9x8x1x4 = 288 The 288th day of the year is Oct 14, except in a leap year when it is Oct 15. 2012 is a leap year. The Gulf Oil event began in April, and in 2010, so that doesn't quite work out.
9+8+1+4 = 22 Which is Titanium on the Periodic Chart. Something there?
9/8/1/4 = 0.28125 Brings up an Amazon entry for brass telescoping tubing. A trend appears to be emerging?
9-8-1-4 = -4 -4 is just -4 as far as it can be determined. No clues here.
Google for "288 22 0.28125 -4" and the first hit retrieved
http://www.google.com/search?q=288+22+0.28125+-4&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=c...
and looking carefully the word Texcoo is in the description which could be construed as code for Texaco.
Which naturally leads directly to:
John Chapter 14
8. Philip said to him, "Master, show us the Father, 7 and that will be enough for us."
9. Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?
There are 6 letters in the word Father. There are 7 letters in the title of the movie Knowing. 6+7 =13, and 6x7 = 42. 42+13 doesn't equal 288, or 22, or 0.28125 or -4. 42-13 = 29. Which is close to 22, but darn it, a conspiracy of numbers just isn't coming together. Maybe will go see the new M Night Shyamalan movie as there may be more clues there. Hollywood does have a tremendous history of conspiracy clues.
Or sometimes no matter how hard we try to ram a conspiracy down one's throats, sometimes a number is just, a number.