ATS 2003 - The Year in Threads

Top Threads of 2003

The year 2003 was the year AboveTopSecret.com broke out and became one of the most important alternative discussion boards on the Internet. We've compiled all of the good, the bad, and the downright-ugly for you to look back at our amazing year. Our first category is the top-five most replied-to threads from each month through 2003. Some of these threads contain less-than-stellar topics, but each one shows the personality, diversity, and interests of our members during that moment in time. And of course, there are a few brilliant shinning examples of why ATS has the best collection of community members on the Internet. (For each month listed below, click on the month to open a new window that will display all threads in that month with 40 or more replies.) January (751 new threads) date reps/views author CHINA RELEASE NEW FIGHTER. THE J-10. Jan/07 325 17325 barba007 OOOOOOH NOOOOOOO!!!!!! Jan/17 84 748 alienaddicted OIL Jan/18 83 597 moonclamp The Greatest Warrior in the past 1,000 years Jan/20 72 802 Illmatic67 First Moron Award is, err, Awarded! Jan/06 71 856 Kano February (907 new threads) date reps/views author Comet is comming fast and huge!!! Feb/20 313 11024 energy_wave COLUMBIA!! Feb/01 100 2000 $tranger Poll- Would You Be a Draft Dodger? Feb/28 79 780 JediMaster Why was FM banned? Feb/21 76 914 JediMaster Space Shuttle Blows Up! Feb/01 76 1066 Gazrok March (1395 new threads) date reps/views author this is no joke! but i wish it was.. Mar/08 107 5441 PureDarren MARCH MADNESS !! NCAA college hoops Mar/17 103 776 ProudAmerican 100% PRO WAR Mar/11 102 989 uneasy2k3 Post for everybody to read... especially anti-islam-orientated Christians. Mar/02 100 1429 The McQueen Scion where did everyone come up with their login names? Mar/06 96 1429 AegisFang April (1380 new threads) date reps/views author World Wide Seismic Event... Apr/16 1356 42487 energy_wave 'Images' of other posters Apr/21 325 11497 ProudAmerican International Space Mapping of Lake Vostok Overridden by NSA Apr/13 181 5231 dragonrider Civil War? Apr/01 162 1840 Tetsuo-51 I challenge Thomas Crowne Apr/28 115 1582 Solomon Tulbure May (1316 new threads) date reps/views author What will you say/do, if you are wrong about Jesus May/21 268 29307 believerinchrist Screw the left wing, I love the USA! May/23 126 1717 Shining Wizard Do we owe France an apology? May/31 122 1453 Netchicken I loathe America, and what it has done to the rest of the world... May/16 106 1607 CoLD aNGeR Homosexuality and the Bible May/20 105 1394 Nans DESMICHELS June (1536 new threads) date reps/views author The Colonel on Republicans Jun/29 307 3008 Colonel Oh yes, I am *soooo* unamerican *cough* Jun/04 219 3383 LOBO Did Osama do it?? Jun/02 163 2876 xaos This whole website is one big Joke Jun/18 153 2120 jarrod ATS Convention 2004 Jun/18 135 1917 MaskedAvatar July (1981 new threads) date reps/views author Have I Disturbed Some One? (Revisited) Jul/28 255 4990 Valhall Explosive situation in Yellowstone Jul/31 251 8195 dragonrider Imagine your are an American Jul/09 197 3210 Shining Wizard (The lost women in military thread) Jul/16 191 2128 FreeMason Gay Marriages (Not what you think). Jul/14 190 1865 FreeMason August (2411 new threads) date reps/views author you've probably seen this but Aug/07 337 9427 levis 501 US Power Outage.. Aug/14 329 6024 Uninen Drugs? Aug/18 260 3801 xaos America for Americans.... Aug/24 237 2941 j619pinoy Nukes best thing that happend to Japan. Aug/06 207 2605 FreeMason September (2577 new threads) date reps/views author OH JEEZUS! Conversation with a cab driver Sep/25 201 2882 William Gods Dont Exist Sep/12 178 2304 AnarchistSuperstar ***WHOOP WHOOP RED ALERT RED ALERT** Sep/14 157 1894 Valhall Saddam did NOT GAS HIS OWN PEOPLE Sep/28 150 1752 Sanders How Many Believe in God? Sep/17 145 1869 Satyr October (2928 new threads) date reps/views author ATS marriages? Oct/20 369 3716 Kalistenics Photos of members again Oct/11 322 12388 jetsetter adopt a newbie! Oct/01 252 3636 MorningtonCrescent Ask Loki time. Oct/17 238 1618 Loki The WMD Cult Oct/04 234 2855 MaskedAvatar November (3002 new threads) date reps/views author latest terror message (hanmannpi.com) Nov/09 401 12312 LookingAround If Being Gay is alright in the eyes of God then..... Nov/19 391 4152 BlackJackal And Evolution is OUT of the Picture! Nov/19 302 3674 outsidethemilkglass Russian vs. USA Tech Nov/28 296 4267 Russian Best Tank! Nov/17 246 4015 Russian December (2542 new threads) date reps/views author Painting the sky..(pics) Dec/04 556 8173 Bangin Questions about Fallen Angels ........... Dec/09 438 9855 TRAINEDFORTHIS Saddam Hussein arrested Dec/14 371 6611 dexxy TERROR LEVEL ORANGE - THE BIG PICTURE Dec/21 181 4783 Nerdling RELIABLE INFO ON DULCE Dec/06 164 6999 GODFLESH

