(suspenseful electronic music) (clock ticking) (thunder rumbling) (clock ticking loudly) (recorder shuffling)
(static buzzing) (clock ticking dully)
(disquieting ambient music) - [Nexpo] What do you do when you find yourself
staring into a space, empty, yet terrifying? It's a phenomenon that's
gained widespread attention in the past couple years due to the nature of our ever-evolving world. Things are changing, closing, being forgotten. And in their wake are derelict spaces that evoke a nostalgic comfort, yet our brains seem to
strangely reject them. We feel like we've been there. We associate memories with images that we've never before
seen, and for some reason, we become stuck in this
trance of eerie fascination. This sensation is caused by liminality, a term deriving from the word liminal, meaning something that's
occupying a position at or on both sides of a
boundary or threshold, something that is within transition. With widespread interest catalyzed by subreddits, forums, and social media, the Internet has served as a vehicle for sharing pictures of
liminal spaces with others. This has effectively paved
the path for various forms of media and online storytelling
to capitalize on it, resulting in a myriad of personal stories, creepypastas, and indie games to play on the uncanniness that comes with them. Contrary to this relatively recent rise in online popularity, though, liminal spaces are nothing new. In fact, the concept of liminality has always existed among us. We've just never really noticed it. (footsteps thumping) (air whooshing) (footsteps thumping) (footsteps crunching)
(thunder rumbling) (air whooshing) What is it about source
maps that unnerve us? Is it the feeling of
loneliness, the emptiness that comes with the very
purpose of a landscape? Or is it perhaps the fact
that we can hear the sounds of other humans carrying out
their lives in the distance, yet in our eyes, we're the only ones here? It's a funny feeling, that, a feeling of confused anticipation as we await people that will never come, contrary to the evidence
around us: buildings, furniture within a cozy
apartment, beer in the fridge. Nobody ever will.
(dreamy ambient music) Throughout the late
'90s and into the 2000s, video games were playing on the trope of liminal spaces without even knowing it. "Garry's Mod" and "Silent Hill" are two that come to mind immediately, and while "GMOD" was more
of an accidental case, "Silent Hill" was a bit more on the nose. Everything about it is
interwoven with the very fabric of what makes liminal
spaces so creepy to us. Isolation is always the forefront with the player being left to explore a town that is years past its time, hospitals, foggy streets, a theme park, a subway system, and even an apartment that
you're unable to leave. Every single game is stuck in
a bizarre state of transition. Nothing is bustling and alive anymore, but you sure as hell
aren't in this place alone. (air whooshing)
(birds calling faintly) (footsteps thumping) (mellow jazz music begins) "No Players Online" is
a 2019 indie horror game that takes this notion
and cranks it up to 10. Everything about it is liminal. We expect the game to be
littered with other players. We have the overwhelming sentiment that the space we're
currently exploring was, at one time, the home to
thousands of multiplayer matches. Yet, we're alone. No players are online but us. And I think this is where
most of the lingering dread of a liminal space stems
from: the anticipation, the expectation that someone
else should be around, as is life, yet there isn't. It's the foundational
rejection of loneliness that's hardwired into our brains, and when this loneliness is portrayed through art and even photos of reality, that is where the uncanniness sets in. (mellow jazz music fades) (door clicks) You know, autophobia is something inexplicably and terrifyingly unique. And you never really know
it until you're in it. (low uneasy music begins) At school after hours. At a hotel pool when no one's around. The very last one in a shopping mall. There are so many cases
for situations like this, and the beauty of the
Internet is that we're able to share pictures and stories
of spaces that terrify us, together. Whether it's through gaming or reality, liminal spaces and their
play on our natural fear of loneliness are terrifying, and regardless if we ever
figure out why they're so eerie, it's irrefutable that
they'll always persist in the dark depths of the Internet. They're something of
a reminder, a memento, a lens into a world that
is and will always be nothing but a burning, fading, and ever-so-distant memory. (low uneasy music fades)
(static fizzling) (cheerful elegant music)
(static fizzling) (vocalist singing indistinctly) (rain pattering) It's late at night. You're cozied up in your room watching creepy YouTube videos. They are seemingly endless, but there is one channel that
I'd like to highlight tonight. It's called FlorecitaDreams, and at first glance of their channel, we can notice the absurdity
with their thumbnails. Their content is just as cryptic and heavily resembles various ARGs that we've encountered in videos past. (slow gentle music) (audio warbling) It's in Spanish, but that doesn't discount
how strange it is. At the end of the day, though,
you might be wondering, why are we talking about this tonight? (computer pings)
(tense ambient music) In the midst of scouring
for topics to cover, I was sent an email by
a person named Joshua. It linked to this channel, and their explanation of
it states the following: "After Spanish cartoons
broadcasted in Mexico, there used to be a PSA
