Metal Detecting From Orbit - Cooper Style

 I love treasure hunting TV shows. Who, I ask you, would not like to see the underdog (us) summarily find massive amounts of wealth with raw wits and expensive gear, foiling the powers that be (them) who feel (and quite jealously, I might add) that no one should be allowed, anywhere or at any time to search for lost treasure, let alone actually finding it, and keeping it? Treasure hunting is still, even today, a starry-eyed adventure waiting to happen, if only you could get off work and search for it! And TV shows depicting the struggle of those who make it their job to do so, flourish in the ratings department no matter how long the search is. Take everyone's treasure show they love to hate, Oak Island...literally a treasure never-land...that goes on season after season, with one failure after another, and a cast of characters that continually changes more than you change your socks. But maybe they will find something...so you wince and keep watching. It's all in good fun, right? Reputable treasure hunters spending massive amounts of cash, finding nothing at all, but getting big TV ratings! Who is fooling who here?

Other TV treasure hunting series in the gold vein (see what I did there?) like Gold Rush and Billion Dollar Wreck can and do hold my attention because there are real people here, finding real gold, having their equipment break down, digging into a hillside or facing some real danger underwater looking for real shipwrecks, which they really find on occasion. I find they have a bit of credibility, for a reality show, and the characters are interesting and sometimes even likable. 

My big irritation, though, is the Discovery Channel's TV series "Cooper's Treasure" which hangs on the premise that Gordon Cooper somehow mapped a bunch of treasure galleons in May of 1963, aboard Mercury 9, from his primitive space capsule by using some sort of "secret military sensor" installed to secretly hunt for soviet nuclear missile bases in the Caribbean. And left a notated treasure map for his short term pal, Darrell Miklos, to use after his death. Watching the show from the very beginning, it was action packed and looked like it might actually lead somewhere. But, I knew beforehand that it wouldn't...entertaining as the first few episodes were, I knew it was all bunk. How could I possibly know that? Because someone connected with the production of Cooper's Treasure contacted me before the show was produced to determine if the instrumentation aboard Cooper's spacecraft could have actually detected billions of dollars in shipwrecked treasure. Although I am a famous treasure hunter (not really), I was also an aerospace engineer involved in portions of the space program on and off for many years in the 1970's, 80's and 90's. So when they contacted me, and asked me to verify Gordon Cooper's on-board Gamma Ray Spectrometer could map treasure galleons from space, my answer was a resounding NO.

Email from Cooper's Treasure research department, asking me  to verify Cooper could spot shipwrecks from space

They were not pleased...one of the Cooper's Treasure researchers then called me up, and we had a discussion about gamma ray spectrometers and the likelihood that anything aboard Cooper's spacecraft could detect lost treasure ships. I pointed out to the show's researcher, that during the Civil War thousands of tons of shipping were sunk, steam-boats and ironclads. In WWII, there were millions of tons of allied shipping, bulky iron and steel ships, sunk by German U-boats all around the Atlantic and Caribbean. Did they all show up on his map also? And Spanish Galleons, which are mostly of all-wood construction, other than the thin-copper or lead hull sheathing sporting a dozen or so iron cannon, are not particularly easy to locate, even with a modern proton magnetometer pulled behind a power boat, directly over the wreck!

Despite this information, the show apparently must go on, and it did, for a full season, and is now is in it's second season, with no treasure wrecks found...not one...or really anything else of any significance. One episode touted one of Columbus' anchors (yes, that Columbus) had been found, notated on the map, but I saw very little, if any verification or validation of that from any marine archaeologists, scholars or anyone with any kind of credentials you'd trust. Anchors are everywhere on the sea floor and it's not that rare to find one...a good friend of mine, Kathy W., found a very nice 19th Century anchor while she was magnet fishing off a dock. And without using a map made from orbit either.

Apparently in desperation, the Cooper's Treasure gang has been trumpeting now, that Darrell Miklos has discovered a UFO underwater...or maybe a USO, since it is obviously not airborne. 

