| 56K gif |
Posted as an "official notice" at the U.S. Embassy in Lima, Peru
on 11 October 1988. |
| 282K jpeg |
Sent out on CIBA-GEIGY's Health Care Management Program letterhead.
From the Joseph Zimmerman collection, marked October 1988. |
| 119K jpeg |
Posted by Mark Pharmacy in Wayne, New Jersey. From the Joseph
Zimmerman collection, marked October 1988. |
| 181K jpeg |
Found in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1989.
|
| 47K gif |
Directed to Muhlenberg College Faculty and Staff Parents, 5
February 1989.
|
| 199K gif |
Found in Gander, Newfoundland in September, 1990.
|
| 134K gif |
From a homeowner association newsletter (Dec. 1990). Unusual in
that the "WINDOW PANES" are described as containing "a number of
kings" each of which is laced with drugs. |
| 21K gif |
"Metropolitan Police Information" dated November 1992, with an
appended note indicating its hoax nature. |
| 281K jpg |
From the Suburban News of northern New Jersey, Fall 1993.
Joseph Zimmerman notes: "This was actually submitted by a
well-meaning police sgt. in our neighboring community." |
| 191K gif |
Sent out by the Superintendant of Schools in Oakland, New Jersey
in October, 1993. "This may or may not be happening in Oakland but
it is certainly an alarming situation that you must be made aware
of as parents." From the Joseph Zimmerman collection. |
| 54K gif |
From the "Mosquito Squadron" newsletter, Winter 1995. |
| 132K jpeg |
Found in Italy in 1996. |
| 116K jpeg |
Found in South Africa in 1996. |
| 100K gif |
Distributed at a Texas elementary school in March 1996. |
| 117K jpeg |
Found in "The Village Voice" (a community association newsletter)
in June, 1996.
|
| 62K gif |
A fax dated 24 June 1996 that did the rounds of Panasonic and
a St. Francis Public School somewhere before a collector found
it. |
| 135K gif |
Faxed from the Minden Press-Herald in August 1996 |
| 214K gif |
Nice skull-and-crossbones version found in September 1996.
"This message was received from a local hospital. Its
message and content are accepted as true and accurate." |
| 275K jpeg |
From the Joseph Zimmerman collection, sent by the "Eastern Regional
Family Service Center" September 1996 |
| 55K gif |
Faxed into Roseville, California in October 1996.
|
| 188K jpeg |
Originally printed on blue card stock. Found at the Parker Lincoln
Building in Raleigh, North Carolina in January 1997.
|
| 159K jpeg |
Found in March, 1997. This is a fairly canonical version of
the flyers being propagated at that time.
|
| 113K jpeg |
Found in March, 1997 at DuPont Chemicals in Victoria, Texas. |
| 68K jpeg |
This version, an almost verbatim copy of the DuPont flyer above,
was printed up as a news item in March, 1997 in the Yorktown,
Texas News. |
| 138K gif |
WARNING!!! found 13 March 1998 |
| 87K gif |
From the South Carolina State Troopers Coalition, found in
Whiteville, North Carolina on 4 May 1998 |
| 82K gif |
Posted at Joseph Teres School in Winnipeg, Manitoba, June 1998
(references this site as its source) |
| 153K gif |
Posted at a Toys 'R' Us office in Paramus, New Jersey in August
1998 |
| 106K gif |
Posted at an apartment complex in Clearwater, Florida, September
1998 |
| 151K gif |
"Meyer," who sent this version to me, said "A Pharmacist was giving
this out in West Chester, PA 10/98" |
| 108K jpeg |
Sent out by the Texas Migrant Council in October, 1998. Submitted
by George McKinney. |
| 81K gif |
Found in the Alvarado School Newsletter, San Francisco, California.
on 30 October 1998. |
| 127K gif |
Sent out by the Principal of John P. Faber School in Dunellen, New
Jersey in November 1998. Claims the warning "has been verified with
our Police Department." A later notice,
however, verified that the warning is an urban legend. |
| 80K gif |
A bulletin sent to employees of Ward Manufacturing in Blossburg,
Pennsylvania in November 1998. A note indicates that this version
was passed out at a school. Submitted by 'Foote." |
| 80K gif |
From the Joseph Zimmerman collection. Note says "Gerrard Berran
School. One parent brought it in. 11/98" |
| 119K jpeg |
From The Penny Saver Shopping Guide of Mansfield, PA.
