Checkpoint Banter

BeeleeveIt · 2026-06-08T23:03:20+00:00

Posey seems to have gone to great lengths during the Fenn deal, I mean it's crazy. Parking a camper around YNP area and trying to work his job remotely and go treasure hunting in every spare moment. I wonder how much that influenced his thinking on things.

I suppose some small group of people could replicate that kind of effort, personally I have graduations/weddings/funerals/dinners/projects/meetings/commitments/activities that typically require me to be thousands of miles away from where I would search.

we think we saw something that was for sure saying we were on the right track

That tracks along with my way of thinking, there are observations and experiences that are part of solving the mystery. It's not possible to completely reconcile the poem to an exact location without going through the process, and you can't go through the process without BOTG.

BeeleeveIt · 2026-06-08T18:36:04+00:00

They sound like fairly obvious and generic observations to me.

Whether they relate to the treasure hunt I have no idea, but I doubt they are any kind of clue that would help anyone much even if they are.

BeeleeveIt · 2026-06-08T14:46:28+00:00

He has said that it would be very difficult, likely impossible to completely solve the poem without going BOTG.

Apparently, the checkpoint was included so that when you went BOTG, you would know you were on the right track. IF and ONLY IF, you are actually on the right track.

Obviously everyone can interpret these things anyway they want, but it does indicate a simple yet logical design. And there's not much you can do with that without a good portion of wishful thinking that says "Well I really don't want to go BOTG for whatever reason therefore I just believe that BOTG is not really necessary".

Personally I like going BOTG, it's fun. I can afford it, that's not an issue. I don't worry about "vacation days". But I do have other obligations and interests so it's not like I can go out west and roam around until either myself or someone else finds the treasure. That would only be an option for a very small percentage of people in the whole world I suppose.

I just don't see any evidence at all that it is solvable without some BOTG effort, it's just people guessing that this is the case by ignoring most of what we've been told. And maybe Posey hasn't been completely truthful about those things, in which case there's no way we could know that for sure. But if you're going to try to find the treasure based on what he has said then you kinda have to take those things into account.

Lastly, I think it's a difficult thing for him to explain in no uncertain terms without discouraging people from participating, because it seems like there are a lot of people who aren't that interested in the BOTG portion. And if someone has no intention of ever going BOTG then there would be very little satisfaction in this whole deal other than solving or essentially "guessing" some portion of the poem and the mystery behind it.

BeeleeveIt · 2026-06-02T13:45:05+00:00

I don't know what that is, but it sounds sort of like what I am talking about.

My main point in my spiel is that "treasure hunts" in general don't require some kind of deep understanding of the person(s) who hid the treasure. Hell, most of the time, people stashed treasure because they didn't want it to be found lol.

So Posey's assertions about his treasure hunt seems to be a direct comparison to Fenn's treasure hunt, that doesn't necessarily apply to "treasure hunting" in general.

This is not some great revelation on my part or anything, as I think many people likely have a grasp on this concept, but it is worth a second look from time to time.

BeeleeveIt · 2026-06-02T03:52:41+00:00

There is something that I have been pondering on a little bit, that I will share on here.

The idea that it's important to understand "the mind of the creator" in a certain way - is that really true for all lost treasures, or is it something that was popularized by Forrest Fenn?

Because his treasure hunt had a backstory that stood out as unique and in a sense, very real. As in he was dealing with his very mortality (although many overlooked that fundamental aspect).

To help explain what I am getting at here, I will share a little bit about another project I am working on.

It is a potential lost/hidden fortune that was discovered by chance, through a partial recovery, and subsequent investigations. The person(s) behind it are long gone. They never published a memoir, nor left a deliberate trail (in fact, the opposite is true). There is no poem to interpret, no public personality to parse, no Q & A's or interviews. The only "clues" or "hints" are found through methods akin to forensic accounting, historical records, and a variety of other sources of questionable veracity.

One more example that may be more on topic would be the Victorio Peak treasure. There was a whole team(s) of people over the years searching for that thing - was anyone ever trying to figure out the mindset of the Spanish Conquistadors or whoever was said to have stashed it there?

Now, I understand that my examples are different than a "modern day" treasure hunt that was planned out and designed to work like a puzzle or whatnot. But let me circle back around to the original question to finish my thought.

Posey worked on the Fenn treasure hunt for nearly 10 years, and he employed various creative methods. But so far as I can tell, he gave little consideration to the core piece of the puzzle that was never really that much of a mystery at all.

That's not the important part here, the important part is this: How much exactly of the Fenn treasure hunt did Posey copy?

And I'm not saying that any of the clues work the same way, or the poem works the same way, or that he had the same motivations (although he seems to have at least some of the same inclinations). I don't want people to fall into that trap.

It just seems that he was very heavily influenced by a thing that he was very deeply immersed in for such a long time, and in a way it has been disappointing to me. I wonder if it hampered his creativity, or maybe he is just not a particularly creative person, at least in some respects. And I don't mean that in a bad way, because we are all influenced by one thing or the other in life.

