Schuylkill notes are cryptic messages printed on little pieces of paper appearing in many locations in Pennsylvania. Authorship of the notes is unknown. They are found inside food packaging, hanging from trees along hiking trails and state parks. They have been discovered primarily in northeastern and central Pennsylvania. Amateur investigation made by

Reddit Reddit (; stylized in all lowercase as reddit) is an American social news aggregation, content rating, and discussion website. Registered users (commonly referred to as "Redditors") submit content to the site such as links, text posts, images ...

users dubbed the messages ''Schuylkill notes'' because of their locations seemingly focused around

Schuylkill County Schuylkill County (, ; Pennsylvania Dutch: Schulkill Kaundi) is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in the heart of Pennsylvania's Coal Region and is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the populat ...

. Reddit has a subforum dedicated to investigating the mystery with over 20.000 members (as of March 2024). After a report on 28/22 News in December 2023, over 100 emails and phone calls have been made to law enforcement with reports of mysterious notes. Some of the notes were found in sealed food packages and beauty products. Local, state, and federal authorities initiated investigations, including the

Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respon ...

(tampering with food products is a federal crime). Congressmen Dan Meuser and Matt Cartwright expressed their concern about the notes worrying the public. Crowd sourced Google Map suggests that at least 139 individual notes have been discovered as of February 2024. Earliest social media report of a found note comes from 2019, whereas media reported them in 2020. Red Web podcast investigating the notes mentions first notes found as early as 2015.

Description

The notes are pieces of paper sized approximately 2 by 3 inches. They are found folded in product packaging, pockets of store bought clothes, or packed into a

plastic bag A plastic bag, poly bag, or pouch is a type of container made of thin, flexible, plastic film, nonwoven fabric, or plastic textile. Plastic bags are used for containing and transporting goods such as foods, produce, powders, ice, magazines, c ...

closed with a string and attached to trees along trails. Messages printed on Schuylkill notes vary greatly. They usually contain 19 lines of text printed in narrow font. The common theme in the text is

secret societies A secret society is a club or an organization whose activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence a ...

, their symbolism and their connections to business, culture, nations, history and government. The notes seem to combine multiple conspiracy theories. Schuylkill notes mention cultural phenomena such as Lord of the Rings and

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

. Government themes appearing in the notes include New World Order,

nazism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

, Federal judiciary of the United States,

Drug Enforcement Agency The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) is an agency within the Liberian government charged with fighting drug-related crimes.European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...

Hamas Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Bri ...

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

, John Fitzgerald Kennedy,

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

, British royal family,

Dalai Lama Dalai Lama (, ; ) is a title given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest and most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and current Dal ...

, and the

pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

. Media and companies mentioned on the notes include

Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...

Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...

, Bing,

Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered on 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in 1849 in New York by two German entrepreneurs, Charles Pfizer ...

, AstraZeneca,

Bayer Bayer AG (, commonly pronounced ; ) is a German multinational corporation, multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company and one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. Headquartered in Leverkusen, Bayer's areas of busi ...

, Ford,

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. Th ...

Mazda , commonly referred to as simply Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima, Japan. In 2015, Mazda produced 1.5 million vehicles for global sales, the majority of which (nearly one m ...

, BMW,

Subaru ( or ; ) is the automaker, automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate (company), conglomerate Subaru Corporation (formerly known as Fuji Heavy Industries), the Automotive industry#By manufacturer, twenty-first ...

, Pillsbury,

Aquafina Aquafina (pronunciation: ) is an American brand of purified bottled water that is produced by PepsiCo, consisting of both unflavored and flavored water. The Aquafina brand name is also licensed for use on multiple skin care products, includi ...

, Folgers, Nescafe, Domino's,

Exxon ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 30, ...

Sunoco Sunoco LP is an American master limited partnership organized under Delaware state laws and headquartered in Dallas, Texas, that is a wholesale distributor of motor fuels. It distributes fuel to more than 5,500 Sunoco-branded gas stations, ...

Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954), or simply Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', br ...

and

Elon Musk Elon Reeve Musk ( ; born June 28, 1971) is a business magnate and investor. He is the founder, CEO and chief engineer of SpaceX; angel investor, CEO and product architect of Tesla, Inc.; owner and CEO of Twitter, Inc.; founder of The Bori ...

Locations

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

Gaithersburg Gaithersburg ( ), officially the City of Gaithersburg, is a city in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. At the time of the 2020 U.S. Census, Gaithersburg had a population of 69,657, making it the ninth-largest location in the state. Ga ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. They were discovered in variety of products such as Lucky Charms,

Lindt Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli AG, doing business as Lindt, is a Swiss chocolatier and confectionery company founded in 1845 and known for its chocolate truffles and chocolate bars, among other sweets. It is based in Kilchberg, where its ...

chocolate,

Nature's Path Nature's Path Foods, commonly known as Nature's Path, is a privately held, family-owned producer of certified organic foods. Originally known for its breakfast cereals, it now has a portfolio of more than 150 products. Founded in 1985 by Arran ...

Panda Puffs,

Belvita Belvita, sometimes stylized as belVita or BelVita, is a brand of breakfast biscuit introduced originally in France in 1998 as LU Petit Déjeuner by Kraft Foods Inc. and currently owned by Mondelēz International. Overview The biscuits were fir ...

cookies,

Milk Duds Milk Duds are a brand of chocolate-coated caramel candies produced by The Hershey Company. The candy is a caramel ball covered with a confectionery chocolate coating made from cocoa and vegetable oil. Milk Duds are sold in a yellowish-orange box. ...

Hot Tamales Hot Tamales is a cinnamon-flavored candy introduced in 1950, currently manufactured and marketed in the United States by Just Born. The name derives from the sometimes spicy flavor of tamales. It was the top-selling cinnamon candy in 1999. Vari ...

candy,

Duncan Hines Duncan Hines (March 26, 1880 – March 15, 1959) was an Americans, American pioneer of restaurant ratings for travelers. He is best known today for the brand of food products that bears his name. Early life Hines was born in Bowling Green, Kentu ...

cake mix,, Tylenol medication. The products containing cryptic notes were purchased in multiple grocery stores such as

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

Target Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, fi ...

, GIANT, Weis Markets, Wegmans,

Trader Joe’s Trader may refer to: * Merchant, retailer or one who attempts to generally buy wholesale and sell later at a profit * The owner of a trading post, where manufactured goods were exchanged with native peoples for furs and hides. * Trader (finance), ...

Dollar General Dollar General Corporation is an American chain of variety stores headquartered in Goodlettsville, Tennessee. As of April 11, 2022, Dollar General operates 18,216 stores in the continental United States. The company began in 1939 as a family-own ...

CVS CVS may refer to: Organizations * CVS Health, a US pharmacy chain ** CVS Pharmacy ** CVS Caremark, a prescription benefit management subsidiary * Council for Voluntary Service, England * Cable Video Store, former US pay-per-view service * CVS F ...

Kohl’s Kohl's (stylized in all caps) is an American department store retail chain, operated by Kohl's Corporation. it is the largest department store chain in the United States, with 1,165 locations, operating stores in every U.S. state except Hawa ...

, Goodwill,

Lowe’s Lowe's Companies, Inc. (), often shortened to Lowe's, is an American retail company specializing in home improvement. Headquartered in Mooresville, North Carolina, the company operates a chain of retail stores in the United States and Canada. A ...

, Cabela’s and

Aldi Aldi (stylised as ALDI) is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 10,000 stores in 20 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1946, when t ...

References

{{reflist

External links

Crowd sourced Google Map with note discovery locations

Schuylkill Notes subreddit
Open problems Works of unknown authorship Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania Conspiracy theories in the United States Unsolved crimes in the United States