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A
Going south. And so I did a lot of reflecting just on myself, on religion. I questioned if I even believed in a God, to be honest. And it was just a dark, kind of a dark time for me. And in this I started to really see like how occultism has totally affected a modern day church. And no one talks about it, which is what kills me.
B
Okay guys, Andrew Smith from Smithereens here today. Got some interesting topics we're gonna dive into.
A
I appreciate it. Thanks for having me on.
B
Absolutely. And you're a paramedic. I didn't know that.
A
Yeah. And you know, I'm doing the double life paramedic and some ghost hunting.
B
Just a little side quest for you.
A
Yeah, dude, side quests are the best.
B
When did the ghost hunting start?
A
So I started ghost hunting probably about two years ago. I started out in California, did some photography, knew some different influencers and that kind of thing out there. And I, they were like, hey, you should start making tiktoks. And this was when Tick Tock was trending. And I was like, absolutely not. No way I'm doing that. One thing led to another, started making Tick Tocks. And then one day when I moved out to Arizona, I was like, you know, people always talk about skinwalkers and cryptids and all these monsters.
B
Yeah.
A
What if I went out there and did all the things you're not supposed to whistle in the woods? All these things. So I just did it as a joke and it blew up. So it's probably been about two years of taunting the paranormal.
B
Wow. And anything that changed your perspective?
A
Yeah. So honestly, like it started as a joke and it's still somewhat of, of a joke when you look at it. But recently Carl Crusher. Yeah, I went out with him out to Mount Wilson Ranch. Mount Wilson Ranch out in Nevada. And while I was out there, I was super skeptical. I was like, there's no way we're going to see anything. We're not going to experience anything. I don't believe it. And we were sitting in a old western style saloon and he's like, I'm gonna go over in the other room, I'm gonna taunt the paranormal, kind of see if I can meditate and conjure something up. And I was like, okay, man, like I'll, I'll be over here. And so I'm sitting there for about 10 minutes. Dude, I kid you not. I look in this hallway and I see like a black figure, like a tall figure walk right by the window.
B
Wow.
A
And I was like, oh crap, what was that? And at the same time, Carl stands up and he's like, hey man, did you see that? And that's when I was like, holy crap, that's nuts. There was something out there, right? And we were in the middle of nowhere. And if you don't know about Mount Wilson Ranch, for anyone listening, it's kind of tied to Skinwalker Ranch. Bigelow and a lot of the scientists that went to Skinwalker Ranch actually started at Mount Wilson Ranch. So there's a lot of lore behind it. But yeah. Anyways, this figure passes by, we go outside, investigate. I'm like, holy crap, what did we see? He says that he saw it go straight towards my bedroom. Which made it all the much more worse, right? So we go investigate. Nothing's there. I wasn't too, too worried. I didn't really believe that we had seen anything. I wasn't really sure. So we had a thermal imaging camera. And he's like, hey, we should pull up the, the cam and see what we got. And I was like, no way, no way we got anything. Dude, I kid you not, 100%. There is a tall figure watching me in the hallway. And you can see it on the thermal imager. You can see it peak and then peek back.
B
Wow.
A
And then out the window you can see a full body apparition pacify. So there was two separate things. And I could tell you like I 100 did not fake it. And then he has a thing called a MUPAS device which I think he's talked about a little bit before. And it essentially like, from my understanding, it looks at like microwave rays, all the different ghost hunting paranormal things, right? So we took a look at it, dude, I kid you not. At the exact timestamp that we saw it on the camera, everything spiked into the positive. But I believe it was the gamma. It spiked into the negative. And Carl was like, dude, I have never in my life ever experienced that. I've never seen that. So he was baffled, I was baffled. I slept with the lights on the whole night, terrified. But that was, that was one of the experiences. And then also with Carl, this is honestly probably the worst. So my content really centers around looking for skinwalkers. The paranormal is a, I guess a side quest of the side quest. But I really started out with skinwalkers. Cause I just don't believe it to be real. And so Carl brought me to this, this area. It's private property. He knows the owner. There's been some occult things that have gone on there, like sacrifices. He's found tarot cards with weird, weird markings, blood, all sorts of things out there. And so Carl invited me out and he's like, hey, we're gonna go out there. I know the owner. We have to be very respectful because if you've seen my stuff, sometimes I'm a little out there. I say skinwalker multiple times. He's like, we got to be very respectful in how we approach this. He's like, this is dangerous area. Things have happened here. So I was, I went out there, he told me about a guy that was out there probably a few months back and he, he was working a pump house and found a body outside of a truck that was in drive. And it was really weird. The story didn't add up, just, it didn't make sense. The truck was in park, wasn't damaged, pushed into a bush. Guy was found on the ground with his hands up with no clothes on, scratches all over him. And the pump house worker was Shout.
B
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A
Is actually like, hey, to the cops, I think this was a skin walker. And obviously they're like, okay, man, whatever, right? So anyways, we're out there probably about 10 o'clock at night and we're hiking. And dude, I kid you not, you get that feeling of like something watching you. Chills, just absolute chills. And we look up on the hillside and Carl's like, holy crap, do you see it, man? And I don't see it. So I'm like, are we like do we see something? Like, what's going on? Like, trying to figure out, do I need to be, like, super dramatic? Like, what's going on? And I don't see it. And probably about 30 seconds later, up on the hill, there's a green set of eyes just staring at us. And like, animal eyes are reflective. You'll find with, like, a bright lumen flashlight, you'll see reflections of eyes all the time. But the thing that was really bizarre about this, there was no light on it. It was just glowing.
B
Whoa.