Cooper's Treasure Finds Alien Spaceship
  
So, entertaining or not, I think a treasure hunting TV series should maintain at least a thin aura of authenticity, with some credible episodes that are not mainly a rehash of the previous rehash of the previous episode, ad infinitum. Experts who really know a lot about early spacecraft and their capabilities are as exasperated with the Cooper's Treasure premise and subsequent non-show that has followed as I am. James Oberg, an American space journalist and historian who's books and articles I have enjoyed immensely over the last 40-years or so, had a few things to say about the show in more detail than I ever could

The magic MacGuffin of Mercury 9

My solution is to re-name the show Cooper's Science Fiction Treasure. I'd be an avid fan at that point.

Search Team - Helping The Public & Police

The Central Florida Metal Detecting Club, of...wait for it...Central Florida, has spent more than a few years honing it's CFMDC SEARCH TEAM, a group within the group. Since the year 2000, when the club assisted law enforcement in finding the weapon that killed an Orlando police officer, the CFMDC SEARCH TEAM has been instrumental in searching for, and finding, murder weapons for local law enforcement over the last several decades. During the last several years, business has been good; there have been no decreases, especially in violent, crime. Although the club receives no money for assisting police at these evidence hunts, search teams have been known to get a police-supplied air-conditioned trailer parked at the crime site, as well as stacks of hot pizza for lunch...as well as busy officers also taking time in supplying bottles of ice-cold water to over-heated search team members. There are very few club-snapped photos of these hunts, as police prohibit photographs of an active crime scene, but are sometimes allowed after the evidence is found.

Team members selected for this "club within the club" are selected for their, above all, integrity, expertise with a metal detector, knowledge of evidence gathering, and precisely following the instructions given by CSI personnel as to where to hunt and what to do when a promising signal is acquired. If you pick up the target and wave it over your head, not only will you not be asked ever to participate again, now your fingerprints are ON the evidence...not a good thing if it was involved in a murder!

At any one time, the CFMDC search team consists of about 15 to 20 highly experienced evidence hunters who know the ropes, techniques and seriousness of doing a professional job for our law enforcement community. The biggest advantage is the CFMDC can put a large number of experienced people on site with minimal notice, and get the job done. There are few things that can give you a better feeling about your hobby than lending your skills and expertise in metal detecting to the folks working hard to keep the public safe, and get the violent criminal element off the streets. 

The search team is also involved in finding and returning lost items to the general public in the Central Florida area at no cost whatsoever to the owner of the lost item. Again, Search Team members are selected for their honesty, integrity and expertise with a metal detector.The club gets many relayed requests from metal detector dealer, Kellyco Metal Detectors, in Winter Springs, Florida to help frantic folks who have lost irreplaceable keepsakes...jewelry, rings, necklaces, and bracelets to recover them. From a bejeweled platinum crucifix lost on a six-acre working farm, to a platinum engagement ring lost in a septic tank...the CFMDC Search Team will put as many man-hours in as possible to locate and recover the items. Many times, despite repeated searches, and sometimes trying to recover a target by pawing through piles of wet, "fragrantly" steaming sewage, some items cannot be found...those are the times we feel inadequate to the task. But every CFMDC SEARCH TEAM member who has been in on any search for a lost item can talk the talk, because each and every one has walked the walk!  

If you have lost an item or need experienced evidence hunters in the Central Florida area who's services come at the cost of a pizza...cheese or half-pepperoni...and most usually nothing at all...leave the CFMDC a message on it's website. Central Florida Metal Detecting Club Peace and good health!

Fake Finds - Fibbing and A' Ribbing

Over the many years of metal detecting, treasure hunting and all that, I've run several times (maybe more than a few) into the phenomena we all used to call "Fibbing and A' Ribbing." Basically this consists of someone pretty much lying thru' their teeth about what they have found and where they have found it. Many years ago, early 1980's,down in South Florida, a lot of us would get together at Kevin Reilly's treasure hunting shop "Reillys Treasured Gold" to "chew the fat," and bring out our finds. 

Now of course, certain guys (not that many gal's in the hobby then) could not use a metal detector properly if their lives depended on it, (they were not the easiest machines to master) nor could they pin-point worth a dang with the old concentric co-planer coils, and basically collected pop-tabs by the barrel-load to make aluminum necklaces out of for their pets...or whatever they did with em' at the time.

So, some of these guys, on occasion, would pull out a nice Indian Head penny and pass it around to oohs and ahhs, or wave a shiny gold wedding band or silver ring. Now. there was a lot of stuff to find then, without the roaming hordes of metal detector operators that NOW wander the shore, vacuuming up every dot of metal anywhere. You could easily, on a good day, pull a half-dozen gold rings from the sand. But not everyone could.