November 1998. Submitted by 'Foote.' |
| 123K gif |
From W.L. Fabricius, Alcohol- and drugadviser, County of Southern
Jutland, Denmark, who notes: "I tried to find the hospital of Sct
Clemens in Geldern - but had only success in upsetting the nice
director of Sct Clemens - in Oberhausen. This bizarre story is
able to create its own life." November 1998. |
| 148K gif |
Two urban legends for the price of one! This version includes the
"lights out" and Blue Star legends on one flyer. Submitted by
Mark Mumma, dated March 1999. |
| 228K gif |
From the Joseph Zimmerman collection. "A young child could chomp on
these and have a fatal trip." Undated. |
| 132K gif |
From Spain, but not in proper European Spanish. Not dated. |
| 204K gif |
From the Joseph Zimmerman collection. An added note says "no such
sheriff in Hunterdon County." Undated. |
| 106K gif |
"Drogengefahr für Kinder!!" source and date unknown. |
| 175K jpeg |
J. O'Donnell comes from Danbury Hospital in Denver, Colorado in
this version. |
| 114K gif |
"Look, listen, and learn," source and date unknown. |
| 144K gif |
"An alle Eltern!!" - in German, date unknown, has "Window Lane"
mutation. |
| 143K jpeg |
Found on 12 May 1999 on the drug info shelf at St. Joseph's
Outpatient Clinic in Malone, New York; from the collection of
J.C. Hughes. |
| 102K gif |
Found on the wall of a medical lab in Ontario in 1999 - thanks
J.K.. |
| 120K gif |
From the February, 1999 Sauter Community News, thanks
to H.M. for the tip! |
| 148K gif |
A fax dated 12 November 1999 and marked as originating from
Children's Memorial Hospital, Chicago - thanks to T. Poff. |
| A very early version, found in urban legend researcher Jan Harold
Brunvand's book "The Choking Doberman and Other 'New' Urban Legends."
This version dates back before the "blue star" motif upstaged Mickey
Mouse.
|
| In 1992, a newspaper in Abu Dhabi announced: "Mystery Message on
LSD hits shops too: Dubai police investigating source of the
fax."
|
| This note from Norway describes a "Bart Simpson" LSD scare there
in late 1993.
|
| Posted to an email list on 16 December 1993. "My daughter works
at Syntex Pharmaceutical. I have no reason to believe that this is
not authentic."
|
| In January, 1994, an IBM employee found this version of the
warning.
|
| And the legend spread by email at Sun Microsystems in January
1994: "This is not a joke. Please read this note and pass the
word around. We have some sick people on this planet!"
|
| There was an outbreak of flyers in California in 1994, discussed
on the newsgroup alt.folklore.urban.
|
| The on-line newspaper of Community High School in Ann Arbor,
Michigan, announced in May of 1995: "Warning to Parents!!!! Kids
get addicted to paper!"
|
| Posted to the "Vet to Vet" mailing list in June of 1995: "I hope
it isn't true, but I will talk to the boys about it anyway, just in
case."
|
| In June of 1995 this alert was posted to the Frame-Relay email
list.
|
| Posted to an equine medicine mailing list in June of 1995: "If this
is real, the jerks have really sunken to new lows."
|
| Posted to a feline medicine mailing list in June of 1995: "What I
don't understand, is ho [sic] anyone could be so greedy to do
this to anyone... let alone a child. I am speachless [sic]
with disgust."
|
| The "techwr-l" email list got hit in July of 1995 with the
warning: "Read This If You Have Kids..."
|
| The "Cave's [sic] of Ice" home page reprinted this
"RCMP bulletin regarding a new way to marking [sic] drugs
to your youngest children" dated July 1995.
|
| Found on the Kiwanis Club of Brandon Assiniboine home page -
This is a version of a 1995 "Community Services Publications" booklet
and includes an illustration of a chicken (???) along with the
caption "tattoo blotters can look like your favourite cartoon
characters!"
|
| Found in New Jersey in January of 1996: "The content is so
important that I want to post it here."
|
| This version was posted in February, 1996 to the usenet newsgroup
alt.child-support: "I do not know the source or if it is true but
it sounds real enough to me."
|
| This version ("Dangerous Drug") hit the usenet newsgroup
soc.culture.vietnamese in February, 1996.
|
| This version ("Warning to parents! Drugs in school!") hit the
usenet newsgroup soc.culture.vietnamese in February, 1996.
|
| The South African newsgroup
za.schools saw this "Urgent Warning to Parents" in April of 1996: "I
know nothing else about these drugs, I simply posted this message
when I read about it today."
|
| From the "NOAA HDQ Resource Development Center" (17 April 1996)
|
| From the "Kidz Planet: Parents' Air Base" comes this version of
the warning, dated May 1996.
|
| This "Warning from Langley Hospital" was posted to usenet groups
in May of 1996.
|
| This version hit alt.parenting.solutions
in May of 1996. "This may not be in your area yet!!!!! But I am
passing it along as an awareness process." (Yes, five exclamation
points).
|
| An email version from NASA Langley Research Center in May, 1996.
