+Anonymous' Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 So the other day I received an email notifying me of this strange log on my cache. I'm not really sure what to make of it. It's encrypted in ROT13 but even decrypted it still makes no sense. The cacher recently made his account and logged two caches but hasn't been on since and never replied to my email asking about the log. I know the easy thing to do would be just to delete it, but it's just so weird that I wanted your take on it. Quote Link to comment
jholly Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 So the other day I received an email notifying me of this strange log on my cache. I'm not really sure what to make of it. It's encrypted in ROT13 but even decrypted it still makes no sense. The cacher recently made his account and logged two caches but hasn't been on since and never replied to my email asking about the log. I know the easy thing to do would be just to delete it, but it's just so weird that I wanted your take on it. Well its not a smiley log, just a note. The two caches logged were "normal" logs. My guess? He was trying out the log function and posted gibberish just to see how it worked. Or it could be spy passing valuable national security secrets. If it was my cache I probably would just leave it. Jim Quote Link to comment
+DustyWalker Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 I assume it was posted as a found log? If so I would delete it. (I am generally very lenient) The finder should take the time to post a proper log. Quote Link to comment
+Vinny & Sue Team Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 So the other day I received an email notifying me of this strange log on my cache. I'm not really sure what to make of it. It's encrypted in ROT13 but even decrypted it still makes no sense. The cacher recently made his account and logged two caches but hasn't been on since and never replied to my email asking about the log. I know the easy thing to do would be just to delete it, but it's just so weird that I wanted your take on it. Well, as another poster has already pointed out, it is not a find log (and thus no need to worry about whether it might be fraudulent, and no need to be tempted to check the physical logbook for a log entry), and rather, it is only a log note, and so I would likely leave it, but, knowing myself, I would likely add an owner's note adjacent to this log entry explaining that its purpose and meaning are unknown at this point, but that I am leaving for the sake of the history of the cache. And... the note may also well be encrypted using a system other than ROT13. I will show it to Sue later and see if she has any ideas; she is the Puzzle Queen. Quote Link to comment
+whistler & co. Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 I think it's just someone who was frustrated because he couldn't find your cache. You'll notice there are no short words (a, in, is, are, the, I, and, to, etc.) in the message. How often does one write sentences containing only long words (Vinny doesn't count!) Quote Link to comment
+Snake & Rooster Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 I'm not sure why you are having so much trouble figuring out the test. Here, let me explain: ywspf tz epbmw yi.xyuvwa qpo vhhpxdit xyzppy dkf wp qhccryxng? Should explain it all. Quote Link to comment
Mushtang Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 I think it's just someone who was frustrated because he couldn't find your cache. You'll notice there are no short words (a, in, is, are, the, I, and, to, etc.) in the message. How often does one write sentences containing only long words (Vinny doesn't count!) But notice that all the words are 8 characters long. This is a common method in codes to make them a little harder to break using exactly what you were trying to do. This sentence, if coded, would be easier to break. However... thissent enceifco dedwould beharder tobreak I'm sure Sue will recognize this immediately. Quote Link to comment
+Vinny & Sue Team Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 I think it's just someone who was frustrated because he couldn't find your cache. You'll notice there are no short words (a, in, is, are, the, I, and, to, etc.) in the message. How often does one write sentences containing only long words (Vinny doesn't count!) But notice that all the words are 8 characters long. This is a common method in codes to make them a little harder to break using exactly what you were trying to do. This sentence, if coded, would be easier to break. However... thissent enceifco dedwould beharder tobreak I'm sure Sue will recognize this immediately. Well, I asked Sue to take a look, and she feels that it is highly significant that the post is broken into 8-character "words", and that this, along with the gibberish combo of characters, indicates that -- if this IS a coded message of some kind -- this is NOT a simple substitution (i.e., such as ROT13) encryption, but rather, that it may be any of a number of different ciphers, but for any of them, a keyword would be needed in order to decipher, and it looks in this case like the keyword was not provided (it this is indeed really a coded message and not simply gibberish...) Beyond that, Sue was not willing to spend any further time on the matter, and so there it rests for now! I must