Schuylkill notes are a phenomenon regarding pieces of paper with a paragraph of symbolism-oriented conspiracy theories printed on them which have appeared in many locations in different forms. Authorship of the notes is unknown, with them often being found inside food packaging, hanging from trees along hiking trails, and state parks. They have been discovered primarily in northeastern and central Pennsylvania. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
Amateur investigators on Reddit initially dubbed the messages Schuylkill schizo notes because of their locations seemingly focused around Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, and their word salad-type content, but the usage of the term schizo became unfavorable due to ableist connotations. Reddit has a subforum dedicated to investigating the notes and their distribution, with over 25,000 members as of July 2024.
After a report on 28/22 News in December 2023, emails and phone calls were made to law enforcement about the notes, with many reporting them as being found in sealed food packages and beauty products. Local, state, and federal authorities initiated investigations, including the Food and Drug Administration, since tampering with food products is a federal crime. Congressmen Dan Meuser and Matt Cartwright expressed their concern about the notes worrying the public. [3] [8] A crowdsourced Google Map suggests that at least 139 individual notes have been discovered as of February 2024. [9]
The earliest social media report of a found note was in 2019, and media reported their existence in 2020. [4] Red Web podcast investigating the notes mentions first notes found as early as 2015. [10] In July 2024, a Reddit user claimed they had found a note in 2018, inside a shoebox containing old shoes at a Payless location in Pottsville. [11] The shoebox originally contained a different pair of shoes, that were stolen and replaced by the thief's own. The note was reportedly left behind inside the box along with the old shoes. The most recent reported find was made in September 2024, in Table Rock Summit, North Carolina by a Patrick Hinkle. While hiking the trails close to Ginger Cake Acres, several of these were found wrapped and weighed down with rocks in places where they would surely be found. No identity to those who left them behind.
The notes are pieces of paper sized approximately 2 by 3 inches. They are found folded in product packaging, the pockets of store bought clothes, or packed into plastic bags closed with a string and attached to trees along trails. [2] Messages printed on Schuylkill notes vary greatly. They usually contain 19 lines of text printed in narrow writing, commonly linking symbolism from business, culture, nations, history and government to secret societies, and seeming to combine multiple conspiracy theories, purporting that secret societies have a global level of influence. [2] [6] Some Schuylkill notes have large corners of the paper taken up by one word - typically "lies" - written in all caps with a larger text size. [7]
Governmental themes appearing in the notes include the New World Order conspiracy theory, [3] [2] Nazism, the CIA, [3] the FBI, [1] the federal judiciary of the United States, the European Union, the World Bank, [2] [1] Hamas, [3] Vladimir Putin, [2] John Fitzgerald Kennedy, [1] Barack Obama, [7] Donald Trump, the British royal family, the Dalai Lama, [7] "Dragon Kings", [7] and the pope. [1] Popular media, celebrities and companies mentioned on the notes include Disney, [2] [4] Fox News, [2] CNN, [4] Google, [1] Bing, [2] Pfizer, [1] [2] AstraZeneca, [1] Bayer, [4] Ford, [1] Toyota, [3] Audi, Mazda, [2] BMW, [3] [7] Subaru, [3] Pillsbury, Aquafina, Folgers, Nescafe, Domino's, [2] Exxon, [4] [2] Sunoco, Lord of the Rings , [2] [3] Oprah Winfrey [1] [7] and Elon Musk. [4] [3]
The notes have been reported found from as far east as Easton, to as far west as Johnstown. Northernmost report of a note was from Lackawanna State Park, whereas southernmost report comes from Linville Gorge, North Carolina. [12]
They have been discovered in a variety of products such as Lucky Charms, [13] Lindt chocolate, [6] Nature's Path Panda Puffs, Belvita cookies, [4] Milk Duds, [4] Hot Tamales candy, [4] Duncan Hines cake mix, [7] Tylenol medication [7] and Velveeta. [14] The products containing the notes were purchased in multiple grocery stores such as Walmart, Target, GIANT, Weis Markets, Wegmans, Trader Joe’s, Dollar General, CVS, Kohl’s, Goodwill, Lowe’s, Cabela’s and Aldi. [5]
Beginning in September 2024, the notes began branching out to states other than Pennsylvania, most prominently Tennessee and North Carolina. There was also reports of notes being found in Missouri. [15]
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