...What secrets has the torn slip kept since December 1st, 1948?...
It's a reasonable question to ask is it not? This slip contains more than one secret and in this post, we'll examine just one of them, but first a question...
Supposing it was you heading for the beach at Somerton on 30th November 1948, perhaps you were being pursued and perhaps not but whatever the case, you had made a decision to hide this small slip of paper that for some reason you had decided to tear out of a copy of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.
As you can see, it was a fairly small item, 4.7 cm according to this image that was used, I believe, by Stuart Littlemore in his 1970 broadcast of the Somerton Man story. That would make the width of many of the elements of each letter around the 1 mm mark, some were a little larger. But our focus for today at least is not the size of the letters.
Today we are thinking about the process that the man used to hide this slip. Freshly removed from the page of the book, he had chosen a good hiding place, according to the Adelaide Wiki on Leonard Douglas Brown, the hiding place was a 'secret pocket' and the nurses's phone number was written on the back of the book in 'really tiny lettering'. This is the website link to that page:
Today we are thinking about the process that the man used to hide this slip. Freshly removed from the page of the book, he had chosen a good hiding place, according to the Adelaide Wiki on Leonard Douglas Brown, the hiding place was a 'secret pocket' and the nurses's phone number was written on the back of the book in 'really tiny lettering'. This is the website link to that page:
(Today Google has started to block access to the site because they judged it to be an 'unsafe' site. Be that as it may, we must continue.)
So, the decision to hide the slip and just where it was to be hidden, has been made. First, he would roll the slip up very tightly, (so tight in fact that Cleland had to use a pair of tweezers to extract it from its hiding place) and then he pushed the rolled-up slip hard down into the crease (seam?) of the pocket such that a cursory pat down would confuse the slip with the seam. All done?
Not quite. The question I have for you is straightforward enough. If you were to roll the slip up tightly and conceal it, what steps would you take to stop the rolled-up slip from unfurling and thus risk revealing its presence? Think about it a second or two which is probably what he would have done.
Spit. Not a comment, that's what he likely would have done, he would have used saliva to hold the slip together knowing that as it dried it would help bond the paper and keep it in its rolled-up state.
In contrast, saliva from the backs of postage stamps and envelope flaps has yielded good-quality DNA samples from as far back as the 19th Century. Here's one link but there are more:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0379073821004497
So, the decision to hide the slip and just where it was to be hidden, has been made. First, he would roll the slip up very tightly, (so tight in fact that Cleland had to use a pair of tweezers to extract it from its hiding place) and then he pushed the rolled-up slip hard down into the crease (seam?) of the pocket such that a cursory pat down would confuse the slip with the seam. All done?
Not quite. The question I have for you is straightforward enough. If you were to roll the slip up tightly and conceal it, what steps would you take to stop the rolled-up slip from unfurling and thus risk revealing its presence? Think about it a second or two which is probably what he would have done.
Spit. Not a comment, that's what he likely would have done, he would have used saliva to hold the slip together knowing that as it dried it would help bond the paper and keep it in its rolled-up state.
DNA
Here's the thing, there are basically two kinds of DNA that can be retrieved from paper, touch DNA, such as you obtain from fingerprints for example, and DNA from bodily fluids as in Saliva. The latter is of most interest because touch DNA deteriorates in a matter of weeks or perhaps a little longer, and would no longer be a viable option for recovery of the same.In contrast, saliva from the backs of postage stamps and envelope flaps has yielded good-quality DNA samples from as far back as the 19th Century. Here's one link but there are more:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0379073821004497
So there we have it, there is a chance that the rolled-up Tamam Shud slip carries the most important DNA sample of all concerning the Somerton Man case.
To be clear. It is not known for certain that the Somerton Man rolled up the slip before placing it in the pocket of the trousers he wore that day but it seems probable. It is not known for certain that he used saliva in the way I have described here. It is, however, a 50/50 chance that he did. In other words, either he did or he didn't and it is a far better position than we have ever had before. Timing is everything.
Consider that concealing this rolled-up slip of paper could probably have been the last thing he did before puffing his last cigarette.
The search now switches to a hunt for the slip wherever it may be.
Consider that concealing this rolled-up slip of paper could probably have been the last thing he did before puffing his last cigarette.
The search now switches to a hunt for the slip wherever it may be.
I hope you find this interesting, there are more interesting items yet to be revealed on this blog very shortly.
I am amongst those who missed this, so I can't claim immunity but I found it eventually, in recent times in fact. However, there are far better-qualified people than I, leading academics amongst them, who should have had a handle on this years ago but it is not the case. How come?
I am amongst those who missed this, so I can't claim immunity but I found it eventually, in recent times in fact. However, there are far better-qualified people than I, leading academics amongst them, who should have had a handle on this years ago but it is not the case. How come?
Oh Yes! Bloody Brilliant!
ReplyDeleteSo where is the slip GC?
ReplyDelete