The messages appeared on the seemingly normal marquee without warning or explanation.

Side one ominously cautioned,”ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US.” Side two confidently boasted,”SOMEBODY SET UP US THE BOMB.”

It’s as if the Papa John’s Pizza sign at 725 N. First St. had been hijacked, but by who? And why?

Theory No. 1: Aliens have decided crop circles are cliche and have chosen to utilize fast-food signs as a navigation tool for when they invade.

Theory No. 2: It’s a marketing ploy to promote the inevitable reopening of the currently closed-down franchise location.

Theory No. 3: It’s a signal from al Qaeda to its members to prepare for an attack on corn country.

Theory No. 4: A secret society of anti-grammar hooligans are having a little fun.

Theory No. 5: Nerds.

The Sweeps action news team needed answers and jumped into action for this exclusive Page 7 investigation.

Neighborhood residents first noticed the appearance of the unusual messages in early November, although no one could pinpoint an exact date.

The odd text is all the more alarming due to the fact that Clinton Rosette Middle School is right down the street from the restaurant.

Barb Luchsinger, a secretary at the school, said she was puzzled by the sign.

“I don’t get it,” she said. “I just don’t get it. I don’t know if kids were messing around or if it was somebody from Papa John’s. Grammatically, it’s not right either.”

Sweeps called the number on the sign and received no answer. Several additional calls to Papa John’s corporate offices also went unreturned.

Lt. Jim Kayes of the DeKalb Police Department didn’t have any answers, either.

“I don’t drive down that street, so this is the first I’ve heard of it,” he said. “No one has complained about it. If the business isn’t open, I am inclined to think it’s someone just screwing around.

Without any further leads, Sweeps was preparing to hire a psychic to aid in the search, but that proved unnecessary.

“Any good geek knows what ‘All Your Base’ means, as would any of our hanger-on posers,” said history graduate student David Healy.

“All your base are belong to us!” and “Somebody set us up the bomb!” are two lines from an infamous Sega Genesis game “Zero Wing.” Like many games in the early days of console gaming, “Zero Wing” was horribly translated into English when its producer, Toaplan, transported the game to America.

Barry Zeman, a sophomore computer science major, learned of the reference from a friend.

“I am an avid gamer and I once heard a friend say ‘all your base are belong to us,’ I was dumbfounded,” Zeman said. “So I asked him what he was talking about and he explained it to me, and I became aware of its significance in the underground culture of the Internet and gamers.”

Healy said the sign touched him.

“I got a laugh out of the sign,” he said. “It’s traditional geek humor, and I’m a proud 100-percent geek.”

While the mystery of the meaning of the messages has been solved, the person or persons responsible have yet to be unmasked. Sweeps will continue to investigate until lyrics from Michael Bolton songs make their way onto the Taco Bell sign.