David Oranchak, Jarvle and Sam Blake have solved the Mt. Everest of unsolved codes, the Zodiac 340 Code, and the solution has been confirmed by the FBI.
https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/cu … r-1102927/
https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/n … her-solved
We can all agree that this was great work by Dave, Jarvle and Sam, with the important contributions over the years by glurk, smokie treats and many others. So we can agree that this was great work, a real achievement, while at the same time being disappointed that this solve of the Z340 does not seem to shed any further light on the identity of the Zodiac.
But I think it does shed some light on the identity of Zodiac.
First, that this is revealed as a real code, a complex one, one that defied the efforts of the FBI and others to decode it for 50 years. I think it tells us that Z was very intelligent, had some real skill in codes and mathematics.
More importantly, this code is very complex, multi – step, the decoding process involves adding numbers together to get the next step, it is multi-directional, including diagonal, and has numerous misspellings, with all or most likely being intentional to increase the difficulty of solution. This presents a very unique set of elements. The solvers do not seem aware of any other criminal or non-criminal code that employs these exact elements. If there was another code that used these exact same elements, I would think the FBI would be very interested in looking at the creator of such a code. A code like the solved Z340 is so complex, with so many specific elements, it presents something so unique that it is almost like a signature.
I am here to notify the solvers, and others, that there is a person, a criminal, a serial killer, a bomber and someone who, like Zodiac, wrote to newspapers stating innocents would die unless his words appeared on the front pages, who created and used a complex, multi-step, multi-directional code involving diagonal sequences.
This code is even more complex than the Z340. But he created this code probably in 1979 or thereabouts, so imagine the creator of the Z340 but with at least 10 more years of knowledge and experience in code creation.
Like the Z340, this code is complex, multi-step, you have to add numbers together to get the next step, is multi-directional, including diagonal, and has many misspelled words, all or most likely being intentional.
This was the code created and used by the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski.
I know Dave, the other solvers and all of us here want more than anything for this code breakthrough to lead to a real breakthrough in the case, bringing the Zodiac to justice and bringing the survivors and the loved ones of the victims some real closure. I would ask Dave, Jarvle, Sam and others with expertise in codes to examine this evidence with an open mind.
When the FBI raided Ted’s cabin, they found a notebook with pages and pages of entries that just consisted of numbers, commas and spaces. They guessed it was a record of his crimes, but they could not break the code. Just like the creator of the Z340, Ted had created a code that the FBI could not break. It was not until they found the code key in the cabin that they were able to break the code, and found out that it was indeed a journal of all his Unabomber crimes, including three murders by bombs, bombings that injured over twenty, an attempt to blow up a passenger jet in mid-flight and the shooting and wounding of a worker at a mining site with a rifle.
The following was published in a cryptology journal details how the code worked. The author is member of the FBI Cryptanalysis and Racketeering Records Unit (CRRU).
EXAMPLES OF ZODIAC & KACZYNSKI USING AN INTENTIONAL MISSPELLING TO INCREASE DIFFICULTY OF DECODING
Zodiac 408 Code: DANGEROUE
Unabomber Code: YESTERDAE
Both Zodiac and Kaczynski have a code in which in order to increase difficulty of solution they change the last consonant(the letters "S" and "Y") in a word to the vowel "E".
MODERATOR
Mr Ak
Do you have the unabomber codes in text? so that I can "play" with them.
TK always caught my attention
Marcelo
https://zodiacode1933.blogspot.com/
It is ironic that the great accomplishment of breaking the Z340 has been such a letdown. Unless there are hidden meanings, phrases and words that with time appear in the plain text, we have not learned the identity of the Zodiac. But we have learned a great deal about the author of the code. This is a flashing red light pointing away from ALA and other Joe six pack type criminals. This code was created by a sophisticated, educated cryptographer.
Up until a few years ago I dismissed Ted as the Zodiac as a crazy theory. But if you spend time and look at the evidence, Ted is the most obvious choice. Z340 strengthens that case.
TK should be at the top of everybody’s suspect list
EXACTLY THIS! I was hoping you’d chime in AK with the detail of how TJK constructed his personal ciphers. It still blows my mind that one of the ways they use to prove that TJK was the Unabomber was by forensic linguistics but refuse to use the same technique to link him to the Zodiac murders. The comparison that you did showing the Z writings along with TJK’s writings are virtually indistinguishable from one another.
