Yesterday I was walking with a friend on Crosby Beach, Liverpool, when I came upon a sealed plastic bottle lying on the sand with a piece of paper in it. I picked it up and saw that the paper inside was rolled and had been neatly bound with a thread complete with a bow. It was a message in a bottle!
As I undid the plastic bottle-top I wondered what might be written on the lined paper within. A confession perhaps, maybe a note to a lost love, or a dream set free. This being Crosby Beach on the mouth of the River Mersey that opens into the ice cold waters of the Irish Sea I hardly imagined it would be a note from Robinson Crusoe.
What I found inside was perplexing, and I’ll confess, somewhat disappointing. A neatly handwritten list of accidents, incident, events and deaths that the author apparently felt were suspect.
Among the items listed were “Koncordesky Accident? Paris” and “12/8/00 The Kursk Accident? DMDNT” along with “31/8/89 Princess Anne” and “The Umbrella Man 1/2/05 Wm Gray Heysham LA3 The Radioactive Man”. But the note offered nothing more, no questions, no suppositions, nothing.
The note, which I was disappointed wasn’t an SOS from an undiscovered desert island somewhere in the Irish sea, was dated 28th of October 2008. My friend and I both looked at it and could make no sense of it, nonetheless I put the note in my pocket so I could Google it when I got back home.
As it happens, it turns out I am not the first person to find a note like this. Others have reported finding similar messages in bottles on several beaches not far from where we were.
WHERE ARE THEY FROM?
If the mysterious messenger was hoping their bottles would find far off places then they didn’t consider the currents of the Irish Sea which would be unlikely to carry any such message very far.
The furthest reported finding thus far seems to be from someone who found a bottle on Magheramore Beach in County Wickow, Ireland, at the beginning of summer 2008.
So it would seem that the author of the bizarre little notes lives somewhere around Liverpool bay area, and judging from the handwriting I doubt they’re a kid playing a prank. So what is this strange message then, what do these events have in common?
Maybe I’m supposed to become intensely interested and begin my own journey of discovery, but it’s been years since The X Files held my interest and frankly I’ve got better things to do with my time. So if the author finds this blog post (and I suspect they will in time) then I would suggest that they cast their bottles further from home, and that they write something a little less cryptic in future. Ask a question, write a web link, entice us to join the dots. Because as fun as it was finding this message in a bottle, if the message doesn’t make sense then I’m afraid you’re just a litterbug.
—
Other similar messages found
Question posted on Yahoo about one of these messages
Also found at the beach : “I will bring my homework in”
Found Magazine
Messages in bottles uncork a mystery
Bizarre Tale of the Message in a Bottle (Link added Aug 18th, 09)
214 Responses to “MYSTERY IN A BOTTLE”
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Wrote the following comment on Nov 14, 2008 at 1:29 pm
How very odd. It gives you sort of a glimpse into the mind of someone who is very suspicious doesn’t it?
Wrote the following comment on Nov 14, 2008 at 2:21 pm
Fascinating–I wonder if it’s a kind of game?
Wrote the following comment on Nov 14, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Notes left behind… I once found a suicide note left on a cliff. That was freaky.
Wrote the following comment on Nov 15, 2008 at 1:56 am
While it might not read to you like an SOS Simon, I think that the person who wrote that note was indeed sending out an SOS, even if they weren’t fully aware of it.
Yes, it could be an elaborate prank, though I doubt it. I think it’s more likely that on some level the person who wrote this note is battling some kind of personal crisis hidden behind their fixation with conspiracies. It’s not at all uncommon.
Wrote the following comment on Nov 16, 2008 at 12:14 am
I -LOVE- Found magazine!
Wrote the following comment on Nov 16, 2008 at 3:23 am
hmmmm….very interesting!
Wrote the following comment on Nov 16, 2008 at 1:21 pm
You know Simon, a little girl tossed a message in a bottle into the sea at Morcombe, not at all far from where you found this bottle, and it managed to get all the way to Australia six months later.
https://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article793173.ece
Wrote the following comment on Nov 16, 2008 at 9:30 pm
You know I’d love to believe that story Ken, but doesn’t it sound suspect to you?
Her message was replied to by some kid in Australia called “Bob”, and he didn’t post a reply address. I think this is a case of the message being sent back to the UK by someone who wanted to give a little girl a thrill.
It’s somewhere around nine and a half thousand miles from here to Australia in a straight line, and the bottle wouldn’t have travelled in a straight line by any means.
According to Oceanographer, David Griffin, of the CSRIO, its most likely route, assuming it could actually get out of the tides of the Irish Sea, would have been down to the Canary Islands, across the equator, down South America to the Drake Passage then the hopping onto the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. But he says that even if it did make that unlikely and epic journey, there is still pretty much no way it could then travel north to Perth.
It’s far more likely that, like me, someone found the bottle on a nearby beach or indeed the same beach, then simply sent it to a friend in Australia or posted it from there hen they were on vacation.
Wrote the following comment on Nov 17, 2008 at 12:23 pm
You big Spoil sport Simon. Were you the kind of kid who used to tell others kids Santa wasn’t real? :)
I suppose you’re right though.
Wrote the following comment on Nov 17, 2008 at 5:41 pm
LOL, Wait a second Ken, Santa is real?
Wrote the following comment on Nov 18, 2008 at 10:18 pm
You’ve created a very interesting blog here Simon. I happened upon it by chance this afternoon while looking for something quite unrelated, but I appear to have been sucked into your online world! :-)
Wrote the following comment on Nov 25, 2008 at 6:59 am
Aren’t all blogs just nothing more than messages in a bottle?
(Ooohhh, it’s easy to by philosophical after 4 glasses of wine! Did I spell that right?)
Wrote the following comment on Nov 25, 2008 at 11:42 am
But not so easy to spell though, right? :-)
Wrote the following comment on Dec 1, 2008 at 1:58 pm
Hey I have found a bottle with the exact same letter inside but the date on the bottom of the two pieces of paper are dated 22/11/08
I thought these events were codes to explain something more than just the event, they all link to Paris and Russia hmmmmmmm.
This way of sending messages is very odd, he sounds very paranoid and cannot tell in other forms of comunication for the fear of releasing information that could be harmful.
Wrote the following comment on Dec 1, 2008 at 3:43 pm
Where did you find the bottle Davey?
Wrote the following comment on Dec 2, 2008 at 12:58 am
Maybe this guy is mentally disturbed or maybe he wants to trigger a response for someone to find out information. dunno lol all I know is it’s interestingly weird.
Well my parents found it whilst walking our dogs on Fleetwood Beach near Blackpool just washed up on the side with the ribbon tied round the bottle. I thought this is very weird so I did some research.
I’ve found out that ‘DMTNT’ means DEAD MAEN TELL NO TALES’ under the sentence ‘THE KURSK ACCIDENT’ on the enclosed letter. The Kursk accident was a Russian sub that sank with unknown reasons to why it sank.
Also he spells ‘KONCORDESKY’ ACCIDENT at the top of the letter and that was a plan the russians designed (the TU144) and some sources say France stole the idea and came out with the CONCORDE later on. BUT……the man spells it wrong it’s CONCORDESKY not spelt with a K like he puts it.
Then he quotes Concorde Accident which makes me think…. because Concorde was put out of action and stopped, because it had too many faults and maybe the Russians we involved with tampering with the planes. to make them fail so France could not take all the glory from which rightly belonged to Russia.
He lists
Concorde-Plane
Hovercraft
Bleriot-Plane
They have links with FRANCE + RUSSIA + ENGLAND
He then gives you ‘FLITE FORM AIM GRP’ A company that can check personal files and work experience of certain clients and people and he states Surnames of people ‘STEADMAN , STARNES, BATES, MCBOON……
WHY ?
Also I will leave you with this to think about
‘TRIPLE ENTENTE’
Wrote the following comment on Dec 7, 2008 at 6:16 pm
I also found the exact note in Whitehaven last monday (01/12/08) washed upon the beach but it was dated 2 says after the one above! So I have googled it and it seems they are popping up everywhere!
And more news on anybody else finding one!
Let me know by posting on here.
Here is the link to the other one
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080807162841AALjUPA
Wrote the following comment on Dec 7, 2008 at 6:42 pm
I don’t think they’re popping up as far away as the person casting them to sea might hope. Whitehaven isn’t at all far from where the bottles were thrown in the Irish Sea. If the person casting them wanted them to actually go any real distance, he should have done some research about tides. Throwing them in the Irish sea was a bit dim :-)
As for that yahoo link, thanks for that, though it is actually already listed below.
I’m sure you won’t be the last to find one of these odd messages Jase.
Wrote the following comment on Dec 7, 2008 at 11:45 pm
I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s just a fruitcake (Nutter) doing these letters.
All that’s in the past them events…….the future is now.
Unless we missed something vital then I close the case.
Wrote the following comment on Dec 7, 2008 at 11:49 pm
LOL! Yep Dave. I too concluded that. I tend to agree with Doug’s comment earlier (4).
“While it might not read to you like an SOS Simon, I think that the person who wrote that note was indeed sending out an SOS, even if they weren’t fully aware of it.”
Wrote the following comment on Dec 8, 2008 at 11:38 pm
I found one on Formby Beach yesterday 7/12/08 at about 1.15 pm exactly the same boiled nonsense as the others. But indulge me here……..
My guess would be that the author is a frequent traveller on one of the ships that ply there trade around the waters of Liverpool. Probably a ferry due to the frequency of the postings.
The writing would appear to be consistent with right handed man of average education and excellent dexterity. Aged mid 50s he lives with an older partner who has stifled his desire to travel and explore the world. He writes the nonsense prior to travel, and flings it overboard shortly after commencing his journey. There will probably be stacks of these tributes to the police (MIAB)in the next few weeks as he is following the advice to post early for Chistmas.
As for the content, you’d get more sense from a dyslexic chinese crossword compiler (no offence guys)
Cheers
Paul
Wrote the following comment on Dec 9, 2008 at 1:01 am
Hi Paul, I have to disagree with you on this. I think the loony toon who is chucking these plastic bottles into the Mersey is doing so from a very local Liverpool beach. If he were casting them from a boat then why cast them within the mouth of the Mersey? And if he were on the ferry then his rubbish would have been discovered further down stream.
No, this plank is probably a ‘scare in the community’ type who smells a bit funny and shuffles along muttering nonsense to himself.
I was dissapointed that after finding a message in a bottle, it wasn’t something more fun or at least a little bit interesting.
