The community seems to be controlled by one forum admin that says the Death Machine is in another city.
More bull shit.
If I am proven right he gets called out. Not helping the case. Making crap up that fits his suspect and attempting to maintain relevance. It only adds more confusion. I see a lot of that (like DMW’s wrong house pointing), and glad I don’t have a suspect, just a physical landmark by LHR that matches the ciphertext. Much better. I can stand on that for however long. The cow’s privacy will be fine, as will the privacy of the empty field with the big landmark.
And my name is David Stampher. I’m the guy that proposed IN THREE AND THREE EIGHTHS RADIANS TEN in December 2025, and shared the Python code to prove it. I found the triangle by LHR, and it is a pleasure to meet you. Glad to be the one to let the world know about that thing, which has been sitting there for decades and no one saw it.
I utilized all of the Zodiac’s clues, and used the Haversine formula in my projections. That landed at the triangle. It was cool. And still is. Despite popular belief.
I am sure grifters are in talks with Netflix planning their big triangle reveal, but I will get my Youtube stuff out ASAP.
Don’t like the situation.
And the experts taking 4 months to review is weird. It is actually pretty simple. Big landmark on the ground that matches the ciphertext. Coincidence? Hmmmm……
The code and method are not super complex and don’t take that long to look over. If they couldn’t find anything critically wrong it would have been nice to hear that. I am sure they tried. But since they weren’t able to, that is probably important.
The white paper isn’t even necessary, it is just added on top. All that really matters is the Python code. That is what solves the cipher. The original codebase was 77 lines. Could have been reviewed in no time. Still stuck in limbo.
The problem is people are still hung up on unicity distance probably, even though that is directly addressed in the paper. Not a problem here.
Zodiac said radians and # inches along the radians, it is pretty straightforward. He gave a map, drew a crosshair on Mt. Diablo, and arranged clock hour numbers around it.
“He could have encrypted a taunting message instead”. There is a big landmark by LHR, though. Hopefully that isn’t why my paper is taking so long to review on SSRN. The almost 2 months lets me know they are having a fun time debating it, at least. I hope whoever is arguing in my favor wins so that it can be properly evaluated by a wider audience.
One of the other forum users at the other place offered to take me to the triangle (they live in that area), and offered a place to stay. This random person was very kind to me, but it isn’t my job to check the triangle out. This stranger on internet forums was actually a very great person, I found. And knows this case like the back of their hand. They thought it was worth looking at, an early supporter. Would have liked to have kept chatting with them more about it, but the unexpected, pointless ban disrupted that.
I will be staying far away from it, while observing it from a long distance via Google Maps. And just waiting. Zodiac made the triangle there is little doubt. We will know either way eventually I think.
Just letting it sit there until the end of time, I don’t think is what will happen, but it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been wrong. It is too easy to check is the reason is the reason it probably will be. I mean, it is a big landmark that matches the ciphertext, right by LHR. I am sure they won’t think the cows did that, ect. Whatever other possible explanation other than Zodiac. I tried to think of others. Natural origin, watering hole. Those are the only ones I’ve heard. They are both less likely than Zodiac.
One of the CS professors that got back to me said it would require heavy equipment. He realized it was made by a human, at least. We agree about that. After I mentioned it could be made with a shovel if it isn’t deep, I didn’t hear back. I don’t know what that means, maybe he agreed or he didn’t. It is plausible.
The important thing with him is that he didn’t say the code, data, or method were bad. And I do know he looked.
The feeling of release when this is finally resolved either way will be tremendous. I am writing a lot, but I might write a book if it turns out to be correct. Why not. The story has written itself practically, but continues to evolve. Everything has been wild and unexpected, it is great.
It won’t be full of stupid theories, but facts. And will be written for educational, not cash grab purposes. Always a good start.
I have a lot to say about all of this, and I know this isn’t the place. But the options are limited. I’m not done with Z32.
The Hacker News audience would have slam dunk obliterated it. Didn’t happen. That felt great. It is exactly why I put it there. 8 upvotes, 0 comments is great on that site given what was shared, but their algorithm is brutal if you don’t make the front page. Didn’t make the front page. No comments was the problem. Got buried by other stuff. That is how it goes for pretty much everyone on there. Still, it was seen, engaged with, and not debunked or discredited by those that would have enjoyed doing so the most.
Can’t repost links on there. Maybe if I had posted at a different day/time, could have got the conversation rolling on HN. Then I probably wouldn’t be here. Just the way it went. I keep going.
Youtube is still the path. That is going the extra mile on this one. I can do it. I do have a Youtube video with 7 million views, I’m not a dummy with the thumbnails. I know how that game works.
It just wasn’t the plan at first. Just sharing the code/plaintext was the plan. Everything else is extra. I know how hard it is to make good content, especially with the knowledge that some people are going to say, “wrong because cows”. The bar is high.
You basically make a great video for regular people that know a little about the Zodiac case, but don’t use the Zodiac forums. That is a lot of people. Most know about it casually (they saw the movie) and are interested in true crime, they are not knee deep in Arthur Leigh Allen, ect.
That is the audience. The broader, the better. Going niche focusing on Zodiac superfans will result in 0 views. Figuring out the right packaging and messaging is a big part of that. Then you just need a good story to tell. Pretty sure I have one. Still, content creation is insanely hard and if they click away fast your video is cooked. I know this.
It sounds like a fun/challenging creative effort though and I think this can finally get this looked at if I do it right. Don’t need a long one, just a good one with the optimal title, thumbnail, good visual hook intro, and a bit of luck.
