The Why Files: Operation Podcast - 69: An Empty World, A Time Traveler, Another Dimension | Liminal Spaces: The Reality In-between

Episode Date: August 11, 2022

In the past year or so, three internet mysteries popped up that really got my attention. They may seem very different, but trust me, they're connected.  The first one is about a girl who found a door in the basement of her AirBnB. She opened it and inside was an abandoned shopping mall.   The second story is about Javier aka Unico Sobreviviente, who woke up in a hospital in the year 2027, in an alternate universe. In his version of the future -- everyone on earth has vanished. He's the only one left, and he has video to prove it.   The third mystery is known as the Backdoors. A reality adjacent to ours that, if the conditions are just right, you can accidentally slip into. Then you find yourself lost in an endless maze of dingy carpet, fluorescent light, and yellow wallpaper.    And around every corner-- --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thewhyfiles/support

You sailed beyond the horizon in search of an island scrubbed from every map. You battled krakens and navigated through storms. Your spade struck the lid of a long-lost treasure chest. While you cooked a lasagna. There's more to imagine when you listen. Discover best-selling adventure stories on Audible. Hey, it's your buddy AJ from the Y-Files. And Hecklefish.

Right, and Hecklefish. We just wanted to tell you that if you want to start a podcast, Spotify makes it easy. It'd have to be easy for humans to understand it. Will you stop that? I'm just saying. Spotify for Podcasters lets you record and edit podcasts from your computer. I don't have a computer.

Do you have a phone? Of course I have a phone. I'm not a savage. Well, with Spotify, you can record podcasts from your phone, too. Spotify makes it easy to distribute your podcast to every platform and you can even earn money. I do need money. What do you need money for? You kidding? I'm getting killed on guppy support

payments. These 3X wives are expensive. You don't want to support your kids? What are you need money for? You kidding? I'm getting killed on guppy support payments. These 3X wives are expensive. You don't want to support your kids? What are you, my wife's lawyer now? Never mind. And I don't know if you noticed, but all Y-Files episodes are video, too. And there's a ton of other features, but you... But we can't be here all day. Will you settle down?

I need you to hurry up with this stupid commercial. I got a packed calendar today. I'm sorry about him. Anyway, check out Spotify for Podcasters. It's free, no catch, and a packed calendar today. I'm sorry about him. Anyway, check out Spotify for podcasters. It's free, no catch, and you could start today. Are we done? We're done, but you need to check your attitude. Excuse me, but I don't have all day to sit here and talk about Spotify. This will go a lot faster if you would just let me get through it. In the past year or so, three internet mysteries popped up that really got my attention.

They may seem very different, but trust me, they're connected. The first one is about a girl who found a door in the basement of her Airbnb. She opened it, and inside there was an abandoned shopping mall. The second story is about Javier, who woke up in a hospital in the year 2027, in an alternate universe. In his version of the future, everyone on Earth has vanished. He's the only one left, and he has the video to prove it. The third mystery is known as the back rooms, a reality adjacent to ours that, if the conditions are just right, you can accidentally fall into.

Then you find yourself lost in an endless maze of dingy carpet, fluorescent light, and yellow wallpaper. And around every corner... An abandoned mall, a deserted world, a maze in another dimension. What do these have in common? Terrible places to have a vacation. Good places to hide a body. What are you doing? Hello. You asked what those places have a vacation. Um, good places to hide a body. What are you doing?

Hello, you asked what those places have in common. I'm answering your question. I was being rhetorical. I'm trying to build drama and suspense. Oh, well, you're on the wrong channel, buddy boy. What these locations have in common is liminality, or more specifically, their liminal spaces. A liminal space is defined as a place of transition, a threshold between two distinctly different points, signaling the end of one and the beginning of another.

Liminal spaces do exist as physical locations, but they could also be an emotional experience. They occur during periods of uncertainty and major life changes. Events like a divorce or breakup, the death of a loved one, the birth of a child, moving to a new city, ending or starting a new career. All of these create liminality in our mind, meaning our life before this event is over and a new period of life is about to begin. Liminality is the unease and apprehension we feel during this transition. Liminal spaces in the real world are a bit more difficult to define, but you know one when you see one. Think of an airport in the middle of the night, school during summer break, a house just after someone moves out, or in this case, an accidentally discovered abandoned shopping mall. you could tell by the video that she's having fun, but she's also a little uncomfortable.

