Technological development helped people to send messages, photos, videos, and even massive sizes of documents via messenger apps or email. Many people have heard or noticed in movies that there were birds who used to carry notes, coded messages, and letters when there were no messaging apps like WhatsApp and a French couple recently found something extremely unusual which shocked them.
The couple found a tiny capsule in eastern France while walking. After it was opened a written message was found that was despatched by a Prussian soldier over a century ago who used a pigeon as his message carrier.
The message was written in German in a barely legible hand by an infantry soldier based at Ingersheim, which is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Grand Est in northeastern France, near Colmar. The message detailed military maneuvers apparently during the first world war—which took place between 1914 and 1918.
As per Dominique Jardy, the curator of the Linge Museum at Orbey in eastern France, the century-old message was addressed to a superior officer and the marked date is July 16 but the year is not clear. However, as per the expert, the year could be either 1910 or 1916.
What Was the Message?
It says:
"Platoon Potthof receives fire as they reach the western border of the parade ground, platoon Potthof takes up fire and retreats after a while.
"In Fechtwald half a platoon was disabled. Platoon Potthof retreats with heavy losses."
Jardy, who called this discovery a "super rare", said that the couple found the capsule in September 2020 in a field in Ingersheim, which was once part of Germany. After the finding, they gave it to the nearest museum in Orbey.
Jardy with the help of his German friends decrypted the message and now the capsule, as well as the message from World War I soldier have become part of the museum's permanent display.
Recently, a similar incident caught the attention of many people after reports said that a pigeon was arrested in India on charges of spying. The owner of the bird, a Pakistani villager, urged the Indian Prime Minister to return his pigeon and said that he flew the bird to celebrate the Eid festival.
But that is not it. As per the police, the bird had a ring on one of its legs and they found a code, which according to the man—who lives just four kilometers away from the border—was his phone number.
