J.J. Abrams has another super-secret project up his sleeve. On the 13th of August his production company Bad Robot tweeted out a link to a mysterious video titled “Stranger” hosted on BR’s newly minted YouTube channel. The minute-and-seven-second video, like most everything Abrams does, is shrouded in a giant blanket of mystery and intrigue. With no press release to work off, viewers are forced to speculate and theorize.

Backed by a beautiful, piano-led score likely helmed by Abrams’ go-to composer Michael Giacchino, “Stranger” sets up a starry night scene where a long-haired man emerges from the sea. The visuals come to a screeching halt when a menacing looking man whose mouth is stitched up takes over the frame. A narrator recites the following words: “He arrived knowing nothing of himself. Who is he? Soon he will know. Because what begins at the water shall end there. And what ends there, shall once more begin. This is what happens: men become lost, men vanish, men are erased, and reborn.” At the very end, the words “Soon he will know” begin vanishing one by one.

After racking my brain on this one, a few theories surface to the top. First, as everyone well knows, J.J. is currently working on reigniting the Star Wars franchise with Episode VII; though a viral campaign to get the buzz going around this highly anticipated film would be exciting, I just don’t see it here. The starry sky is a subtle hint, but everything else just doesn’t make sense for it to be SW related.

Another project under J.J.’s belt includes the upcoming NBC supernatural drama Believe but again, this black-and-white visual simply doesn’t line up with that show’s pitch. However, a slight clue lingers here, too; Jake McLaughlin who plays wrongfully imprisoned death row inmate Tate on the show sports a shaggy mane of hair just like the man who comes from the sea. But Believe‘s main star is a little girl named Bo who has super powers that need protecting and this teaser sheds no light on that whatsoever.

Now it’s true that this may very well be an extremely early tease for The Stop Along the Way, Rod Serling’s final screenplay whose rights were recently sold to Bad Robot. Little is known about the project initially imagined by the Twilight Zone creator so it’s difficult to read into this any further.

I’ve saved the most believable theory for last. You may or may not know this, but Abrams is getting in on the books business. That’s right–he conceived and developed a story written by award-winning author Doug Dorst (Alive in Necropolis). And get this–the name of the novel is S. As in “Stranger,” as in “Soon he will know.” Now, read the novel’s synopsis:

At the core of this multilayered literary puzzle of love and adventure is a book of mysterious provenance. In the margins, another tale unfolds—through the hand-scribbled notes, questions, and confrontations of two readers. Between the pages, online, and in the real world, you’ll find evidence of their interaction, ephemera that bring this tale vividly to life.

S. is being released by Mulholland Books/Little, Brown and Company on October 29, 2013 and according to a press release. “Abram’ production company, Bad Robot, will be promoting the book leading up to and at publication time.” The video titled “Stranger” could easily be the start of a marketing campaign for this book. The synopsis hints that the story will expand its tale across various forms of media including the Internet. Until further evidence reveals itself, I think we having a winning theory here. It’s perfect, really. Viewers are clamoring to the idea that this video must be hyping a film or TV series when in reality it’s introducing Bad Robot fans to an entirely different form of entertainment: books!

Share your theories in the comment section below as we await the next “Stranger” tease that surely must be imminent.