[UPDATE: Bungie has now responded to this issue its official forums, stating that,

"As always, all of the characters in our games are fictional. Any similarities between real life and the characters in our games are purely coincidental.
That said, this is both an unfortunate and untended [sic] coincidence."]

This is strange. This is very strange indeed. While poring through the now-traditional garbled text in the just-released trailer for Bungie's next mysterious Halo project, we noticed this:

The message is only up there for a grand total of three frames, but given the possible relationship to the real-life disappearance of British toddler Madeleine McCann last year - and the still-running international media frenzy around the tragic case - it really made us sit up and take notice.

What do you think? Is this a direct reference to the case? Or has Bungie's usual random cryptic nonsense just accidentally synchronised with its details? And if the message does relate to the McCann case, what purpose could it possibly serve (except of course to whip up more media interest around the trailer, which this story is admittedly now part of)?

Heartfelt pondering? Bad taste? Complete coincidence? Let us know what you think.