Other Interesting Threads of 2003

Many times, the most popular threads aren't the best indication of what happened on our discussion board, or accurately reflect the mood of our members, or even reflect the events we witnessed that are destined to be the significant historic events of our time. Below we've taken suggestions from staff and members to list all of the other important threads from what will be a very important year. Other interesting threads of 2003. date reps/views author UFO at WTC when 'terrorists' attacked The WTC event is still fresh in the memory of many... but this topic was repeated all too often. Jan/5 61 3974 alienaddicted Breaking news: chemical weapon found in Iraq The year of conspiracy discussion was overshadowed by the war in Iraq. Way back in January, we were wondering about those elusive WMD's. Jan/16 57 437 cassini First Post: Project Whiteout Like him, hate him, or don't even know him... Dragonrider had an impact on ATS in 2003 in several ways. Here we see his very first post in 2003. Feb/5 13 227 Dragonrider Take back ATS ???? As the first hints of growing pains were being felt, some staff-members decided a 'take back' campaign was needed. Feb/10 41 545 OzChris 100% proof 9/11 was an implosion The WTC event is still fresh in the memory of many... and this other topic was repeated all too often. Mar/19 61 1123 Free Talk And now some sugar for your sour grapes! After mixed reviews on our classic April Fool's joke, we announced something very big for ATS. April/1 16 322 William Your opinion of ATS 2.0 And that 'something very big for ATS' is just beginning to be realized. April/13 77 1126 William ATS Collaborative Fiction #1: 'At the playground' Among the new features of the improved ATS, was an all-new Collaborative Fiction forum. Here we see the first story. April/28 42 1562 William The Creator Small cracks appear in the armor, and we begin to lear who SimonGray might be. May/27 65 1636 SimonGray SHIT - I've just been shot with an arrow. A member gets shot with an arrow, and what's the first thing he thinks of doing? Why, posting to ATS of course! We believe that is the first thing everyone should do in the event of a medical emergency. May/28 42 560 mad scientist A Challenge to FreeMason The 'Clash of the Titans' would have had nothing on this. The two most notorious members of 2003 might have squared off in a no-holds barred sluggfest. We could have sold tickets! Jun/5 84 1056 Dragonrider NEW CONTEST! When will we hit 100,000 posts? This year, we hit the 100,000, 200,000 and 300,000 posts marks all in the same year. Not long ago, in June, we set up a contest to predict the 100,000th post. Jun/18 54 558 William Who has the best Avatar? More and more signs that we are a full-fledged community as threads like this become very popular. Jul/8 120 1789 GiantsFan Encyclopaedia Of Banned Members Any online discussion board with a long history and long list of members will experience the full range from minor spats to full-out board drama. Most big drama ends in someone being banned, and MaskedAvatar thought it would be cool to keep track of all the banned former members. Jul/8 168 4202 MaskedAvatar need more blog testers! Blog, blog, blog, everyone loves a blog! This is the month ATS Blogs became available to community members. Jul/21 20 188 William Take Back ATS Explained. The heat that was August 2003 begins with an ill-fated 'Take Back ATS' campaign initiated by a few members, which resulted in rumors of hacking, bannings, and other more ugly events of discussion boards. Aug/3 44 794 David rumors from inside the beltway -- August may be hell No single event captures the essence of 2003 on ATS like the infamous 'WhispersInTheDark' poster who first capture our imaginations with cryptic messages, then hacked into our database to make it appear as though he can predict a terror attack. Aug/4 113 7449 WhispersInTheDark The WITD Whispers Thread The profound effect of 'WhispersInTheDark' continues in this and many other threads. Aug/6 45 1346 MrEisenhower WIN 10,000 POINTS! 