Preliminary Report on Project MK-ZODIAC
An Abstract of the Zodiac Killer
by Rick Salas
writing as Ricardo Eugirtni Gomez
Copyright © 2008-2009 Rick Salas
The Zodiac´s Game
340-symbol cipher
Not a Boo-Boo
The Zodiac left behind a notorious legacy of murders and communications which have continued to perplex those who have learned about the case.
There was one cipher in particular which has stumped investigators for years, the 340-symbol cipher which was sent with a greeting card (postmarked November 8, 1969).
By observation, there is one symbol which was crossed out and replaced by another symbol in this particular cipher.
Some investigators have thought it was just a correction or a mistake in the cipher, as it was not uncommon for the Zodiac to cross out and replace words in other written communications.
However, as will be explained, this particular symbol substitution is not merely a correction of a mistake.
It is not a boo-boo.
Instead, as will become evident, it is actually one of several specific clues to the solution of the 340-symbol cipher.
Essentially, the Zodiac was leaving clues to the Zodiac´s identity.
As the mysteries of the Zodiac case deepened with time, its seems doubtful that even the Zodiac could have anticipated the incubation of Project MK-ZODIAC.
As will be revealed, the clues to the solution of the 340-symbol cipher were eventually clarified through the activities of Project MK-ZODIAC.
The clues were always there.
The Zodiac´s References to a Game
There are three references to a "game" in the Zodiac´s communications.
In the communication from the Zodiac dated November 29, 1966, The Confession included the following reference to a "game".
I AM NOT SICK. I AM INSANE. BUT THAT WILL NOT STOP THE GAME.
In the communication from the Zodiac dated July 31, 1969, the cipher included the following reference to a "game".
IT IS MORE FUN THAN KILLING WILD GAME IN THE FORREST BECAUSE MAN IS THE MOST DANGEROUE ANAMAL OF ALL.
In the communication from the Zodiac dated October 27, 1970, the Halloween card included the following reference to a "game".
...But, then, why spoil the game!
Albeit that the word "game" is being used in different contexts, these references to a "game" aroused suspicion that there was actually some sort of hidden game included in the Zodiac´s communications.
Eventually, it became evident that there was a puzzle hidden in the Zodiac´s communications which could be interpreted literally as a game.
It was the Zodiac´s word game.
"lav"
front of envelope 10-27-70
There was the communication from the Zodiac dated October 27, 1970, addressed to Paul Avery. (Note: Paul Avery´s name was misspelled by the Zodiac as "Paul Averly".)
On the front of the envelope the alphabetical symbols "lav" were underlined (in the words "Paul Averly").
back of card 10-27-70
Also, on the back of the Halloween card, the alphabetical symbols "LAV" are prominently displayed (in the word "SLAVES").
communication 02-14-74
There is an alleged communication from the Zodiac dated February 14, 1974, which stated the following:
Dear Mr. Editor,
Did you know that the initials SLA (Symbionese Liberation Army) spell "sla", an old Norse word meaning "kill".
a friend
There was a line drawn above the last three alphabetical symbols in the word "friend" which spell the word "end".
The line over "end" on the communication dated February 14, 1974, is somewhat reminiscent of the line under "lav" on the front of the envelope dated October 27, 1970.
Furthermore, it ought to be mentioned that February 14 is Valentine´s Day and the word "Valentine´s" begins with the alphabetical symbols "val".
The word "lav" is a Latin word meaning "wash" or "clean".
The word "lav" backwards is the word "val".
The word "val" is an Old Norse word meaning "slaughter" or "slay" or "kill".
The word "val" is a related to the Old Norse word "valr" meaning "the dead" or "the slain" or "corpses on the battlefield".
Also, the word "val" is the rootword of the word "Valhalla" (which is an Old Norse word meaning "hall of the slain") and the word "Valkyrie" (which is an Old Norse word meaning "chooser of the slain").
Consequently, this is evidence that indicates that the Zodiac wrote the communication dated February 14, 1974, because the message provides a subtle hint to the previous communication dated October 27, 1970.
It may be pondered that, if the Zodiac had wanted to be blatant, the Zodiac could have written the following:
Did you know that the alphabetical symbols "lav" backwards spell "val", an Old Norse word meaning "kill".