She's experiencing the anxiety of a liminal space. Now, while not all liminal spaces are so unsettling, the type of space currently coursing through the internet will have a few common features. They'll feel both familiar and strange. If you browse through photos on the liminal space subreddit, you'll come across many locations that you could swear you've been to, evoking a strange feeling of nostalgia for a place you've never been. Another common trait is that places are out of context,

like a waiting room with one chair, a plane with no seats, a flooded metro station, or a submerged staircase. Have you ever watched a video of the Titanic on the bottom of the ocean? When you see the staircases and furniture completely underwater, this evokes liminality. This out-of-context imagery triggers anxiety similar to Uncanny Valley, the feeling that something is just not right. Liminal spaces are often places you might have

visited as a child. Roller rinks are commonly thought of as liminal. Bowling alleys, arcades, or an empty Chuck E. Cheese. The only thing scarier than an empty Chuck E. Cheese is a crowded Chuck E. Cheese. You got that right. But something you'll notice about all these places, they're empty. And that seems to be the most unsettling aspect of all. These spaces are transitional because they're in-between places, not meant for anyone to stay very long. But they're still meant for people. Yet these sit empty, waiting to fulfill their use.

Waiting for people. People that in some cases never arrive. Now, all of us from time to time stumble into a liminal space, a supermarket in the middle of the night, an empty office, an amusement park off-season. But what if you woke up one day and the entire world was deserted and every space was a liminal space. TikTok has no shortage of quote-unquote time travel accounts. Some are entertaining, but they're mostly just goofy. But one account stands out from the rest.

Javier, a Spanish creator, whose account is Unico Sobreviviente, which means... Only survive. Oh, you speak Spanish now? Entiendo algunas palabras. Well, this account... No diría que soy un experto.

Okay, I get it. Do you mind if I... No hay problema, amigo. Well, this account is unique because he posts actual videos of deserted department stores, supermarkets, even entire football stadiums. Javier woke up in a hospital in Valencia on February 13th, 2027, and claims to be in an alternative universe. Apparently, at some point in the near future, every human on Earth just disappears.

He said that when he woke up, he couldn't remember his name or where he lived. He went outside and everyone was just disappears. He said that when he woke up, he couldn't remember his name or where he lived. He went outside and everyone was just gone. Everything appeared just like 2021, but electronic devices showed 2027. Now, his videos are fascinating,

and I'll link to his account down below. And when you're watching, remember that Valencia has a population of over 800,000 people, and the surrounding area has almost 2 million people.

And despite Valencia being a big city, there are no people in these videos. He goes to random apartments. He crashes at exclusive hotels. He accepts challenges to go to places that most people can't go. Fire and police departments. He even steals a few police cars. He goes to a military base. Some skeptics claim he's recording all this early in the morning. He responds by recording himself walking by public signs with the time on them.

And there aren't many TikTokers who can reprogram a public digital sign. He's challenged to go to a hospital, not an old deserted one, an actual modern hospital. And he does it. A lot of the places he visits do have off hours, but hospitals are full of people 24-7. But not these.

Javier also claims our two worlds are connected. He's able to interact with objects in his world, which affects objects here. For example, a Spanish television show challenged Javier by leaving a book hidden on their set and told him to find it and move it. He did. un libro escondido en su set y le dijo que lo encontrara y lo moviera. Lo hizo. and you take it, okay? Here it comes. Look, see? Boom. There it is. Let's see if it's ready. You find it here in the antler and you show it. And when the studio went back to watch the security footage, you can see the door open

and close. And just for a quick moment, you see some kind of figure flash by. Look, look, look. I'm telling you, you're going to freak out. Look, look, look, look. There, there, there, there, there, there. Look at it. Now it would be terrifying to wake up alone in the world where every place you visit is a different liminal space. But worse than that, we'd be waking up in a single liminal space that goes on forever.

And that place has a name, the Back Rooms. The Back Rooms is an internet mystery that began like many internet mysteries do, on 4chan. Someone asked members to submit disquieting images that just feel off. An anonymous user posted this photograph. Everyone who saw the image agreed. It was strangely familiar but unsettling, though nobody could explain why. Finally, a follow-up comment described it. If you're not careful and you noclip out of reality in the wrong areas, unsettling, though nobody could explain why. Finally, a follow-up comment described it.

If you're not careful, and you noclip out of reality in the wrong areas, you'll end up in the back rooms, where it's nothing but the stink of old moist carpet, the madness mono-yellow, the endless background noise of fluorescent lights, and maximum humbuzz, and approximately 600 million square miles of randomly segmented empty rooms to be trapped in. God save you if you hear something wandering around nearby, because it sure as hell has heard you. Uh, noclip? Well, noclip is a video game term.