A
So that really threw me off. And I was kind of just trying to process, like, what am I seeing with my eyes right now? What's going on? So I shine my really bright flashlight at this set of eyes. It's completely translucent. There is nothing there. As soon as I pull the flashlight away, you can watch them pop up and they're just watching. So we were like, what do we do? So he pulled out his night vision camera. We recorded. We ended up still exploring through the area at night. We're like, well, something's out here. Like, well, maybe we'll get proof of it.
B
I would have dipped.
A
Dude, we should have. I was thinking that the whole time we're walking, I was like, carl, is this a good idea? And he's like, we're fine. We'll be fine. I'm like, okay, I'm in. But so later that night, we got back to his place and looked at the. The night vision camera. And you can see it my videos. There is literally just a set of green eyes. And he overexposed it later. And sure enough, totally translucent. Just a glowing set of eyes. You can see the rock behind it in full detail. You can see straight through it. And then I woke up that night about 3, like 12 in the morning, which there's all sorts of, like, concepts and thoughts about that being the way witching hour and all the weird things happening. And, dude, I kid you not, had a nightmare and just locked eyes with whatever the heck this being was. And when you do some research on skinwalkers, they actually say if you lock eyes with it, that essentially, like, it's bound to you.
B
Okay.
A
From my understanding. So find out. I haven't had any experiences since that. That was probably a few. Probably four or five months ago.
B
No nightmare since.
A
No nightmare sense. But I don't know, man.
B
That's insane.
A
So it's kind of balancing it, right? It's like on one end. I don't believe it. But when you see things like that with your own eyes that you can't explain.
B
Yeah.
A
Really difficult afterwards to try to find some sort of, like, logical.
B
Yeah, because this conflicts with your religion too, right?
A
100. And I. I have. So I have thoughts, you know, I'm a strong Christian. I've grown up religious, Grown up in a religious household. And I. I find, you know, I read the Bible and I find the Bible to be true. So a hundred percent, the idea of a skinwalker kind of doesn't 100% coincide with my belief system. So I kind of did a lot of, like, reflecting and reading and just straight up thinking, trying to figure out what these things could be. And when you look in the Bible, it's interesting because there's a lot of demonic beings. There's talks of angels and demons in heaven, hell and all these things. Right. And my thought process is like, if you look at Greek mythology, you actually see, like, Zeus and Hades and all these ancient deities and ancient gods. And my thought process is these things existed. I just think the interpretation as to what they are is kind of what we're debating. Right. Some religions find it to be Zeus. I almost see those things as possible angels or demons, depending on what they are. And I think people just have a different concept of what it is with their core belief system. So skinwalkers, honestly, I think are. I hate to say I think skinwalkers are real because that's really been my whole push, is that they're not.
B
Yeah.
A
But I think they are. I just think they're demonic. And I don't. I don't think skinwalkers are really like their own thing. I just think that, you know, native cultures have called demonic entities skinwalkers for years and years and years. And we've kind of built these stories around it, which is super interesting to think about.
B
Yeah. I'm just fascinated how they're all, like, in one area.
A
Right.
B
That's the interesting thing to me.
A
And it's super like. Do you know much about skinwalker?
B
I just know about the ranch. I just know they're all over there. Right.
A
Yeah. So you've. I mean, a heavy concentration of sightings are all around, like, native land. And it specifically stems out from, like, the Navajo Nation, which I live about two hours from. And the Navajo Nation goes up into the Unita reservation, which I believe is where skinwalker ranch is. And it kind of. They all kind of interconnect in a sense. But basically a skinwalker, from my understanding, is kind of like making a deal with the devil and kind of like my belief system. Right. So they Say you have to commit a very heinous, awful atrocity. So it could be things as dark as, like sacrificing a family member. Really awful things. Essentially you do these things with the promise of power and then they believe that these, these deities in their culture basically grant you these evil powers and then allow you to shape shift into different creatures. And basically the whole idea of skinwalkers is someone that desires power, someone that desires to be able to, you know, malevolently torment people, could deal with the devil. And there they are.
B
That's some dark stuff.
A
Yeah. I mean, when you really look into skinwalkers and the cryptid, it, it's super dark and it kind of goes into like occultism. Um, I mean, it's, it's heavily rooted in occultism, which is. Makes it all the much more terrifying.
B
Have you looked a lot into occultism?
A
Yeah. So it's crazy to me because I think in our modern day society, I think occultism has taken such a heavy root on quite literally everything around us. No matter what your belief system is, right. You could believe in God, you could not believe in God, you could believe in anything. But I think that the concept of occultism is everywhere. And I kind of, when I started to do my research into skinwalkers, I started to see that, right? I was like, okay, skinwalkers come from occultism, but where else is this present in society? And I mean, it is in my opinion, quite literally infiltrated everywhere around us. Wow. I mean, if you look at the government, I find myself to lean more on a conservative aspect, but. Conservative, liberal. I don't care what side of the table you sit on. When you look at the things that happen all around us, it's terrifying. Look at Hollywood. I mean, look at all of the. I hate to bring it up, but like the Diddy stuff, all of these different things. There's some really bad things, Epstein. All these things that happen in our society that have been happening for years and only now are these things even moderately getting brought to light. It's terrifying when you think like, if occultism is so prevalent in our society and our governments and everyone around us is operating in it, it really kind of skews the morals, in my opinion.
B
I know you feel like it's infiltrated like modern day religion too, right?
A
Oh, dude. So I went through a time in my life, I went through a relationship and I ended up going south. And so I did a lot of reflecting just on myself, on religion. I questioned if I even believed in a God, to be honest. And it was just a dark, kind of a dark time for me. And in this, I started to really see, like, how occultism has totally affected a modern day church. And no one talks about it, which is what kills me. You know, Christianity and religion as a whole have gotten a really bad rap. And I totally understand that from a religious standpoint, I get it. It's become a lot of spewing of hate. And it's just. That's not what religion or Christianity is about. But where I really started to see it is there's actually a church out in Reading, California, and it's like megachurch. Mega. I mean, mega church to the maximum.
