1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio, 2 00:00:06,160 --> 00:00:10,200 Speaker 1: Hey brain Stuff Lauren vogelbam here. The story of the 3 00:00:10,280 --> 00:00:14,520 Speaker 1: Bell's Ciphers is a particularly peculiar mystery, and many people 4 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:17,480 Speaker 1: who have researched it have concluded that it's probably just 5 00:00:17,600 --> 00:00:22,079 Speaker 1: an elaborate nineteenth century hoax. After all, who would bring 6 00:00:22,160 --> 00:00:24,840 Speaker 1: back a fortune in gold, silver and jewels from New 7 00:00:24,880 --> 00:00:27,840 Speaker 1: Mexico and bury it somewhere in the rolling hills and 8 00:00:27,880 --> 00:00:30,840 Speaker 1: ridges of central Virginia? And why would the person who 9 00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:34,680 Speaker 1: hid that treasure one Thomas J. Beale write down instructions 10 00:00:34,720 --> 00:00:37,080 Speaker 1: on how to find it in code on three sheets 11 00:00:37,080 --> 00:00:39,960 Speaker 1: of paper in trust a box containing those papers to 12 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:45,360 Speaker 1: an innkeeper, and then never return for it. Implausible as 13 00:00:45,400 --> 00:00:48,519 Speaker 1: all that might seem, the mystery of the Belle Ciphers 14 00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:51,880 Speaker 1: has fascinated, even obsessed numerous people over the past a 15 00:00:51,960 --> 00:00:55,080 Speaker 1: hundred thirty six years, that being the length of time 16 00:00:55,160 --> 00:00:58,960 Speaker 1: since the story initially was published, and a ponderously titled 17 00:00:58,960 --> 00:01:03,800 Speaker 1: fifty pamphlet called the Beal Papers, containing authentic statements regarding 18 00:01:03,800 --> 00:01:07,040 Speaker 1: the treasure buried in eighteen nineteen and eighteen twenty one 19 00:01:07,319 --> 00:01:10,800 Speaker 1: near Buford's in Bedford County, Virginia, and which has never 20 00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:15,000 Speaker 1: been discovered. One reason that the mystery still attracts treasure 21 00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:18,319 Speaker 1: hunters is that if the buried fortune exists by now, 22 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:21,760 Speaker 1: it's grown to approximately ninety three million dollars in value, 23 00:01:22,040 --> 00:01:27,200 Speaker 1: as journalist Buzz McClain calculated in article in Northern Virginia Magazine. 24 00:01:28,200 --> 00:01:31,759 Speaker 1: But even if it doesn't exist, the Beall ciphers, two 25 00:01:31,760 --> 00:01:35,479 Speaker 1: of which remain unsolved, have continued to fascinate both amateur 26 00:01:35,560 --> 00:01:39,280 Speaker 1: and professional cryptographers, to the point that the National Security 27 00:01:39,319 --> 00:01:43,360 Speaker 1: Agency actually has compiled a file of articles and reports 28 00:01:43,360 --> 00:01:48,520 Speaker 1: on the mystery. From nineteen seventy to nineteen ninety six, 29 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:52,760 Speaker 1: there was even an organization, the Beal Cipher Association, composed 30 00:01:52,760 --> 00:01:55,600 Speaker 1: of people who paid a twenty five dollar annual fee 31 00:01:55,600 --> 00:01:59,160 Speaker 1: for the privilege of receiving a quarterly newspaper and attending 32 00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:04,360 Speaker 1: periodical seminars and symposiums on the mystery. Members agreed that 33 00:02:04,400 --> 00:02:07,200 Speaker 1: if they ever actually found the treasure, they donate ten 34 00:02:07,240 --> 00:02:11,560 Speaker 1: percent of the proceeds to the association for the article. 35 00:02:11,639 --> 00:02:13,959 Speaker 1: This episode is based on how Stuff Works. Spoke with 36 00:02:14,080 --> 00:02:17,600 Speaker 1: Jenny Kyle. She's the author of the book Introduction to 37 00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:21,400 Speaker 1: Codes and Cipher's Plus twenty famous unsolved codes, ciphers, and 38 00:02:21,520 --> 00:02:26,000 Speaker 1: mysterious writings. She said, although some have slammed the door 39 00:02:26,040 --> 00:02:28,400 Speaker 1: and called it a hoax or merely a fun tale, 40 00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:33,160 Speaker 1: because the story has some inconsistencies and questionable actions, the 41 00:02:33,200 --> 00:02:37,240 Speaker 1: door seems never able to be tightly shuted. Those unanswered 42 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:40,600 Speaker 1: details seem to always keep the door slightly ajar, no 43 00:02:40,639 --> 00:02:44,040 Speaker 1: matter how hard some slam it. It's amazing how the 44 00:02:44,120 --> 00:02:49,080 Speaker 1: story can't be conclusively determined to be all false or true. 45 00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:53,160 Speaker 1: Here's the story is laid out in the eight pamphlet, 46 00:02:53,600 --> 00:02:56,880 Speaker 1: which was written by an anonymous author and published by 47 00:02:56,880 --> 00:03:02,560 Speaker 1: a local newspaperman named J. B. Ward. So Supposedly, in 48 00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:06,440 Speaker 1: eighteen twenty, a Virginian named Robert Morris, who operated a 49 00:03:06,480 --> 00:03:10,480 Speaker 1: hotel in Lynchburg, Virginia, became acquainted with a long term 50 00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:14,760 Speaker 1: guest named Thomas J. Beale, whom he described the anonymous 51 00:03:14,840 --> 00:03:17,600 Speaker 1: author as being about six feet or just under two 52 00:03:17,680 --> 00:03:20,400 Speaker 1: meters in height, with jet black eyes and hair of 53 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:23,079 Speaker 1: the same color worn longer than what was the style 54 00:03:23,120 --> 00:03:28,360 Speaker 1: at that time. Bale registered simply as being from Virginia. 55 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:31,360 Speaker 1: Where exactly in the state he didn't say, and he 56 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:34,400 Speaker 1: never said anything about his family or much of anything 57 00:03:34,440 --> 00:03:38,200 Speaker 1: about himself at all. Beale left the hotel in the 58 00:03:38,240 --> 00:03:40,800 Speaker 1: spring of eighteen twenty one with a group of friends 59 00:03:41,080 --> 00:03:44,520 Speaker 1: and returned the following January, this time only staying for 60 00:03:44,560 --> 00:03:47,800 Speaker 1: a couple of months. Before departing, he gave Morris a 61 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:52,440 Speaker 1: box for safe keeping, saying it contained important and valuable papers, 62 00:03:53,360 --> 00:03:57,000 Speaker 1: which was an understatement in the letter that he left behind. 63 00:03:57,400 --> 00:04:00,240 Speaker 1: Beale explained that he and his companions had been stored 64 00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:02,760 Speaker 1: west to New Mexico in the late eighteen teens on 65 00:04:02,800 --> 00:04:07,240 Speaker 1: a hunting expedition, and while there somehow had discovered a 66 00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:11,560 Speaker 1: gold mine. The men abandoned their recreation and worked the mine, 67 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:16,000 Speaker 1: extracting of fortune in gold and silver. The group wasn't 68 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:19,240 Speaker 1: exactly sure what to do with their newfound riches, but 69 00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:23,200 Speaker 1: eventually they entrusted the horde to Beale, who traveled back 70 00:04:23,240 --> 00:04:25,839 Speaker 1: east and buried it in a cave near Tavern in 71 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:29,279 Speaker 1: Bedford County, which, according to the letter quote, all of 72 00:04:29,360 --> 00:04:33,400 Speaker 1: us had visited and which was considered a perfectly safe depository. 73 00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:37,880 Speaker 1: Bale and his friends later returned and then moved the 74 00:04:37,880 --> 00:04:41,559 Speaker 1: treasure to a different location. The group also instructed Beale 75 00:04:41,640 --> 00:04:45,279 Speaker 1: to give some perfectly reliable person instructions on how to 76 00:04:45,320 --> 00:04:47,880 Speaker 1: find the treasure, so that in the event they died 77 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:51,040 Speaker 1: during their adventures, their families could be given the fortune. 78 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:56,080 Speaker 1: Bale later sent Morrise a letter from St. Louis instructing 79 00:04:56,160 --> 00:04:59,719 Speaker 1: him that if Beale didn't return after ten years, Morris 80 00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:04,159 Speaker 1: had permission to open the box. Beal, perhaps obviously, never 81 00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:07,320 Speaker 1: came back, and Morris never heard anything else about him, 82 00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:13,359 Speaker 1: living or dead. For reasons unexplained, Morris didn't break the 83 00:05:13,400 --> 00:05:16,320 Speaker 1: lock and open the box until twenty three years later, 84 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:20,080 Speaker 1: in eighteen forty five. But it didn't contain a map 85 00:05:20,320 --> 00:05:23,839 Speaker 1: or simple instructions on how to find the fortune. Instead, 86 00:05:23,960 --> 00:05:28,080 Speaker 1: it contained sheets of paper covered with a seemingly incomprehensible 87 00:05:28,200 --> 00:05:33,000 Speaker 1: slew of numbers. The pamphlet's mysterious author figured out that 88 00:05:33,320 --> 00:05:35,839 Speaker 1: one of the three sheets was in a code based 89 00:05:35,880 --> 00:05:39,840 Speaker 1: on the Declaration of Independence and deciphered it. It was 90 00:05:39,880 --> 00:05:43,120 Speaker 1: a