"cerous", "cid", and "doo"
inside of card 10-27-70
Also, in the communication from the Zodiac dated October 27, 1970, on the inside of the Halloween card, it is evident that the word "doomed" is separated into the word "dood" and the word "me".
communication 04-20-70
On the communication from the Zodiac dated April 20, 1970, the word "do" is misspelled as "doo".
The word "dood" is a Dutch word meaning "death" or "dead".
Also, there are two other prominent misspellings in this particular communication, "cerous" and "cid".
Each of these words is a portmanteau.
In Lewis Carroll´s book, "Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There", Humpty Dumpty explains to Alice the concept of a portmanteau, "You see it´s like a portmanteau - there are two meanings packed up into one word."
A portmanteau blends the sounds of two words together to make a new word which combines their meanings.
The word "cerous" is a combination of the word "curious" and the word "serious".
The word "cid" is a combination of the word "child" and the word "kid".
Not only is each of these words a portmanteau, but also each word includes a hidden word in another language.
The word "cerous" includes the word "cer".
The word "cer" (also spelled "ker") is a Greek word meaning "death" or "death spirit".
The word "cid" is a Latin word meaning "kill" or "cut".
Word Combinations
A portmanteau is an example of a particular variation of word combinations.
The Zodiac´s word game also uses other types of word combinations.
In the communication from the Zodiac dated November 9, 1969, there is a word which may be interpreted as either "barking" or "parking".
The dogs never came with in 2 blocks of me & they were to the west & there was only 2 groups of barking/parking about 10 min apart then the motor cicles went by about 150 ft away going from south to north west.
The word "barking"/"parking" was deliberately written in such a way as to be ambiguous.
Another example of the use of word combinations is the word "phomphit" included in the communication from the Zodiac dated July 26, 1970.
The words "phom phit" are Thai words meaning "I am at fault" or "my fault" or "mea culpa".
Additionally, it may be speculated that the word "phomphit" is a combination of "puff it" and "vomit".
It seems that "puff it" is deliberately spelled "phuphit" to allow the portmanteau to be formed which will include the hidden Thai words.
"shought"
There was the communication from the Zodiac dated July 31, 1971, which included the following words:
shought victims 21
The word "shought" is a portmanteau.
The word "shought" is a combination of the word "shot" and the word "sought".
Also, the word "shought" includes the hidden word "hough".
The word "hough" is an English word meaning "disable by cutting the tendons of the ham or knee" or "hamstring".
"Zodiac"
The word "Zodiac" is similar to a portmanteau.
The word "Zodiac" is a combination of the word "zoa" and the word "cid" ("dic" backwards).
The word "zoa" is a Greek word meaning "animal" or "life".
The word "cid" is a Latin word meaning "kill" or "cut".
Therefore, the word "Zodiac" may be interpreted to mean "kill animal".
408-symbol cipher
408-symbol cipher
There was the communication from the Zodiac dated July 31, 1969, which included a three-part 408-symbol cipher.
In this communication, the Zodiac stated that "In this cipher is my idenity."
The word "identity" is spelled "idenity".
The word "idenity" is a combination of the word "id" and the word "enit".
The word "id" is an English word meaning "the primitive, unconscious part of the human personality".
The word "enit" is a Welsh word meaning "soul" or "life".
In each part of the 408-symbol cipher, there is a word which has a deliberate spelling mistake when deciphered.
In the first part of the 408-symbol cipher, the word "dangerous" is spelled "dangeroue".
Under close inspection, the word "dangeroue" is actually the word "dangertue" which includes the hidden word "tue".
The word "tue" is a French word meaning "kill".
Morphemes
As has been shown, these are all examples of the Zodiac´s word game.
The Zodiac´s word game is based upon morphemes.
The morphemes are often obscure.
The morphemes are often words in different languages.
The morphemes are often spelled forwards or backwards.
The morphemes are often hidden within longer (misspelled) words.
The morphemes may be used in conjunction with portmanteaus or other types of word combinations.
Other examples of the Zodiac´s word game include the following morphemes:
The word "buss" is a Dutch and German word meaning "gun".
The word "coup" is a French word meaning "cut".
The word "som" is a Greek word meaning "body".
The word "des" is a variation of the French word "deces" meaning "deceased".
The morphemes used in the Zodiac´s word game are often words which may no longer be commonly used at this time.
