Forest Fenn

[ohmygato]

One question (among many) that really stands out to me: Since this treasure was allegedly hidden off his property for anyone to find and the treasure was supposedly all present in the box (not a case of you find the box and inside is contact information for you to go and claim the prize), why would ANYONE in their right mind disclose they found it, save for perhaps a few ego centric people who seek the limelight or think they can profit from it (appearances, a movie, a book etc).

It's documented the guy who found it didn't want publicity, so why ever come forward in the first place?

At a minimum if he felt like letting the depositor know he found the treasure so the search could be called off, he could just anonymously contact him.

I've wondered about this myself about this and other finds. I just went back and saw that the Saddle Ridge Hoard and the Great Kentucky Hoard were discovered by anonymous finders. I don't really understand why anyone would disclose their identity in a situation like this.

Couldn't someone just quietly sell off a coin at a time when in need in cash transactions? Does the collection and provenance of the hoard add to the value?

 

[ucnegold?]

The stick in the box makes no sense. Why wouldn't you just take it out before taking the photo? Because they thought it would look more authentic if they put some random stick in there to prove he found it out in the wild.

It has been reported that the alleged finder claimed the stick was of no significance and surmised it could have just blown into the box. It's also reported that alleged finder claimed to have simply discarded the stick at the site.

I am of the opinion that the stick was purposely used as a placeholder by whomever photographed the chest in the alleged hiding spot. A "fingerprint" of sorts that would be solid evidence linking the image of the chest and the alleged hiding spot. Those behind any hoax would anticipate followers would still be out there looking for any such evidence to end the chase and authenticate the hiding place by any means possible.

Subsequent video and photographic evidence suggest the actual stick appearing in the image was later allegedly retrieved by one of these followers trying to solve the mystery surrounding the treasure location and suggests this evidence confirms the actual location where the treasure was found.

If the available video and photos of the stick are indeed real (they appear real), then it only serves to prove the location in which the chest was photographed, and the stick discarded. This evidence alone does not prove how long the chest was buried at the location or who actually photographed the chest with the stick inside or who discarded the stick at the location.

 

[FreeBirdTim]

It has been reported that the alleged finder claimed the stick was of no significance and surmised it could have just blown into the box.

Yup, that happens to me all the time. Getting ready to take a photo of a great find and a stick falls on it. I don't bother moving the stick and just take the pic. What a crock. It was planted as a lame attempt to "prove" it was found in the wild.

 

[ucnegold?]

It was planted as a lame attempt to "prove" it was found in the wild.

In my opinion, not only to prove "in the wild" but at that exact spot in the wild, where it can be linked to the specific location, linked to the image of the treasure and linked to the alleged finder who reportedly has posted about leaving the stick at the site.

There are other photographic clues in the images of the chest in situ which do seem to correlate the location of its photographing as well. But again, these images alone are not proof of how long the chest was buried there, or who removed it or who photographed it. I'll add the photographs in situ alone, don't disprove the story.

 

[GoDeep]

I've wondered about this myself about this and other finds. I just went back and saw that the Saddle Ridge Hoard and the Great Kentucky Hoard were discovered by anonymous finders. I don't really understand why anyone would disclose their identity in a situation like this.

Exactly, this wasn't like winning the lottery where some states require you to identify yourself in order to claim the prize (and even then, some let you remain anonymous). He didn't need to "claim" the prize, he had already found it as it was placed in public for anyone to find. If he felt obligated to notify Fenn, he could have either anonymously or met him privately.

This treasure was out there for an alleged 10+years, and on his death bed, suddenly the treasure is found? I just don't buy it. Many say the poem's clues wouldn't lead you to this (or anything), its a made up tale leading to everywhere and anywhere depending on your imagination and interpretation.

 

[GoDeep]

Does anyone know of any shots that aren't close ups, ones that show the treasure in the larger area around it (as in making it readily identifiable as to the region it was found in)? Seems like circumstantial evidence if there are not.

 

[GoDeep]

I was directed to this picture of when it was "found". Look at how the whole chest was buried level with the ground and has clearly been cleared of any ground cover that would have accumulated on it in 10 years (pine needles, leaves, dirt etc).

My opinion, there is NO WAY you could have ever found this unless you were directed/instructed EXACTLY where it was buried. Even if the poem did lead to a general area, this is very remote forest, you would have never found this.

Edit: I mean you could have metal detected it, but I don't recall ever reading he was using a metal detector which is prohibited in Yellowstone NP anyway.

 

[ohmygato]

I was directed to this picture of when it was "found". Look at how the whole chest was buried level with the ground and has clearly been cleared of any ground cover that would have accumulated on it in 10 years (pine needles, leaves, dirt etc).

My opinion, there is NO WAY you could have ever found this unless you were directed/instructed EXACTLY where it was buried. Even if the poem did lead to a general area, this is very remote forest, you would have never found this.

Edit: I mean you could have metal detected it, but I don't recall ever reading he was using a metal detector which is prohibited in Yellowstone NP anyway.

I have some questions about this. Sorry if some of this is redundant. I haven't kept up much with the story since the treasure was found.

I thought I read somewhere that Fenn said it was not buried. Like it would be at ground level or something, but not underground. Am I misremembering this? But regarding your question, couldn't the lack of ground cover just be due to the finder clearing the debris? I don't see how this is a problem.

"... this is very remote forest..."
I thought Nine Mile Hole on the Madison River, where the treasure was supposedly found, is right off highway 191. Even if it's 10 miles off the highway, I've been to more remote places just farting around in my local mountains. In other words, I thought the location was surprisingly not remote at all but actually very easy to access. Heck I'm pretty sure I drove by here when I was a kid on a family road trip many years ago.

