Nothing gets past eagle-eyed audiences who are all too eager to share the latest TV or movie gaffe on social media.
Remember when Game of Thrones fans noticed the anachronistic chalice in the form of a Starbucks cup left in plain sight?
Another bungle just surfaced, but this time the recent discovery was from a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.
It turns out that lightsaber Luke Skywalker was wielding in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back was apparently an import from the planet earth.
Uproxx noted that Pablo Hidalgo – a Lucasfilm executive on the Star Wars franchise – tweeted about his discovery from the 1980 Star Wars sequel.
It was an innocuous tweet at first.
"I've noted this before, but every time I watch a 'Star Wars' movie, there's something new to notice. Especially if I'm fortunate to catch it on the big screen."
And then he shared his jarring revelation with juxtaposed images of Luke's lightsaber.
"This latest discovery? that 'NEW YORK' is visible on the bottom of Luke's lightsaber in EMPIRE."
The image on the left was pulled from the movie with a barely-visible "New York" written on the bottom of the lightsaber. On the right is an image of the actual naked prop from the film before the etchings were buffed out and other pieces were added.
@pablohidalgo Huh, it I guess it really is the *Empire* State https://t.co/6IyE9Ha6wI— Ben Hower (@Ben Hower)1560914825.0
Can you see it?
I've noted this before, but every time I watch a Star Wars movie, there's something new to notice. Especially if I'… https://t.co/3ybgHkIxLO— Pablo Hidalgo (@Pablo Hidalgo)1560914321.0
It may take a lot of effort to even notice, but it is there.
@pablohidalgo I love that this will probably drive someone insane— Anthony (@Anthony)1560914956.0
@pablohidalgo By visible you mean blown way up and with real squinty eyes you can barely make it out? Hey you're right!— Opening Crawl (@Opening Crawl)1560930666.0
@Jcjpl (On the big screen it can be seen; though of course, it took about 40 years for me to notice)— Pablo Hidalgo (@Pablo Hidalgo)1560951780.0
Uproxx's Josh Kurrp said the only link he could find between Luke's lightsaber and New York was the sound designer making recordings for The Empire Strikes Back during a family visit.
"[Sound designer] Ben Burtt recorded sounds of people in snow while visiting his family in upstate New York, which were used for the Hoth scenes."
With its universal appeal, it's hard to believe ardent fans of Star Wars missed the marking.
Although to be fair, the etching is easy to miss if you don't know what you're looking for.
It stands to reason then that Hidalgo, who has probably seen the movie a hundred times, was the first to notice the goof.
@pablohidalgo Visible, but not legible.— Shayn Mikel (@Shayn Mikel)1560920631.0
@Shayn_Mikel It is at the right resolution.— Pablo Hidalgo (@Pablo Hidalgo)1560921186.0
ComicBook weighed in with their thoughts on the discovery.
"This is a very small error, and hard to even notice if you aren't looking forward. It's honestly surprising that Hidalgo even found it in the first place."
"Then again, with as closely as 'Star Wars' fans have watched these movies over the years, it's hard to believe it took this long for someone to see it."
The fictional energy sword is used in combat by the Jedi order and their Sith counterparts. The luminescent blade consists of magnetically contained plasma that shoots from a metal hilt that was, well, not manufactured in New York.
Special effects expert John Stears created the prop by re-purposing various pieces of hardware, including Graflex press camera flash battery packs.
@pablohidalgo Is Graflex a prop company?— Greg, Know Your Cuts of Meat Champion - 2006 (@Greg, Know Your Cuts of Meat Champion - 2006)1560914453.0
In the photo on the right from Hidalgo's tweet, you can clearly see the word "Graflex" stamped at the base of the hilt, signifying the handles from the Graflex flash gun retrieved by set decorator Roger Christian.
@Money_Moose Graflex made the old camera flash holder that the lightsaber was built out of. https://t.co/PqaGkzXAVi— Pablo Hidalgo (@Pablo Hidalgo)1560914701.0
@pablohidalgo @Money_Moose In the saber-building community people refer to that saber as a “Graflex” on its own. I… https://t.co/qPjdyRxUaN— Eric Strothers (@Eric Strothers)1560915014.0
@pablohidalgo Folmer Graflex Corp. (later just Graflex, Inc., and formerly a division of Kodak) was on Clarissa Str… https://t.co/p7xoF9JbyA— Eric Stevens (@Eric Stevens)1561040482.0
Don't mess with the Star Wars-obsessed. If you attempt to challenge them on trivia you may find yourself sinking into the Sarlacc Pit.