showing missing people with their pictures and info on their last known whereabouts. One girl that showed up consistently was named Selene Delgado, and her only picture was
of very poor quality, eerie, and her features were very vague. The actual video's in Spanish,
but from what I understand, they suggest that she
doesn't actually exist and was artificially made
specifically to appear unsettling so people would better
remember the broadcast." Interesting. The video in question was uploaded on September 2nd of this year and is titled "Cinetica
del Patron Selene Delgado." Let's have a look. (narrator speaking in Spanish) (discordant eerie music) All right, it seems bizarre,
but they're onto something. At the beginning of the video, Florecita seems to assert the hypothesis that the face of a woman
named Selene Delgado, quote, "kinetically fits non-human, AI-generated faces
using the constant Tau." They go forth to explain
the uncanny valley and how facial reconstructions
cause uneasiness in those that encounter them. Following this, they
superimpose various faces with the resulting images off
to the right, and among these, Selene's face is shown mashed
up with various others. They display a few examples
that are admittedly eerie and ultimately argue that the identity of this Selene Delgado is,
as Joshua stated, artificial. Now, this is a lot to unpack, but considering that it's something that we haven't looked into prior, I found it worth considering. So who is Selene Delgado, and how did she become wrapped up in this eerie shroud of urban legend? (thoughtful mysterious music) Throughout the 1990s,
there was a TV segment run on Channel 5 in Mexico
named Servicio de la Comunidad, or Channel 5 Community Service. As Joshua stated, it was a TV spot that ran between children's cartoons in hopes of spreading the word about various missing persons. The segments, contrary to
what we're gonna discuss later tonight, actually contain voiceovers giving various details and last locations of missing persons, and at first glance, these are mostly tame. When you really look into it, though, the eerie nature of these TV spots stems from when you consider how Channel 5 handled the case of just one person: Selene Delgado. Over the years, her face
would reportedly pop up in nearly every Servicio
de la Comunidad segment, utilizing this exact
same low-quality photo. There were times where they give a bit of background info about her, like the fact that she
went missing on April 22nd and was just 18 years old. (newscaster speaking in Spanish) But what cemented her case into the minds of thousands of people came nearly 30 years later. - Time for lunch, munch, munch. Time for a munch, crunch, crunch. (distorted voice speaking indistinctly) (shrill menacing music) - [Nexpo] It goes without saying that the videos you're currently viewing are very obviously works of fiction. They were part of a
stunt pulled by Channel 5 on their official Twitter
page throughout 2019 and 2020. During this time, they were known to upload obscure, eerie
videos to their account only to delete them just hours later. It was an antic that
ultimately catalyzed their rise to the Twitter trending
page on numerous occasions and also drives home the point that this real-world TV channel is not above messing with you. In the midst of these posts, though, came one that involved a familiar name. This one. Posted after midnight on
the 20th of February 2020, we can clearly make out the name Selene. Given that she was what many presumed to be an actual missing person that was constantly broadcasted on a kids' channel over the span of years, it gave birth to a new
sort of urban legend that the FlorecitaDreams
channel was entertaining: the hypothesis that this
person is potentially not real. The major argument stems
from her missing photo. Many have stated online that it appears common, basic, and fake. This, combined with the
lack of any online record that has ever been
found about her, has led to a breeding ground of
online hearsay, creepypastas, and hoax videos to command
the conversation about her. (static buzzing) (tone blaring)
(static buzzing) Now, when I stumbled upon
this video in my research, I, among many others, had initially assumed that
this footage was real. Keeping in mind the
other hoaxes and pranks that Channel 5 has played on its viewers, combined with the unconventional nature of these broadcasts being
played on a kids' channel, I didn't doubt that they'd
pull a prank like this to make her name stick with you. Ultimately, though, as is the case with many works of media online, this, too was a hoax. But that doesn't discount
the weirdness of the story. The way that Channel 5 has
and is handling her name makes it seem like she's
nothing but a tall tale. And unfortunately, given
the nature of the Internet, many have run with this notion. Regarding the real case of Selene Delgado, unfortunately, nothing
has ever come of it. She has, as far as anyone
knows, never been found, and her case has sat that way for decades. Personally, I think Selene Delgado, contrary to the rumors online, is indeed a real person. The argument presented
about her having a fake face just doesn't seem plausible. Her image is low-quality
because it was the '90s. Her record likely did exist,
but was never digitized. The uncanniness of this image
would be exponentially higher if this actually were fake, and it just doesn't
make sense for a channel to slip a random fake
person in their broadcast that would most likely never
have been noticed back then. To me, Selene Delgado was a real person, a real person with a story that likely never received
any sort of closure and a person that is
now forever wrapped up in the realm of urban legend. But of course, that's just my conjecture.
