5. Neo's Passport Expiry Date Triggered Online Conspiracy Theories
One subtle detail of The Matrix we can probably safely assume was never intended to be seen as an easter egg of any description can be found in Thomas Anderson's passport, the expiration date for which reads September 11. Needless to say, in the years since the attacks on the World Trade Centre, more than a few people have made a big deal of this than you might expect. Believing that the inclusion of such references in popular culture are a part of conditioning the masses to upcoming events, some conspiracy-inclined people have cited a number of films and media sources in addition to The Matrix for including this date, either explicitly as is see here, or in code (for instance a clock reading 11 minutes past 9 or, more abstractly, on the cover of a magazine featured in The Simpsons). Far more likely to be coincidences, this nevertheless hasn't stopped more outlandish theories from flourishing.
