davidlhyde63366
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A article on a another attempt to find Japanese treasure https://mb.com.ph/2020/07/05/pangas...ysterious-diggings-into-world-war-ii-tunnels/
Hi Tom, I am the 10-year younger brother of Alan Foringer, JD Foringer. I was stationed overseas, in Japan, on a Navy aircraft carrier which pulled into Subic Bay often. My arrival to the Far East, in November 1984, and specifically the Philippines (PI), predates Alan's first arrival in October 1985. My ship would pull into the PI often, as Subic Bay Naval Base was a major support base for aircraft carriers going on Indian Ocean Deployments, at the time. Alan would come to Subic to see me and I had gone to Manila a few times to see him. In October 1986, I took two weeks leave from my ship in Japan, got on a military hop aircraft to Clark Air Force Base, in Angeles City, and a but to Manila. It was an experience and scene straight out of the old Michael Douglas movie, "Romancing the Stone," with chickens, goats, and mountainous windy roads, and the movie was fresh in my mind then.Skippy, great "cut & pastes". Now ask yourself: Whenever someone is reporting a treasure that has supposedly been found (or still-waiting to be found), does the person doing the write-up (that you eventually cut & paste) ever consider it (or report it in such a way) as to be ILLegitimate ? Of course not. Everyone writing about treasure posts/writes it in the 100% affirmative first-person singular postive true accounting.
Thus when you write "legitimate reports", I had to chuckle thinking: Who would ever say write a treasure story and forewarn you "it's not legitimate" ? Who DOESN'T think their treasure stories are "legitimate" ?
I could dissect and propose counter explanations to all the stories. But then would perhaps get criticized for pee-ing on a parade. Suffice it to say: All those rumors/legends have more-plausible explanations.
Hint: Take such info with a grain of salt. You will ALWAYS hear of some supposed past treasures that someone found. And it will always sound seeooo compelling. The person telling you will have much enthusiasm, and tell it in the first person singular (he knows the person first-hand, etc....).
But I'll bet you dollars to donuts that when you go to track down his source .... then guess what ?? That person ALSO hasn't actually seen the treasure. But rest assured he got it on good authority from his Uncle Ralph. So you track down Ralph. And guess what ? HE TOO didn't *personally* see the treasure either. But rest assured he got it on good authority, because he heard it from his drinking buddy Joe at the campfire last February. So you track down Joe and guess what ?? Do you see the never-ending regression ?
And at NO POINT is it ever not told in the first person account positive bullet proof true. Thus I hate to say it, but I would lump all such treasure stories you hear in the same vein.
Hi Tom,
Well, sometimes a weakness of mine is to write at length and maybe lose the original intent, probably ADHD . Mostly was giving you some background about my brother, from a person who personally saw the Yamashita Treasure Hunting efforts, and determined 25 years after the experience that Alan worked for the CIA. After my initial discovery, disbelief and efforts to prove it wrong, in 2001, about 10 years later I convinced myself. Through that lens, looking at the dearth of information and documents I had collected since 2001, I am persuaded in the belief the CIA has successfully hid their efforts to recover Yamashita's Treasure, and likely many others. Since my brother was searching for other sunken treasures up to seven years before his initial departure to the Philippines, in October 1985, it was clearly his covert operative charge to fill the coffers of the CIA with funds which would allow them to operate black projects off books.Hey there JD Foringer, I have read your post. Thanx. But I'm having trouble trying to figure out what this has to do with the pro/con discussion of the supposed Yamashita treasure ?
Ok, thanx for the explanation. Here's my input on this : The fact of any governments, or agencies like the CIA "looking for treasure" does NOT, in my opinion, lend credibility to the existence or reality of a treasure. Ie.: It doesn't make the story true and credible.Well, sometimes a weakness of mine is to write at length and maybe lose the original intent, probably ADHD . Mostly was giving you some background about my brother, from a person who personally saw the Yamashita Treasure Hunting efforts, and determined 25 years after the experience that Alan worked for the CIA. After my initial discovery, disbelief and efforts to prove it wrong, in 2001, about 10 years later I convinced myself. Through that lens, looking at the dearth of information and documents I had collected since 2001, I am persuaded in the belief the CIA has successfully hid their efforts to recover Yamashita's Treasure, and likely many others. Since my brother was searching for other sunken treasures up to seven years before his initial departure to the Philippines, in October 1985, it was clearly his covert operative charge to fill the coffers of the CIA with funds which would allow them to operate black projects off books.
