To be the Lucky “One”

There exists three ciphers written by a mysterious man named Thomas Beale between the time of 1819 and 1821 that ultimately lead to the location of thirty million dollars worth of gold coins, as the story goes. As of today, only one of the three Beale ciphers have been successfully decrypted. The cipher that was decrypted was decrypted using a draft of the Declaration of Independence from the time period of which the cipher was written. The decrypted cipher detailed exactly what the treasure contained. I believe it is this hope and small taste of success that keeps treasure hunters and cryptanalysis busy at work trying to be the first to find the treasure, if it still or ever actually exists.

Despite a lack of success of decrypting the remaining two ciphers for well over a hundred years, cryptanalysis of amateurs and professionals alike still spend hours trying to be the “one” to finally put the mystery to rest. I believe the exhilaration gained from the Beale ciphers is the same type of exhilaration that keeps casinos running. People like to believe they will be the lucky “one”. For some it is that they will win the lottery, but to cryptanalysis, they want to be the “one” to crack the Beale ciphers, for not only the riches and fame, but the thrill of the hunt and possibly even the chance of false hope.