She was supposed to be a typical teenager, expressing angst about her boyfriend, her parents and her somewhat ordinary life.
Bree, as she was called, began posting videos on the popular website YouTube.com this summer. There wasn't much to the clips, just a 16-year old girl chatting to a camera about her life in a small town "hours from a mall."
But the videos struck a chord with YouTube watchers and soon "lonelygirl15" was pulling in as many as 600,000 viewers at a time, putting her videos at the top of the website's offerings. She also became an Internet darling, spawning dozens of chat rooms that discussed every aspect of her life and speculated about her real identity.
But now Bree's cover has been blown by a trio of computer geeks who discovered the teenager was really an actress with possible ties to a powerful Hollywood agency.
The revelation has sparked outrage by many YouTube viewers, who are furious at being duped and possibly set up for a corporate marketing scheme. Others are speculating that the videos were a sneaky attempt by a movie studio to drum up interest in a coming film, in much the same way The Blair Witch Project was launched in 1999.
So far there has been no comment from the company linked to Bree, Creative Artists Agency, which represents Hilary Swank, Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg among others. But last week, Bree's "creators" issued a statement acknowledging that the videos were made by filmmakers eager to create a "new art form."
"Thank you so much for enjoying our show so far," the statement said. "Our intention from the outset has been to tell a story -- a story that could only be told using the medium of video blogs and the distribution power of the Internet. Right now, the biggest mystery of lonelygirl15 is 'Who is she?' We think this is an oversimplification. Lonelygirl15 is a reflection of everyone. She is no more real or fictitious than the portions of our personalities that we choose to show [or hide] when we interact with the people around us."
The controversy has not only exploded across the Internet, and in media outlets around the world, but it has also demonstrated the growing power of YouTube, where anyone can post their own video, or pirated clips from movies and television shows. Barely a year old, YouTube attracts almost 20 million unique hits a month.
Bree began posting her videos in June and so far she's put up about 30. Sitting in her bedroom, she talks directly to a camera about having strict parents, being home-schooled and having problems with her boyfriend, Daniel.
In some videos, she talks vaguely about her religion and a special coming ceremony. Some viewers noted that she had a picture of British occultist Aleister Crowley on her wall, prompting speculation that she was a Satanist.
Chris Patterson knew something was up with lonelygirl15 almost from the start. He started watching the videos in July and became intrigued by the Internet chatter. "There was always tons of speculation about who they were and what was behind it, and what their evil plots to rule the universe were," said Mr. Patterson, a software engineer in Tulsa, Okla.
In late August, Mr. Patterson hooked up with two other skeptical lonelygirl15 watchers, and they decided to get to the bottom of the videos. Using another website, Myspace.com, they sent a message to Bree claiming to be a 17-year old boy. When they got a reply, they managed to trace the message to a computer on Creative Artists Agency's network. Five days later, Bree's creators issued their statement.
Mr. Patterson, 36, said he is convinced lonelygirl15 is part of a studio plan to launch an interactive television program.
"I think it's definitely multiple people trying to push a new medium to where reality TV doesn't come once a week," he said. Others have speculated that the videos are the first step in a major movie release.
He is not miffed that Bree isn't real and that the videos aren't what they claim. "If people really thought it was real to begin with, then they live in a fantasy world; they watch too much TV," he said.
The revelations haven't stopped Bree's creators from releasing more videos. Several clips have been posted since Mr. Patterson's group uncovered the truth behind Bree and even he has become a fan.
"I still want to see how it ends," he said. "I never thought she was a real teenager to begin with."
