The Herbert O. Yardley Memorial Cache Mystery Cache
The Herbert O. Yardley Memorial Cache
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The cache is not at the posted coordinates. Those coordinates however are within 2.0 miles of the cache. The cryptogram below will provide you with the actual coordinates.
In the 1920's, Herbert O. Yardley headed up America's first peacetime Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) organization (MI-8). His most significant achievement came in 1921 with the breaking of the Japanese diplomatic code. This enabled the US delegation at the Washington Naval Conference to obtain significant concessions from the Japanese (i.e., Tonnage limits of 5:5:3 versus 10:10:7) since decrypted message traffic had provided the US government with details of the Japanese negotiation strategy and goals. It is amazing what you can do when you read the other guys mail!
When MI-8 was later terminated due to budgetary and ethical considerations, Yardley wrote the book "The American Black Chamber" documenting the group's triumphs. Needless to say, the Japanese immediately changed their diplomatic codes and Yardley became a pariah in US government circles. Yardley always claimed he wrote the book to protest a bad government decision. His enemies claimed he did it for money to maintain his extravagant lifestyle. Both reasons are probably partially true.
In any case, I thought Yardley deserved some type of memorial. Hence this cache.
Here is a nice 'Yardleygram' for your geocaching amusement:
DDWBVTB IYWSSWD BNWDWSW NEHACFD WMADMAG
CBHWEHA NEBNYIN BWTCGCD EHACDBT NG
The cache container is a micro, so bring your own pencil or pen. As with all my puzzle caches, I encourage you all to work in teams to solve it and/or to exchange hints with other cachers. I can't offer you much help on solving this one since I haven't worked out the cryptanalysis of this cipher type yet. Good luck!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Pvcure Glcr: N aba-NPN crevbqvp pvcure fvzvyne gb n OVSVQ.
Sbe gur pvcure: Fgnegf 'anabvapn'. Raqf 'arj'.
Sbe gur pnpur: Uvag rapvcurerq va pelcgbtenz.
Treasures
You'll collect a digital Treasure from one of these collections when you find and log this geocache:
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