Wrote the following comment on Dec 18, 2008 at 1:55 pm
I found one of these messages on the saltmarsh at Greenodd, Cumbria on 17 December 2008. Doesn’t answer any qusetions, though.
Wrote the following comment on Jan 2, 2009 at 11:51 am
I have also found one of these notes in the Isle of Man. Dated 25/12/08. Other than that, same writing and underlining.
One thing that confused me was why would someone who appears to be a perfectionist use such rubbish paper. He has taken the time to remove the spiral binding, but why not buy a pad with a serrated edge?
I think it’s a load of rubbish. There is no news in the note, just things that were widely covered in the press at the time.
Wrote the following comment on Jan 12, 2009 at 7:16 pm
We found a bottle with same message on Aldingham beach Cumbria on 11th January 2009. Seems to be they are washing up around Morecambe Bay.
Wrote the following comment on Feb 18, 2009 at 9:35 pm
hi i found one of these bottles today, same hand written stuff but dated 12 02 09. I was out in morecambe bay with my dog. Has any one queried why he dates the bleriot france to england 25 07 09?
I reckon he must be a strange middle aged guy connected to the power station at heysham!
Wrote the following comment on Mar 2, 2009 at 5:29 pm
I found 3 of these bottles in Morecambe Bay on the beach at Pilling,while walking my dog. The ones i found don’t say umbrella or radioactive man or communist portrait artist. They were dated 22/2/09. Very odd
Wrote the following comment on Mar 10, 2009 at 4:28 pm
hi i have also found one of these notes washed up at bazil point Overton, 2 day 10th march, this 1 dated 28.2.09, also at the bottom says ‘1/2/05 Wm Gray Heysham La3 ????.
very odd anybody any ideas ??.
Wrote the following comment on Mar 11, 2009 at 8:16 pm
My brother recently found one of these on walney island, exactly the same, they are just conincidences written, i thought konkordsky was someone sellin the plans for concorde so MI5/6 got the plans doctored so that the plan would crash when it flew,
Whats the think about heysham radioactive man?
Also dmtnt, dead men tell no tales is just thrown in there which links to some things but most not
Wrote the following comment on Mar 12, 2009 at 1:01 pm
hi iv found another of these bottles again whislt walkin on the shore at overton 2 day, the same note as the other 1 but this time dated 23.02.09
wish this person wud giv us a clue 2 why they r doin this cos it must take quite a while 2 hand write then tie up so neatly ha !!
Wrote the following comment on Mar 12, 2009 at 2:31 pm
Sadly Sarah I think this person probably has absolutely no idea what they are doing themselves. This random littering seems like the work of a troubled mind, a person who feels that casting random rubbish into the swells of a river will somehow bring resolution to whatever crisis it is they are in.
I would suggest that the author of these strange little notes is simply a whackjob who has gone of their meds. Nothing more, nothing less.
Wrote the following comment on Mar 17, 2009 at 10:41 pm
The Morecambe Visitor newspaper have done a half page article on these bottles today. I havent found anymore, I still think the writer resides heysham area. A friend told me of a recluse who lives next to the sea by the power station, she reckons its him. Interesting how he drinks the same juice all the time, the bottles are the same lol.Karon.
Wrote the following comment on Apr 10, 2009 at 10:25 pm
Hi All
We found 3 of these bottles, all dated 8th Jan, all with the same text as the one Simon started with. We were staying at Bayliff about 3 miles south of Ulverston and could see Heysham across the bay. We were intrigued – and surprised to see there are a lot more bottles sloshing around out there!
Wrote the following comment on Apr 13, 2009 at 10:27 pm
Walking around Holme Island, Grange over Sands Saturday 11/4/09 we too found the exact same letter neatly bound with black cotton. Ours was dated 02/04/09. Can’t help with who, what or why tho! sorry
Wrote the following comment on May 22, 2009 at 12:37 pm
Hi Simon,
We are three boys from LANCASTER and hae found the same mysterious messae in a bottle dated 22-02-09 and we found it on the shore of the River Lune. Would you like us to scan it in and forward it to you to add to your blog. This is well exciting and we are really weirded out!!
This is just the kind of thing to find at the start of a school holiday so please let us know if we can solve the mystery with you.
Goerge Joe & Freddie 9, 8, and 6yrs.
Wrote the following comment on May 22, 2009 at 1:38 pm
Hi George, Joe & Freddie.
I think all the messages that people find look just about the same as one another, so no need to scan it in. However, you could try and solve this mystery while you’re on your school holiday. I know a LOT of people are really curious to find out who is writing these and what they mean. It’s a real mystery for sure! – Good luck!
Wrote the following comment on May 25, 2009 at 9:35 pm
A friend and I also came across one of his letters on the Lune Estuary, dated 22/2/09. You would normally think it’s quite a rare occasion to find a message in a bottle, well obviously not in this part of the world.
Anyone who drinks copious amounts of Tropicana is probably deluded, should we find the mystery author, I think he should be handed a hefty fine for his serial littering….
Wrote the following comment on May 27, 2009 at 4:59 pm
Hi
Found another of these bizarre notes washed up on the beach at Cleveleys dated 23/5/2009.
Has anyone ‘discovered’ the identity of the litter man??
Wrote the following comment on May 27, 2009 at 9:12 pm
Hiya Simon, We went camping to Piel Island, near Barrow-in-Furness at the weekend and found one of the bottles you have written about in your blog! We found it washed up on the beach on Saturday 23rd May and the date at the bottom of the cryptic nonsense was 20/04/09 (although the bottle didn’t look to have been in the sea that long!) Please please let me know if you find out what they are all about!?
Wrote the following comment on Jun 3, 2009 at 12:54 pm
We also found one of these bottles at blackpool north pier end again it was exciting then dissappointing but worried as one of the dates my friend pointed out is actually next month????
The date on this letter is 22/5/09
Wrote the following comment on Jun 3, 2009 at 5:57 pm
Hey Jeanette, can you tell us what was the event and date of this future happening? That way we can all see if the idiot litterbug is right.
Wrote the following comment on Jun 3, 2009 at 7:28 pm
Simon/Jeanette
I could be wrong but the event 25/07/09 isn’t referring to next month, its referring to a historical event which happened nearly 100 years ago.
25/07/09 bleriot France to England is referring to a
French aviator who completed the first flight across the English channel on the above date.
Please follow the link
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Bl%C3%A9riot
Wrote the following comment on Jun 3, 2009 at 8:53 pm
Wow after all he maybe insane! 100 yrs and cant get the date correct! I guess he has written that many bottles its comin around again! – sounds familiar!
Wrote the following comment on Jun 3, 2009 at 8:59 pm
we are not all crazy either. i speak for simon and me. we have no explanation re these bottles, we just brought them to light so ………cease being critical
Wrote the following comment on Jun 4, 2009 at 8:57 am
Thank you for the correct date for hundred years ago, as I was being to get worried this damn bottle is keeping me awake at night. I was getting a little worried as some tragic event might have been planned for next month, not that I could do anything to save the world!! but nevertheless this weird little bottle is a great talking point. Whoever is resposible has put a lot of thought, care and attention. I guess like everyone else who has found one will wonder who, why,and what the hell is goin on. If it turns out to be just a joke then, as always I fell for it big time. I will sleep a little better knowing that no disaster will happen next month, or will I????
Wrote the following comment on Jun 4, 2009 at 9:03 am
Regarding this little bottle again does anyone understand what the letters mean at the bottom at the page DMTNT just curious!!
Wrote the following comment on Jun 4, 2009 at 10:29 am
DMTNT stands for Dead men tell no tales
Wrote the following comment on Jun 4, 2009 at 11:51 am
Sting thank you i tried all sorts of daft things thank you I am even more interested in this little bottle dead men tell no lies what does it all mean. Do u think it is just a joke? When I was little I ised to love chain letters just to see how far they would go, but this little bottle is getting me griped.
Wrote the following comment on Jun 4, 2009 at 12:06 pm
Actually, DMDT was revealed in an earlier comment. The comments here make for interesting reading so I would recommend anyone interested in the littering lunatic should read the comments here.
Wrote the following comment on Jun 4, 2009 at 12:25 pm
sorry i must have missed it but thank u
Wrote the following comment on Jun 4, 2009 at 1:06 pm
No problem Jeanette :-)
I rather think this mystery and the comments will run and run. Personally I hope we can find the guy and like someone has said before, I hope he gets an ASBO or something for littering!
Wrote the following comment on Jun 4, 2009 at 2:31 pm
I think ur right it will run and run, still be interesting what the motive is, maybe we will never find out. The only good thing is it is getting people talkin. I hope everyone is as niggled as me or I just dont get out much to find the little bottle so annoying.
Wrote the following comment on Jun 4, 2009 at 2:41 pm
I have read everyones comments properly when I first came on ur website I think I was dumfounded that other people have found so many, and I wasnt really interested what people were saying but now ive read them properly,
I think I am more confussed, but sad if it turns out to be a whackhead, as most people think the person involved is a nutter. I need to get out more!!
Wrote the following comment on Jun 4, 2009 at 6:13 pm
taken away from the damn bottle just visting all your pages, ur quite a funny man. I laughed at the wind problem, smelly moo omg how embarring, imagine being on that plane and getting off because of bad wind lol lol thanks for your pages a great laugh at ur pics ur a bit of a guy here n there everywhere u could be the bottle planter!!!!
Wrote the following comment on Jun 14, 2009 at 11:28 pm
My son and i have also found a bottle dated 29/10/08 on Penrhyn Bay beach in North Wales. Having read the comments, nobody seems to have suggested that they may have been written at the same time, except the dates change on each letter/list. Has anyone made a count of how many bottles have been found to date ?
All very confusing and mysterious and rather disapointing especially for my 7 year old son, who thought it may have been a treasure map or possible penpal from somewhere a little more exotic than Lancashire/Cumbria.
Wrote the following comment on Jun 23, 2009 at 9:29 pm
My OH came home tonight with one of these little bottles. Discription of letter same as all the after Christmas messages. Dated 12/04/09 so it took a wee while to get here.
It was found at Saint Cooeys Wells in Portaferry, County Down Northern Ireland.
Am going to google the conspirarcy sites as this person obviously likes to write and wants people to read the message.
I have an inkling that he/she wants heard.
Who ever is responsible probably reads these comments regulary and has a good laugh about it! Or he/she is pissed off coz nobody has sussed the clues?