@Sturmwolken1 @pablohidalgo Haha! Well, the Graflex flashgun used to make the lightsaber in IV, V, VII, and VIII co… https://t.co/ZxWyeoDUeH— Jay Ingram (Charlemagne) (@Jay Ingram (Charlemagne))1560914944.0
@cube_joe @pablohidalgo Yep! It's the only shot that lets us know which one of the variant of Graflexs was used in… https://t.co/CMllmhJ7MG— George Swain (@George Swain)1560930522.0
If you claim to be a true Star Wars aficionado and don't have any knowledge of the following, you're bantha fodder.
@pablohidalgo Oh my friend you are perched on the precipice of a deep and wonderful rabbit hole. Folmer Graflex fla… https://t.co/wDzRgkvuls— Michael Shane (@Michael Shane)1560998184.0
@pablohidalgo No ESB lightsaber is considered screen accurate without it! ANH sabers also usually use a Folmer vari… https://t.co/xZdwhDrwUl— Michael Shane (@Michael Shane)1560998320.0
@JayKingIngram @GraflexBank @Sturmwolken1 @pablohidalgo I’m glad I found someone who is as picky about lightsaber h… https://t.co/0JHSa4OB1F— Emperor Palpamemes (@Emperor Palpamemes)1560925104.0
@pablohidalgo George had it changed to Aurabesh for the blu-ray release.— Brandon Bird (@Brandon Bird)1560918388.0
Oh Starbucks, why did you meddle with this Sci-Fi movie from 1977?
@pablohidalgo Let’s not forget the Starbucks incident of ‘77. https://t.co/qFfOzNvhgY— Blue Milk On The Rocks (@Blue Milk On The Rocks)1560948205.0
Why NYC?
@pablohidalgo That's because the spirit of New York is intergalactic— Jennifer Heddle (@Jennifer Heddle)1560926445.0
@pablohidalgo NEW YORK IS CANON— Ryan (@Ryan)1560922578.0
@pablohidalgo I don’t own much Star Wars merchandise these days, but I do love my WIP New York flashlight. https://t.co/Yf3ArMhkFE— Sebastian Boyle (@Sebastian Boyle)1560977857.0
@pablohidalgo New York is just an old weapons manufacturing planet on the Outer Rim. 🤷🏻♂️— Sir Gumbeaux (@Sir Gumbeaux)1561048601.0
@pablohidalgo @pablohidalgo dude that is New York, Tatooine. How did you not know that three hundred miles from Mos… https://t.co/ereU28FmI0— Colin J Lewis (@Colin J Lewis)1561076346.0
There you have it.
After 39 years since The Empire Strikes Back hit theaters, there is nothing more shocking than seeing "New York" on a lightsaber, forcing us to come to grips with reality.
You can relive Star Wars Episodes I-VI in one go with the complete set, available here. Maybe you'll see something you never noticed before.
Curious to hear about some of the more creepy indiscretions people get away with, Redditor Flytechofficial asked:
"What is perfectly legal, but creepy as hell?"
These things that happen in public restrooms can be considered criminal.
Respecting Splash Zones
"Using the urinal next to me when there were plenty of other choices."
Nightmare For The Pee-Shy
"hanging out in a public bathroom timing how long people pee."
Bad Timing
"I swear to God. I did a lot of work in hospitals for a while, big f'king hospitals with tons of bathrooms all over the place. For some God damned reason, regardless of what time or bathroom I selected to take a sh*t in not 30 seconds after I sat down a janitor would knock on the door to clean the bathroom. It's not as if it was one janitor, just some random janitor would inevitably need to clean whatever bathroom I was in as soon as I got comfy. It's like I was being stalked by the janitors."
"So now I'm trying to take a sh*t knowing full well there's somebody out there actively timing how long it takes."
Looky-Loo
"I was drunk in a casino and went to use the washroom. The floors in there were a polished marble or something. Sitting on the toilet, pants down, my stall neighbour made eye contact with me on the reflective floor tile."
The following examples involving minors have no legal repercussions.
Outside Watchers
"Technically, you can stand on the sidewalk and stare into someone's house through a window. It's not illegal as long as you stay off of their property, but it's really freaking creepy."
Keeping Tabs On Someone's Age
"A national newspaper having a countdown for when a child actress becomes 'legal' for sex."
"Answers to questions that will surely come. ....Yes. The Sun (UK). Emma Watson."
– pdirth
The Young Subjects
"When I was a child, we had a creepy horrible neighbor that would harass my family constantly. One of the things he did was stand at the corner of his yard and videotape me playing in a pool with my friends (we were around 8). My parents called the police but were told that it's legal if he's on his property."
These perfectly harmless examples can give you goosebumps.
Macabre
"Hanging your doll collection from the trees in your yard using string made from human hair."
People's Taste
"I believe the act of cannibalism itself is legal so long as you didn't murder anyone to do it. If your homie gives you his arm to gnaw on, it's fair game."
I recently treated myself by going to a movie theater after what seemed like a long hiatus for much of the year.
