Seattle's Creepy Origami Mystery Is Solved, And Many Are Disappointed

SEATTLE, WA — It appears we have an answer to the ongoing mystery of the creepy "You Are Not Safe" origami butterflies being left around Seattle: It's an anti-abortion stunt.

Multiple people around Seattle Thursday reported seeing groups of uniformed anti-abortion protesters at places like the Lenin statue in Fremont, outside a Seattle public school and at Cloud City Coffee in the Maple Leaf neighborhood. Meanwhile, an anti-choice video appeared on the website thetenthmark.com featuring a bearded man claiming "abortion is murder." The video featured some of the images found inside the origami butterflies.

The fliers began appearing over the weekend in neighborhoods like Queen Anne, Ballard and Capitol Hill. The strange and vaguely threatening nature of the fliers set many locals scrambling to figure out what they meant. The fliers had the date "9/28/17" on them, which gave internet detectives a hard deadline to find out.

At first, some speculated that the fliers were some silly marketing stunt for a band (Insane Clown Posse is in town Thursday) or new video game. But as people began dissecting the images and the associated website (allgodsmustdie.com), the theories got wilder.

One of the images depicted a mirror image of the Seattle skyline, except the Space Needle was missing from one side of the image. Some saw that as a violent threat against the city.

"I feel compelled to get out of Seattle and stay away at least until Friday. It’s difficult to predict when communication like this is satirical, for marketing, or demanding serious attention but is it worth taking a chance?" one Fremont resident wrote via email to Patch.

And then there was the bizarre flier featuring famous locals, like Kurt Cobain, former mayor Ed Murray and Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson. A pastor from Pennsylvania who read about the fliers wrote to Patch theorizing that the images referenced "The Book of Revelation."

By Wednesday, many locals believed the fliers were foreshadowing some kind of anti-abortion action — and they were right. Reddit users were able to find an email address connected to the allgodsmustdie.com website, which they were then able to link to the Facebook profile of an anti-choice agitator.

Today is International Safe Abortion Day, a day to support abortion rights. The day also coincides with the beginning of the anti-choice "40 Days For Life" campaign, whose adherents pledge to protest abortion every day until Nov. 4.

Many were disappointed that it all turned out to be a "stupid anti-abortion marketing campaign," as one Reddit user said Thursday. For a moment, it was somewhat of a fun mystery for locals to work on.

To make up for the letdown, some people are pledging to donate to pro-choice causes, like Planned Parenthood of the Greater Northwest or NARAL Pro-Choice Washington.

Images courtesy Alyson Rae