Wrote the following comment on Jul 24, 2009 at 11:22 pm
I have found an identical mysterious message in a little plastic bottle with a green lid in Glenluce, Scotland.
I kind of dissmissed it as a plain old message in a bottle, not that its not fun actually finding one! It seems like a run of the mill juice bottle, it was tied with a raggy grey thread.
It seems that my message doesnt have as much information as other bottles, missing the ‘communist paintings’and umbrella and radioactive man. although i swear writing is missing, as i remember noticing communist paintings when i first found it….hmmm.
Wrote the following comment on Aug 1, 2009 at 6:23 pm
hi ive found three of these bottles by the river wyre near Poulton le Fylde the first one had 5 pound note in it wrapped around a tube of pennies with a note the second one disappointed me because it didnt have any money in it the first one i found last year and is dated 30/5/08 then i found the second one wich was a litlle bit different and the third one was dated 21/6/09 and i found it in a small bottle rolled up and it was tied in black cotton. The first one mentions the Unwise Monkeys, At a time of Universal deceit never ask questions Orwell, The great game is the only game we’re all players and victims. It was very strange!
has anybody else found money in theres?
Wrote the following comment on Sep 23, 2009 at 12:40 am
I think whoever is doing this should get a blog up! For anyone who’s been sat researching the content of these bottles then check out wkjo.com it doesnt have any bearing on the letter but it will make you think about some other big subjects of the last decade.
We are having the wool pulled over our eyes – perhaps not in the way the letter writer is trying to alert us to.
So my message in a bottle is just … Who Killed John O’Neill?
Wrote the following comment on Sep 24, 2009 at 4:45 pm
Hi Simon,
Well i went to heysham beach today and i threw the bottle back into the sea as the tide was going out! I just didnt want it sitting on my shelf anymore. What do you think?, maybe the radioactive man in heysham might just find it. We should all just chuck them back!
regards, karon x
Wrote the following comment on Sep 24, 2009 at 4:59 pm
@ K Hall – I tossed the one I found in the bin. Best place for it I thought :-)
@ Agent Zee – I was tempted to mark your comment as spam because the website you mention has nothing to do with the subject at hand, plus your filthwerks.com email address seemed very spammy to me. However, I guess a post like this attracts the crackpots, so I took out the links and published the comment.
Wrote the following comment on Oct 16, 2009 at 6:57 pm
Only this morning i discovered one of these bottles on Morcombe sands, and after only a few hours of trawling the internet, believe i may have got someway into solving this mystery. “The Umbrella Man” may well refer to a short story written by the author Roald Dahl. The story documents the activties of a con-man who steals umbrella in pubs then sells them on, only to go back and use then money to get himself more umbrellas. Maybe this is relevant or not, i don’t know.
Wm Gray may refer to William M. Gray, a Meteorologist who has worked for the US air force, but he has no connections to Heysham, and after studying the local Heysham newspaper archives, nothing major occurred on the 1st of February 2005. I have numerous other leads that i’m following up that i will get back to you with if they produce anything interesting.
Wrote the following comment on Oct 25, 2009 at 10:26 pm
jake and rob found one of these letters on newbiggin beach, ulverston, cumbria, same writing same underlining same layout as the picture of that one at the top. does anyone have any answers to why they have been writen??? from sammy
Wrote the following comment on Nov 17, 2009 at 12:19 pm
Just to let you know we found another mysterious message in a bottle in Cumbria on 2nd Nov 09, same info, same writing. My 4 yr old found the bottle and we eagerly awaiting getting it back so we could prize the letter out, what a disappointment!
Wrote the following comment on Dec 2, 2009 at 3:39 pm
Today 2nd dec, three bottles found , aldingham shore by the church. All going in the bin, how many have been made? and Why?
Wrote the following comment on Dec 6, 2009 at 1:44 pm
my freind found 3 bottles on aldingham on the 3 dec i would like to no how many bottles av been found altogether someone must av a lot of time on there hands as they are all hand written
Wrote the following comment on Dec 26, 2009 at 9:39 pm
I also found one today on the North Shore beach in Llandudno (N.Wales).
Very intrigued to find outwhat this is all about!
Wrote the following comment on Jan 14, 2010 at 9:27 pm
Hi, I found two of these messages, one just on the sand and the other in a bottle, on Rampside beach near Barrow-in-Furness. The final date on them was 12-01-10, quite a while after the others were found. We decided at school that he is saying that all these events were not accidents, but happened to stop people ‘telling tales’. I suppose thats fairly obvious though!
..All very bizarre.
Wrote the following comment on Feb 11, 2010 at 2:31 pm
Today while walking the dogs on foulney island, barrow i came across a clear plastic bottle with a note in it, On closer inspection it revealed the following neatly hand written..
Page 1
Concordeski accident ? paris
31/12/68 concordeski TU144
31,12/99 putin president of russa
25/7/59 bleriot france – england
25/7/59 hovercraft england – france
25/7/00 concorde accident ?
Page 2
Ken gill MI5 Trade union leader
1/2/85 flighteform aim grp heathrow
steadman starnes bates
mc boon nov 89
1/2/05 Wm gray heysham LA3
Dated 2/2/2010
All very bizzare i think too… ????
Wrote the following comment on Feb 28, 2010 at 1:34 pm
I also found a mysterious plastic bottle with the handwritten message. I found it yesterday ( 27th Feb 2010 ) on Cockerham sands. I couldnt wait to get home and read the contents. I couldnt get the tightly closed lid off and had to cut the top off with a knife at home. I like most of you are confused at the contents, but at least we know we are not the only one who found it. Would love the author to get in touch and put me out of my misery !!
Wrote the following comment on Mar 14, 2010 at 8:41 pm
I found one today at Half Moon Bay, Heysham. Only dated from Friday 12th March so he must live fairly close by. I must admit to being just a little excited to get home and cut it open, he’d glued this one shut!
Wrote the following comment on Mar 15, 2010 at 12:51 pm
how many of these have been sent out????
Must have taken ages.
Wrote the following comment on Mar 15, 2010 at 2:13 pm
Dan, the troubled soul that is making all these bottled ‘messages’ did not make them all on one day. He is making them constantly, and is clearly a sad and probably lonely person. It might be interesting, but there’s no romance in this story. As has been said before, this person is very probably a troubled individual with poor social skills. The ‘messages’ are garbled nonsensical scrawls that amount to little more than litter.
Wrote the following comment on Mar 16, 2010 at 4:16 pm
hi i picked up one of these bottles on the beach near caernarfon bay yesterday morning walking my dog 15/03/2010 . having read the message that was bound in black cotton in a neat bow in a bottle with the lid glued tight shut i have to admit i was some what disapointed with the message i found once i had managed to smash the top of the lid off with two handy rocks close by . i have some thoughts on this from what i read which i will post soon on your website if thats k with you .??
Wrote the following comment on Mar 24, 2010 at 9:18 pm
Just arrived back from a walk along the Cark Peninsular after finding one of the bottles (glued shut). Was extremely pleased to find it – but very disappointed after reading the note, not to mention confused. Obviously, like the rest of us, couldnt resist looking it up on the internet and was very pleased to find this website.
Wrote the following comment on Mar 24, 2010 at 10:41 pm
After seeing quite a few of these letters on the internet, i am convinced that there are more than one person responsible. Ie.copy writing. All the letter “A”‘s in my note are rounded – whereas the letter A in the orignal letter found by Simom are sharp. There is no punctuation used at all and, lets face it,everybody over the age of, say, 35, has always been taught to use puncutation after an abbrevition (such as Grp). Regarding the instance of 25/7/09 Bleriot France (arrow) England – the arrow is a very modern form in writing. I really feel that the person(s) writing/copying the notes are young – ie. students or similar! Does anybody else have different “A”‘s in their notes? Also, my note,although perforated in the paper at the top, does not appear to have been “torn” from a notebook – it is as if the metal binder has been removed and the perforations are still in place.
Wrote the following comment on Mar 25, 2010 at 10:25 am
The infomation on the paper is flawed maybe on purpose the bleirout flight went from uk to France and the hovercraft left from France to the uk ?? . Also the last hovercraft to fly the channel was called The Princess Anne this name appears on other letters I’ve seen on the net .I entered wm heysham la3 into a search engine and it came up looking like la3 is the first three digits from a post code .more to follow
Wrote the following comment on Mar 25, 2010 at 1:39 pm
la3 is the post code 4 heysham, middleton and overton, hope that clears that up 4 you.
Wrote the following comment on Mar 25, 2010 at 2:07 pm
@ Lisa – While I suppose it is possible that there are two paranoid lonely litterbugs out there hurling bottles into the near stagnant currents off England’s North West coast, I find that hard to believe.
I think a more feasible explanation for any significant change in handwriting style would be that a paranoid person (crazy enough to use messages in bottles) would probably think they ought to change their handwriting style to avoid being detected by men in black SUV’s who, of course, want to kill them.
Lisa, why not scan the note you found and upload it to the web then share the link with all of us. I’m sure there are people who would be interested to check out your theory.
I think it’s great that so many people out there are trying to figure this out, but without wishing to be a spoil sport, I agree with Doug’s comment when he wrote “I think it’s more likely that on some level the person who wrote this note is battling some kind of personal crisis hidden behind their fixation with conspiracies. It’s not at all uncommon.”
Wrote the following comment on Mar 25, 2010 at 2:22 pm
The fact that recently the bottle senders bottle lids have been glued suggests someone who is probably near burn out stage. He must be spending more and more of his time on his little theories. I think its sad,poor guy.
Wrote the following comment on Mar 25, 2010 at 3:11 pm
Simon, have you ever thought about closing this blog down? When I say that, I don’t mean in a negative why towards yourself, I just think by allowing people to give their experiences of finding a bottle we are probably fuelling the desire for the person in question to carry their sad act of attention seeking.
Anyway, just a thought.
Wrote the following comment on Mar 25, 2010 at 3:34 pm
@ Sting – It has, of course, crossed my mind that the author of these strange little notes is probably well aware of this blog post and the comments it is collecting. But I don’t really see the point in deleting the post just because they could be out there reading this. I doubt that doing so would stop them from littering the beaches with the bottles.
Wrote the following comment on Apr 6, 2010 at 1:16 pm
I found two of these bottles yesterday at Southport on the formby side of the beach. They were within 50 metres of each other. What are the odds of that? Intriguing to read the blog.
