Kaney's Weird Files - Issue 6 Volume 3
TIKTOK Rabbit Hole Update, Nighttime Anxiety Returns, etc. and More Book News!
Weird /wird/
adjective: weird; comparative adjective: weirder; superlative adjective: weirdest
suggesting something supernatural; uncanny.
"the weird crying of a seal"
June Review 2025
WI, USA, Earth
What’s up, meat popsickles?
June is a wrap. It is insane how fast that seemed to go. Either by a combination of age and lack of sleep, or something worse, it seems like I don’t remember it at all. Do you?
In this issue, I have some minor book news, have an update on that TikTok rabbit hole and other stuff. I also had a wonderful interview I’ll tell you more about, if you don’t mind reading all of this stuff.
As always, thanks for reading!
Let’s get into it…
-Experiencer Tim
Top ‘Weird’ News
Thank You!
I may start doing this on the regular - it helps me remember why I started doing these and it also helps you all know how our little, dark corner of the stacks is doing. As I said last month, I started this Substack to explore and share stories of the weird and strange and to disperse news and articles on the same topics. This month I can show we grew a bit in one area. One more time - thank you! If you know of anyone that would enjoy these as much as you, please share into your networks.
Just for your information we are still at 29 Subscribers BUT 50 (+7) Followers! Let’s get to 30 and 65!
TikTok Rabbit Hole - Part 2
GATE research update: nada, zilch, nothing. Well, not exactly. Almost nothing. And some confirmation there may be literally nothing in some areas of research.
There was a letter on cheap paper from the CIA in the mail for me. You’d think one of the world’s preeminent intelligence agencies would have at least sprung for like 60 lb. laser, at least. Instead, it was printed on nearly transparent thin stock that can be found at Wal-Mart, maybe like 4 buck a ream. That said, there is something about receiving mail on CIA letterhead.
I was quite shocked, to say the least. Excited, even. And, admittedly, a little nervous. Was I now the target of the US Central Intelligence Agency? Did I trigger a clandestine surveillance on myself? When I conferred with a friend, I received a strong warning on going forward. I assure them I would be careful. But yet, I still feel a need to press for more infromation.
The agency sent a letter dated May 28th stating they received my request but that they were not able to process the request with the given information. Basically, they were looking for complete information on my identity. Additionally, since they saw it was involving records and information about myself, it would be better served to be processed under the CIA’s Privacy Regulations and the Privacy Act. So, I was instructed to reply to their letter with some basic information of myself and additional data on what I am hoping to receive as responsive information. There was a link to a form I could use to fill out and submit, which I did. I have not gotten a response as of yet. If I do, I’ll be sure to post it and update you all. Beyond this, I have a strong feeling there will be little I can do to uncover evidence, data, or records of such a program and my school’s or my own involvement.
As for the call to my childhood school district, I got some interesting data. Not what I was expecting at all but it does shape my research for sure.
I left a message at the local office (nowhere could I find where I could request records online) and got a call from their business office. Interesting, I helped them uncover that issue as they were trying to tell me they had an easy portal to request access to records to which I replied I could not find them. We spoke a bit on what I was looking for - medical records of any kind to reinforce that these were in fact hearing tests and school records on which would have any indication I was officially considered for or entered into GATE. What I found out about floored me, but not in the way you might be thinking.
Did you know there are no permanent health records kept on file at public schools? At least none at the district I attended. There were none from elementary all through high school. The only thing that is on records is your immunizations which are not retained by the school districts. You can find yours online. If you live in Wisconsin, you can find them on the Wisconsin Immunization Records portal. For us kids of that era, that includes the mass hepatitis ones we all got together. I have distinct memories of being lined up on the school stage and being jabbed. Other than that, nothing. No injury, no illness, no learning challenges, nothing on record as far as mental, physical, or emotional health nor even learning challenges.
I specifically questioned this person on the hearing tests. This person responded that yes they did happen or at least they did recall them going on but they did not keep records and that they only contacted parents if there were any abnormal findings. When I pressed for more information on who conducted these tests, the person said they were likely just school volunteers - parents of other kids just helping out. Thing is, I recall meeting many parents of my classmates at that time and this person was not anyone I rememebered or recognized.
