Red Moon incident
In numerous interviews [1], Boards of Canada have referred to "Red Moon nights", free-form outdoor gatherings with friends, music, movies and bonfires that Hexagon Sun has celebrated for years.
"It took place by a 16th century Monastery, mostly debris, with a partially Collapsed roof, a truly amazing place... Hidden in the forest, it became a feeling guarded by nature. Occasionally there are as many as a hundred people, this turned into fifty as the bonfire gradually turned to embers and with lights and candles, people came inside the monastery. A mysterious outdoor experience. A perfect place shrouded in western pine." [2]
In April 2005, a cryptic image appeared on the Boards of Canada web page, seemingly referring to this practice. This image, and another following it, sparked a series of curious events as fans around the world collaborated in an attempt to determine the meaning of the mysterious images amidst red herrings and false clues posted by opportunistic hoaxers.
The images
The first image appeared on or before April 2, 2005. The image is of a full moon, tinted red, on a black background. Over the face of the moon are two lines of text:
100606 g60h p5-2omh g2h2.t 0-n
Timeline of events
- (- April 2] - Music70 contact page is updated with a link to http://www.music70.com/rm.html. The page contains a single image of a red-tinted moon with "100606" in large text as well a second line comprising the what becomes known as the first Red Moon code.
- April 22, 23 - Family Photo Album appears
A user with the name "Family Photo Album" appears on WATMM and starts a new thread entitled "? ?????? ??????". FPA makes three posts in the thread, two containing animated GIFs containing pictures of Mike and Marcus, images of nature and the text "100606". An account of the same name also appeared on this date on the Twoism forum.
- May 11 - Martyrs Monument appears
A user with the name "Matyrs Monument" appears on WATMM, starting a thread entitled "g60h p5-20mh g2h2.to-n" about the first code and containing references to the Pentland Hills. An account of the same name also appears on Twoism, making two posts with roughly the same content.
- May 12, 4:46 PM EST - Another Family Photo Album post
In the WATMM thread "g60h p5-20mh g2h2.to-n", Family Photo Album posts a cryptic message.
- (- May 31] - A second image of a photo-negative human eye is added, with additional (reversed) text that becomes known as the second Red Moon code.
- May 31 - More Martyrs Monument posts
In a WATMM thread about the second Red Moon image, Martyrs Monument posts a link to an mp3 entitled "10June.mp3". MM also posts a second comment about the mp3.
- June 01 - Xerox
In the Twoism Red Moon thread, a new user named Xerox posts a message claiming to have a friend working with BoC setting up an event of some sort "in the next week".
- June 05, ~2 PM EST - music836.com
A banner ad for http://www.music836.com appears on the xltronic messageboard (thread). This site has a pop-up of a kaleidoscopic campfire image with the text "6/6/6" and a short looped background music with campfire sounds. 836 is second smallest wierd number.
- June 6, 1:49 PM EST - Another Martyrs Monument post
Marytrs Monument suggests that more will be revealed today.
- June 6, ~10:10 AM EST
The link to rm.html from the contact page and the page at rm.html itself are now gone.
- June 6 - Twoism breakthrough?
A group of users of the Twoism forum believe they have cracked the code. The method is detailed in the Red Moon Party thread. By inputting various portions of the numbers in the two Red Moon codes into a UK goverment mapping site, two closely-located positions in the Pentlands region south of Edinburgh are identified.
- June 6 - music386 hoaxer revealed
An artist named Pycho takes credit for the music836 site as a promotion for his new mp3 release.
- June 10 - Family Photo Album says farewell?
In a new posted entitled "Farewell.", Family Photo Album posts another cryptic message. The post contains the phrase "Answered Pointedly" (emphasis added) which leads some to believe the party is located at Redpoint.
- June 11 - Xerox's account
Xerox, who had initially posted on Twoism on June 1st claiming that a personal friend was working on a project with Boards of Canada, posts a detailed documentation of his supposed experiences at Redmoon. Much of which seems to be accurate to other confirmed accounts of what happens at said events. It is still unknown as to whether this is genuine, most seem to be conflicted as to whether this is in fact a true account.
- June 11 - JimCanada
New user JimCanada posts a story about going to Redpoint on the 11th and finding signs of a bonfire and some melted tapes. In a second post, he posts a short mp3 that he claims was salvaged off one of the melted tapes.
- June 11 - Family Photo Album cuts the crap
Family Photo Album makes a new thread entitled "Time to cut the crap." in which he admits that his posts, as well as the JimCanada posts, were a hoax.
- June 11 - Twoism expedition results
User twofingersism posts a report on the results of the expedition of Twoism users who journied to the Pentland Hills hoping to find a BoC party based on the locations Twoism users determined on June 5th. In short, no signs of BoC, but a lovely time was had by the hopeful searchers, who built their own fire and kicked back with some beers and good tunes. Fellow searcher Licolnshire Poacher contributes a photo of the group.
Celadon submits more photos of Redmoon meet-up at the Earlyburn Observatory. http://www.flickr.com/photos/70866061@N00/sets/72157594163705685/
Conclusion
In the end, virtually nothing concrete is known about what (if anything) happened on June 10, 2006. Apart from the strange images posted on the official site, all additional websites, forum posts, etc. were ultimately found to be created by attention-seeking artists and opportunistic hoaxers. Meanwhile, very little has ever been mentioned or cited on the topic from trusted sources. There are, however, very rare occurrences of more in-depth discussions regarding 'Redmoon Nights' occasionally surfacing in interviews dating back to at least 2002. This would suggest that 'The Redmoon incident' is not a stand-alone event.
As it stands, the meaning of the strange images is as unknown as it was in the beginning.
External links
- Stikipad page about the Red Moon code
- Stikipad page about the second Red Moon code
- Twoism forum
- WATMM Boards of Canada subforum
- Yahoo! boards-of-canada group
- Yahoo! boardsofcanada group
- xltronic message board