Mystery of Stone Heads Solved

LONDON, Oct. 3, 2007 — -- A puzzle that's been perplexing villagers in northern England for months has finally been solved.

The mystery of the stone heads is over, and the artist, who has secretly been scattering his artworks since August, has been found.

The gargoyle-like sculptures had been left in the dead of night outside homes and businesses, with notes attached.

Valerie Hoyes, a postmaster in Braithwell, North Yorkshire, received three such heads.

"My husband found them on the doorstep at about 5:30 in the morning," she told ABC news. "He was astonished."

Hoyes said that notes had been attached to each head saying, "Twinkle, twinkle like a star, does love blaze less from afar?" and on the other side was a design with the word "paradox."

As more and more heads appeared, national papers picked up the story, tickling imaginations further; the hunt was soon on to discover who was behind the carvings.

Local sleuthing led to Web site Paradox-Carving.co.uk, which showed the work of Billy Johnson.

According to the site, Johnson resides in Yorkshire and spends a lot of time combing beaches for fossils and rocks that he later uses in his art.

Johnson's work "explores hypnogogic concepts" (meaning-sleep inducing concepts), which might explain Johnson's bizarre nighttime deliveries.

But why would an artist dump his work in such a way?

Johnson didn't respond to ABC News' inquiries, but we did manage to talk to his friend Judy Alston, who worked with Johnson on the Web site.

"Billy wanted to put these in places and with messages left on the heads so that people would track down our Web site," Alston said. "Billy also wanted to see what people would do with the stone heads -- keep them? Sell them?"

So was this project, as head owner Hoyes put it, "the best marketing ploy of the century"? Marketing wasn't the intention, according to Alston. "This was not a publicity operation," she said. "It is just something we did to have a little bit of fun."

Adding that both she and Johnson found the response slightly overwhelming, "it's very interesting but slightly scary," she said. "I have received 5,000 e-mails in the past two days."

While the mystery's architects may be surprised by its success, many locals are disappointed by its resolution. "It was so bizarre," said Hoyes. "It's a little bit of a letdown now that it's been solved."

Additional Reporting by Ben Barnier