When the person sent me my school records I was shocked to find that it only contained my credits for graduating highschool. When I asked about this, the person replied that the records ‘move on’ as the student progresses through school. Apparently, that means as you get older, your prior school records are destroyed or saved over or replaced. I don’t really know, as I didn’t get specifics on that. That means there is literally no elementary school records I could have access to at this point. Yes, you read that right. If we extrapolate out, there is a chance that no one has anyone true permanent record of ever being enrolled in their public elementary school. I have a box of some of my school stuff, so I will have to go through that again and see what any of that says. This may be my only avenue of confirmation left at this point.
Before we ended our communications (mostly via email), I posed the question if GATE was about to be implemented in our school district and was wiped off the map in Wisconsin due to budget cuts. The response was short but telling. This person indicated that that was likely the case as it was about the time many state funds were changing with the governor Tommy Thompson taking over.
So, what does this all mean? It means that not many people from that era or forward will likely have any record they even attended the schools they remember. Interesting, huh? That schools did engage in unauthorized medical testing without permission and consent of parents or legal guardians or any knowledge of it at all. That these schools did and knowingly engage in placing children in possibly compromising and dangerous situations being sequestered with members of the public alone in rooms, unsupervised - CIA secret testing or not. That health records and relevant incident reports were not kept in any form to be publicly accessible later on, which could have potentially impactful and helpful guidance on the treatment of students as they age out of school and graduate.
While these were not the answer for which I was hunting, I believe this information tells us more about the public school systems and their record keeping systems than maybe the conspiracy I was investigating. That said, it doesn’t quite rule out the possibility of the GATE program still finding a backdoor into public schools. If we take the responses i was given at face value, it would mean that I had random hearing test without permission from my parents for no known reason by a random person. None of my teachers ever talked about those hearing tests to me, only a staff member I think telling us we would be getting tested individually.
I did try this in Google also: “history of GATE programs in Sauk County school mid nineties”. I thought one last effort to uncover more informaiton. The AI response was interesting to say the least. It mentions that programs are mandated since 1985 to accomodate pupils that are identified as ‘Gifted and Talented’ and provides a State Statute reference and definition of ‘Gifted and Talented’. While they indicated Sauk Counties history was not available in the provided sources, they did suggest looking at school district archives, which I already did and turned up zero. Just an interesting footnote in this research.
I’ll keep you all updated if I ever get any response on the CIA / Privacy Act.
It may be worth a hypnotic regression session to uncover more…
What have you uncovered in your own research? Leave a comment to share your memories of GATE in you past and school district.
Night Anxiety Returns
It’s late, the sky is getting dark. Bedtime routine is starting to peak. The littles are about to go down for the night. My mind is overused and exhausted from the day. Then it starts. A sudden spike in emotions hits. It feels like I left a child alone in the rain one county over. A dread like all is lost. The physical heartache of pain that nothing is ok. Suddenly, tears start to crop up. But, looking around, objectively, everything is ok. Maybe two or three hours this could last until either I fall asleep on the couch or I wake up and normalize a bit. Also, I could be so maxxed out I have gone numb. In either case, this reminded me of the times that I reference in my memoir about 14 years ago or so. Could I be gearing up for a resurgence of experiences at night? Will I have another span of time waking up at 3:43 am? I am not sure. But I do know my dreams were very active last night and the night before. In one, we were excavating and drawing out an anatomical map of the remains of a long buried, winged humanoid. In the dream I heard a loud, clear voice say that it was that of a ‘Kaiser Whilhelm Mendhelsson’. Odd, huh? Last night, I was being attacked again by the thing that would compress my chest, hold me in place, and not let me go. This time, I simply laughed at it each time and had no fear, even though I felt real pain, and it would let me go each time. Very strange. Of course, we have all been very stressed with summer and me looking for fulltime work again, so it could all be chalked up to stress overload. But since they exhibit familiar tropes from long ago, I tend to leave my mind open to other interpretation.
New Podcast Appearance
One June 23rd I appeared live on the Paranomoly Beyond Disclosure’s Podcast with Todd W. and Jim H. for their 243rd episode. You can see the original link and post here: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19zE3x68zx/.
