Lyle Zapato

Lyle Zapato is the author of Aluminum Foil Deflector Beanie: Practical Mind Control Protection for Paranoids. The book is often found in the "Humor" section of bookshops.

Book
Zapato describes this book on his website as including "lots of new information, including expanded construction and usage tips, vital psychotronic deflection theory, an overview of AFDB alternatives, a guide to potential mind control enemies, and the never-before-elucidated history of the AFDB. Get yours before it's banned by the forces of mind control!"

Zapato's book has attracted some attention in publishing circles. Following the release of his book, he was interviewed by Jenna Glazer of Absolute Write. When she asked how Zapato, while wearing an Aluminum Foil Deflector Beanie (AFDB), dealt with metal detectors, teachers who insist he remove his beanie during the Pledge of Allegiance, haircuts, and swimming, Zapato recommended that it's best to avoid situations where beanie discovery or displacement might be a problem. He recommended seeking haircuts at paranoid barbershops with properly aluminated walls. Swimming on the other hand with an AFDB is "not a problem since aluminum naturally forms a protective layer of oxidization on its surface that keeps the core safe from degradation."

According to Zapato's interview with Glatzer, because of the controversial nature his book he and his publisher decided to hide it in the "Humor" section so as to not draw too much attention to it from NWO agents prowling for contrathink in the "Nefarious Psychotronic Beams" or "Mental Liberation" sections (where it would normally have gone). Also, they "made it the same shape as a Garfield book to increase the illusion of banal innocuousness."
*supporting the independence of the Republic of Cascadia, a country supposed to have arisen from the states of Oregon and Washington and the Canadian province of British Columbia
*recruiting efforts to aid the defense of the Republic of Cascadia by the Sasquatch Militia
Site user profile and other data
Profiling the site's use through Quantcast.com shows http://zapatopi.net receives about 17,400 different monthly visitors (as measured by cookie downloads). There appears to be a strong affinity between visitors to http://zapatopi.net and the NASA Glenn Research Center website, but just what this means is unknown. The website has been up since May 3, 2000, and 1,156 other websites link to it.

Cascadia independence movement
In 2004, Zapato was interviewed in connection with Cascadia. In this interview, Zapato explained that the sovereign nation of Cascadia already exists in spirit, if not yet in the world atlas. "The Republic of Cascadia," the Web site acknowledged, "is not yet officially recognized by Canada, the United States of America or the United Nations. Not that it is any of their business." Zapato would not reveal his geographic location to The Oregonian, other than describing it as "central Cascadia 'near the surface.'" He described, in an e-mail to The Oregonian, the site's purpose as "to help bring about the revolution to liberate the people of Cascadia from remote Federalist control." During the 2004 elections, support for an independent Cascadia grew.

Recognition of Zapato's works
James Randi
While Lyle Zapato's website does not identify itself as a spoof or parody, the general reaction to it is that it must be such. The well-known author James Randi writes:

Use in federally funded education research

Lyle Zapato's invention of the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus has generated so much attention that is being used as a test case in a federally funded internet literacy educational program development.

Works
*Aluminum Foil Deflector Beanie: Practical Mind Control Protection for Paranoids ISBN 1-58160-376-2

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