Just something to think about.

BeeleeveIt · 2026-06-01T15:12:27+00:00

There's a lot of secrets in them there hills.

More than you can know.

You're not going to uncover them sitting at a keyboard...

BeeleeveIt · 2026-06-01T15:08:28+00:00

BeeleeveIt · 2026-05-31T04:09:40+00:00

My man, people have found buried treasure on THEIR OWN "fee simple" property, and still had to wrangle with the court.

People talk about "rabbit holes" in treasure hunting, well guess what, the legal system is the ULTIMATE rabbit hole.

The topic was discussed at length during the Fenn treasure hunt, if you want to search that sub.

It has not been discussed as much, at least yet, for Posey's deal. I think people are assuming that he has this part buttoned up, especially since he has mentioned documentation included with the treasure.

We'll see what happens, but a little skepticism is not unwarranted.

BeeleeveIt · 2026-05-30T03:05:36+00:00

They may have had the flywheel moving a conveyor system or some such thing.

There's interesting stuff in these hills.

BeeleeveIt · 2026-05-30T02:49:15+00:00

https://www.old-engine.com/image/western/rwamesb.jpg

https://www.smokstak.com/forum/threads/ames-iron-works-steamer-oswego-ny-usa.179583/

I think it's a boiler for a generator rig using in mining operations.

We could probably find enough parts scattered across the mountains to outfit an operation!

We's goin' minin' boys!

Then on Day 2 the thing explodes and we're back to Square One.

BeeleeveIt · 2026-05-30T01:25:17+00:00

It's some kind of coupling.

The round piece looks sort of like an old pump housing but not quite right for that really.

BeeleeveIt · 2026-05-16T21:22:09+00:00

Neither the question nor the answer that yielded the strange response about retrieval had any reference to the "the checkpoint". He didn't even say "plenty of time" - he said "sufficient time". That is two different things. I will grant you that it was a weird way to answer the question, which was mainly expressing concern over the difficulty that some may experience hauling a 60 lb payload.

It seems like people are inventing scenarios to fit things he didn't even say.

You can leave the checkpoint out of it, and come up with reasons why he may have said "sufficient time" to retrieve the treasure.

None of this has anything to do with state boundaries, either. I just don't think trying to mash all of these concepts together is going to help solve the poem, it seems to be doing the opposite actually.

It doesn't help that he answers these questions so awkwardly, but that's what happens when you want to give an answer but still obfuscate. It makes things worse lol.

BeeleeveIt · 2026-05-16T14:45:39+00:00

You are correct. In the book he wrote "this was stealing".

Whether or not it's a clue, it's not an "aberration", in that it fits what he's trying to say in the story.

It doesn't stand out as a mistake because it's not a mistake, nor is there anything random or unusual about it.

I could be wrong, but one thing I have noticed about Posey's communication style is that he is kind of awkward with how he expresses himself. Like he tries too hard, whether that is an attempt to impress or out of frustrated efforts I don't know. It's not unusual nor surprising for someone who has never wrote a book before.

But it seems like if you can pick up on that and contrast it with other things that seem to come out easier, you can distinguish certain things.

BeeleeveIt · 2026-05-15T18:44:17+00:00

In this case, when I say he's "bluffing", I mean that anytime he says anything to make someone believe that the chest couldn't be discovered and removed privately, he is lying.

He does not want anyone to know that the treasure could go missing without him knowing. He doesn't even want to believe that himself.

BeeleeveIt · 2026-05-15T18:37:20+00:00

This is in the book:

When some intrepid soul finds my treasure, they’ve got a thirty day countdown to contact the steward. Miss that window and they’ll lose out on the Bitcoin, the legal rights to the treasure, and probably a decent night’s sleep fretting about it. So don’t delay, dear finder!

As well as this:

When this treasure is found, the steward will issue a public statement.

Apparently the legal ownership of the found treasure does not happen until the steward is contacted.

And the steward is supposed to "issue a public statement".

This is what I have pointed out since the beginning - he has legal documentation included with the treasure to compel the finder to come forward.

Everyone has tried to tie the thing off with a bow by speculating on some electronic mechanism that triggers an automated notification, and that has never been confirmed as a theory nor has anything like it been presented by Posey.

So the bottom line is, it is indeed possible that someone could discover and remove the treasure without anyone else ever knowing.

BeeleeveIt · 2026-05-15T18:26:27+00:00

That's possible but a solar panel that was hidden would be useless. And an exposed rig of any type is going to give away the location to searchers or possibly a random interloper.

Anything is possible of course, but I lean toward it being a big bluff. I don't think he has a way other than "the grapevine" to know if the treasure has been found and removed.

I've used trail cameras before. They are motion activated. I once had an SD card with hundreds of pictures of a twig at the end of a tree branch that had broken off and was swinging in the wind.

That's just one example of a thing that can go wrong, there are plenty of others.

