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The May Day MysteryThe May Day Mystery refers to a series of cryptic ads which have been placed in the Arizona Daily Wildcat, the newspaper of the University of Arizona, every May 1 since 1981 (except for 1983, 1988 and 1999, when the ads ran on April 29, April 27 and April 29, respectively). The ads have appeared on other dates as well, usually in early December. While the ads at first appear to be an intellectual game, there is an underlying message of political and economic revolution. The first ad contained three handwritten lines: "SR/CL: RICHMOND", a string of Simplified Chinese characters, and "MAY DAY, 1981". The Chinese characters translate literally as "Chairman Mao ten-thousand years old", which is usually interpreted as "Long live Chairman Mao". http://www.maydaymystery.org/mayday/texts/81-may1.html There are a number of recurring themes in the ads, including: - The Orphanage: A secret society, supposedly behind the ads
- The Prize: An unspecified reward for anyone who "solves" the mystery; in a safe deposit box
- Smiley Guy: A stylized smiley face that appears in some of the ads
- SR/CL: An unknown acronym
- White Rabbit/Wonder Bread: Unknown commodities tranported by the Orphanage
- Martin Luther
Bryan Hance, a former student, discovered the ads as an undergraduate and is the first person known to seriously investigate them. He started a website in 1997 to document his investigation, and has attracted a small group of followers. He has been in contact with "The Orphanage" by email, post and phone since 1999. The ads are placed by Robert Truman Hungerford, an eccentric lawyer who claims to be the legal counsel for the organization. While he refuses to discuss the origin of the ads, he has said that it is possible that he is insane and that the ads are "the ravings of a madman". http://www.explorernews.com/articles/2003/05/14/news/export899.txt External links *A summary of the mystery as of December 6, 2003 (.doc format)
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