[RINGS] ATS Members... I need your help.

Members of ATS, I need your help. It's a long story, and sort of hard to tell. Aspects of it deals with some personal experience and former family friends I thought I knew well. I'm not sure how to relay this story, so I'll start at the beginning and fill in the blanks as I know more.

A long-time friend of the family, Uncle Jeff (we called him Uncle, but we knew his real name wasn't Jeff, and we were not related) had an on-again off-again relation with four covert spies known only by their numbers (1, 2, 3, 4). I know, it seems silly and over-the-top, but that's how it was. We all knew Uncle Jeff was former military (as he served with my father) and was still involved with a couple government agencies, but he never spoke about it.

He managed a BBS service in the late 1980's and into 1990 that dealt mostly with discussion about science fiction novels and some related hard-core science topics (he was a rabid Dr. Who and Prisoner fan). I didn't know that he also maintained a secret portion of the board for his four numbered friends. They used it to exchange information since they were rarely in the same country, much less the same city.

When the Internet started, Uncle Jeff moved it all to a website, abovetopsecret.com, and I helped him with some of the work with Archie and Gopher clients. I never knew about the secret service for his buddies until I stumbled onto a hidden subdomain of his site, deep.access.abovetopsecret.com. This is when I first learned about his friends, the area of his BBS, and their jobs as spies (not initially from Uncle Jeff, my father told me some stories, then Uncle Jeff eventually told me more, and more, and more).

A couple of years later, Uncle Jeff had a mild stroke. Nothing terrible, but strokes can scare a person. He said that he needed me to manage the site for a while, and that I should do with it what I like. Well, since I fancied secret aircraft and aerospace programs, it seemed the perfect fit. The only drawback was the need to keep that secret subdomain running, even though I didn't have any passwords or access capabilities. I really didn't know any details about the number people, so didn't much care about it, and to tell you the truth, I started to not take Uncle Jeff seriously.

Many of you know the story form that point. ATS became a fairly popular conspiracy site, with a lot of the focus on the discussion board community (especially soon after the attacks on 9/11 in the states). During this time, between what little Uncle Jeff told me, and some snooping around of my own, I was able to learn a little more about the so-called spies. They had a flair for the dramatic, and each had a gold ring with their secret password for their domain engraved inside. I thought it was silly, and proved they really were nothing more than a bit eccentric. But then Uncle Jeff started getting worried about six months after 9/11. Something about Number-3 being out of touch, and Number-2 acting strange. While it seemed interesting and all (especially since ATS had turned more conspiracy minded than my original intent for the site), I still didn't pay as much attention as I should have. And, because Uncle Jeff was acting more and more strange, everyone in the family started dismissing his stories as just more babble from a cranky old war veteran.

In late 2002, Uncle Jeff had another stroke, this time much more serious. Many of our long-time members will recall this is when I was hard to locate and off the site for a couple months (I was even rumored to be dead). This was a busy time for my entire family, Uncle Jeff died. His death it hit my family and close friends that knew him pretty hard. He was a crazy old pain in the arse, but a likable crazy old pain in the arse. However, I was the only one that discovered he really wasn't crazy at all.

Before he died, he had a chance to correct my misconceptions about him and his friends. I forget how the conversation started when I visited him in the hospital, but we started talking about them. At first I laughed when the topic up, but he said, "No, you don't understand, they are part of a group that is very ancient, since before biblical times. More than just spies or agents. They are important, very important, and world events are changing so fast, there's no more time."

Uncle Jeff had trouble talking, and it took a while to get the story out, but I learned there was a great deal of importance surrounding their "secret words". They weren't just passwords to a section of a silly website. The words had deep historic significance, and were always engraved inside a gold ring. (I know, you're thinking Lord of The Rings, what a joke, that's what I thought too, but this is different.) Not because a gold ring has any power or crazy thing like that, but simply because of some ancient tradition these four followed. Each of the four only knew their own word, and never shared it with the others. The reason is that when combined, the four words have a tremendous power of some type (this part I still don't understand). All throughout history, the four words have never been combined, but that some day they would need to be. These four agents are guardians of the rings, and the words they conceal. And they're involved in some great historic struggle against what I assumed to be Bilderbergs or Illuminati (or both).

We buried Uncle Jeff in January of 2003. Two days later, while we were all still mourning his passing, I got a message through one of the means Uncle Jeff indicated would confirm the authenticity of one of the four. The message was short; "Kill the domain -- erase all data immediately -- timing is critical -- more later." Needless to say, three hours later, everything was deleted. After Uncle Jeff's story, I was throughly spooked to my core!

