WEBVTT
1
00:00:01.590 --> 00:00:06.389
Welcome back, everyone. Today we're heading back to June 30th, 1999.
2
00:00:06.389 --> 00:00:09.310
The body of a 41-year-old Ricky McCormick was discovered in
3
00:00:09.349 --> 00:00:13.560
a field in St. Louis or St. Charles, Missouri. Years later,
4
00:00:13.660 --> 00:00:16.140
something found with him would transform the case into one
5
00:00:16.160 --> 00:00:20.719
of America's strangest cryptographic mysteries. Inside McCormick's pockets were two
6
00:00:20.760 --> 00:00:25.870
handwritten notes. They almost looked like nonsense. Rows of capital, letters, numbers, parentheses,
7
00:00:26.530 --> 00:00:30.269
repeated combinations of characters. Perhaps they were meaningless. Perhaps they weren't.
8
00:00:30.929 --> 00:00:34.789
The FBI eventually became interested enough that in 2011 publicly
9
00:00:34.829 --> 00:00:37.250
released images of the notes and asked the public for assistance.
10
00:00:38.030 --> 00:00:41.609
Professional cryptanalysts had examined them without producing a convincing solution.
11
00:00:42.310 --> 00:00:45.490
Why did they matter? Because investigators believed they could contain
12
00:00:45.909 --> 00:00:50.350
information relevant to McCormick's death. The circumstances surrounding the discovery
13
00:00:50.380 --> 00:00:54.000
of his body were unusual. According to authorities, McCormick lived
14
00:00:54.039 --> 00:00:56.179
some distance from the location where he was found and
15
00:00:56.219 --> 00:00:59.990
investigators questioned why he would have been there. The notes, therefore,
16
00:01:00.070 --> 00:01:06.189
presented an irresistible possibility. Could McCormick have written down names, locations, apartments?
17
00:01:06.670 --> 00:01:09.730
Could the strange characters identify someone he planned to meet?
18
00:01:10.370 --> 00:01:13.400
Or were investigators looking at something much less dramatic, a
19
00:01:13.439 --> 00:01:17.939
private shorthand understandable only to McCormick himself? That possibility makes
20
00:01:17.980 --> 00:01:22.879
the case particularly difficult. Traditional cryptanalysts work best when there's structure.
21
00:01:23.540 --> 00:01:27.569
If one letter consistently substitutes for another, patterns can emerge.
22
00:01:27.650 --> 00:01:32.219
If words repeat... Analysts can examine frequency. Longer messages also
23
00:01:32.260 --> 00:01:35.980
provide additional material from which mathematical patterns may be identified,
24
00:01:36.400 --> 00:01:40.159
especially in today's world with AI, where they can distinguish
25
00:01:40.200 --> 00:01:44.159
a lot of patterns in people's writings. McCormick's notes are short,
26
00:01:44.500 --> 00:01:46.879
and nobody knows whether he was actually using a conventional
27
00:01:46.939 --> 00:01:50.560
cipher or not. Family members reportedly recognized the unusual writing
28
00:01:50.579 --> 00:01:54.079
style and indicated that McCormick had used coded-looking notes before.
29
00:01:55.140 --> 00:01:58.400
That creates another possibility. Perhaps this wasn't encryption designed to
30
00:01:58.439 --> 00:02:01.859
prevent outsiders from reading something. Perhaps it was simply McCormick's
31
00:02:01.900 --> 00:02:07.329
personal system for recording information. Maybe it was something delusional.
32
00:02:08.349 --> 00:02:11.930
Those distinctions matter. Sophisticated cipher may have a discoverable key.
33
00:02:12.050 --> 00:02:15.710
Private shorthand created by one person might not. So if
34
00:02:15.750 --> 00:02:20.060
you write something like MTGJ8B4W in your calendar, to you
35
00:02:20.080 --> 00:02:22.000
it might mean meeting with John at 8 before work.
36
00:02:22.710 --> 00:02:27.210
To everyone else, it's nearly meaningless. Multiply that problem across
37
00:02:27.250 --> 00:02:31.750
dozens of characters, and investigators face something extraordinarily difficult. There's
38
00:02:31.789 --> 00:02:34.780
also an important caution in cases like this. Mystery encourages
39
00:02:34.819 --> 00:02:38.599
pattern recognition. Human beings are remarkably good at finding apparent meaning,
40
00:02:38.759 --> 00:02:42.020
even when there's none there. Once thousands of people attempt
41
00:02:42.060 --> 00:02:47.340
to decode a document, numerous interpretations inevitably emerge. A convincing solution, therefore,
42
00:02:47.370 --> 00:02:52.169
needs more than cleverness. It needs independent cooperation. You need
43
00:02:52.210 --> 00:02:54.830
to ask questions like, does the decoded location correspond to
44
00:02:54.849 --> 00:02:58.949
McCormick's movement? How about, does a supposed name identify someone
45
00:02:58.969 --> 00:03:03.219
actually connected with him? Without cooperation, a solution remains just speculation.
46
00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:06.659
More than two decades after McCormick's death, the notes retain
47
00:03:06.680 --> 00:03:10.039
their fascination because they appear to promise an answer. Somewhere
48
00:03:10.080 --> 00:03:12.860
inside those strange combinations of letters and numbers might be
49
00:03:12.900 --> 00:03:16.689
mundane information, or they might be something important. The haunting
50
00:03:16.710 --> 00:03:19.129
part is that Mickey McCormick may have been the only
51
00:03:19.169 --> 00:03:21.500
person who knew how to read them. None of the
52
00:03:21.639 --> 00:03:25.169
FBI or crypto analysts have ever figured it out yet.
53
00:03:25.629 --> 00:03:30.139
But maybe with AI, they're not too far away. Who knows?
