Translator needed....

[jrderego]

I got this in the mail today, no return address. It came in a black, wax sealed envelope. Can anyone tell me what it is or what it says?

Thanks in advance!

[Russell Nash]

I think it's a death threat.  Of course, I'm not even sure what language it is.

[jrderego]

I think it's a death threat.  Of course, I'm not even sure what language it is.

That makes sense... LOL.

[stePH]

I got this in the mail today, no return address. It came in a black, wax sealed envelope. Can anyone tell me what it is or what it says?

Thanks in advance!

I've seen something similar on the Shejidan.com boards; one poster uses medieval Mongolian script to represent "Ragi", the language of the Atevi in Cherryh's "Foreigner" series.

[wintermute]

Whoever it is seems to like drawing noses...

[jrderego]

Whoever it is seems to like drawing noses...

Death threat from medieval Mongolian with a nose fixation...?

Great, as if I don't have enough to deal with already!

[wintermute]

I've been trying to search for the logo that appears at the bottom, but I'm not coming up with anything.

Well, that's not true. I found some awesome stuff, like this, but nothing that seems relevant.

[wherethewild]

It's clearly written in Voynichese.

[Thaurismunths]

I got this in the mail today, no return address. It came in a black, wax sealed envelope. Can anyone tell me what it is or what it says?

Thanks in advance!

I'll get my Japanese translators working on it, but personally I think it's just a collection of noses.

[birdless]

It looks as Arabic as it does Oriental. I've got a couple of places I frequent that have international participation, with members both from the Mid and Far East (are those terms still used?). I'll post it there and see if I get any response.

[stePH]

I'll get my Japanese translators working on it, but personally I think it's just a collection of noses.

It's not Japanese.  I can recognize written Japanese, even if I can't read it.

[birdless]

No translations yet, but someone did guess that it was Thai, which I thought was a good guess.

[Heradel]

http://www.omniglot.com/ has a bunch of alphabets, but I couldn't really find anything that fit the main script or the crazy squiggles in the seal. Maybe it's some sort of viral marketing?

Edit: Also, are we even sure that the text is going in the direction we think it's going (down)?

[Planish]

I think half of it says:

Dear Friend,
TRANSFER OF US$14,000,000
It is obvious that this proposal will come to you as a suprise. This is because we have not meet before but i am inspired to send you this email by the huge fund transfer opportunity that will be of mutual benefit to both of us.

... Or maybe not.

Some of the black characters do look pretty close to Thai numbers - http://www.tonysalt.com/language/index.htm. The text on the red seal does not at all resemble the black text. Perhaps a message in a different language from what is normally spoken in (whatever) country?

See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahmic_family

Where was the envelope postmarked?
Any watermarks visible if you hold the paper up to a light?

Here's something else - the red "blot" looks ever so slightly like a map of Myanmar:

Possibly a sort of stylized or calligraphic representation?

[Heradel]

Elvish? Tibetan?

I don't think it's Thai.

[jrderego]

Elvish? Tibetan?

I don't think it's Thai.

I couldn't match it to tibetan, vietnamese, thai, Sanskrit, turkish, arabic, korean, chinese, or mongolian.

Maybe it's martian? At any rate I am beginning to think it's some DVD release related thing for some film based on the TB logo, though I can't find a distributor with that logo anywhere. I'm sort of glad it isn't Thai... after the lambasting I did of a Tony Jaa movie in the Horrorview Hall of Shame I figured I was marked for kickboxing death.

[Planish]

It's not Bajoran, Cardassian, Ferengi, Vulcan, Romulan, or Klinzhai - http://www.startreksite.com/fonts/
Nor Trill, Voth, Zigan, Tholian, Dominion, Binar, Preservers, Malcorian, Gorn, Fabrini, or Borg. - http://www.talshiar.org/Fonts/

BAB-5? Nope. http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/4965/b5font.html
Misc. other alien fonts? Doesn't look it - http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/4965/sffont.html

Doesn't resemble any D'ni characters I recall either.

