Mysterious Letter = Government Conspiracy?
9 2012-05-02 by drawesome27
This is going to sound ridiculous, but about two months ago (Edit: on February 29th, 2012 at approximately 2:30 AM), a friend of mine was sleeping when his unplugged (Edit: unplugged from the socket, printer model HP Photosmart D110 Series) printer suddenly turned on and printed out three sheets of paper. He woke up to find that it was three sheets of identical content, which were a series of grouped mathematical symbols. The next day, he showed them to me and we managed to crack an alphabetic code. This is our work: http://imgur.com/8Uo9I
For those who can't read it, it says:
"To whoever is able to decode this letter, my name is Julius Ames. I am in charge of the platoon, the Hawk, under the order of the leaders of JMGP to locate and infiltrate the group of twenty SS rank criminals that are responsible for triggering the terrorist acts globally. I fear that the enemies have noticed the Hawk and are currently pursuing us. I will ensure to send this code to random people at unmethodical intervals with unsystematic method across the US. You are not the only person who has received this code, however, I know that you might be the only one who was able to decode this letter itself and its content. In the event that you receive this letter, it is very likely that the Hawk has been captured and killed by the enemies. With haste, you must inform the JMGP of the following code. Though the snake dreams of soaring through the sky it is forever doomed to crawl on its belly, but you will have a chance to fly in the talons of a hawk. I believe that you will be able to locate JMGP and be the harbinger of worldwide security. I pray for your safety."
When I first saw the three sheets of paper, I thought, "This is bullshit, he is just trolling me." But I googled "Julius Ames", "JMGP" and other key points in the decoded letter, and came out with virtually nothing. Nobody comes up with something like this over night, I thought. The first few weeks after we decoded it, I frivolously researched what I could find about the letter, but got nowhere fast.
I figured that there had to be a code within this code, but also came short with information. So I turn to you, experts in the Internet community, to be my Robert Langdon.
Some things I want to point out and stress:
Julius R. Ames is the author of "Liberty", a book on American slavery. Edit: He has also written several other books on Liberty and American Slavery and is part of the Anti-American Slavery Association. I have downloaded all the free downloadable E-book copies I can find on the internet (the very original is supposedly fairly rare).
"Twenty" and "one" are the only numbers mentioned. Edit: they are also not in number form but in word form.
There were three identical sheets of paper.
The missing letters that did not have a symbol for decoding are Q, X, and Z.
It is clearly addressing one individual. Why send three?
"...the only one who was able to decode this letter itself and its content" suggests that perhaps the content of the letter can be further decoded, but I have yet to find a way to decode it. Further evidence of why I think this is the case is the strange choice of wording, such as using word form instead of number form for 'twenty' and 'one', change in tenses, using words such as "unmethodical", "unsystematic", and "harbringer", etc.
Edit (6/6/12): For about a month, I was convinced that this is some sort of practical joke. But it just won't leave me alone. I continue to press my friend to tell me if this is a joke, but it's been about 5 months since the discovery now and he doesn't seem to be the kind to leave a joke going on for that long. I currently have two of the original three sheets (one in it's original state, the other marked as in the linked image, and the third one was ripped apart by my frustrated friend).
My friend has also claimed to have been 'visited' by supernatural spirits and has had many encounters with them over his life. Whether or not I believe him, I don't think he could come up with something so sophisticated as this (even if the cryptography is a simple) if it were simply a 'practical joke'.
Edit (6/19/12): Here's the original code: http://imgur.com/K3jC7 without any mark-ups.
30 comments
8 frostek 2012-05-02
Astounding level of bollocks.
Criteria for saying this - I have a whole shelf of books on cryptography, having been interested in code-breaking for some years. Also, as a computer geek since the seventies, the printer working without power is just pie in the sky. (They're annoying enough to get to work sometimes when they do have power!)
You friend is playing a joke on you. Probably best to turn the tables and tell him you've been contacted back and get your revenge.
2 sunshine-x 2012-05-02
agreed.
devise a plan that will result in him admitting his involvement.
1 drawesome27 2012-05-02
Interesting. Any suggestions?
2 sunshine-x 2012-05-02
hmm.. maybe something along the lines of having someone he's never met pretend to be part of the organization you're looking for. Take him with you to meet him. Have him offer you guys both drinks. Get very sick shortly after the drink (syrup of ipecac?). Convince "friend" that you're both sick, maybe poisoned, maybe dying!? Then go for the "Why did I ever even read this damn letter!!! OUR PRINTER IS CURSED!".
If at first he played along, by now he's gotta be shitting bricks. I'd expect an confession.
1 [deleted] 2012-05-02
[deleted]
1 frostek 2012-05-02
Dude, there is no code.
It's a simple substitution cypher of the type used for at least two thousand years.
