I was 18 in 1999 and the Blair Witch Project was just a series of flyers I found at the local punk/goth/weirdo hangouts and record stores. The movie was playing as a late-night showing at the local art-house theater and absolutely nobody had any reason to believe that it was anything but actual found footage. Some friends and I went to see it and it was SCARY. AS. FUCK!!! If you were one of the lucky few who saw it in that tiny window of time, it fucking worked. Admittedly, the endless series of sad copycats have ruined the format, but that one worked.