In 2008, a woman named Andrea Natella created a website that changed the internet. It was called “Ever Dream This Man?” and contained a creepy story that scared everyone and made people question their reality.
According to the website, thisman.org, a patient of a psychiatrist drew a picture of a man who had repeatedly appeared in her dreams. She claimed that he gave her advice on her personal life. The portrait lay untouched on her desk until another patient also recognised the man. Unnerved, the psychiatrist sent the picture to more patients, who said they had seen him as well. The photo spread, and by now, at least 2000 people have claimed to have seen him. The most unsettling part? No one had ever seen him in their waking lives.
People who read the story on the website tried to come up with theories to explain this.
One possible explanation is that he is a real person who can enter people’s dreams.
Some say he is a form of God who appears to talk to people. That could explain why he gives them advice.
However, the most logical theory is that people who saw the picture began to dream of him, and the idea was reinforced by imagination. The human brain cannot create new faces, so it is common to dream of people you have seen in real life, even if it was only a small glance. You might not even notice seeing them, but your brain does, and sometimes puts their face into a dream.
After two years of this, Andrea Natella shocked the internet in a way that was as big as releasing the website. She revealed the whole thing to be an internet hoax. It was a marketing campaign meant to trick the internet and show how easy it is for people to believe and spread whatever they see. The picture that everyone believed was based on an old photo of Natella’s father. The internet had mixed reactions. Many people were disappointed. They liked the idea of a mystery man and felt “let down” when they found out it wasn’t real. Others felt relieved. They liked the comfort of knowing that they were safe.
Even after it was revealed to be fake, “This Man” had a lasting impact on pop culture. The plot of “Dream Scenario,” a 2023 film, was based on this legend. The image itself has also made appearances, such as in “Lucid Dream” and multiple times throughout “X-Files.” In 2018, a Manga series called “This Man” followed a police officer investigating the same myth. Even though it was fake, Andrea Natella and “This Man” have a lasting impact on society and how we view our world.