22 – A Codebreaker’s Quandary
Update at end of post ..
What nobody apparently realised when examining the Rubaiyat code throughout the years were the lengths the writer took to disguise what could only be a deliberate pattern in the letter placement, something that’s not obvious even after a lengthy examination.
< — Here:
Can you spot it?
Derek Abbott and his code-breakers couldn’t, or if they did he didn’t mention finding it and neither did the renowned cryptologist Nick Pelling or anyone of the hundreds of code breakers who have spent thousands of hours over the last seventy-five years trying to find a way into it. The best they could come up before giving up was that the code was an acrostic known only to the individual who created it.
Well, this may be of interest to them.
~~
THE PATTERN.
Come with me on this journey of discovery …..
Line 1: WRGOABABD
We continue assuming the second line is a mistake
Line 3: WTBIMPANETP
Line 4: MLIABOAIAQC
LINE 5: ITTMTSAMSTGAB
There’s the pAttern, one that’s handsomely disguised by the writer using gaps, compressing letters and generally sloppy handwriting.
The theory here is that if we use the letter A as a separator the code might be rewritten as follows:
LINE 1:WRGOAB
LINE 3: WTBIMP
LINE 4: MLIABO
LINE 5: ITTMTS
or …
LINE 1: BD
LINE 3: NETP
LINE 4: IAQC
LINE 5: MSTGAB
Fascinating stuff isn’t it?
Because this is the universe codebreakers inhabit and I thought if any of the survivors who spent so much valuable time trying to break the Rubaiyat code are still above ground they may be interested.
Of course the one problem we have is that the original Rubaiyat was reported lost early in the investigation and was unavailable when Naval Intelligence was asked to assist in deciphering the code as they were sent a ‘similar’ copy, denying them the opportunity to determine if the code written on the back cover was in any way related to the book’s content, being either inherent within the printed verse or slyly written between the lines in the same faint pencil as the code was written.
If nothing else this offbeat theory beats trying to convince the few remaining Somerton Man punters that Carl Webb looks to be the same height as his much shorter brother, not to mention keeping young Stevie H at a safe distance.
Update.
Then again, and given all the secrecy that surrounded the mystery why not add another and suggest the positioning of the A provided somebody with the identity of the writer .. his particular sign and nothing more.
The Somerton Man .. 
What about Carl VERY strongly resembling his deceased brother Roy?
On that note, I reverted to an earlier version of the comparison video so that now Roy’s background is intact (SM’s is still removed). I think it makes a difference and am asking that people take a look before outright dismissing the possibility (feel free to dismiss it afterwards or whatever).
https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/849170000
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Jessa, are you happy about the ears matching?
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They should not match because we’re looking at Roy’s left ear and SM’s right. I had to flip Roy’s photo in order to compare their profiles.
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Fair enough, what about Roy at 5’8” and Carl 3” higher?
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Duly noted, I have no explanation for it. TBH, the only thing I’m confident of is their uncanny resemblance. Am trying to wrap my head around the idea that someone looked more like SM than Roy and I’m not sure I have convinced myself yet if that makes sense. Nothing makes sense really.
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Do you see any resemblance between Carl aged 20+ and the Somerton Man aged 40+ ?
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I think they look related. The idea that Carl and & SM are one in the same is a hard sell for me because there is always someone else in the photo who looks more like SM than Carl does. How to reconcile this?
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Beats me. What’s surprising is that not many have a lasting interest in the case circumstances .. if those ends are ever tied up, which looks doubtful, it will make for a great story.
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It’s funny you mention that, my primary interest actually involves George Marshall, the circumstances of his death and the very weird (and at times factually incorrect) inquest that followed. There is enough very very loose circumstantial stuff to suggest that the Rubaiyat deaths may be connected. I have basically been bumbling around the archive trying to collect little pieces to strengthen the connection.
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I guess if anyone found Jessie’s name linked to George Marshall, then it would be most interesting to say the least. They were both in Sydney at the same time.
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Though I’m pretty staunch with my belief that none of the Webb’s are SM…
What I hadn’t picked up on before…though I expect many of you with a higher IQ than my extremely lowly one… was that the first letter of the first line is “W” and the last letter of the last line is “B” .
And, forgetting the struck out second line, we have an “E” in the third line and a “B” in the fourth.
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Jessa…”. The idea that Carl and & SM are one in the same is a hard sell for me because there is always someone else in the photo who looks more like SM than Carl does. How to reconcile this?”
What really is hard to reconcile is that the person who most looks like SM is Alf Boxall…and Harkness seems to have thought that, too.
Obviously, Boxall had a fairly strong alibi …considering he was alive, and stuff…but did Boxall have any brothers?
It’s a shame that when Stuart Littlemore interview him he didn’t think to nick a hair off his jumper.
Then again, I s’pose DNA tests were the last thing on his mind in 1977… (A GREAT year, BTW…Port ended the 12 year drought, and I was at Footy Park to see it.)
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Interesting that on the first 5 lines, I.e. before the letter ‘A’, there are 6 letters on each line, whilst the number of letters on the following 5 lines varies, coincidence?
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