B
They.
A
They reach as far to South Africa.
B
Wow.
A
International. Probably one of the biggest churches. And if you actually look at like modern day churches, all of the music that they use, worship songs and things like that come from this church. And so the church's name is Bethel. And I actually used to think they had some really good stuff. I listened to it and I was like, wow. They really talk about, like all these really positive things and being happy and successful, successful and all these cool, you know, I want to be happy, I want to be successful. Started to look into it more. And essentially their belief system is kind of like, all right, if you believe in God, right, You believe. If you get cancer or you get ill or something bad happens to you, it's your fault because you didn't believe in God enough. And so they kind of put it back on to the person. And then when you actually look into their practices, they did. I forget where it was. I read an article, but they basically took three witches and they said, hey, go to this Bethel church. Just sit in for a service and see what you think. And they came out. We're like, this is quite literally what we practice, like with all of our different witch rituals and things we do. They're like, it's literally the same thing we do. They're just putting a Christian name on it. And it's like, if it walks like a T, a duck, talks like a duck, it's a duck. It doesn't matter what you call it. And so it's interesting when you look at these churches, they've literally. They had this huge thing where they had. I believe it was like a worship pastor's daughter had passed away. They brought the casket into the church and sat there and were like, praying for her to come back to life, which is noble, right? Of course you would want God to bring a child back to life. That's noble. But they Were doing these weird ritualistic things like hoping to bring her back to life, which kind of goes into like necromancy in a sense sense. They've had gold dust rain down from the ceilings that they totally believe is gold dust. They do kind of the whole thing where they put your hand, their hand on your head and people will like collapse and they're like, like, spirit of God is moving and casting out humans. And like, generally speaking, like, yes, there is demonic activity. People can be demonically possessed. That's not generally how it looks. It's not obvious. It's not. You don't have people collapsing and they don't even say that they're casting out demons. They'll just say the spirit of God's moving through you and you'll see people on the floor collapsing and seizing. And I'm like, that's not God. Whatever that is, is not good. That to me like looks evil. So it's really interesting when you look at these people and these pastors. I mean, one of the pastors name is Bill Johnson. You've got Chris Valatin, you've got pastors of other churches. Benny Hinn is one of the names. Kenneth Copeland is a really, really big name in this kind of mega church movement. And they all like, Kenneth Copeland has come to Bethel. They, they all coincide with each other and work with each other.
B
Wow.
A
But I think these people, if I'm being honest and this is my own opinion, I think these people are probably some of the most evil people in our society today. Because I think it's one thing to. It's one thing to be, you know, per the Bible, live in sin or do things that are maybe not 100 in tune with the Bible, but like the Bible's even very clear on, like if you're not only living in sin, but you're like pushing people the wrong direction towards something totally separate from what the Bible talks about. God literally talks about like, judge. A specific judgment will be cast upon these.
B
Whoa.
A
Which I mean, it's, it's, it's fault in my opinion. It's like being like a false prophet. They're leading people into something I don't think is God. I think it's demonic.
B
Yeah.
A
Sad.
B
And that's where kind of where I draw the line too, when they're intentionally doing that, you know, because they know.
A
Right. And it's like, you know, you can look at some people and they have a wrong idea or maybe have a different interpretation of the Bible or a belief. And I think that that's fairly. You know, I don't think it's dangerous. I think just people have different interpretations. That's okay. But it's a whole nother thing to like consciously know that you're wrong 100% and push people. And, you know, it's, it's kind of funny. Like, I find it very comical. So Chris Valatin, actually, when I think in 2020, he predicted. I say predicted, he said he prophesied that Donald Trump would win the election. He was so sure about it. And the thing the Bible talks about is if you're a prophet of God, you are never wrong, period, end of story. Because if you are wrong, then you're saying that God is incorrect or God didn't speak to you properly and that's not biblical in any sense of the term. And so Trump obviously didn't end up winning in 2020. And Chris Valatin came out, was like, well, I apologize, I got that one wrong. Doesn't mean I'm not a prophet. I just got it wrong. And it was really interesting because a lot of people, you know, some people turned on him, but for the most part, people were just kind of like.
B
Well, yeah, a lot of people thought it was rigged too.
A
Well, and there, and there was that aspect too. And I mean, I totally get that. But it also just is very interesting to think, you know, people will see this. Very obvious, what I find detestable. And people are kind of just shrugged their shoulders, they're like, well, he didn't mean it. You know, it was not intentional. You could be wrong. And it's totally incorrect. So very interesting it is that being.
B
Said, do you believe in any modern day prophets?
A
Honestly, I don't. And I, I don't. It's kind of a difficult realm, right, because there's different viewpoints. In the Bible, they call it cessationism as opposed to continuationism, I believe is what they call it. So I lean more towards a cessationist point of view, and that is like God sent Jesus down, died on the cross for sins. And after that kind of the Bible was in a sense fulfilled, right? The story, the gospel was fulfilled. And now we're essentially living out, you know, what some people think are the final days or the end times or whatever you want to call it, whatever your interpretation is. Whereas continuationism is kind of that, like the gospel in a sense isn't over and we're still working towards something. And it doesn't really make sense because the whole gospel story of Jesus dying on the cross has already been completed. So why would there be a need for, for, in my opinion, I don't see there being a need for like profits nowadays or like that. But I, I wouldn't say that. I 100 would say there is no profits. I just think it's one of those places that's easily manipulated. I mean that's, you look at cults, you look at anything related to that. I mean that's where things go wrong. You know, someone comes out and says, I got a word from God. God told me this. You know, God told me that you're going to give me a hundred bucks right now. And then, you know what I mean? It's so easy, easily manipulatable. And the thing that scares me about people is they'll hear these people talk and they don't question it. They're just like, oh man, he must be right. He's a prophet from God. There's, there's no, you know, we have modern day fact checking. We have modern ways to look into things, to read things on Google, all these things. There's no Google for someone's, you know, profit hearing from God. There's no way to confirm it or deny it.
