Rumors: A Historical Record of Mystery

[MN Fats]

I'm convinced that all of the Linkedin profiles were made by the same person. They're all too similar, and try and find any of the people online, other than on Linkedin.

Also I'll say that probably more than half of texas re's posts on SSC were on the Minneapolis thread, and almost exclusively for the past few months.

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/search.ph ... d=20830912

[David Greene]

There's one thing that still doesn't quite fit with that theory. If these consortium people really are that religious, then why were some of their proposals/ideas for things like nightclubs and bars on hennepin ave? You would think they would be totally against such things, yet, in "Ryan"s massively long post he specifically talks about trying to keep Hennepin ave's gritty feel. RB had even mentioned wanting to bring international nightclubs to his 500 Hennepin project before he was outbid. Does that seem like someone who is devoutly Christian to you?

There's nothing inherently non-Christian about bars, nightclubs or grittiness. Hell, in my mind the most authentic Christianity is down in the mud with the mainstream undesirables.

[IllogicalJake]

Cake is good.

[FISHMANPET]

There's one thing that still doesn't quite fit with that theory. If these consortium people really are that religious, then why were some of their proposals/ideas for things like nightclubs and bars on hennepin ave? You would think they would be totally against such things, yet, in "Ryan"s massively long post he specifically talks about trying to keep Hennepin ave's gritty feel. RB had even mentioned wanting to bring international nightclubs to his 500 Hennepin project before he was outbid. Does that seem like someone who is devoutly Christian to you?

There's nothing inherently non-Christian about bars, nightclubs or grittiness. Hell, in my mind the most authentic Christianity is down in the mud with the mainstream undesirables.

Also, looking at a couple of LinkedIn profiles, they never struck me as the "God will smite the unclean" type of Christians but just very Christian and very open about the fact and that's that.

[TTT]

IllogicalJake - I realize this might be tricky for you, but can you give any more granularity to what you're saying? This might be the key to the caper.

Also, if June was posting in forums for other cities before Minneapolis, this person must truly have significant knowledge of Commercial Real Estate locally along with amazing amounts of time on their hands. I realize much of the information June had given over time was BS, but, there are a lot of things said that would indicate some sort of inside knowledge of the Minneapolis Real Estate climate. When you couple that with the fact that I'm sure June must have been posting significant information regarding other cities in their forums - that is a lot of work and a lot of knowledge and a lot of time.

I wonder if other forums are realizing a scam of their own.

[Nathan]

Or they are generally interested and knowledgeable about national development, but noticed an opportunity in this market to become a special and desirable character so they jumped on it.

[MN Fats]

Also, if June was posting in forums for other cities before Minneapolis, this person must truly have significant knowledge of Commercial Real Estate locally along with amazing amounts of time on their hands.

Look at some of Texas's earlier posts. http://www.skyscrapercity.com/search.ph ... 25&page=12

They're just general observations like "Thank you for all those beautiful pics of Cleveland. For architectural enthusiasts, Cleveland is definitely a 'must-see' city!" and "Retail in downtown Seattle has a good track record. With the large population base and that continues to grow bodes well for downtown.".

My theory is this was planned well in advance and they were building up a sense of legitimacy by commenting across several threads. That way they'd have a good post history before joining the Minneapolis discussion. Crazy, but of course not impossible.

[PhilmerPhil]

So who's a hacker here that can just get to the bottom of this for us????

[IllogicalJake]

Donuts are better.

(Yeah I edited away some stuff.)

[nordeast homer]

I think at this point, we can safely say that retiredbanker, Avian, and nasa35 are all real, separate people. The unexplained layer/plot twist lies in June and Ryan. Do we know for sure if either of them are real or not? Is Ryan a made up character by real life person June?

I have never doubted Avian and nasa35, they go back to minnescraper days and have typically had good information.

I know I'm just repeating what others have said, but I'm astounded that someone has the time to put together a ruse this deep and go as far as to create profiles on other sites to try to cover their tracks. If so, I'm guessing that is a pretty twisted mind. Some therapists might have a lot of fun diving in the deep end of that one.

[mattaudio]

I can understand why nasa played along with, or was suckered by, the ruse. But at this point, why is he so defensive of an obvious fraud and so accusatory of real people on a real forum? A defense mechanism?

[IllogicalJake]

I can understand why nasa played along with, or was suckered by, the ruse. But at this point, why is he so defensive of an obvious fraud and so accusatory of real people on a real forum? A defense mechanism?

Yes.

