In 1969, some 40 years ago, Don and Bettye Harden solved the first Zodiac code. Since that time, the three other codes Zodiac sent to the SF Chronicle have remained unsolved. In the Harden solution to the first Zodiac code is the famous message that 'hunting man is thrilling' and that 'man is the most dangerous animal'. But at the end of the Harden solution there are 18 letters, a string of letters with no apparent meaning:
E..B..E..O..R..I..E..T..E..M..E..T..H..H..P..I..T..I
It seems clear that there is at least one more "step" needed to solve strange 18 and the other codes. But what is it? And did Zodiac give us a clue as to what it might be?
If the next step involves a number, I thought it would be a number with meaning to the killer. The first probable Zodiac killing was of Cheri Jo Bates, in Riverside, California, on Devil's Night, 10/30/1966. One other killing had similar numbers the murder of Cecilia Shepherd and wounding of Bryan Hartnell on 9/27/1969 at Lake Berryessa. In fact, Zodiac wrote a message on the victims' car door, the last part of which read:
"Sept 27 1969 6:30."
Why write the time? Looking at the common numbers, with the Bates murder date we have 30 (1)966 and with the door message we have (1)969 630. So we have possible numbers of 30 9 66 and 9 69 6 3 0. So we have common numbers of 0-3-6-9. And in Norse mythology, something we know Zodiac (and my main suspect) had knowledge of, the numbers 3, 6, 9 and 27 (which is 3 x 9 and also 2 + 7 = 9) have special meaning.
Using a clue on the cipher sent by Zodiac, the Phillips 66 Map Code, there is the Zodiac symbol and the numbers 0, 3, 6 and 9.
Once again, we have the numbers 0-3-6-9. In the context of the map, one would expect to see N, E, S and W, or perhaps 0, 90, 180, 270. Could the numbers 0-3-6-9 be a clue, a clue on how to break the unsolved 18 and all the Zodiac codes?
There is a famous code system that used shifts of 3 letters. It is called a Caesar Code, as it was first used by the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar.
For example, the message ATTACK would be encoded as DWWDFN. The person getting the message DWWDFN would then go backwards (or forwards) in the alphabet three spaces for each letter. Caesar used a shift value of three, but any shift value can be used. From Wiki:
In cryptography, a Caesar cipher, also known as a Caesar's cipher, the shift cipher, Caesar's code or Caesar shift, is one of the simplest and most widely known encryption techniques. It is a type of substitution cipher in which each letter in the plaintext is replaced by a letter some fixed number of positions down the alphabet. For example, with a shift of 3, A would be replaced by D, B would become E, and so on. The method is named after Julius Caesar, who used it to communicate with his generals.
For a quick 10 minute lesson on the Caesar Code, go to
http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Caesar_code
A variation of a Caesar Code was also used by the Confederate Army at wiki you can see a Confederate decoding wheel, showing "C" lined up with "F", for example, as "F" is three letters after "C". Kaczynski signed his Unabomber letters with "FC".
Since a classic Caesar Code is fairly easy to break, more complex versions were formed, some keyed to a book passage (Vigenere Cipher) or a sequence of numbers (Gronsfeld Cipher).
Zodiac time and time again gives us the numbers 0, 3, 6 and 9 - if these are clues to the decrypt sequence, then they reveal the name and message Zodiac encrypted. And that name revealed in the unsolved 18 is THEODORE J KACZYNSKI.
