Can you explain this "eerie" job ad? Is it aliens? It's aliens. CONSPIRACY theorists, don your tinfoil hats. Cue spooky music. This is a weird one. Someone in the US has been repeatedly posting the same mysterious job ad in publications for more than a decade, and no one can work out why. It claims to be seeking a "research associate/personal assistant" to work for one of Wall Street's "most successful entrepreneurs," for a cool starting salary of $US90-$110,000. Not too bad. Unsurprisingly, the ad has attracted a fair share of attention and countless hopeful applicants over the years. The listing has appeared regularly in high-profile publications including the New York Review of Books and The New Republic magazine, as well as on websites such as Craigslist and Monster.com, since at least 2004 and possibly earlier, undergoing only minor changes over the years. The (possibly) original text from a 2004 issue of The New Republic read: Research Associate/Personal Assistant: New York City - Highly intelligent, resourceful individuals with exceptional communication skills sought to undertake research projects and administrative tasks for one of Wall Street's most successful entrepreneurs. We welcome applications from writers, musicians, artists or others who may be pursuing other professional goals in the balance of their time. 90K-110K to start (depending on qualifications). Resume to: gen8r@spsfind.com. Here's the ad as it currently appears in the New York Review of Books: Internet sleuthers love a good mystery. The only problem is, it's quite clearly bogus. So who is spending all this money? As blogger John Ettorre, who has been tracking the ad since August 2004, noted: "Just think for a moment about how much has been spent on all these ads in national pubs over the years. It's a staggering number, perhaps now (I'm guessing a little) well into six figures. That was in 2008. So what is it? Theories range from simple resume farming to statistical research to a secret plot by Google. No one knows. One sleuther on the Mr Ettorre's Working With Words blog claimed the ad was a research program being run by New York hedge fund D.E. Shaw. Huffington Post journalist Carol Felsenthal wrote about it back in 2011 - she had sent the ad to her daughter in 2006 and saw it again in 2009. The people who could possibly answer the mystery, The New Republic advertising team, told her: "We cannot provide you with any further information regarding this ad or our client." As another blog poster wrote last year: "It is almost chilling to think that this ad has been circulating since 2004. Very eerie. What do you think it is? Originally published as Can you explain this "eerie" job ad?