Ancient Mystery: Message in a Bottle Bottle Found on Jersey Shore – with Stinky Surprise!
A New Jersey’s beachgoer’s casual stroll turns into a historic find as she uncorks a 150-year-old message in a bottle! 🏖️ #News #AtlanticCityNJ #NewJersey #History
ATLANTIC CITY, NJ – A weekend stroll on the Jersey Shore turned into a jaw-dropping historical find when a woman stumbled upon what could be the oldest message in a bottle ever discovered.
Amy Smyth Murphy, 49, was enjoying a sunny July Fourth at Corson’s Inlet State Park when she spotted something unusual glinting in the sand. That something turned out to be an aged, green glass bottle, sealed with a cork and containing a long-forgotten secret from the 1800s.
A Peek into the Past: What’s Inside the Bottle?
Inside the bottle, Smyth Murphy uncovered a business card from the year 1876 and a mysterious handwritten note. The bottle itself is branded with “Barr & Brother Philadelphia,” a name associated with a 19th-century business that likely set this message afloat over 140 years ago.
The contents of the bottle include a business card for “W.G. & J. Klemm,” a gentleman’s furnishing goods company from Philadelphia that operated until 1881.
Another piece of paper makes reference to a yacht named “Neptune,” which, according to local archives, was docked in Atlantic City and captained by Samuel Gale in the late 1800s.
The Search for Answers: Is This a Record-Breaker?
Smyth Murphy is now on a mission to have the bottle recognized by Guinness World Records.
If her suspicions are confirmed, this could dethrone the current record-holder, a message in a bottle from Australia dated to just 136 years ago. She has already submitted her findings for official verification.
A Surprise No One Expected
As intriguing as the bottle’s historical connections are, it held one more surprise that was less pleasant. When Smyth Murphy uncorked the bottle, she was met with an overwhelming odor she describes as “the bay smell times a million.”
The intense stench suggests that the bottle may have been submerged for a long time, possibly dislodged by recent dredging activities off the coast of Ocean City.
A Treasure from the Deep: How Did the Bottle Survive?
Experts believe that recent beach fill operations in the area could have disturbed the bottle from its resting place on the ocean floor.
Maritime historian Steve Nagiewicz of Stockton University speculated that the powerful ocean currents might have carried the bottle ashore after it was freed from its underwater grave.
An Ongoing Mystery
Smyth Murphy’s discovery has captivated not just her family but history enthusiasts across the country.
While she waits for official word from Guinness, she’s been sharing her journey online here, offering glimpses of the delicate process of extracting the fragile, decaying papers from the bottle.
For now, the true origins of this mysterious message remain a tantalizing puzzle. Whether it breaks records or not, one thing is certain: this ancient bottle has made quite a splash.
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