Wrote the following comment on Apr 29, 2010 at 3:30 pm
Found one of these bottles today on St annes beach. Could not believe it when I found all this on here. Mine was dated 11/04/10. Come on the person that doing this – reveal yourself.
Wrote the following comment on May 26, 2010 at 3:40 pm
I have also found a message in a bottle on a beach in
silverdale with a bow and the exact same writing and underlining of words dated 10/5/10 the date i found it was 21/5/10 wat does it mean?
Wrote the following comment on Jun 20, 2010 at 8:10 pm
Walking between Cockerham Sands and Glasson Dock near Lancaster today (20/06/10) and found one of these bottles dated 27/04/10. Excited to begin with and then disappointed. Whoever it is they’re certainly persistent.
Wrote the following comment on Jun 20, 2010 at 11:10 pm
We’ve also found a bottle today(20/06/10)on beach near Glasson Dock dated 10/5/10. Same dates,nothing new,i think it wouldn’t be possible find another “message in the bottle” in future so we’re really disappointed.
The Message in Full
Side One:
Concordeski Crash Paris
31/12/68 Concordeski TU 144
31/12/99 Putin President of Russia
25/7/09 Bleriot France – England
25/7/59 Hovercraft England – France
25/7/00 Concorde Crash Paris
Side Two:
1/2/85 Fliteform AIM GRP Heathrow
Steadman Starnes Bates
M’Boon Nov 89
1/2/05 Wm Gray Heysham LA3
Wrote the following comment on Jul 26, 2010 at 5:31 pm
Hi, Today Me and my Dad, were walking along Allonby beach in cumbria and were just walking our dog, meg, along the beech. My dad shouted me and he showed me he had found a message in a bottle, and, as anyone would, we got exited and wanted to open it there and then, but unusually, it was superglued together! We could see when we eventully got it open with a key, that the message in the bottle was neatly wrapped up in some weak dark green thread tied round the notes. We opened it and as you will know if you have found one, that is makes no sence what-so-ever . We tried to make sense of it and realised that it was something about airoplaine crashes…and the presedent of russia!? We took it home, where we are now and showed our Grandma and Grandad to se if they could make sense of it incase they knew anyhting about it. The notes read:
Page-1: Concordeski Crash(underlined in red) Paris
31/12/68 Concordeski TU144
31/12/99 Putin(underlined in red) President of Russia
25/7/09 Bleriot France->England
25/7/59 Hovercraft England-> France
25/7/00 Concorde crash(underlined in red) Paris
Page-2: 1/2/85 Fliteform Aim Grp(underlined in red) Heathrow
Steadman Starnes Bates
McBoon Nov 89
1/2/05 Wm Gray Heyshaw LA3
10/7/10
Now as you could tell, we need some help on what all this means! Thankyou, Harry & Stuart. (2010).
(.Found in a small drinking bottle with a green lid.)
Wrote the following comment on Sep 27, 2010 at 6:29 pm
i found one of these bottles on Talacre beach whilst walking my dog. Sonds exactly like the one described above, tied with thin green twine and in a plastic drink bottle with a superglued lid
Wrote the following comment on Oct 6, 2010 at 2:24 pm
My boyfriend and I just found one of these off the coast of Ulverston, Cumbria. It listed Concordeski Crash, Putin President of Russia and other events including Fliteform Aim Grp.
Very odd thing to find! At the bottom it says 1/2/05 Wm Gray Heysham LA3
20/09/10.
Would be interested in any ideas on what this is!
Wrote the following comment on Oct 12, 2010 at 10:21 pm
Found 6 today on Foulney Island near Barrow In Furness. Opened one and found the same stuff written just like the other finders bottles. Still have the other 5 intact. Anybody got any ideas what to do with them? Thought of giving them to a local school to give the kids something unusual to do. Maybe one of them is the missing key like the rosetta stone!
Wrote the following comment on Oct 13, 2010 at 12:49 am
Nick, I think the best thing to do with the bottles would be to put them in the recycle bin where they belong. If they ever find the loony toon who scrawls these strange and pointless little notes, I hope they prosecute him for littering! It’s one thing to cast a fun message in a bottle to see where it ends up, but it’s quite another to cast out hundreds of plastic bottles into the sea. Hopefully whomever he is, he’ll be sectioned before long!
Wrote the following comment on Oct 14, 2010 at 8:24 pm
Hey Nick I too found a bottle with the same inside
I also live in Barrow In furness!!
Im confused by the contents and wonder what it means!?
Could have been a million pound!! would have been better….lol
Wrote the following comment on Nov 1, 2010 at 10:51 am
Me and my boyfriend found two whilst walking the dog on Aldingham beach on 30.10.10. The letters are identical (but slightly different to the ones above)and dated 20.10.10. Both bottles were different – but both glued close and one letter was tied in black thread.
Would love to know the meaning of the letter!
Wrote the following comment on Nov 11, 2010 at 7:40 pm
Found note in bottle today, at plumton, ulverston, 11-11-2010, dated 24-6-10, much the same as all the above!, unuseual.
Wrote the following comment on Dec 20, 2010 at 2:42 am
I’ve been researching the events on the lists for a while now. I’m getting close to a possible pattern, and maybe what this person wanted to make known. It’s quite strange…
Wrote the following comment on Jan 1, 2011 at 1:58 pm
I just found one while walking my dogs on Rossall Beach Fleetwood, exactly the same content. Tied neatly with thread and sealed in a plastic bottle
Wrote the following comment on Jan 5, 2011 at 12:46 pm
Same message in bottle found on beach in fleetwood, must be some old guy with too much time on his hands. Bet yr reading this right now mr unknown…..
Wrote the following comment on Jan 5, 2011 at 1:05 pm
@ Pob – Of course he’s reading this. Reading this and getting a kick out of seeing all these people finding his litter.
Wrote the following comment on Jan 25, 2011 at 8:24 pm
Hi
i found a bottle on blackpool beach. Less content though. Its dated 4/1/11
Wrote the following comment on Jan 26, 2011 at 12:34 am
Just found one of these bottles on whilst running on Formby beach. Seems to me its just an attention seeker similar to virus perpetrators. Writing very neat in caps!
Wrote the following comment on Jan 26, 2011 at 2:07 am
Jess the pattern is easy. Dates coincide every 365 days, Newspapers, BBC and Sky ensure that significant events (especially disasters and terrorism) are reported on most days, as indeed they happen around the world most days. It takes minutes to compile a list of trauma for ANY date using sites like “what happened today in ??” The person doing this is going to great lengths – sealing bottles carefully hand writing notes putting his or her trade mark neat cotton tie round the rolled paper – an elaborate attention seeking exercise and no-one is above suspicion… especially members of blogs…Intrigue :)
Wrote the following comment on Jan 26, 2011 at 1:16 pm
@Gerry Helme: Well it’s not me Gerry. I moved from the Wirral to Australia in Dec 2010. So today I’m currently chilling out at Coogee beach here in Sydney on this gloriously sunny Australia day holiday. Read comment number 4. I agree with that assessment of this litterbug who is casting this troubled nonsense into the river Mersey. Whoever they are though, I am quite sure they read these comments. So, to whoever you are, please stop littering! At least use glass bottles!
Wrote the following comment on Jan 31, 2011 at 5:17 am
Hi there,
Found a bottle today whilst walking on the beach in Formby.
It was in a plastic “Robinsons Fruitshoot” bottle, the lid was glued shut, with some kind of contact adhesive. To ensure watertightness.
it includes content for fliteform, concorde crash, putin, the president of Russia, Bleriot, Hovercraft.
Dated 4/1/11
Now i know some strange folk, but what kind of sad deprived deviant would bother going to all this trouble??
Answer is simpole. They are a sad deprived deviant.
Look no further. U’d be wasting your time.
Hey i might get a knock from Morpheus and Trinity tonight, telling me ive been chosen by the matrix, because i found a message! Pffft.
Strange though, was very surprised to see such a huge blog on the matter too.
Wrote the following comment on Feb 1, 2011 at 4:18 pm
There was an article in last Wednesday’s fleetwood gazette about these bottles being washed up on the beach, this person who s responsible just likes to play with peoples imagination
Wrote the following comment on Feb 14, 2011 at 4:07 am
I also found one of these, yesterday [12.02.11] on the beach south of Lytham. Initially disappointed that it wasn’t a message fom the other side of the world, but thought I would check the internet to see if I could work out what it was about. I didn’t reach any conclusions but was amazed to find all these other people who have found similar messages.
Wrote the following comment on Feb 28, 2011 at 7:23 am
yesterday I found a bottle too. Washed up at Porthdafach beach near Holyhead on Anglesey, North Wales.
Mine was dated 24.1.10, content as above and tied with a piece of black string.
I too would like to know the meaning of them.
Wrote the following comment on Mar 6, 2011 at 8:57 pm
Another for the collection,found on Sandhead beach, Scotland,and dated 16/2/11 again tied with cotton with a glued downd top, and again found whilst walking the dogs!
Wrote the following comment on Mar 9, 2011 at 5:08 am
My friend and I found a similar bottle as described above with same message types describing dates of concordeski, Concorde crash, Fliteform Aim grp Heathrow – the last enrty being Wm Gray Heysham LA3 and dated 1/2/11. We found it off Foulney last weekend.
Wrote the following comment on Mar 15, 2011 at 11:02 am
Hi people, glad to have found this blog, because I currently have around 26 bottles like this, found by some friends of mine washed up on a beach in West Freugh. They contain the same message in each, exactly as per Harry Irving’s post. Some are in black ink, others in blue. It reads:
Page-1:
Concordeski Crash(underlined in red) Paris
31/12/68 Concordeski TU144
31/12/99 Putin(underlined in red) President of Russia
25/7/09 Bleriot France->England
25/7/59 Hovercraft England-> France
25/7/00 Concorde crash(underlined in red) Paris
Page-2:
1/2/85 Fliteform Aim Grp(underlined in red) Heathrow
Steadman Starnes Bates
McBoon Nov 89
1/2/05 Wm Gray Heyshaw LA3
Most of the bottles are fruit shoot bottles with green lids. There are a small number of grey topped pop bottles.
All the bottles were meticulously well prepared, with no trace of the original labelling or gum being present on the exterior of the bottle. The lids appear well sealed with what appears to be a smear of contact adhesive. For those bottles with a sports top nozzle, the lids have been sealed skilfully with epoxy resin.
I can’t really begin to imagine the large amount of time that must have been spent preparing these bottles.
