Currently on Blair Witch: Season 2...

SuperNeutral, the once pint-sized supernatural podcast, has arrived in Burkittsville, Maryland to shoot a special full-length episode on the Blair Witch. Ed and James, the hosts, and their two assistants, Emma and Ray, got a quick feel for the town and surrounding area before splitting off for some location scouting. James, Ray, and Emma ventured into the woods while Ed remained in the motel.

Not too long after they entered the woods, the trio found that they were lost. Ed immediately reached out to you. Utilizing the documents he provided, you successfully told the team to "listen at the wilting tents".

James showed significant resistance to the avant-garde idea, wanting to follow the creek until they reached town. But while stopping and listening, the three caught sight of a radio tower and headed toward it.

Shortly after, Emma and Ray became separated from James, and neither he nor Ed can communicate with them. A significant amount of time passes as Ed gathers information on the nearby radio tower to send to you. He is sure that boosting that signal would put him back in contact with Emma and Ray. He breaks into the tower to do it himself when he realizes a component must be missing from the rig and asks you to figure out what it is.

Hints

Electrical Interface

• Ed needs you to adjust the remote audio interface so he can get in touch with the crew. What document(s) could explain how the radio tower equipment works?
• Ed mentions in his letter that the radio tower looks as if someone might have rewired it. Some of the instructions in the training manual may no longer work now. Where might you find notes on such changes?
• Sometimes people use shorthand for units of measurement such as mL for milliliters. What are the full forms of V and mA on the training manual?
• Are there any fixes noted on the radio tower log that could be interpreted another way?

Letter from Harriett

• What document or item is closely related to this letter that could help you find the key to the code?
• Ed writes in his letter that Harriett handed him both this letter and a keychain. Something on the keychain serves as the key to Harriett's cipher.

Logging On

• Check Ed's letter for the specific task Ed assigns you. Ed needs you to find the name of the component that is missing from the radio tower. Submitting the name to Ed's chat box on www.superneutralpodcast.com will complete this objective. The website's password is SKUNKAPE.

Note from Harriett

bonus content between Episodes 1 & 2

• Is there another similar cipher somewhere else in this or a previous episode?
• What could the letter before each encoded line represent?

Punch-Out Cabin

• Is there anything hidden on or inside the cabin?

Rhymes of Burkittsville Email

bonus content between Episodes 1 & 2

• Is there anything unusual about the capitalization in the rhyme?
• Is there a message that can be created out of the capitalized letters?

Reveals

Electrical Interface

• Ed will send you the link to the electrical interface. In order to connect to the radio tower and contact Emma and Ray, you have to adjust the knobs and dials on the interface to match the following parameters found on the radio tower log and training manual:

  • Set Filament Control and Plate Switch to On. Green lights will turn on to confirm these controls are ON.
  • Tune the Filament Voltage knob until the corresponding meter reads 25 Volts.
  • Tune the Plate Current knob until the corresponding meter reads between 415 and 460 milliamperes. The knob itself should be between 400 and 500.
  • Tune the R.F. Line Current knob until the corresponding meter reads 0 Volts. In order to tune the meter to 2000, adjust the P.A. Volt Tuner knob until the Plate Voltage meter reads 2,000 Volts.
  • Adjust the sliders beneath the audio wave until they read 10 and 5. The two separate audio wavelengths above will match and turn green to confirm a correct setting.
  • Set the volume to zero.
  • Whenever various knobs have all been set to the correct positions, the COMMIT button will change from red to green. Pressing it will trigger a system message indicating a new message from Ed. Upon returning to the chat box, you will see that Ed has sent another message containing the victory audio. Listening to it will complete the episode.

Letter from Harriett

• The encoded section of this note is meant to be shifted by the number eleven, the same number that is on the keychain (011).
• Decoded, the phrase Harriett writes in a shift cipher reads: "These keys, this actuator, and one tired old man."
• Harriett's husband, Robert, used to claim that the items listed were all that stood between the woods and the town. In addition to his keys and himself, the actuator is a component from the radio tower that he takes out every night. This is the component that Ed is missing. Type the word "actuator" into Ed's chat box on www.superneutralpodcast.com to complete the first task and move on to the next section of the episode.

