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[TCJ] Tradecraft Journal trailhead

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Coffeebean
Unfettered

Joined: 11 Jun 2007
Posts: 626

34 could also be a hyphen

Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 4:36 am

surfzoned
Decorated

Joined: 30 Jun 2007
Posts: 237
Location: City of Denial, Nation of Sheeple

An update
This is an incomplete timeline based on the forums

This is what I sent to Pete yesterday attempting to contact Allen.

Quote:

Sebring to Germain10 Jul 15
Dear Allen,
My name is Sebring and I am part of a small group of people, here after referred to as <Allentown>, trying to bring to light information that could very well connect in some way to your FRACTAL theory. We believe so directly because of what a personal friend of yours told us. We are unsure at the moment exactly what his/her identity really is. However, not know your friends true identity is probably a good thing. Over time we have received different information and gone through a lot to avoid people that have killed one man and are trying very hard to find your friend; we can only assume they want the same fate for him.
We have fact checked and researched as much of the following as time has permitted.

A full list of all current information and files your friend has transferred to us to this point in time.
Exhibit A) http://overwatch.visualfiction.net/digest/ [please reference this to make sense of what is to follow]

We became involved in helping your friend because of an audio click posted on Youtube. Exhibit B) http://www.youtube.com/user/jpike2107
Which led us to Exhibit C) http://www.tradecraftjournal.com/
Embedded in this side we found Exhibit D)http://www.tradecraftjournal.com/kalasaaksi
Leading us to Exhibit E)http://www.expatica.com/actual/article.asp?channel_id=3&story_id=27513
Doing a "WHOIS" on the tradecraftjournal site, you will see that it is, in fact, registered to an address in McLean, VA:

registrant-firstname: John
registrant-lastname: Green
registrant-street1: 2100 International Dr.
registrant-pcode: 22102
registrant-state: VA
registrant-city: Mclean
registrant-ccode: US
registrant-phone: +225.2083029
registrant-email: greenSPLATtradecraftjournal.com

We contacted him and the following is was we received from him.

Mail 1) Dear <Allentown>,

I'm afraid you have me at a loss.

Since you capitalized Osprey, I assume that is meant to be a proper name and is not referring to the bird of prey. Unfortunately, that's the only osprey I know of. Regarding someone named Julian Thalberg, I'm afraid I am equally in the dark. I know no one by that name.

I notice that this e-mail got to me as a forward from a project I was involved with quite some time ago, namely Tradecraft Journal. Just curious, but how did you come by that address? It was my understanding that Tradecraft Journal was shut down completely at the time that I left the project.

I see that you are affiliated with the law firm of (name withheld); is your firm perhaps doing work for the OIS? If so, I wonder if you might let me know who your vendor contact is.

Good luck in your search for Ms. Thalberg, I wish I could be of more help.

Regards,

John Green
Strategic Planning Services, LLP

Mail 2) Dear <Allentown>,

I'm afraid you have me at a loss.

Since you capitalized Osprey, I assume that is meant to be a proper name and is not referring to the bird of prey. Unfortunately, that's the only osprey I know of. Regarding someone named Julian Thalberg, I'm afraid I am equally in the dark. I know no one by that name.

I notice that this e-mail got to me as a forward from a project I was involved with quite some time ago, namely Tradecraft Journal. Just curious, but how did you come by that address? It was my understanding that Tradecraft Journal was shut down completely at the time that I left the project.

I see that you are affiliated with the law firm of (name withheld); is your firm perhaps doing work for the OIS? If so, I wonder if you might let me know who your vendor contact is.

Good luck in your search for Ms. Thalberg, I wish I could be of more help.

Regards,

John Green
Strategic Planning Services, LLP

Mail 3) Dear <Allentown>,

I must admit that I am somewhat confused by your voicemail message. I'm afraid that part of it may have been cut off, because there was no introductory information nor any preamble; just a question related to Tradecraft Journal.

Since it is not classified, I can tell you that the Tradecraft Journal project was shut down for lack of funding. The parties within the OIS who were originally behind the project came to the conclusion that the money earmarked for TCJ would be better spent on something else.

What I find interesting is that this is the second inquiry regarding TCJ that I have received in the past 2 days. Are you perhaps working with someone named Jamie Frye? If you have a moment, would you mind letting me know your interest in this project; either via phone message or e-mail? I may be at liberty to discuss Tradecraft Journal at more length, but in light of the nature of the project, and the agency behind it, I have to be sure that your research is part of a legitimate internal effort. I'm sure you understand.

By the way, I see that you are from the area of [location withheld]. I wonder if you have ever run into a former colleague of mine; a Ms. Kathleen Pillon. We worked together on several projects in the early 80's. I heard she ended up back out there.

I look forward to hearing back from you.

Regards,

John Green
Strategic Planning Services, LLP

<Allentown> OKAY, this is weird. Ms. Kathleen Pillon is the president of my former high school. There is no way she was involved with any projects! I can't imagine it! She's an ex-nun!

Mail 4) Dear Mr. <Allentown> (He listed here all my other identities here),

Your letter, although well-thought-out in its own right, would have been slightly more believable if it had not arrived in my inbox along with 5 others - all asking more or less the same questions under various guises - within the span of 1 hour. I was prepared to believe that there was a possibility, however remote, that the two people I have previously corresponded with (<Allentown>) might have been with some far-flung agency that had stumbled upon the defunct TCJ. Even these days with everyone reporting up to OIS there is still no effective communication.

But the events of the past hour or so have put all that to rest. I can't say that I fully understand what you and the rest of your friends are up to, but after about two minutes of googling you and some of the keywords that have been flying around from all you 'government agents' it appears that you are all under the impression that it is some sort of game. I can assure you it is not.

I have a feeling that someone may have inadvertently used privileged information to construct a fictional framework for a game or story and, as sometimes happens, that fiction hit a little too close to certain truths. You, it seems, have taken this accidental truth and somehow followed it to me.