The mathmatical language used in both the codes found in TJK’s bunker and Z’s newly deciphered Z340 deserves to be looked at with the same intensity.
Always enjoy reading your posts AK! I’ll eat a hat if Z isn’t TJK! 
Basically, TK probably could have solved the 340 with ease as it is similar to what he was accustom to…
Everyone needs to Read AK’s extensive work on TK.
Basically, TK probably could have solved the 340 with ease as it is similar to what he was accustom to…
Everyone needs to Read AK’s extensive work on TK.
Suppose this is true. TK is in the bay area at the time so he certainly would’ve been aware of Zodiac and the 340. If he had been able to solve it, when nobody else could, wouldn’t he have wanted to garner some much needed praise and ego boost by being the one to announce the solution, as the Hardens had?
The alternatives are:
1. TK could not solve the 340
2. TK could solve the 340 but kept the solution to himself because he didn’t want the acclaim.
3. TK wrote the 340
For the sake of completeness:
4. TK never paid attention to the 340.
Mr Ak
Do you have the unabomber codes in text? so that I can "play" with them.
TK always caught my attention
Marcelo
Unfortunately no.
Your great work comparing the handwriting of Zodiac and TK is in the hands of police now, and I think it will be soon in the hands of the FBI. Thanks again.
MODERATOR
It is ironic that the great accomplishment of breaking the Z340 has been such a letdown. Unless there are hidden meanings, phrases and words that with time appear in the plain text, we have not learned the identity of the Zodiac. But we have learned a great deal about the author of the code. This is a flashing red light pointing away from ALA and other Joe six pack type criminals. This code was created by a sophisticated, educated cryptographer. [Yes I agree totally. – AK Wilks.]
Up until a few years ago I dismissed Ted as the Zodiac as a crazy theory. But if you spend time and look at the evidence, Ted is the most obvious choice. Z340 strengthens that case.
TK should be at the top of everybody’s suspect list
Margie: "EXACTLY THIS! I was hoping you’d chime in AK with the detail of how TJK constructed his personal ciphers. It still blows my mind that one of the ways they use to prove that TJK was the Unabomber was by forensic linguistics but refuse to use the same technique to link him to the Zodiac murders. The comparison that you did showing the Z writings along with TJK’s writings are virtually indistinguishable from one another.
The mathematical language used in both the codes found in TJK’s bunker and Z’s newly deciphered Z340 deserves to be looked at with the same intensity.
Always enjoy reading your posts AK! I’ll eat a hat if Z isn’t TJK!
AK Wilks: I agree with both of you. We now know for sure what most of us have suspected: The Zodiac 340 was not the work of a code novice and it was most likely the work of a very intelligent person, with knowledge and skill in mathematics and code creating.
MODERATOR
Basically, TK probably could have solved the 340 with ease as it is similar to what he was accustom to…
Everyone needs to Read AK’s extensive work on TK.
[AK Wilks: Thanks!].
Suppose this is true. TK is in the bay area at the time so he certainly would’ve been aware of Zodiac and the 340. If he had been able to solve it, when nobody else could, wouldn’t he have wanted to garner some much needed praise and ego boost by being the one to announce the solution, as the Hardens had?
The alternatives are:
1. TK could not solve the 340
2. TK could solve the 340 but kept the solution to himself because he didn’t want the acclaim.
3. TK wrote the 340
4. TK never paid attention to the 340.(From The Mist).
For a normal person, yes, the fame and attention from solving the Z340 would be a motivator.
But I don’t think it would for Ted. Ted regarded all people who oppose the system as good. For example, he hated groups like the NAACP because they sought to make blacks become part of the techno – industrial society. Ted said that street gangs, with their robbing and killing, at least were in opposition to the police and the modern state and what they did was natural and increased the tensions in society. So let us say Ted was not Zodiac, he would have regarded Z as at least standing outside of society, opposing the police and the sate and increasing the stress and tensions in America. SO HE WOULD NOT HAVE WANTED TO SOLVE THE CODE AND HELP THE POLICE CATCH HIM.
