I personally think the theory is garbage, but there are a few people here who find it interesting.

There are also people who still believe that the Earth is flat, and that the Sun revolves around it.

-glurk

EDIT: To make this less snarky, the fact is that there have been hundreds upon hundreds of "solutions" to the 340 cipher. The question to ask is not "has this one been disproven?" The proper question, of course, is "has this been proven to be correct?"

The answer is no. The 340 cipher remains unsolved and it has (yet) no proven correct solution.

I think the criteria is easy, in fact. Find three or more knowledgeable people who concur that a proposed solution is correct. This is no guarantee, of course, but if three or more people agree, and can explain their reasoning, it’s worth a look. We don’t have that here.

Trying to "disprove" a solution is a fool’s errand.

Hi to all – especially you Glurk This video has only just been posted, and is from Zeppelin 196818 on YouTube. He is the original Donald Gene Harden protagonist! Have watched the video a couple of times but i’m still trying to get my head around it. I concur with most of his previous videos’ points of view, although these can be sometimes difficult to understand (as is this video also). Is he saying that a solution to the 340 cipher was sent to LE? Not like this guy to release things without checking them out. Oh well will have to watch a few more times or contact him for clarification. Still believe that its DGH!

I’m easy to get along with. I’m kind to everyone, or at least I try to be. But no silliness here, OK.
Instead of a moon landing, I believe NASA trained mosquitos to fly to the moon, grab small rocks, and return to Houston with them!

I don’t actually believe that. But can you DISPROVE IT???

defuser351- Do you not realize that there have been HUNDREDS of people that have shown "proposed 340 solutions" throughout the years? Maybe even thousands. I can’t tell you what to believe, but you might do well by yourself to look into it. Just my advice.

Have you seen the hundreds of other solutions? I’m not joking about them, there really are that many.

These, to us, obviously aren’t solutions. The problem seems to be that they aren’t suggestions, guesses or attempts either … they are beliefs. There’s no room for testing, exploring, expanding, verifying etc. They are simply telling people what they believe and that is "I am right. If you think I am wrong then prove it". There’s only one route it can take when that’s the starting point. We aren’t being invited to test a theory, we’re being asked to challenge a belief or worse … being told to just accept it.

Most "solutions" I’ve seen amount to little more than creative art projects, wherein the "solver" forces their favorite suspect’s name to appear. They treat the ciphers as a canvas for painting a portrait of their suspect. Which would be fine, if it weren’t presented as some kind of snapshot of reality.

Zeppelin 196818 on YouTube does not seem to realize (or will not accept) the fact that Donald Harden’s prints were checked against the Zodiac killer’s prints as a matter of course a long time ago. They did not match. That should be the end of the story. But not for him. Even this proof is not enough to satisfy Zeppelin. He would probably shrug this off as a "mere technicality" and ask to see the actual handwriting comparisons. If presented with said comparisons he would probably react by shifting the goal posts of his pet "theory", so that it accommodates some kind of conspiracy or a cover up. I believe he has already hinted at some kind of conspiracy in his videos so he is probably already covering that base.

I tried (as have many other people tried and failed) to engage this fellow in a rational discussion and critical analysis of his so-called evidence. He refuses to listen and when backed into a corner retaliates by swearing and calling people names, just long enough for them to receive the messages, which he then deletes. He only allows positive comments on his videos. He sometimes allows thumbs up/down responses, until he gets more than a few thumbs down, then he deletes them and disables the thumbs feature. He generally has a very poor opinion of law enforcement and seems to firmly believe that his own intellect is far superior than anyone else.

The surviving family of the Hardens are aware of his activities. The problem is there are currently no laws to prevent anyone from defaming the dead, and YouTube have designed their site to allow "freedom of speech". So defaming the dead is not a hate crime and is not sexist, so people like Zeppelin are allowed to flourish in complete anonymity.

I really wonder what Zeppelin has against poor Donald Harden and his wife. He seems to really have it in for them. If anyone was stupid enough to believe his videos they would think Donald and his wife were evil incarnate. Perhaps Donald smacked this Zeppelin guy’s bum in the distant past when he was being naughty in the classroom and Zeppelin has never forgiven him? Somehow I do not think Harden was even capable of smacking a child. Most of his students said he was a very friendly, diligent, well respected and nice teacher.

If presented with said comparisons he would probably react by shifting the goal posts of his pet "theory", so that it accommodates some kind of conspiracy or a cover up. I believe he has already hinted at some kind of conspiracy in his videos so he is probably already covering that base.

Most of them do. People with projects like his, I mean. When they reach a certain point, they turn to the conspiracy theories, almost inevitably.

I really wonder what Zeppelin has against poor Donald Harden and his wife. He seems to really have it in for them.

I have no idea. But in general I think it’s largely coincidental who or what these people end up pursuing. They don’t necessarily start from a position of animosity towards the person they promote as their "suspect". I think that goes for both sheer nutjobs and more sane – but obsessed – theorists. As they go along, however, they may develop two kinds of equally bizarre feelings for the "suspect": They either begin to hate (or even fear) him, increasingly focusing on how devious and evil he is – or they begin to admire him, focusing on how damn smart he was.

Very true Norse.

These kinds of manufactured yet baseless theories rely on the fact that there have been a great many serial killers through history who seemed outwardly normal, but who were actually living a double life. The Zodiac killer was possibly such a person.

Ever since Jack the Ripper, the concept of the "Jekyll and Hyde" personality disorder has become deeply entrenched in the public’s psyche. This popular belief has created fertile ground for the conspiracy theorists. A theorist can make allegations against an innocent person and there will always be other people who will believe it, simply because it has been proven in the past that "normal" people can be serial killers. It is a kind of a priori reasoning, which also relies somewhat on entertainment/shock value.

The theory becomes a matter of strong belief supported by a few flimsy, misinterpreted or distorted pieces of circumstantial evidence. Frequently there is very little (or in some cases no) actual proof.

YouTube has become the playground of such theorists, which is why we find so many videos on subjects like Chemtrails, Bigfoot, UFO’s, aliens, anti-Vaccination propaganda, New World Order conspiracies, all manner of paranormal stuff etc, etc. In some ways, Zeppelin’s videos are in the right place.

red ryder, I don’t remember seeing your posts before, but I like your writing style.

How do we know that Don Harden’s fingerprints were not a match for Zodiac? Maybe they were his wife’s. Zeppelin196818 makes a strong case.

You don’t think Law Enforcement thoroughly vetted The Harden’s as suspects? I bet they did, just to make sure, then like (almost) everyone else, realized they weren’t in on it.

How do we know that Don Harden’s fingerprints were not a match for Zodiac? Maybe they were his wife’s. Zeppelin196818 makes a strong case.

Are you suggesting a woman killed Paul Stine and left the prints at Washington and Cherry? If not, then what is the investigative value gained from comparing Mrs. Hardens’ fingerprints.

I’ve read a theory where the 340 cipher is a mumbo jumbo nonsense cipher to waste everyone’s time since his first cipher was fairly easy to solve. Thanks.