A young boy caught more than he bargained for during a fishing trip with his dad on a remote South Australian beach.
As reported by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), nine-year-old Jyah Elliott, angling at Talia Beach with his dad Paul last week, discovered a decades-old message in a bottle.
The letter, penned in November 1969 by then-13-year-old Paul Gilmore, appears to have been sent from onboard the TSS Fairstar, a ship carrying “Ten Pound Poms”—British citizens who migrated to Australia and New Zealand after World War II.
“I’m from England and I’m travelling to Melbourne, Australia,” the note read. “We are 1,000 miles east of Fremantle, Western Australia. Please reply.”
Gilmore would be 63 today, if the message is accurate, the ABC pointed out.
Spotted in dunes at the beach, the glass bottle was about six inches long, with a white, round lid. At first, Paul Elliott thought the letter was fake.
“Jyah wanted to open it, and so he opened it and tried to get it out, but it was a bit damp,” he told ABC. “I couldn’t get it in my fingers, so we had to break it.
Jyah Elliott found the letter while fishing with his father (via Carla Elliott)
The boy was thrilled with his find.
“He was so excited, he said he found a message in a bottle from 1869,” mother Carla Elliott said. “I said, ‘1869? Are you sure about that?’ He goes, ‘Oh, no, 1969.’”
It was an exciting year: the Beatles’ final public performance, the first Concorde test flight, Woodstock, PBS launched, man first stepped on the Moon. And for wee Gilmore, a new adventure was about to begin.
Jyah has reportedly replied to the letter, mailing it to the Melbourne address Gilmore wrote he would be moving to 50 years ago.
The Elliotts also took to social media in an attempt to find the mysterious author, reaching out to anyone who may be able to track him down.
Australia is rife with enigmatic bottled messages: One found last year, dated June 1886, was thought to have been thrown overboard from the German sailing barque Paula, 950 kilometers from the Western Australia coast, according to ABC.
Another washed up in 2017, also in Western Australia, from 35 years ago.
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Source: https://www.geek.com/culture/boy-finds-50-year-old-message-in-a-bottle-on-australian-beach-1796180/?source
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The Article Was Written/Published By: Stephanie Mlot
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