New Jersey beachgoer may have discovered oldest message in a bottle

Beachgoers across the globe often stumble upon lost items that wash up on the shore. 49-year-oldAmy Smyth Murphy from New Jersey also found one such item when she was strolling throughCorson’s Inlet State Park over the Fourth of July weekend.

Murphy discovered anantiquated green corked bottle containing what seemed to be a business card from 1876 and a handwritten note. She believes the bottle may be the oldest ever discovered as it may have been tossed from a vessel, 10 years before the message-holding container found in Australia in 2018 that holds the Guinness World Record.

“It’s just so interesting to be connected to people in this way.I really like the mystery. I love the research," Smyth Murphy was quoted as saying by NJ.com.

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“The smell that came out of it was unbelievable. The bay smell times one million. We were not prepared for that," Murphy added.

One of the papers in the bottle refers to “W.G. & J. Klemm,” a pair of brothers, William and John Klemm, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer’s newspaper archives.

Notably, William Klemm lived in Camden for a half-century and died in 1917, according to an obituary published by the newspaper.

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The second paper refers to a yacht named "Neptune" which was docked in Atlantic City in the late 1800s and was captained by one Samuel Gale, also known as "Captain Sam".

Gale may have lived in Atlantic City in the late 1800s, according to Smyth Murphy’s own research.

The discovery by Murphy took place months after a multibillion-dollar beach fill was performed in the Ocean City area. Experts say it is what may have caused the bottle to break free from the ocean floor.

“They dredge up things, and some of them don’t go into the hopper bar.Some of them just get stirred up and float around the ocean, and I think that’s what happened in her case. Those ocean currents can do some amazing things,"Steve Nagiewiczwho teaches maritime history and marine archaeology at Stockton University in Jersey told the publication.

Meanwhile,Murphy has documented every step of the discovery, including the unboxing on social media. She is now waiting to hear from the authorities if it indeed is the oldest bottle-in-a-message discovery.

(With inputs from agencies)