As far as I'm concerned, no harm no foul. If you and your friends desist from any further inquiries into TCJ I'm sure there will be no problems. As I had already indended after my second interaction with <Allentown>, I will let the OIS know about the issue and they can take it up with whoever started this charade - and you and I both know the OIS will have no difficulty getting to the root cause.

I am replying only to you. I trust you will relay the response to the rest of your group.

John Green
Strategic Planning Services, LLP

It seems Mr Green is good at researching US too.

Mail 5) Dear <Allentown>,

I truly appreciate your candor. It is a welcome change to the antics that have been going on over the past several days.

If you have been following some of this gamer speculation I can certainly see how you could be confused. The very simple fact is that Tradecraft Journal was shut down, but the site was never properly removed. Some files from a different project, Osprey, accidentally got placed on one of the Tradecraft Journal servers. The Osprey project is no longer active, having come to its scheduled completion. Osprey dealt with procuring new footwear for domestic security forces. That is all I 'know'.

I 'speculate' that someone saw some of those Osprey files and interpreted them as having a very different meaning. That person probably told some other people about what they had seen (rightly so if they appeared to be that alarming) and I believe those people used what they had heard as the 'background' for some sort of entertainment or ad campaign.

I'm pretty sure that's all there is to it. If you are aware of any other wild speculation about this situation, I would appreciate it if you could let me know the names and contact information of people whom I might contact to advise them of what is really going on.

Thank you for your rational, and truthful, inquiry,

John Green

Further released information led us to Exhibit F)http://kmqsunglasses.blogspot.com/
Where we found Exhibit G) Saaksi Files at: vrwtch.vslfctn.nt /nmbr2/blnd/v_p-c8
After which we received

Jeffery Pike at 6:36 today:
I'm sending this to everyone I've spoken to, if I have your email or
if you sent me a youtube message, because I don't know whose a gamer
and whose not anymore and I guess it doesn't matter. Listen, I put
scotch tape on my doorframe this morning after Cat gave me the idea to
do something like that to tell if someone came in here. When I got
home tonight the tape was broken. I tried not to go nuts or anything
til I found out for sure that Mrs. Fredericks hadn't come in here for
something so I went down there and asked her. She said no. Said she
had been working at the pet store all day taking care of the
parrots. That's when I got that feeling like someone just kicked me
right in the middle of my gut. She could tell somethin was up cause
she asked me if I wanted to sit down. I said no but that I thought we
should call the cops cause someone might be in my apartment. She
asked if it was broken into and I said maybe, but I didn't really
know. I could tell she didn't get that, but we called them from down
there and I stayed down in her place til they came. They showed up and
got the key from Mrs. Fredericks and went through the place to see if
there was anyone there. There wasn't. no forced entry, nothing gone,
nothing even disturbed, so they gave me this WTF look like why am I
wasting their time. and I didn't know what to say cause I'm so
confused by this shit. so I said that I had been getting a hard time
from some dude that was seeing my ex girlfriend. She had a key, so I
thought maybe he got it and was in there. didn't seem like they
really cared and they left. They told me to change the locks.

Now I don't know what to do, guys. I know this isn't a game at least.
The gamer people have all told me that gamers would never do
something like that. so that means this whole cluster is real or at
least someone thinks its real - not much difference i guess. Do you
guys know who was in here? how do I tell them that I have nothing to
do with this. Don't think I'm some kinda puss , OK. It's just that I
work at the DoI and I hang with people who were there when the whole
ft. marcy park thing went down. I wasn't around then, but people
remember that kinda shit and they talk about it, you now. that kinda
thing tells you that sometimes things HAPPEN to people.

i guess the first thing I do is change the goddam phone number, huh.
so I can't get any more calls from that guy. too bad for him, huh.
looks like he needs help too. he wants to talk to this Alan guy and
that lucky SOB has no idea any of this is even going on. if you guys
have any real ideas please let me know, ok. I'm really scared now. I
don't even now if I should stay here.