And while Ted was smart enough to solve the code, if he was not Z, I don’t think even he, with not using computers, would be able to look at the over 650,00 code possibilities that Dave did. No, if Zodiac and the Unabomber used essentially the same code, a Period 19, with diagonal messages, multi – directional shifts and math addition at their essence, it is because TK created both codes.
MODERATOR
AK Wilks: Look at this great work Jelberg did on Period 19 back in 2018. He shows amazing similarities between the Zodiac 340 Code with Period 19 applied and the Unabomber Code. We now know that Period 19 is the method Zodiac used to create the 340. And it seems to have many similarities and even matches to key aspects of the Unabomber Code in 1979.
Jelberg: Just an observation.
Notice any similarities?
340 Period 19 normal/mirror
enlarge
Matrix for Kaczynski’s "Code #1"
Same pattern but with some type of cycling Fibonacci pattern.
enlarge
Nash Equilibrium applied to poker and other games generates the same type of pattern…
*edit*
more to the pattern…
two on right = left (except @ the arrow?)
The 80 (with the strangely bold 8) that doesn’t follow the sequence,
directly splits the diagonal row into two length 15 halves.
It is also 15 squares in from the lower left corner.
Right but the one that was solved has some really bad mistakes in it, even missing half a sentence if I remember correctly. Plus plenty of spelling mistakes. I don’t think these were intentional to make the cipher harder either. One of the reasons the 340 hasn’t been solved could be because it’s full of major errors.
Ted from what I understand was always highly intelligent. Fair enough he would have been new at making codes, but I still don’t see him making bad mistakes like in the 408. To me clever codes would seem like something Ted would take great pride and care with. Could be wrong.
This is directly from the FBI report
Yeah okay fair enough
Ted just struck me as one of those genius types who wouldn’t like to look dumb.
AK Wilks:No, you see in fact Ted wanted to appear "dumb", or at least non-college educated and not a holder of a PHD. Ted had a PHD in math and was very well read in many subjects, history, anthropology, English Lit, etc., and was a good writer. He was very worried that if he wrote the Unabomber letters in his natural ability, the FBI would determine he was college educated and probably even had an advanced degree.
So he deliberately used more dumbed down langauge and made intentional spelling errors – as many think Zodiac did. Ted as the Unabomber even complained about a computer experts book that said "virtually anyone with a college education can quickly learn how to use a computer." Ted as the Unabomber quoted this passage and said "Oh yeah? What about the rest of us without college degrees?"
And Ted’s deception worked at first. The initial FBI profile of the Unabomber had him as a laid off blue collar airplane mechanic, with no college education.
And as Jelberg shows above with the quote from the FBI report, Ted made his codes harder to break by including intentional misspellings, just as Zodiac did. The following is only one example of many"
Z – misspells words, probably intentionally in most cases. Examples of last consonant in word changed to a vowel in the Z408.
TK – encodes "yesterday" as YESTERDAE.
ZODIAC CODE
UNABOMBER CODE
Zodiac 408 Code: DANGEROUE
Unabomber Code: YESTERDAE
AK Wilks: Both Zodiac and Kaczynski have a code in which in order to increase difficulty of solution they change the last consonant in a word (S,Y) to the vowel "E".
AK Wilks: As I stated, Jelberg shows amazing similarities between the Zodiac 340 Code with Period 19 applied and the Unabomber Code.
We now know that Period 19 is the method Zodiac used to create the 340 in 1969. And it seems to have many, many similarities and even matches to aspects of the Unabomber Code in 1979. Out of the thousands and thousands of different codes that can be used, it appears that Zodiac in 1969 and the Unabomber in 1979 were using the essentially same code system, but the one 10 years later has numerous improvements to add complexity and increase the difficulty of solution. I can think of three possible explanations.
1). It is a pure coincidence, and considering the number of different possible codes, the multiplicity of possible numbers, methods and directions, for the two codes to have so many similarities would be something on the order of 1 in 100,000.
2). Ted Kaczynski solved the Zodiac 340 Code in 1969 and then decided to use it as the basis for his own code work. For various reasons previously discussed, this is realistically a nonstarter.
3). Ted Kaczynski created the Zodiac 340 Code.
MODERATOR
How prominent was TK’s use of such a technique?