[Heradel]

That TB logo looks familiar to me, I think it might be a restaurant, but I can't place it other than that.

[Tango Alpha Delta]

I think it's "Tibeto-Burman" (which would explain the "TB").  I couldn't find an image to embed, and I don't have the script enabled on my little box, here, so see if the graphic you posted matches anything in here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibetan_script.

[zZzacha]

Hey, JC Hutchins had one too, he called it a rabbit hole and he's wondering what it is too.

It looks like some weird hieroglyphics, though I find the script in the seal much more interesting, because you can see some western letters in them [with some imagination]. Also, each time I see the red blob on the seal I think of a chicken. I know, what I say doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but neither do I.

[jrderego]

Hey, JC Hutchins had one too, he called it a rabbit hole and he's wondering what it is too.

It looks like some weird hieroglyphics, though I find the script in the seal much more interesting, because you can see some western letters in them [with some imagination]. Also, each time I see the red blob on the seal I think of a chicken. I know, what I say doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but neither do I.

I just emailed JC with news of mine and a link to this forum post... Weird, each of them is a little different??

If one of us dies, call Matlock (or Miss Marple...)!

[zZzacha]

I just emailed JC with news of mine and a link to this forum post... Weird, each of them is a little different??

Oo, I hadn't noticed the differences, interesting! Now I'm hooked. Wanna solve the puzzle!

If one of us dies, call Matlock (or Miss Marple...)!

We have it covered. I have Jack Bauer on speed dial, he's fast: within 24hrs, we know where you are. Also, we'll have saved the world from yet another disaster and killed a president. Hey, this may work out just fine altogether!

[Heradel]

Is this printed or hand-written?

Starting to smell like viral marketing to me.

[jrderego]

Is this printed or hand-written?

Starting to smell like viral marketing to me.

Printed

[sirana]

Since this went out to two authors, one of which is JC Hutchins, I'd say it is Scott Sigler's way of saying he is very happy about the success you two are having...

... and that you'll die a most horrible gruesome death soon ... VERY soon.

[myra]

Check jchutchins.net.  He received on of the letters.  Also check the site  http://chishio.jp/ for pictures of three other letters.

[Boggled Coriander]

My girlfriend's hypotheses were Armenian or Amharic (she's part Armenian and has seen a lot of Amharic script from living in an area with a lot of Ethiopian immigrants).

But neither quite fit the bill:

http://deshika.files.wordpress.com/2007/06/amharic.jpg    = Amharic
http://www.schoyencollection.com/OtherBible_files/ms233_1b.jpg   = Armenian

It is definitely not Chinese; we can both read Chinese.  It's not devanagiri/Sanskrit, and it's not Thai, Lao, Tamil (which she can read), Malayalam, Kannadiga or any such S/SE Asian script.

The two letters on the far left and right on chishio.jp are almost definitely in cuneiform (Sumerian).

[Boggled Coriander]

Manchu?  Similar to Mongolian but not quite.

http://www.lionking.org/~timwi/n_true/Oiratisch.jpg  - Manchu

[Bdoomed]

iiiinteresting... i say post something about it here
they'll probably know something about it, or it could be brand new.
I've never heard of an ARG (Alternate Reality Game) until now, sounds interesting but too much effort and I can't care enough to try it out. im too lazy.

[wintermute]

I think it's "Tibeto-Burman" (which would explain the "TB").

That TB logo looks familiar, but I can't place it, or find anything similar online. I'm almost certain that the icons above and below the letters are books, making me think it's a publishing house, or something along those lines.

[wintermute]

This one and this one are definitely cuneiform.

And the other one on Chisho.jp is Phoenician.

Anyone here read ancient Sumerian?

[Heradel]

Assuming that this is an ARG or viral marketing, the whois for chishio.jp is as follows.