I think you sound just a bit too personally invested in a tall tale like this. Perhaps you missed the part where the printer magically printed without any power?
6 [deleted] 2012-05-02
unplugged from the computer? or unplugged from the electric outlet? either way, I'm calling shenanigans.
Furthermore, no bona fide military person is going to use an ordinary cryptogram cipher (which I regularly do in my head from the newspapers) to send a plea for help to random people hoping someone will contact their superiors.
Shenanigans, I say.
-1 drawesome27 2012-05-02
Unplugged from the outlet. Crazy right? We looked into possible printer errors that could spit out crap like this, but nothing.
And in regard the whole cryptogram cipher, I had the same thought. Why would they make the code so easy to break? Clearly, there must be something more to the code than meets the eye.
3 sunshine-x 2012-05-02
Uh.. then what powered the printer?
What kind of printer? Make, model, etc.
Are you sure it wasn't just placed on the printer? Or perhaps printed and not noticed, when the printer actually had power?
To be honest, your story sounds like BS to me so far. But I'm intrigued.
Any chance your friend is lying? Little lie leads to the big lie. Did he know the printer he claims to have found this on was unplugged? What's the real story? Maybe he found this elsewhere?
1 drawesome27 2012-05-02
I think it's an HP, I can get the full details of the model from him later.
I really thought he was bullshitting me. I should note that I was not there when the papers were printed. But the code and papers are pretty real. Like I said, I don't think this kind of stuff can just be "made up". Although, I found it really hard to believe that the papers were printed when it was unplugged. However, he has had a series of 'paranormal' experiences in his life, so that's sort of what convinced me. I lived with him for about 4 months before he moved out and yeah, creepy shit happens.
1 sunshine-x 2012-05-02
laser? inkjet? dot-matrix?
5 shamalamabigdong 2012-05-02
I have nothing to add, but that's some crazy shit.
3 [deleted] 2012-05-02
Keep searching. If you do run into someone who actually knows what this all means, they may play dumb, and you will never know you delivered the message. As for it being printed three times, it probably sent three copies to each printer just in case the first didn't go through. There is no advice that can really be given to you. This is pretty much your burden from now on. Please update if you do find more info. Otherwise, hit up the library and look into some old books. Our internet is horribly censored.
3 entropy_police 2012-05-02
"Though the snake dreams of soaring through the sky it is forever doomed to crawl on its belly, but you will have a chance to fly in the talons of a hawk." is really close to a quote from Naruto.
1 drawesome27 2012-05-02
I found that in my research. I don't see the connection though.
4 frostek 2012-05-02
I can. You friend is of a generation that would watch programmes of the ilk of Naruto.
1 sunshine-x 2012-05-02
while I agree it's likely the case, there are other possible explanations.
1 drawesome27 2012-05-02
That is true...he does read a lot of Manga...
1 frostek 2012-05-02
Aha! There's your "smoking gun" right there.
3 LegioIXHispana 2012-05-02
Interesting, but how is it possible for an unplugged printer to autonomously turn on without an apparent power source?
Also, why would he use a simple substitution cipher for a seemingly important message? Might as well have just directly written it out.
Don't get me wrong, I am interested, but it's being tempered with suspicion.
1 drawesome27 2012-05-02
These are questions that I honestly cannot answer and the reason why I turn to the internet for assistance. I think I would've kept this to myself if I honestly thought this was all bullshit.
2 peppaz 2012-05-02
Meta-Viral Marketing..
2 roberstem 2012-05-02
Keep moving and never use your true name
1 frostek 2012-05-02
Agreed. In fact it's best if he never ever uses the internet again.
1 [deleted] 2012-05-02
[deleted]
1 drawesome27 2012-05-02
I can definitely scan the unmarked copy for you.
1 [deleted] 2012-05-02
[deleted]
1 drawesome27 2012-05-02
Here it is. Thanks for taking a look at it.
0 JMGP 2012-05-02
Sounds like you need to get ahold of a copy of that "Liberty" book. Look for anything regarding JMGP, PGMJ, any combo of the four letters, really. Could be first letters of some of the names in there.
Any chance JMGP is another mini cipher? Perhaps having to do something with 20, 1, 3 or some combo?
3 sunshine-x 2012-05-02
Uh.. then what powered the printer?
What kind of printer? Make, model, etc.
Are you sure it wasn't just placed on the printer? Or perhaps printed and not noticed, when the printer actually had power?
To be honest, your story sounds like BS to me so far. But I'm intrigued.
Any chance your friend is lying? Little lie leads to the big lie. Did he know the printer he claims to have found this on was unplugged? What's the real story? Maybe he found this elsewhere?
1 drawesome27 2012-05-02
Interesting. Any suggestions?