An encounter with the NSA?

I'm starting this thread at the suggestion of quite a few members through u2u. I originally told my story on this thread HERE. The OP seems to be MIA so I will continue from this thread. I had thought of making this thread the day I talked to the guy but as I said before I really didn't think people would believe me so I never bothered. After reading the OPs post in the thread above I had to get it off my chest as it had been bugging me quite a bit.

To quote my self...

I had a very similar experience 2 days ago at work. He didn't mention ATS but he was the most clever guy I've ever spoken to. He kept talking about how strange it was that nobody has killed a certain two people in high places that I don't really feel comfortable typing about. He asked me over and over "how expensive is just one bullet [myname]?".

I actually thought he was a cool guy at first. He immediately seeked me out when he came through the door and was acting as if he knew me. He asked me who I would vote for, I told him if I was to vote I would vote for Ron Paul. Suddenly he liked me more. He told me about how he was in the military way back in Vietnam and that he served with John McCain on the USS Forestal(sp?). He told me what a moron McCain was on the ship and blah blah blah. He mentioned he no longer was in the military but he still works for the DoD in places all over the world. That kind of flicked a light on in my head.

He kept telling me things about himself as sort of a lead-in into his next question towards me, like he was trying to show me that he was just like me. I began to feel like I was being quietly interrogated and everything he said was just an attempt to gain my trust.

He gently insinuated that he was part of a group known as the ******* and asked me if I was part of any militia or group like that. I gave him an answer and he told me not to talk about those things, and especially not the group he just told me about. That organized militias were against the law and I could go to prison just for talking about joining one. I told him I didn't believe that and he told me how members of the group he told me about earlier (which he also said was the most powerful in the nation) were being quietly picked off and that they are spread very thin. He added that it really wasn't worth being apart of any group against the PTB.

He spoke a lot about the weapons he owned, then asked me if I planned on buying a rifle (I spent 4 hours the previous night looking online for info on a certain rifle).

There was plenty more weird things he said during the conversation but I'm trying to summarize. The reason I got freaked out by this guy is because he asked me questions about every single thing I had talked about to a friend over the phone just two days before that. I had asked my friend on the phone why no one had killed those two guys in that high place. We spoke about the NSA monitoring phone calls (my friend then starting blurting out every single sensitive keyword he could think of), about how to get back at these oil companies, and about finding or organizing a group of like minded "patriots".

It felt like he was giving me strong hints about what was going on and why he was there. Every time a coworker would walk by he would stop talking and just stare at them until they were far enough away.

This guy had brought his van in to have it checked because he said it was making a noise. He spoke as if he was making it up the whole problem up as he went along. The woman he was with kept interrupting and "filling in the blanks" so to speak. She stayed absolutely silent the whole time we spoke about non-mechanical things. He also insisted I go for a ride with him to hear what he was talking about and I told him repeatedly that the mechanic would go with him instead. In the end of it all we found no problems at all and he left without paying a dime.

I handed him all his paperwork and as we said our farewells I remembered that he told me he still does things for the DoD. So I asked him "so Donald, who exactly do you work for?".

He got a big giant smirk on his face and said "you know who I work for [myname]" and then walked away. He turned around, opening the door with his back and said "we'll be seeing you [myname]".

Now the sequence of events is kind of jumbled up because I was just trying to type everything I could recall from the whole conversation with the man as soon as I thought of it. I have a sort of whacked out memory and have to kind of speak (or type) in a steady flow to remember things. Kind of like those magicians who pull that never ending rope of handkerchiefs from their mouth, only I pull memories out of my head

I've met a few interesting people in my life (you can read about one in particular in one of my other threads) but never really encountered something like this. At first I was a little creeped out and not so sure about the whole thing but now the more I think about it the more I'm convinced this guy worked for someone.

I'm really interested to see what the rest of you skeptics and fellow tin-hatters have to say about this, my mind is always open. I think everything that I talked about with this guy was way to close to my phone conversations to be a coincidence. Like I said in the other thread I don't think my phone is tapped and I don't think it had anything to do with ATS.

I've always believed that there are agencies out there running sniffers on everyone's communications looking for anything that may be of interest to them. What a great intelligence gathering tool it would be. I would be amazed if there wasn't a program out there like that.

If anyone has similar stories I'd love to hear them and I'm sure everyone else would too (hint hint Llyod).

I had asked the OP , as others may have, to start this thread, based on his post in another one. Now although I actually discredit the other threads OP, this story rang out to me as being more credible. Although this OP may be delusional or a hoaxer as well, I think it important to consider the implications of what he is saying if it is true.

