Have You Experienced This Glitch in Reality?

Plus, the trailer for my new book

I know this is a shameful thing for a 47 year-old man to admit, but I recently went viral on TikTok. I did it by asking a simple question that has drawn over 5,500 replies as of this writing:

Have you ever lost an item in a way that shouldn’t have been physically possible?

Maybe you lost an easily-seen object in a contained space like a car or a small room, in a situation where there was no one else there to have stolen or moved it. It’s as if it just kind of fell out of the universe. To be clear, everybody loses things; I’m specifically talking about situations where there was nowhere for it to go. You dropped your lipstick in the grass at your feet and it was just... gone.

This experience is almost universal among those I’ve asked, to the point that I’ve come to believe it’s the single most common “paranormal” (or at least unexplainable) phenomenon that humans experience. According to the replies to that post, there’s a subset of those who’ve then had the item turn up later in an equally “impossible” way.

What’s unique about this versus other eerie phenomena is that I think most who’ve had this happen rarely tell the story in public, as it simply doesn’t make for an interesting anecdote. It’s just too easy for the listener to dismiss. For example, I am 100% confident in the details of my lost item experience (losing a golf ball-sized object in an empty suitcase, only to find it in that same suitcase hours later, with no one else having had access to the suitcase) but I’m able to easily dismiss everyone else’s. “You probably had a false memory of bringing the item into the room,” I’ll say. Or, “Your wife probably moved it, in an effort to gaslight you into insanity so that she can seize your  fortune.”

If you’ve had a physical item glitch itself out of the universe, feel free to tell your story in the comments. 

Second order of business: There is now a trailer for the new book. Two, actually: there’s an extended six-minute version that’s basically a short film (written by me, directed by Garrett DeLozier, who does all of my trailers):

...and then there’s the normal trailer-length version, in case you’re short on time:

The buy links if you want the book:

Signed copies (PRE-ORDER ONLY! YOU CAN’T GET SIGNED COPIES AFTER October 17!): https://bit.ly/SignedJDatE4

Normal unsigned copies:

Amazon (including audio!): https://amzn.to/3rfTaJd

B&N: https://bit.ly/BNJDatE4

Bookshop: https://bit.ly/BookShopJDatE4

BAM: https://bit.ly/BAMJDatE4

Note: There are no hidden messages or symbols in the trailer, we’ve done that in the past (run elaborate Alternate Reality Games for book releases with breadcrumbs scattered throughout our promotional materials) but we didn’t get to do that this time as my ARG guy has been very busy with other things, as have I. “That’s exactly what you’d say to throw us off the scent!” you say, but honestly if we do one of those again we won’t keep it a secret. They’re a ton of work!

Thanks for your support, everybody.