We next chatted with T.petal, as your friend was calling him/her-self, and this is the transcript. Exhibit H)
[12:09:32 PM] <<Allentown>> says: Good Morning... where are we meeting tonight?
[9:35:55 PM] t. petal says: Larry, is that you?
[9:36:46 PM] <<Allentown>> says: I have thought about telling you that I am Larry but I am not. I am from a group of people who heard a message on youtube. We have since formed a group and would like to help you expose Osprey.
[9:37:08 PM] <<Allentown>> says: I do not know how to prove my loyalty to you however I can assure you that I am on your side.
[9:37:48 PM] t. petal says: What are you talking about? YouTube?
[9:38:21 PM] t. petal says: I am aware that certain people are looking for me. Unless you can prove that you are not them very quickly I am terminating this contact.
[9:38:32 PM] <<Allentown>> says: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrDEMbRYMWw check out this link
[9:39:11 PM] <<Allentown>> says: I am working with Jeff. The guy who posted this message.
[9:39:13 PM] t. petal says: I'm getting another chat request from Alan Portman. What the hell's going on?
[9:39:32 PM] <<Allentown>> says: Alan may not be who he says he is. Be careful
[9:40:25 PM] <<Allentown>> says: I can supply you with any information that you would need to check out my identity. I work for a college in South Flordia.
[9:40:32 PM] <<Allentown>> says: Florida... sorry
[9:40:34 PM] t. petal says: Who's Jeff? How did my voice mail get on YouTube?
[9:41:16 PM] <<Allentown>> says: You left a message on his machine looking for Allen... I think that you did it by mistake however Jeff then posted the message and we began trying to help you with this OSPREY thing.
[9:42:13 PM] <<Allentown>> says: What can I do to help you?
[9:42:42 PM] t. petal says: Who is Jeff? How did he get my message?
[9:43:44 PM] t. petal says: Who is Tim Queenath?
[9:44:04 PM] <<Allentown>> says: Allen used to live in his apartment. He moved out and Jeff moved in. We don't have a clue where Allen could be. You are the first person that we have actually spoken to that has any credible information about OSPREY.
[9:44:26 PM] <<Allentown>> says: I do not know a Tim Queenath. I can tell you this... stay far away from John Green
[9:45:24 PM] t. petal says: I saw the name John Green on a transcript of a conversation recently, who is he?
[9:45:36 PM] t. petal says: Could he be using the name Tim Queenath?
[9:45:54 PM] <<Allentown>> says: He had something to do with TradeCraftJournal and works for the government.
[9:46:46 PM] <<Allentown>> says: He could be using that name. I have no way of knowing. John Green is the enemy. If he finds out about us we will have a big problem.
[9:47:07 PM] t. petal says: Who is "us"?
[9:48:06 PM] t. petal says: What do you mean "...if he finds out about US..."
[9:48:14 PM] <<Allentown>> says: We don't really have a name. We are concerned members of the web community that want to know why OSPREY has you so concerned.
[9:48:39 PM] <<Allentown>> says: We can help you expose it or possibly stop this whole thing
[9:49:25 PM] <<Allentown>> says: If you point me in a direction I can get our group to take some sort of action that will prove that we are on your side and not with OIS>
[9:49:36 PM] <<Allentown>> says: Just tell me what you need.
[9:50:03 PM] t. petal says: Are you using your real name?
[9:50:26 PM] <<Allentown>> says: Yes I am.
[9:50:45 PM] t. petal says: Hold on.
[9:53:16 PM] t. petal says: Green mentioned a group of people involved in a game. Are you them?
[9:54:04 PM] <<Allentown>> says: This is not a game. If you are talking to Green stop. He is bad news.
[9:55:26 PM] t. petal says: I'm not talking to Green. I am well aware that he is bad new, probably mor so than you. He said that to her in the transcript.
[9:55:36 PM] t. petal says: How many people are in your group?
[9:56:10 PM] <<Allentown>> says: IT is hard to say. There are probably 10-20 fully dedicated members.
[9:56:51 PM] t. petal says: Do you all know each other? How can you be sure of trust?
[9:57:44 PM] <<Allentown>> says: We do not know each other. You really can't trust anyone however we communicate through a secure site that John Green would never be able to see or join.
[9:58:57 PM] t. petal says: Why do you think you can help? What else have you been able to learn about Osprey?
[10:01:31 PM] <<Allentown>> says: I have only learned about OSPREY through the files you posted on www.tradecraftjournal.com. We were able to decode the messages you left to find you here. I think if we were given more information on OSPREY we could use the same skills to take this project down. What would you suggest that I do?
[10:03:18 PM] <<Allentown>> says: My email address is <<Allentown>>. Use this to contact me if you ever need anything. I will get the message out to my team and help in any way we can. If you give us more information about Allen we may be able to locate him for you.
[10:03:32 PM] t. petal says: I was trying to contact Allen to ask him the same question.
[10:04:01 PM] <<Allentown>> says: Maybe we can help you find Allen. What do you know about him?
[10:04:03 PM] t. petal says: He has done extensive research on this type of thing. Do you know anything about his current whereablouts?
[10:04:39 PM] <<Allentown>> says: Nothing at all. I think we can find him. Where did he used to work?
[10:05:31 PM] <<Allentown>> says: How old is he? What does he look like? Where could he have gone?
[10:05:56 PM] t. petal says: I've been trying to remember. What about this Jeff person you mentioned. Does he know anything about where Allen is?
[10:06:34 PM] <<Allentown>> says: No, his landlady remembers Allen but that is about it. Allen moved out and no one has heard from him since.
[10:07:13 PM] t. petal says: How did you find that out?
[10:08:04 PM] <<Allentown>> says: We have been sending messages to Jeff through YouTube. When this started we asked him to find out about Allen from his landlady.
[10:08:30 PM] <<Allentown>> says: Jeff does not seem to know much however he does work for DoI
[10:08:58 PM] t. petal says: The Dept. of the Interior? How do you know that?
[10:09:24 PM] <<Allentown>> says: Well I do not know for certian but Jeff told us that he works for the DoI.
[10:10:29 PM] t. petal says: Did he mention that in public? Did Green know about this Jeff person? Did he have his name?
[10:11:09 PM] <<Allentown>> says: Yeah. Jeff also believes that someone has been in his home when he was not there.
[10:11:37 PM] <<Allentown>> says: Jeff is being watched.
[10:12:04 PM] <<Allentown>> says: How can I help you find Allen? His last name is Portman right?
[10:12:21 PM] <<Allentown>> says: Why do you want to find Allen?
