If you think a message in the bottle is a thing of fiction, this incident will have you thinking again.

Who knew that a walk on a remote beach in Perth, Australia will end with Tonya Illman finding a bottle. Not any bottle, this bottle actually had a message nestled inside it. This happened just three years ago on March 6. After Tonya and his wife decided to dry the note in an oven, they could make out the date written on the letter, that of June 12, 1886 and the word 'Paula'. The husband-wife duo thought it was "too far-fetched" but took it to the Western Australian Museum anyway.

It was found that not only is the letter authentic, but an archival search in Germany unearthed the ship Paula's original Meteorological Journal. What's more? The captain had recorded the bottle being thrown overboard. Plus, the handwriting in the journal and the letter was a perfect match as well. The bottle's narrow throat and thick glass went a long way in providing the letter with an environment in which it could last. It was estimated that the bottle was thrown overboard while Paula was travelling from Wales to Indonesia. What a miracle!