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People walking through Castle Park this morning were offered leaflets by two people stood either side of Bristol Bridge.

Those who decided to take one of the small pieces of brown paper from an outstretched hand after finding their curiosity sufficiently piqued - including myself - might have expected to see a new restaurant or a gig being advertised.

But instead, they contain a hand-drawn picture of a spaceman accompanied by the words: 'Have you lost your dreams? Don't despair. Here at ANIMA we've built something we call a Dream Camera. Just call or text the number and we'll find your dreams for you."

The phone number displayed at the bottom of the mysterious flyers is 07588733111.

(Image: Bristol Live)

Those who were intrigued further by this and decided to call the number when they arrived at their workplace - probably with a degree of trepidation - were then greeted by an ominous automated message.

The answering tone says: "You are hereby advised that due to serious and flagrant unlawful activities, ANIMA Technologies has been ordered by the authorities to cease and desist from undertaking its advertised business and we are no longer taking calls."

Callers are then advised to leave a message after the tone, but the tone doesn't stop. If you text the number you get a quick automated reply, either asking for feedback on your experience of ANIMA or the words 'we are not sure what's happening'.

Not much help there, then.

Where else has ANIMA Technologies been advertised?

Someone in the Bristol Live office said the leaflet and answerphone message 'feels like a Black Mirror episode' and others have said a similar thing on social media.

A website has been set up with the address anima.technology but this doesn't give anything away either, with visitors met by a warning message which states the same thing as the automated answerphone.

On Reddit, a thread has been created in which people have shared information of where else in the UK they have seen ANIMA Technologies being advertised.

An advert for it has been spotted on a number of London Underground lines including the Jubilee line and Northern line, while there have also been sightings further afield in Milan and Dallas.

So what is ANIMA?

I was very confused by all this, so decided to go back to the people who handed me the leaflet for some answers.

They told me they were working for StreetPR, a promotional agency specialising in UK wide leafleting and flyering, and - crucially - the leaflets are part of a marketing campaign for new music from Thom Yorke.

The Radiohead frontman is known for his innovative album stunts and in 2007 his band helped introduce the 'pay as you want' movement after the release of In Rainbows .

For the release of his most recent solo LP, Tomorrow's Modern Boxes, Yorke embraced piracy by giving people the option to download it via BitTorrent.

This latest stunt comes after Yorke discussed the forthcoming record earlier this year, revealing it was inspired by dystopia, anxiety, and a “crisis point” in our social system.

It is not yet known when the new music will be relesed.