Using the 0-3-6-9 clue and the Caesar Code method, I reached a solution to the Map Code, and Kite reached a solution to the unsolved 18 from the first Zodiac Code.
when the number sequence of:
0 3 3 6 9 6 3 3 6 6 9 9 6 6 9 9 6 0
is applied, the name appears and I think you can see it better in RED - and note the geographic patterns here:
C...N...Q...R...V...R...X...Q...Y...N...A...C...C...N...N...K...N...R
Z...K...N...O...S...O...U...N...V...K...X....Z...Z...K...K...H...K...O
W..H...K.. L...P....L...R...K...S....H...U...W..W..H...H...E...H...L
T...E...H...I...M...I....O...H....P....E...R...T...T...E...E...B....E...I
Q...B...E...F...J...F....L...E....M....B...O...Q...Q..B...B...Y....B...F
N...Y...B...C...G..C....I....B...J....Y....L...N...N...Y...Y...V....Y...C
K...V...Y...Z...D...Z...F...Y...G....V....I....K...K...V...V...S...V...Z
0 . 3 - 3 . 6 . 9 . 6 - - 3 . 3 . 6 . .6 . .9 . 9 . 6 . .6 - 9 . 9 - 6 . 0
The above solution code to produce the name
THEODORE J KACZYNSKI is:
0 3 - 3 6 9 6 - 3 3 6 6 9 9 6 6 - 9 9 - 6 0
Compare the number sequence above with the numbers Zodiac wrote on the car door at Lake Berryessa on 9/27/69:
Sept 27 - 69 - 6:30
September is the 9th month, and 2 + 7 = 9
So we might have, reducing the message to NUMBERS and expressing it in terms of MATHEMATICS:
9 9 - 6 9 6 3 - 0
Reverse it and we have:
0 - 3 6 9 6 - 9 9
And in the code solution to get the TJK name we see this exact same sequence of 3-6-9-6, and then doubled as 33-66-99-66. The entire code sequence is:
0 3 3 6 9 6 - 3 3 6 6 9 9 6 6 - 9 9 - 6 0
There are a huge number of four digit combinations that can be made from 0,3,6 and 9. (Can anyone figure out how many?) Can we really say it is likely just a coincidence that the same sequence on the car door - 3696 - when used and then doubled produces the Kaczynski name?
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Most of what follows is based on excellent discoveries made by Kite. I try here to amplify, expound, illustrate and build on them.
It is well known and obvious that dozens to hundreds of real 14 to 18 letter names can be created from an unsolved 18 Caesar chart. So why should we be interested in the TJK name anymore than the Zs production of the Penn name, or any of the other dozens of real names that could be produced?
If Zodiac did use this method, as I contend is probable, it is not just like hiding the needle of his name in a haystack. It is like hiding the needle of his name in a haystack with hundreds of other needles. (And in the Map Code, thousands). By doing so he realistically avoids any serious chance of legal jeopardy. But I speculate that Zodiac did want to be able to prove he was Zodiac if he was ever caught and/or his ego couldn't resist putting his name in there some how. So he put in some patterns and math formulas that only seem to tie in with his name, to the exclusion of all or almost all the other names that can be produced.
This is the shift value number sequence that produces the TJK name:
0 - 3 3 - 6 9 6 - 3 3 - 6 6 9 9 6 6 - 9 9 - 6 - 0
THAT IS NOT RANDOM!
First, there is the tie-in to the murder date and time car door message that I show above. If this solution is not valid, then it is just a coincidence that when you apply the car door sequence to the unsolved 18 you get the name of a major Z suspect, TJK. I doubt that is a coincidence!
Second, look at the mathematical pattern. Keep in mind Zodiac - whoever he was - had a mind for codes and numbers, and Kaczynski was a math professor and a genius with numbers. I have mentioned this briefly but never really explored how extraordinary it is. Let us look at the numbers and the name:
T H E O D O R E -J K A C Z Y N S K I
0 3 3 6 9 6 3 3 - 6 6 9 9 6 6 9 9 6 0
If you add all the shift values that make up "Theodore" they add up to 33.
0+3+3+6+9+6+3+3 = 33
After the opening "0", we see that "33" appears at the start of the name "Theodore", and appears again in the end of that name.
If you add up all the shift values that make up "J Kaczynski" they add up to 66.
6+6+9+9+6+6+9+9+6+0 = 66
"66" appears at the start of the name "J Kaczynski", and appears again in the middle of the name.
