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CASE #44LJX4 · 2 entities · 1 connections
The Beale Ciphers
Somewhere in Virginia, there's supposedly millions in buried gold — and the only map is a code nobody has cracked in over 150 years.
The Beale Ciphers are three coded texts first published in an 1885 pamphlet, said to describe a fortune in gold and silver buried in Virginia in the 1820s by a man named Thomas J. Beale. One of the three has been solved; the other two, including the one describing the treasure's exact location, remain unsolved.
⇄disputed
Quick facts
- →The one cipher that has been solved was decoded using the U.S. Declaration of Independence as a key, numbering each word.
- →The solved cipher describes the treasure's contents: gold, silver, and jewels, worth tens of millions of dollars at today's prices if real.
- →No solid historical proof has ever been found that Thomas J. Beale actually existed.
- →The NSA has reportedly compiled its own file of research on the ciphers, and an official Beale Cipher Association operated from 1970 to 1996.
Entities on file
The Beale Ciphers (document)
Three coded texts allegedly describing a buried treasure in Virginia; two of three remain unsolved after 150+ years.
No outgoing connections on file.
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Thomas J. Beale (person)
Alleged author of the ciphers and leader of the expedition that found the treasure; no independent historical record of him has ever been found.
→ allegedly created → The Beale Ciphers⇄disputed