(audio warbles) (tones beeping) (sirens blaring) (solemn ambient music) From the span of April
8th to April 9th, 2015, a devastating superstorm would wreak havoc on much of the central United States. 27 tornadoes ranging from EF0 to EF4 would touch down within
the span of just 36 hours, resulting in immense
devastation throughout Kansas, Missouri, Texas, Oklahoma, and Illinois. While most of them were
rated as an EF1 or lower, by far the most destructive would impact a small
rural town named Fairdale. Reaching wind speeds of
up to 200 miles per hour, this 41-minute storm surge
would ultimately become infamous as one of the worst natural disasters to impact the region in nearly 25 years. (residents shouting indistinctly) (car whooshing) (thunder rumbling) (car humming) - [GPS] In a half mile, turn right on... - [Nexpo] On the evening of April 9th, an 85-year-old man named Clarence Schultz had just wrapped up dinner
with his wife Geraldine. He was in the other
room getting cleaned up when she suddenly called
him back into the kitchen. "Look out the window," she claims, and when he does, Clarence
would come face-to-face with a scene straight out of a nightmare. Immediately, he heads
upstairs to grab supplies while she stays behind,
and while up there, he pulls out his cell phone
to take a quick video. What he was unaware of, though, was that while taking this footage, the tornado wasn't heading away, but rather straight towards them. (air whooshing) (vegetation rustling) (audio crackling) (glass shattering) (solemn ambient music) Clarence Schultz didn't
make it back to his wife. But thankfully, he did
make it out of this alive. Geraldine, however, wasn't quite so lucky. In the moments following the video, the storm destroyed the Schultz home, and Clarence resultingly found himself caught in a pile of rubble. "All of a sudden it kind
of got quiet," he recalls. "I asked myself, 'Are you dead?' No, you can't hurt when you're dead. And I hurt." Geraldine Schultz was one of
two deaths and eleven injuries that were caused by the
events from April 9th. The other? Their neighbor and longtime
friend named Jaqueline Klosa. Klosa reportedly had a
massive fear of spiders, which her daughter claims is
why she didn't seek refuge in her own basement. In total, over $19,000,000
in damages were reported, and the aftermath footage
embodies the devastation that was left behind. Thankfully, a storm of this magnitude hasn't struck the area since then, and after a grueling,
years-long recovery effort, life in Fairdale is mostly
back to normal today. For the residents of
this small town, though, the scars from that night
will remain everlasting. While the incident in Fairdale is just one of hundreds
of natural disasters that have happened over the years, the resident stories and the
media that accompany them paint a picture that is humbling. It takes you there, in a way, conveying the tragedy that
nobody could have predicted. Today, Fairdale stands strong. They are a community that banded together, and while a similar storm
hasn't happened since then, they remain vigilant in
case something like this ever happens again. (static fizzling)
(tone ringing) - [Dispatch] 911, what are you reporting? - [Caller] Yeah, my house
is getting robbed right now. (tone ringing) (soft elusive music) - [Nexpo] On December
1st, 2019 in Michigan, a man named Christopher
Neal, his wife Haley Coe, and their two-year-old daughter Charlotte were watching TV at home. The family had just moved
here from North Texas, so they were still getting settled in. All things considered,
the night was going okay, and nothing was out of the ordinary. At around 10:00 p.m., the three hear a loud noise
at the front of the house. It sounds like an William, and so Chris heads to investigate while Haley stays behind to call 911. It was at this point when
Chris would encounter an unknown man standing
near his front door, and immediately, he, too,
calls the authorities. The following audio takes place the moment the call center answered. - [Dispatch] 911, what is the
location of your emergency? - [Christopher] Yes, there is
a man in my house right now. - [Dispatch] What is... Hold on. Stop for a second. - [Christopher] Why?