Add the values of both names together (i.e., add up all the values used in the 18 character name) and you have 33 + 66 = 99.
"99" appears in the middle and towards the end of the name, before the actual "60" ending.
Is all this yet another coincidence? Maybe. But I highly doubt it. It seems a way to validate this name as being different from all the other names that can be produced.
A zkf poster named Zsearcher did produce the name "Gareth Sewell Penn ZK". I don't think the eccentric researcher Penn is a serious suspect, and the "ZK" doesn't really make sense, but OK, let us look at it.
Kite and I have tried to get a similar math or other pattern out of the Penn name, and many other names, and we can't. The numbers in each part of the three part name add up to numbers that do not appear in the name:
Z K G A R E T H S E W E L L P E N N
9 9 -9 9 9 0 0 0 9 0 -3 3 3 3 3 0 9 9
ZK = 18 GARETH = 27 SEWELL = 21 PENN = 21 TOTAL = 87
The numbers "18, 27, 21, 87" do not appear in the name. So it appears that name is purely random.
Perhaps there is another name or two that by chance might have some math formulas in it. Maybe it is "Vern Eli Blandstone". But then you would have to ask if that person is as good a suspect as TJK. Is he a known code expert, bomb maker and letter writing killer who lived in the SF Bay area at the right time? In other words, the proposed code solutions are one strong element to consider of the total evidentiary package.
Also, in the Map Code "Theodore J" has shift value numbers of 51, and "Kaczynski" also adds up to 51. See http://unazod.com/Wilks_32.htm . I noted that a Unabomber alias "Enoch W Fischer" decodes as "Theo Kaczynski" using the Caesar Code 0-3-6-9 method. And as Kite also discovered, in the Unabomber alias "Enoch W Fischer", using not shift value but the number value of letters (i.e., "E" = 5, as it is the fifth letter), "Enoch W" adds up to 68, and "Fischer" adds up to 68. See http://unazod.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=25 .
In other words, it seems Theodore Kaczynski used internal math formulas to distinguish his name and his name only that he hid in both Zodiac codes and Unabomber alias codes.
E..B..E..O..R..I..E..T..E..M..E..T..H..H..P..I..T..I
It seems clear that there is at least one more "step" needed to solve strange 18 and the other codes. But what is it? And did Zodiac give us a clue as to what it might be?
If the next step involves a number, I thought it would be a number with meaning to the killer. The first probable Zodiac killing was of Cheri Jo Bates, in Riverside, California, on Devil's Night, 10/30/1966. One other killing had similar numbers the murder of Cecilia Shepherd and wounding of Bryan Hartnell on 9/27/1969 at Lake Berryessa. In fact, Zodiac wrote a message on the victims' car door, the last part of which read:
"Sept 27 1969 6:30."
Why write the time? Looking at the common numbers, with the Bates murder date we have 30 (1)966 and with the door message we have (1)969 630. So we have possible numbers of 30 9 66 and 9 69 6 3 0. So we have common numbers of 0-3-6-9. And in Norse mythology, something we know Zodiac (and my main suspect) had knowledge of, the numbers 3, 6, 9 and 27 (which is 3 x 9 and also 2 + 7 = 9) have special meaning.
Using a clue on the cipher sent by Zodiac, the Phillips 66 Map Code, there is the Zodiac symbol and the numbers 0, 3, 6 and 9.
Once again, we have the numbers 0-3-6-9. In the context of the map, one would expect to see N, E, S and W, or perhaps 0, 90, 180, 270. Could the numbers 0-3-6-9 be a clue, a clue on how to break the unsolved 18 and all the Zodiac codes?
There is a famous code system that used shifts of 3 letters. It is called a Caesar Code, as it was first used by the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar.