[10:14:03 PM] t. petal says: I need to discuss what he knows. He told me something last year that I think is related. He is extremely well versed in aspects of what I think I have found.
[10:14:19 PM] t. petal says: Yes. His name is Allen Portman.
[10:14:44 PM] <<Allentown>> says: What did he tell you last year?
[10:14:45 PM] t. petal says: Can any of your people check on this Jeff?
[10:15:13 PM] <<Allentown>> says: No one lives in the area. As far as I know he is fine but I will be able to send him a message when we are done.
[10:15:31 PM] t. petal says: Is it possible that Green has Allen's full name?
[10:16:18 PM] <<Allentown>> says: Anything is possible, I think Jeff is the one who gave it to us. If Green got to Jeff than we will need to find Allen quickly.
[10:16:49 PM] <<Allentown>> says: What can you tell me about Allen that will help me locate him?
[10:18:10 PM] t. petal says: I agree. I am very concerned that Green already has Allen's name. The only thing that I have other than his telephone number (which we know if no good) is a reference to a paper he wrote for.
[10:18:33 PM] <<Allentown>> says: What is the name of the paper?
[10:18:57 PM] <<Allentown>> says: What was he writing about? When did he work there?
[10:19:01 PM] t. petal says: But I can't remember what it was called. Only that it was very small. He mentioned that they had no money. He wrote for them for the byline, they couldn't even pay for the several pieces he sent them.
[10:19:39 PM] <<Allentown>> says: Where was this paper located?
[10:20:00 PM] <<Allentown>> says: Did he go by Allen Portman when he was writing or did he use a pen name?
[10:20:31 PM] t. petal says: Someone else is calling. Can it be one of your people?
[10:20:50 PM] <<Allentown>> says: I doubt it. Be careful what you say to that person.
[10:21:05 PM] <<Allentown>> says: Our people would have all been here at 9:35 like you asked.
[10:21:10 PM] t. petal says: He always went by Allen Portman when we spoke. Hold on.
[10:21:32 PM] t. petal says: he is showing up as n2vols13
[10:21:59 PM] <<Allentown>> says: He is with me if he is the same guy that I work with.
[10:22:31 PM] <<Allentown>> says: The n2vols13 I know is located in Florida.
[10:22:48 PM] t. petal says: I don't have time to talk to a bunch of people. I think I remembered something about the paper.
[10:23:11 PM] <<Allentown>> says: Let me know. I will get the message out to my people.
[10:23:52 PM] t. petal says: Allen mentioned that he always got a kick out of this paper because it reminded him of a band he really liked in the early 80's.
[10:24:26 PM] <<Allentown>> says: 80's bands... great. I can work with that. Do you know what kind of music he listened to?
[10:24:32 PM] t. petal says: He said the paper had the same name as one of their songs.
[10:25:04 PM] t. petal says: Umm, not really.
[10:25:17 PM] t. petal says: I know he was excited about meeting Moby once.
[10:25:41 PM] <<Allentown>> says: Who wouldn't be Smile I can work with that.
[10:26:07 PM] <<Allentown>> says: If I find anything out how should I contact you?
[10:27:05 PM] t. petal says: There was something weird about the name of the band. I remember thinking it sounded like a prison.
[10:27:58 PM] <<Allentown>> says: Which prison did it remind you of?
[10:28:00 PM] t. petal says: we need to be able to communicate securely. I know a little tradecraft, but I'm not a field guy.
[10:29:18 PM] t. petal says: I can't remember. But I know it wouldn't Rykers or The Rock or any of those. It was something different.
[10:29:43 PM] <<Allentown>> says: I will post on your blog when we have information for you. Then all you have to do is schedule another flight.
[10:30:10 PM] <<Allentown>> says: I am not going to post the information we have on your blog in case Green finds it.
[10:30:11 PM] t. petal says: I noticed there were some comments on the BLog. Are those from your people?
[10:30:35 PM] t. petal says: NO! You cannot post anything in the open.
[10:30:46 PM] <<Allentown>> says: I think so but there is no way to know for sure. I will post as <Allentown>1947. That is how you will know it is me.
[10:30:56 PM] t. petal says: How likely is it that Green could have the KMQ site?
[10:31:33 PM] <<Allentown>> says: Not very but if the guy works for the Government who knows what he is capable of pulling off.
[10:32:00 PM] t. petal says: Is there anyone else that you know for sure I can trust.
[10:33:23 PM] t. petal says: Also, is there a secure way I can reach you if I need to move the files again in a hurry?
[10:33:29 PM] <<Allentown>> says: No... I have no personal contact with anyone else. n2vols13 seems like a good person but I could not tell you anything personal about him or her.
[10:34:38 PM] <<Allentown>> says: Yeah. Send an email to <<Allentown>>. It is my work email account. I have not used this for anything else so no one would have access to this account or even know it exsists.
[10:34:58 PM] <<Allentown>> says: If you need a phone number I could give you that as well.
[10:36:39 PM] t. petal says: No, I don't want more data than I need. Just in case.
[10:37:11 PM] <<Allentown>> says: So what happens next?
[10:37:34 PM] t. petal says: If you have to communicate do it in terms of something unrelated. Just word it so that I can figure out what you are talking about. I'm sure you know what I mean.
[10:37:40 PM] <<Allentown>> says: We are going to look for Allen and see if we can figure this Osprey thing out
[10:37:50 PM] t. petal says: I will same.
[10:38:10 PM] <<Allentown>> says: tradecraft stuff right?
[10:38:16 PM] t. petal says: I will keep looking for Allen. If I find anything or remember anything else that might help, I'll try to contact you.
[10:38:37 PM] t. petal says: In light of my situation, though, I am only able to post at specific times.
[10:38:43 PM] <<Allentown>> says: I take it that your flight is landing?
[10:39:02 PM] <<Allentown>> says: Where are the files now?
[10:40:00 PM] t. petal says: It's probably been in a holding pattern a little too long as it is. Please tell your people to be very careful. This is not a game. These people are professioanls and I think they have a reason to be very aggressive.
[10:40:24 PM] <<Allentown>> says: Thanks for the tip. Same to you
[10:40:34 PM] <<Allentown>> says: anything else I might need to know before you go?
[10:40:45 PM] t. petal says: If it's possible to check on that guy, please do so, I don't like the fact that he thought someone was onhim.
[10:41:35 PM] t. petal says: I've got to go. I'm not sure why you want to involve yourself with this, but thanks.
[10:41:54 PM] <<Allentown>> says: no problem. good luck