B
Yeah.
A
And I think that's, you know, the Bible talks about being discerning and being able to discern these things and look at them with a level head. And I think what's sad about modern day society is that people, you know, people aren't able to see that. They just listen to these people blindly and do what they say and eventually find out that they were evil or leading them down a bad path. And it's awful.
B
It really makes me wonder if, if they've mastered mind control.
A
Dude. So like, have you heard of like MK Ultra?
B
Of that.
A
So out at Mount Wilson Ranch, when I was out there, Carl and I were talking and he's pretty, you know, I'd have to talk to him more in depth, but he was kind of telling me he really believes MK ULTRA was real. He believes a lot of that stuff was happening actually out at Mount Wilson Ranch. Wow. I guess they used to have like some like different camps that would come out there with kids and they were thinking like they were totally doing like Stranger Things.
B
Yeah.
A
Saying basically what happened in Stranger Things was happening in those grounds.
B
Well, there was a program right when we were in elementary school, forget what it was called. Remember the name, like all these gifted kids would go to like an area. Right.
A
Totally legit. And again, we just overlook it, whatever. But I think, oh yeah, mind controls so prevalent nowadays and like, you know, and the thing that's interesting about MK Ultra is, you know, we have a little bit of information, but they say a lot of it was basically, you know, burned, thrown away, vanished.
B
Wow.
A
So a lot of its concepts and ideas, but there is some factual evidence of these things happening and some people think, oh, maybe it just magically vanished, went away. And I don't think it did. I think that mind control, I think all of these things are still prevalently happening, like right this second. And we talk about being blind, right? Blind to these things. I mean, look at social media. So social media is mind control, a perfect example. I mean it could, it could literally be MK Ultra. And I know it sounds crazy saying that, but look at a, a common TikTok trend. I mean, look at the whole Tide Pod challenge. Look at all of these different things. They get pushed out and people totally believe and do all of these things. And so I think social media is one of the biggest mind control tools out there. The government uses it, religious institutions use it, influencers use it. It's all about mind control.
B
I could see that because television is 100 MK Ultra, so social media doesn't seem like that much of a stretch to.
A
No, it's, it's just programming. You play it over and over and over again. You push. I mean, look at, you know, how algorithms work. I know how algorithms work. I mean they push out anything and everything. They don't have a moral compass. They don't care what's right, they don't care what's wrong, what's morally right or what's morally wrong. They just push information out.
B
Yeah.
A
So you mean it's. I've seen things in my own life, especially being a paramedic. I've seen things that make my skin crawl and make me uncomfortable. I've seen things in pharmaceuticals, I've seen things, all sorts of just different realms that made me lose a lot of trust in our government and society. And so I don't think it's that far fetched to say the government's not controlling these algorithms, that institutions different, you know, high ranking officials, millionaires, billionaires are controlling some of these things and manipulating us.
B
I mean, look at who's funding it.
A
Right?
B
You know, follow the money always. Same with religion and megachurches. Yes, the money there is insane. When you follow that money trail. You could go to some deep rabbit holes on that one.
A
Oh man, dude, there's some crazy rabbit holes. There's a. It reminds me, there's this, an individual, and this is all my own opinion, but the individual by the name of Mark Driscoll, he had a church, I believe it was Mars Hill out in Seattle. Church crashed and burned. It was a lot of weird stuff going on. Um, from what I researched, not saying this is factual, but from my research, it kind of appeared that he took some money and helped fund one of his books, got in trouble with it from his elder board, which an elder board in a church basically is to kind of keep a pastor in line, make sure he's doing the right things, not manipulating things. Like that whole church crashed and burned, like literally vanished. Ceases to exist to this day, Megachurch gone. And so he fled. He kind of went under the radar. Fled and actually went to Scottsdale, Arizona, about an hour from where I live, founded a church called Trinity Church. And in this church, from my understanding and my own research, it appears that he has no elder board, which basically means money comes in, goes to his feet, and that's it. Wow, the money. And it's. I actually made a comment at one point on Instagram asking him, I said, hey, man, like, where's your elder board? Because I'd love to have a discussion with them. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm, you know, not understanding it fully. But from a, a general population appearance, you know, if money's going to your feet and you have no elder board, from my understanding, to control, it begs the question, like you said, follow the money. I'm like, where does the money go?
B
That is crazy.
A
And like, from my understanding, he's got multiple houses, you know, fancy cars. And generally speaking, from what, you know, growing up, pastors usually don't make massive money. So it's crazy when you follow this money and see where it goes.
B
Like, plus the tax benefits, no taxes on all of that money. Crazy. Like, we have to pay 50%, like half our money, you know, when we make money.
A
It's insane.
B
But when you own a church, you.
A
Keep all of it. You keep every bit of it. It just goes to your feet and choose to do what you want with it.
B
Yeah, that is concerning, man. You see these horror stories with these mega churches. It just doesn't seem to work out when, as the churches get larger and larger, I think they should keep small, right?
A
100. I mean, I, I go to a little small church in Prescott, Arizona, and I love it. It's great. You know, I, I know everyone that's there. I know my pastor, I know the elders, I know everyone involved in the church. I know where the money goes, you know, they're transparent with it. Yeah. As you grow, the transparency fades.
B
Yeah.
A
Once your transparency is gone, I mean, you can get away with whatever you want.
B
Absolutely. What's your next expedition? You got anywhere planned?