The writing is also very consistent, hand-written block capitals, suggesting that it may be a time served engineer writing the messages. An earlier post suggested that it could be students or a group of young people.
What I have seen bares all the hallmarks of an old school, thorough and obsessive person preparing these bottles perfectly – with no corners cut – in small batches at a time. Perhaps it’s a retired person with a story to tell?
I’d also like to comment regarding the note paper used – none of the perforations are broken, the paper appearing to have been painstakingly removed from the spiro.
Wrote the following comment on Mar 22, 2011 at 4:02 am
My children found the same kind of bottle as above on Sat 12th March 2011 on Northside beach in Workington. After taking it to school his teacher found this site . Strange but still on the go !!!! The bottle had a green top too and was glued shut the letter was dated 3/3/11.
Wrote the following comment on Mar 30, 2011 at 7:41 am
Amazing to see the thread blowing so tragically out of proportion!
Never mind, i think theyve ‘bottled’ it now Simon!
Take care.
Mark
Wrote the following comment on Apr 1, 2011 at 8:56 am
Walking my dog along Formby beach tonight I found one of these bottles. Same as all the others mentioned here. I thought it was going to be some fun thing, but instead it seems to be just random shit, what a let down. If the author of these notes ends up reading this website I think maybe by now they should understand that there method of communicating whatever it is they are trying to communicate is seriously flawed and the message, whatever it is, is not being understood by anyone. I would suggest they make their messages a little clearer or better yet, just create a website! lol
Wrote the following comment on May 4, 2011 at 8:09 am
Hi All
Another message in a little bottle, exactly the same as described by Horatio above, just turned up on Greystones South Beach in County Wicklow in Ireland on May 1, 2011. The date at the bottom of this note is “2/4/11”. Really strange.
Wrote the following comment on Jun 4, 2011 at 2:29 am
Hi
I also found a message in a bottle on fleetwood beach today whilst walking with my mother and younger brother, it reads,
Page-1:
Concordeski Crash(underlined in red) Paris
31/12/68 Concordeski TU144
31/12/99 Putin(underlined in red) President of Russia
25/7/09 Bleriot France->England
25/7/59 Hovercraft England-> France
25/7/00 Concorde crash(underlined in red) Paris
Page-2:
1/2/85 Fliteform Aim Grp(underlined in red) Heathrow
Steadman Starnes Bates
McBoon Nov 89
1/2/05 Wm Gray Heyshaw LA3
i was rather devastated it wasnt some sort of legacy or treasure map lol…
Still it was a interesting find.. i wonder how many more are floating on the Irish sea.. or how far the bottles have ended up.
Wrote the following comment on Jun 7, 2011 at 6:46 pm
Hi
We too also found a message in a fruit shoot bottle on fleetwood beach today whilst walking with my husband and son, only one day after on the 4th June 2011
Page-1:
Concordeski Crash(underlined in red) Paris
31/12/68 Concordeski TU144
31/12/99 Putin(underlined in red) President of Russia
25/7/09 Bleriot France->England
25/7/59 Hovercraft England-> France
25/7/00 Concorde crash(underlined in red) Paris
Page-2:
1/2/85 Fliteform Aim Grp(underlined in red) Heathrow
Steadman Starnes Bates
McBoon Nov 89
1/2/05 Wm Gray Heyshaw LA3
Intrigued and dissapointed but, still interested well the mystery floats on and on it seems.
Wrote the following comment on Jun 15, 2011 at 5:43 am
Hi,
I found another of these messages-in-a-bottle today, 14th June on the beach between Seascale and Sellafield, on the strand line of last night’s tide. The content is exactly the same as the two above but dated 22nd May 2011.
I wonder if the poor chap who’s writing them reads this blog to find out where they end up.
A friend of mine found two on consecutive days at the end of April on the beach at Drigg, just a couple of miles south of here.
Wrote the following comment on Jun 21, 2011 at 7:24 am
Found one near Hestan Island on the Solway coast in Scotland. The date at the bottom is 1/2/11. Date found 19/6/11. Exact same content, don’t understand what it’s about or why he’s doing this, but the guy has obviously put a lot of effort in.
Wrote the following comment on Jul 21, 2011 at 3:53 pm
I found two of these messages last night on Haverigg beach in Cumbria. They were dated 29th and 30th June 2011. I too was so excited at finding a message in a bottle, but was also most disappointed at the content :(
Wrote the following comment on Jul 26, 2011 at 2:00 am
i also have found a mystery bottle identical to one of the ones posted above with the neat cotton bow on it it had a brown lid and wasent glued shut minor water damage. it was dated in the bottom conner 3/3/11. i found it at braystones beach near sellifeild would be intrested to find where they all came from
Wrote the following comment on Aug 8, 2011 at 9:16 pm
At thee risk of repeating all that has gone before, I’ll just add a big ditto.
Found yesterday on Pilling Beach (Morecambe Bay-ish). Content is the same as the last few ‘finds’ but dated 29/07/11 so only in the water for a week.
I love a good mystery – been going on for three and a half years now.
Wrote the following comment on Sep 3, 2011 at 8:07 am
Hi,
Today 2/09/2011 i found exactly he same notes in a bottle on newbiggin beach which is on the coat road between ulverston and barrow-in-furness cumbria. I have googled it also and found that lots of people have found exactly the same message in a bottle! not sure what to think of it!
Wrote the following comment on Oct 26, 2011 at 7:46 am
Just found one like this today at Silverdale, Lake district on the coast in a clear bottle, again tied up with cotton. It was dated on the 24/9/11. Found on the 25/10/11.
Wrote the following comment on Nov 30, 2011 at 11:49 pm
30 Nov 2011
Found 7 on shore at Flookbourgh today dated in last 4 weeks.
After 7 stopped looking.
Wrote the following comment on Dec 11, 2011 at 3:26 am
This is strange, if i come up on the lottery tonight I know the message brought me luck.
I found one the same today while fishing at Dubmill Point on the Solway, plastic bottle difficult to open as it was covered in barnacles, once opened, tied up with a strand of cotton in a roll. Lined paper.
Concordski Crash Paris
31/12/68 Concordeski TU144
31/12/99 Putin president of russia
25/7/09 Bleriot france – england
25/7/59 Hovercraft england-france
25/7/00 Concord crash Paris
1/2/85 Fliteform aim GRP Heathrow
Steadman Starnes Bates
Mc Boon Nov89
1/2/05 WM Gray Heysham LA3
Dated at the bottom 20/12/10
Whats strange is certain words are underlined.
flightform aim grp
concord ski crash
putin
concord crash
Wrote the following comment on Dec 19, 2011 at 12:03 pm
Found one today in Silverdale, Morecambe bay, date at the bottom is 28/9/11
Wrote the following comment on Jan 17, 2012 at 2:16 am
found 2 of these bottles this morn,probably been washed up for a while. near Drummore,south west scotland.both are identical and dated 16/2/11. i’m thinking there’s more of these than evangelists ones,perhaps they’re the newer version so it can’t be traced back to them polluting our oceans.only a dedicated person would keep doing these and it points to doom and gloom.they’d better crack on and get rest done before world ends this year,lol.
Wrote the following comment on Jan 21, 2012 at 9:27 am
Found one on a beach near Creetown on Solway Coast this morning. The same details but it wasn’t glued shut and so was a bit soggy! Date at bottom was 12/1/12, so assuming it had washed up today its only been in water a week, so the perpetrator lives not too far away….?
Wrote the following comment on Jan 21, 2012 at 10:03 am
Hi there,
we have just found a similar one in SW Scotland today 20 January 2012 dated 12 January – weird stuf – this one has the boat on it that sunk in Italy
Wrote the following comment on Mar 9, 2012 at 5:52 am
My mum found two robinson fruit shoot bottles today and brought them to me.
Thinking it would be a sweet message from a child or holiday maker I managed to get it open but what I found was the ramblings of a deranged old mind…..who obviously is partial to a robinsons fruit shoot….or 30 from what I have read!If I see somebody over 60 buying them in abundance I am going to get pretty suspicious. I personally would go old school and use a nice glass bottle to add a bit of authenticity but that’s just me.
Wrote the following comment on Mar 19, 2012 at 5:22 am
I found one of these messages in a bottle today and im very curious about it and I don’t think its just some person playing a prank if there has been that many going out day by day and has been going on for at least 4 years now I think that it is someone who is maybe in relation to someone that was involved with these events or some kind of link between the person writing them and the events because you wouldn’t carry on some thing like this for 4 years on the run and writing and sending them day by day so I think all the people saying that its just some sick twisted man playing a prank then your definitely wrong!
Wrote the following comment on Mar 31, 2012 at 11:04 pm
i also found a bottle yesterday at ainsdale beach southport dated 20/3/12 carl
Wrote the following comment on Apr 1, 2012 at 12:18 am
My Uncle has found one in Ainsdale. Which lead me to this blog. I am so intrigued by this. If this was a movie, there would be some autistic kid working out what all this means. The likelihood is that it doesn’t mean much at all. But that doesn’t take away from the mystery of it. Has nobody tried to figure out what all of the events and dates have in common?
Wrote the following comment on Apr 1, 2012 at 5:04 am
how very odd all this is im off to wales next week so hope to find one myself btw the comment above mine is dated april 1st 2012 but its still only the 31st march as i post this?
Wrote the following comment on Apr 1, 2012 at 6:44 pm
@ Shane – The clock on my blog is set to Australian time as that is where I’ve been living for a while (clock the picture at the very top of the page and you’ll see the latest posts). So yes, while you may well have posted that in March where you were, in Australia we were already April.
Wrote the following comment on Apr 5, 2012 at 10:58 am
And yet another one has appeared. I found one dated the 22/3/2012 on Formby Beach. I’m as completely clueless as everybody else – anyone got any idea what this person is on? I love a good mystery…dah dah dahhhhhhhhhh :D
Wrote the following comment on Apr 7, 2012 at 6:41 am
i think they should find and fine this person for littering.
Wrote the following comment on Apr 7, 2012 at 4:32 pm
@ Fiona – I very much agree with you. This is prime example of wanton and blatant littering.
Wrote the following comment on Apr 9, 2012 at 5:36 am
Hi
Just found one washed up on the beach at Aberdesach at the top of the llyn peninsula, Wales. I typed ‘fliteform aim group’ into google which is the first of 7 dated events. Nothing seems to relate and one date at the bottom ’04/10/10′. I guess why is the main question, it does seem like a huge waste of time to send out so many notes which don’t make any sense.