also note that the cacher in question also left a rather questionable find log on one of his/her two finds to date, because while the cache listing page clearly states that finders should ONLY try to retrieve the cache from its high hiding place if they have the equipment at hand to allow successfully replacing it, and yet, the cacher in question announces clearly in her/his log entry that s/he retrieved the cache and then did not bother to return it to its original high position, and his/her replacement of the cache in a lower spot was confirmed by the subsequent finder. Of course, since s/he is likely very much a newbie cacher, such a misunderstanding/ mistake is perhaps understandable... All in all, the whole picture -- that is, the new account, the two finds, the exact nature of the finds, and the subsequent encoded log note -- is kinda odd! Quote Link to comment
+whistler & co. Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 NMGHQCCI LOLBYFOL LOBFZQLL OSGTQOOB PNDRKAEQ YPXONBFF!!!!! Quote Link to comment
+Vinny & Sue Team Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 NMGHQCCI LOLBYFOL LOBFZQLL OSGTQOOB PNDRKAEQ YPXONBFF!!!!! Frankly, and bluntly, I am STUNNED and SHOCKED that you would write such things on a family-friendly forum such as this! I am SHOCKED, I tell you! SHOCKED! Quote Link to comment
+fox-and-the-hound Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 Hmmm... 15 groupings of 8 characters each? Sounds like coords to something new! I've seen something like this once and even left something like this once in the cache log on site leading to a new treasure hidden nearby as a thanks for the cache type reward. Might be worth investigating Quote Link to comment
+powercatjeffy Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 Anyone care to borrow my Enigma machine? Quote Link to comment
bogleman Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 ysesafia fnixkedg fjngtdmaboqvryae whxjnvjs rjnzmifm qexmbnih rrgwahwf dypiasag ateelkir rvjiqweu hmashvzj ticlmklk ayyfsbxw gfqtiyjt It's a simple subliminal message, wants us to drink more Ovaltine and some other fluff as filler, like a spam email message Quote Link to comment
+Anonymous' Posted September 5, 2008 Author Share Posted September 5, 2008 The other day I got an email from VT_EMT saying he had solved the strange code: "I decoded it. It's a Vigenere square cipher w/ a random a keyword. But w/ some of my utilites I was able to decode it." The email goes on to list what the code decrypted into...coordinates. I've been really puzzled by the whole deal and excited at the same time to go see what was at the coordinates. Today I went to the coordinates which led me to a bench. Under the bench was a pre-existing cache which many logs inside. I emailed the owner of several mystery caches in the area to see if it was one of their caches that the coordinates led to. The whole deal is very strange and just has me utterly perplexed as to why someone would encrypt the final coordinates for someone's mystery cache and post it as a note on an entirely different cache. Quote Link to comment
bogleman Posted September 5, 2008 Share Posted September 5, 2008 quite the unique story, many would have deleted the log or taken no action - good job. Now, you can't leave the job incomplete, send your new friend a message using their code and see what you get. Send a message with the numbers to the cache you found to your VCR and see if they can determine what the cache# is Quote Link to comment
+va griz Posted September 5, 2008 Share Posted September 5, 2008 Maybe it's a puzzle cache where the finder is lead to that log to get the message and decode it? If you could get the name of the cache, or who logged it last you could check that way. Quote Link to comment
+Anonymous' Posted September 5, 2008 Author Share Posted September 5, 2008 I got an email from the owner of the cache that I found. It turns out the note that was posted on my cache page was copied and pasted from one of their mystery caches. What's weird though is that the code word you have to use to decrypt their puzzle is different than the one that the code cracking software found. Quote Link to comment
jholly Posted September 7, 2008 Share Posted September 7, 2008 Delete it! Why? Jim Quote Link to comment
+Parabola Posted September 7, 2008 Share Posted September 7, 2008 Wow. That's an interesting story. Kind of weird but interesting. I wonder what the person is up too? Quote Link to comment
4wheelin_fool Posted September 7, 2008 Share Posted September 7, 2008 So the other day I received an email notifying me of this strange log on my cache. I'm not really sure what to make of it. It's encrypted in ROT13 but even decrypted it still makes no sense. The cacher recently made his account and logged two caches but hasn't been on since and never replied to my email asking about the log. I know the easy thing to do would be just to delete it, but it's just so weird that I wanted your take on it. Thats not really a strange log, they are just waiting for you to forget about it so they can change it to a find. This is a strange log: Found the cache location but cache has been removed. We'll replace it weekend. It was a "needs maintenence" log from someone with 0 finds - and the cache was there. Quote Link to comment
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