Further posts on the KMQ site led us to Exhibit I) http://www.freewebs.com/heavenisasecret
Which is Karla and Pete's new website. For continuity I've added part of our emails.

Dear Sebring,

I wasn't sure if I had heard your name correctly until I saw it in the guest book listing on the site; interesting name. I'm glad you left a note in the guest book, because your voice mail cut off in mid sentence; so if you left your contact info there I wasn't able to hear it. Anyway, found you all the same.

From what I could hear of your message it sounds like you are looking for Allen Portman. I have met Allen once or twice socially, but I'm afraid I don't have any current contact information for him. I checked our contact management software and found that the last couple times we tried to reach Allen we were not able to.

Allen is actually a contact of my partner, Peter. He may know more about what Allen is up to these days, but unfortunately, Peter is on assignment right now and is only occasionally available.

I'd be happy to ask Peter about Allen next time I talk to him, but I'd like to be able to assure him that your request is above board. I'm sure you understand. If you could provide some way for us to know that you are a friend or legitimate contact of Allen's, I'd really appreciate it.

Sorry to be so "spooky", but you know how it is, covering the types of stories we cover.

Sincerely,

Karla Meadows
Editor, Heaven Is A Secret
www.freewebs.com/heavenisasecret

We quickly received this email after which this person was excluded from all further information.

From: The Philoshipher
To: <Allentown>
Posted: Today, at 7:40 pm
Subject: not so fast
From: The Philoshipher
To: <Allentown>
Posted: Today, at 7:40 pm
Subject: not so fast

i told john green everything he knows EVERYTHING he knows about the blog, t.petal and kmq. your all doomed HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Unfortunetly for J.Green "The Philoshipher" did not have the most current of coherent information and thus received nothing of any real use or so we believe at this time.

And then more chatting with T.petal

[6:18:15 PM] Sebring says: How are you doing today Tpetal?
[7:28:30 PM] Sebring says: How are you doing Tpetal?
[7:28:56 PM] t. petal says: I'm worried and I'm not sure who you are with. Duplicity mentioned the Knight, he didn't mention you.
[7:29:35 PM] Sebring says: I use the force for good.
[7:29:50 PM] Sebring says: I'll another friend from Allentown
[7:30:08 PM] t. petal says: I need some assurance that you are with Duplicity or I'm gone.
[7:32:02 PM] Sebring says: We found out how to contact Allen for you
[7:34:07 PM] Sebring says: <Allentown> was DAeviant and was integral in finding this info for you
[7:34:46 PM] Sebring says: I'm no Philosophy buff.
[7:35:12 PM] Sebring says: You are just gonna have to put Stock in me.
[7:36:29 PM] t. petal says: I've seen your comments and I ran some stuff on my end. Not sure why you are calling yourself Sebring and not your usual handle. I'm staying with who I know. If you are together you can get with him.
[7:37:25 PM] Sebring says: It seems the tide is going back out again, and very soon. We need to know where it's going. LOL Sebring is my RL name, it's synonymous with Surfzoned.
[7:38:25 PM] Sebring says: <Allentown> and <Allentown> were busy with some stuff and asked that I watch the stars with you tonight.
[7:39:38 PM] Sebring says: I'm sending you a list of questions they composed. Answer the ones you can.
[7:40:06 PM] Sebring says: We have contacted the newspaper Allen worked for but need personal information about him to be able to gain the confidence of Karla and Pete, the managing ediitors, to be able to get Allen's new contact info. (Heaven is a Secret)?
How will we be able to locate Tpetal in the future?
How is the Art Heist connected to this?
Have you had contact with either David Waters or Julian Thalberg and how are they connected to this?
What do you know of Elena Saarinen?
Watch out for John Green, Renny Duncan, Claudia Reece, and Scott Hargrave, also William (and "Philosopher"); We have reason to believe they are all looking for organizations leak!
[7:53:36 PM] Sebring says: If you don't feel comfortable discussing this info because of security reason please mail Duplicity a post card from the beach telling him where you are vacationing next.

And MORE chatting, this time by one of our group that was in contact with T.petal previously.

