

As for why Breakfast perhaps was not the taker of the photo comes up in the placement of the phone. The the taking of the picture does not add up with the conventional theory of a timed photograph, as the camera is placed in the corner of the Erie AirBnB, standing either on or next to the bannister leading to the kitchen area and upstairs. The issue is, there is no apparent way of setting up a camera in the spot the photo was taken without assistance from another object. This could be supplemented by saying that some object was placed on the bannister to wedge the phone upright to take the photo.

However, there appears to be a sleeve in the bottom right of the corner, possibly being a sleeve of the individual taking the photo. No such clothing is claimed to of been worn by any attending members, and the placement of the sleeve on the bannister in the way fashioned would require some foreign object to be placed inside to form the shape of an elbow.

Further speculation is raised due to the iPhone’s ability to take Live Photos, showing a short clip of the time immediately before and after the photo was taken to allow for adjustment of the shot. When viewing the Live Photo, no movement can be seen from any individuals present, including Breakfast, meaning that lightning fast movement would’ve had to of happened between setting up the camera and getting back to the couch, and due to the focused nature of everyone during the movie, such activity would’ve likely distracted someone enough to show up in the Live Photo, and yet still everyone is deathly still during the entire shot.

## The Intruder Theory

The intruder theory indicates that a possible intruder broke into the apartment while the Free States was distracted and took the photo on Breakfast’s phone.

For the entry, it is completely rational that the intruder came in through the window. The window is waist height and leads out onto a slanted roof, easily walkable as the group had often gone out to the roof to smoke. Moreover, the roof was shared with other units sharing similar accessibility points, and was connected to other entire buildings, meaning there were countless points of accessibility for a possible intruder. Also, due to the lack of cooling in the AirBnB and the frequent access of the roof to smoke, the window was left open the entire night.

As for why Breakfast’s phone, Breakfast can clearly be seen to be shirtless in the photograph. The bannister is the access point to the second floor where the shower is, and the group has just gotten back from Niagara Falls. It is believed that Breakfast had gone to take a shower and had placed his phone on the bannister to leave it there while taking a shower, as there was nowhere to place it in the bathroom. It’s rational to believe Breakfast had ignored picking his phone back up before sitting down after the shower to watch Fred.

There is also the possibility that the phone was left with Breakfast’s duffel bag, as he had left all his belongings behind the couch, and could have possibly left his phone there while showering, again forgetting to pick it back up while watching Fred and leaving it easily accessible by any potential intruder.

Questions are raised then, however, as to why an intruder would come in, take a photo, and leave. The first guess would be theft, but no valuables appear to have been lost, including Breakfast’s iPhone. Past that, the assumption might be that the intruders might have been there for much more nefarious ends.

During the Free States Investigation over the Erie Photo, questions were raised pertaining to the location of the AirBnB. Preliminary investigations revealed that Gray’s parents booked the spot as a present to Gray for his birthday. Furthermore, it was discovered that the parents had not listed any additional guests to account for the attending members, meaning only the parent that had booked the AirBnB appeared on the listing for the realtor.

Investigations also found that the photograph was taken at 1:42 am. Rational thinking then leads to the running theory that the intruder was possibly affiliated with the AirBnB owner, or potentially accessed the information via hacking. As such, they could have been expecting Gray’s parent(s), and entered the AirBnB at a time that they thought that a middle-aged individual would be asleep. However, after accessing the AirBnB, they discovered it was instead 4 young men. This theory holds up as from the window where the point of entry is believed to of occurred, they would have only been able to see Cranberry sitting on the chair, as Gray was on the floor and Breakfast and Cheems were sitting on a couch out of sight of the window. It is then believed that the intruder cut their losses but left a photo on Breakfast’s phone either as a potential threat or sinister prank.

## The Abduction Theory

This theory is popularized by Cranberry as a potential explanation of the photograph. The theory samples the same groundings as the intruder theory, but instead assumes possible alien, cult, or governmental abduction had occurred. It is believed that the picture was left by whichever agent had abducted the Free States and that either the memory of that night was implanted or perhaps the entire trip was implanted as a false memory.

As for the actors behind the abduction, it ranges from aliens, to the government, to the Church of Scientology. As for aliens, it can easily be explained that alien abduction had occurred and the Free States had the abduction memory was replaced by either the entire Free States Fest it parts of the Fest. The governmental abduction theory stays the same. However, there is no apparent reason or evidence that either actor had done such tasks.

The theory then leads to allegations against the Church of Scientology for the picture being taken. Earlier in the day, the Free States had traveled to Buffalo, New York and had stopped by the Church of Scientology in Buffalo to tour the church while waiting for the Anchor Bar to open. While waiting, the members toured the church and were given an orientation into the cult. Gray had gone so far as to sit down with one of the Scientologists to go through the initial steps at membership, but had quickly backed out when other Scientologists came out to surround him. The group quickly fled from the church, very clearly leading to a bad interaction overall. Moreover, it was discovered after the fact that the questionnaires given out by the Church when the gang first arrived were all filled out with false information except for Gray’s, to which he filed his actual information.

The Abduction theory then states that it could have possibly been the actions taken from members of the Church of Scientology, resulting in the photograph. The Church has had numerous allegations of a similar nature levied against them prior, but no such resolution as to why the abduction had occurred can be found, as no current members of the Free States have any changed opinions pertaining to the Church and no further actions from the Church appeared to have been taken. Furthermore, the Church could potentially of been the culprit behind the Intruder Theory as well, but again, no further proof is found as of this point.