If it is one of many then logically the solutions to the remaining ciphers likely can be found by studying this aspect of TK a little further, if he is the Zodiac that is.
In light of the solved Zodiac 340 being revealed to involve Period 19 and diagonal sequences, bumping this to note that Jelberg in 2018 made very interesting work showing strong similarities between the Zodiac 340 Period 19 and the Unabomber Code Period 19.
Jelberg did excellent work showing quite startling similarities between the Zodiac 340 and the Unabomber code. We now know that the Zodiac used Period 19 to encode the Zodiac 340, and Jelberg convincingly shows that Kaczynski used Period 19th to encode parts of the Unabomber code.
CZ85: Is period 19 common for transposition?
AK Wilks: You would need to ask Dave Oranchak, Jarvle, Sam or someone more knowledgeable about code methods. From what I understand, Period 19 would be one of hundreds of possible code techniques and is not in and of itself particularly well-known or often used.
Just off the top of my head, I can name three features that are in both the Zodiac and Unabomber codes that are fairly unique. Meaning that they are somewhat rare techniques and methods that you don’t often see in other codes.
First, both codes are heavily mathematical throughout the code. Including the feature that numbers must be added together to get the next step in the multi-step decoding process.
Second, they are multi-directional. Zodiac 340 seems to involve the directions of horizontal forward, horizontal backward and diagonal. The Unabomber code involves of the directions of horizontal forward, vertical and diagonal.
Third, each code is complex and seems to show that the creator is skilled, yet each has numerous spelling errors and errors in encipherment. Analysis tends to show that many if not most of the spelling errors and other errors are intentional to increase difficulty.
Many of the errors to increase difficulty are identical. For example, in both the Zodiac and Unabomber codes, the creator takes away a consonant that ends a word and instead puts a vowel at the end of that word. Both the Zodiac and Unabomber exchange consonants at the ends of words for the vowel the letter "e".
MODERATOR
In light of the solved Zodiac 340 being revealed to involve Period 19 and diagonal sequences, bumping this to note that Jelberg in 2018 made very interesting work showing strong similarities between the Zodiac 340 Period 19 and the Unabomber Code Period 19.
Jelberg did excellent work showing quite startling similarities between the Zodiac 340 and the Unabomber code. We now know that the Zodiac used Period 19 to encode the Zodiac 340, and Jelberg convincingly shows that Kaczynski used Period 19th to encode parts of the Unabomber code.
CZ85: Is period 19 common for transposition?
AK Wilks: You would need to ask Dave Oranchak, Jarvle, Sam or someone more knowledgeable about code methods. From what I understand, Period 19 would be one of hundreds of possible code techniques and is not in and of itself particularly well-known or often used.
Just off the top of my head, I can name three features that are in both the Zodiac and Unabomber codes that are fairly unique. Meaning that they are somewhat rare techniques and methods that you don’t often see in other codes.
First, both codes are heavily mathematical throughout the code. Including the feature that numbers must be added together to get the next step in the multi-step decoding process.
Second, they are multi-directional. Zodiac 340 seems to involve the directions of horizontal forward, horizontal backward and diagonal. The Unabomber code involves of the directions of horizontal forward, vertical and diagonal.
Third, each code is complex and seems to show that the creator is skilled, yet each has numerous spelling errors and errors in encipherment. Analysis tends to show that many if not most of the spelling errors and other errors are intentional to increase difficulty.
Many of the errors to increase difficulty are identical. For example, in both the Zodiac and Unabomber codes, the creator takes away a consonant that ends a word and instead puts a vowel at the end of that word. Both the Zodiac and Unabomber exchange consonants at the ends of words for the vowel the letter "e".
Which numbers are added together to solve the 340?
Some more very interesting and compelling work by Jelberg. Remember in 1969, the publicly known "identity" of Ted Kaczynski was his job as "Dr Theodore J Kaczynski", a professor at UC Berkeley.
Jelberg: Same initials in same area in both Z408 and Z340:
AK Wilks: As Spock would say, "Fascinating". Pure coincidence? Possible, but highly doubtful.
Remember, aside from his love of math and numbers, his brother David said "Ted loved Scrabble, word games, and puns". As a teenager, Ted once created a sort of puzzle/code, by hiding in a musical composition he wrote "the letters of my name" and then give it to a recipient who must solve the puzzle / code and find "the letters of his name", whom he called his "victim".
