Indiana Jones journal origin a mystery

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CHICAGO, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- Officials at the University of Chicago said an apparent Indiana Jones fan sent a replica movie prop to the school addressed to "Henry Walton Jones Jr."

Admissions counselor Grace Chapin said workers were left scratching their heads when no "Henry Walton Jones" could be found in the school directory, the Chicago Tribune reported Monday.

"We gave it to a student worker, and the kid came back laughing once he Googled it," Chapin said. "Some of us are in a haze with finals, you know, so he said it was Indiana Jones' name. Then we opened it, and it was very bizarre. There was no explanation as to why it was with us, so we talked about it and decided to put it online."

Workers said they opened the package and discovered an elaborate replica of fictional professor Abner Ravenwood's journal from the "Raiders of the Lost Ark" film.

Chapin said Lucasfilm, the studio that made the Indiana Jones films, said it does not know where the journal came from. She said some have theorized the faux postmark on the journal itself may have confused the U.S. Postal Service if it fell out of its original packaging.

Chapin said the journal may also be part of an unusual admissions project.

"I don't want to get everyone sending us elaborate Indiana Jones creations, though," she said.