'Who is Simon Gray?' More and more cracks in the famous armor of Mr. SimonGray as we announce a contest to expose the creator! Aug/26 161 3943 William Whispers in the Dark--The real deal August heat continued through two board hacks, groups of members being banned, and the beginnings of one moderator turning against us. The 'WhispersInTheDark' issue continues in our 'Really Above Top Secret' forum. Aug/29 162 1545 onlyinmydreams POLL: WITD That pesky hacker/prankster who speaks in cryptic riddles still has a tight grip on many members. Sep/4 78 678 onlyinmydreams LEVEL IMPOSSIBLE - or the rise and rise and rise of dragonrider With the intoduction of points, we entered a new era with an economy within ATS. And two of our more prolific posters discuss the wealth and bounty that is theirs. Sep/9 88 1109 MaskedAvatar Is ATS currently meeting its mission to 'deny ignorance'? Our new mantra of 'deny ignorance' took hold in September and members began to imbrace what it stands for. Sep/15 52 538 Seekerof COINTELPRO and ATS? A reflection of the paranoia of our times, and stressful events within our community, some members begin to wonder if members of our staff are working with 'them'. Oct/12 47 644 Dragonrider Dragonrider now GONE October saw one of our most popular members/moderators leave after a bitter struggle with senior staff over issues related to the notorious 'WhispersInTheDark' episode. Oct/15 171 3930 Dragonrider The Big Changes: No More Chit Chat on ATS One of the biggest changes ever for ATS, the split-off of chit-chat and non-conspiracy topics into a new board and new domain. Oct/24 60 1340 William off-the-charts ATS Growth! We knew we were growing in a massive way, but for the first time we were able to see the graphic results. Nov/9 36 1112 William Tassadar? you there? Rumors of a member's death are greatly exaggerated! While it seemed that a prankster pulled our legs on this one, it's not the first time a member's absence has resulted in speculations of their demise. Nov/29 56 807 MorningtonCrescent We (ATS) are a source for news... As 2003 draws to a close, we discover evidence that we are being referenced by mainstream news sources... at least by their editors as they gather information and research stories. Dec/24 62 1238 SkepticOverlord

As we get close to the end of 2004, I thought it a good idea to bump this thread, and main-site content page (2003 in Threads) for anyone interested in some of our more popular older threads. An interesting feature of this page allows you to click on the month... for example, clicking on MAY takes you to a page showing the top 56 of 1,316 threads started that month. Browsing through the months not only shows you our growth, but also provides some interesting insight into the progression of populat topics throughout 2003.

"What, no Pisky ?', I thought as I read the thread - then I realised that I was only a member of ATS for the last 9 days of 2003.

As I recall we had a "Pook" then, no Pisky.

Pook in name, Pisky in nature