When did ATS start?

Just an idle curiosity type question... just wondered when ATS came online, as it were. And/or was there something here before? (dun de dun dun..)

a reply to: MrCrow


As far as I remember it was something to do with area 51 originally, I remember them posting the original site and thinking "I remember that!"
I remember the area 51 site and roswell rods (or something) were 2 sites I looked at (fairly infrequently) in the late 90's early 00's.

When I joined ATS I didn't realise that it was previously the Area 51 site.... but I'd read ATS as ATS from about 2003 onwards.

Very odd.

a reply to: MrCrow

I do believe Simon Gray registered the name domain in 1997, and that ATS became a true site in 1999, if this answers your question.

I started lurking here around 2002/2003, and it was already a fairly large community, so...

a reply to: swanne

It does answer my question. Thanks!

a reply to: MrCrow

Anytime!

a reply to: MrCrow

Now tell everyone why you asked the question…

Just an idle curiosity type question... just wondered when ATS came online, as it were. And/or was there something here before? (dun de dun dun..)

I dun de dun don believe its just idle curious.

I can answer what was there before the internet.

Top down, one way dissemination of information from TV, newspaper and radio. The only expose stuff was from the only source in town, the whole one sided main stream media.

The only communication between people was around the water cooler at work.

a reply to: intrptr

The "dun de dun dun" bit was a (poor) attempt at a scary/conspiracy musical score from old tele programs/films. Sort of "There was nothing before ATS came along. Or was there? OR WAS THERE?" *dun de dun dun*

this was taken from the old ats handbook history

AboveTopSecret.com or ATS is the website that started it all. Started in 1998 by site owner
Simon Gray, it began as a collection of conspiracy-related pages. A small discussion forum
was added, and over the years grew to encompass all the subsections listed below. Here
you'll find conspiracy discussion on every topic you can imagine, from UFOs to Political
Scandals to Paranormal phenomenon.

Ats is like life on planet earth.
It crawled out of the primordial ooze when nobody was looking.

originally posted by: intrptr
a reply to: MrCrow

Now tell everyone why you asked the question…

Just an idle curiosity type question... just wondered when ATS came online, as it were. And/or was there something here before? (dun de dun dun..)

I dun de dun don believe its just idle curious.

I can answer what was there before the internet.

Top down, one way dissemination of information from TV, newspaper and radio. The only expose stuff was from the only source in town, the whole one sided main stream media.

The only communication between people was around the water cooler at work.

Never had a water cooler at my work place , did have a land line phone with a rotary dial and did have about a 10% chance of been connected to a wrong number, high light of the day

ALL 'members' all seem to have started in 2002... (click the chevron icon, select 'members' in the lower 2nd menu..)

but I think 'members' started before then... because I got a used IBM commodore in Y2K ... got interested in ATS because of a member 'groingrinder' from Apache Junction who is listed as a member since 26 March 2003 made a statement about a site which focused on mysterious subjects called above-top-secret

under another pseudonym I was member from July 2003-April 2004

the IBM PC had a 500MB memory & I was on dial up and I am pretty certain that the PC did not last 5 years as is implied

originally posted by: imod02

originally posted by: intrptr
a reply to: MrCrow

Now tell everyone why you asked the question…

Just an idle curiosity type question... just wondered when ATS came online, as it were. And/or was there something here before? (dun de dun dun..)

I dun de dun don believe its just idle curious.

I can answer what was there before the internet.

Top down, one way dissemination of information from TV, newspaper and radio. The only expose stuff was from the only source in town, the whole one sided main stream media.

The only communication between people was around the water cooler at work.

Never had a water cooler at my work place

, did have a land line phone with a rotary dial and did have about a 10% chance of been connected to a wrong number, high light of the day

Musing… Rotary dial, thats a museum piece. We also gathered around another fixture, the break room Microwave oven, the only gigahertz appliance in public hands. I'd lie and say the lights dimmed when it ran, but that only happened when we fired up the Hard Drives in the computer room.

The oldest version available (besides an empty and a "coming soon" versions) on the Internet Archive is from October 9 1999, as you can see here.

a reply to: ArMaP

Oh my word, you have the 1999 version on Wayback!

The links still work, too!

I am in awe.

Where has Simon been ? Miss the chap.

So many names missed from back then.
Most missed.. WOS.

originally posted by: smirkley
WOS.

hear hear

----

there was also before .com the AOL boards that some of us were on
it took me a quite a few years to finally join the .com


edit: no idea why it's edit

A long time ago.
In a galaxy far, far away.

a reply to: Phage

Which Galaxy?

a reply to: awareness10

Second star to the right.
Straight on till morning.