For example, the word "buss" is an obscure word derived from the Middle Dutch word "busse" which was a word meaning box or tube.
The word "buss" was used to describe the barrel or pipe of a gun.
Variations of the word "buss" include the German word "büchse" and the Dutch word "buis".
The word "buss" is the root word for "blunderbuss" and "arquebus" ("harquebus") which refer to different types of guns.
Theodore Kaczynski
With the knowledge of the Zodiac´s linguistic ability, particularly with non-English languages, demonstrated in the Zodiac´s word game, it is reasonable to examine Theodore Kaczynski as a suspect because it is known that Theodore Kaczynski is fluent in English, German, and Spanish.
There is an FBI document of the list of books which was found in Theodore Kaczynski´s cabin in Montana.
(In August, 2003, Theodore Kaczynski filed a lawsuit to request the return of items found in the cabin in Montana and included a copy of an FBI document of the list of books with the motion which was posted online at www.thesmokinggun.com.)
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/tedkbooks1.html
This list of books is evidence that Theodore Kaczynski studied a variety of languages, including Chinese, Czech, Egyptian, English, Finnish, French, German, Latin, Russian, and Spanish.
List of Meanings
There is a document titled "List of Meanings" which was found in Theodore Kaczynski´s cabin.
(A copy of this document titled "List of Meanings" was included in the book "Harvard And The Unabomber" by Alston Chase, published in 2003.)
In this "List of Meanings", Theodore Kaczynski included the following:
79 = OM
80 = PLOD
81 = ILL
82 = ETONA
Each of these morphemes is a word which has been shortened from another word by removing alphabetical symbols from the front and/or the back of each word, as follows
"BOMB" = "OM" (The "B" at the beginning and the "B" at the end have been removed.)
"EXPLODE" = "PLOD" (The "EX" at the beginning and the "E" at the end have been removed.
"KILL" = "ILL" (The "K" at the beginning has been removed.)
"DETONATE" = "ETONA" (The "D" at the beginning and the "TE" at the end have been removed.)
Notably, each of these morphemes is a specific example of Theodore Kaczynski playing the word game.
The word "om" is an English word meaning the sacred and mystical syllable used in prayer and meditation for Buddhism and Hinduism.
Also, the word "om" is a Romanian word meaning "man" or "person" and a Catalan word meaning "elm".
The word "plod" is an English word meaning "slow labored walk".
Also, the word "om" is a Czech word meaning "fruit".
The word "ill" is an English word meaning "suffering from a disease"or "sick".
The word "ill" is derived from the Old Norse word "illr" meaning "bad" or "evil".
The word "etona" is an Etruscan word meaning "thunder" or "stun".
The word "etona" is related to the Latin word "attono".
Moreover, there is another reason for this reference to "ETONA".
The frequency of the alphabetical symbols in English is "ETONA" according to some sources.
This is significant to those involved with ciphers.
Specifically as concerns the frequency of the alphabetical symbols, another connection to the Zodiac is that there is evidence that the Zodiac was aware of "ETONA" because, in the three-part 408-symbol cipher, "ETONA" was used to determine the selection of the number of cipher symbols to substitute for each alphabetical symbol.
Seven different cipher symbols were substituted for the alphabetical symbol "E" (which has the highest frequency) and four different cipher symbols were substituted for each of the alphabetical symbols "T", "O", "N", and "A". Also, four different cipher symbols were substituted for each of the alphabetical symbols "I" and "S" which are the next most frequent alphabetical symbols.
"desease"
Another example of Theodore Kaczynski playing the word game is included in an unnamed essay written circa 1971.
http://www.corrupt.org/data/files/unabomber/etc/theodore_kaczynski-unnamed_essay_(1971).pdf
Theodore Kaczynski wrote the following:
Consider: Today, how can one argue against sex education? Sex education is designed not simply to present children with the bald facts of sex, it is designed to guide children to a healthy attitude toward sex. And who can argue against that? Think of all the misery suffered as a result of Victorian repressions, sexual perversions, frigidity, unwanted pregnancies, and venerial desease. If much of this can be eliminated by instilling "healthy" (as the social mainstream interprets that word) sexual attitudes in children, who can deny it to them? But it will be equally impossible to argue against any of the other steps that will eventually lead to the complete engineering of the human personality. Each step will be equally humanitarian in its goals.