Note from Harriett

bonus content between Episodes 1 & 2

• The cipher used here is a shift cipher, where the letters in the word "LISTEN" act as the key. Each letter's place in the alphabet indicates the number by which the letters in the corresponding line must be shifted. For example, "L" is the 11th letter, which requires a forward shift of 11, so the letters in "Htww" can each be decoded by a shift of 11.
• When decoded, the message reads "Will the woods triumph yet again?"

Notepad Pages

• Decoded, the message Ed copies down in Morse code reads: TIME OUT.

Punch-Out Cabin

• Decoded, the Morse code reads "she had to go" and "WOODS WATCH WOODS LISTEN".

• There are several scrambled sentences in the log. Unscrambled, they reveal the following:

  • "This is my tower, this is my radio."
  • "Get off my frequency, get off."
  • "You will not take me. This is my life."
  • "She listens to them. They're lost, they wait for me to help. Five minutes too long."

Rhymes of Burkittsville Email

bonus content between Episodes 1 & 2

• The capitalized letters that must be used to form the hidden message do not include letters that begin lines, or capitals used in proper nouns. The letters used here are U-Y-O.
• The capitalized letters that have been pulled can be unscrambled to make the word "YOU".
• There is more to the message in later rhyme emails.

Hidden Text

Punch-Out Cabin

• The glow-in-the-dark ink on the cabin reads "All hope shifts to despair in the woods."

Transcripts

Ed's Victory Audio Recording

[Ed is recording himself as he works to broadcast. There's near-constant interference in his broadcast, which he fights to stabilize.]

 

Ed (to the player): Alright! I think we're officially up and running. Cross your fingers.

 

[Squeals of static as Ed fine-tunes his frequency while calling out.]

 

Ed (broadcasting): Emma, Ray, can you hear me? Anybody? Hello? (to the player) Ugh... Maybe it's not working.

 

[Ed twists dials, sweeping stations for a connection. Suddenly, through the static, Emma's voice crackles. Ed hones in on her signal. Her connection is stable, but she sounds faint.]

 

Emma (faint, full of static): Ed? Ed, is that you?

Ed (overjoyed): Oh my god! I've got you. A blip of static interferes that sounds like a faint growl.

Ray (faint): What was that?

Ed (relieved yet concerned): Are you with Ray? Can you hear me? Are you two okay? James told me you got separated, and -

Emma: Yeah, we got separated. Just on the other side of the hill. I don't know how we haven't found him in ten minutes.

Ed: Ten minutes? No, that can't be right.

Emma: What was that, Ray?

Ray: I think we should head back to the van. This place is creeping me out.

 

[Another growl is heard.]

 

Emma (cautious): Ed, did you hear that?

 

[The connection is becoming increasingly unstable. Emma continues to speak, but it's unintelligible through the static.]

 

Ed: Emma, the connection is getting bad. I - Let me just…

 

[Ed desperately turns dials trying to get the connection to stabilize, but is rewarded with only the sounds of leaves rustling, and then static. Ed slumps back in his chair.]

 

Ed: Dammit. Ugh! We almost had them. I don't know. Maybe there's something else I can do to -

 

[Static buzzes and a police dispatch interrupts Ed.]

 

Ed: Emma, is that you?

Dispatcher (without hearing Ed): Repeat: Need an officer at the Eastern Access Road entrance to the Black Hills Forest. We've got a 586. There's a gray van blocking the road. Looks like an old Sanchez Premier 99. Rangers can't pass through. Over.

Ed: A Sanchez 99? That's our rental. Let me try to -

 

[Ed fiddles with the radio some more.]

 

Officer 1 (garbled): - area. Requesting a tow truck. Let me see if I can get Sam to bring his on by -

 

[The static cuts out as the connection is completely lost.]

 

Ed: Ugh. Hello?

 

[Ed taps a few more buttons as a last resort.]

 

Ed: Anybody? (sighs) Well, we found the van. Or... Someone found the van. I wonder if I can beat the cops there. Eastern Access Road is close. Wish me luck, Investigator. I'll send you a package with anything I find.

 

[Ed clicks off the recorder.]

Letter from Harriett

Outside

• Do NOT read this outdoors, out loud, or beside any open windows or vents.

 

Inside

Edward,

You venture much too close to the woods. Take a lesson from your friends. These woods reach out to those who wander too close. Things in the forest thrive on the curiosity and hubris you exhibit. Hungry ghosts watch just beyond sight. I've seen the treetops shake, birds flee an unseen and violent force. I've heard lost souls anxiously pacing across deep roots and dead leaves.