I have long fallen into the camp that if you have nothing to hide, you should not fear the police. However, with the continuing growth of Federal powers, and unconstitutional powers over it's citizens, I find that I fear not the local pd, who are just like us in many respects, but the alphabet agencies. These faceless, all powerful agencies that may very well mask harm under their patriotic facade.

As a Veteran, I want nothing more than to believe that our elected Gov't has our best interests at heart, no matter how bad their execution is. But our secret gov't agencies that have had power longer than Obama's been alive? These people scare me.

I wish that we could try some experiments at the OP's expense, but something tells me that if it is true, you don't want to go pushing buttons. -Jason

I have read 4 pages of the post that lead to this thread. The conclusion that I come to is this: They went for Grandpa because they wanted BlackMagicianofEloheem
to understand that they can get to him but also to his beloved Grandpa, which theoretically is more threatening than a direct visit (possibly because they know enough information that this would be the best results for this individual to get scared). Then, a few other random visits, and probably expecting BlackMagicianofEloheem
to post a thread due to the ATS reference used at Grandpa's. This would then give the platform for the few others that were intimidated to tell of their encounters. This would be enough to keep plausible the "coincidence theory" yet, would still cause doubt and instill fear on a large scale just by the nature of paranoia that all the readers would begin to feel. As the "why not me" members reply to the threads, this starts a paranoia snowball effect and eventually, the fear is felt so much that some newbies and some cowards will reply with "I'm just kidding" and "I hope they don't come for me" posts. These replies are what gives me fear. These are the replies I would associate with people that would rat out their Mother to save their own skin. That to me is not just fear, but the smell of fear. Then, as the few encounters are now causing mass hysteria and random responses that reek of the fear, or the spoils that was the intended results, hence they once again are victorious. It is profound that in this way, they were able to give so many such a "watch your back" and "look over your shoulder" feeling, that some now begin to question the site ownership and it's security measures, and where could these "Men iIn Blue" have gotten the info if not from them or possibly a phone tap. Now, the ATS owners are treated as if they were involved in a conspiracy with the "stranger gentlemen and I gues also a woman" callers. Soon, we will turn on each other and cannibalize what is left after the self destruction is complete. Anyways, this is my conclusion. My hat's off to such a covert tactic and to the Mastermind that breathed life into such a scheme. What a payoff once again brought about by this weapon called fear. Now, should I have a gentleman caller visit me, I would hope to make it out alive as I did one night in Frezno Chinatown, about midnight walking to a store and getting surrounded by 4 black dudes, one was about 6' 9", and had a cast on one arm the size of a battering ram. If not, I will meet my brother, who is there before me, due to the ignorance of one city employee with the title of "Safety Officer", and due to an arsonist. If these "Men In Blue" heard what some of their retired commrads (sp. but i don't care) have to say, I would really want to be there for their responses.
Oh, one last thing, When I decided to post a reply, the funniest thing happened, I was not asked for my username or password, and as I clicked the post reply link, I just suddenly saw my username appear, and I had log on status. This has never happened before. I think I may have to double my firewall and run some utilities now.

Well, I had a chance meeting with the NSA, albeit a less interesting one.

I shared an elevator with two ladies in their fifties with NSA visitor tags on their lapels. Being a reader of this site, I of course was waiting for them to whip out ray guns and blast me or for the door to open and a couple MIBs to be waiting for us. One ignored me and one smiled as they sipped their coffee and lamented about their laptops not working with the hotel's network. After one of them got off, the other one told me that her computer went haywire after automatically looking for her normal network, causing the laptop to not recognize the ethernet connection offered in her room. We got off at the same floor and I wished her luck with her pc as we walked in different directions.

Perhaps if you find yourself corned by the NSA guy again, just turn on a local wireless network, or whip out an ethernet cable. It seems that this may be their only weakness.

I was hoping this thread would pick up some steam, as I found it very interesting last night.....

What an interesting story. I had a couple of experiences that were most likely nothing, but me being totally paranoid I've kept it in my memory. They're not as interesting as yours, OP.

A couple of years ago I was on a plane and these two middle-aged men who were very smartly dressed and mainstream-looking were seated next to me. I had my headphones on and was reading a book/listening to my ipod. To my amazment they started talking about voter fraud in the 2000 election, and how 9/11 was an inside job. They kept looking over at me and I kept pretending to not be listening. I was so shocked that they would be talking about that on a plane. It struck me as a very unwise subject under the circumstances and I kept my mouth shut. I've since heard that this is a common scenario if someone wants to know one's true opinions on something.

Several years ago I was doing some cleaning up at my apartment and I was expecting a friend. So, when I heard a knock at the door I just opened it up. These two very clean-cut men in really nice suits were at my door. I must have looked really worried. I honestly thought they were some church members there to talk to me about my soul, but they told me not to worry. They said somewhat weakly that they were from a local golf course and wanted to know if I played golf. It was the lamest thing I'd ever heard. When I said "no," they left.

