Under curious circumstances, a bizarre video has found its way to different corners of the world, causing a media frenzy. People around the globe are scrambling to solve the mystery behind the obscure images depicted in the footage.
I JUST WATCHED THIS GADGETZZ VIDEO I AM CRYING I WON'T BE ABLE TO SLEEP 32 DAYS SJJSKSKSJS THIS IS SO SCARY GUYS
— Alex Hastings (@revivalholy) October 20, 2015
This won't help you sleep any easier tonight: "This Creepy Puzzle Arrived In Our Mail — Gadgetzz" — https://t.co/OYpk2rrT4H
— Ryan Callender (@ryancallender) October 20, 2015
Sinister, mysterious clip appears on internet and nobody knows what it means https://t.co/jm68JIYo6J
— Anonymous 4thEstate (@4thAnon) October 20, 2015
So what’s in it?
Well, the video opens on a masked figure standing against a brick wall and features a disturbing soundtrack and enigmatic visual codes.
Upon viewing, he realized that wasn’t the case.
“I was unsure what to think of it, but I found it very odd. I later reexamined it and started noticing the ‘codes’ and letters hidden all around the video. That’s when I realized it’s some sort of puzzle,” he told the Independent, adding that he was “a bit scared.”
Though Krahbichler considered the possibility that it was a practical joke, he decided to start asking around. The blogger turned to Reddit, hoping its users could help decode the meaning behind the video.
Some Reddit users created Spectrograms of the footage and uncovered a message reading “you are already dead.” The spectrograms also showed images of skulls, as well as gruesome images of one or multiple women being tortured.
Also encoded were coordinates to the White House.
Those new findings led some to speculate that whoever made the video could have nefarious intent.
“I was pretty scared when people started to suggest it’s a serial killer,” Krahbichler said.
He still has no idea who made the video, but further investigation indicated that he wasn’t the only one who received the footage.
According to aetbx, he received the DVD from a strange girl who claimed to have found it abandoned on a park bench.
“Our bets are that this is a indie videogame promotional, since our fledgling studios don’t have large budgets for ‘standard’ advertisement,” a Redditor known as 9u4d wrote in a comment beneath the YouTube post.
“What’s so amazing is the engagement, people are reposting it everywhere and there are so many comments around the web,” Krahbichler said.
Still, if this isn’t a promotional, the question remains: who made the video, and more importantly, why?