For example, the message ATTACK would be encoded as DWWDFN. The person getting the message DWWDFN would then go backwards (or forwards) in the alphabet three spaces for each letter. Caesar used a shift value of three, but any shift value can be used. From Wiki:
In cryptography, a Caesar cipher, also known as a Caesar's cipher, the shift cipher, Caesar's code or Caesar shift, is one of the simplest and most widely known encryption techniques. It is a type of substitution cipher in which each letter in the plaintext is replaced by a letter some fixed number of positions down the alphabet. For example, with a shift of 3, A would be replaced by D, B would become E, and so on. The method is named after Julius Caesar, who used it to communicate with his generals.
For a quick 10 minute lesson on the Caesar Code, go to
http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Caesar_code
A variation of a Caesar Code was also used by the Confederate Army at wiki you can see a Confederate decoding wheel, showing "C" lined up with "F", for example, as "F" is three letters after "C". Kaczynski signed his Unabomber letters with "FC".
Since a classic Caesar Code is fairly easy to break, more complex versions were formed, some keyed to a book passage (Vigenere Cipher) or a sequence of numbers (Gronsfeld Cipher).
Zodiac time and time again gives us the numbers 0, 3, 6 and 9 - if these are clues to the decrypt sequence, then they reveal the name and message Zodiac encrypted. And that name revealed in the unsolved 18 is THEODORE J KACZYNSKI.
Using the 0-3-6-9 clue and the Caesar Code method, I reached a solution to the Map Code, and Kite reached a solution to the unsolved 18 from the first Zodiac Code.
when the number sequence of:
0 3 3 6 9 6 3 3 6 6 9 9 6 6 9 9 6 0
is applied, the name appears and I think you can see it better in RED - and note the geographic patterns here:
C...N...Q...R...V...R...X...Q...Y...N...A...C...C...N...N...K...N...R
Z...K...N...O...S...O...U...N...V...K...X....Z...Z...K...K...H...K...O
W..H...K.. L...P....L...R...K...S....H...U...W..W..H...H...E...H...L
T...E...H...I...M...I....O...H....P....E...R...T...T...E...E...B....E...I
Q...B...E...F...J...F....L...E....M....B...O...Q...Q..B...B...Y....B...F
N...Y...B...C...G..C....I....B...J....Y....L...N...N...Y...Y...V....Y...C
K...V...Y...Z...D...Z...F...Y...G....V....I....K...K...V...V...S...V...Z
0 . 3 - 3 . 6 . 9 . 6 - - 3 . 3 . 6 . .6 . .9 . 9 . 6 . .6 - 9 . 9 - 6 . 0
The above solution code to produce the name
THEODORE J KACZYNSKI is:
0 3 - 3 6 9 6 - 3 3 6 6 9 9 6 6 - 9 9 - 6 0
Compare the number sequence above with the numbers Zodiac wrote on the car door at Lake Berryessa on 9/27/69:
Sept 27 - 69 - 6:30
September is the 9th month, and 2 + 7 = 9
So we might have, reducing the message to NUMBERS and expressing it in terms of MATHEMATICS:
9 9 - 6 9 6 3 - 0
Reverse it and we have:
0 - 3 6 9 6 - 9 9
And in the code solution to get the TJK name we see this exact same sequence of 3-6-9-6, and then doubled as 33-66-99-66. The entire code sequence is:
0 3 3 6 9 6 - 3 3 6 6 9 9 6 6 - 9 9 - 6 0
There are a huge number of four digit combinations that can be made from 0,3,6 and 9. (Can anyone figure out how many?) Can we really say it is likely just a coincidence that the same sequence on the car door - 3696 - when used and then doubled produces the Kaczynski name?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Most of what follows is based on excellent discoveries made by Kite. I try here to amplify, expound, illustrate and build on them.
It is well known and obvious that dozens to hundreds of real 14 to 18 letter names can be created from an unsolved 18 Caesar chart. So why should we be interested in the TJK name anymore than the Zs production of the Penn name, or any of the other dozens of real names that could be produced?