When two objects overlap, that's clipping. Noclipping means crossing boundaries in a game that you're not supposed to cross, and ending up in areas not meant for the player. The Backrooms theory says it's possible to noclip into a different reality adjacent to ours, a reality you're not meant to ever see. Remember, liminal spaces are transitional, you're not supposed to stay there very long. You instinctively want to get out, to move on. The Backrooms are unnerving because you can't.

It's an endless liminal space with no escape. Something about the backrooms connected with people and an entire culture was organically developed around the concept. Completely community-driven, the backrooms has become crowdsourced IP with its own canon and lore.

There are now hundreds of levels of backrooms, each with their own stories, their own rules, inhabitants, objects, even hazards. Fans can contribute to the lore through a few different wikis completely dedicated to the backrooms. Still, the backrooms lived in dark corners of the Internet. What brought the concept to the mainstream was a series of short videos by a creator named Kane Parsons. Using an ingenious combination of live action and 3D animation wrapped in a low-tech package, these videos give us a glimpse of what being

trapped in the back rooms would feel like. The videos also prove that liminal spaces are not a fringe theory. Millions of people have watched these. Clearly, the concept of liminality is universal. The video series begins with a group of kids shooting what looks like a student film in 1996. The camera operator suddenly no-clips through the ground and falls into the back rooms. A little more.

Yeah. Whoa! Hello? It doesn't take long for us to realize that we're not alone in the back rooms. There's some entity aware of us and seems to follow us through the maze of empty yellow office space. Hello? Some moments are definitely scary, but even when not being outright terrifying, the entire series is unsettling. As you, through the eyes of the lost cameraman, explore the back rooms, you have a sense that you've been here before.

I certainly have. There are certain angles and ways the walls are arranged that remind me of offices that I've worked at at different points in my life. I worked jobs where the only light was overhead bulbs, and the only time you'd see the sun or the sky was if you were lucky enough to run out for lunch. That was my job last year, actually. For anyone who's worked in an office like this, there's a feeling of claustrophobia, of being trapped like a prisoner, where time seems to slow down and hours feel like they last for days. Unfortunately for people trapped in the back rooms, time doesn't exist at all.

There is no past and no future, so no brief respite for lunch, no exhilaration at the end of a long, boring day. The only time is the present, and like the space itself, the present is infinite. Eventually, our hero discovers graffiti on a wall which tells him to stay still. That turns out to be a terrible idea.

After fleeing from the entity, we're taken to various locations which are essentially recreations of common photos of liminal spaces. The empty apartment, the deserted quad, and Kane's short film then builds on tried and true horror movie tropes like

Pursuit, Claustrophobia, Disorientation, and of course, The Jump Scare. You searched for your informant, who disappeared without a trace. You knew there were witnesses, but lips were sealed. You swept the city, driving closer to the truth, while curled up on the couch with your cat. There's more to imagine when you listen. Discover heart-pounding thrillers on Audible.

You searched for your informant, who disappeared without a trace. You knew there were witnesses, but lips were sealed. You swept the city, driving closer to the truth, while curled up on the couch with your cat There's more to imagine when you listen Discover heart-pounding thrillers on Audible

You sailed beyond the horizon In search of an island Scrubbed from every map You battled krakens And navigated through storms. Your spade struck the lid of a long-lost treasure chest. While you cooked a lasagna. There's more to imagine when you listen.

Discover best-selling adventure stories on Audible. Kane's subsequent videos build on the lore of the backrooms. The tone shifts from jump scare horror into more of a dystopian sci-fi thriller. It seems that there are ruptures in our world that allow people to accidentally pass into the backrooms. This explains why the number of missing people is on the rise. Eventually, a corporation creates a prototype machine to access the backrooms. And this is hailed as a world-saving technology. Because the backrooms are so large, hundreds of millions of square miles,

they can be used for storage, housing, even transport. Now, of course, things go wrong along the way. We have researchers trying to map the backrooms, getting lost, and falling into different levels, and all kinds of chaos. Okay. Can you watch this? Whoa! Ah! Oh my God! Ah! Ah! You...

Marvin, do you copy? The series is still ongoing, so subscribe to Kane Pixels if you want to see what happens next. But you don't have to wait for Kane. Other creators have picked up the mantle and attempted to continue the story. What do you think? We just saw someone running. Other creators have picked up the mantle and attempted to continue the story. Hello? Can you help me get down?