This version, circulating in military sites, was an epidemic that
quickly hit civilian locations.
|
| This email warning, from InterGraph in May of 1996 was quickly
passed to MicroSoft.
|
| The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers circulated this email warning
in May 1996: "Military leaders, if students/children will use it,
so will your soldiers."
|
| This email warning his the U.S. Census Bureau in May of 1996, but
is different in format from others circulating at around the same
time: "I got this through the agency so it must be really going on
in the streets."
|
| This version hit ParcPlace-Digitalk by email in May of 1996:
"I have not personally substantiated it, but the topic is too
important to ignore out of hand."
|
| Qualcomm, Inc. from San Diego was hit by an email outbreak
in May of 1996: "Please give this your widest possible dissemination."
|
| Of course the legend was posted to the usenet group
misc.kids (May, 1996)
|
| The newsgroup triangle.general (May, 1996) was also hit:
"[W]hether it is true or not, I thought that its content was
serious enough that it warranted posting."
|
| This email version hit Pennsylvania in the Spring of 1996: "I'm
just passing it on because if there is an inkling of truth, then it's
important!"
|
| A member of the entheogen mailing list considered this version of
the flyer a "well-crafted piece of propaganda."
|
| A strange version that was posted on several usenet newsgroups
in June, 1996. Oddly, the text is naturally right-justified, and
many new details have been added -- this version seems to be a rare
occurance of this urban legend having been deliberately engineered as
a hoax. (A later version, posted by the
same author, had all of the text aligned in the shape of a diamond).
|
| A "Homeschool Talk Item" from Fargo-Moorhead that uses the
justified-margins version.
|
| This parody, in which people are warned of the dangers of the
Java programming language, was based on the justified-margins
version, and posted to comp.lang.java.advocacy in July, 1996.
|
| Posted to the Hungarian-American email list and to usenet in
June, 1996. "Many schools are already aware of this problem."
|
| Posted to usenet in June of 1996. "I hope this is nothing but
better save [sic] than sorry."
|
| The newsgroup alt.parenting.solutions was hit by this version in
June, 1996.
|
| Mail headers show how this version hopped around Cornell
University.
|
| This version hit Dyess Air Force Base in June, 1996, and was
circulated widely from there.
|
| This version was posted in June, 1996 to the
alt.parenting.solutions newsgroup.
|
| This was sent to a database mailing list in June, 1996. "This
isn't DB2 related but I thought I should help spread the word on
this and you all are the largest audience I know of."
|
| Los Angeles Air Force Base was hit by the email virus in June of
1996, and their home page was briefly invaded.
|
| "The following was transmitted by e-mail over the military's
Internet by Captain William Kraus, an attorney with the Labor
Relations Office of the U.S. Air Force."
|
| The soc.culture.nigeria newsgroup was host to
this version. "Also, alert others... Have a great day!"
|
| The sci.space.shuttle newsgroup saw this warning.
"I realize that it is not Shuttle-related, but it is of concern
to parents."
|
| From the Hope United Methodist Church Times Of Hope
newsletter, a "Drug Alert Received on the Internet" dated July
1996.
|
| From the Lansing (New York) Central School District bulletin, a
"Warning To Parents: An Appeal To The Young." (July 1996)
|
| Posted to usenet in July 1996. A copy of the "William Kraus"
version.
|
| Blue Star hits Israel, along with some other urban legends. (8 July 1996)
|
| Vectored in a Navy newspaper in Guam. "James O'Donnell" is
given as the name of the authority. (11 July 1996)
|
| A version that was spreading in Manila, the Philipines, is
debunked here. (16 July 1996)
|
| Posted to a Rice University (Houston, Texas) newsgroup in July of
1996. Claims that it's being distributed by the Houston Police
Department to their D.A.R.E. officers. "So far as we know, there are
no reported cases in the Houston area at this time. Unfortunatly,
[sic] this type of crime has a way of spreading very quickly
throughout the country." Also, a new variation of the Danbury
source: "J. O. O'Donnell."
|
| This version was distributed by a neighborhood organization.
"[I]t freaked me out when i read it which is why i want to share
it with you." (16 July 1996)
|
| Intended as a parody, this usenet message warns that the cards
used in the popular game "Magic" are soaked in LSD.
|
| A German version posted to usenet in September, 1996.
|
| Full of great justifications are these copies of the warning
from the "Mom to Mom" mailing list in early September 1996.
|
| This parody of the standard blue star warning circulating on
the internet in late 1996 takes the point of view of someone who
can't believe perfectly good LSD would be wasted in this way...
|
| From the "School Announcements" of St. Joseph's school in Seattle,
Washington comes this brief warning. (17 Oct. 1996)
|
| Posted to soc.culture.malaysia in November 1996.
|
| Posted to soc.culture.belgium in November 1996.
|
| Geruchtenvirus op Internet! Something about blue star in Dutch
dated 29 Nov. 1996.
|
| Posted to the newsgroup misc.kids.health on 24 February 1997.
|
| The Birney Bee, an elementary school newspaper dated March
1997, has versions in English and Spanish.
|
| From the 'frugal' mailing list (5 July 1997), this version includes
the advice to "post it on a telephone post" and notes that "[t]he
best thing is to not buy any tattoos at all."
|
| Posted to some sort of online guestbook on 13 October 1997.
