What does 136113966 mean on BTTF 2015 plate?
- Thread starter dtavres
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Jon Kelley
Active Member
I wouldn't bet on that...
After all, the "88 miles per hour" and the flux capacitor itself were both nods to Buckaroo Banzai - the "88" looking like the back-to-back "BB" (don't know how to render it in plaintext) for "Buckaroo Banzai" or "Team Banzai," and the flux capacitor strongly resembled the status display for the Oscillation Overthruster.
I can't think of anything that it would mean offhand, but I'd not be surprised if there was something behind it... You find a lot of homage in science fiction, respecting those who came before...
apoundofapples
New Member
Just my theory here, but I was thinking that 136113966 is a list of element from the periodic table of elements. That's what I think anyway.
1: Hydrogen
3: Lithium
6: Carbon
11: Sodium
39: Yttrium
66: Dysprosium
Just a guess
1: Hydrogen
3: Lithium
6: Carbon
11: Sodium
39: Yttrium
66: Dysprosium
Just a guess
TazMan2000
Master Member
apoundofapples
New Member
Lol! That's how I came up with that theory. I sat there looking at the numbers. And it just clicked. So, I looked up the table, compared the numbers and elements, and I was like, that makes perfect sense. Well, it did to me anyway. I guess we'll never really know eh?
TazMan2000
Master Member
That's good. But you're not the first to notice that. I saw the same theory doing a Google search. I'm sure I'm not the first to notice that all those elements are in different type of batteries either, but at least it's good that some of that High School education remains in our brains.
TazMan2000
JPH
Sr Member
Isn't Dysprosium used for catching neutrons?
Maybe nuclear reaction stuff, not really battery material. Yeah, I know the Mr. Fusion, would throw out neutrons.
Cobalt and Yttrium for electrons to generate magnetic fields.
And Carbon is mostly boring unless you want double or triple bonds.
Those plates were printed at Earl Hays Press. Unfortunately all the folks that worked on that movie are long since retired. But the original production art is there from the art director and those numbers aren't there.
It's possible (according to the current staff) they were asked to fill it in. And the pressman added some random numbers.
Or the art director/propmaster requested those for a personal reason.
No one is around to answer that question anymore.
It's possible (according to the current staff) they were asked to fill it in. And the pressman added some random numbers.
Or the art director/propmaster requested those for a personal reason.
No one is around to answer that question anymore.
apoundofapples
New Member
As far as I've search I'm the first to come up with it. I posted on a reddit forum about 6 or 7 months ago as well with this theory, but, I didn't search that long. All the other sites I went to all had the same types of answers. I don't really care if I'm the first or not, either way I couldn't find anything, so I figured I post my theory here and there.
TazMan2000
Master Member
Perhaps that's where I read it. I didn't think it was the same person.
TazMan2000
apoundofapples
New Member
Probably. I started searching again, and that's the only thing that came up. I know we'll never know the meaning of it, oh well. I'm sticking to my theory. LOL!
ElectroDFW
Well-Known Member
In a BTTF group chat with Assistant Prop Master 'Dangerous' Bob Widin (*before* he went off the Deep End) he told us the story about mentioning to the other Bobs how barcodes were starting to become a thing, so it made sense there would be more of them in the future, and they came up with the idea of a barcode as a license plate , so they had DB set to work with some cardboard, stencils, reflective tape and some spray paint, and he made one for that day's shoot.
No one in the chat thought to ask him about the numbers themselves, but when making my replicas, I'm just very aware of how well they correspond to the relative widths of the bars themselves, and truly, that's all I've ever associated them with. There are enough bars with varying widths for it to "look" legitimate (especially in a time before the general public were very familiar with them,) spaced well enough to be easily seen be sight and by video camera, and the human-readable version of barcode below. The thinnest one is 1, the thickest one is 9, and the ones in-between are given corresponding relative values. Simple enough.
Regards,
McFlyDallas
No one in the chat thought to ask him about the numbers themselves, but when making my replicas, I'm just very aware of how well they correspond to the relative widths of the bars themselves, and truly, that's all I've ever associated them with. There are enough bars with varying widths for it to "look" legitimate (especially in a time before the general public were very familiar with them,) spaced well enough to be easily seen be sight and by video camera, and the human-readable version of barcode below. The thinnest one is 1, the thickest one is 9, and the ones in-between are given corresponding relative values. Simple enough.
Regards,
McFlyDallas
ElectroDFW
Well-Known Member
To paraphrase Doc Brown: 'I'm sure in 1965 you could find a barcode in every military/government research base, but in the corner drugstore they are a little hard to come by.'
Regards,
McFlyDallas
I found this:
backtothefuture.fandom.com
Barcode license plate
Barcode license plates were in use by 2015 as a means of identifying flying cars. It is assumed that barcode license plates could reveal much more information once scanned than a standard license plate which only previously displayed a six or seven alphanumeric digit combination. It is possible...
backtothefuture.fandom.com
slaskaridis
New Member
I put these numbers to AI: here s the answer
Conclusion:
The sequence doesn't follow a strict mathematical progression like arithmetic or geometric sequences, but there seems to be a pattern of repetition and symmetry. The numbers climb (1, 3, 6), then descend with some repetition (9, 6, 6), with the center part (1, 1, 3) acting as a bridge between the two halves. It could be a numerically symmetric or aesthetically chosen sequence.Similar threads