There's something up here. Please. Stay right where you are. Stay right where you are. We're going to try and get you down. To me, all these versions are equally interesting and unsettling. The backroom's concept has spawned other media as well. A viral TikTok shows someone using Google Earth to zoom in on a location in Japan.

As they move inside the building, we see the familiar wallpaper, carpet, fluorescent lights, and this time, different objects and entities. Indie developers are publishing video games based on the back rooms and liminal spaces. Animoiopolis is one that looks interesting. It combines the uncanny liminal space concept with classic first-person horror and puzzle-solving elements. Liminality may seem like the cool new thing, and it's no coincidence that its popularity surged during COVID lockdowns when everyone was feeling isolated.

But the concept has been around a long time. The phrase was created by Arnold Van Gennep in his book Rights of Passage, released in 1908. And Gennep was more focused on life experiences, like transitioning from childhood to adulthood, graduating high school, or moving to a new city. And this concept of an in-between place, whether physical or emotional, has been explored in media and pop culture for years. Rod Serling famously said,

It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. The Shining is an entire movie based around the idea of liminality. The abandoned hotel, spooky hallways that go on forever, and you never know what lurks around each corner. Horror movies like It Follows and Silent Hill also used liminal spaces to amp up the creepiness.

And recently, the Apple TV sci-fi thriller Severance uses liminal spaces as a backdrop for the entire series. The large, empty spaces, hallways that create such a confusing maze that you have to draw maps to find your way around. And the dual reality concept of Severance is similar to the back rooms. You have one reality where you live your life

as you normally would, but when you get to work, you are severed from this reality and transition to a new reality, a reality comprised completely of liminality. And you can't have a post-apocalyptic story without liminality, that feeling of being the last person on earth,

walking through spaces once teeming with life, now left abandoned and forgotten. The human brain is not wired for this kind of isolation, which is why these tropes are so effective. And speaking of the apocalypse, let's circle back to our two other mysteries and see if we can figure out what's really going on. Javier, the lonely survivor in Spain, he has a very interesting and compelling TikTok account, and people are constantly trying to debunk him. Some say his hands look different in each video, implying that he's actually a team, and there may be something to that. You have to dig really deep, but it turns

out that Javier is working with the city of Valencia on a media project called The Lonely Survivor, which is why he has access to all these places and why he's able to clear out entire stadiums, busy streets, even sections of hospitals. So it's not some future reality. It's just a TV production team with filming permits. Now, Javier won't admit his account is just a project, and I don't blame him. It's fun to maintain an air of mystery.

But if you watch enough of his videos, you realize it would be so easy for him to prove that he's in a different reality or in the future. He could show the dates on tombstones. He could time lapse an entire weekend at a typically busy airport or just fly his drone around the city at rush hour. He never does this.

His environments are highly controlled. But still, the videos are fun. And the young lady who discovered an abandoned mall in the basement of her Airbnb? The video has a supernatural feel to it, but it's really not that strange. Her Airbnb is actually a hotel that shares a building with the Oceanwalk Mall in Hollywood Beach, Florida. Now, Oceanwalk is what's called a dead mall, though a better name for a dead mall is probably a zombie mall. It's a shopping mall that nobody really goes to anymore, but it's still open and somewhat functioning.

And dead malls are everywhere, all over the country. And it's not hard to understand why malls are dying. Amazon. Well, pretty much online shopping and the online economy. But when I was a kid, you bought your groceries at the supermarket and you bought everything else at the mall. Clothes, electronics, sporting goods, toys, everything. And in many suburban towns like the ones I grew up in, the mall was a community social center. Families would spend all day there. You'd shop, eat, shop and eat some more all day. And as a teenager, we'd hang out at the mall.

We'd go around lunchtime, we'd see a movie, lurk in the arcade, and talk to girls. You would talk to girls? Well, I wanted to, but I wasn't very good at it. Checks out. Well, high school and college kids from the area often work at these shops. In fact, this is the mall that we went to when I was a kid and worked at all through high school and college. Back in those days, the mall was always packed. When was that, the 1950s? Not that long ago, but close enough. But now look at it.

That's not the mall I remember. There's a sadness to these spaces. There's nostalgia. There's the reminder that everything moves forward. Everything changes. What once was will never again be. These transitions and rites of passage are an important part of life. They show our courage, our resilience, our perseverance.

They make us who we are. But whether a location in the world or a transitional moment in our lives, every liminal space has the same point. To find your way out. Thanks so much for hanging out with me today. My name is AJ. That's Hecklefish. This has been the Y-Files.

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