My husband, god rest his soul, was lost to those woods some years ago. Collected one night after his shift at the station. I cannot understand why someone in their right mind would simply wander in. Though he certainly was not in his right mind by the end.

Robert used to say the same thing over and over again. Every time I begged him to stay home, safe with me, he would tell me he was doing his best, doing all he could to stand between the woods and the rest of the world. What he was doing, he said, was the key, the key to keeping what is in those woods locked away.

You are not like him, Edward. You seem like you will not be satisfied until you feel her gravity. What made you blind to these threats? Are you reading this somewhere they can see you? I have asked you to be careful where you read this. In case you haven't been, I have hid what you truly need from the woods' eyes: espdp vpjd, estd lneflezc, lyo zyp etcpo zwo xly. That, Robert always said, was what stood between the woods and the world.

Don't trust anything that emerges from the forest, no matter how comforting and familiar it sounds.

 

Harriett Gillard

Note from Harriett

bonus content between Episodes 1 & 2

As one begins to listen, one realizes each step on the journey is different.

• L - Htww
• I - bpm
• S - oggvk
• T - mkbnfia
• E - cix
• N - ntnva

Notepad Pages

Page 1

• EVP. Electronic Voice Phenomenon. "Messages from Beyond" Ghosts in electronics.
• That time we spoke 2 ghosts in the 9th grade. James denies it (of course) Where were we? Gettysburg. Idea for minisode? Interview Becca too. She heard it.
• Emma and Ray picking up strange signals too - told them to record
• Glitching on recorder? - .. -- . --- ..- -?

• James didn't hear it when we talked. Suggested radio interference. What if you're in a place with no signal at all? He said he must've wandered through one a couple times, couldn't get to me. Had the walkie with me the entire time.

  • investigator bias" not with you on the case"
  • Phantom words / pareidolialike a face in your morning breakfast? (auditory)
    • does it matter if it's based solely on our perception? What if that's the only way to get through to us?
    • People see puppy dogs in clouds. Faces in the leaves on trees.
    • Cool though look into Deutsch

• Burkittsville radio tower/station - same one crew saw? Has to be, only one. Should be usable. People in town should be able to tell me more.

 

Page 2

• "Service road by foot or pass through the Lindsays' yard" - Pete Anderson. Same as the access road? He doesn't know who works there anymore or why someone would want to.

  • "heebie jeebies". Tell me about it.
• Plenty of people to ask on Griggs Street. Old guy on porch:

• Robert Gillard ("Ol' Rob") walked into the woods

  • used to run the station
• Did he run away or ??? No one knows. Still missing. "Couldn't take the pressure" of running the tower anymore.

• Waylon Bradley runs the tower now, takes "extra precautions" when closing @ night to "be safe"

  • What does this mean? Didn't answer. I think I know.

• Used to work for Rob with a "young lady"?

  • Talk to the Scotts, sister went missing too
  • Live just out of town, no time 2 visit

• *circle back later

 

Page 3

• James out of snacks. Food in the van, extra in bag, in case I find him first.
• Bored kids on main street. Nothing to do. Tower's a famous prank spot. Kids challenge each other to climb up alone. And to stay below alone. Checks w/ Emma's research.
• "This better not be a prank, Ed." - cool, good talk, Ray. Don't act like you're not enjoying alone time in the woods w/ Emma.
• Kids ding dong ditch Waylon, "he's mean anyway"

• *3 years ago a kid got so freaked out by the [unintelligible] man's place, he ran home crying and screaming.

  • No one saw what scared him, ghost of Robert? Maria?

• Lindsays - The old man (Waylon?) always comes through their yard carrying some big toolbox or something, they "hear his clanging coming from the trees" every night

  • Every night??

Official Warning

Attached Sticky Note → Sheriff Lanning's Handwriting

• First and final warning.

 

Note on Main Page → Ed's Handwriting

• Double checked this one, and there isn't even a section 15-49

Punch-Out Cabin

• ALL HOPE SHIFTS TO DESPAIR IN THE WOODS

Radio Tower Log

Page 1

• 415 – 460 mA
• .-- --- --- .. ... / .- .- - -.. .... / .-- --- --- .. ... / ... .. ... - . -.
• She stopped why did she stop my fault our fault
• The trees. They lie.
• He left here he left me here he left me her he left her here

Signs and Symptoms Poster

• Not just in my head. In my head, but not unreal.
• Orders
• It's too late, she's inside
• Who is it?
• Seen. Saw. Will see again?
• no no no no no no no no no no no no

• Who?

