Over the years, I have received communications from different people who sincerely
believed they had broken one or more of Beale's ciphers, or in some cases had found an alternate interpretation of the cipher
numbers. In all cases, it was fairly easy to conclude that I disagreed. I suppose I should say "humbly disagreed,"
as these people were sincere in their beliefs and for the most part had spent considerable time and effort
in arriving at their conclusions. Although, I must admit, I find it hard to accept that what seemed so clear
to me was conversely so difficult for them to conceive or comprehend.
In my view, a proposed solution method for Beale's ciphers should at least withstand the
following simple tests:
1. The solution method should be consistent with and satisfy Beale's objectives.
2. The solution method should be such that Mr.
Beale could easily create a simple set of instructions enabling Mr. Morriss to make use of the solution
method to recover the information needed to carry out his (Beale's) instructions.
3. The solution method should not be so complex
that the recovery process would be overly burdensome on Mr. Morriss.
4. The recovered information should make sense
and be consistent with the Beale treasure storyline.
5. However, the decoding or recovery process should not have so many degrees-of-freedom
that it allows almost any text or set of information to be recovered.
The proposed solution methods that I have seen fail with respect to one or more of
the above five criterion. But all have failed #2. No one has provided me with a step-by-step set of instructions to
explain how the ciphers were to be decoded or processed.
In my view, it is unlikely that a proposed solution method will be universally
accepted unless it is first examined and vetted by other intelligent observers using the above and perhaps
other criteria.