Wrote the following comment on Apr 9, 2012 at 9:13 pm
I found a bottle a few years ago and cant beleive the amount that have been found! Must be a full time writer/litterer. I think the date you refer to is 1910
By the way i threw mine back into the sea because it just annoyed me.
Wrote the following comment on Apr 9, 2012 at 11:15 pm
“By the way i threw mine back into the sea because it just annoyed me.”
So that would mean you’re a litterbug too then, right?
Wrote the following comment on Apr 10, 2012 at 6:55 am
Yes, i guess so. Shame on me.
Wrote the following comment on Apr 10, 2012 at 2:18 pm
I forgot to add a smiley on that comment Karon. Please know I was smiling when I wrote it. Seriously though, it wouldn’t be so bad if this idiot used glass bottles. At least that way they would eventually just dissolve back to nature.
Wrote the following comment on May 5, 2012 at 4:25 am
Davey : Also he spells ‘KONCORDESKY’ ACCIDENT at the top of the letter and that was a plan the russians designed (the TU144) and some sources say France stole the idea and came out with the CONCORDE later on. BUT……the man spells it wrong it’s CONCORDESKY not spelt with a K like he puts it.
Ive noticed that people who’ve commented on this spelling mistake all received their letters 2007-09 period, and since then all letters received that talk about the Concordski Crash in Paris have been spelt correctly. Perhaps evidence the authors reading these forums and its all a big game?
Wrote the following comment on May 5, 2012 at 4:49 am
@ Josh – I think it’s very obvious that the sad person tossing all this crap into the irish sea is watching this blog.
Wrote the following comment on May 12, 2012 at 4:21 am
Hey a group of us doin a beach clean found one in Colwyn bay north Wales rocks today.
When we eventually got it the bottle open by burning a hole we found a letter dated 21/3/12.
Nobody was interested just thought it was junk but I thought it was something and obvisiously has been going on for years now.
Is there anything I’m meant to do or just be glad we found a copy???
Wrote the following comment on May 13, 2012 at 11:18 pm
Hi Simon,
I too have the same bottle. I found it yesterday on the beach near Newbiggin near Rampside Barrow-in-Furness. Like you i too wondered if it was a note of undying love or a confession to who shot JFK, but alas nothing as groundbreaking. I studied the handwriting and arrived at the same conclusion that it is a “youth” possibly a female judging by the neat handwriting. Some of my dates are underlined in red and the last page has a date of 4/4/12, which makes it recent, that is unless the author decided to insert a date which is a red herring. Like you i too have better things to do with my time! My initial Google brough up your blog straight away, which has saved me from wasting any more time donning my deer stalker and polishing up my magnifyling glass! So unfortunately if the mystery note writer is looking for help or assistance they realy do need to give more detail.
Cheers
Ivan
Wrote the following comment on May 14, 2012 at 5:41 am
Does anyone else think that this has become a bit of a crime. Theres nothing wrong with sending of the odd message in a bottle but this particular person has gone beyond littering, this is the equivalent to fly-tipping. Its a bit of a novelty to find a message in a bottle but if you went down to the coast you would not want to see lots of plastic bottles lying about. If the person responsible is following this blog then I think you should call it a day. Maybe go and find yourself a girlfriend or boyfriend, take up a sport or hobbie. The only reason for this has to be boredam.
Wrote the following comment on May 14, 2012 at 5:46 am
I thoroughly agree Mike. I’ve stated before that I think this person is littering and should be prosecuted for doing so. I have little doubt they follow this blog, but similarly I also have little doubt they’re about to stop anytime soon because I think it’s quite clear this is a person who is troubled and probably a rather hopeless soul with nothing better to do with their time.
Wrote the following comment on May 30, 2012 at 7:54 pm
I found the message last sunday, same thing exactly, exciting at first, then you have a look and its a bit of a disappointment.
Wrote the following comment on Jun 29, 2012 at 7:38 pm
Maybe the message shows that whoever sent it is feeling lost and deserted and needs to know if they throw themselves into the sea will anyone fish them out.
Wrote the following comment on Jul 16, 2012 at 9:06 pm
Found one of these bottles yesterday on Southport beach quite a distance out from shore.
Same bottle and tied up with black string. The letter was dated 8/6/12 so had been in the water for just over a month.
Very strange indeed
Wrote the following comment on Oct 8, 2012 at 1:25 pm
Right, on meaning (some themes should be obvious):
’31/8/89 Princess Anne’ refers to the date that Princess Anne announced that she was divorcing her husband, Captain Mark Williams. Royal divorces are a rarity, and Diana’s seems to be another prominent one. Linking to Russia and France – 1989 was that the year that Eastern European states (Poland, East Germany, Bulgaria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania) rebelled against, and ultimately defeated communism, which triggered eventual uprisings in Russia and the wider USSR. In France, by contrast, 1989 was the bicentenary of the French Revolution, which the establishment and masses celebrated.
’31/8/97 Princess Diana Accident?’, Princess Diana dies in a car accident (‘accident?’) in Paris, France. Conspiracy theories abound, some involving MI6 or the French security services, and the French driver Henri Paul.
‘Ken Gill MI5?’ refers to a militant trade union leader (head of TASS, on the TUC’s General Council, somewhat politically prominent), most active in the 1970s and 1980s. A member of the Communist Party of Great Britain, he had visited East Germany, and was later bugged by MI5. He drew caricatures hence ‘Communist Portrait Artist’. Is there some event in his life that took place on the 31st of August, the date linking Diana and Anne? Or something on the 1st of February, in tandem with the other dates on the left margin?
’31/12/68 Koncordesky’ refers to the first flight date of date of a Soviet Concorde model that eventually crashed at a Paris Air Show in 1973. The Concorde was the product of Franco-British co-operation (a treaty, design and production shared by national companies etc.).
’31/12/99 Putin’ (same date as above) refers to the date of Yeltsin’s resignation as Russian president; Putin takes on an acting role. On a global scale – dawn of a new millenium, the millenium bug?
“‘1/2/85 – Fliteform AIM Group, Heathrow’ – Fliteform of Heathrow would be undertaking work in conjunction with sister AIM group to supply aviation components.” taken from here – https://www.thevisitor.co.uk/news/morecambe-and-district-news/messages-in-bottles-uncork-a-mystery-1-1212325. There’s the aviation theme, no clear link to Concorde, although it was in operation in the UK – https://www.concordesst.com/history/80s.html. Maybe another first flight date – maybe Air France Flight 4590?
‘STEADMAN, STARNES, BATES, MCBOON Nov 89’ just seem like surnames, the date is more casually written. This suggests some ‘insider’ knowledge of proceedings. 1989 again provides a link though. Of the 1989 revolutions, November provided a climax to proceedings in Czechoslovakia and East Germany, where the Berlin Wall fell.
’25/7/09 Bleriot France [arrow] England’ Frenchman Louis Bleriot rides Bleriot XI across the English channel, the first time an aircraft heavier than air had done so. Again, Anglo-French history and aviation.
’25/7/59 Hovercraft England [arrow] France’ Functional hovercrafts first came about in the 1950s and 1960s, and on this date British engineer Sir Christopher Cockerell rode the SRN1 across the channel for the first time. Symmetrical with the last story.
’25/7/00 Concorde Accident Paris’ I’ve referenced this above – when was its first flight? Obviously this returns to the Concorde (Anglo-French, aviation) theme.
‘The Radioactive Man’ Russia/USSR, France and England are some of the few countries to hold nuclear weapons; and is there some kind of Cold War link here again? This would make sense as it is written before the below entry, dated 1/2/05. Then again it could be to do with Sellafield, a nuclear plant near to where many of the bottles have been found in Cumbria.
‘1/2/05 WM Gray Heysham LA3’ Very strange. Same day and month as the section on the AIM Group, an aviation company. Is this a company too? We have company name, then location, as in the previous example. Heysham has no airport but has a popular ferry port, so is there a link to travel? Or is Heysham where the bottles are dropped off, or where the author lives, as they turn up in areas in close proximity to this (Cumbria/Lancashire/Liverpool)? LA3 is Heysham’s postcode.
‘Umbrella Man’. Interestingly, could refer to two things within the logic of the other messages. Umbrella Man (capitalized as such) is the common name for an individual captured on the Zapruder film, which shows the assassination of JFK. Some allege that he gives signals and walks towards the shooter’s (Oswald) building afterwards. (The link to Russia might be that, if this offers some form of conspiracy, it could be linked to other theories involving the Russians and particularly the Cubans – acting as a proxy for the USSR – in the assassination. It could also refer to the Bulgarian political defector/dissident Georgi Markov, who was living in England in 1978 when he was assassinated by the Bulgarian police and Soviet KGB using a pellet, fired from an umbrella, containing deadly ricin.
’12/8/00 The Kursk Accident?’ A Russian submarine that sank on this date. Again, conspiracy theories abound about who was at fault, perhaps the government (under Putin, who received particularly bad press) was and/or carried a cover-up. Again, something involving travel.
‘DMTNT’ There is a ‘tale’ to be told.
All offer accounts of deaths or historically important events (some of which may offer portents e.g. Putin elected = crushing of truth or freedom, a la Umbrella Man or Kursk), there is a vague linking by date and restriction of dates to the 20th and 21st centuries, there’s a theme of conspiracies and espionage, suggesting that he/she thinks the other events. As someone mentioned above, there is the Triple Entente theme that links the three historically, and economic and military alliance between France and Russia has been fairly common since early modern times. All the supposed ‘accidents’ have question marks after them (bar the ‘Radioactive Man’ if you like), as does ‘Ken Gill MI5’. They answer questions, the other terms give something of the ‘tale’, in a very obscure (by way of falsity or insinuation) or mystical way.
Wrote the following comment on Oct 8, 2012 at 1:27 pm
Oh, and Heysham has nuclear power stations too.
Wrote the following comment on Oct 8, 2012 at 3:01 pm
Well Euan, you win the award for worlds longest comment for sure :-)
Certainly the dates and references our littering lunatic writes are related to some kind of conspricy stuff, but seriously, there are better ways of getting his ‘message’ out there. Using the internet would be a far more effective way, and while this site does discuss it, most of the people here pay little more than a passing attention to the subject.
In fact, while the author of the various bottles no doubt gets some excitement from this continuing record of his work his ‘message’ is really not the subject here. The reason people find this page is because they found a bottle and they want to know more about it, more about the person who cast that little bottle into the water. That is the lingering question, the conspiricy stuff is not nearly as interesting to anyone but the mystery litterbug.