SuperNeutral Podcast: Bennington Triangle Audio Recording

[INTRO MUSIC, fading to the introduction by our hosts Kristen Flanagan and Shawn Bauman.]

 

Kristen: Welcome to SuperNeutral, the pint-sized paranormal podcast that pits a believer: that's me, Kristen Flanagan.

Shawn: Against a skeptic like me: Shawn Bauman.

Kristen: Shawn, you were kind enough to pick this particular topic. So, why the Bennington Triangle of all places and things?

Shawn: Yeah, y'know, I think it's just a solid microcosm of what I love about urban legends, right? You know, there are definitely, there are verifiably, cases of people going missing there... But, also, there are completely wild, ridiculous rumors about the things that made them go missing in the first place.

Kristen: Right, so I looked into the Bennington Triangle a little bit myself, and I immediately crossed it off my list of places to visit. Would you feel safe hiking there?

Shawn: Um, maybe the only reason I'd ever want to go in the first place would be to see the man-eating rock, but, uh... no. No way.

Kristen: Hm, okay - that's not what I was expecting you to say.

Shawn: Listen. I - Are you afraid of the man-eating rock? I've gone on a few hikes, I've never once seen a rock even take a little nibble out of somebody.

Kristen: Alright, alright. It's not the rocks, to me. Though they are awesome. It's the reputation. Like... alright. Bennington Monster... just another Bigfoot to a certain extent, right?

Shawn: Right.

Kristen: What gets me is the people. All those people who have legitimately gone missing. We're, I think, we're gonna protect their identities on this show a little bit, right? This isn't a true-crime podcast, but without a doubt, you can look this up at home and find the information. It's all real. Or, you know, I mean, at least the disappearances are real.

Shawn: Just the disappearances? You don't want to go on record as believing in rocks that can eat you? That's bold.

Kristen: I'm just saying - it is bold. But I'm just saying that the stories are wild! To go hiking in the Bennington Triangle would be to go walking around where people have seemingly just blinked out of existence. Who's to say what happened to them for real? Ultimately, all we know is that they're gone. And not finding any evidence of their disappearance is just as good as not stopping whatever the hell thing keeps happening out there. How badly do you need to see that rock?

Shawn: Um, well, good question. Um, here's the other reason why I picked the topic. Right now, Ed and James are in Burkittsville, Maryland, exactly where people are known to have gone missing.

Kristen: Right.

Shawn: You know, they're in the Blair Witch's Woods. I think we all consider ourselves to be immune to urban legends to a certain extent. You know, every story you've ever heard about people going missing has happened to... someone else. Some stranger. You know, if somebody - how 'bout this. If somebody goes into a cave and never comes out, and then you go in looking for them, maybe you'll find them... but maybe you're also going to find out in brutal clarity what was stopping them from leaving in the first place. How badly do you need to know, right?

Kristen: Yeah. So how badly do you want to know?

Shawn: Uh, let's - let's hope we never find out!

Kristen (laughing): God -

Shawn: Or, maybe we'll just wait and see whatever the hell Ed and James manage to find.

Kristen: Oh, god. Alright, well I think that brings us to the end of this edition of SuperNeutral.

Shawn: Yeah, sounds like it! Um, you're picking the next topic, right?

Kristen: Yup, I'm all set. (in a spooky voice) So we'll be back next time to talk about an obscure urban legend from New Jersey.

Shawn: Terrifying.

 

[They both laugh.]

 

Shawn: But until that time comes, it's safe to turn out the lights.

Kristen: Or is it?

 

[The music concludes, leaving us with a post-show snippet.]

 

Shawn: Hey, uh, how long do you think it would take a rock to digest you?

Kristen: Oh it's gonna take its sweet time.

Training Manual

Inside Cover

Welcome to the team, Waylon! Glad to have you on board.

 

- Rob

 

Page 4

• Check back wiring FIRST

• Unplug device when closing up for the night

• Call me first. Some components have to be removed for maintenance and other circumstances.

 

Page 5

• No waiting around after dark. Especially alone.