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The 2nd Ship Traditional Geocache

This cache has been archived.

Cache-tech: As a previous finder has indicated this cache is missing and the cache owner is absent I am archiving this listing. Cache owner, if you return and replace this cache, email me through my profile linked from this log on the cache page. I will review the cache at that time under the current guidelines, if viable, the cache can be unarchived. Thank you.

Cache-tech
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Hidden : 5/30/2003
Difficulty:
3 out of 5
Terrain:
3 out of 5

Size: Size:   regular (regular)

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Geocache Description:


2nd UFO Found!

 

On June 11, 2002 a UFO was spotted over the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa. After extensive research, its location was been discovered. Scientists have long theorized that it was not traveling alone, but up until now, there has been no proof of a second ship. It has been recently revealed that there indeed was a second ship, and it was headed to Southern Ontario. It was spotted by visitors of the CN Tower where it hovered momentarily (some eye witnesses report seeing a flash similar to that of a camera coming from the ship...I wonder what website that picture ended up on?), and then was off like a shot in the general direction of Niagara Falls only to crash land somewhere over St. Catharines.. Rumours have spread about its appearance, but no official confirmation has been made public...until now. Due to public pressure the government has de-classified information on the second ship, but will not go as far as to reveal its actual location.

They have however provided some limited info that you can work with to determine its final resting place. Radar tracking has shown that when the ship stopped and hovered at the CN Tower is was at N43°38.635' W79°23.320'. It departed the tower and headed off at a heading of 157.8° for 48.139km. Then, for no apparent reason, the ship came to a full stop showing no sign of activity at N43°14.557' W79°09.833'. At this point the air traffic controllers at Pearson were paying much closer attention and began timing the ship's travels. They recorded that once it began moving again that it traveled for 40 seconds at 1477.44km/h on a heading of 206.0°. What shocked them was that the ship required no time to accelerate, going from zero to the recorded speed in less than the blink of an eye. At the 40 second mark, the ship disappeared off radar. Scientist are convinced that due to the sheer weight of the ship, that it fell straight down.


NOTE - You must figure out the final location of the cache before heading out! The posted coordinates are those of where the ship came to a stop en route to Niagara Falls and headed off course. This can be done with your GPS, however a more accurate projection can be made with GPS Utility. The final location IS within the boundaries of St. Catharines.

The cache container is a clear 1.2L tub with a white lid. The final location is near a trail in the area. However, the definition of 'trail' becomes looser as you get closer to the final location (but never disappears completely, with the exception of in a clearing of sorts, but it continues on after the small clearing). Also, the area has its share of thorn bushes so be on the look-out. Boots would also be recommended. The Terrain rating for this cache will fluctuate from 2 to 4 depending on how long it has been since the last rain fall.

Do not bother taking wind speed, drift, or other external factors into consideration. When calculating the distance, round to 3 decimal places. The Hint contains specific information on how to figure this out, but if you would like to tackle it without any assistance, all I can suggest is to make sure you keep your units straight and to work with True North and not Magnetic North.

And finally, because of the variance of projecting waypoints, I have provided the last three digits in order to ensure everyone is on the right track. Your calculation will not give you the exact final answer. It should give you an answer that is quite close but it will not be exact. And for this reason, simply substitute the last 3 digits of your calculation with the following NXX°XX.589' WXX°XX.157'. And as a double check, if you add up all of the digits of both the North and West coordinates it should equal 70. As a quick note, this projection works out properly even if your GPS allows only 1 decimal for the distance.

If you have any difficulty, require some clarification, or would like to have me confirm you have the correct coordinates, simply drop me an email and I will be more than happy to help you out.

A BIG thanks goes out to Zartimus for allowing me to add to his story to bring a new type of cache to this area! And cheers go out to him for waiting for the Freedom of Information Act request for the photo to come through.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

<html> <body> <p><font size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Svefg lbh arrq gb pnyphyngr gur qvfgnapr jvgu gur vasbezngvba tvira. </font></p> <p><font size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><strong>Qvfgnapr = Engr * Gvzr </strong></font></p> <p><font size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Va guvf pnfr vg vf vzcbegnag gb xrrc gur havgf fgenvtug. Fvapr gur engr vf va xvybzrgref cre ubhe gur gvzr arrqf gb or pbairegrq gb ubhef nf jryy. Gb pbaireg 40 frpbaqf gb zvahgrf naq gura ubhef qvivqr 40 ol 60 gjvpr naq gura zhygvcyl gung ol gur fcrrq, 1477.44 gb trg gur qvfgnapr va xvybzrgref. </font></p> <p><font size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><strong>Jnlcbvag cebwrpgvba</strong></font></p> <p><font size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Vs lbhe TCF qbrf abg unir jnlcbvag cebwrpgvba(be rira vs vg qbrf!), trg gur serrjner pbcl bs TCF Hgvyvgl.</font></p> <ul> <li><font size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Va “Bcgvbaf\Trareny” hapurpx zntargvp inevngvba </font></li> <li><font size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> Tb gb “Svyr\Arj” naq qbhoyr-pyvpx ba na rzcgl erpbeq gb ragre gur tvira jnlcbvag </font></li> <li><font size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Pyvpx ba gur “Znxr” ohggba naq fryrpg “znxr pheerag cbvag” </font></li> <li><font size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> vachg gur qvfgnapr (va zrgref abg xvybzrgref), naq gura gur ornevat 206.0</font></li> <li><font size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Gur cebwrpgrq jnlcbvag nobir punatrf gb gur ybpngvba bs gur pnpur(lbh jvyy unir gb ebhaq bss gur ynfg ahzore) <br> </font></li> </ul> <p><font size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Gurer vf n genvy npprff jvgu ebnqfvqr cnexvat. Va n srj ybpngvbaf lbhe TCF jvyy gryy lbh gung lbh ner jvguva 50 zrgerf bs gur pnpur, ohg V jbhyq fgebatyl qvfpbhentr ohfujnpxvat orpnhfr bs gur gubeaf. Juvyr genpxvat qbja n tbbq ybpngvba, V raqrq hc jvgu nobhg 5-6 va zl nezf. Fgvpx gb gur genvy(f) naq lbh fubhyq or bx nf ybat nf lbh ner pnershy. Jura lbh frr n ~4z ybat genvy yrnqvat etug gb gur jngre, gnxr gur bgure genvy gung vf irel pybfr ol. Gung genvy jvyy yrnq lbh gb n pyrnevat naq sebz gurer svaqvat gur pnpur fubhyq or fgenvtusbejneq. Sebz jurer V cnexrq, gur pnpur jnf ~410z ohg gur npghny jnyx jnf 863z.</font></p> </body> </html>

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)