How do you get the respect you want in a group of treasure hunters if you ain't finding treasure...or haven't found treasure yet? Answer: you buy or borrow some and present it as the real thing! Instant street cred...wallah! And what good is street cred you ask? You get popular...people want a winner on the team, on the hunts and on the prowl. If you are a producer, you get invited to go where the experienced treasure hunters go. Never underestimate street cred! But you have to be careful...one "experienced" treasure hunter was proudly passing around his coin finds, in their protective sleeves, when someone noticed one of the paper protectors had a price and coin shop logo printed on the border.

This happens a bit in Social Media today, I think...it's not rampant, but you can pick it out if you look close. We had a guy on several FB Metal Detecting groups quite a few years ago who, each weekend, posted amazing and valuable jewelry finds...gold chains, wedding bands and diamonds galore. When he was questioned about it after the up-tenth time, as his "finds" were always set against a jewelry store-type display with not a speck of beach sand anywhere, his temper flared and he threw angry comments about jealousy and envy across the group pages. He left the groups in a huff, but it was discovered later that he worked in a jewelry store in Miami. What a coincidence.

But really, who cares? So what, you say...they are making fools out of no one but themselves, right? Well maybe, but I think it is wrong because you are deceiving other folks, either new to the hobby or new to the area, into thinking that fabulous and valuable finds are made like taking candy from a baby. Every experienced beach hunter, treasure hunter, or coin-shooter knows it takes hours of detecting, research and, mainly luck to make those enviable finds, and is not the piece of cake they are trying to make it out to be.

So, reviewing other people's amazing metal detecting finds is fun, legitimate finds especially, poser finds not so much. But still, how would you know? I have many friends in the hobby that DO make amazing finds, after much hard work and field time...one look at their muddy, sunburned face, dirty clothes, and dazed look, will tell you the whole story. Finds framed by pickup truck beds, resting on a metal detector control panel, still in a dirt-walled hole, or on someones sand-covered finger are pretty much the real deal. Finds sporting brightly-colored magazine-ad backgrounds, not so much.

Stay safe, make good recoveries!

Minelab CTX 3030 - The Arrington Chronicals

I've been metal-detecting since 1965, a good 50-years plus in the hobby. In that time, I've read a lot of books on the subject, met a lot of people who knew what they were doing, and those that didn't, and done a good bit of treasure hunting myself. Now back in the day, nobody called themselves a detectorist...that was coined (excuse the pun) from a British TV show of the same name. Reality imitating Art again. We came in two varieties back then...you were either a coin-shooter, i.e. just a casual plinker digging lost coins, or a THer, i.e. a treasure hunter, researching, locating and finding lost treasure of the serious kind; lost Civil War payrolls, shipwreck coins, hidden caches and anything of great value. And we learned a valuable lesson then...it was not your metal detector that finds the goods...it's you and how you use the tools of treasure hunting. Of course, a $2500 machine is gonna be much more capable than a $29 metal detector you find at a local Big Box store, despite arguments I always hear to the contrary...usually from the $29 detector owners, that they are "...just as good!" in much the same vein as Lear Jet pretty much trumps a little Cessna 152 in speed and altitude, plus the fact Cessna 150 owners are experienced enough not to argue the opposite...not to put too fine a point on it.

One of the most expensive detectors you can own is a Minelab CTX-3030. A top-of-the-line machine considered by many to be a professional grade detector. It sports a color screen, target displays consist of double, two-digit numbers denoting the target's Ferrous content and Conductivity rating. A 12-47 comes in usually as a silver quarter, a 01-43 indicates a silver dollar, and a 35-45 indicates something IRON. The machine can display more than one target at a time under the coil, has a built in GPS, runs on 28 different frequencies simultaneously, and is waterproof. Whew!

Ken Returning A Lost Gold Engagement Band

A friend of mine, and fellow CFMDC member, Kenneth Arrington, is what we used to call a Master Hunter with this particular machine. Kenneth had a long dry spell between jobs as a water plant chemist, and rather than sit on his you-know-what, hit the beach, park and everywhere in between during his job search. He spent from 12 to 14 hours daily using the Minelab CTX 3030, developed techniques and search patterns that made him some glorious finds during his hunts. A lot of them he displayed on our club Facebook site, Central Florida Metal Detecting Club group, and a lot of other metal detecting groups.

