If true I wonder why it was not sent to the FBI?

No idea, AK – but I suppose this wasn’t a matter of routine for the VPD (who didn’t deal with ciphers and such on a regular basis). So, they had to make a call on who to send the thing to – and the first thing which sprang to mind was the crypto boys in the navy.

If true I wonder why it was not sent to the FBI?

No idea, AK – but I suppose this wasn’t a matter of routine for the VPD (who didn’t deal with ciphers and such on a regular basis). So, they had to make a call on who to send the thing to – and the first thing which sprang to mind was the crypto boys in the navy.

That makes sense. Below is the excerpt from the FBI files in regards to the 340 and Fairfield ciphers. When I first posted this I was more interested in possible anagram use in the 340, but since then glurk, doranchak and up2something convinced me that wide anagrams create thousands of possibilities and thus it is near impossible to determine any one "correct" solution using wide anagrams. I still have some interest in very tight anagrams like LASTB for BLAST (which happens in the Raw Graysmith proposed solution). But anyway you can see some of the FBI effort here.

I think the reality of Don and Bettye Harden solving the 408 is a better story than Don being a former NSA agent. Plus it is real, and as such, an inspiration to all amateur code breakers.

OLD POST:

These are from the FBI Zodiac file, the FBI Crypto Unit attempt to decode the Zodiac 340 Code and the Zodiac 12/7/69 Fairfield Code.

You can see that they DID think some anagram use was possible if not probable and did try various anagram approaches.

I got this in 2009/2010 from the FBI website – now it appears it is gone! If anyone can find it let me know. IIRC there was not much more analysis than this, but there was a little bit more. I think doranchak might have it or it may be in the new material uncovered by Morf. But it was really not all that impressive. I don’t think they made as much effort on this as we might have thought. I think the FBI now has done more.

I wonder if this Don Harden in the NSA story could be an urban legend of sorts…remember the one about Fred Rogers?

http://navyseals.com/nsw/mister-rogers-military-sniper/

According to the files, no attempt was made to SOLVE the 408 by any agency.

But there’s this:

The Lake Berryessa report has an October 1, 1969 entry stating the cipher was broken independently by at least two different sources:

Any trained cryptologist worth her salt would have been able to crack the 408. It’s just a more appealing narrative to say the Hardens did something the authorities could not have done.

For whatever that’s worth.

thanks doranchak. i was going to post that as well. it does appear the fbi had cracked the 408.

Ha! Well, that’s interesting – though not exactly surprising.

My only reservation is that the way it’s worded is potentially ambiguous, i.e. it could be interpreted as meaning the 408 was solved "independently" by the FBI when they undertook to verify the Harden solution – and not before.

Not that it matters one way or the other. It seems perfectly obvious that the 408 would have been solved easily enough regardless of the Hardens.

According to the files, no attempt was made to SOLVE the 408 by any agency.

But there’s this:

The Lake Berryessa report has an October 1, 1969 entry stating the cipher was broken independently by at least two different sources:

Any trained cryptologist worth her salt would have been able to crack the 408. It’s just a more appealing narrative to say the Hardens did something the authorities could not have done.

For whatever that’s worth.

Yes thanks Doranchak. That makes more sense. Maybe local police and the navy made a very cursory attempt to solve it. But as you say the 408 was one the FBI should have been able to break, and they did. I think it is still a great story that the Hardens broke it, and inspiring to amateurs.

So it seems both the Hardens and the FBI solved the code independently of each other, with the FBI then checking the Harden solution and confirming that it was the same or essentially the same as their own. And neither could solve the last 18.

What we have of the FBI attempt on the 340 is interesting, but shows that they maybe did not spend as much time on it as we might have thought. I think they did later.

We are getting off the topic of the Harden rumor, but I think this is an interesting discussion so I started a new thread on the FBI attempt to solve the 340 here: viewtopic.php?f=81&t=2059

A source, who I will not name, is investigating the possibility Don’s Wife, Bettye, may have had something to do with the Z letters.They have been looking into this for over a year. This source is also the proud owner of the copy of Graysmith’s book, inscribed & autographed by Bettye. That’s all I can or will say about it. I personally don’t think that Don or his Wife Bettye were involved in the Zodiac letters or crimes, but this is certainly an interesting thread.

