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Following the recent January 1, 1970 iPhone bricking bug, a different long-standing issue related to Unix time and emails is gaining renewed attention, as highlighted by The Telegraph.

The non-malicious glitch has been gaining new traction online recently, with some iOS users sharing screenshots of their devices receiving emails from December 31, 1969 or January 1, 1970. The glitch has been reported by users on both iPhone and iPad as well as Android devices, with those users noting that the messages in question have no content, subject line, or sender, and can not be interacted with.

january-1970-twitter-email.jpg
Casually got an email from 1970 pic.twitter.com/dfc3D32n3S - Jordaroo (@Jordan_Fearnley) February 24, 2016
The ghost email issue has been reported for many years, and rather than a harmful attempt to infiltrate an iOS device -- or lead users down a path to the January 1, 1970 bug -- it is simply a misrepresentation of the correct status of Unix time. Some cases of the ghost email are showing up when users are traveling to a different time zone, temporarily causing a glitch in communications between mail servers and a few email clients, including the stock iOS Mail app and even Microsoft's Outlook iOS app.
The emails often appear when iPhone users are checking their emails in a different timezone. January 1, 1970 represents 0 in UNIX time - the way that computers often understand times and dates. One Reddit user who reported it appeared to be using Microsoft's Outlook app.

Every second since midnight on January 1 1970 is a different point in UNIX time (we're currently at around 1.45 billion). So when an email is sent without any time data, or a timezone bug means it can't be interpreted, the iPhone will default to zero - 1970.
With the issue causing emails to show up with timestamps of midnight GMT on January 1, 1970, users in the Western Hemisphere see dates of December 31, 1969 on their ghost emails due to timezone offsets.

The issue can sometimes be fixed by simply closing the email app and reopening, while others have found success with subsequently performing a hard reset on the device (pressing down the Home and lock buttons until the iPhone or iPad restarts). The more notable January 1, 1970 date bug bricked iPhones with a date manually set to May 1970 or earlier, and Apple will be fixing the issue with its forthcoming iOS 9.3 update. In comparison, the ghost email reports -- which include a long list of affected users -- are simply a nuisance.

Article Link: 'Ghost Emails' From 1969 and 1970 Receiving Renewed Attention
 
So are they actual emails I'm receiving and can't see because of the glitch? I have this issue from time to time and never thought I was actually missing emails because of it, but this article implies that I am.
 
I dunno, I'm keeping my tin foil hat on until further notice. :rolleyes:
 
Had this exact email pop up a couple times. Always wondered what that was about. I like the idea someone else had, time travellers are trying to get our attention.
 
Just the ghost of Steve trying to tell you you're holding it wrong. But it's hard to interface with the IT systems used in the afterlife.
 
So are they actual emails I'm receiving and can't see because of the glitch? I have this issue from time to time and never thought I was actually missing emails because of it, but this article implies that I am.

The next time it happens, check your inbox from the computer if possible to see if there's an actual email there.
 
Could be the new Ghostbuster promo but things went wrong when they changed the original casts to female
Wait they're making a new one?

This'll probably be yet another movie that exists solely because it'll make a crapton of money due to the fans of the old movie getting their hopes up for another Ghostbusters movie only to be horribly disappointed by it because no thought went into the movie.
 
probably the FBI sending emails to our phones via time-traveling agents in a way to gain access to the backdoor.
 
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