In this excerpt, Theodore Kaczynski misspelled the word "disease" as "desease".
The word "desease" is similar to the word "decease".
The word "desease" is a portmanteau.
The word "desease" is a combination of the word "des" and and the word "ease".
As previously explained, the Zodiac used the word "des".
The word "des" is a variation of a French word "deces" meaning "deceased".
Also, Theodore Kaczynski´s use of the word "desease" may be compared to how the Zodiac used the word "descise".
The word "descise" is also a portmanteau.
The word "descise" is a combination of the word "des" and the word "cise".
The word "cise" is a Latin word meaning "cut". The word "cise" is related to the word "cide" and the word "cid" which, as previously explained, is a Latin word meaning "kill" or "cut".
The Court of Public Opinion
Therefore, it may be presented to the court of public opinion that it is evident that Theodore Kaczynski knew how to play the word game.
This particular word game is of such a nature that it would only have been possible to be played by a small percentage of the general population, specifically, those who understand foreign languages, morphemes, and portmanteaus.
The Zodiac´s word game was not revealed until December 20, 2008, on the bus tour with the Zodiac task force members on their trip to Lake Herman Road in Vallejo for the 40th anniversary of the Zodiac mystery.
In combination with other evidence regarding Theodore Kaczynski and the Zodiac which is included in the book "The Unabomber and the Zodiac" by Douglas Oswell, published in 2007, it ought to be considered whether or not there is any reasonable doubt that Theodore Kaczynski is the identity of the Zodiac.
The Challenge of Project MK-ZODIAC
At this time, those interested in the Zodiac case are being invited to participate in the experiments of Project MK-ZODIAC.
One of the ways that others may assist Project MK-ZODIAC is to help identify the remaining hidden words in the Zodiac´s communications.
As there is a certain amount of interpretation involved due to the different languages (some more obscure than others), it is beneficial to have a diverse group of people analyzing the words.
Please submit suggestions to identify any morpheme, including the translation.
Email may be sent to project@mk-zodiac.com.
The information will be compiled and then it is expected that the results will be available in the future.
Selected List of Words with Unconventional Spellings Used by the Zodiac
November 1, 1966
brownett
choaked
twiched
July 31, 1969
Christmass
lyeing
pattrened
paterned
idenity
cyipher
frunt
Fry
cruse
coupples
untill
forrest
dangertue
experence
thae
Paradice
sloi
August ?, 1969
haveing
origionaly
tireing
backwords
trashing
squealling
raceing
shabbly
Christmass
epasode
victoms
silowets
pencel
celling
darck
October 31, 1969
motorcicles
frunt
November 8, 1969
though
aufully
Des
November 9, 1969
committ
entirle
descise
unnoticible
efective
efect
wipeing
clews
som
bussy
useing
cruzeing
barking/parking
abot
motor cicles
supicisous
waveing
dissapeared
doesnt
noze
rubed
positivily
ventalate
allready
aprox
machiene
re roat
shure
December 20, 1969
mery
Christmass
extreamly
dificult
loose
nineth
posibly
victom
drownding
triger
April 20, 1970
cerous
doo
teritory
cid
April 28, 1970
dont
every one
butons
considerbly
bluber
June 26, 1970
promiced
anilating
buss
untill
July 24, 1970
woeman
intersting
coupple
howers
July 26, 1970
wateing
Paradice
twich
untill
pleass
victom
pest-ulentual
nucences
whrite
im platt
shakeing
thoes
seranader
orginast
pepermint
phomphit
Idiout
phraises
in-thusastic
singurly
abnomily
Im
shure
impriest
hummerest
com-mic
uncompromiseing
wachamacallit
thingmebob
October 27, 1970
Paradice
March 13, 1971
allways
crack proof
evere
Im
January 29, 1974
saterical
comidy
him self
truley
sucides
May 8, 1974
expression
consternti
In the event that for any reason there is any discrepancy, please advise.
Project MK-ZODIAC is compiling a list of the words which were hidden in the Zodiac´s communications as part of the Zodiac´s word game. To submit suggestions, please email project@mk-zodiac.com.
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Project MK-ZODIAC
An Investigation of the Zodiac Killer
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