In between his finds, Kenneth has made himself useful in the local community, finding and returning WWII dog-tags lost in the mid-1940's to the still-living wife of the now-deceased solider, and was written up in the local news. He, along with his wife Karen, also found a lost engagement ring for a frantic groom, who thought his marriage was over BEFORE it had even begun!

A lot of folks became extremely impressed with the finds Kenneth was making and came to a somewhat erroneous conclusion...that the MACHINE was responsible for the finds! As a result, there was a plethora of CTX 3030 purchases made based on that assumption. Of course, there is no doubt it is a stellar detector, but without the dedicated knowledge and experience, you are gonna be angrily posting bottle-caps and few pieces of foil instead of gold rings and silver jewelry. As a result, many folks started requesting advice from Kenneth. He didn't mind giving a few pointers, but with Kenneth hard at work again on a new job, his time has been limited and questions getting more complex.

Water Chemist, and detectorist, Kenneth Arrington in his natural environment

His amazing finds here in Central Florida continue, as a dedicated treasure hunter, and artifact hunter, his skill levels are yet to be surpassed with the Minelab CTX-3030. Kenneth has also offered to give personal lessons on the machine, disseminating some of his hard-won knowlege, so if you are interested, and live in the Central Florida area, give him a holler at Karrington1@cfl.rr.com and see if you can get on the training roster!

Detecting The Paranormal - Passing Angels

A few weeks ago, on a real nice Florida weekday morning, I was en-route to Cocoa Beach from Orlando to do some treasure hunting along the beach. I had the trunk loaded up with several metal detectors, my Minelab E-Trac, with a humongous 16" coil, and my contest-won Nokata Impact, I am still learning to use. I was singing along with Credence Clearwater Revival's "Run Through The Jungle" and thoroughly enjoying my temporary solitude as I whizzed along, southeast bound, on a deserted Route 520 at about 8:00 in the A.M. 

As I sped along, about 60 mph, I noticed a beat-up white Toyota Corolla coming up on my left, in the passing lane. I stole a quick glance in my mirror, and the car was sporting a junk-yard hood, same model, but black, instead of the car's overall off-white color. No big deal...a lot of junk cars, especially in Florida, on the back roads. Thing is, as it pulled up next to me, the driver waved at me! I thought it was someone I knew...I mean, who waves at you while passing???

The car suddenly decelerated and dropped back behind me, not completing the pass. Taking all of less than 5-seconds, I looked ahead, then again glanced behind my vehicle, and the junker was GONE! I looked out my back window and nothing was there. There were no turnoffs, or even much in the way of a hi-way shoulder to pull off on. I slowed further, then pulled off myself on a precarious shoulder. 

I got out and looked both directions and there was nothing to be seen...no cars of any kind, which was also odd because it was a weekday morning and some people still drove the 520 to work instead of paying the steep toll of the faster 528. I scratched my head a bit and finally went on. As soon as I passed under the 528 overpass, route 520 was suddenly once again alive with cars and trucks...as it should have been on the other side.

Later I did a little googling and found that the 520 is known as Bloody 520 as so many people have been killed in automobile accidents in the last 40-years, the reference said the entire span of it was literally a graveyard. And the article went on to call Route 520 one of the most haunted roads in Florida. Say what??? 

I told a few of my metal-detecting friends who already know I'm crazy, so I was not inviting ridicule per-say, but I expected a few raised eye-brows, but no one laughed. Apparently when you reach a certain age, with friends also in that age range, you've seen a lot of things...a lot of things...and you have a bit more leeway to consider hard-to-explain events. One of my friends asked about the event I experienced, then looked both ways and said "I was alone sitting in a chair putting on a pair of socks, getting ready to head for work, when I head a voice not more than a few feet away say 'CAN YOU HEAR ME, JEROME?' very loudly." He said he jumped a few feet in the air, then yelled for his wife, who had already left for work. He was totally stumped as to what the voice was or where it came from.

Another friend, Melinda, said something I had not considered. She said "Maybe you and an 18-wheeler were going to collide a few miles up the road and you might have been killed. Maybe it was your guardian Angel, slowing you down and averting your death." Would a Guardian Angel wave at you? Apparently this one did.

Note: A few names were changed to protect the open-minded