Mystery Stones Explained

The mystery of why someone has been leaving white stones with cryptic black markings on them around Orleans, Massachusetts has been solved. The creator of the stones sent an explanatory letter to the local paper:
The writer said the backward “R” and an “R” separated by three slashes on one line and an “X” book ended by two vertical lines underneath means “Remember 9-11.” He (most believe the writer is a male) said he came up with the design about two years ago “When I became disheartened from our straying from our Afghanistan objective of going after and getting Osama bin Laden in order to bring closure to 9-11,” he wrote.

If someone can figure out how you get "Remember 9-11" out of those symbols, let me know. [Wicked Local Orleans via Professor Hex]

Art Hate Crimes/Terror Places

Posted on Fri Apr 17, 2009


Comments

"Remember" starts with "RE" and ends with "ER", so the first line is some kind of contraction. In Roman Numerals, "IX" is 9 and "XI" is 11.
Posted by LastSentence  on  Fri Apr 17, 2009  at  10:46 AM
Ah, I get it. Thanks for the explanation.
Posted by The Curator  in  San Diego  on  Fri Apr 17, 2009  at  12:19 PM
Plus the whole thing looks like the top of a skyscraper, if you stretch it the r's can also look like smoke.
Posted by alex  on  Sun Apr 19, 2009  at  01:53 PM
And, if you squint your eyes, it looks like Osama bin Laden. 😊 OK, I'm being snarky, but this is starting to sound like pareidolia.

My first thought was viral marketing, but it does make sense with an explanation. It's delay was probably calculated to raise attention. Think anyone has merchandise ready with that symbol? 😊
Posted by Cavalier  on  Mon Apr 20, 2009  at  10:05 AM
I see Raquel Welch's breasts. A lot
Posted by Hairy Houdini  on  Mon Apr 20, 2009  at  07:29 PM
The 'IXI' makes the 'M'. As for the 'B', I'll guess it could be the lines and the Rs' or the 'IXI' sideways? Then all of the letters are accounted for. Maybe?
Posted by Troy  on  Mon Apr 20, 2009  at  11:46 PM
The weird thing I have seen this design (and never even cared to think about what it meant) but did not bother to click through. Then I noticed that it was in Orleans, MA a place I visit once in a while so I was curious about where in Orleans. Then I click through and see they are at the Sparrow, where I go when I am around Orleans.
Posted by floormaster squeeze  on  Tue Apr 21, 2009  at  10:30 AM
this might be completely irrelevant but backwards R in Russian means "I", prounced ya.
Posted by dp  on  Thu Apr 23, 2009  at  01:08 AM
Although I didn't think about the |X| being the "M" when I first saw this, I have an idea as to how this is layed out. I think the top part represents the word "remember" and the bottom half represents the date.



The letter "B" is a bit of a stretch. It's similar to using the number 8 on a calculator to spell "B". As in typing 5138008 and turning the calculator upside down.

The date is simply the Roman numeral IX and XI. I love the simplicity of it and how it just works.
Posted by Michael  on  Mon Apr 27, 2009  at  02:04 PM
shouldnt it be 5318008 not 5138008? sorry just bored since there hasnt been anythign new to read in so long lol
Posted by Tim  on  Wed May 06, 2009  at  06:46 AM
okay, my thought when i saw this was that the three lines like like an E, and there are three E in remember, right?
Posted by matyq  on  Fri May 15, 2009  at  06:16 AM
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