"Used with permission of the Hamilton Wentworth Police
Department."
|
| Tacked on to the end of some rant about Aspartame and Monsanto.
Probably put together some time in 1997.
|
| This warning, which circulated in April 1998, credits these
very pages as its source. And so the blue star goes full
circle.
|
| From the Free Catholic Mailing List to bit.listserv.catholic on
2 May 1998.
|
| From the Superintendent of Schools in Mantua, New Jersey, and
dated 18 May 1998.
|
| This full-circle version was reported in alt.folklore.urban in
May 1998.
|
| The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has a
publication entitled "Drug-Resistant Properties: It Can Be Done
and You Can Have Fun Doing It!" - under the section "Signs of
Drug-Related Activity: Detritus" you will be instructed to look
for such tell-tale signs of drug abuse as "discarded needles and
ammunition, glass tubes about 4" long with steel wool at one end
[crack], aluminum foil [hash or crack], small temporary tattoos
like "blue stars" [LSD], blackened spoons, 'reefer' butts..."
etc.
|
| Posted to bit.listserv.catholic in May, 1998. "NOT A HOAX!!!"
|
| "WRITTEN MOTION, Councillor Fortes, that the School Department
send out an informational bulletin to all parents regarding the BLUE
STAR which is being sold to school children in the form of a tattoo
and which is soaked with LSD..." - from the New Bedford, Massachusetts
city council calendar, 28 May 1998.
|
| Country Sings Out For Child Protection: "The below information may
or may not be a 'hoax'... but it really doesn't matter.... one drug
induced unwittingly ina maliciously into a child's body is TOO
MUCH." (Found on the web, August 1998)
|
| And it's "TOO MUCH" in Canada, too. "A Member of Law Enforcement
wrote: ...the incident does occur all the time and we have been
receiving info on these tatoos at the police department for about 6
month now. The Mickey, Pluto and Donald Ducks have been found in 23
cities so far. IT IS NOT A HOAX"
|
| Posted in dejanews.members.soc.nicolemarie.circle_of_friends in
September, 1998. "I thought this was important to send to everyone
even those business I normally don't send these things too
[sic]."
|
| "Return of the 'Blue Star' LSD Tattoo" as reported on
urbanlegends.miningco.com, with an example from October, 1998.
|
| Posted in alt.fan.lion-king in October, 1998. "This mail maybe
another internet hoax, but to be safe, I think we better take
precautions."
|
| Posted in alt.visa.us.marriage-based in October, 1998. "I know
this is completely off our subject but felt it was important to spread
around... please please pass it around as much as possible. A child
in NJ already died from this 'tatoo'."
|
| Posted in alt.childcare in October, 1998. Includes the new
phrase: "...strychnine, which may cause irreversible brain damage
in some cases. The drug is addictive and, in the quantities contained
in the above items, can cause children to become additcts
[sic.]."
|
| Posted to alt.radio.talk in October, 1998. The subject-line
calls them "drug-laced halloween tatoos for kids" - an uncommon
cross-pollenation with the common halloween-candy contamination
urban legend.
|
| From the "OmegaZine" web page, and not just by, but
copyrighted by "J. O'Donnell" but "[u]sed with
permission."
|
| Posted in alt.drugs in November, 1998. Mutation: "This is
growing faster than we can train parents and
professionals."
|
| "...a number of people told me that it is not true [but] it is
better [to] be safe than sorry..." (J. O'Donnel is with Tanbark
Hospital; distributed by Hennepin County, MN; undated)
|
| Jeff Sam's Child Safety & Parenting Page put this "Warning to
Parents" on the World Wide Web.
|
| The Nagarathar Discussion Forum was host to a version with lots
of new authorities listed.
|
| This version was found on the Elk Grove (California) Unified
School District web pages.
|
| "The Ogle County Sheriff's Office has advised us that this is a
legitimate concern." (Found on the web, date unknown)
|
| Posted to an unmoderated Harvard "Just for Kids" web forum:
"I sent a copy to my daughters school, and am going to post it on
forums and at local grocery stores, post offices and so on."
|
| Found at June-Rae's Home on the Web - a pretty standard version.
|
| Found on FuNkY'z Public Bulletin Board - "copied EXACTLY as found
on obtained critical information." 18 May 1999.
|
| This "San Diego Paramedics" page, updated as of 10 February 2000,
consistently has the most hysterical defense of the veracity of the
legend. Huge quantities of tangentially-relevant details are added
to the mix, but the same old myth forms the core.
|
