Anna Merlan’s Tweets

Oct 7, 2019

Hello! today is my first day at Vice's new features desk as a senior staff writer. I write about a lot of things: conspiracy theories, actual conspiracies, politics, crime, subcultures, women's lives, sexual violence, death, etc. Please send me tips at [email protected].

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The question is always if every requester got exactly the same docs, if everything was redacted in the same way, and if putting more eyes on them can reveal anything we haven't already seen. So take a dive, either at Black Vault or in our version: documentcloud.org/app?q=%2Bproje

The Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP) Documentation - The Black Vault

At this point, I think it's likely that what we received is virtually the same or identical to what

@blackvaultcom

got, all of which is here. We're continuing to comb through it and I'll update you if we decide to tunnel through the moon.

theblackvault.com

The Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP) is connected to the rumored “Pentagon UFO Study” known as the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP). That exact...

Hari Kunzru

@harikunzru

More or less duplicating my own research agenda vice.com/en/article/k7w

As always: If there's anything I should know, my email is [email protected], and I can be contacted securely via Signal. DM or send me an email from a non-work address for that.

It's obvious that Harry Reid had high hopes for this program; as was laid out in the Pop Mech story, it's less obvious anyone got their money's worth besides Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Studies, the contractor tasked to do a lot of this research.

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There's also a paper in here about how it would theoretically look to, uh, tunnel a hole through the moon with nuclear explosions. That was also.... never executed, thankfully.

Tim Marchman

@timmarchman

The Defense Intelligence Agency sent

1600 pages of long-sought documents including on bizarre government research into UFO-adjacent Fantastic Four technology, plans to nuke the moon, etc., which you can read in full here:

New Documents Shed Light on Government-Funded Advanced Weapons Research

The government is looking into worm holes, anti-gravity, and invisibility cloaks, according to documents obtained by Motherboard through FOIA.

The documents we got lay out, in detail, why the government was interested in things like invisibility cloaks, and how close the program got to making them a reality. (Spoiler: seemingly not close at all). We'll be diving into a few in detail over the coming weeks.

Inside the Pentagon's Secret UFO Program

While aspects of the programs have been deeply reported on before, most notably in this absolutely killer 2020 Popular Mechanics story, the DIA is clearly finally releasing large amounts of info via FOIA and stuff has begun circulating online.

popularmechanics.com

The government can't keep its story straight about its involvement with UFOs. After a yearlong investigation, we reveal the staggering truth.

Both programs have been a curiosity magnet for UFO researchers, for obvious reasons, and government transparency advocates, because most of the work was contracted out to an entity owned by eccentric aerospace billionaire and friend of Harry Reid's Robert Bigelow.

The AAWSAP program is related to AATIP, the now-formally defunct program that SURE LOOKS LIKE it was studying UFO-related phenomena. AAWSAP focused on the defense and weapons capabilities of a variety of nutty speculative technologies like wormholes and invisibility cloaking.

Oh hello: the Defense Intelligence Agency has responded to a four-year-old FOIA of mine and sent me 1600 pages of documents related to the secretive, deeply weird Advanced Aerospace Weapons Systems Application Program. We have published them all here.

New Documents Shed Light on Government-Funded Advanced Weapons Research

The government is looking into worm holes, anti-gravity, and invisibility cloaks, according to documents obtained by Motherboard through FOIA.

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Covid vaccine concerns are starting to spill over into routine immunizations

I can’t stress this enough: for people pushing COVID vaccine fear and suspicion, this was always the plan. Always.

politico.com

Public health leaders fear preventable and possibly fatal diseases could become more common.

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Brandy Zadrozny

@BrandyZadrozny

10h

She went door knocking and … he just … tweeted it out. washingtonpost.com/technology/202

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The ability to upsell basic goods and services to a carefully identified loose-pocketed audience …. It’s an art

🤐

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Lois Beckett

@loisbeckett

· Apr 18

The founder of The Wing, who resigned in 2020 amid staff protests over her leadership, has launched a cottagecore shop that sells picnic baskets and rustic dispensers for twine, @nymag reports: nymag.com/strategist/art

Show this thread

Motherboard

@motherboard

Apr 18

Sandy Hook parents aren't convinced that Alex Jones’ company assets have suddenly dried up.

Sandy Hook Families May Not Buy InfoWars’ Sudden Bankruptcy Filing

Several of the parents previously accused Alex Jones and InfoWars of “conspiring to divert assets” to shell companies.

Jason Koebler

@jason_koebler

Apr 18

hot new conspiracy theory: COVID-19 virus is literally derived from and biochemically connected to actual snake venom

COVID Conspiracy Theorists Wreak Havoc With a Story About Snake Venom

Conspiracists are omnidirectionally beefing over a theory that starts with the claim COVID is connected to snake venom and only gets more out there.

Apr 18

In a brief statement, one of the Sandy Hook plaintiffs' Texas attorneys, Mark Bankston, told me: "None of Mr. Jones’ ridiculous tricks have worked in the past. This one will fare no better.”

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In light of InfoWars sudden filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, I wrote about how several Sandy Hook parents are accusing Jones & InfoWars of moving money into shell companies controlled by his parents and children, to keep it out of their hands.

Sandy Hook Families May Not Buy InfoWars’ Sudden Bankruptcy Filing

Several of the parents previously accused Alex Jones and InfoWars of “conspiring to divert assets” to shell companies.

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I cannot stress how rare it is that an idea is bad enough that this group of people goes "Hey, wait a minute." But miracles do happen!

Last week, a pair of enterprising conspiracy theorists released a baffling viral video connecting snake venom to COVID. But something unusual happened: pushback from other COVID conspiracy theorists.

COVID Conspiracy Theorists Wreak Havoc With a Story About Snake Venom

Conspiracists are omnidirectionally beefing over a theory that starts with the claim COVID is connected to snake venom and only gets more out there.

For the record this is also what Santa Cruz was like during Burning Man. I worked retail at the time. Absolute bliss. Perfect peace

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Los Angeles when all those people are gone for Coachella

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Ida Bergstrom, MD

@DCDoc33

Apr 16

This sentiment is widespread for those who have, well, pretty much everything. This statement is a luxury. It says “we have all the means to do fine, therefore we will “live our lives”. Let me tell you about the other side…

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I just realized I qualified this as hard as I did because we’re such an argumentative people lol

To be clear, this is actually really funny to, I think, many Jews. Matzah aren't like communion wafers, they don't need to be treated with high respect or ceremony

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Houston Texans

@HoustonTexans

· Apr 15

Happy Passover to all who celebrate!

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You can absolutely feel the banality of evil radiating from every object in this room

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Caitlin Byrd

@MaryCaitlinByrd

· Apr 15

The S.C. Department of Corrections just released this photo showing the renovated Capital Punishment Facility as seen from the witness room. The firing squad chair is on the left. The covered chair is the electric chair, which doesn't move. bit.ly/37NnQvv #scpol #scnews

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I put ricotta, olive oil and basil on it and I’m absolutely partying

We’re in that fragile moment when matzah still tastes incredible

Tim Marchman

@timmarchman

Pay all the tipsters, this is ridiculous!

NYC Too Cheap to Reward Subway Shooter Tipsters in Full

The New York Police Department is splitting the baby to pay tipsters for leading to the arrest of Frank James.

Molly Lambert’s Grub Street Diet

Omg she went to the weird magic themed club, I'm seething with envy

grubstreet.com

“I like anything you have to rip apart with your claws.”