1
00:00:01.590 --> 00:00:06.389
Welcome back, everyone. Today we're heading back to June 30th, 1999.
2
00:00:06.389 --> 00:00:09.310
The body of a 41-year-old Ricky McCormick was discovered in
3
00:00:09.349 --> 00:00:13.560
a field in St. Louis or St. Charles, Missouri. Years later,
4
00:00:13.660 --> 00:00:16.140
something found with him would transform the case into one
5
00:00:16.160 --> 00:00:20.719
of America's strangest cryptographic mysteries. Inside McCormick's pockets were two
6
00:00:20.760 --> 00:00:25.870
handwritten notes. They almost looked like nonsense. Rows of capital, letters, numbers, parentheses,
7
00:00:26.530 --> 00:00:30.269
repeated combinations of characters. Perhaps they were meaningless. Perhaps they weren't.
8
00:00:30.929 --> 00:00:34.789
The FBI eventually became interested enough that in 2011 publicly
9
00:00:34.829 --> 00:00:37.250
released images of the notes and asked the public for assistance.
10
00:00:38.030 --> 00:00:41.609
Professional cryptanalysts had examined them without producing a convincing solution.
11
00:00:42.310 --> 00:00:45.490
Why did they matter? Because investigators believed they could contain
12
00:00:45.909 --> 00:00:50.350
information relevant to McCormick's death. The circumstances surrounding the discovery
13
00:00:50.380 --> 00:00:54.000
of his body were unusual. According to authorities, McCormick lived
14
00:00:54.039 --> 00:00:56.179
some distance from the location where he was found and
15
00:00:56.219 --> 00:00:59.990
investigators questioned why he would have been there. The notes, therefore,
16
00:01:00.070 --> 00:01:06.189
presented an irresistible possibility. Could McCormick have written down names, locations, apartments?
17
00:01:06.670 --> 00:01:09.730
Could the strange characters identify someone he planned to meet?
18
00:01:10.370 --> 00:01:13.400
Or were investigators looking at something much less dramatic, a
19
00:01:13.439 --> 00:01:17.939
private shorthand understandable only to McCormick himself? That possibility makes
20
00:01:17.980 --> 00:01:22.879
the case particularly difficult. Traditional cryptanalysts work best when there's structure.
21
00:01:23.540 --> 00:01:27.569
If one letter consistently substitutes for another, patterns can emerge.
22
00:01:27.650 --> 00:01:32.219
If words repeat... Analysts can examine frequency. Longer messages also
23
00:01:32.260 --> 00:01:35.980
provide additional material from which mathematical patterns may be identified,
24
00:01:36.400 --> 00:01:40.159
especially in today's world with AI, where they can distinguish
25
00:01:40.200 --> 00:01:44.159
a lot of patterns in people's writings. McCormick's notes are short,
26
00:01:44.500 --> 00:01:46.879
and nobody knows whether he was actually using a conventional
27
00:01:46.939 --> 00:01:50.560
cipher or not. Family members reportedly recognized the unusual writing
28
00:01:50.579 --> 00:01:54.079
style and indicated that McCormick had used coded-looking notes before.
29
00:01:55.140 --> 00:01:58.400
That creates another possibility. Perhaps this wasn't encryption designed to
30
00:01:58.439 --> 00:02:01.859
prevent outsiders from reading something. Perhaps it was simply McCormick's
31
00:02:01.900 --> 00:02:07.329
personal system for recording information. Maybe it was something delusional.
32
00:02:08.349 --> 00:02:11.930
Those distinctions matter. Sophisticated cipher may have a discoverable key.
33
00:02:12.050 --> 00:02:15.710
Private shorthand created by one person might not. So if
34
00:02:15.750 --> 00:02:20.060
you write something like MTGJ8B4W in your calendar, to you
35
00:02:20.080 --> 00:02:22.000
it might mean meeting with John at 8 before work.
36
00:02:22.710 --> 00:02:27.210
To everyone else, it's nearly meaningless. Multiply that problem across
37
00:02:27.250 --> 00:02:31.750
dozens of characters, and investigators face something extraordinarily difficult. There's
38
00:02:31.789 --> 00:02:34.780
also an important caution in cases like this. Mystery encourages
39
00:02:34.819 --> 00:02:38.599
pattern recognition. Human beings are remarkably good at finding apparent meaning,
40
00:02:38.759 --> 00:02:42.020
even when there's none there. Once thousands of people attempt
41
00:02:42.060 --> 00:02:47.340
to decode a document, numerous interpretations inevitably emerge. A convincing solution, therefore,
42
00:02:47.370 --> 00:02:52.169
needs more than cleverness. It needs independent cooperation. You need
43
00:02:52.210 --> 00:02:54.830
to ask questions like, does the decoded location correspond to
44
00:02:54.849 --> 00:02:58.949
McCormick's movement? How about, does a supposed name identify someone
45
00:02:58.969 --> 00:03:03.219
actually connected with him? Without cooperation, a solution remains just speculation.
46
00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:06.659
More than two decades after McCormick's death, the notes retain
47
00:03:06.680 --> 00:03:10.039
their fascination because they appear to promise an answer. Somewhere
48
00:03:10.080 --> 00:03:12.860
inside those strange combinations of letters and numbers might be
49
00:03:12.900 --> 00:03:16.689
mundane information, or they might be something important. The haunting
50
00:03:16.710 --> 00:03:19.129
part is that Mickey McCormick may have been the only
51
00:03:19.169 --> 00:03:21.500
person who knew how to read them. None of the
52
00:03:21.639 --> 00:03:25.169
FBI or crypto analysts have ever figured it out yet.
53
00:03:25.629 --> 00:03:30.139
But maybe with AI, they're not too far away. Who knows?
