4/1/25
April Fool's Day may be an appropriate date to address this subject. The question is, is the joke on me, or is it on them?

Let's take an overview of my outreach efforts for the past five years or so, and then dive into it. These numbers will all be rough estimates, on the conservative side.

My papers, posted on my own server, on Academia.edu, and on Researchgate.net, have been at least glanced at, say, 15,000 times (about 12,000 for just one short paper).

I have posted comments underneath perhaps 500 YouTube videos, which have been seen, where they persist, by something like 10,000 people (given an average of 20 views per post).

My podcast interviews--all in the paranormal genre--have been at least partially listened to by probably 85,000 people. Thanatos TV is up to 36,000 now, I think; and I estimate that "Coast-to-Coast" accounted for at least 10,000.

At least a thousand people have watched some portion of my video blogs, I would say. A relatively small number of people have read, or starting reading, this written blog.

Lastly I have sent, I would guess, at least a thousand personal e-mails to hand-picked academic scholars. These are people who specialize in an area relevant to the subject at hand--Charles Dickens, Edgar Allan Poe, Margaret Fuller, etc.. Sometimes the connection was as broad as 19th-century literature, but by far the bulk of them had written papers, or book chapters, concerning these specific historical figures.

If I were to take these numbers literally, something like 112,000 people have at least been exposed to my work over the last five years. The figure could be considerably higher. We also don't know the extent of word-of-mouth spread. Just because they aren't responding to me, doesn't mean they aren't privately discussing it with friends and colleagues. I also know that if asked exactly the right, persistent questions, BING's AI copilot may give links to my papers online.

Now, there are two things to keep in mind. The first is that this is paradigm-shattering work, skillfully presented, being based on meticulous research. So it is "high-octane" material. The second is that by far the greatest portion of these people don't believe me, and are in fact dismissing or even ridiculing me.

So you have over 100,000 people who have been exposed to high-octane material, but who have dismissed it as nonsense. Or, for those in the paranormal studies realm, they have thrown it into the giant vat of New Age claims, which they have uncritically accepted on a shallow level of conviction.

On the one hand, all my efforts--and we are talking hours and hours and hours--have seemingly yielded nothing at all. A literal handful of book sales in the last five years. A few podcasts. Almost no-one reaching out to me for more information. A "thunderous silence" from Academia.

On the other hand, the soup has been spit in. They have encountered the inconvenient truth, and they will never be able to unhear it. Just think of this--hundreds of scholars, specializing in Charles Dickens, now know that he stole "A Christmas Carol." I'm not sure that it matters whether they believe it, or not. What matters is that 1) it is true, and 2) they have been exposed to the information.

This thing could turn on a dime. All it takes is for one or two influential scholars to break ranks; to go out on a limb for my sake, or for the sake of the truth, and publicly admit that it looks like I'm probably right.

This may not be the best time for that to happen. I'd prefer not to be prominent, right about now. And I would guess that no job in academia is safe these days. But the current state of affairs may not last forever; and when things shift, there will be a powerful renaissance. I may have a place in that renaissance. If so, I will be in New England, in a city I lived in for many years when I was Mathew Franklin Whittier in the 19th century. I will be able to entertain there; I will be able to show people my antiquarian collection; I will even be able to take them places directly connected with my past life.

The whole thing is just "a step away."

Sincerely,

Stephen Sakellarios, M.S.