A
I don't know. So I've kind of tried to think about what I want to do next. It's funny, I. I've kind of branched a little bit away from skinwalkers, and every time I do, my audience is like, you finally got scared. It's a skin walkers. He's scared. He doesn't want to search for him. I'm like, guys can only search for so many years for one thing. I gotta move on. So, I don't know. I think my thought and what I want to do is I would love to have, like, a show or like a documentary someday, which I'm kind of working towards. Right now. I'm just traveling. Probably start with the country, but traveling the world and, like, just exploring all the different Cryptids and paranormal. Paranormal is cool, but I really dig the Cryptids because they're super fascinating. I mean, you could look at skinwalkers. I don't know if you've heard of Mothman.
B
Haven't heard of that one. Actually.
A
Mothman's really creepy. It's out in West Virginia. They actually have, in Point Pleasant, a little museum for them. A little like, memorial kind of thing. But I believe. Don't quote me. I want to say it was either like the 60s or 70s. There was a bridge that collapsed out in Point Pleasant, and there's an image of the bridge collapse and there's like this floating moth looking man floating in the sky, which, I mean, could be very easily manipulated. Right. But it's super fascinating. They say that he appears around different, like, national disasters in the area. And it gets super dark. It ties in with, like, extraterrestrials and all sorts of weird stuff.
B
Wow.
A
But there is literally like, you know, you hear Mothman and you're like, okay, whatever. Sounds like a joke. You look into the lore of some of these different Cryptids. It is so incredibly dark.
B
I mean, I used to laugh at Bigfoot.
A
Oh, yeah.
B
As I get older, I'm like, wait, this might actually be a reality?
A
Yeah, I actually. There's a monster called the Mongol monster emoji on monster out in Arizona. And it's basically our version of Bigfoot. And so I recently have started going out, seeing if I can find Bigfoot and investigate. And again, it's kind of a joke. It's kind of comical in a sense, but obviously I really put myself out here. I mean, I'm out in the forest at the middle, you know, 1:00 in the morning, just me, myself and I. It's eerie, man. You get out there and you're like these noises, we're. Weird noise, you know. I've been stalked by mountain lions, bears, like all sorts of stuff and that. Honestly, if I'm being honest, mountain lion scares me 10 times more than a skinwalker does that.
B
Because they're silent, right?
A
Completely.
B
They'll just haunt you without you knowing.
A
You won't even know. I had one time. There's a. I mean, bobcats are still somewhat dangerous, but they're small. Literally from like me to you, bush. And one just ran out at me and then he like sidestepped and went away, but I was like, holy crap.
B
Holy crap. You got strapped, right?
A
Oh, yeah. Every time.
B
Yeah. Always. You ran into a bear.
A
I mean, I, I like to think that my, my little nine will save.
B
Me, but you never know with a, with a bear, bear. Thousand pound bear.
A
It'd be over real quick.
B
Yeah. Have you had any scary encounters with wildlife?
A
Honestly? No.
B
That's good.
A
I mean, minus the bobcat running out at me, but you could kick that away if you really need it.
B
Yeah. Snakes scare me too.
A
Dude, we have so many snakes in Arizona.
B
Really?
A
Rattlesnakes.
B
Are they venomous? Oh, snakes.
A
We have. I believe it's the green Mojave rattlesnake. It's like one of the most dangerous rattlesnakes. And if you like, if you see my videos, I'm always climbing into caves and stuff, dude, I swear I'm like sticking my hands in them. Fingers crossed, like, hopefully I don't hear a rattle. Most of the time I don't. I've come across rattlesnakes, but at least.
B
They'Ll warn you, right? With the rattle. Right. I like to think how big were these caves you were exploring? Like you could walk in them.
A
Oh, yeah.
B
Really? Well, I don't know.
A
Went to one out in like Southern Arizona the other day. I want to say it was like three or four miles deep.
B
What?
A
Just. It had a lake inside. There's a full lake of water. Couldn't see the bottom. Like the most dark, eerie, stagnant water I've ever seen in my entire life. Whoa. Couldn't see the bottom. And it went for miles. I mean, there was at one point me and my buddy were just. We're just crawling through all sorts of weird. You know, you have to bend your body and all these Weird shapes.
B
Yeah.
A
We were in there for four hours, five hours. You came out for air. You're like, oh, my God.
B
Nothing gives me more anxiety than those cave crawling videos. Have you seen those?
A
Yes, I've seen, like, Nutty Putty.
B
Is that who's.
A
I was out in Utah and this guy, he climbed into a cave. I want to say he went like head first into this really narrow crevice. Ended up getting wedged in there. And so they tried to get him out and they couldn't. They ended up breaking his legs to try to, like, hoist him.
B
Holy crap.
A
Still couldn't get him out. He ended up. All the blood rushed.
B
Oh, I think I heard about this one.
A
He passed away in the cave. And then they were like, well, I guess we can't get him out. Sear it up, sealed it up with some concrete, and he's still in there.
B
Wow.
A
It's crazy. So it is pretty sketchy going into some of these.
B
I just never understood why people do that. Dude, it's just like 6 inches of room to, like, crawl.
A
It's just a rush. Like when you're in there and squeezing, I don't know, your heart starts pounding.
B
So you've done it?
A
Oh, yeah.
B
Oh, I thought you were walking around in the case.
A
Oh, no, no. Like, some of them you can walk, but like this one that I went to recently. Probably the first mile you're walking and then from there on you're just.
B
Oh, my God, you're wild, bro.
A
It's. It's fun, dude. It's like a rush. I think that's why like, I went into, like, I'm a paramedic, you know, full time paramedic. And then I just do all this on a side. Yeah, I think I just have an adrenaline problem. Yeah, anything with adrenaline, I just.
B
Paramedic is a lot of adrenaline too.
A
Oh, man.
