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The history of sending a message in a bottle dates back to a date as old as 310 B.C. when the Theophrastus (the famous Greek philosopher) threw sealed bottles into the sea waters to prove his point: The Mediterranean was formed as a result of an inflow from the Atlantic Ocean . There is a certain charm of sealing a message in a bottle because of the element of mystery attached to it. The interesting fact is that these ‘confidential’ bottles travel across the wild ocean waters and it is a great thrill to discover one! Tonya Illman experienced the same sense of adventure when she picked up a sealed bottle while walking around the sand dunes on a secluded beach in West Australia. Kym Illman, Tonya’s husband, admitted that they didn’t have a clear idea regarding the discovery until they dried out the paper in the oven. According to a few Australian experts, this paper is a confirmed authentic message sent by a German ship around 132 years ago! After hours of careful analysis, it has been stated that the particular message (dated 12 th June 1886) had been jettisoned from ’Paula’ (the German vessel). Incidentally, the message in the bottle had belonged to an experimentation regarding shipping and routes, as carried out by the German Naval Observatory. This has been declared as the oldest message in the world to ever exist, breaking the last record that was dated 108 years ago! On the day of discovery, 21 st January 2018, the Illman family were driving around a remote beach that was located north of the Wedge Island. As fate could have it the right way, their car was stuck in the sand and Tonya decided to go for a brisk walk. Seeing a lot of litter strewn on the beach, she decided to clean some rubbish. That was when she came across the bottle and decided to take it because it would look great as an antique showpiece. Little did she know, that she had picked up a real gem of immense value! Mr. Illman told the media that his wife had given the bottle to her son’s girlfriend, who noticed the paper in thought it to be a cigarette roll. Since the paper was bound by a fragile string, the couple decided to clean it and allow it to dry inside the oven. After deciphering the message and the date, initially they thought it to be a prank! Soon, it was confirmed to be authentic by Dr. Ross Anderson, who is the Assistant Curator Maritime Archaeology at the WA Museum. Dr. Anderson commented that the drift bottle was indeed thrown overboard as the Captain of the German ship had written an entry on the same date, which was found in the archives of the vessel’s Meteorological Journal. The coordinates state that the bottle was probably jettisoned somewhere in the South-Eastern region of the Indian Ocean during the ship’s journey from Wales to Indonesia. Discover the story here . Know an incredible story? Write in to us to have it featured on The Vantage Point!