message describing the fortune, which consisted of about twenty 91 00:05:43,200 --> 00:05:46,599 Speaker 1: nine hundred pounds or hundred kilos of gold, of fifty 92 00:05:46,640 --> 00:05:49,919 Speaker 1: one pounds or twenty three hundred kilos of silver, and 93 00:05:50,200 --> 00:05:53,280 Speaker 1: a quantity of jewels that had been obtained in exchange 94 00:05:53,400 --> 00:05:57,160 Speaker 1: for silver. The treasure was packed in iron pots with 95 00:05:57,240 --> 00:06:00,560 Speaker 1: lids and buried in a stone lined vault, but the 96 00:06:00,640 --> 00:06:03,760 Speaker 1: exact location was on one of the other pages, in 97 00:06:03,760 --> 00:06:07,159 Speaker 1: a coded message that the anonymous author, conveniently for the 98 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:11,279 Speaker 1: mystery wasn't able to solve. Ditto for the third page, 99 00:06:11,400 --> 00:06:13,680 Speaker 1: which listed the members of the group and gave their 100 00:06:13,680 --> 00:06:18,320 Speaker 1: relatives names and addresses. How staff Works also spoke with 101 00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:21,640 Speaker 1: Alonka donn In, a video game developer, writer, and cryptographer, 102 00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:26,040 Speaker 1: and her colleague German computer scientist and cryptographer Klaus Schmay, 103 00:06:26,440 --> 00:06:29,520 Speaker 1: who are co authors of the book Code Breaking a 104 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:34,200 Speaker 1: Practical Guide. They've studied the Bell Cipher's mystery in detail, 105 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:38,120 Speaker 1: even traveling to Bedford County to scrutinize the area around 106 00:06:38,120 --> 00:06:41,960 Speaker 1: the former site of Buford's tavern where Beals supposedly buried 107 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:46,599 Speaker 1: the riches. Aside from the basic implausibility of the story, 108 00:06:46,760 --> 00:06:50,040 Speaker 1: as Dunnan explains, there are plenty of clues that indicate 109 00:06:50,080 --> 00:06:53,240 Speaker 1: that the Beal Treasure is a hoax. The pamphlet is 110 00:06:53,279 --> 00:06:55,839 Speaker 1: the only source of the story, and the details in 111 00:06:55,880 --> 00:06:59,719 Speaker 1: it are sketchy. In addition, the originals of the letters 112 00:06:59,760 --> 00:07:03,080 Speaker 1: to Mores from Beal were conveniently lost, so no one 113 00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:06,880 Speaker 1: except the anonymous author got a chance to examine them, 114 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:09,720 Speaker 1: and language experts who have examined the texts of the 115 00:07:09,800 --> 00:07:12,800 Speaker 1: letters and compared them to the pamphlet have concluded that 116 00:07:12,920 --> 00:07:18,000 Speaker 1: all were written by the same person. Additionally, as Shmay notes, 117 00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:21,280 Speaker 1: there are a few slightly different versions of the Declaration 118 00:07:21,320 --> 00:07:24,800 Speaker 1: of Independence, and it seems that Beale used a rare 119 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:27,920 Speaker 1: or unique version for the first page of his ciphers. 120 00:07:28,480 --> 00:07:31,920 Speaker 1: The anonymous person who sixty years later solved the cipher 121 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:34,840 Speaker 1: would have had to have happened to have exactly the 122 00:07:34,880 --> 00:07:40,200 Speaker 1: same rare version. But the Bell ciphers still fascinate people 123 00:07:40,240 --> 00:07:44,160 Speaker 1: interested in cryptography, and the story still prompts amateur treasure 124 00:07:44,200 --> 00:07:47,200 Speaker 1: hunters to head to Virginia in hopes striking it. Rich 125 00:07:48,240 --> 00:07:51,360 Speaker 1: then and said, even after it's been pretty well debunked, 126 00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:54,520 Speaker 1: there's something in the human psyche, the finding a hidden 127 00:07:54,520 --> 00:07:56,840 Speaker 1: treasure of something no one else has been able to do, 128 00:07:57,280 --> 00:08:05,240 Speaker 1: that keeps people searching for it. Today's episode is based 129 00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:08,080 Speaker 1: on the article does the Beal Cipher's Code of Numbers 130 00:08:08,240 --> 00:08:11,440 Speaker 1: detail hidden Treasure? On how stuffworks dot com, written by 131 00:08:11,440 --> 00:08:13,920 Speaker 1: Patrick J. Tiger. Brain Stuff is a production of I 132 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:16,280 Speaker 1: heart Radio in partnership with how stuff Works dot com, 133 00:08:16,360 --> 00:08:19,160 Speaker 1: and it is produced by Tyler Clang. For more podcasts 134 00:08:19,240 --> 00:08:22,200 Speaker 1: my heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 135 00:08:22,280 --> 00:08:24,040 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.