Entertainment
An X-Files Director Demonstrated Real Paranormal Abilities
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published

The X-Files became a pop culture phenomenon in the ‘90s by posing a very provocative question to incredulous audiences: what if paranormal phenomena were real and the government had been trying to cover up the existence of these events for decades? Of course, the secret sauce was that Mulder was the fanatical believer and Scully was the cynical skeptic, and their interactions constantly had audiences questioning what had really happened in episodes featuring aliens, monsters, and all things that go bump in the night. But in one classic episode, the unthinkable happened: a director seemingly demonstrated his own paranormal abilities in front of the entire cast and crew!
The episode in question is “War of the Coprophages,” which featured a small town getting terrorized by cockroaches that may or may not be highly advanced alien robots. Episode director Kim Manners had trouble filming this episode because the live roaches on the set would scurry in random directions rather than going were supposed to go. That’s when Manners did something deliciously demented: he put his head into the roach bucket and told the critters what to do as if he were giving instructions to his actors.
Giving New Meaning To “Papa Roach”

Obviously, he just did this as a joke, which helps to illustrate how much these cockroaches’ assorted antics had him at his wits’ end. They were ruining take after take, so he decided to blow off steam with a movie guaranteed to make everyone on set laugh. Needless to say, nobody expected the mindless cockroaches to actually listen to anything the man had to say.
To everyone’s surprise, however, that’s exactly what they did! Manners stuck his head in the roach bucket to give them their marching orders after these little guys ruined countless takes. After he gave them specific instructions, though, the roaches did exactly what he told them to do, and they were able to complete the scene in the very next take.
Paranormal Or Freaky Coincidence?