B
You know, so much dam.
A
Yeah.
B
You're living like a double life.
A
Yeah, it's fun.
B
Do you want to pursue one over the other?
A
Honestly, I think I'd rather go the social media route. I love my job. I love being a paramedic. But if someday, if I could transform this into, like something more and, you know, talk about, like, things we've talked about, the occultism and all this different stuff and really spread awareness and I think that'd be my goal.
B
That'd be cool, man. You're really passionate about it. I could tell.
A
It's fun, you know, like I said, I started it and it was a joke. And now I'm kind Of like, you know what, all in on it. Why not?
B
Let's go.
A
It's really funny. I was talking, I matched with some girl on one of the dating apps the other day. She's like, what do you do for work? I was like, well, it's kind of a funny story. I'm like a paramedic, but I also do some, like, social media. And she's. Of course. She's like, what do you do? Like, only fans know. And I was like, I don't know. Is only fans better or saying you're a cryptid hunter, monster investigator guy better?
B
I think the cryptid hunter, probably. I think most people like that.
A
It's always an interesting conversation starter, I bet. Sure.
B
Because there's a lot of people that are believers, I think, you know.
A
Oh, yeah, yeah.
B
Or at least they want to believe in it, right?
A
Well, I think that's the interesting part is, yeah, people want to believe. I think sometimes it's, you know, like, I'm a horror junkie. I love all things things horror, scary movies, like, sign me up for any of it. I've always been like that. But yeah, like, there's kind of a fun even for me. I'm like, I kind of, in Summit, you know, instances, want it to be real. It's gonna fun to be fascinated and like, dive into these really dark stories and there's some fun. I'm like, oh, man. If it's real, the adrenaline all ties.
B
Yeah, it's like a treasure hunt almost.
A
Yeah.
B
I saw one of your videos. Hunting for gins, huh?
A
Yeah.
B
Those things are no joke, dude.
A
Those. And they're super scary. And those are really dart because they can be super. From what I've read, they can be like, harmless or extremely harmful, and there's really no in between. They say taunting them is, like the absolute worst thing you could do. I'd love to go someday, go over, like, the Middle east, because that's where they say they have a lot of those gin sightings and go to, like, just go find a random cave in like, Afghanistan and crawl into it.
B
Oh, my gosh, you're wild, bro.
A
There's. Have you ever heard of the Superstition Mountains?
B
No.
A
So that's one of the things I'm hoping to plan out soon. I'm trying to get a team of people to go out, but there's a thing called the Lost Dutchman gold mine out there. And so back, I want to say, in like the 1800s, there were stories of a gold mine. And so a lot of prospectors would go out there and search for this gold mine. And then I believe it was the Apache tribe was out in that area. So basically they'd go out and try to find the gold, come across Apache natives. Apache natives. And then would fight. Usually the Apaches would win. And so many people have gone missing out there. So many people. And even to modern day, there's still people that go out there. It's a very vast wilderness and still go missing to this day. So there was actually a. A theory that the gold mine is still out there because no one allegedly. There's one person, I think, that found it, and he died with a map. And no one can interpret the map. It talks about. There's a thing called Weaver's needle, and it's this massive spire. And so they say that I forget at what time, but they say that the needle will cast a shadow on the mine. The problem being is nobody knows what time of year, what time of day. So it really doesn't help all that much. But it's interesting. But between the people missing out there, they say that they think the Apache natives are still living out there. There's like a whole theory about it.
B
Dang.
A
And so they think that there's still natives out there. And then it kind of gets weird. It ties in with, like, the nephilim from the Bible, which are essentially like giants. So they think that there's basically giants out there, Apache natives, and they're like, guarding this, like, secret sacred cave full of gold. And they say it's still out there. And this huge story, it's called the lost Dutchman gold mine. So I'm hoping to go out there, hopefully probably not this summer because it's super hot, but I want to try go out there and find it.
B
That'd be a cool video dive in.
A
Camp for a week out there, two weeks, whatever, and just see what I could find.
B
I think I believe in giants, man.
A
Dude.
B
I've had some guys work in the government agencies, and they've told me some stories. I think giants at least existed in the past. I don't know if they still exist.
A
Now, but I think they still could. I mean, so the Bible talks about. I believe it's Genesis references them and then the book of numbers. And in the book of numbers, I don't remember the exact verse, but it basically talks about, like, there being giants, or nephilim is what they call them in the Bible, like prior to the flood. But it also talks about there being nephilim post flood, which is interesting because we're in a post flood. Right. You know, the Bible talks about the flood wipes out humanity, you know, they rebuild humanity and then here we are. So it's interesting because in the Bible they talk about Nephilim heavily. And there's even like the Book of Enoch, which isn't in the Bible, so you have to take it with a grain of salt. But it talks very deep about Nephilim, which, you know, you look at David and Goliath, everyone knows.
B
Yeah, classic.
A
Yeah. Goliath was essentially a Nephilim from my understanding. And there's even like natives have talked about giants.
B
There's a.
A
An area out in the southern tip of Utah, kind of on the north end of Arizona, kind of up by like Zion national park. And they call it the Valley of the Giants. And Carl Crusher and I actually went out a few months ago, went and did like a razor tour through the area and we found some like really secret petroglyphs and things like that. And in there there's actually like a petroglyph that shows two different really tall figures, tall white figures, and then a smaller one in the middle. But next to them there's a bunch of like normal sized people. And so we were like, holy crap. Is this like native documentation of there literally being like giants in this valley? And like you said, with different government officials that like kind of all comes together, like different interpretations of it. Right. But everyone talks about there being giants.
B
Yeah.
A
Crazy.
B
Wasn't there a museum that threw out a bunch of old bones that were giant? Was it Smithsonian?
A
I think it was, yeah.