[9:21:58 PM] <Allentown> says: Hey, good to see you. We have made some progress and will need your help to continue.
[10:20:37 PM] t. petal says: Are you there?
[10:23:06 PM] t. petal says: Duplicity, are you there?
[10:30:01 PM] <Allentown> says: I am here
[10:30:10 PM] <Allentown> says: sorry, I was AFK
[10:32:48 PM] t. petal says: There's someone named surfzoned on the other channel, who is he?
[10:33:02 PM] <Allentown> says: He is one of us.
[10:33:39 PM] t. petal says: Why is he calling himself Sebring?
[10:35:28 PM] <Allentown> says: I honestly do not know. What can you tell me about your friend Mr. Portman? We need to convince his former employers that we actually knew Allen.
[10:35:28 PM] t. petal says: I know you. The fact that I'm still walking after we talked last time means you are probably OK.
[10:35:59 PM] t. petal says: I thought from your message you had a lead.
[10:36:03 PM] <Allentown> says: I think we are close to contacting Allen.
[10:36:37 PM] <Allentown> says: We found the newspaper. The paper is at a site called freewebs.com
[10:36:37 PM] t. petal says: Is the paper on the site you mentioned in a round about way?
[10:36:56 PM] <Allentown> says: Yeah... thats the one. It is under Heaven is a Secret
[10:37:02 PM] t. petal says: Hold on.
[10:38:36 PM] t. petal says: OK, back. If you can varify this sebring/surf guy you can get with him later. Now, who did you talk to at the paper?
[10:39:08 PM] <Allentown> says: Karla is the person we have contacted at Heaven is a Secret
[10:39:29 PM] t. petal says: What did she say about Allen?
[10:39:33 PM] <Allentown> says: She wants us to prove we have some connection to Allen Portman.
[10:39:42 PM] <Allentown> says: I was hoping you could help us out.
[10:40:00 PM] <Allentown> says: I know you said that he used to wear a hat all the time.
[10:40:10 PM] <Allentown> says: Can you give me anything else?
[10:41:02 PM] t. petal says: Anyone would know about the hat. Anyone who has spoken at length with Allen would have probably heard him talk about FRACTAL and I think he may have even written about that. So that probably doesn't help.
[10:41:13 PM] t. petal says: Wait, I think I have something.
[10:43:36 PM] t. petal says: Allen only gets drunk when he is around friends. He'll drink socially, but he doesn't let his guard down unless he feels safe. And any time he gets loaded he always tells a story about some girl named Karianne.
[10:44:00 PM] <Allentown> says: Can you remember anything from his story about Karianne?
[10:44:01 PM] t. petal says: Is there any way Green might know about this site?
[10:44:31 PM] t. petal says: She was blond and had amber colored eyes.
[10:44:55 PM] t. petal says: And he woould go on about how he was the biggest fool in the world becuase of her.
[10:45:13 PM] <Allentown> says: I heard that someone may have given him info on this site. However we have nothing credible to make us believe that Green knows anything.
[10:45:36 PM] t. petal says: Have any of your people been threatened? What about that guy Jeff?
[10:45:37 PM] <Allentown> says: Also to hit on a couple of things we spoke about last time.
[10:45:47 PM] <Allentown> says: Jeff is missing in action
[10:45:57 PM] t. petal says: I went to the link you gave me last time and looked at all the comments. He hasn't posted a comment in a long time.
[10:46:16 PM] <Allentown> says: And I was wondering what I should call you? Do you have a name?
[10:46:59 PM] t. petal says: petal is fine. I don't think I can stay at this site for much longer. I need a way to tell you if I have to move.
[10:47:13 PM] <Allentown> says: Jeff has not been on since the last time we spoke. I fear they may have gotten to him.
[10:48:01 PM] <Allentown> says: OK You can email me at <Allentown> or just post a message on your blog.
[10:48:01 PM] t. petal says: I was afraid of that. You don't think your people told Green anything that would have put him on to Jeff, do you. You guys have got to be careful.
[10:48:51 PM] <Allentown> says: I can't be sure. I don't think that any of our people would intentionally do something like that but as we both know... you can never fully trust anyone.
[10:48:58 PM] <Allentown> says: Hell for all I know... you are Green.
[10:49:17 PM] t. petal says: OK, I'll probably use the e-mail.
[10:49:32 PM] t. petal says: That will be in the first sentence of the e-mail.
[10:49:43 PM] <Allentown> says: Excellent choice of authors.
[10:49:58 PM] <Allentown> says: Is there anything else you can think of before you go?
[10:50:03 PM] t. petal says: I think if I were Green I wouldn't need your help.
[10:50:12 PM] <Allentown> says: Good point.
[10:50:38 PM] t. petal says: I don't have very much free time to analyse this stuff I'm getting, but
[10:51:16 PM] t. petal says: I've been trying to put together a timeline and and some notes. Do you think that would be of use to you guys?
[10:51:32 PM] <Allentown> says: Most definitely
[10:51:57 PM] <Allentown> says: Anything you can send our way would help steer us in the right direction.
[10:52:38 PM] t. petal says: I was building it under an ID that had petal in the name. I don't feel comfortable with that now. I'm concerned that some of your people may have been given Green info. I'll contact you when I rebuild it.
[10:52:52 PM] t. petal says: Who else can I trust in your group. How can they ID themselves?
[10:55:55 PM] t. petal says: Try to be cool with the lady at the paper, I know she is probably into this stuff, but you should involve her more than necessary. I'm really concerned about that guy Jeff.
[10:56:26 PM] <Allentown> says: I think that is a very wise idea.
[10:56:43 PM] t. petal says: should NOT involve her more than necessary, I meant. (see I'm stressed out...)
[10:57:18 PM] <Allentown> says: I got ya. We do not need to lose anymore contacts the way we lost Jeff.
[10:58:07 PM] <Allentown> says: I can tell you that Surfzoned and <Allentown> are good to go.
[10:59:14 PM] t. petal says: definitely do not mention osprey in public.
[11:00:05 PM] t. petal says: use flightless birds instead
[11:00:28 PM] t. petal says: What have you been able to find out about the project?
[11:00:46 PM] t. petal says: Who is Julian?
[11:01:18 PM] <Allentown> says: Only the info that you have sent over. I know that Julian has a recording device in his arm. I do not know much about the other guy... David I think.
[11:02:03 PM] t. petal says: From the files it is obvious that a big part of this is about surveillance. Augmented HUMINT. You should all be very careful.
[11:03:41 PM] t. petal says: anything you can do to stay off the keyword search lists will help.
[11:04:37 PM] <Allentown> says: Cool. You mentioned something earlier... FRACTAL... what is that?
[11:04:38 PM] t. petal says: You guys realize that all unencrypted domestic and international traffic is scanned, right?
[11:05:49 PM] <Allentown> says: Good point.
[11:05:54 PM] t. petal says: I've got about 6 minutes before the window closes on the stuff I'm using to keep this clean. FRACTAL is what Allen was chasing. A BIG conspiracy theory that involves just about everything.
[11:06:24 PM] t. petal says: Most of it sounded like crap to me, but a couple of the things he told me about have turned out to be true, so who knows.
[11:06:47 PM] <Allentown> says: I will share this with the group. Is there information out there on FRACTAL?
[11:08:09 PM] t. petal says: He's been trying to put the pieces together. I strongly doubt it, he hadn't really ever published much. I know that there was a strong tie to Foster back when that went down, but that's been awhile.
[11:08:26 PM] <Allentown> says: Foster?

Which was followed by an email from T.petal

Jeff is dead.

I checked a couple things after we talked. He died in a car accident on the night on June 29th. The accident report says that he ran head-on into a metal street light at high speed. He was on his way home from a club where was was seen by many people to have been drinking heavily. He didn't have any family.

If you get anything from him it is almost certainly from Green or his people.

I've got to go. I'll be in touch when I can, or if I find anything else.

More information from T.petal trying to gain contact with You on his behalf.

I don't know Pete, but if his paper accepted something that Allen wrote then he is very likely out on the fringe. Allen was all over the place at SXSW, meeting with lots of people. I wasn't aware that he was meeting with film people, though. But I know Allen is a film buff. Especially documentaries. I read Pete's questions as surprise, but I'm not sure what would have surprised him about what Sebring wrote.

