ATS Resume Reading — Truth Or Legend?

Where are these ATSs that “read resumes” for recruiters?

I hear candidates say “how do you get through the ATS Black Hole?” Like as if there’s a bot in there scanning your resume with it’s red HAL 9000 eyeball and considering your font, word placement, kerning and silently tsk-tsking to itself electronically because you misused “myriad” (google it. You misuse it all the time) and you thought “orientated” was a word. Cute. Then executes the dreaded “Let resume.status = ‘black hole’;” command.

I’ve never seen an ATS pre-read resumes for me. Am I the only recruiter reading resumes myself or is this an urban legend?