Wrote the following comment on Oct 9, 2012 at 2:05 pm
Yes, it went on a bit longer than I expected :) I don’t think the author’s message will reveal anything actual but it does display some coherency, even if it is bounded by numerous irrational assumptions, and this wrongness and conspiracy theory, and whence it derives from, is the very ‘mystery’ individual that interests us. Furthermore – his/her reason for doing it could be identical with the ‘message’: however ludicrous it is, they might stand by it; however poor the means of sending it out, they may think it the only safe way? If the meaning is supposed to be opaque, the inter-connections merely teasing us, and the author’s having a bit of fun – which I would guess – then it’s just disorientating, and the author is just an elaborate prankster.
Should be clear, I was mainly indulging myself in trying to draw a logic out of it. No doubt indulging the author too, who probably wants people to dwell on it – and why not, they have obviously put a lot of effort in!
Wrote the following comment on Oct 9, 2012 at 3:31 pm
I think the person sending this stuff out into the merky waters of the Mersey is likely very troubled and probably quite depressed. It’s likely to be a middle aged man with few friends if any, and I would guess he’s unemployed. It’s not the work of a prankster, because it’s been going on for years and that shows some degree of purpose, such that is is.
Finding him would probably offer up little in the way of interest to this ‘mystery’ because I suspect the person found would be a rather anti-social drop-out kind of guy who we would all otherwise not notice. That sounds harsh, and it is, but I am quite sure that is also the truth of all of this.
Wrote the following comment on Oct 11, 2012 at 8:41 pm
On 26th September 2012, I found one of these mysterious ‘fliteform’messages in a plastic bottle. Twe lined sheets of paper were enclosed secured with a thread. Found it on Barlocco Island (Islands of Fleet) just to the west of Kirkcudbright in South West Scotland. The bottle had been washed up on to an island that can only be reached at low tide. I was puzzled by the dates and events recorded in ink on the paper. At least I am not alone. regards Andy from Norfolk
Wrote the following comment on Oct 11, 2012 at 8:43 pm
On 26th September 2012, I found one of these mysterious ‘fliteform’messages in a plastic bottle. Two lined sheets of paper were enclosed secured with a thread. Found it on Barlocco Island (Islands of Fleet) just to the west of Kirkcudbright in South West Scotland. The bottle had been washed up on to an island that can only be reached at low tide. I was puzzled by the dates and events recorded in ink on the paper. At least I am not alone. regards Andy from Norfolk
Wrote the following comment on Oct 11, 2012 at 8:51 pm
Have been wondering about these for years to the point that am now wondering scenically that maybe its authors of websites like these that launch the bottles as it keeps the story going.
Did a lot of looking around the web when i found mine and it made no sense because if we all were meant to get the message at least we would have come up with a conclusion by now!!
Wrote the following comment on Oct 11, 2012 at 10:54 pm
I think that the bloke (or maybe woman) who is doing this maybe travelling around when they toss em into the sea. The date on my note was 10.1.12 and I notice that ‘posts’ numbering 28 & 29 describe finds in Creetown and Drumore dated in January and February this year. the two locations are very close to the area where I found mine in Fleet Bay. I dont necessarilly think that the tides are responsible for them being in the same area. Andy- Norfolk
Wrote the following comment on Oct 12, 2012 at 12:23 am
Yep I think you are right, i found mine on the other side of the solway, that probably drifted over with the tides.
Note that non have been found other than the northwest either
Wrote the following comment on Oct 12, 2012 at 5:42 am
With respect Les, when you wonder if I (the author of this post and creator of this site) am responsible for these bottles do you wonder enough to have a look at my blog and figure out where I am?
Am I near Fleet, Merseyside, or England?
No, right now I am in Tokyo, Japan. Last week I was in Seoul, South Korea, the week before that I was in Singapore. I’ve been travelling across Asia since March and since Dec 2010 (a year prior to your first comment) I was living in Australia.
I believe there is only one other site wich mentions these bottles, as well as a newpaper article that lifts a lot of my work and re-prints it. (They later apologised for that.)
It might be a fair presumption to think I could be involved, but really it wouldn’t take Sherlock Homes or Dr Watson to figure out that I’m not your man. Check https://www.366pictures.com for more info on my wherabouts if you’re at all curious.
Wrote the following comment on Oct 12, 2012 at 5:52 am
don’t be too paranoid I said “authors of websites like these”
nice part of the world have any been found anywhere other than the northwest of the UK?
Wrote the following comment on Oct 12, 2012 at 1:19 pm
Hi Les.
To my knowledge the only ones people are finding seem to come from the North West, which again fits the profile of the troubled person I believe is responsible for this rampant and desperate littering. Throwing the bottles into the mouth of the river Mersey pretty much ensures they won’t really get that far. I think a couple have made it as far as Ireland, but such is the tides on this area of water that the chances of them making it further than that are more than a little slim.
Wrote the following comment on Oct 15, 2012 at 10:12 am
23 of these messages found on walney island last week and i found 5 on saturday on foulney island all in morecambe bay
Wrote the following comment on Oct 16, 2012 at 7:17 pm
23 bottles! Seriously, I want the person throwing these bottles to get done for littering. If one person can find 23 how many bottles is this idiot throwing into the sea?
Wrote the following comment on Oct 16, 2012 at 8:08 pm
If you look through all the comments and believe the person comes from a certain area someone could perhaps email the details to a local or even national newspaper who may run the story.Where ever they buy the same drinks or thread or notepaper the person serving might read it and recognise the purchases.Fly tipping is a fineable crime so this could be put across in the newspaper where hopefully authorative figures might take notice.
Wrote the following comment on Oct 30, 2012 at 11:18 am
i found a bottle to same message as all the others dated 12/10/12 found on footpath cavendish dock barrow in furness
Wrote the following comment on Jan 3, 2013 at 9:29 am
Hi my daughter found a similar bottle while we were walking along the beach at Heysham on a very windy and choppy day on Sunday 30th December 2012. The date on mine 4/6/12. Research has led me to this blog. Intrigued and curious as to what it all means!!!!!
Wrote the following comment on Jan 20, 2013 at 8:59 pm
I found two bottles near Grange over Sands last week. Same format and words. Dated 27/4/10 and 9/3/09. My two boys were really excited, we all were. Now we are just disappointed and puzzled.
I told a friend who spends a lot of time on the foreshore around the bay. He said he’d found 10 over the years and went on to give examples of the text. All similar. Bizarre ……
Wrote the following comment on Feb 1, 2013 at 12:09 am
You might be interested to know that I’ve received two of these in the past fortnight. I work at a publishing house that has had two of these posted directly to us- both envelopes in the same handwriting as the notes, both on lined paper pulled from a ring-bound pad. The first reads:
WHO KILLED ALAN TURING
WM GRAY HEYSHAM INH
and the second:
ANTHONY BLUNT
ONE OF THEM OR ONE OF US?
BURGESS
MACLEAN
PHILBY
THREE STOOGES?
WM GRAY HEYSHAM LA3
The first refers, I suppose, to the code-breaker Alan Turing, who committed suicide but there is speculation over whether he was murdered and the act covered up. The second note refers to the Cambridge Five, a famous 1930s spy ring- Burgess, Maclean and Philby were confirmed members but Anthony Blunt, though attributed to them, was never confirmed.
However, I have no idea why these and why they’ve been posted to us (as opposed to put in a bottle like the other Heysham notes reported online), but I thought you might find this interesting!
Wrote the following comment on Feb 1, 2013 at 1:30 pm
@ Fez How absolutely bizarre. Maybe this is the idiots new way of trying to get his message across? I hope so because at least if he starts mailing letters it will cost him some money and not be littering the beach.
Wrote the following comment on Feb 1, 2013 at 1:39 pm
picked up 2 more of the conspiracy bottles on the shore at crag bank this week. The bottles were sealed and the paper inside wrapped with blsack thread. Get fecked! asshole bottle litterer tired of you now frm heysham you freak!
Wrote the following comment on Feb 1, 2013 at 6:37 pm
Possibly a very disturbed attention seeking person. Strange the papers and news were filled with that coded letter on pigeons leg and now he’s changed his ways,bet you it annoys him he can’t crack it :-)
We found a different message in a bottle Christmas day on beach near Drummore,south west scotland (previously found 3 of strangers last year here).It had an email address to contact of the find and they replied to let me know they threw this bottle in from the stone arch bridge at lanthwaite wood,cocker river,crummock,in the lake district on wed 10th oct at 10.00.Thought this might interest people as it tells how the tides worked then.
Wrote the following comment on Feb 18, 2013 at 3:33 am
Me and my partner have just gound on of these bottles whilst walking along morecambe promenade, heysham end, by the battery bqch car park. Load of rubbish wrote down, ending with 1/02/05 wm gray heysham la3 the radioactive man. Letters dated 7/11/08 very odd! Sounds like this litterbug is sending hundreds out!!!
Wrote the following comment on Mar 5, 2013 at 8:42 am
Another found! This time on Bardsea beach near Ulverston. Dated 16/8/12. Looks like a womans handwriting though. Slightly different from previous.
Wrote the following comment on Mar 5, 2013 at 11:16 am
@ Mark – Interesting. I cannot fathom why there would be multiple people doing this, and lets face it, the guy doing this is VERY unlikely to have a girlfriend. He’s more likely a loner with bad social skills and few, if any, friends.
Wrote the following comment on Jun 17, 2013 at 9:34 pm
My colleague receives letters on a regular basis from William Gray. This week here has actually revealed his address. He lives in Heysham, Morecambe. The letter said,
When scientists discover a new mind bending drug. How do they know it bends people’s minds
for the answer ask the editor of the Manchester Evening News.
Not sure what that is all about. We just throw his letters away.
Wrote the following comment on Jun 20, 2013 at 5:24 pm
Mr Gray also throws his letters away,lol. But on a serious note if it is him putting pointless and many messages in bottles into the sea/river he should be reported to the police as it is a pointless littering offence.
Wrote the following comment on Jun 20, 2013 at 6:21 pm
@ Fiona – I completely agree. I’ve mentioned many times that he is guilty of littering and should be held responsible for that!