There's a man in my house. - [Dispatch] I need you to
give me your address first. - [Christopher] 6300 Proctor
Avenue. Comtock Township. - [Dispatch] Is that a
house or an apartment? - [Christopher] House at
the end of the street. Why are you in my house, bro? - [William] Tell her
I need to talk to her. - [Christopher] She's
on (beep) speakerphone. Why are you in my house, though? - [Dispatch] Sir, how many
other people are in your house? - [Christopher] It's me,
my wife, and our daughter. - [Dispatch] How old is your daughter? - [Christopher] She's two. - [Dispatch] Two? Okay. Do you have any idea who he is? - [Christopher] We do not... No. Let my wife upstairs, okay? (William and Haley speaking indistinctly) - [William] I'm not gonna harm you guys. All right? I promise. Shake my hand. My name's William Jones. You can go. I'm not gonna hurt you. - [Dispatch] Where is
William at right now? - [Christopher] He's standing
next to me in my hallway. - [Dispatch] Okay, are
we still on speakerphone? - [Christopher] We still
are. He's right here. - [Dispatch] Okay. William. - [William] Yes, ma'am. - [Dispatch] William. Okay. Can Christopher and his wife
and daughter step outside? - No.
- What? - Ma'am?
- What? - They're safe.
- They're safe? - They're safe.
- Okay. - [William] They're gonna
stand right here with me. - [Dispatch] What are
you doing in their house? - [William] I told you,
there were shots fired. - [Dispatch] Where were shots fired at? - [William] Over on Old 37th. (indistinct) - [Dispatch] What's that? - [William] Step in here with me, man. - [Christopher] No, I
ain't going anywhere. - [William] Dude, go
in there with me, man. - Bro-
- Come right now, please. - William. William.
- Yes, ma'am? - [Dispatch] What are you... No. What are you trying to have them do? - [William] He's coming in
the room with me, that's it. - [Dispatch] Why's he
going in the room with you? - [Christopher] Why are
you locking that door? Don't lock that door, bro.
- You all right, man. I give you my word, man, you're straight. - [Christopher] I get what you're saying, but you got two guns, bro. - You're safe.
- You've got two guns? (William speaks indistinctly) - William. William.
- I'm not doing anything. - You're in my house, man.
- I'm sorry, man. - [Dispatch] William, listen to me. - [Christopher] Why are you
here in the first place? - [Dispatch] William,
can you listen to me? - [William] Yes, ma'am. - [Dispatch] I need you
to put those guns down, because I've got officers
that wanna help you. I have officers that wanna
help you and keep you safe, so I need you to put those guns down. - [William] Who are you, ma'am? - [Dispatch] I'm 911.
I've got help for you. I need you to put those guns down so that they can get you
the help that you need. - [William] I want police
here so I can leave safe. - [Dispatch] The police
are there, William. The police are there. - No, they're not.
- They are there. - No, they're not.
- They're there. I've got a lot of deputies there. - [William] Look, man. Listen. I'm not harming you, I promise. My word. My life just got (beep) threatened, man. - I hear you, bro.
- You understand me? - I hear you.
- I got threatened last night. - Okay, I get you, bro.
- I'm not harming you. Or your children, or your wife. (tone ringing) - [Joe] William. - [William] Yes. - [Joe] Hey, this is Joe from
the Sheriff's Department. How are you, man? - [William] Slide your badge
(beep) underneath the door. Don't come through that door. - [Joe] Okay. We're not gonna come
through the door, man, but I just wanna talk to you
and find out what's going on. - [William] Don't come through that door. Slide your badge (beep)
underneath that door, man. - [Joe] Well, I'm not
even up by the door, man. I'm outside the house,
way outside the house. - [William] No, you're not. Stop playing games with me, man. - [Joe] What's got you
all worked up today, man? (tone ringing) - Hello?