Streaming blockbuster movies from home, while convenient, has never made as much of an impact when compared to the moviegoing experience.
But after my recent trip to our local AMC, I'm beginning to think watching entertainment from the comfort of my quiet home is a much better option.
I forgot that a good majority of audience members are disrespectful and pretty much ignore all the rules—including no texting or talking during the movie.
The normal volume conversations and the number of lit screens from people's smartphone's in my peripheral vision throughout the movie were huge distractions.
Maybe as I'm getting older, my patience has worn thin, or I happened to have a particularly unpleasant experience. But seriously, how can anyone enjoy going to the movies when people are constantly updating their status inside a darkened auditorium?
It should illegal. Rant over.
I feel like if there is nothing after life, it just invalidates life. But maybe I'm just dramatic. I hope there is peace. Thoughts?
black and white two funerals GIFTogether...
"When we die, the whole world as seen by us, dies together with us."
"Yes it does. As does the entire universe. Only when we are alive can we experience the passage of time. The instant we die the entire universe will experience heat death and cease to be. It my take a million eons but since we can no longer experience time it will be relatively instantaneous."
- OkEbb749
Thanks Alan
"It's one of the great wonders of life: What will it be like to go to sleep and never wake up? And if you think long enough about that, something will happen to you. You will find out, among other things, that it will pose the next question to you: What was it like to wake up after never having gone to sleep? That was when you were born. You see, you can't have an experience of nothing. Nature abhors a vacuum. ~Alan Watts"
So Romantic...
"When I was much younger, I had a dream where I died. Not a typical dream, not a romanticized dream. It was a dream where I was an archer in a medieval battle. About 5 minutes into the battle, chaos was all around me, and I watched an opposing archer aim and loose an arrow straight into my left eye."
"I remember the sensation of impact, ringing in my ears, and falling to the ground. I remember the warmth of the blood on my face. The feeling of life leaving my body, and the sense of worry evaporating into warmth and peace as the world left behind me."
"I remember waking up shortly after thinking that the feeling and reality of that experience was so vivid and so detailed that it must have been an experience from a previous incarnation hundreds of years ago. From that moment on, I've never feared the actual process of death. I feel like I've experienced it many times before."
Erase
Computer Reaction GIFGiphy"I think one of your best friends delete's your browsing history."
"Take the hard drive out of my computer at home… Put it in the bath… And make sure it's completely wiped. -Tensai Slime"
If you love me... rule number one... HIDE THE EVIDENCE!!! Let that be heard far and wide. And dreams, always so intertwined aren't they?
Before & After
Happy Baby GIFGiphy"Exactly the same as before you were born."
- whumoon
"I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it. -Mark Twain"
Moving On...
"We clean the bed and assign it to another patient."
"The REAL reason why nurses are so dark. 90 year old man in hospice got hit by a car on his way to get fitted for his funeral tuxedo, and didn't have a DNR. Kept him alive for four hours, and now it's time to document everything that was done to save his life because there will inevitably be a lawsuit from a family member who has had four years to say goodbye but somehow didn't get to."
Again...
"Play again?
Yes
[No]
I don't know what they mean or how to utilize them. I'm a Buddhist (but a gamer first and foremost) so it's cool you guys made those connections This totally makes up for r/movies continuously banning me."
Oblivion...
"I've answered this one before but here it is again. Either two things happen after you die: you either go somewhere or it's oblivion. If it is oblivion, then we're just going back to the same place before we were born and there's nothing wrong with that. We were there for billions or trillions of years, possibly infinity."
"You lose that concept of time since your brain doesn't work anymore so you don't even know it's over. It's not nothing because nothing would be something and that means that you are aware, which you can not be if you're dead. If we do go somewhere, then that's something no one understands because no one has ever come back to tell us."
"Those stories of people coming back after they "died" and "saw stuff" weren't really dead. Their hearts stopped but their brains were still working. If the Universe continues to recycle itself infinitely, then there's a chance we will be reborn or continuously reborn but have no memory of our previous selves."
- jamoh20
On Holiday
"When I was a kid I drowned while on holiday with my family, a giant fat man jumped in the pool on top of me and no one noticed till I was on the bottom of the pool. I remember the feeling of my lungs being on fire, then shivering then as everything was going dark a strange sense of peace and I was ok with it, No panic or terror then it went black."
"I was resuscitated at the side of the pool a few minutes later. I remember nothing from the black to being "alive" again. I was around 7 when it happened and since then I've been strangely at peace with the fact that one day I will die and slip into the dark void of nothingness. Hope that helps."
Popcorn?
500 days of summer cinema GIFGiphy"You wake up in a chair in a cinema and learn that the other are past lives of you and you're about to watch your next life very soon on the big screen."
The truth is none of us know the truth. We live everyday with the afterlife being a gamble. And that seems like it's going to have to be enough.
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