What is known about the student's mysterious disappearance a month after he left home, leaving behind encrypted books, graffiti and a statue.
On March 27, 2017, 24-year-old student Bruno Borges disappeared from his home in the Brazilian state of Acre. Later it turned out that he was working on "a project that would change life for the better", remaking his room for him: he removed furniture from it, painted all the walls with encrypted inscriptions and incomprehensible symbols, hung self-portraits with aliens, and also left 14 handwritten books …
The main mystery for the police looking for the student was the large statue of the famous Italian philosopher Giordano Bruno, who was burned in 1600. How she appeared in the room, and why she stands on the painted "Alchemical circle of transformation" is unknown. According to Borges's parents, they have no idea why he might need a sculpture for 2.5 thousand dollars.
For a month of searching around Bruno Borges in Brazil, a huge number of legends have formed: some say that he turned into a statue, others that he was abducted by aliens because of the project. The police were able to find people helping the psychology student, but their testimony only further confused the story.
Missing
Bruno Borges began working on his project in early March - he locked himself in a room and painted the walls for more than 20 days. On March 17, ten days before his disappearance, he was brought to him an almost finished statue of Giordano Bruno, which he bought over the Internet. On March 27, the Brazilian finished his "project", waited for his parents to return from the trip, and after a family dinner he took a backpack and just left.
Investigation officer Fabrizzio Sobreira told Brazilian newspaper Globo that police were able to partially recreate Borges' escape from home. The student was last seen about an hour after leaving: Bruno got out of a taxi outside the motel. At the same time, the hotel said that he did not rent a room from them.
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According to Globo, a few days after that, the Brazilian came to the tailor and asked him to sew three raincoats "like in pictures", which he brought with him. To the question "Is this for the church for you?" Bruno replied: "Almost."
The police believe that then Borges left the city or even the country. Sobreira noted that he received reports of the finding of the missing student in Peru and Chile, although no evidence of the benefit of this version was found.
On April 18, the police declared Bruno "missing" - now Interpol was connected to his search.
Team project
A whole team of people helped Borges with the "project". Together they painted the walls of Bruno's room while his parents left for a month's trip. They also helped the Brazilian to encrypt all 14 books and sponsored his ideas: the student's cousin invested about 20 thousand Brazilian reais (about 350 thousand rubles).
The police tried to find out from Borges' assistants where he had gone, but it turned out that the whole team had entered into a non-disclosure pact among themselves.
- As we understood during the investigation, they agreed not to disclose Bruno's project. We cannot convince them to tell everything, even under threat of perjury.
Fabrizzio Sobreira, police officer
Bruno's friend said that they painted the room for 24 days, trying to use every inch of the walls. He said that during the creation of the project, they "got along without food" and did not leave the room.
The police are working on several versions of the disappearance at once, so they pay great attention to encrypted inscriptions. According to Sobreira, in the books he could describe the plan of the "project", part of which was leaving home.
At the same time, Bruno left several clues in his room. Investigators have found special "keys" on the shelves that should help decipher the inscriptions on the walls and in books. The sister of the missing Gabriela said that she was able to translate a small part of her brother's work: it is called "Theory of absorption of knowledge." However, the "keys" are not enough to understand everything that Bruno wrote.
One of the "keys"
To understand the text that Bruno left behind, you need to translate five different ciphers. Some of them are quite light: for example, one of them is based on the Boy Scout Book. Others, the student's family still cannot make out.
The media published several photographs and videos from the Borges house, which made it possible for social media users to try to translate the characters on the walls. In the Facebook community where they united, almost 20 thousand people have been deciphering the inscriptions for a month.
Judging by the translations on the site of enthusiasts, Bruno talked about man and his role in the universe, philosophy and religion. In his writings, Borges referred to Greek thinkers, Freud and the author of the "theory of multiple intelligences" Howard Gardner. According to Borges' sister, the members of the Facebook group "were able to unravel light ciphers."
Reincarnation of a philosopher
Globo has found 83-year-old sculptor Jorge Rivasplata, who made a statue of Giordano Bruno for Borges. According to Rivasplata, his work completely repeats the monument in the Roman square of Campo dei Fiori.
Giordano Bruno was an Italian philosopher who was burned at the stake in 1600. He was one of the first to suggest that extraterrestrial life existed, so a statue of the philosopher in the home of a Brazilian student spawned conspiracy theories about his abduction by aliens. However, Rivasplata stated that Bruno Borges is the reincarnation of Giordano Bruno. The external similarities between the Brazilian student and the Italian philosopher were also noticed on social networks.
- Most do not understand, but I have known him for a long time. Believe it or not, this is the reincarnation of Giordano Bruno. I can't say more. All I can do: These books are Giordano's unfinished works. - Jorge Rivasplata, sculptor
The sculptor brought the monument to Borges' apartment on March 16. It was unfinished, so Rivasplata finished work right in the student's room. According to him, Bruno studied with him, so the artist made him a big discount and sold the monument for 2.5 thousand dollars.
Physician José Medeiros, who founded eight spiritual centers in Brazil, sided with conspiracy theories and said that in 2016 Borges consulted with him about his secret project. According to Medeiros, the student "saw spirits," and he himself could be a medium and reincarnation of Giordano Bruno.
For a month of searching, Bruno Borges managed to become not only the hero of conspiracy theories and extraterrestrial interference, but also several mobile games. Local developers have created applications to solve ciphers, and in one game, users must escape from the statues that haunt them.
The creator of the most popular game, Filipe Nunes, noted that the mysterious disappearance has already spawned so many versions in social networks and the media that most are impossible to believe. But, according to him, the main thing is that Bruno is eventually found alive.