HOW THE CODED MESSAGE GOT DECIPHERED



1. What started it all, was when I noticed the double letter S symbol (13 ) that is used in the German language. At that point in time everyone in the news media was calling it a capital B. That gave me the notion that the whole coded message was in German. What confirmed my notion further, was the fact that the style in which the letters and numbers were written showed me that it was the old German form of writing the alphabet and numbers. You can see the stylized letters in the image of the coded sign below.



2. The use of French or English in the code would have been easily detected in that part of the world (South East Asia). But German is not so common South East Asia. So, that may have been the logical choice for the code they used.

It is possible the three POWs somehow got hold of some old German books, a dictionary or even a book on codes and ciphers. That might explain the use of the old German style lettering and numbers in their code. Interesting note here: The majority of books published on ciphers and cryptography were written by the Germans in the late 19th century into the 20th century. German Army ciphers were nearly always practical and efficient.

3. I figured that there were only two ways this cryptic message could go.
a. One way, was that they would code or cipher the message to a particular formulated decoder. In which there would be only one way to break down the coded message to make sense. In this case it was near impossible, unless they were professional cryptologists with the means or equipment around to make or break a code.

b. The other way, would be for them to create the code, so that it was simple and easy for someone to decode or decipher their coded message. But then, not for everyone to decode, for their coded message seemed to be created for only certain people who would recognize the overall characteristics of the message. Perhaps the coded message was for their family members or military colleagues. It must have been a one shot deal for them to prove that there were POW/MIA still around. Supposedly, they had only one photo taken and the message had to have been planned in such a way as to convey what they desperately needed to say.

4. I took the double S symbol in the cryptic message to be a code for two words starting with the letter S. Since there are no words in the German language that start with the double S symbol. The decoding of the message was first done in the German language, due to the overall characteristics of the coded message. Then I translated the German into English. The decoded message was then completed.

5. Now, of the four lines of code, there is still one line that I am still working on. This is the first line of letters of the cryptic message at the top of the sign the three POWs are holding. The line reads as: PHO TO Now, to most people the spacing between the letters PHO and TO would have gone unnoticed and most people would have read it as the word PHOTO. Now maybe it was meant to be read as the word PHOTO, but the spacing between the letters PHO and TO has to be taken as part of the code. After all, the coded message in the sign they were holding was captured in a photograph and it would make no sense to say the obvious and waste valuable space in their coded message.

The line reading as PHO TO could indicate a place where they were imprisoned. The place could have been a town, a village or a river. Then also, it could be a name for a religious, historical or ethnic place. In South East Asia some towns and rivers start with the word or letters PHO. Examples: Pho Yen (Vietn.) Phon (Thai.) Pho Thale (Thai.) Phong Tho (N. Vietn.) Phon Thong (Thai.) and the Phoun River (Laos)

6. The layout of what I decoded from the cryptic message seen in the sign the three POWs were holding is on Page 3 of this document.
(PAGE 6 ON THIS SITE- CLICK HERE)




CONTINUE ON TO PAGE 6- THE CODED MESSAGE IN THE CRYPTIC SIGN

RETURN TO MYSTERY PHOTO HOME PAGE