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Originally from the North of England. Growing up my mother had a huge leather bound book full of stories of ghosts, alien sightings, spontaneous combustion, fairies, ghouls and more. You name it, it was in there. And I was fascinated. I've often thought about that book. I'd love to ask my mother about it but alas, she is no longer with us. So I resolved to create this site. It's the closest thing to it I could get. I hope that some of the joy I had reading that book is passed on to you here today.

The Glitter Mystery header
Bizarre

The Glitter Mystery – Who is the largest buyer?

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This is a strange one. From an innocuous interview by Caity Weaver for the NY Times comes the glitter mystery. Published on the 21st of December, 2018, What is Glitter? was a seemingly fun article about glitter that has led to a huge mystery. And it all stems from this conversation.

Weaver asks Ms. Dyer, a Glitterex manager, can she tell her who buys the most glitter and receives this reply:

No, I absolutely know that I can’t.

But you know who it is?

Oh, God, yes. And you would never guess it. Let’s just leave it at that.

But why cant you tell me?

Because they don’t want anyone to know that it’s glitter.

If I looked at it, I wouldn’t know it was glitter?

No, not really.

Would I be able to see the glitter?

Oh, you’d be able to see something. But it’s — yeah, I can’t.

Extract from NYTimes

The Glitter Mystery Deepens

Almost as soon as it was published, the internet took an interest. What’s so secretive about glitter? What is it being used for?

A podcast called the Endless Thread thought they had solved it. Simply put, boat paint. But it leaves too many questions. Why so secretive? Also, most boats are sparkly and clearly have glitter in the paint, which goes against what Ms. Dyer states above. You wouldn’t be able to tell it’s glitter.

Reddit users joined the case. With answers ranging from bombs dropped in Iraq to disrupt electronics (these turned out to be graphite bombs so not quite) to stealth coatings on military aircraft. Also speculated were food additives, toothpaste, shampoo (microbeads for abrasiveness), mylar blankets for spacecraft insulation and more.

Slate joined the game. Their guesses ranged from Fishing bait and rocket fuel additives to the bizarre synthetic sand. Reasoning that the world is running out of sand, so why not make more with glitter?

Other guesses from the online community include chaff used to jam radar, haemorrhoid cream and automotive paint.

Still the mystery persists. It’s bizarre that nobody has come up with a definitive answer. Ms. Dyer in the original article wouldn’t even give a hint, not even off the record.

So what’s the truth? Is it a secret because of the environmental toll microplastics have? Or is the government using it somehow? We just don’t know and it seems like we never will.

Sources:

Endless thread drops a glitter bomb (wbur.org)

Which mystery industry is the largest buyer of glitter? (reddit.com)

Industrial Glitter (slate.com)

Who’s buying all the glitter (virtualverse.com)

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