I mean really, I know that they've seen renders that can't be found anywhere online. They've been given information that's tough to fake. This has been going on for months now. All of the biggest "victims" here are now pretty aware that something isn't right, but are still reluctant to call it all a hoax. I know one is trying to figure out more details before choosing a side.

There's also some ego involved. These people were, if you remember, pretty quickly turned off by parts of the community for siding with the now-known hoaxsters to begin with. These guys were essentially fooled by a very elaborate prank, or possibly something more malicious. It can be a pretty big hit to the ego when already trying to feel accepted, you know?

Whoever is behind this created a lot of legitimate excitement while also promising to be a mentor of sorts to younger community members - which I personally find fucking evil. Keep in mind that the hoaxster's communications with us has stopped, but the accounts have been quite active through PMs.

I feel they went for manipulating the most vulnerable ones. And some of those may fear that their career can be fucked by accusing them falsely.

[David Greene]

Oops, decided information I posted wasn't so helpful.

Summary: if you do Google reverse image searches on some of the EIG LinkedIn profiles, you get interesting results. Not sure what it means yet.

[FISHMANPET]

I have a really hard time believing that a real person would make a profile so obtuse as to bring into question the legitimacy of the profile, and by extension the company that employs them. Someone posted on SSC that Duval didn't have a website but he still get people to work with him. Which is true, but Duval is also a real person that exists in the real world and he also did something. If Ryan/June came out and actually did something then it would be different, but right now it's all talk from a very shady online presence.

The fact that the existence of these people, who are apparently attempting to create a very real physical change to the very real physical world, is so difficult to verify should itself bring everyone pause. Real people trying to influence the public realm don't hide like this. This is not how rational people behave. None of this makes any sense.

[David Greene]

Whoever is behind this created a lot of legitimate excitement while also promising to be a mentor of sorts to younger community members - which I personally find fucking evil.

I feel they went for manipulating the most vulnerable ones. And some of those may fear that their career can be fucked by accusing them falsely.

Exactly. That's what's really messed up about this whole situation. Poor Grant. The one time I met him in person he seemed like a really nice kid excited to get involved.

[David Greene]

The fact that the existence of these people, who are apparently attempting to create a very real physical change to the very real physical world, is so difficult to verify should itself bring everyone pause. Real people trying to influence the public realm don't hide like this. This is not how rational people behave. None of this makes any sense.

Precisely. That's essentially what I said in a post here late last year. It got Texas into a real hissy-fit:

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost. ... count=3208

P.S. I'd love to know if RB contacted mulad about a job! That was a really nice touch by the hoaxter.

[IllogicalJake]

Whoever is behind this created a lot of legitimate excitement while also promising to be a mentor of sorts to younger community members - which I personally find fucking evil.

I feel they went for manipulating the most vulnerable ones. And some of those may fear that their career can be fucked by accusing them falsely.

Exactly. That's what's really messed up about this whole situation. Poor Grant. The one time I met him in person he seemed like a really nice kid excited to get involved.

Grant knows more than I ever did at 17. That kid will be a mover and shaker in this city if he keeps his mind at it. But June & Ryan tell him the same.

He's more invested in figuring this out than any of us. Don't feel any sympathy, give him encouragement if you're in contact with him!

[FISHMANPET]

The fact that the existence of these people, who are apparently attempting to create a very real physical change to the very real physical world, is so difficult to verify should itself bring everyone pause. Real people trying to influence the public realm don't hide like this. This is not how rational people behave. None of this makes any sense.

Precisely. That's essentially what I said in a post here late last year. It got Texas into a real hissy-fit:

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost. ... count=3208

P.S. I'd love to know if RB contacted mulad about a job! That was a really nice touch by the hoaxter.

That response is just drivel, word vomit, etc etc. And that's why I think nasa is somehow involved, because he's the only one that seems to bear such a searing hatred of this forum that he would use any and all opportunities to discredit us. But at like an elementary school level.

[Nick]

More than anything else, it's pretty disappointing that this whole story broke a double digit number of hours after a Happy Hour.

[David Greene]

Precisely. That's essentially what I said in a post here late last year. It got Texas into a real hissy-fit:

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost. ... count=3208

P.S. I'd love to know if RB contacted mulad about a job! That was a really nice touch by the hoaxter.

That response is just drivel, word vomit, etc etc. And that's why I think nasa is somehow involved, because he's the only one that seems to bear such a searing hatred of this forum that he would use any and all opportunities to discredit us. But at like an elementary school level.

Yep. That's when I started to suspect it was all nasa. Maybe it's not but the vitriolic style bears a strong resemblance.