- Hello? - Hello?
- Is this Christopher? - No, Christopher's dead.
(phone clatters) (soft elusive music) - [Nexpo] Contrary to the man's claim, Chris wasn't dead the moment he said it. Minutes later, though, he would be. After hearing the gunfire, police forced their way into the home. During their advancement,
three officers were shot and would sustain
non-life-threatening wounds. (William shouting)
(others chattering) - [Joe] Hey. What's your name, man? - [William] Slide your
badge underneath the door! - [Joe] Hey, this is Joe out here, okay? Man, we don't want anything bad to happen. We're not gonna hurt you. - [William] Listen! Listen to me, please! You're wrong! Slide your badge underneath the door! - [Joe] Say that again, man? - [Nexpo] Once they
charged towards the bedroom that Jones was hiding out
in, they'd encounter Neal lying on the floor, with
the bedroom window ajar. Outside of it was Jones trying to flee. However, his efforts were in vain. William Jones ultimately
faced 19 felony charges and was accused of
killing Christopher Neal and wounding three officers. He was reportedly well-known
in surrounding counties as a thief and home
invader, and astonishingly, just five days prior to the murder, he was released from jail after serving time for a previous offense. During his arraignment, his defense attorney
maintained his innocence, claiming that Jones was running
from an attacker that night and ultimately sought
refuge in the Neal home. I think the 911 audio speaks for itself. However, it'll ultimately be up to a jury in his eventual trial. Since the incident,
Haley Coe has given birth to the couple's second child
and is now raising them alone. With this, their oldest
daughter will be forever scarred by the loss of her dad that night, and their youngest will never know him. Christopher Neal died
protecting his family, protecting his family
from a lifelong criminal, and no matter if Jones is sentenced to life in prison with justice served, the Neal family will
forever have to live on without a husband and without a father. (static buzzing) - Average of a missing
persons investigation... - [Voice] Not a whole lot to go on, and that is why we need... - [Nexpo] Saturday evening, 1989. Central and North America are recovering from a recent Category 5 hurricane. United States President-elect
George H.W. Bush is preparing to swear
in as the 41st president with just under a week to go, and on channel 5 up in Chicago, Illinois, an NBC-affiliated news
station by the name of WMAQ is wrapping up its nightly programming. In relation to the other two, a news station broadcast
keeping up the status quo doesn't seem all that
notable or interesting. And to be honest with you, it isn't. Rather, it's what transpired afterwards that's piqued my interest. It's extremely subtle, but after being discovered
relatively recently, the footage you're about to watch has opened the door to a mystery that's perplexed a small but
growing corner of the Internet. Have a look.
(recorder clicking) - [Announcer] This is WMAQ-TV channel 5 NBC television in Chicago. We now leave the air and wish
you a pleasant good morning. (bell ringing) ("The Star-Spangled Banner") - [Nexpo] It's a rarity
that something as simple as a missing notice can fill
me with such uneasiness, and I think it's because
this TV spot is so obscure. This image is incredibly low quality, and there's effectively
nothing to complement it. No height, weight, or age. No information about
where they were last seen. No family contacts, no
investigative progress reports, no voiceover to fill you
in, absolutely nothing. This just exists as a late-night
post-broadcast info screen shown at a time when most viewers likely directed their attention elsewhere. All we're left with is
the name Joanna Lopez, a poorly-lit photo of her face, and a now-defunct phone number
that's been found to lead to the youth division of the
Chicago Police Department. Something about the way this
was presented just seems off, and considering the current
online discourse about it, I'm not alone in feeling this way. (recorder clicking) - [Announcer] You're
watching NBC 5 Chicago. - That is very difficult. ("The Star-Spangled Banner") - [Nexpo] Two years later, in 1991, WMAQ would once again wrap
up their nightly broadcast. In a strikingly similar
and almost random fashion, Joanna's missing notice
would be played once more. (static buzzing) (tone droning) Considering the
blink-and-you'll-miss-it nature of the notice this time,
it, too, fell on deaf ears. There was again no
supporting info about her, no updates that might've cropped
up in the prior two years, still no age, height, weight, nothing. Just this obscure photo with the word MISSING
plastered on top of it. Given how long it was
since the last update combined with the implied lack of any progress in the search, it was beginning to seem that the chances of finding Joanna were
dwindling as the days went by. And to date, not a single other update
had ever come of this. Joanna Lopez has presumably
never been found. (rain pattering) (mouse clicking)
