When the Owl is hooting, or, a mathematical ghost story (Q1181856)

In a humorous manner the author points to the fact that multiples of 248, found by W. Killing to be the dimension of the exceptional Lie algebra \(E_ 8\), occur in various mathematical disciplines. The author mentions 496 as the gauge group dimension of unified superstring theory, 744 as the zero mode Fourier coefficient of a Klein modular function and 992 as the number of distinct smooth structures on the eleven-sphere. Imbedding his speculations in a midnight ghost story in G. Mittag-Leffler's Djursholm institute, the author leaves the question unanswered whether he believes in a deep connecting theorem.