One of the more vexing mysteries of the Pearl Harbor attack is an advertisement published in the New Yorker a few days ahead of the infamous event that some believe may have been a coded warning.
As detailed by historian Craig Nelson on last night's Coast to Coast, the puzzling ad was featured in the November 22nd edition of the magazine and ostensibly promoted a dice game dubbed the 'Deadly Double.'
An illustration for the ad depicts people playing the game while taking refuge in a air raid shelter.
The ad's text ominously advises readers to create a list of things they might need in case they are forced into such a harrowing scenario over the holiday season.
Alongside the usual items one might want while riding out a bombing is, of course, the dice game 'Deadly Double.'
Six smaller ads can be found elsewhere in the magazine, directing readers to the check out the page where the 'Deadly Double' is detailed.
Intriguingly, those supplementary ads feature a drawing of two dice with the numbers '12' and '7' on them.
While the dice game ad could be chalked up to an eerie coincidence, apparently it was seen as very suspicious by the FBI.
According to Nelson, an investigation determined that the game and the company that purportedly produced it did not exist!
Attempts to find the person who placed the ad also proved fruitless as it was apparently purchased in cash with no record of the transaction.
Seventy-five years later, the mysterious ad continues to puzzle researchers who wonder if it may have been message aimed at alerting the world to what was about to unfold in just a few short days.
And if it was, who placed it in the magazine?
Coast Insiders can check out the complete conversation commemorating the 75th anniversary of Pearl Harbor with Craig Nelson and hear this fascinating tale as well as many other stories surrounding that fateful day.
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