French Fisherman Discovers Letter In A Bottle Written In 1997 By A 5th Grader From Massachusetts

The bottle traveled 3,300 miles and was preserved for 26 years before it was found!

Chelsi

• Published in Interesting
• September 10, 2024

Akin to dramatic scenes from films and TV, a 71-year-old French fisherman found a message in a bottle while picking up trash at the beach. It was even more stunning when he read the letter and realized it was written in October 1997 — 26 years before its discovery!

It was August 23 when Hubert Eriau stumbled upon the bottled letter in Les Sables-d'Olonne, Vendée, France. After struggling to open the wax-sealed bottle, Eriau endeavored to respond to the instructions in the decades-old letter.

"Dear Beachcomber," said a 5th-grade Ben Lyons in his letter. He thanked whoever would pick up his letter for being kind enough not to ignore it without knowing it would travel 3,300 miles and take thirty years before it got discovered.

He explained they were studying ocean currents in their science class. Dropping the letters in the Nantucket Sound was their class's culminating activity for the lesson.

Lyons, as did the other students in his class, asked whoever found his letter to answer a few questions. Despite the years in between, the French fisherman took the task and answered Lyons's questions seriously.

He then mailed the original letter and attached his response to the address Lyons kindly provided. The Forestdale School administrators were confused when they received the letter because they no longer offer fifth grade.

The letters were forwarded to Oakridge School in the hopes of locating a 5th grader named Ben Lyons.

Eventually, assistant principal Brandy Clifford and English teacher Carol Archambeault pieced the puzzle together after reading the letter. Archambeault knew the Lyons family personally and immediately contacted Ben's parents.

Ben Lyons, who has since moved out of their town, was reportedly delighted that his letter was eventually found.

He would also be happy to know that Eriau answered all his questions.

In his letter written entirely in French, Eriau said the bottle was found in France in good condition albeit with a few barnacles stuck on it.

He also told Lyons that a newspaper had covered the unexpected find and had written an article about it a few days later.

Ben Lyons was reportedly reminded of his classmates and science teacher after the serendipitous events.

According to one other teacher from the school, Lyons's letter was one of the many discovered by random beachgoers. They even had one returned from Greenland!

They have since stopped dropping bottles in marine bodies to understand ocean currents because they contribute to pollution and could potentially be harmful.

The next mystery is what is Ben's job and why did he refuse to respond to interview requests.

The surprising mail was the subject of town for a while. They were abuzz because, since they had stopped the project years ago, it had been a while since a message in a bottle was returned to one of their schools.

Staff at the school said they hoped to continue their correspondence with Eriau. They also planned to display Lyons' letter along with the unexpected response it got decades later!

Chelsi