I would play it honest but close with Pete, if he catches someone in a lie he'll shut down. I know I would. He obviously feels protective of Allen, if you can convince him you are trying to help Allen he may talk to you. Tell him that you do not want to meet or contact Allen directly, that you just want to get information to him and that you are willing to provide that through him or some other cut-out or method that he stipulates. That will show him that he is in control.

And FINALLY, T.petal decided he/she needed to evade possible detection and has gone to calling him/her-self T.calyx and can be contacted at Exhibit J)
http://www.librarything.com/profile.php?view=tcalyx

We have left out certain codewords necessary to contact him/her directly because WE aren't sure we can trust Pete yet. At this time we can't entrust our source's safety to anyone outside <Allentown> . Which is something we are hoping he will be able to help us remedy.

If you or Pete have any questions/comments please feel free to ask/make them.
Thank you,
Sebring and <Allentown>

P.S. A direct digital link with Allen, which we are given time to research for authenticity, would definitely satisfy our trust issues. We need not know Allen's actually earthly location only that it IS Allen we are communicating with.

--
To error is human; To error repeatedly means you're stupid!

Saint Germain to me Jul 15

Sebring,

I believe I can resolve any outstanding trust issues. I am familiar with certain aspects of what you have provided. The information you sent, some of it easily verifiable, would not have been provided by parties on the wrong side of this issue.

I also believe we need to communicate more directly, and in so doing I should be able to provide information that will address any trust issues on your end.

I will make myself available on google talk at 5:50pdt, 6:40pdt, and again at 7:30pdt today with the intent of making contact with you. I will be online for exactly two minutes at each time mark. You will identify yourself with the keyword "candlewyck". I will respond with the phrase "our daily bread".

germain

I was online for the 6:40 googletalk session. Which is where he showed me http://focusonfilm.wordpress.com/ and gave me ONE password for the .jpg picture file which had exactly what I send to all but 2 forum board members. BTW, I did some digging into the code used to create the picture file and there was no hidden content. The only thing interesting was that the creator of the document used Adobe Photoshop CS Mac OS version software.
The encoded letter you each have a copy of is the only thing Pete has gotten from Allen in a while and Pete isn't sure where Allen is at. Pete need s us to decrypt it so Pete can contact him as well.

[edit - save spoiler tag for puzzle solve - copy of an email and any information should just use quote tag. why would you spoiler something that folks are going to read anyway? - kona]

Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 7:31 am

gott_sei_dank
Decorated

Joined: 15 Apr 2007
Posts: 191

Would like the original .jpg please.

Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 8:04 am

surfzoned
Decorated

Joined: 30 Jun 2007
Posts: 237
Location: City of Denial, Nation of Sheeple

GRR i need more sleep
number edit

The 34 on the top row is actually a 04. I typed it up after being awake 31 hours straight.

Spoiler (Rollover to View):

http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/8773/apletterqz2.jpg

^^^This is the image from the site^^^
The password that got us this doesn't work on anything else, I tried.

Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 8:30 am
Last edited by surfzoned on Mon Jul 16, 2007 7:40 pm; edited 2 times in total

zizka
Decorated

Joined: 02 Jul 2007
Posts: 157
Location: Basement of the Alamo

wow. that is everything, isn't it? That is, as far as I can tell 100% of the relevant info up to that point. Nicely done.

I thought about quoting it, just to be a punk. It is 8:40AM on Monday morning after all. Razz

Back to work. . . and to "work." Wink

_________________
Question

Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 8:42 am

konamouse
Official uF Dietitian

Joined: 02 Dec 2002
Posts: 8010
Location: My own alternate reality

Re: Hi

surfzoned wrote:

Check your INBOX please.
From letter frequency counts I've noticed that the number 34 is kind of an oddball number in a 26 letter alphabet. 34 could be an actual number meaning some kind of rotational crypto pattern.
Besides that the frequencies seem normal for the english language.
Still working on it..

hope to see your messages in my Inbox soon

Why did you send a puzzle message in PM? And then asked me to NOT post it to the thread? That isn't how we roll here in unFiction. We're a community that works together in playing ARGs. It's not a competition and it's not "us vs them". If there is a "spy" in the midst then the Puppet Master has a flaw in his/her game (if they are using information posted on uF then they are breaking TOS).

Sorry, I have not been following this game so I cannot be of any help in solving your puzzle. But if I did, then I would post it in here (cause that is how I roll).

_________________
'squeek'
r u a Sammeeeee? I am Forever!

Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 8:43 am

Abraxas
Unfettered

Joined: 27 Aug 2005
Posts: 736
Location: Cologne, Germany

The name of the jpg seems to be a clue.

With the little knowledge I have, it looks like a substitution cipher. Although the "2.5" after "autoreromanzo" should mean something.

Anyone afraid this might be an Italian plaintext? Laughing

If so, I give up right now. They have 3 "top" letters with almost the same frequency percentage. Granted, that doesn't really mirror in the cipher text(look below). Probably not worst case scenario, then.
here's Italian letter frequency
Might not be the most trusting source, I just found that in a few seconds.

Here's the letter frequency I got:

Code:

l : 35
b : 19
d : 18
c : 18
g : 17
s : 15
u : 13
h : 13
e : 11
f : 10
o : 8
w : 8
j : 7
a : 6
q : 6
p : 5
m : 4
i : 4
n : 4
r : 3
k : 1
t : 1
z : 0
y : 0
v : 0
x : 0

I need to go, have fun.

Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 9:11 am

mortality
Unfettered

Joined: 12 Jul 2007
Posts: 428

Failures so far

I initially tried a modular decryption when the 34 error was included. That obviously didn't work. I'll try it again when I have time.

I don't think it's a Caesar/Rotation cipher. I tried the easy solve by swapping [01=A, 02=B...] and then used a brute force decrypter to try all 26 shifts. It didn't produce anything intelligible. In any language.

Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 10:57 am
Last edited by mortality on Wed Jul 18, 2007 7:47 pm; edited 1 time in total

zizka
Decorated

Joined: 02 Jul 2007
Posts: 157
Location: Basement of the Alamo

that's my frrequency as well. I had a bad feeling that this might be Italian, but Eco is widely available and widely read in very well-translated English (TNotR and FP are at the top of my list), so I 've been procedeing on the (hopeful) assumption that it is English. I saw the possiblility that the "autoreromanzo" could be a key, but no idea how it would work.

Just grinding away at it. I should be on IRC in the next hour or so.

Cracked it, just need to fill in some details. should have it finished by end of day. Got all of the broad strokes down--about 75% decoded, but I think i messed up and left some old speculative substitutions in becaue two full lines are gibberish and parts of a few others don't quite add up, so I need to clear it and sub in what I know to be correct. Should be about 20 minutes of solid work. We'll see how the paying job cooperates. . .

well. i cracked it near the end of the day and emailed it to myself. either the U's servers are being slow or something went wrong, since it's not arrived yet. There is no concrete conteact info; it seems mostly to tell us what ol' AP is up to. Pretty interesting stuff is in store for us, perhaps. Maybe one of the guys from IRC managed to log the chat where I was working it out. we were in there talking when I finished it. If so, great! I'm gonna eat dinner and see if it's been delivered when I'm done. tomorrow, I'll take a thumb drive to work Razz

Just wanted you guys to know you can stop grinding on it. I'll have it up for you sometime soon. Very Happy

_________________
Question

Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 11:07 am

zizka
Decorated

Joined: 02 Jul 2007
Posts: 157
Location: Basement of the Alamo

Cracked (also I'm a little dumb)

Of couse I had sent the email to myself from work to a home account, but my ability to generate on-line personna and email accounts is far greater than my ability to kep track of them, so upon checking a differnt account, I found it sitting patient and pretty like a little present:

If anyone wants to see the origianl cypher, let me know; I'll post it.

Spoiler (Rollover to View):

Very close to shape of fractal. Promis has become visage. Unprecedented access and xref of all intel databases. Cannot be detected by target system. OIS is pursuing end of due process. Rumor of new tech could be start of Big Brother. Are after me. Don't believe in accident. More soon."

Now if we only knew what autoreromanzo was all about...

I discussed this on IRC with Vols and Bax while I was still banging out the finer points:

Spoiler (Rollover to View):

PROMIS is a database management system used by the DoJ and other governemnt agencies. It has a sordid past of theft, intrigue, and supposed murder. Vols found this site: http://www.webcom.com/~lpease/collections/conspiracies/inslaw.htm also the Wiki article may help. Visage seems to be tied to face recognition systems.

Any guesses on the rest?

Sorry about the delay. I'm have some moderate ability to crack simple subs, but I can be, ahm, "endearingly" dumb with most other stuff. Razz

_________________
Question

Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 9:00 pm

n2vols13
Boot

Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 62
Location: Florida

Just Spec

this is just specu:

Promis was made by a company named Inslaw....

INSLAW pioneered the use of advanced software engineering tools to customize application software to the specific requirements of each customer.
I think that this mic or system that has been implanted in Julian can not be detected by any targeting systems..therefore the DOJ can use it to spy on whom ever they see fit to do so. OIS is just one of ISLAWS customers....if you read the begining of this article you can see that they do not play they areout for blood:
http://www.webcom.com/~lpease/collections/conspiracies/inslaw.htm
like i said this is just spec...trying to make sense of it is all let me know what you think....

Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 10:00 pm

Coffeebean
Unfettered

Joined: 11 Jun 2007
Posts: 626

Great work!

All I could get was the E and the S ...lol

New post up at HIAS.

Calyx = Kidney

Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 10:22 pm

mortality
Unfettered

Joined: 12 Jul 2007
Posts: 428

Re: Just Spec

n2vols13 wrote:

The mic seems to be tangential because PROMIS was about analyzing data that's already gathered. The program was meant to improve case management by making it possible to collate and analyze legal information located in separate databases and in different formats. INSLAW alleges that DOJ and Mossad stole the software and then modified it to perform broader intelligence tasks. And the tale only gets more sordid from there.

Here is a Wired article on PROMIS. A somewhat more reputable source, at least.

OIS likely wasn't a direct customer of INSLAW, but got their hands on the plundered software and have turned it to their own purposes.

Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 12:05 am

Coffeebean
Unfettered

Joined: 11 Jun 2007
Posts: 626

HIAS
date?

I may be imagining things, but when the Chennai article was first posted, I thought it had an old date (like 2005), now it has current date (july12,2007).

I didn't save it, so I wondered if anyone else can tell me if the date changed or not. (And why would they post an old article then change it?)

***maybe that encrypted message has messed up my head***

Smile

Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 1:28 am

mortality
Unfettered

Joined: 12 Jul 2007
Posts: 428

HIAS

I don't recall seeing the Chennai post with another date.

Assorted notes and errata-
HIAS: the post times are listed as UTC-4. That's Eastern Daylight Saving Time. So they're either being written on the East Coast or intended for an East Coast audience. Or it's completely irrelevant.

Cipher: Given that 'visage' seems to be used by cipher in reference to the shape of FRACTAL, I'm inclined to believe that it was just an obscure of saying Promis is the main aspect of FRACTAL; that it's not related to face recognition software.

Promis: The background on it mentions Mossad involvement. The earlier discussion about Israel wanting VM-22 Ospreys seemed to be a non sequitur. Now there's more of an explicit link.

Two other, kinda meta thoughts-
1)Should we make copies of the collateral files and mirror them someplace? We know that OIS, Green and Reece are looking for the leak. And they already cleaned up the TCJ site. Might be wise to have backups available.

2)Re: moles in our midst, would a password-protected wiki be off-limits to in-game characters? More flexible than mass email once it's set up.

Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 5:31 am

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