One could read the cryptic clue on the left as "DR. TJK", as he was in fact. Dr. Theodore J. Kaczynski, Phd. And the item on the right could be read as "DR TJK".
Looking at the 340 in its entirety, you can read "Theodor" on the first line, there is a "J" in the exact middle of code and you can read "KAC ZYN SKI" on the last two lines, or "KAZINSKI" on the last line alone.
In the 340 cipher, as it was printed in newspapers, the letters to form ‘THEODOR J KACZYNSKI" appear in a somewhat systematic and logical way. Given all the letters in the 340, I am sure you can get hundreds of names. What I note here is the following – IF, and I acknowledge it is a big "IF", Zodiac wanted to hide his real name in the cipher, there is an inherent logic in putting his first name in the first line (or two), his middle name or initial in the middle of the middle line, and his last name at the end, at the bottom on the last line or last two lines.
Allowing for backwards letters and filled in "O" ‘s to still stand for the letter, you can get "THEODOR" on the first line; (the middle initial J in the middle of the middle line), KAZINSKI on the last line and allowing for one backwards "K" to stand for a "K", you can get "KAC ZYN SKI" on the last two lines, in a 18 letter section. The name KAC-ZYN-SKI has three syllables of three letters each.
What are the odds that in an 18 character section at the end of the code, all 9 letters of the Kaczynski name would appear by chance?
Just like he did with the musical composition, he "hid the letters of my name" in something larger, that the recipients, his "victims", would have to figure out by figure out by finding.
Jelberg: Furthermore, when we align the two ciphers from the center instead of the top we get an intersection of Ted’s initials
and when they are overlaid they form a +
In the solved version of the 408 the only instance of the letter X is in the word "experience"
This happens to fall right in the middle of Ted’s initials.
There is even a few hints to this in the Chronicle letter.
If you split the Chronicle letter into thirds like the ciphers were split and how the letter strongly hints at you get even another hint.
The second line of the second part has 5 characters before the backwards J or X just like the word "super"
The Chronicle letter contained the second cipher piece which had Ted’s initials, and it was the only one of the three envelopes to have an exclamation point on it.
It was also the only envelope that had the stamps pointing to the left, while both of the other envelopes had the stamps going the opposite direction.
And as AK has proved before, Ted has been signing his name next to an X since all the way back in high school
More use of X in Ted’s very own journals. He used X to mark where he hid or buried things.
Look what happens when we overlay all the ciphers… The backward J (X) is always there…
AK Wilks: Brand New Amazing Work, Done After The Solve of the Zodiac 340, by Jelberg: Thanks to the awesome work of doranchak, Jarlve, and Sam we now know there was a real message in the Z340 and that the period 19 transposition was causing the weird bi-gram spike.
For those that have no idea what period 19 means, it’s where you read the cipher at a spot and then skip 18 spaces (19 total) and read the spot you land on. In the case of the Z340 which is 17 spaces wide you end up doing a move like the knight chess piece (1 down + two over)
The Z340 is split into 3 sections just like the Z408.
Using the period 19 move on the second Z408 cipher piece lands on a familiar name ON THE FIRST MOVE!
mirror the J and rotate the K 90degrees
and you have DR TJK
The Chronicle letter was the only one marked with an exclamation point on the envelope and stamps facing the opposite direction of the other two letters. Also the exclamation point is the 19th character in "Please Rush to Editor!"
it was the only one of the three letters where zodiac said "in THIS cipher is my identity"
and it contained the 2nd Z408 cipher piece which contains DR TJK after the FIRST period 19 move!
As shown from the start of this thread this was hinted at a ton but in a way that is very obscure. If this was the level that hints were being suggested there are probably a lot more in the other ciphers and letters.
So maybe Zodiac didn’t lie when he said "in THIS cipher is my identity"
——————————
When the z340 and z408 are lined up from the middle and overlaid – the initials in both form a cross that happens to intersect with the word paradice in the untransposed z340 plain text…
And finally… the untransposed Z340 can be overlaid onto the Z408 and the J of DR TJK maps back to the X as shown in the previous posts.
MODERATOR