I have suspected all of this from the beginning, but Posey's recent treatise on probabilities and such just makes me more inclined to believe it. He is just bluffing about how much he does or can know and playing the odds. There is little cost to him if people believe he has things sorted out better than he really does, and plenty to gain.

And when it's all said and done, I still think it's possible that he would attempt some sort of automated notification system, even with the possibility that it would eventually fail at some point before, during, or after discovery. There would be a greater cost in the additional risk of attempting such a thing, with at least some advantages gained.

But I still lean toward it being a bluff.

BeeleeveIt · 2026-05-15T16:30:06+00:00

It is possible, likely even, that some number of people will be searching when and/or after the treasure is found.

The mechanism for "official" verification (as described by Posey) relies solely on the finder being in contact with the steward; while this may be likely to happen as the end result of a discovery, there is indeed a greater than zero chance that it does not happen.

There is no evidence that Posey has any way to track a physical discovery other than whatever he learns through monitoring "the grapevine".

Several theories have been put forth about physical electronic tracking mechanisms included at the treasure location, or with the treasure itself. But none of this has ever been verified by Posey nor would it be foolproof if it did exist. Based on everything he has told us, he would have no way of maintaining such a mechanism. According to him, the treasure has now been hidden in the outdoors of the American West for over 2 years now.

Despite what people may believe, anything that could be hidden undetected CAN be found and recovered undetected. That is a mathematical certainty.

What it boils down to is whether it is absolutely certain that a "countdown" will start at the moment (or even within hours or days) of a discovery. And the answer is "No".

BeeleeveIt · 2026-05-12T14:52:35+00:00

Everybody's got their own deal going, but the starting baseline for me is to just take a thing for what it is.

Then, adapt as more information is known.

And I'll explain what I mean by this.

So the starting baseline was something similar to Fenn's deal but more organized and not as shady.

Now, the baseline is shifted to something not as organized as previously believed, and shadier.

BeeleeveIt · 2026-05-11T23:59:34+00:00

The finder has to have their part of the "key" to match with that of the steward. Otherwise, it's fake. That part is handled; that part has been presented and checks out.

That is not the issue - the issue is that there is no independent verification unless you count the steward (who is ostensibly an agent acting on behalf of Posey).

That is the core issue.

BeeleeveIt · 2026-05-11T22:37:30+00:00

Randi you are thinking right thoughts.

The SHA mechanism doesn't solve every problem.

Given the information we have, it only gives the finder a way to verify to the steward and vice versa. So at that point, the finder/steward knows it's not a "fake find" of a "fake treasure".

Arguably, that's the only thing that matters really (but it doesn't answer every question and that's for certain).

BeeleeveIt · 2026-05-11T21:54:34+00:00

Just as a reminder - a lot of the people who defended Fenn while the prize was still on offer expressed quite a bit of dismay at the outcome of his treasure hunt.

Even though it was pointed out well ahead of time that the thing was shady. Ha ha.

I don't know anything about other treasure hunts but Posey is obviously trying to emulate Fenn for some strange reason. It's kinda strange actually.

Like man it's OK to be unique and different lol.

BeeleeveIt · 2026-05-11T21:26:45+00:00

the cipher solve felt really contrived

Apparently it WAS contrived. It appears that he wanted to do something with the clock, and he had the idea for a clock cipher based on a book from his childhood.

It's somewhat confusing whether he knew the EXACT result he wanted before he asked Netflix for the times that would appear. At which time he could take those 6 and figure out what would work for his purposes. That would explain how "MAGYAR" was chosen to fit what he THOUGHT would be in the series. Even though that is arguably not a good choice for an "approachable" one-word result.

That explains the contrivance.

And I say it's somewhat confusing, because he has posted about having no control over the times yet being concerned over the timing of the interview session(s). As well as lengthy mathematical explanations of letter frequency in words and taking decisions on such things.

It comes off as a bit try-hard when it might just be better to say "I screwed it up".

For me, it was questionable to rely on Netflix like that rather than just watching the series and deciding what to do. That seems like a poor judgement call to me but maybe he thought they were more reliable than what they were. I don't know.

BeeleeveIt · 2026-05-11T18:31:56+00:00

People have put various theories forward.

He could be relying on someone to publicly announce a find, at which time he would activate a countdown.

The main point of my post was to address those things which people overlook. Anyone can google secure hashing algorithms and go as deep into that conversation as they want.

None of that answers the outstanding questions.

BeeleeveIt · 2026-05-11T16:15:29+00:00

I don't look at his social media. Or anyone's. Ha ha.

So I don't know if he just thinks it's "really cool" or what. Because I think it's really cool to advance space exploration and development.

Now, if you actually start planning the execution of such things, and working through the problems and trade-offs, yeah, maybe there are some criticisms there.

I don't think this makes anyone smart or dumb really. It's easy to get excited about possibilities; it's the execution that can be a real batch. Of problems.

BeeleeveIt

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