B
That was weird.
A
Super weird.
B
Why would they do that? Seems like a lot of history they want hidden.
A
Have you heard about the Grand Canyon?
B
No, what about it?
A
So it ties with the Smithsonian. So they're in the Grand Canyon. There was a guy, I can't remember his exact name, but he went out and said he was basically like kayaking. This was back in the 20s down the Colorado River. And he said that he kind of looked up on the hillside and he saw this really big like cave opening. So he said he went inside and he said he literally found a cave massive enough to house like 5000 plus people. Well said massive. He claims that there was like ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs all over the wall. He said that there was mummies inside, there was like Egyptian pottery and jewelry inside. And if you actually look, allegedly the Smithsonian published this article. I believe his name was like G.E. kincaid published an article about this in the 20s. And then a few years ago they Came out the article, of course, just like you're saying with bones gone, ceases to exist. And the Smithsonian was like, no, no, no, no. We never actually published an article about that. That never happened. But like, you look at that. If, if he really did find ancient Egyptian stuff here that had been here for God knows how long, I mean, it could totally rewrite our history. Our whole history could be a lie. So you kind of wonder with that, with giants, things like that. These things could totally be real. And I think they hide it to cover up, you know, our history. Yeah, no one wants, you know, the great American history and looking at all the things that have happened and good and bad, but like, you throw these little, you know, seasonings, if you will, and. And it totally shakes everything about our entire history.
B
I mean, we're at the point now when the government says something, it's almost like a cover up. Every time, at this point.
A
Every single time.
B
Or a distraction.
A
Even the whole. The New Jersey drone thing, I wasn't happy with that.
B
No, I knew that was bs. I knew the Miami UFO thing was bs. Did you see that? Yeah, yeah, that was BS and like.
A
The whole drone thing, like I'm, you know, I'm pretty conservative, I'm pro Trump, but at the same time, like, even when the whole New Jersey drone thing came out and then it was kind of just like, oh, no, no, it wasn't a big deal. Like I can't remember exactly what they said they were, but it was essentially like, yeah, no, it's nothing to worry about. I'm like, okay, so then why this entire time was happening? Why did no one come out and say that earlier? Why would you wait? It's just weird. It just doesn't add up. I mean, even look at like, you could go as deep as like looking at like, like vaccines, things. They're pushing our food nowadays. I mean, everything they're pushing on us is to either control us, manipulate us, damage us, poison us.
B
Scary, man.
A
So scary.
B
Emf. I got a lot of EMF protection right here. Yeah, that stuff's dangerous.
A
It's so dangerous.
B
Yeah, the WI fi and the emf.
A
I need to get more of that.
B
Yeah, I wear it all the time now, man, because there's towers everywhere.
A
Everywhere.
B
Every. There's like a site where you can see how many there are by you. Dude, it's crazy.
A
There's got to be a ton out here.
B
Out here. Yeah, you're probably less affected.
A
Yeah, not as many there. I remember hearing, I talked to a guy one time and he used to work on those 5G towers, and he was saying that, like, these towers, they have, like, I can't remember the exact, but it was like, they only give them, like, 10% of their power. Like, they could dial it up a bunch. And so he was saying it's interesting to think, like, all these 5G towers, why are they only at, like, 10% power? Like, what would happen if you just. Oh, my gosh, Dialed them all up?
B
There's already people getting super affected at 10%. Like, there's people that live super close to them and they get sick. So imagine if they raised that to 50.
A
And imagine all these towers around here, dialed them up all the way.
B
Like, it's almost right. It's a weapon. Almost. Like, what if that got hacked into? You know what I mean? There's a lot of cyber warfare going on right now. Some country just got shut down yesterday.
A
Yeah, I saw that.
B
Was that Spain? Yeah. So that's. That's gonna be happening more and more.
A
But it's scary, man.
B
Yeah.
A
With AI, the world is so scary right now. Like, it is so unstable. There's so much going on around us. I. You know, when I was working as a paramedic, like, I saw so many things. Like, even with, like, pharmaceutical companies that just made my skin boil, made my spine just.
B
Oh, yeah, because you can't go after them.
A
No, you can't. You know, and even when I would, like, bring up things I had personally seen to people, and I was like, hey, look, I'm not telling you how to live your life. I'm not telling you what to do. I'm just telling you. I've seen these things, and they don't seem right to me immediately. People like, you're a conspiracy theorist. You just try to kill people. You don't want people to be safe. I'm like, no, no, no, no. I care about safety. I literally work as a paramedic. Like, I. I value people. I want to help people. I don't want to see people go down these bad paths. You know, look at pharmaceutical companies. Like, you take one medicine, you get 20 side effects, and then you take 10 other medicines for those side effects and develop a hundred side effects. And now you're on 30 plus medications that cost you God knows how much to a pharmaceutical company. It's insane. My. My grandpa, before he passed about a year ago, he. They gave him a. A chemotherapy pill, and they were like, oh, yeah, you should take this pill. Like, it'll help with your cancer. Turns out he took it Almost passed away of a blood, Like, a really massive blood clot. Really, really awful. And the next doctor he went to was like, I don't know what doc that doctor was thinking. I don't know why he prescribed you that medication, but that medication quite literally gave you, like, the blood clot. It was super damaging. Like, it. It damaged his whole body. That pill was like $25,000 a month. Oh, my gosh. It was so much money. Right. And obviously insurance helps out with that, But I'm like, whether the. The actual, you know, patient is paying or the insurance company's paying someone's.
B
It doesn't matter to them.
A
Money is going to them. Yeah. They don't care where the money comes from as long as they get it.
B
Yeah.
A
That's crazy.
B
That is.
A
Our society is so twisted, man. So twisted.
B
Scary, man.
A
No one sees it.