Wrote the following comment on Dec 7, 2013 at 2:54 am
I have found a message in bottle and I was wondering what it is about and if there is a meaning behind it, there are other messages like it on your website, thanks Ashley
Wrote the following comment on Jan 10, 2014 at 9:08 am
Hey Simon
We just had pretty much exactly the same thing in the same writing washed up in the beach by our house on Morecambe Bay. Did you ever find out any more? Helen
Wrote the following comment on Mar 1, 2014 at 10:42 am
Well I think this is a man of the cloth who else has cotton tread in his sewing kit . I also believe these messages come from heysham area thus the la3 post code if you add the srn1 (the hovercraft) and google street level it it points to a church in heysham big beach in the background and community halls where kids might drink bottles of juice. i email the pastor of the church he never returned my email. their is more I’ll be back
Wrote the following comment on May 12, 2014 at 1:06 am
Found one of these messages in a bottle today, having looked at previous posts it is not the first to arrive on our shores here in the Isle of Man. Discovered during a beach clean well out of the high water line and protected by an old gorse bush. The one discovered today is dated 13/8/08. I hope someone owns up to the placing of these bottles
Wrote the following comment on Aug 1, 2014 at 1:09 pm
Hello all,
Found one of these bottles last year and just thought today about it again. I’m a filmmaker and I am planning to make a documentary about this topic, if you are interested in helping out with any information please email me at imakefilmsandstuff@gmail.com – This would be a great mystery to solve!
Wrote the following comment on Aug 11, 2014 at 10:56 pm
There is no mystery any more because it seems he’s started signing his missives. Here’s the full text of a message in a bottle I found at South Walney this weekend. It was dated 3/4/14:
Mr W Gray
21 Draycombe Court
Draycombe Dry
Morecambe
LA3 1NH
England
WHEN SCIENTISTS DISCOVER A NEW MIND BENDING DRUG, HOW DO THEY KNOW IT BENDS PEOPLE’S MINDS?
FOR YOUR £1,000 REWARD CONTACT:
THE EDITOR
THE GUARDIAN
KINGS PLACE
90 YORK WAY
LONDON
I imagine, since he’s started identifying himself, it may be some sort of plea for help, so maybe someone in authority (police, social services?) should pay him a call to check up on him. Mind you, maybe that would only amplify his apparent paranoias!
Wrote the following comment on Aug 12, 2014 at 10:25 am
@ Rationalist – That’s really an interesting twist. I wonder why the litterbug loony is now identifying himself? Do you have a picture of the note you could upload for the curious among us?
Wrote the following comment on Aug 13, 2014 at 11:31 pm
The Plot Thickens
Hi Rationalist,
I just called up the warden there and left my number – seems Mr W Gray is a resident and may or may not call back – be interesting to see how this develops further…
Wrote the following comment on Aug 14, 2014 at 12:56 am
I contaced the editor at the guardian a couple of days ago, (not heard back yet) and been too busy to post until now, but i’ve been following this with interest for a couple of years now. Maybe the mystery will be revealed at last!
Wrote the following comment on Aug 14, 2014 at 4:35 am
As interesting as the story is, I don’t think its particularly newsworthy beyond perhaps a local newspaper than needs to fill its ad-laden pages. We’re not going to learn anything amazing from the bottle-man. He’s a conspiracy theorist much the same as any one of the same kind of people you could discover on internet conspiracy message boards. Will the editor of the Guardian have any interest in this dude? I doubt it. Not unless he turns out to be someone who actually KNOWS some stuff, or someone famous who has clearly gone nuts, then thats a good ‘fall from grace’ story.
I rather think finding the author of these strange bottle notes may actually take away from what makes this whole thing interesting.
Wrote the following comment on Sep 27, 2014 at 11:00 pm
We found a bottle today whilst at my dad’s caravan at Morecambe bay. The letter was neatly rolled and tied with cotton, inside it spoke of conspiracy theories as previously found letters. However, this one had a full postal address of author and a £1000 reward after informing the guardian newspaper… The guardian didn’t want to hear our story but we were determined to find out more. We visited Mr Grey at his home and he shared his story, explaining why he has been doing this for all this time. He has a very “sensitive” story to share and is waiting for the guardian newspaper to listen – his cryptic letters are his way of gaining their attention. As to what this story is still remains unknown, I for one will be interested to find out…..
Wrote the following comment on Sep 29, 2014 at 4:22 pm
Well that is interesting. It’s also interesting watching how ‘Mr Grey’ has developed his bottle tossing since he first started. They used to be anonymous, but these days he’s desperate for the media to give him some kind of platform.
So let me offer an invitation to him; The media don’t seem that interest, but certainly your bottles generate interest, if quickly followed by disappointment, so how about telling me your story. People already find there way here Mr Grey, and I’m sure you watch this page, so how about it. How about getting in touch with me to let me tell your story?
Wrote the following comment on Sep 29, 2014 at 6:31 pm
Good Morning
He has always left his name on the letter, Look at the first, it was the only info that didn’t fit in with the rest of the theme.
Surely if his case is sensitive enough he would already be on the list after all DMTNT. Im also pretty sure this thread hit the filters at GCHQ a few times and if it had any legs would of been flagged and passed on.
I would like to see and end to this, wasted enough of all of our time and littered the beaches enough.
Wrote the following comment on Sep 29, 2014 at 8:39 pm
I found mine years ago, can’t believe they are still showing up.
Should he not be getting in trouble for littering by now?
I I turned up to a pier and threw 50 glass bottles over the side im sure I would get in trouble for it.
Wrote the following comment on Sep 29, 2014 at 8:41 pm
Just noticed after reading through the previous comments that I did not post originally when I fist found one.
For the record, I found one in 2010 in Llandudno North Wales.
Wrote the following comment on Sep 30, 2014 at 2:10 am
He won’t contact you Simon, because his story is either; sh1te boring, untrue or completely made up.
Wrote the following comment on Oct 6, 2014 at 3:35 am
@ Joe Berry – LOL! That’s what I think too! I’m a little disappointed that the people who have his address (or claim to) from recently found bottles, have not responded to my emails requesting that information. I hardly think it’s a secret given that he’s writing that information down then tossing it into the sea in a bottle!
I wrote this blog post years ago and have since left the UK, so it’s not like I can cold call the author (as comment 92 did), but I would appreciate the opportunity to write him a letter. Though I’d use Aus post as my method of delivery rather than the tidal swirls of the Irish Sea!
Wrote the following comment on Oct 6, 2014 at 11:55 pm
We found a letter in a bottle regarding the £1000 reward from the Guardian Editor. My nine year old has been very excited about it since we found the bottle on Silecrfot beach in Cumbria. I have messaged the Editor but have yet to get a response! I am going to tweet about it now and add a picture @meetmrsbead on twitter if you want to see it xx
Wrote the following comment on Oct 7, 2014 at 7:40 am
As i said,
Ive previously wrote to the guardian etc (and other papers) and none lf them want to know and the reward is just for attention i think. Either way, ive already done it so don’t waste your time:)
Wrote the following comment on Nov 6, 2014 at 1:32 am
Found dozens today bit annoyed as its our village beach ???? contacted The Warden at the address given and told her the story! Also sent a couple of the messages. I suggested she asked him to use biadegradeable bottles (hopefully they will have dissolved before anyone finds them) ????
Wrote the following comment on Dec 3, 2014 at 9:55 pm
An intriguing case, still wondering about doing this as a documentary film, if you’re interested in taking part remember to email me imakefilmsandstuff@gmail.com
Wrote the following comment on Jan 6, 2015 at 4:03 am
hi, just found this and thought i’d add my bit to the puzzle, i live at selker, bootle in, Cumbria over the last five years i have found 4 of mr Grays unsigned notes all diffrent dates and often wondered there meaning that is until today. i found a signed note yesturday so contacted the observer to ask what they meant and was informed by the return email that it was a mad man attention seeking, its a shame because until now i enjoyed the mystery, i have found lots of messages in bottles and i get excited every time, i kind of feel sorry for mr Gray and wish there was a diffrent explantaion.
Wrote the following comment on Apr 27, 2015 at 2:46 am
Found same note today on Fleetwood beach offering a reward. Date on the note was18/4/2015 so he is not giving up.
Wrote the following comment on Apr 29, 2015 at 9:54 pm
I found one last night on Cleveleys beach, I didn’t know about the bottle mystery until I got home and stumbled across it whilst checking out the postcode! It was dated 8/4/15. Bottles at sea are the only real mail left, we’ll be getting P.P.I. marketing in them soon!
Wrote the following comment on Jun 1, 2015 at 1:47 am
My mum just found 1 of these notes from Mr W Gray, it was on the beach at Flookburgh, says to contact the editor at the guardian on ours, dated 18/4/15.
Wrote the following comment on Sep 24, 2015 at 6:52 pm
I found 2 of these messages yesterday, one dated 10/9/14 and the other 9/9/15.
I have been finding these messages on the same beach for many years.
I suspect that the culprit has something to do with to do with the wind farm off the coast of Walney Island, probably maintenance crew.
Someone with too much time on their hands who has no consideration for the marine environment.
Someone who should be prosecuted for the hundreds of plastic bottles he has dumped into the sea.
Get a life you sad little man.
Wrote the following comment on Jun 5, 2019 at 11:46 pm
Found a bottle today at the isle of Whithorn.
Dated 9/9/15 so probably one that’s been drifting aimlessly for many years. Same info as rest of bottles
Wrote the following comment on Feb 19, 2020 at 9:39 pm
just found one today dated 24/1/12 sandylands morecambe
Wrote the following comment on Jun 1, 2021 at 12:34 am
We found one today near millom dated the 15/11/14
Wrote by Mr W Gray same as the other notes but this had contact the editor at the guardian for a £1000 reward ?
Wrote the following comment on Jun 1, 2021 at 12:40 am
Haha. Good luck with that ‘reward.’
Wrote the following comment on Jun 1, 2021 at 10:18 am
There was a full address on it I googled it and it appears to be a retirement home.
Wrote the following comment on Jun 1, 2021 at 10:21 am
Well let’s hope he’s retired from throwing trash into the sea and has instead discovered message boards and telegram groups like all the other conspiracy wonks out there :-)
Wrote the following comment on Aug 2, 2021 at 9:57 pm
Found the same message yesterday 1/821??? Me and my girlfriend took a walk down by the river at Preston docks and found the same kind of bottle your talking about.. concordeski crash Paris.. different dates and titles.. president Putin.. hovercraft England > France.. wh gray hesham.. just googled what I could when I got home from work and your the first link I clicked on.. probably childish as you said or prank.. but it’s still mind baffling tbh.