A tale about a bunch of seagulls, a train and some hot chips has gripped folks Down Under.
On Monday, an Australian man named Chris Harrigan posted a little ditty on social media about a situation he claimed unfolded in front of his friend at a train station in the Melbourne suburb of Frankston. He live tweeted a version and the other he popped on Facebook.
Here is the story in full:
TL;DR - Guy throws hot chips into a train carriage as the doors close, a flock of seagulls storm the carriage. No one knows who is dead or alive.
Some called it the story of 2016.
It's early days but this may be the story of 2016. pic.twitter.com/mb8w0APJ3P— Mikey Nicholson (@Mikey_Nicholson) February 1, 2016
While others were left frantically searching for any clues on social media to lead them to the truth.
This one is from 2013.
I'm getting attacked by a flock of seagulls at frankston station I hope they peck away at my flesh vulture stylez— Adrian (@adrianzanardo) May 5, 2013
This one is from 2012.
Picture of an seagull on a Frankston train taken 3 years ago @ULTweets @Mikey_Nicholsonhttps://t.co/G1K2hBZh4U pic.twitter.com/rXJ1biyAOQ— Peter Davidson (@petedavo_world) February 2, 2016
This one is from 2015.
Just a seagull flying through the train in #Frankston. #Straya pic.twitter.com/FhtkvMEN5g— Luke Simmons (@kangaroosushi) July 21, 2015
It was picked up by a wire service, spreading willy-nilly into the news feeds of a nation.
YARN! pic.twitter.com/ejmy7xAr1x— Matt Burke (@matttburke) February 1, 2016
And suddenly it exploded on the Internet. No one could work out if they had been trolled like they had never been trolled before.
Harrigan has been contacted for comment, but is busy chasing trains.
Desperately seeking eyewitnesses for the great #Frankston #Seagull incident of 2016: https://t.co/KaA6AX3C1t pic.twitter.com/GS57QQofFt— Broadsheet Melbourne (@Broadsheet_Melb) February 1, 2016
Mythbuster @liammannix gets all sceptical about the Frankston seagull chip story https://t.co/hnlQjPuiws pic.twitter.com/Nt3XEB0fJ1— Tom Cowie (@tom_cowie) February 2, 2016
pleased to join thousands of others completely ruined by the Frankston seagull story— elle hardy (@ellehardytweets) February 1, 2016
This Saturday I'm organising a meet up for fellow Melbourne Train Seagull Truthers. Code phrase is "Where's the nearest chip shop?"— Mitch Feltscheer (@mitchfel) February 1, 2016
Then the questions started.
Would a person be so evil? What happened to the passengers? Why has everyone remained silent until now? Did the seagulls just move on like they had not killed a train full of humans?
Even Harrigan apparently has no answers.
Is this a common prank? Or the work of a lone ‘seaguller'? Where are those birds now? Did they get off at Parliament?— Chris Harrigan (@ChrisHarrigans) February 1, 2016
One person claimed it was an old joke. No evidence could be located.
Someone I know is pretty sure the late Maurie Fields did the #Frankston #seagull story once as a joke on Hey Hey It's Saturday. Haha.— DEDLEE (@NSDedlee) February 2, 2016
Another person analysed the whole debacle and still didn't come any closer to the truth.
Others sat and wondered what the world had come to.
The world has gone mad. There are journalists in Frankston as we speak reporting on the #Frankston #Seagull story. #journalism #2016— DEDLEE (@NSDedlee) February 2, 2016
Many decided to go home and eat hot chips for dinner
Metro Trains said in a statement it has no idea. We have no idea. The Internet definitely has no idea. Harrigan, we need you. The world needs you. Without you, hot chip man has won.