A source, who I will not name, is investigating the possibility Don’s Wife, Bettye, may have had something to do with the Z letters.They have been looking into this for over a year. This source is also the proud owner of the copy of Graysmith’s book, inscribed & autographed by Bettye. That’s all I can or will say about it. I personally don’t think that Don or his Wife Bettye were involved in the Zodiac letters or crimes, but this is certainly an interesting thread.

Is there anything they gained, besides some 15 minutes of fame, from being the ones that cracked the cipher? As in, what motive would she have had to be the writer of the letters unless they were involved in the actual crimes?

A source, who I will not name, is investigating the possibility Don’s Wife, Bettye, may have had something to do with the Z letters.They have been looking into this for over a year. This source is also the proud owner of the copy of Graysmith’s book, inscribed & autographed by Bettye. That’s all I can or will say about it. I personally don’t think that Don or his Wife Bettye were involved in the Zodiac letters or crimes, but this is certainly an interesting thread.

Yes that is also an interesting topic Morf. We have an old thread on it here: viewtopic.php?f=25&t=805

I don’t think Bettye or Don had anything to do with the Z letters either.

I think Don and Bettye Harden tried to solve the cipher because it was presented in the newspaper that the police need help. I think they did it as a public service and for the intellectual challenge. They did not gain anything by it other than some publicity. I think they were proud of what they did, as they should be. Though as Doranchak points out, a memo indicates that the FBI also solved the 408 independently, and the cipher was the type that the FBI should have solved. They also checked the Harden solution as correct, so it must have been the same or essentially the same solution.

A source, who I will not name, is investigating the possibility Don’s Wife, Bettye, may have had something to do with the Z letters.They have been looking into this for over a year. This source is also the proud owner of the copy of Graysmith’s book, inscribed & autographed by Bettye. That’s all I can or will say about it. I personally don’t think that Don or his Wife Bettye were involved in the Zodiac letters or crimes, but this is certainly an interesting thread.

Yes that is also an interesting topic Morf. We have an old thread on it here: viewtopic.php?f=25&t=805

I don’t think Bettye or Don had anything to do with the Z letters either.

I think Don and Bettye Harden tried to solve the cipher because it was presented in the newspaper that the police need help. I think they did it as a public service and for the intellectual challenge. They did not gain anything by it other than some publicity. I think they were proud of what they did, as they should be.

I don’t know what they would have gained from it. Maybe just wanted to take a shot and got lucky, who knows?

Agree about the intellectual challenge, AK. Who doesn’t enjoy trying to solve a mysterious puzzle or cipher? Look at how many people have attempted to solve Zodiac’s unsolved stuff over the years.

Agree about the intellectual challenge, AK. Who doesn’t enjoy trying to solve a mysterious puzzle or cipher? Look at how many people have attempted to solve Zodiac’s unsolved stuff over the years.

I think that is it Drew. And aside from the intellectual challenge, they had the added incentive of living in the area being threatened by an active killer! But I think it is mainly that fascination with an unsolved mystery and uncracked code that attracted them, and as you point out, still attracts all of us 40+ years later.

This thread got a little off the topic of the Harden rumor when we started talking about the FBI attempts to solve the 340 so I started a separate thread on that interesting topic here: viewtopic.php?f=81&t=2059

A source, who I will not name, is investigating the possibility Don’s Wife, Bettye, may have had something to do with the Z letters.They have been looking into this for over a year. This source is also the proud owner of the copy of Graysmith’s book, inscribed & autographed by Bettye. That’s all I can or will say about it. I personally don’t think that Don or his Wife Bettye were involved in the Zodiac letters or crimes, but this is certainly an interesting thread.

This is the library book, right?

Has it been confirmed that the inscription was written by B. Harden? Or is this another book?

On another note, this post from Seagull, made a while back, sheds some light on the 408 issue (where it was actually sent):

The cipher was sent to the Skaggs Island Naval base right outside of Vallejo. "Skaggs Island was a Top Secret radio surveillance and cryptologic communications installation". Most likely because the base was handy. Doubtful that they had their top cipher solvers stationed there. It wasn’t like the cipher was sent to Washington.

A site with some cool pictures of Skaggs Island after it was abandoned and before it was razed.

http://lostamerica.com/photo-items/mili … gs-island/

Thread:

viewtopic.php?f=25&t=805&start=40