"My opinion, there is NO WAY you could have ever found this unless you were directed/instructed EXACTLY where it was buried."
Assuming it was found at the Nine Mile Hole location, I strongly disagree with you on this. I believe the poem gave all the necessary information very clearly to find it with the exception of the final ~500 yard radius (unless one could actually find the "blaze"). I have not studied it to know how ambiguous it could have been, but the Nine Mile Hole solution makes a lot of sense. And I thought Jack supposedly searched for 25 days at Nine Mile Hole. So if he did in fact find it there, obviously he spent a lot of time looking for it in the correct general area.

Don't get me wrong. I think there are other questionable parts of the story. But the actual location, if it was in fact Nine Mile Hole, makes enough sense to me to not question it at all.

And as for the questionable parts of the story, I'm still optimistic that it was for the most part real.

https://www.fennchest.com/location

https://thefinder.medium.com/a-statement-on-the-disclosure-of-my-identity-602d95f04b9f

 

[&@258456]

Just wondering why my post here vanished?
Truth is an odd thing, or put it another way not wanting to believe the truth makes some groupings attractive.

 

[ucnegold?]

I thought I read somewhere that Fenn said it was not buried. Like it would be at ground level or something, but not underground. Am I misremembering this? But regarding your question, couldn't the lack of ground cover just be due to the finder clearing the debris? I don't see how this is a problem.

I would tend to side w/ GoDeep on this one as from the image he has posted, the chest appears to have been buried beneath the forest floor and whatever organic material that was concealing it, appears to have been sufficient to fully conceal the chest from view. The concealment makes the find virtually, impossible by visual means alone.

Assuming a metal detector was not used in accordance w/ park rules, the only way the chest could possibly have been found without explicit instruction from Fenn or deployment of gold sniffing dogs, would literally involve random disturbance of the forest floor. This is improbable and especially so for many months of the year when the site would be snow covered.

How does one pick and choose a spot in the middle of the forest to begin digging? I believe the finder said the alleged tree blaze was not visible. Was this the one and only location of the chest? Was the blaze at a prior location? Did Fenn call off the chase and choose this person to be the finder? Was the chest relocated? Was the finder then directed to that specific location?

If you are correct and the chest was not buried, he could have stumbled upon it or even stumbled over it. But that is not what the image portrays. The images of the find (which are allegedly from an e-mail sent from the finder to Fenn, are then not representative of the actual moment of the find. In other words, the pictures would have been staged. Did the finder happen upon the chest resting above ground and then decide to bury it himself?

I find it odd that Fenn and the finder would feel it necessary to reveal the location to the Park Ranger after the treasure was allegedly recovered. But make no mistake, the stick posed in the picture with the treasure appears to have been purposely left at the site for discovery and authentication by whomever later learned of its location. All of this has the appearance of an elaborate scheme of some sort.

 

[EldoradoEnt]

We are going to obviously have a couple different opinions, but I will just leave this here.

A location in the Northwest Corner of Colorado called "The Blaze" to locals that knew about the existence of a Jesse James trove of some kind. Even John Jarvie had named one of his mines after it, calling it "The Hidden Treasure".

Anyways, this is one of the mysteries of the Forrest Fenn adventure, as is the discovery of his real name, being that of Lt. Col. Michael Aquino, a CIA and DoD wet work agent from a number of operations.

Take notice on page 25 of The Thrill of the Chase.

In the books on the shelf, obviously disorganized, he spells out "IM ZODIAC". He is scratching something into the arm of the child that is obviously showing signs of being a bit scared, as he spells NI.......with the rest left to your imagination.

Lower in the drawing in the leg section of the boy is the name JIM SIMPSON.

The lineup of comparisons is created as a part of the expose project I spearheaded after entrapping him in his affairs in this game he was spinning.

www.facebook.com/ZodiacCiphersSolved
www.facebook.com/TheMonsterOfFlorence
www.facebook.com/CrackedKryptos
www.facebook.com/SeitoSakakibaraCiphers
www.facebook.com/AmerithraxLettersDecoded

You will find that I am mentioned specifically in his book as a "warning" to me and others that I worked with.

I was not amused.

I am one of the best cryptographers in the world, and doxxed the living F out of him and his cabal of cohorts, and he quickly packed up his game and crawled into his own grave.

Lt. Col. Michael Aquino was quickly declared dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, and later within about 3 months, Forrest Fenn, his Pen Name, also was declared deceased of "natural causes", with Peggy (AKA Lilith) also being declared dead some months afterwards.

If you believe he is dead, then you are as foolish as the people that were led to their death throughout his tenure as a CIA Assassin and leader of a Satanic Cult, seen even on Geraldo and Oprah.

My webpages document the dozens of ciphers that list him as an associate of the CIA's Bush Cabal, and also as a notorious criminal on the run from his crimes in a number of countries. I also address the fact that he is named as both Forrest Fenn and Lt. Col. Michael Aquino, so take either for what you will, the evidence is stacked on the table for everyone to see.

Anyone that debuts his new Satanic Cult as a branch of the US Military while being dressed up as the re-incarnation of Eddie Munster, simply shouldn't be trusted around your children.

Glad to be able to explain this to an open minded audience.

My interview in Popular Mechanics as the Cryptographer that broke the Beale Ciphers, was also complimented with another segment on the Thrill of the Chase, in a write up about a Psychologist that profiled the people chasing a fabled trove that he claimed he placed in the Rockies, and showed exactly what he was trying to achieve, with 6 people being led to their death mysteriously. So damaging was the reveal of evidence that the New Mexico Police Officer appeared on the news asking Fenn to "Pull It", being a term related to Demolitions of a Building, and/or the ending of the Chase.

And here we are today, still wondering.

 

[TheFrood]

I'm sorry, but your posts are really confusing. Are you saying that Forrest Fenn was the Zodiac killer?