An 11-year-old’s note penned in 1969 was located behind a sofa in Peterborough, featuring impressively precise forecasts about video call innovation for 1980 Share Article Share Article Facebook X LinkedIn Reddit Bluesky Email Copy Link Link copied Bookmark Comments
A young student’s handwritten piece from 1969 has been unearthed, holding strikingly correct predictions regarding the future.
The intriguing document was found concealed behind Rosa Beckerton’s couch by her spouse Peter, 67, as he was restoring an old item of furniture for a customer.
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Featuring the date February 23, 1969, it seems to have been created by a young girl, aged 11, imagining life in 1980.
She remarkably foretells a substantial technological advancement and even eludes to what we recognize now as Zoom. Depicting her husband’s arrival from his job, she pens: “‘Hello dear,’ he said to me. ‘I’ve just got to call my friend on the telephone’.
“‘Well you’d better tidy yourself up a bit,’ I said.
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“In 1969 the telephone was a square box thing with a resiver on top of it.
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“But now it is still a resiver [sic], but you can see the people you are talking to, for there is a screen where you can see the people. It is a bit like a television, reports <a href=”https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/schoolgirls-haunting-letter-1969-makes-36542176″ rel=”Follow” target=”_self”>the Mirror</a>.”
Upholsterer Peter chanced upon the note hidden inside a couch that had been given to him for refurbishment after its purchase second-hand.”
Rosa, from Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, opted to reveal the discovery publicly with the hope of finding the author, who is now approximately 62 and could still be alive.
She recounted: “When my husband displayed it to me, I was shocked. I thought oh my god, look at this. It was just so fascinating, because looking at it now, she’s got many of her predictions somewhat correct – but in her youthful, pure manner, she assumed it would all transpire within a decade.
“I simply desired to share it in hopes that perhaps the writer might view it and recall it. My spouse has unearthed all manner of junk down the side of couches and furniture previously – but never something as compelling as this.”
Even though the note has no signature, it does present a teacher’s edits and remarks inscribed in red ink – including the word ‘Good’.
The text initiates: “The year is 1980, the time is half-past moon dust. Here I am twenty-one years of age, sitting in a cushion of air. I remember when I was 11 years old and I was at school, things have changed since then. For instance, the television has changed. In 1969 it was a square box with knobs in front of it. Now it is a big screen with knobs on your chair arm to switch it on and off.”
The child envisions her future self as a married woman working at a monetary establishment. She considers that previously she would have “made tea” prepared for her husband’s returning home from work.
However, she proceeds: “All we have is a piece of chewing gum to eat. You may think that we have not enough to eat but you are wrong, because this piece of chewing gum is food.
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“You chew this gum and you can feel the food going down. You can also taste it. There is no messy washing-up to do afterwards.”
She pictures their dwelling equipped with “electric” doors functioning through push buttons. The youngster concludes her writing by contemplating: “Really when I think back over those ten years, things have changed tremendously.”