# So was there a 1138 reference in The Force Awakens?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-was-there-a-1138-reference-in-the-force-awakens/743565
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [January 19, 2016, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-was-there-a-1138-reference-in-the-force-awakens/743565 "2016-01-19T12:40:59Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_The_Heavy)
#### Post date: [January 19, 2016, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-was-there-a-1138-reference-in-the-force-awakens/743565/1 "2016-01-19T12:40:59Z")
I noticed that they kept the Wilhelm Scream tradition going, but I didn’t think to look for 1138. Did anybody notice one?
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### Author:  [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)
#### Post date: [January 19, 2016, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-was-there-a-1138-reference-in-the-force-awakens/743565/2 "2016-01-19T13:27:46Z")
The screening I went to started at 11:15 and had 23 minutes of trailers.
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### Author:  [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)
#### Post date: [January 19, 2016, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-was-there-a-1138-reference-in-the-force-awakens/743565/3 "2016-01-19T13:54:57Z")
I couldn’t find one. I thought I heard someone mention it, but really all I heard was the “3-8” part, and I think the rest was something else. I found somebody say that the binoculars that someone uses early in the movie may have 1138 in the array of numbers on its display somewhere.
All I know is FN-2187, Finn’s designation, is a reference to [21-87](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/21-87), a film that influenced George Lucas (and is the cell number where Leia was kept on the Death Star).
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [January 19, 2016, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-was-there-a-1138-reference-in-the-force-awakens/743565/4 "2016-01-19T15:30:53Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#):
>
> All I know is FN-2187, Finn’s designation, is a reference to [21-87](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/21-87), a film that influenced George Lucas (and is the cell number where Leia was kept on the Death Star).
It’s also the prison cell number Leia was in during the first movie.
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [January 19, 2016, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-was-there-a-1138-reference-in-the-force-awakens/743565/5 "2016-01-19T15:33:19Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Originally Posted by GuanoLad View Post
>
> All I know is FN-2187, Finn’s designation, is a reference to 21-87, a film that influenced George Lucas (and is the cell number where Leia was kept on the Death Star).
> [@Mahaloth](#):
>
> It’s also the prison cell number Leia was in during the first movie.
There always WAS a weird echo in that prison block, as I recall.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)
#### Post date: [January 19, 2016, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-was-there-a-1138-reference-in-the-force-awakens/743565/6 "2016-01-19T15:36:53Z")
I read somewhere that one of the stormtroopers calls out “1138” right before the X-Wings fly over the lake. Didn’t catch it myself so can’t confirm.
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### Author:  [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)
#### Post date: [January 19, 2016, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-was-there-a-1138-reference-in-the-force-awakens/743565/7 "2016-01-19T16:47:28Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#):
>
> It’s also the prison cell number Leia was in during the first movie.
You just repeated something that was literally right there in your own quote.