I was surprised to receive another message three weeks later through the same means, "Thanks for your help -- all is well -- keep the site." While this seemed odd given the previous message, it also seem like whatever they were up to had finished. Maybe Uncle Jeff's stories were just ramblings of a paranoid old man after all. Or, just one more final prank on Simon from the grave, it would be just like him.

After a few weeks of nothing, I eventually figured that it was all just old military veterans being a little too wound up with secret societies and government agencies. We've seen plenty of that, haven't we? While all of this was going on, and causing some preoccupation in my life, ATS was getting more and more popular every month. SO had to host the site's images on his web account, and we went over our bandwidth allowance almost every month. Now that the "dust had settled" in one part of my life, it seemed time to take ATS to the next level. After some talks with SO, we moved ATS to a new dedicated server, and the rest they say is history. A one-year climb from 300 posts-per-day to 2,000. The community grew, things were getting interesting, and everyone forgot about Uncle Jeff and his numbered friends.

That is, until a few days ago... I received a letter from Uncle Jeff! I scanned it in, here it is...



That's his handwriting, his writing style, and even his stationary. Also, the back of the envelope had seven red dots, a personal inside joke of significance, only he and I knew about.

From what I've been able to piece together over the past two weeks, the rings are hidden somewhere around the world in safe locations. It's hard to believe, but these important solid gold rings, with some kind of secret words are hidden in public places where dozens, if not thousands of people walk by every day, not knowing they're there. The only way I can find them is to rely on our community members to solve the clues, and if you live close to one of the rings, find it and keep the word safe until all four rings are recovered. Apparently we'll know what to do by then.

Today, I received a safe deposit box key. I believe it is Uncle Jeff's. I'll get the content and share what appears to be important with all of you.

Sorry for the long-winded note. But it seems, as they say, this is just the beginning. As I get more, I'll add to it here.

Whoa, that's creepy, yet kinda cool.

If the rings are hidden i'm betting one is in new york hidden in'on the statue of liberty or a library. Something like that.

I dont know if this is real or not anymore...this seems to elaborate to be real.

Edit...i hope ones hidden in DC...then i can get it

[Edited on 16-5-2004 by dreamlandmafia]

o # its on now i cant wait this is the start i guess, i wonder if it is real, how about that 5 character, so this explains the site being down for repair.

Dude, this is awesome...

This sounds like Jolly good fun. Can't wait for our first clue. ( or have we already had it ?).
Electronic cross between The Easter Bunny and Cluedo. Bravo.

biggest load of balogna ive heard of in my life. next thing ya know, kids with rings are going to be trying to summon captain planet.

what will these guys think of next?

Originally posted by willizbiko
biggest load of balogna ive heard of in my life. next thing ya know, kids with rings are going to be trying to summon captain planet.

Lighten up willizbiko, I just a fricking game for the enjoyment of the members of ATS. I say well done

touchy touchy. im just messin with d&d players like you. dont take offense.

so what the hecks the next clue because a bunch of 2's and 1's isnt getting me anywhere.

Letter seems fake.

Seriously Simon my freind, why ask us for help ? Who is to say that members of this site will not find and use these rings to thier own accord ?

Coming from a background of dealing with Spies like your Uncle Jeff, why trust us?

Deep

do we even know the rings even exist?

Looks like four of us will end up taking a trip to Mordor.

hahahahah with our power combine we form captain planet

I think it was Colnel Mustard...
in the hanger at area 51...
with the Star of David...no no change that to the pentagram shaped Eye of Ra

its none of that. its some secret society. not the illuminauti. this group hides rings aorund the world and then a three fingered man is payed to type a few numbers on an anonymous website.

and thats a wrap.

O.K So uncle Jeff was "...a rabid DR Who...Prisoner fan..."
Catch phrase trom The Prisoner "...I am not a number ..."
Yet here we are talking about his friends Numbers 1,2,3,4.
Wasn't The Prisoner meant to be number 6?
& 7 red dots on the envelope, the missing number is five.
The DR who fascination...HHMMM
could the first clue be the Name of DR Who number 5.
I'll check...GOOGLE
First incarnation: William Hartnell [Richard Hurndall in The Five Doctors ]
Second incarnation: Patrick Troughton
Third incarnation: Jon Pertwee
Fourth incarnation: Tom Baker
Fifth incarnation: Peter Davison
Sixth incarnation: Colin Baker
Seventh incarnation: Sylvester McCoy
Eighth incarnation: Paul McGann

[Edited on 16-5-2004 by Smudge]

I have been around for a long time master simon and you know and remember well how we meet all those years ago.

I belive your story and I will do what I can to help you find your answers.

More infomation will be needed on my part about your uncle's background.

Falcon

yes. three different numbers arrange almost at random and a few plus signs will not help us.

Bad photoshopping. Bad Font choice and overall D- for work.