What is Reddit's opinion of DUCK IN A RAINCOAT?

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Well, after leaving, I completely understood the larger security system that allowed them remain to safe from outside sources.

They had a very long road leading into the Elan complex and at the beginning of that road (where you would turn in) they had a lookout station. Plus, it was practically in the middle of nowhere, so there would be almost no reason for any other car to be using that road, besides staff.

So it would have been hard to drive in without "the houses" being warned first. This actually happened many times. News crews and investigative journalist would show up but by the time they reached the houses, the alert had already been sounded. So all the windows were closed, all primal screaming was stopped, and they would usually choose a few of the higher strength, throw them a basketball, and tell them to go outside because "they earned it!".

So suddenly the place looked pretty normal to any outside observers, who would of course be stopped by Elan staff and asked for search warrants, etc...

Apparently that ruse worked very well.

When I left Elan, I called the police and I was brushed off. So I called the police in Maine and was brushed off. So I called the local police in Poland Springs and was brushed off. So I called a number of journalists and of the few who got back to me, and the even fewer who kept in touch, there was always some moment when they stopped writing or sent me a message saying that they were too afraid to move forward because of the blowback they were suddenly getting.

It was seriously like a movie. I found a book called "Duck in a Raincoat" which was written about Elan and the author explains similar things happening to her. At the end, that author literally fled the US because people were following her and strange things started happening.

>So you were there for at least 2 years. How long total?

The average stay was between 28 and 42 months. I left around 32 months.

>Why didn't you get out sooner?

Elan had been around since the 70's, they had 20 years of practice before I arrived. With thousands of residents all trying thousands of ways to escape, Elan certainly learned a lot about how to control you mentally and physically. I found that it wasn't necessarily the physical aspects that kept people there, it was more the mental aspects.

We certainly had people guarding the exits, and even secondary people guarding the woods around Elan, but it was more the aspects of brainwashing that mentally broke our will. And believe me, I am the kind of person who always assumed I would be different and I would be the one who could never be controlled like that. Unfortunately I underestimated how ingenious these control systems are.

>Why didn't you get the cops or fbi or whatever to shut it down once you were out?

For one, when I left I was completely and utterly destroyed. I took a few years to even process what had happened. I like to think that I "shook it off" faster than most people.

I actually spent over 2 years contacting local, state, and national law enforcement, all different kinds of media from reporters, journalist, even wrote out stuff for talk-shows like Ellen, Oprah, etc...

No matter how much progress I made, at some point it would magically get shut down. It was extremely creepy. Also, when this was happening, Elan was still open. It wasn't closed down until 2011.

There is a book called "Duck in a Raincoat" written by a journalist who tried to expose Elan in the 90's. While writing the book (and she actually narrates this in the book as it progresses) she began to notice strange things. Cars following her. Weird threats from strangers. Things being left on her property. Etc...

In the end she ended up taking her family and fleeing the country. So yeah, the shit runs deep. This is why I hide behind a "pen name" and try to protect my identity at all costs.

>How old are you now?

Mid 30's.

>What happened to the family you were taken from? Did they ever open a missing child case for you?

They were lied to and manipulated the entire time I was there. Plus all of my communication to them was censored. For example, like this: https://elan.school/24-communication-breakdown/

I was sent to Elan by an arm of the court system, for a petty crime, you can actually read about that here: https://elan.school/34-the-before-time/

But Elan got kids in many different ways. They had deals with orphanages and got kids that way. They had deals with JDC's across the country (Juvenile Detention Center). They had deals with certain school systems who would send them kids as a form of "expulsion". They had deals with court systems. They even just straight up advertised. Elan had everyone from orphans to the children of millionaires.

>What was the point of being taken & brainwashed?

They somehow worked it out where they got paid by all of the systems listed above. And per child, it was something like 60k a year. Can you fucking believe that?

To bring it back a little to the MK-ultra angle, we were like subjects in an experiment. Meticulous records and paperwork were a huge part of Elan life. I am sure that on some level they were testing the limits of mind-control and brainwashing. That data was definitely being collected for a purpose.

>How did you eventually "get out?"

This is the only one I won't answer for now, seeing as how many people are waiting for the end of the comic and I don't want to spoil it.

In my 3 years many, many people (including myself) attempted to escape. Some even reached states hundreds of miles away (from Maine).

Only one person ever stayed gone.

Some even died in the process (in Elan's 40 year history).

The various security systems were very well designed and as Elan had been open since the 70's, they had many decades to learn and adapt these systems.

It was very disheartening to be (secretly) cheering for someone who actually made it past them all, and even to be many states away, only to be dragged back kicking and screaming. We couldn't understand how a tiny place in Maine could exert such control over nationwide law enforcement. Because many times local and state police departments were involved despite many of the runaway children having no criminal records. Elan felt like a God to us.

It wasn't until I eventually came home and began to do research that I realized how truly corrupt Joe Ricci was (the guy who created Elan) and how well connected he was. A multi-millionaire with both political and mafia connections. There was a book written about him actually: https://www.amazon.com/DUCK-RAINCOAT-MAURA-CURLEY-ebook/dp/B00ANZ26QS

During the writing of that book, the author ended up fleeing the country with her family after a series of bizarre and threatening encounters with "strangers" who began appearing in her life..

The Elan rabbit hole goes deep.

Duck in a Raincoat is a book I’d like to read about Elan’s founder. I guess he went to a similar “school” in NY as a kid and went on to start his own.

I would recommend reading one or more of the memoirs written by TTI survivors:

Cyndy Etler

Zack Bonnie

Elizabeth Gilpin

On reddit r/MrJoeNobody has a graphic novel about his experience at Elan. And related to Elan and the TTI industry Duck in a Raincoat. Good luck!

The page I linked has the kindle version https://smile.amazon.com/DUCK-RAINCOAT-MAURA-CURLEY-ebook/dp/B00ANZ26QS/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=