[Domain Name]                   CHISHIO.JP

[Registrant]                    chishio chishio

[Name Server]                   ns1.rackspace.com
[Name Server]                   ns2.rackspace.com

[Created on]                    2008/03/27
[Expires on]                    2009/03/31
[Status]                        Active
[Last Updated]                  2008/05/22 07:22:30 (JST)

Contact Information:
[Name]                          chishio chishio
[Email]                         chishio01@gmail.com
[Web Page]                      
[Postal code]                   166-0002
[Postal Address]                3-43-13 Koenji-kita
                                Suginami-ku
                                Tokyo
[Phone]                         +6469370339
[Fax]                          

Edit: So it was updated today, and the address points to this building in Tokyo, which looks like offices or apartments.

[birdless]

iiiinteresting... i say post something about it here
they'll probably know something about it, or it could be brand new.
I've never heard of an ARG (Alternate Reality Game) until now, sounds interesting but too much effort and I can't care enough to try it out. im too lazy.

Lost and Cloverfield both had ARGs. Lost has had three, in fact. Not of the story in the ARG is canon, though, so it's mostly just for fun. Anyway, there's a Doritos one that site pointed to that looks pretty interesting... It's a treasure hunt for $100,000. I could use $100,000. If it turns out to be fun, I'll start a new thread... sorry for the off-topicness!

[Heradel]

The characters in the red seal are actually regular old latin characters just bunched up together.

[ShaneBaxter]

Guys, let's try to centralize this investigation... it seems pretty scattered among blog comment boards and such. I started a thread on an ARG / viral site:

http://www.immersionunlimited.com/index.php?topic=2900.0

[Thaurismunths]

How 'bout this?

http://chishio.jp/

My guess is that it's the viral marketing scheme for Cloverfield 2.

[zZzacha]

In Hutchins' video on his 'rabbit hole' I noticed the stamp didn't have a postage mark (is that the right word? I was looking the words up and the dictionary tells me there's 1 word for both the stamp you lick and the stamp you put on it with ink... So, the stamp has no stamp?!?

AnywayzZz, the missing of the ink stamp had my attention. Wondering whether JC Hutchins didn't really get it by mail (and forgot to create a fake stamp) or it was personally delivered by The Rabbit Hole People or the postal office was bribed in not stamping it, so its origin would be unknown. Of course, the third option is the most apparent but I'm keeping all options open at the moment.

[jrderego]

In Hutchins' video on his 'rabbit hole' I noticed the stamp didn't have a postage mark (is that the right word? I was looking the words up and the dictionary tells me there's 1 word for both the stamp you lick and the stamp you put on it with ink... So, the stamp has no stamp?!?

AnywayzZz, the missing of the ink stamp had my attention. Wondering whether JC Hutchins didn't really get it by mail (and forgot to create a fake stamp) or it was personally delivered by The Rabbit Hole People or the postal office was bribed in not stamping it, so its origin would be unknown. Of course, the third option is the most apparent but I'm keeping all options open at the moment.

Mine had no stamp marking either. I don't think they get processed the same when you get the stamps from stamps.com. At any rate, I took the mail bundle from the mail carrier so I know mine came to me via the postal system.

[zZzacha]

Mine had no stamp marking either.

Darn, there goes my conspiracy theory. Unless..... you're in on it too
It's all so confusing

[wintermute]

In Hutchins' video on his 'rabbit hole' I noticed the stamp didn't have a postage mark (is that the right word? I was looking the words up and the dictionary tells me there's 1 word for both the stamp you lick and the stamp you put on it with ink... So, the stamp has no stamp?!?

AnywayzZz, the missing of the ink stamp had my attention. Wondering whether JC Hutchins didn't really get it by mail (and forgot to create a fake stamp) or it was personally delivered by The Rabbit Hole People or the postal office was bribed in not stamping it, so its origin would be unknown. Of course, the third option is the most apparent but I'm keeping all options open at the moment.

