It wasn’t too long ago that people on the internet had built a community that
revolved around an anonymous person who was posting cryptic messages on an online forum.
They’d spend hours debating clues and predicting what what would happen in the future. No,
I’m not talking about something you’ve probably seen in the news the past few years or watched
on HBO.. I’m talking about something that dated back to 1994 and was used to promote Pink Floyd’s
new album at the time Division Bell. That’s what were going to discuss in today’s video.
Pink Floyd would release their 14th album Division bell in March of 1994.
It would be the second album from the group not to feature founding member Roger Waters.
Several months after the album’s release in June of 1994 an anonymous online poster named
Publius started posting cryptic messages on the website alt.music.pink-floyd hinting that the
band’s new album contained a hidden message. The idea that the band would hide messages in
their songs or albums seemed plausible. On 1973’s Dark Side of the Moon, the band had conversations
hidden in the album and on 1979’s the Wall on the track Empty Spaces there is a backwards message
with ex-member Roger Waters saying “You have just discovered the secret message. Please send your
answer to Old Pink, care of the Funny Farm, Chalfont.” If you examine the booklet of Pink
Floyd's 1987 album, "A Momentary Lapse of Reason," on minidisk on the sixth page, in the corner of a
picture of a man on a cliff, you'll find the word "enigma" in small white capital letters. Eight
pages later, in the corner of a picture of a man in a wheat field, you'll find the word "Publius."
Publius first message would read “You have heard the message Pink Floyd has delivered,
but have you listened?” The anonymous poster recommended that members of the online community
work together to solve the riddle going on to say “I will not solve the enigma for
you. A unique prize has been secreted, Lyrics, artwork and music will take you there. Adding
"there was a puzzle with "a central purpose and a designed solution. For those of you
willing to think through this perplexing and intricate problem, a singular prize awaits."
Publius would post messages on and off for two years until the forum closed down.
Throughout those two years Publius would drop more clues and offer words of encouragement
as Pink Floyd fans would share their theories as to what the answer to the riddle was. There
were of course those who questioned whether there even was a hidden message on the album or if the
anonymous poster was even associated with the band or label. In one post Publius told fans to keep
an eye on a Pink Floyd gig that was set to happen at Giants Stadium in New Jersey on July 18, 1994.
It was during that performance as the band played the song “keep talking” that the words Enigma and
Publius were shown on the jumbotron. That night the band also performed Dark Side of the Moon
from start to finish, leading some on the forum to think that the anonymous poster was legit.
In November of the same year during a pay-per-view concert, the word "enigma" appeared again,
projected in large letters behind the band. The Chicago Tribune and the New York Times
would both cover the story and interview a technician from the University of Iowa
named Mark Brown, who estimated that he had spent 40 hours a week working on the riddle.
The new york times published a piece in 1995 discussing the piece
and interviewed the members of Pink Floyd. The times would claim they received a letter from a
group of treasure hunters who called themselves the Publius Concern claiming and i quote
"hundreds of people have begun exchanging ideas and looking further into the puzzle,”
The letter, which came with hundreds of pages of Internet postings on the subject,
asked the times reporter if anyone from the band discussed the riddle. The new york times would
interview .David Gilmour who would be the only member in that year who discussed the riddle.
When asked about the unusual sounds on the record, like atmospheric radio noise and a phone
conversation between his manager and the son of his girlfriend, . Gilmour said, "I like puzzling
people." When asked whether certain songs were about the group's former leader, Roger Waters, he
answered with an elusive smile: "Are they? You'll just have to work it out for yourself" he'd say.
In a separate interview with guitar world magazine in 1995 he was more direct saying “I know nothing
whatsoever of this Publius character. I was told people are hunting for something,
but i don’t know what it is" he'd say. The Times even asked the band’s manager
Steve O'Rourke, about the riddle to which the times reported “he replied with a wordless smile”
Years after the website closed down the members of Pink floyd were a little more forthcoming on
the riddle. During a 2002 webchat, Gilmour said the puzzle was and i quote "some silly record
company thing that they thought up to puzzle people with". Three years later in April of 2005,
during a book signing Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd, drummer Nick Mason
confirmed that the riddle was the record companies idea and stated that the prize would be and i
quote "crop of trees planted in a clear cut area of forest or something to that effect"
Sean Hisler, who was Pink floyd’s lighting and production designer for hte division bell tour
would discuss some more detail on where the riddle came from saying"...I think it really came
and out of though - it came out of some guy of Washington DC, that used to be with the CIA or FBI
or something that was in the encryption game. He decided he wanted to do some kind of album cover,
and he started talking to Steve O'Rourke, and I think what happened was Steve O'Rourke had in his
brilliant mind that he was going to try something on the internet because he had been listening to
me. And he got this guy, cause if you notice a lot of this stuff can't be traced where it comes from.
And I know that Dave for one thing didn't even know how to sign on."
He would walk back some of his comments later on and say the riddle was great because it got
people's attention. That does it for today's video guys thanks for watching. Be sure to hit the like
button and subscribe and we'll see you a again on rock n roll true stories. Take care.