(thunder crackling) In late 2020 and into 2021, Joanna's mysterious missing notice would finally be shared to Reddit. Two posts are known to have
spearheaded the conversation: one by a u/Lukinspire and
another by a u/ChrisPolygon. While Lukinspire's came first,
I wanted to focus on Chris's, as this one prompted the most discussion. Simply titled "The Very
Obscure Disappearance of Joanna Lopez," their post
in r/UnresolvedMysteries outlines most of what we've
already touched on so far. They go forth to claim that they've looked through various missing persons resources, however have found absolutely
no information about her. Considering this is a subreddit devoted to discussing the unsolved, others quickly chimed in with theories on what they think might've happened. "I think she was a runaway
and was found pretty quick. Maybe she ran away again in 1991 and they used the same picture. 1989 and 1991 are not that far apart and if she was in foster care I doubt they had
up-to-date pictures of her. Such a strange case." "Wow, this one is strange. I found the number listed here as the youth division of the
Chicago Police Department. So on the face of it, the
number is in fact legit. I don't have the guts to
call it but it's there." "Sounds like she escaped some kind of juvenile detention or probation." "If it weren't for the reappearance of the photo two years later, I'd be inclined to believe
that's exactly what happened. But then she was found and returned with her case never having a chance to escalate to federal involvement. The fact that it aired again in 1991, however, makes me think
she was never found, and in the pre-Internet days, her case simply slipped
through the cracks. I hope I'm wrong." Throughout all of these, though, one comment stood out among the others. Posted by a u/proudeveningstar,
they claimed the following: "Came across this post late last night and it creeped me out so much that I couldn't sleep for a while. It really is so sad to think that a person could slip
through the cracks like that and seemingly vanish altogether. I've been scouring the Doe Network for unidentified Jane Does in and around the
Chicago area all morning, and the only possible case I
could find is from 1994, here. I really hope we can find closure on this. My heart breaks for her." Interesting. Heading to that link presents us with a Jane Doe, 276UFIL. She was found deceased in an alleyway, naked from the waist down. It goes without saying that our
working evidence is tenuous. However, lining up this photo
with that of Joanna Lopez while considering the time and location in which she was found, postulating that this woman is Joanna isn't out of the realm of possibility. I've done some digging on
various missing persons from around the time period and have also come up short with results. There are quite a few
from around Illinois. However, their dates of
discovery don't quite line up with the two missing broadcasts. It seems to me that u/proudeveningstar has found the most plausible visual match out of nearly all the 1990s
Jane Does from the area, but even this leaves us
with much to be desired. At the end of the day,
the case of Joanna Lopez is one that is undoubtedly haunting. Barring how obscure the photo itself is, the lack of information, the visuals that
accompanied the broadcast, and the fact that there
is virtually no discussion or record about her ever existing aside from this brief
video archive online, this case is enveloped
in absolute mystery. I implore you to join the
discussion in finding this girl, and if you know or remember
anything about her, myself and countless others
are all ears about it. In the worst-case scenario, we won't get anywhere and
this mystery will remain. But the best case, reaching
any sort of closure, that is what I'm aiming for.
(low enigmatic music) (soft cryptic music) The Internet harbors a
vast abyss of content that is perplexing, intriguing,
and immensely haunting: a community thriving off sharing derelict areas around the world, an Internet urban legend
that engulfed the name of someone who has never been found, an unforeseen natural disaster that wreaked havoc on a community, a 911 call in the midst
of a home invasion, and a missing persons broadcast that never found a resolution. Thank you so much for tuning in to this special Halloween edition of "Disturbing Things
from Around the Internet." I hope you all enjoyed this, and if you have any eerie discoveries that you'd like to share
for a future installment, feel free to fill out my new tip line or shoot me an email at
dtfaisubmissions@gmail.com. Once again, thanks so much for watching. I'll see you in the next one. I love you all, and happy Halloween. (introspective music begins) (introspective music continues) (introspective music fades)
Literally came here from that video haha
Gonna watch this later
I didn’t even know I was into liminal spaces and reality until I saw that video. After that I joined two subs including this one and really enjoying it.
I love him I'm so glad he's covering it