Hundreds of notes appeared around campus inviting people to Sherwood Park and tempting them with cash on Thursday Jan 23. Approximately 25 people arrived at Sherwood Park around midnight in hopes of finding said cash and to investigate the situation.

The person responsible for the notes came forward and gave an exclusive interview. This person, who asked to be called “Illuminati Baby” said their intention was pure fun and to cause a bit of chaos.

One version of the note reads: “Meet me at Sherwood Park at 12 tonight!!! (persent yourself) you could find cash” accompanied by an image of a tombstone, a baby or the illuminati pyramid. The word “present” was misspelled on the note.

Freshman mechanical engineer major Alistair Clark lives in Tolman Hall and said he found the note in his dorm room around 4 p.m. earlier that day. He said he did not expect to actually find money at Sherwood like the note suggested. However, he thought it would be funny to show up with some friends to investigate.

“Maybe something was going to happen and then that email from Res Life got sent out and whatever was going to happen, stopped it.” Clark said.

“It’s kind of a cool social experiment so I hope whoever set it up got what they wanted out of it.”

Freshman economics major Michaela Van’t Land said they got the note under their door in Tolman Hall around the same time.

“I expected there to be a lot more people,” Van’t Land said. “I would have liked there to be a quest to follow.”

At around 11:30 p.m. Sherwood Park was practically empty, save for a single resident taking their dog on a midnight “poop loop.” A few lamp posts illuminated small patches of grass but it was almost entirely in the dark. Cars started to circle the park right at midnight and gathered at the north end. Students piled into the street to discuss the notes.

“I’m curious what the plan was and if it was all just a big prank or if there was something to it,” Clark said.

The group of students eventually moved from the street into the park itself—their phone flashlights focused on the ground to scan for clues. Sherwood Park is small and flat and its entire perimeter is visible from nearly every vantage point. At the same time, a blue Jeep circled slowly and occasionally pulled over and parked for a few minutes before moving again. The people in the blue Jeep did not make contact with the larger group.

After the fourth or fifth time the blue Jeep circled the park, it pulled over, but this time a person exited the front passenger door and rushed to the base of a nearby tree. It is unclear if they saw something and picked it up or simply found nothing. This prompted the larger group to run towards the person from about 100 feet away in an attempt to question them.

The individual from the blue Jeep rushed back into the car and peeled off.

The Jeep circled the park several more times. A few members of the larger party got into their cars and chased the Jeep a few times around the perimeter of the park.

Other members of the group attempted to stall the blue Jeep. During the moment of contact, the driver became visible. They appeared to be a young, blonde female with glasses.

Some students at the park speculated that the people in the blue Jeep were part of the prank. However, the person who was responsible for the notes said there was no connection between the people in the blue Jeep and the notes.

Illuminati Baby said there was no connection with their prank and the Jeep. They turned themself in to Res Life after an email was sent to residents in the affected dorms earlier that day. However, their identity is protected because Campus Safety indicated that they were investigating the circumstances.

“I thought it would be really fun to have influence on a lot of people and have them not know who it was,” Illuminati Baby said.

They also said they originally planned to plant five-dollar bills around the park but decided against it after they had “been scared shitless by the police.” Illuminati Baby said they never showed up to the park that night.

“I was pretty scared and I called my mom and my dad, almost in tears, and I asked them what I should do, and they were like, ‘confess.’ So, then I emailed Res Life, confessing, and they still have not gotten back to me. And then, the police called me and asked me a bunch of questions about it, and then set up a meeting for me the day after. And they were just making sure I wasn’t going to shoot everybody,” Illuminati Baby said.

All parks in Grand Junction technically close at 8 p.m. during the winter. No police were dispatched while the larger group was there, but a police officer was on site around 11:15 p.m. and left after a few minutes.

“My plan was to climb a tree and watch everybody, in confusion, look around for somebody who was never there,” Illuminati Baby said.

Some of the students who showed up to Sherwood said that if another round of notes came out, they would try this all over again. Illuminati Baby said there was potential for a round two.

“I want to do it again, but I want to have a Res Life stamp and confirmation. Like, if I put a Res Life logo on it, people shouldn’t be scared,” Illuminati Baby said.

Clark said he thought it was funny, and that the experience was worth it. Van’t Land said that if this does happen again, they hope something will actually happen, like a quest or a scavenger hunt.Both agreed that it was an unexpected way to build community.

The Criterion reached out to Campus Safety about this situation but they were unable to comment.