B
While we keeping an eye on you. Anything else you want to close off with here, Andrew?
A
No, just. Yeah, I appreciate having me on, and I'm just excited to see where this all goes. I hope, you know, hopefully people want to follow along and see what things we find out there. I don't know. I think I'm definitely going to take a more serious approach to things going forward. Like, it's still going to be somewhat fun, but, like, instead of haunting it just for fun, like, I'm really gonna start, like, fully investigating these things and putting myself in probably the worst possible situations, Try to see if they're real and find proof of it.
B
I love it, man. We'll stay safe.
A
Yeah, man.
B
All right, we'll link your stuff below. Thanks for watching, guys.
Digital Social Hour Episode Summary
Episode: Are We All Victims of Social Media Mind Control? | Andrew Smith DSH #1364
Release Date: May 6, 2025
Host: Sean Kelly
Guest: Andrew Smith, Paramedic and Paranormal Investigator
In this gripping episode of Digital Social Hour, host Sean Kelly engages in a profound conversation with Andrew Smith, a paramedic who leads a double life as a ghost hunter and paranormal investigator. The episode delves deep into Andrew's experiences with the supernatural, his skepticism turned belief, and his concerns about the pervasive influence of occultism and social media mind control in modern society.
Andrew Smith begins by sharing his unique lifestyle, balancing his demanding role as a paramedic with his passion for investigating the paranormal. He humorously refers to his ghost hunting as "side quests," highlighting the adventurous nature of his pursuits.
Notable Quote:
"Side quests are the best." [00:38]
A pivotal moment in Andrew's paranormal journey occurred during an expedition to Mount Wilson Ranch in Nevada—a site rich with legends tied to Skinwalker Ranch and numerous occult activities. Accompanied by fellow investigator Carl Crusher, Andrew describes their initial skepticism.
Notable Quote:
"I was super skeptical. I was like, there's no way we're going to see anything." [02:06]
Their skepticism was shattered when both Andrew and Carl witnessed a mysterious black figure moving past a window, visible on their thermal imaging camera. This encounter significantly altered Andrew's perception of the paranormal.
Notable Quote:
"There is a tall figure watching me in the hallway." [03:04]
Andrew provides an in-depth exploration of skinwalkers, entities deeply rooted in Native American folklore. He discusses how these beings are often associated with demonic forces and the dark aspects of occultism.
Notable Quote:
"Skinwalkers are making a deal with the devil and committing heinous atrocities for power." [10:20]
He reflects on his Christian upbringing and the conflict between his religious beliefs and his experiences with skinwalkers, ultimately viewing them as demonic entities rather than standalone creatures.
The conversation transitions to a broader critique of occultism's influence on various facets of contemporary life, including religion, government, and entertainment. Andrew expresses concern over how occult practices have seeped into modern churches, particularly mega-churches like Bethel in California.
Notable Quote:
"Occultism has totally affected a modern day church. And no one talks about it, which is what kills me." [13:08]
Andrew scrutinizes the practices of prominent mega-churches, alleging that their rituals mirror occult traditions under the guise of Christianity. He cites instances such as the use of gold dust, resurrection prayers, and the collapse of worshippers as evidence of sinister undertones.
Notable Quote:
"If it walks like a T, a duck, talks like a duck, it's a duck." [14:04]
Shifting focus, Andrew discusses the concept of mind control, drawing parallels between historical programs like MK Ultra and the manipulative algorithms of modern social media platforms. He argues that social media serves as a powerful tool for controlling public perception and behavior.
Notable Quote:
"Social media is a perfect example of mind control. It could literally be MK Ultra." [22:36]
Andrew highlights how algorithms prioritize engagement over morality, leading to the propagation of harmful trends and misinformation.
The dialogue delves into various conspiracy theories surrounding government manipulation, including hidden histories, giant beings, and cover-ups related to archaeological discoveries. Andrew expresses skepticism towards official narratives, advocating for a more discerning approach to information.
Notable Quote:
"Our society is so twisted, man. So twisted." [43:50]
Beyond the supernatural, Andrew recounts his encounters with wildlife during his investigations, emphasizing the real dangers posed by animals like mountain lions and rattlesnakes. These experiences add a tangible layer of risk to his adventurous pursuits.
Notable Quote:
"Mountain lions scare me 10 times more than a skinwalker does." [29:15]
Looking ahead, Andrew expresses his desire to escalate his investigations from social media-driven ghost hunts to more structured endeavors like documentaries and global expeditions. He aims to explore diverse cryptids and uncover deeper truths about the paranormal.
Notable Quote:
"I'm really gonna start, like, fully investigating these things and putting myself in probably the worst possible situations." [44:31]
The episode wraps up with Andrew reaffirming his commitment to uncovering the hidden layers of the paranormal and societal manipulation. His blend of personal experiences, skepticism, and belief offers listeners a compelling narrative that challenges conventional thinking and invites deeper contemplation about the forces shaping our reality.
Final Quote:
"I'm not telling you what to do. I'm just telling you. I've seen these things, and they don't seem right to me." [42:13]
"Skinwalkers are making a deal with the devil and committing heinous atrocities for power."
— Andrew Smith [10:20]
"If it walks like a T, a duck, talks like a duck, it's a duck."
— Andrew Smith [14:04]
"Social media is a perfect example of mind control. It could literally be MK Ultra."
— Andrew Smith [22:36]
"Our society is so twisted, man. So twisted."
— Andrew Smith [43:50]
"I'm not telling you what to do. I'm just telling you. I've seen these things, and they don't seem right to me."
— Andrew Smith [42:13]
This episode of Digital Social Hour offers a captivating exploration of the intersection between the paranormal and societal manipulation, providing listeners with thought-provoking insights and a deeper understanding of the hidden dynamics at play in the modern world.