If Zodiac did use this method, as I contend is probable, it is not just like hiding the needle of his name in a haystack. It is like hiding the needle of his name in a haystack with hundreds of other needles. (And in the Map Code, thousands). By doing so he realistically avoids any serious chance of legal jeopardy. But I speculate that Zodiac did want to be able to prove he was Zodiac if he was ever caught and/or his ego couldn't resist putting his name in there some how. So he put in some patterns and math formulas that only seem to tie in with his name, to the exclusion of all or almost all the other names that can be produced.
This is the shift value number sequence that produces the TJK name:
0 - 3 3 - 6 9 6 - 3 3 - 6 6 9 9 6 6 - 9 9 - 6 - 0
THAT IS NOT RANDOM!
First, there is the tie-in to the murder date and time car door message that I show above. If this solution is not valid, then it is just a coincidence that when you apply the car door sequence to the unsolved 18 you get the name of a major Z suspect, TJK. I doubt that is a coincidence!
Second, look at the mathematical pattern. Keep in mind Zodiac - whoever he was - had a mind for codes and numbers, and Kaczynski was a math professor and a genius with numbers. I have mentioned this briefly but never really explored how extraordinary it is. Let us look at the numbers and the name:
T H E O D O R E -J K A C Z Y N S K I
0 3 3 6 9 6 3 3 - 6 6 9 9 6 6 9 9 6 0
If you add all the shift values that make up "Theodore" they add up to 33.
0+3+3+6+9+6+3+3 = 33
After the opening "0", we see that "33" appears at the start of the name "Theodore", and appears again in the end of that name.
If you add up all the shift values that make up "J Kaczynski" they add up to 66.
6+6+9+9+6+6+9+9+6+0 = 66
"66" appears at the start of the name "J Kaczynski", and appears again in the middle of the name.
Add the values of both names together (i.e., add up all the values used in the 18 character name) and you have 33 + 66 = 99.
"99" appears in the middle and towards the end of the name, before the actual "60" ending.
Is all this yet another coincidence? Maybe. But I highly doubt it. It seems a way to validate this name as being different from all the other names that can be produced.
A zkf poster named Zsearcher did produce the name "Gareth Sewell Penn ZK". I don't think the eccentric researcher Penn is a serious suspect, and the "ZK" doesn't really make sense, but OK, let us look at it.
Kite and I have tried to get a similar math or other pattern out of the Penn name, and many other names, and we can't. The numbers in each part of the three part name add up to numbers that do not appear in the name:
Z K G A R E T H S E W E L L P E N N
9 9 -9 9 9 0 0 0 9 0 -3 3 3 3 3 0 9 9
ZK = 18 GARETH = 27 SEWELL = 21 PENN = 21 TOTAL = 87
The numbers "18, 27, 21, 87" do not appear in the name. So it appears that name is purely random.
Perhaps there is another name or two that by chance might have some math formulas in it. Maybe it is "Vern Eli Blandstone". But then you would have to ask if that person is as good a suspect as TJK. Is he a known code expert, bomb maker and letter writing killer who lived in the SF Bay area at the right time? In other words, the proposed code solutions are one strong element to consider of the total evidentiary package.
Also, in the Map Code "Theodore J" has shift value numbers of 51, and "Kaczynski" also adds up to 51. See http://unazod.com/Wilks_32.htm . I noted that a Unabomber alias "Enoch W Fischer" decodes as "Theo Kaczynski" using the Caesar Code 0-3-6-9 method. And as Kite also discovered, in the Unabomber alias "Enoch W Fischer", using not shift value but the number value of letters (i.e., "E" = 5, as it is the fifth letter), "Enoch W" adds up to 68, and "Fischer" adds up to 68. See http://unazod.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=25 .
In other words, it seems Theodore Kaczynski used internal math formulas to distinguish his name and his name only that he hid in both Zodiac codes and Unabomber alias codes.