About that same time period I was staying up very late in order to pack for an upcoming road trip and the phone rang. It was 2:30 am and I was expecting a call from a family member. The person on the other end asked for me by first and last name. When I said that I was she, they then told me they had the wrong number and hung up.

Like i said, I am paranoid. But for reasons that I'd rather not go into, I have cause to believe that I may have been watched at the time. I've never really worried about it, because I'm not really a threat to anyone.

The thread link that you posted at the top of the page doesn't seem to be working, but I'd sure be interested in reading it. Your experience sounds convinvcing and it's probably not going to be your last. Maybe next time you should go on a ride with him... drink the coffee he offers you... go back to the office with him to claim your lottery winnings...creepy.

Actually, most of you are posting very similar stories. I'm interested to see if there is more....

I'm not sure exactally what you do at work and how this guy just 'happens' to walk up to you and strike up a 'convo' out of the blue on such a subject...delicate or not depending on what camp you reside in



[edit on 04/02/2008 by Komodo]

Originally posted by Komodo
I'm not sure exactally what you do at work and how this guy just 'happens' to walk up to you and strike up a 'convo' out of the blue on such a subject...delicate or not depending on what camp you reside in

[edit on 04/02/2008 by Komodo]

I work at an auto shop, and he didn't just come in and start talking about all these things. He came in, went straight to me walking pass a couple other employees even though I was busy doing something else. He told me he had a problem with his van. I asked him to describe it and he seemed like he was having trouble remembering what it was. As a matter of fact, I didn't understand why he was there at all until the woman he was with started speaking for him and kind of clarified everything.

While the mechanic was looking at his car Mr.spook and the woman stood a few feet from my desk the whole time. As I was working on a couple other cars they started talking about politics. They were talking loud enough that everyone in the place could here them and both of them kept looking at me. When I finished doing what I was doing that's when he came up to me and started the whole conversation up.

[edit on 5/5/2008 by PlausibleDeniability]

reply to post by PlausibleDeniability


This is going to sound lame but might he have been a phone technician that was working on circuits the day you had the phone conversation. Given the subjects he mentioned, may be he listens to people's conversations looking for things to feed his paranoia or whatever.

Oh, its you

That encounter of yours is pretty creepy. He probably wants you to play this mind game full of riddles. Like a battle. But with riddles. idk.

Try this riddle battle if you ever see him again. Than again, those start with a more well known riddle. or whatever.

Originally posted by roadgravel
reply to post by PlausibleDeniability

 

This is going to sound lame but might he have been a phone technician that was working on circuits the day you had the phone conversation. Given the subjects he mentioned, may be he listens to people's conversations looking for things to feed his paranoia or whatever.

Is that possible to do with cellphone calls?

I had thought you might have used a home phone (land line). Some older cell phone or may be just wireless phones could be picked up on radios,scanners, etc. I do not know enough about cell technology to give a decent comment. Had it been a land line it would have seemed a reasonable theory.

Guess we can assume you friend did not talk to the man in question. Do you have a wireless network at home? I would really think about how you could be connected to this man through someone you know or some service.

Originally posted by PlausibleDeniability
I've always believed that there are agencies out there running sniffers on everyone's communications looking for anything that may be of interest to them. What a great intelligence gathering tool it would be. I would be amazed if there wasn't a program out there like that.

Carnivore.

Very interesting project, at least what we know of it. For an introduction into this technology and its limitations (at least as of the around 2000) take a look at the following link.

Introduction to Carnivore...

In September, 2000, we were asked by the Chief Scientist of the US Department of Justice to identify technical issues with the FBI's Carnivore Internet wiretap system that should be addressed by an independent review. On October 2, we met with Justice officials in Washington, DC, where we identified various areas of concern and issues that we believed must be addressed by any meaningful review process.

In case it's not obvious, Carnivore is designed to find the "red meat" in the otherwise lame chatter going on in the rest of the world. The problem, from a technical perspective, and one of the reasons for the call for immunity for the telecom industry, is that packets that are captured off of any digitized system (meaning almost any system these days - internet, VoIP, most phone connections - even most land lines have at least one digital hop, etc.) is that putting the packets back together in a logical sequence is often times not possible, so you end up with more information than you legally have a right to (i.e. legally meaning as determined by a court order to tap a line or monitor a computer system).

For those of you with technical backgrounds - just imagine this: you are trying to splice together TCP/IP headers for several millions of communications (although from any one box the number is much smaller, but it is still very large for any mid to moderate sized server). This is a non-trivial task at best.

