@shaqmeister Yes, besides the targeting scope interpretation, the Zodiac watch correspondence is worth mentioning as well.  The symbol can be interpreted in a variety of ways.

Regarding the celestial Zodiac mention, in my paper I do mention that the LHR attack was on the eve of the Winter Solstice, and BRS was on the Earth’s aphelion, the day where it is furthest from the sun in it’s orbit.  Lake Berryessa has a 4 days offset from the Autumnal Equinox.

The operational triangle region has a spatial resemblance to the constellation Orion, known as the Hunter.  Specifically the stars for the head and feet, with the inner equilateral being placed similarly to Orion’s belt, which is a perfect line with 3 stars, where each line segment is approximately the same length.

I did not include the Orion resemblance with his geometry in my paper because it is too speculative, I am just sharing the potentially incorrect observation since you mentioned the celestial Zodiac.

The side lengths of Zodiacs inner equilateral geometry region based on his crime scenes and Mt. Diablo are all 3.3 miles.  The proposed solution lands within this triangle, where there is a triangle landmark on the ground.  This was discovered after decryption.

If you bury something and give someone a map, you would need a landmark on the ground to know where to look when they check the decoded coordinates, due to manual plotting imprecision.

Posted by: @coder1987

↑

@shaqmeister Close but still missing an important detail.  We did not only have the cipher and the map.  We also had the post script hint regarding “The Mount Diablo Code”.

Yes, what I intended by just the cipher and map included the postscript. What I was excluding is the modern day preoccupation with the erroneous belief that bearings and distances on the map can ever be meaningfully translated into the same on the ground in order to pin point anything whatsoever. Try a semi transparent overlay for yourself. Even the Bay itself fails to line up, let alone the towns and highways.

The problem was put to us in 1970. We need to go back to 1970 to solve it. Just the cipher and postscript, just the Phillips 66.

@shaqmeister “We need to go back to 1970 to solve it. “

When my code uses the 1970’s magnetic declination of the Mt. Diablo region, this is akin to going mathematically back in time to 1970 in my plotting.  This also goes back to his map hint regarding magnetic north.

Had I not used the correct 1970’s magnetic declination, the decoded coordinates would be incorrectly plotted, and would not land by the triangle.  

In 1970 you couldn’t convert a Phillips 66 into GPS mapping to pin point a cow’s watering hole in the middle of a field. You could though, as you say, flip a protractor round 17 degrees, granted. 

Posted by: @shaqmeister

↑

In 1970 you couldn’t convert a Phillips 66 into GPS mapping to pin point a cow’s watering hole in the middle of a field. You could though, as you say, flip a protractor round 17 degrees, granted. 

You don’t have to.  You can use a ruler.  Because there is a 100 foot equilateral triangle on the ground, it makes it pretty easy to know, if you check the general area.  The triangle is large and obvious to anyone checking the area out, it has a high contrast with the surrounding environment.

If you are writing a computer program, precisely converting the manual plotting instructions into GPS coordinates is the right move.  It is also what Oliv92 did.  You must use the Haversine formula, which accounts for the curvature of the earth.  A simple distance calculation will not suffice, as that assumes a flat plane, resulting in accumulating error.  Precision matters, and it requires the proper formula.

Also, out of curiosity, are you implying this 100 foot equilateral triangle was constructed for the purpose of watering the cows?  What purpose does the shape, size, and orientation serve for a cow’s watering hole?  While cows drink from it, that does not mean it was the intended purpose of it’s construction.

Perhaps we need to try some control examples. Pick a number of features on the map that are marked. Use the correct scale and measure their bearing and distance from Mount Diablo, factoring in the appropriate magnetic north correction. Use these values, along with your haversine algorithm or whatever. Then take the results to a modern mapping application and we can evaluate through blind testing whether we’re now able to pull out the original features.

Sorry, as for the nature of the morphing crop circle, I have no interest in whatever that might be. From what I recollect, you haven’t even been able to place it there before sometime in the 1980s.

@shaqmeister Yeah if you can prove any of the proper falsifications mentioned previously, that would be a notable accomplishment and the first to do so.  You are certainly not the only person that has read the paper or checked the code, and I am still awaiting someone to let me know they found a critical error.  One Computer Science professor that reviewed it told me to let him know if I end up digging there.  That part isn’t my job, and I don’t have the  authority to do so.

If it were on public land, I would pay out of pocket for a quick GPR scan. It isn’t expensive, since the search area is known and relatively small.  If there is a hit, just give a call to the authorities and let them know to come check it out.  A couple hundred bucks isn’t much money to pay, to potentially find evidence in this case.  It is a small effort, for a potentially massive reward.  The cost-benefit analysis checks out.

It isn’t on public land, so that is beyond the scope of my capabilities.

Your code, @coder1987, models your assumptions and I am more than confident it does so admirably.

@shaqmeister Thanks, it also models all of the Zodiacs hints as well.  Not one of them was overlooked.

I appreciate your engagement, and expect healthy skepticism.  I know the reputation of this cipher, some claim it is impossible to solve.  I can tell by talking to you about it, that you at least believe that it is solvable.   I think that puts us in the minority.

Yeah, thanks for the ride @coder1987. It’s been fun (was gonna say “a blast”). I should probably turn off my notifications now and leave you alone.

@shaqmeister Haha, good one.

Always happy to chat if you come back around.  After reviewing these forums, I see that you were quite involved in this cipher, and so I realize you are someone that has been analyzing it for a long time, and deeply.  Not a casual Z32 commentor.