A TikTok user who touts her interest in the paranormal, aliens, cryptids, and mysteries showed off a strange sheet of paper filled with seemingly random words designed to send any “conspiracy theorist” into a tizzy.
Since there are plenty of once-seemingly insane theories that ended up being validated by Father Time, some folks believed that Bethany (@bethany.gets.weird) had stumbled upon a slip of paper that may be some esoteric message just waiting to be solved.
“We are laughing but this is genuinely terrifying to pull out of a box of Velveeta…” she writes in a text overlay of her video.
Bethany shares what’s so creepy about the note she found inside the box of the “Ultimate cheeseburger one pan dinner kit.”
“OK so listen I’m making this Velveeta f*cking skillet dinner right now and I open the box and this is in it,” she states while placing a small sheet of paper filled with small text that, at first, looks like gibberish, but is also packed with a number of gnarly looking key words.
Some of the words that are showcased in the note, which are among unusual character placements, dashes, symbols, and a variety of underlined words are:
- Target
- EURO
- China
- CIA’s shield
- KKK’s ross (+)
- SS agents
- Nazis
- Exxon
- Hamas
- Opra’/Musk/Bush/Obama
- snake/S/tongueout
These are just a few keywords that are probably sure to sound off some alarm bells in people’s heads, and this was certainly the case for Bethany, who says, “And it has some very…KKK’s cross?!”
She says, reading out various words that appear on the sheet, “Nazis, oh my God. This…it’s f*cking Velveeta!”
“Literally all I wanted was some f*cking Velveeta f*cking dinner skillet and now we have the Matrix?” she says, holding up the sheet of paper to the camera.
In a caption, she adds that whoever placed that sheet of paper inside the box probably couldn’t have done it after the fact, because it was sealed shut in there.
“The box was sealed…… this was folded up in the bottom of the box,” she wrote.
@bethany.gets.weird The box was sealed…… this was folded up in the bottom of the box….. #creepy #velveeta #weirdwide #conspiracy #walmart ♬ original sound – 👽Bethany🪐
So what the heck are these cryptic messages?
Viewers said that the slip of paper is part of a phenomenon known as Schuylkill notes, which earned its name as the origin of these small sheets seems to have emanated from Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania.
Another user wrote about the PA connection as well, commenting, “Are you located in/near Pennsylvania? that’s been happening lately. Google notes found in sealed food and there’s a ton of news articles.” The TikToker confirmed she did indeed live in Pennsylvania.
There are online communities dedicated to getting to the bottom of these cryptic bits of paper, like the subreddit /r/schuylkillnotes.
One TikTok user who responded to Bethany’s video suggested that she check the Reddit sub out, which she said she did.
According to Axios, various government agencies are involved in trying to get to the bottom of whoever’s putting these notes in consumer goods’ packaging: the Food & Drug Administration and the FBI included. The outlet states that the FBI has declined to comment publicly on the matter.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Velveeta via email and Bethany via TikTok comment for further information.
Update 11:01am CT, Mar. 11, 2024:
In an email to the Daily Dot, Kraft provided the following statement:
We are aware of the video and understand that similar notes are reportedly being found in products from other companies and from various retailers, seemingly across the state of Pennsylvania. We understand that the FBI and FDA have both been alerted and are investigating. We have strict safety and quality standards with our products, and we do not believe that a note could be introduced into our packaging during our packing process or while it is in our control.