I want to extend a huge thanks to the hosts for providing a safe and inviting environment for an experiencer to be vulnerable and talk about their experiences and not be judged. What I appreciated the most is how the episode turned into a three-way conversation and was not me alone droning on. It was conceptual, spiritual, philosophical, and critical. It was a really energizing experience and I am ever so grateful for the opportunity to be a guest.
If you got a chance to see it live - great! Otherwise, check it out and see if there is a recording to watch. I think you’ll enjoy it.
Cat and Tree
One night I woke up after passing out on the couch. I thought I dreampt of a cat fight at our sliding glass door. I saw our dumb cat at the back door sitting on our dining chair staring out our door. It was dark and so I only made out the screen door - nothing beyond it. No noise other than what I heard as I woke up. I do recall the sound of cat claws on screens. I asked that cat what was going on. He kept staring at our door. I turned on the porch light. To my surprise I was met with the backlit outline of our other cat clung to the screen at head level. All for paws with all claws. He had the look of terror in his face and was frozen. I could not get him off without lifting up and out by the scruff. I felt so bad. I was shocked to see him. It turns out later I was told our oldest son had let him out on accident earlier that night. But that was the front door. He was our back in our fenced yard. No idea how he got there. Then I noticed a large branch was down in our yard and the sunshade was down. So odd. No clue how those happened either.
June and July Reading
I was sent a gift copy of the book ‘Paranormal Ranger’ from a good friend and have it as my reading for June and July. Ever since my concussion and COVID round 2 I find it hard to settle in and read so it take me longer to read books than before. That said, I have gotten into this one and have to say it is very good. There is a cool mix of paranormal, memoir, folklore, and historical aspects that is enjoyable for all. The prose are very well written and the messages are clear. The suspense and intrigue are well done and the language and vocabulary are of a sufficient level for me. I’ll put in a final analysis when I am done, but for now, it is a win for me. Check it out here and get yourself a copy via Amazon.
June NUFORC Update
NUFORC shows 2010 reports for June 2025 and 9 are from Wisconsin. I see they have a newer Tier system which categorizes the reports into levels of dramatic sightings vs. human-made explanations. See the list here.
June in UFO History
ON THIS DAY IN 1953. June 30, 1953. 11:45 p.m. An orange-colored, oval object is seen for a period of 20 minutes in the northern sky moving to the southeast by at least 10 personnel of the US 912th Air Control and Warning Squadron stationed at Ramore Air Station radar site [now CFS Ramore], 3 miles west of Ramore, Ontario. «FULL POST HERE»
ON THIS DAY IN 1947. June 29, 1947. H. S. Gauthier and two companions are sitting in a boat on Lake Deschenes, eight miles west of Ottawa, Ontario, when a silent, high-speed object crosses overhead from the north. The object passes them in about 30 seconds, flying at an estimated altitude of 1,200 feet. The object appeared like a “flying stove-pipe”—that is, cylindrical in shape. «FULL POST HERE»
ON THIS DAY IN 1966, June 25, 1966. 9:30 p.m. Several objects violate the air space over the Ellsworth AFB H-01 missile launch facility southwest of Union Center, South Dakota, setting off the vibration sensors. Helicopters attempt to chase the objects, but they fly away quickly to the north-northeast. Other sightings take place over the next week. «FULL POST HERE»
ON THIS DAY IN 1950. June 21, 1950. 1:35 a.m. Control tower operators Cpl. Roger G. Pryor and S/Sgt. Ellis R. Lorimer and airways communications staffer S/Sgt. Virgil Cappuro watch a flying disc speeding at 1,000–1,500 mph over Hamilton Air Force Base [now closed] in Novato, California. «FULL POST HERE»
ON THIS DAY IN 1960. June 1, 1960. Bulkley Griffin, chief of the Worcester (Mass.) Evening Gazette’s Washington, D.C., Bureau, writes a well-reasoned story about the Air Force’s unilateral control of UFO information and its national security implications. «FULL POST HERE»
More Book News!
I have 6 signed copies of the Revised edition in paperback with a glossy cover available for direct purchase. Take a look here for the original post. Or you can email me at experiencertim at gmail dot com to get yourself a copy. These are unique as well because of a slight mispringt in the TOC. Get yours now to add to your UFO book collection.
Keep reading and keep looking up. Remember, the truth is still out there.
Sincerely,
Tim Kaney
Kaney’s Weird Files
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