Mine had no stamp marking either. I don't think they get processed the same when you get the stamps from stamps.com. At any rate, I took the mail bundle from the mail carrier so I know mine came to me via the postal system.

I was going to suggest that it's not impossible for an envelope to slip through the system and not get postmarked. It's rare, but it happens. But two such, from the same batch would be too much of a coincidence.

Bulk-rate mail (I think) doesn't get postmarked, so it might have travelled that route.

[wintermute]

Mine had no stamp marking either.

Darn, there goes my conspiracy theory. Unless..... you're in on it too
It's all so confusing

But that's the beauty of of conspiracy theory! Anyone putting forward testimony that contradicts you is clearly part of the conspiracy. Or a mindless dupe who's just parroting what THE MAN says, but I don't think that applies in this case.

All evidence to the contrary is evidence that there really is a conspiracy!

[Chodon]

Maybe it's from the Union.  The REAL union!

[jrderego]

Maybe it's from the Union.  The REAL union!

I don't know about the mailings, but I'm pretty sure These are...

[Chodon]

Maybe it's from the Union.  The REAL union!

I don't know about the mailings, but I'm pretty sure These are...

Ha!  So this whole thing is just a ruse so you can peddle your t-shirts.  I see how it is.


I still want one.  Damn you!  Your viral marketing worked on me!

[wintermute]

Wow. That does not work in dark colours. I was hoping for a keyline, or something. But that big, ugly white rectangle around it? That pretty much kills my desire for one.

[Planish]

After perusing http://www.firstshowing.net/2008/05/23/new-viral-what-the-hell-are-the-red-seal-mailings/ , my favourite so far is the
True Blood connection.

It looks promising, because I've liked Alan Ball's stuff so far.

So, that may explain the origins, but what the text means still remains a mystery.

[Russell Nash]

Now that we figured out it's some kind of mass-mailing to start a viral marketing campaign, I have absolutely no interest in it.  I find these viral campaigns to be just another way to cover up for a movie having no story.  Just a hook to get people into the theaters before word gets around that it's stupid.

[jrderego]

Now that we figured out it's some kind of mass-mailing to start a viral marketing campaign, I have absolutely no interest in it.  I find these viral campaigns to be just another way to cover up for a movie having no story.  Just a hook to get people into the theaters before word gets around that it's stupid.

Agreed. I won't be watching.

[birdless]

I think it's a pretty cool campaign, myself. It's piqued my interest. I doubt I'll be running in opening night, but for the creativity of the campaign alone, I'll give it half a chance.

[JoeFitz]

Mystery solved?

http://screenrant.com/archives/is-this-a-new-movie-viral-camp-1666.html

[Thaurismunths]

Now that we figured out it's some kind of mass-mailing to start a viral marketing campaign, I have absolutely no interest in it.  I find these viral campaigns to be just another way to cover up for a movie having no story.  Just a hook to get people into the theaters before word gets around that it's stupid.

Agreed. I won't be watching.

I have to give them credit though, they sure knew how to get the word out.

[stePH]

It's not Bajoran, Cardassian, Ferengi, Vulcan, Romulan, or Klinzhai - http://www.startreksite.com/fonts/
Nor Trill, Voth, Zigan, Tholian, Dominion, Binar, Preservers, Malcorian, Gorn, Fabrini, or Borg. - http://www.talshiar.org/Fonts/

Why would the Borg need a written language?

[Thaurismunths]

Well, seems everyone's right. It's a viral marketing scheme that is all tied together at a cheesy website that sounds like it was written for 15 year olds. I didn't bother scanning past the first couple posts because I really don't care.

[stePH]

If it's True Blood, I'm interested because I enjoyed Ball's American Beauty and Six Feet Under (well, most of Six Feet Under anyway.) 

But as I don't have HBO, I'll be waiting for the DVD release.