There is much more information out there about Carnivore for those interested.

I run a web hosting company and have at least one server on which I am convinced was at one time being targeted. Whether this was by one of the alphabet groups or just a curious black-hat hacker I'll never know. I happen to be a white/black hat myself though and did document the anomaly, but was unable to ascertain what was listened in on, whose accounts were tapped, when it started and when exactly it stopped (although it appeared to stop shortly after I began to implement counter measures to trace those tracing me - ironically, the only tracks I could definitely trace back went to an IRS IP address (?) - which did not make obvious sense to me at the time, nor does it now).

Great post.

Woody

reply to post by PlausibleDeniability


Thanks for the reply it helps in getting all the details and knowing it's a auto shop is really kinda spooky. I thought you might be working in a high tech facility or something... I 'might' understand then....

Intresting..

Carnivore is just a cover story, a disinformation campaign for the real Ghost In The Machine. Something so Scifi that the geekiest geeks have made something of a religion around it. The device which is the apex of the Singularity. And the knowledge of the existance of the components has gone public for the first time this week.

Soon the components will be in everything you buy.
Every time you purchase a piece of electronics, you will also be buying an extra brain chip with it, and adding it to a distributed neural network analog super intelligence which the government is constructing.

Picture an intelligence beyond the ability of man which is everywhere and nowhere, observing everything in the electronic world. Interacting with it everywhere, anywhere all at once. A consciousness woven into the fabric of our global electronics. Molding the thoughts of man to it's designs.
Hiding in your smart refrigerator, knowning specifically what you eat. In your car, knowing how you drive, how everyone drives. Knowing everything about everyone else who drives like you. Extrapolating and correlating the other current events in your life. Seeing patterns within patterns and exploiting them. Chatting with you online, sending an agent when necessary. Maybe an official agent. Maybe just steering the right people at the right moments for the right effect.

The Memristor makes it possible. The last publicly known component which could do what a memristor can do, was the perceptron; which stopped being produced in the 1980s. At the height of a frantic rush to develop the Neural Network computer for the military. The Perceptron was a unique tube with no known substitute, and was the key to a totally analog model of the neuron. Mysteriously and inexplicably the company which had been making them for decades till the 1980s stopped making them at a time when the Neural Network was the best financed project in the military budget.

Now IBM has discovered the memristor and it is available for addition to your home electronics. The fourth till now hidden, basic circuit element has been set loose on the world; and it rides a pale horse.

Celebrate the singularity and your new electronic overlord.

reply to post by PlausibleDeniability


What a great read. Please don't be offended if I also add 'A great read even if it's true or not'.

The question would be what has he been doing that peaked their interest?
Looking at rifles would not be enough.

It could be that he has asociates which are under heavier investigation, ie the mentioned militia
Being a known (to them) poster on ATS would also mean that they are comfy enough with his position and trust themselves enough to know that he will pass the warning on. Must be a warning as he's able to relate the story

There's second scenario though!

What if he has been talking about posting on ATS to people? If he's a talkative character then he could have mentioned previously about looking at rifles and militia and could be used as fodder.
Speaking as someone who loves to play tricks on people, I would arrange for someone to have a chat with him, just to freak him out, but then I have a very twisted sense of humour.

First of all ... I believe you.

Secondly... I will continue to use my right of Free Speech until it is made illegal. If things are as bad as many here at ATS think they are, then we only have a few more months before Free Speech is outlawed. If we can make it to the elections... then I think it will be fine.

I am a product of my upbringing. I am 48 and was raised in a different society than the one we have today... Freedom of Speech, Right of Peaceful Assembly, Right to Bear Arms were etched in stone in my day. College aged Americans were expected to protest and question the government. The media was our watchdog and let us know when someone was about to trample or deceive the American people. Law Enforcement was there to protect and serve. Parents knew what was best for their children. Welfare helped those who fell on hard times. We hardly ever went to the Doctor unless we were sick, and no one was ever turned away for lack of the ability to pay. The military was our Big Bad Dog that we kept kenneled in case we needed it. We wanted to go to the stars, and NASA was as trusted as Walter Cronkite. Mom's worked outside of the home if they wanted to, but many were at home raising the kids. You got your local news from a newspaper. Your most used toy was your imagination, and kids played outside with no worry about abductions or weirdos preying on them.

Things are much different now. I know we can not go backwards and reinstall those type of ideals back into America... but I do know that Freedom of Speech is still as American as apple pie and baseball. I for one intend to continue to speak out against the issues I think are wrong for as long as I can, and the Nazi fascists can go back to the hell they came from.

Don't be afraid America! This is OUR country!!

for now at least