In its own weird way, this event served as a mirror of The X-Files itself; after all, the show was always about forcing viewers to question whether some paranormal event had really happened or whether there was a perfectly reasonable scientific explanation. After the roaches seemingly listened to Kim Manners’ instructions, those who witnessed what had happened had to determine for themselves whether the director had suddenly developed the kind of paranormal abilities that Fox Mulder would investigate. Or it could just be a coincidence that the erratic cockroaches finally ran in the exact right direction after they were told what to do.
Scully would tell us that it’s far likelier for this to be a coincidence than for a random television director to suddenly develop a paranormal ability (in this case, the ability to get roaches to do his bidding). However, I’ve always been fond of a certain underrated Mulder quote: “If coincidences are just coincidences, why do they feel so contrived?” Regarding whether or not the late, great X-Files director suddenly developed the power to control roaches, my answer can be summed up by the iconic poster on this spooky FBI Agent’s office wall.
“I want to believe.”
Entertainment
This $10 upgrade transforms your PC — but it’s only on sale until midnight
TL;DR: Upgrade a PC affordably with this Microsoft Windows 11 Pro license, on sale for just $9.97 (reg. $199) through tonight at midnight.
Want to get the feeling of a new computer without having to shell out all the money for one? A new operating system gives your device a whole new feel, and if you’ve got a PC lying around, it could probably use this Microsoft Windows 11 Pro upgrade. If you act fast, you can get it for only $9.97 through tonight at 11:59 p.m. PT.
Windows 11 Pro breathes new life into an old computer, extending its lifespan for less than the cost of your lunch. Unlike older operating systems, this one was made with the modern professional in mind.
Mashable Deals
Rest easy knowing Windows 11 Pro is filled with features that can improve your workflow — from an easy-to-use interface that enhances usability to snap layouts, seamless redocking, a more powerful search experience, and improved voice typing.
Take advantage of unique professional tools like Azure AD, Hyper-V, Windows Sandbox, and BitLocker device encryption. Then take a break and check out the impressive gaming experience offered by DirectX 12 Ultimate graphics.
Windows 11 Pro includes Copilot, Microsoft’s very own AI-powered assistant, which can assist you with a wide range of tasks. Get some help kickstarting your writing process, summarizing web pages, changing your settings, or even opening your apps.
You can also enjoy improved cybersecurity with Windows 11 Pro, as it adds biometric logins, encrypted authentication, and enhanced antivirus protection.
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Get your PC a Microsoft Windows 11 Pro license for only $9.97 tonight through midnight.
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Entertainment
3 AdultFriendFinder red flags — how to avoid scams on AFF
Depending on who you ask, AdultFriendFinder is either the Wild West of hookup sites, an “anything goes” paradise for adult fun, or a total scam replete with bots, fake profiles, and inactive accounts.
After months of personal testing, I can confidently say which AFF you experience ultimately boils down to how you use the site. If you approach it naively, without a strategy, you’re probably going to have some frustrating experiences. On the other hand, if you exercise a modicum of caution and common sense, you’ll discover a huge, fun, and kink-friendly community.
Here are three red flags to look out for as you use AFF, to help you spot potential scammers and separate the authentic users from the fake profiles.
Hookup apps for everyone
AdultFriendFinder
—
readers’ pick for casual connections
Tinder
—
top pick for finding hookups
Hinge
—
popular choice for regular meetups
Credit: AdultFriendFinder
Unverified accounts
AdultFriendFinder already offers a fantastic first step in combatting fake profiles that they call ConfirmID. Once you’ve created an account, you can, at any time, upload a clear scan of a government-issued ID card and then, using a webcam, undergo a quick face verification scan to confirm that you are indeed the person identified in the government document.
This step strikes the perfect balance between not being onerous enough to annoy the average user but still requiring enough effort to deter scammers, who notoriously go after the low-hanging fruit.
Mashable Trend Report
Once you’ve completed the ConfirmID sequence, you’ll be rewarded with a verification badge on your profile, and we strongly recommend that you limit your one-on-one interactions on the site to other verified users.
Perfect profile photos
Alright, admittedly this one requires some personal judgment, as everyone should strive to upload good, high-quality photos of themselves to dating websites. But if every photo looks like it belongs in a magazine, or if the person in the photo looks a little too good to be true, you should exercise caution.
In the age of generative AI and filters, it’s trivially easy to create a fake photo or series of photos, so you should also be on the lookout for what isn’t in the photos. Are there recognizable local landmarks (clubs, restaurants, well-known parks, or street corners) in the photos, or are they all equally generic?
Over-eager chatters
Ever since chat bots became a thing, dating sites have become plagued with them, and as AI improves more and more, it’s not always easy to know, right away, if the “person” you’re talking to is really human. One dead giveaway, though, is how much they chat and how quickly they reply.
Real people go off on tangents, employ non sequiturs, and sometimes stumble with awkward questions or comments. Chat bots, on the other hand, are typically always chipper and extremely fast-talking, so much so that a paragraph-long answer can come back to you in seconds.
They also almost always have an agenda, too, whether that’s directing you to click on a link (“Follow my Instagram profile”) or getting you to divulge some potentially compromising bit of personal information about yourself.
Entertainment
SNL opens with another Pete Hegseth press conference
Saturday Night Live returned from a brief hiatus Saturday with a cold open depicting a joint press conference between Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and FBI Director Kash Patel, with “Master of None” creator Aziz Ansari playing the latter.
Colin Jost’s Hegseth hit the familiar beats at the podium — performative machismo, military bravado, and repeated jabs at the secretary’s well-documented drinking habits. This time, Hegseth arrived at the mic hauling an oversized pitcher of scotch, which he assured the room was his one for the day. He then fielded questions from the press about the administration’s handling of U.S. strikes on Iran, dismissing each reporter with the particular brand of smug confidence that has become central to Jost’s portrayal of the character.
Ansari’s Patel proved to be the sketch’s standout, arriving to defend his tenure at the FBI and proceeding to do so poorly. The bit’s centerpiece involved Patel simultaneously denying and admitting that he had locked himself out of his work email for 36 hours after forgetting he had changed his password to “kashmeoutside69.”
Funnily enough, Patel was reportedly locked out of his FBI email in real life and believed, at least momentarily, that he was being fired. As the sketch demonstrated, the distance between SNL’s Cold Open and the actual news cycle has rarely felt smaller.