Yes sir, I understand your perspective. I remember reading that story, up in PA, as it struck me because I'm roughly from that area and my brother's tasking in South Florida and in the PI. The converse of your argument is the fact of the public not being aware of any successful treasure seeking efforts does NOT mean there haven't been successful finds which stayed out of the public purview, or benefitted from accounts of bumbling endeavors. When I was at a meeting at the then National Maritime Intelligence Center, in 2011 (now back to the old name Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI)), about the very subject of Yamashita's Gold, and specifically the then current efforts in the PI, with Muslim terrorist groups pursuing Yamashita's Treasure in rural and remote locations in Mindanao, it was very revealing the progress they were making and our Government's interest in disrupting their success. That's not classified, for one reason because if it were I would not reveal it, and it was revealed in a UPI story, and pretty close to the truth as we knew it.Ok, thanx for the explanation. Here's my input on this : The fact of any governments, or agencies like the CIA "looking for treasure" does NOT, in my opinion, lend credibility to the existence or reality of a treasure. Ie.: It doesn't make the story true and credible.
Because people in the military, government and "3 letter agencies" are just human like you and I. Prone to be swoon by treasure fever. And thus : Prone to mistakes in judgement. Prone to "waste money". For example, I own a company that does occasional bidding and working with government agencies and I see it first hand all the time : Waste of money. I mean, shucks, you've seen the humorous stories of $300 toilet seats and $800 coffee pots, right ? So trust me : The govt. is capable of doing stupid stuff.
And as for their ability to engage in silly ghost story hunts (fall for "legends") here's a thread that will show you that, yes, they can fall for legends, engage in hunts, and spend a lot of $$ on something that was entirely fiction. Yet .... without scrutiny, .... we become spellbound with "treasure fever" . Yes, even G-men :
The FBI Files: Dents Run Civil War Gold
This thread is dedicated to critically examining the evidence surrounding the FBI's dig on March 12-14, 2018, for alleged lost/stolen gold at Dents Run, PA, as well as a suit filed on 1/4/2022 by Plaintiff, Dennis Parada in Finders Keepers LLC USA Vs. The Department of Justice to compel and...metaldetectingforum.com
.....The converse of your argument is the fact of the public not being aware of any successful treasure seeking efforts does NOT mean there haven't been successful finds which stayed out of the public purview,.....
It seems that Tom has made it his mission in life to poo- poo all treasure legends as tall tales , but a lot of people do believe that there is treasure still out there waiting to be found or found but kept quiet. A book you might find of interest is https://www.academia.edu/59080189/G...y_of_Yamashitas_Gold_Bowstring_2010_Seagraves also the CIA has been active in the Philippines for a long time (The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has been active in the Philippines almost since the agency’s creation in the 1940s. The CIA’s main headquarters for Southeast Asia is located in Manila, the capital of the Philippines. The CIA was founded in 1947 and first played a major role in the Philippines three years later. Towards the end of the 1980s, the CIA unleashed an increasingly large amount of covert operations against leftist organizations in the Philippines)Yes sir, I understand your perspective. I remember reading that story, up in PA, as it struck me because I'm roughly from that area and my brother's tasking in South Florida and in the PI. The converse of your argument is the fact of the public not being aware of any successful treasure seeking efforts does NOT mean there haven't been successful finds which stayed out of the public purview, or benefitted from accounts of bumbling endeavors. When I was at a meeting at the then National Maritime Intelligence Center, in 2011 (now back to the old name Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI)), about the very subject of Yamashita's Gold, and specifically the then current efforts in the PI, with Muslim terrorist groups pursuing Yamashita's Treasure in rural and remote locations in Mindanao, it was very revealing the progress they were making and our Government's interest in disrupting their success. That's not classified, for one reason because if it were I would not reveal it, and it was revealed in a UPI story, and pretty close to the truth as we knew it.
By the way, I was in touch with Sterling and Peggy Seagraves, in the 2,000s. prior to the release of their book. Sterling and I had quite a few email exchanges during that time, and he cited me in the text related to my brother, his sickness, and death. Since their death, I have been in touch with their daughter, and she was helpful, but also not lashed in with her parents endeavors so limited in information.It seems that Tom has made it his mission in life to poo- poo all treasure legends as tall tales , but a lot of people do believe that there is treasure still out there waiting to be found or found but kept quiet. A book you might find of interest is https://www.academia.edu/59080189/G...y_of_Yamashitas_Gold_Bowstring_2010_Seagraves also the CIA has been active in the Philippines for a long time (The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has been active in the Philippines almost since the agency’s creation in the 1940s. The CIA’s main headquarters for Southeast Asia is located in Manila, the capital of the Philippines. The CIA was founded in 1947 and first played a major role in the Philippines three years later. Towards the end of the 1980s, the CIA unleashed an increasingly large amount of covert operations against leftist organizations in the Philippines)