NEW ORLEANS -- There's a treasure hidden in New Orleans, if you believe the cryptic clues detailed in a decades old book.
The buried mystery is one of twelve supposed treasures the author stashed in various cities, but he died before they were discovered. Jason Berry believes the author buried one treasure here in New Orleans and he believes he's found it, but there's something standing in his way.
"It's in this quadrant of the park, which is the northeast quadrant of the park," Berry said.
We're in Armstrong Park, a place berry has been dissecting for the past five months.
"I know the park backwards and forward, I know every inch of it. I prodded it, literally over 300 times," Berry said.
Berry has scoured the national park off Rampart Street for clues he and many other treasure hunters believe are embedded in an image.
"I started looking very closely inside the image. I started seeing things that were, very clearly to me, were clues. There were numbers that were images. At first I doubted myself because everybody was like no, no, no," Berry said.
The image comes from the book "The Secret, a Treasure Hunt." Published in 1982, it's a fantasy paperback filled with a series of puzzles, cryptic verses and matching images. When solved, they supposedly lead readers to a real-life ceramic bin, or "casque," which in turn holds a key to a safe-deposit box, which contains a gem worth about one thousand dollars. There are reportedly twelve treasures, scattered in different cities in the U.S. including here in New Orleans.
Berry, an independent journalist who is accustomed to digging for facts, has been physically and digitally digging for a decades old treasure. Berry has no doubt about where the New Orleans casque is hidden.
"From my confidence level, it's 100 percent. Everybody else will diss me on the forums, but I have absolutely no doubt. I know where it is," Berry said.
Since the book's publishing, only two casques have been found. One in Chicago, one in Cleveland. A recent TV series on the book and its treasures, is reigniting the pursuit on the ground and online.
It became Berry's obsession.
"I spent one day, that I literally did a sixteen hour dig in Photoshop and other applications into the image just manipulating it, twisting, turning it and I still don't think I've found everything in the image," Berry said.
It'll be difficult to verify the exact location of these treasures. Byron Preiss, the author of the book and the brains behind the puzzles, died in a car accident in 2005. The artist behind the images is not talking to the public anymore.
A virtual community of treasure hunters is now dedicated to unearthing the secrets the author took with him to the grave. For Berry it means countless hours trying to decipher the references in the book's image for New Orleans. For example, he says he found an image of a Catahoula, the Louisiana state dog.
"I found Louis Armstrong's image three times in the picture, in one he's blowing a horn," Berry said.
Berry says the clues kept pointing to Armstrong park. In the handle of a mask, Berry saw a major marker. He believes it represents the smoke stack at a sewerage and water board building.
"If you look at the image as a whole the smoke stack over here is the handle the mask. And the mask is actually a theater mask which is the Mahalia Jackson performance theater," Berry said.
With the help of another treasure hunter in Mississippi, Berry also spotted hidden numbers. He a "19" tucked in a corner. Where you might see fingers around the mask's handle...berry saw two fingers in the shape of a "77". On the wrist of the hand he saw a triangle. For months, Berry studied the numbers, symbols and images, but he hit a wall.
"I ended up walking away from it, I went back in a couple of days later and put in another tool, suddenly a coordinate pops out. It was an actual coordinate," said Berry.
With that breakthrough, Berry used the numbers as measurements for distances and degrees of angles in his method of triangulating certain zones or what he calls vectors of the park.
"When I found that specific coordinate I immediately jumped on Google earth. I found that coordinate online and everything fell into place. I immediately recognized where to measure from, which was the middle of the fourth fountain," Berry said.
In his deep dive into the treasure hunt, Berry says he saw several themes. A recurring one is with the fraternal organization of the Freemasons. Berry says Perseverance Hall in Armstrong Park figures prominently in this puzzle, especially when incorporating the degrees he uncovered in the image. The hall was originally a Masonic lodge. Built between 1819 and 1820, it's the oldest Masonic temple in the state.
"When you run the degrees out there are three degrees, there are three lines that run over to the northeast quadrant of the park. One of them runs right across the cornerstone of this building and if you know anything about the Masons, the cornerstone of Masonic buildings are very important because that's where they bury time capsules," Berry said.
Berry may sound crazy. He's used to that.
"Oh yeah, they're saying it now. The guys that have been looking for it, the forums are saying I'm crazy. That's fine. I don't care they can say I'm crazy, I know I'm right," Berry said.
To further back up his claim, Berry went to the location, ran an endocamera into the ground and saw an object. Berry says it resembles the plexiglass box the casques are said to be encased in. He hasn't dug it up though.
"The root system of the tree that it's buried next to is live oak has literally engulfed the casque," said Berry.
He says it would take a professional excavation team to retrieve the casque without damaging the integrity of the tree or the park.
"The last thing I would want to do is damage this park in any way," Berry said.
He hopes other hunters will give the park the same respect. That's why he's not revealing the treasure's precise location. For Berry, it's less about the secret gem's worth, maybe one thousand dollars, but more about the thrill of the hunt. It's something he believes was the author's plan.
"I think that's why he originally wrote the book, it was because he wanted families to get out there, these areas, these wonderful parks they have in these urban environments." Berry said.
If berry is right about the location of the New Orleans treasure, that means nine others are still out there. Berry is currently helping other hunters figure out the puzzle for the treasure they believe is in Houston.