One time, when we didn’t have much to do, and we were feeling really bored, and we REALLY wanted to know what the answer to all of this was, suddenly someone flipped over the Sergeant Pepper album cover.

With the lid in that position, it was easy to see that the word BEATLES, when viewed upside down, made a seven-digit number. The number was 5371038.

A couple of digits had to be manipulated a bit to make them numbers, but don’t forget that by this time we were pretty used to the idea of ​​trying to interpret strange shapes and colors and pattern configurations that might or might not contain some transmitted cosmic message. from another dimension. It just went with the territory. And also, as you can see from the album cover image, the word is built into a flowerbed so the lettering isn’t too stiff.

The next logical thought was that it could be a secret phone number that I could call and get information on all the Beatles mysteries, like did Paul really die, who was the walrus, does Lucy in the sky with diamonds really represent? LSD, what is the meaning of the number 9 and many others.

But not only those mysteries. What if the secret number was channeled somehow, perhaps from a neighboring galaxy, or from a non-physical dimension of the space-time continuum? In such a case, the Beatles and the designers of their album art might not be aware that they were being used as a medium. What if you could phone up and get the ultimate answer to life, the universe, and everything?

Naturally we tried London first, as it looks like the flowerbed might have 01 next to it, which was London’s area code at the time. Unlucky. Then we tried Liverpool, of course. Then New York (the Big Apple) and then Los Angeles that center of fantasy. They all went blank.

Which was a shame, because it seemed like a great idea, and it could have been great to know all the secrets there was to know! By the way, numerologists might like to know that when you add the digits, you get 27, and when you add those digits, you get the number 9. How amazing is that?

We couldn’t help but feel that there might still be an area code and that it might still be around to reveal its secrets to whoever finds it.