bigscoop
Gold Member
- Jun 4, 2010
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- Older blue Excal with full mods, Equinox 800.
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
I’m starting this thread because I think some people are misunderstanding what I mean when I say, “the smoking gun”. My previous comments on the subject were short and to the point and I think some people were actually taking them as personal attacks, which they were not. Truth is, I really do appreciate everyone’s efforts in trying to solve this mystery, however, I’m also simply trying to make clear what is still missing in all of it, and this includes my own research, so no reason for anyone to take anything personally as the same thing is also lacking/absent in my own efforts.
So what do I mean when I say, “the smoking gun?” Quite simply I mean anything that conclusively confirms a suspicion or an assumption. It’s like fixing a leak in a boat, we can’t be certain the leak is actually fixed until we put the boat back in the water. Only then can we absolutely confirm that the leak has indeed been fixed. And thus the “smoking guns”, the required evidence that absolutely confirms a suspicion or an assumption. Or, if you will, the facts that absolutely confirm the facts. Think of it in terms of basic math, we use addition to confirm subtraction and we use subtraction to confirm addition. Hence we can absolutely confirm our solutions. So in essence, the smoking guns are “confirmation” that serve to absolutely confirm our assumptions and suspicions. Likewise, from a research standpoint, when the required confirmations are missing then were can only speculate, or assume, that our suspicions are correct. So “smoking guns” are simply various forms of positive confirmation, or the accompanying facts that actually turn our assumptions and suspicions into actual facts. Strong circumstantial evidence isn’t fact, it is strong circumstantial evidence, an assumption or suspicion that can’t be confirmed.
Ironically, when we look at all the various theories, suspects, etc., in regards to the Beale Pamphlet story there is always one constant, and that is the complete absence of the smoking guns to confirm all of the various claims. Who was Thomas Beale, “exactly”…a lot of theories, even a lot of strong circumstantial evidence, but certainly no absolute confirmation that allows us a positive I.D. as it being the same Thomas Beale in the pamphlet. Is the treasure portion of the story, or any portion of the treasure portion true? Again, no source of absolute confirmation to prove this one way or the other. Who actually wrote the pamphlet, and if he really existed, who was the unknown author? Again, a lot of claims and some strong circumstantial evidence, but certainly nothing to absolutely confirm any of these suspicions. Truth is, we simply don’t know the answers and we have no way of proving our suspicions because we have no smoking guns, or no alternate sources of confirmation that turn our suspicions into facts. Jean Laffite, the Patriot Army, the KGC, CSA, ect., ect., ect., so many claims and yet no smoking guns to confirm any of our strongest suspicions.
It’s extremely interesting when one investigates all of these theories and all of these claims as a single group, and yet still no smoking guns in any of it. The same can be said of all the research since the pamphlet was first published, no smoking guns to confirm any of the claims. This is why I keep asking, “Where’s all the smoking guns?” One would think that after so many years of research and so many compiled efforts and avenues that certainly one smoking gun would have been discovered, and yet still it alludes us. So many theories, so many avenues taken, so many suspects, so much circumstantial evidence, even a lot of strong circumstantial evidence, and yet not a single smoking gun connecting any of it directly to the Beale Pamphlet Story. This has been going on now for a 128 years and it is a mystery that passed through the hands of some of the best minds and research sources on the planet, and still no smoking guns. Is it because there are no smoking guns, which can only spell “fiction”, or is it because everyone has been asking all the wrong questions right from the very start?
Is the story a true account, or even a partially true account of a hidden treasure? In my opinion, he who discovers the smoking gun to this single question is far and away the most likely candidate to discover the true path to solving this mystery because that first smoking gun is certain to lead him to others.
So what do I mean when I say, “the smoking gun?” Quite simply I mean anything that conclusively confirms a suspicion or an assumption. It’s like fixing a leak in a boat, we can’t be certain the leak is actually fixed until we put the boat back in the water. Only then can we absolutely confirm that the leak has indeed been fixed. And thus the “smoking guns”, the required evidence that absolutely confirms a suspicion or an assumption. Or, if you will, the facts that absolutely confirm the facts. Think of it in terms of basic math, we use addition to confirm subtraction and we use subtraction to confirm addition. Hence we can absolutely confirm our solutions. So in essence, the smoking guns are “confirmation” that serve to absolutely confirm our assumptions and suspicions. Likewise, from a research standpoint, when the required confirmations are missing then were can only speculate, or assume, that our suspicions are correct. So “smoking guns” are simply various forms of positive confirmation, or the accompanying facts that actually turn our assumptions and suspicions into actual facts. Strong circumstantial evidence isn’t fact, it is strong circumstantial evidence, an assumption or suspicion that can’t be confirmed.
Ironically, when we look at all the various theories, suspects, etc., in regards to the Beale Pamphlet story there is always one constant, and that is the complete absence of the smoking guns to confirm all of the various claims. Who was Thomas Beale, “exactly”…a lot of theories, even a lot of strong circumstantial evidence, but certainly no absolute confirmation that allows us a positive I.D. as it being the same Thomas Beale in the pamphlet. Is the treasure portion of the story, or any portion of the treasure portion true? Again, no source of absolute confirmation to prove this one way or the other. Who actually wrote the pamphlet, and if he really existed, who was the unknown author? Again, a lot of claims and some strong circumstantial evidence, but certainly nothing to absolutely confirm any of these suspicions. Truth is, we simply don’t know the answers and we have no way of proving our suspicions because we have no smoking guns, or no alternate sources of confirmation that turn our suspicions into facts. Jean Laffite, the Patriot Army, the KGC, CSA, ect., ect., ect., so many claims and yet no smoking guns to confirm any of our strongest suspicions.
It’s extremely interesting when one investigates all of these theories and all of these claims as a single group, and yet still no smoking guns in any of it. The same can be said of all the research since the pamphlet was first published, no smoking guns to confirm any of the claims. This is why I keep asking, “Where’s all the smoking guns?” One would think that after so many years of research and so many compiled efforts and avenues that certainly one smoking gun would have been discovered, and yet still it alludes us. So many theories, so many avenues taken, so many suspects, so much circumstantial evidence, even a lot of strong circumstantial evidence, and yet not a single smoking gun connecting any of it directly to the Beale Pamphlet Story. This has been going on now for a 128 years and it is a mystery that passed through the hands of some of the best minds and research sources on the planet, and still no smoking guns. Is it because there are no smoking guns, which can only spell “fiction”, or is it because everyone has been asking all the wrong questions right from the very start?
Is the story a true account, or even a partially true account of a hidden treasure? In my opinion, he who discovers the smoking gun to this single question is far and away the most likely candidate to discover the true path to solving this mystery because that first smoking gun is certain to lead him to others.
