It's the dread pirate thomas!
Posted on 09/25/2005 7:30:39 PM PDT by Candor7
The archipelago is named after Robinson Crusoe, but perhaps it should have been called Treasure Island. A long quest for booty from the Spanish colonial era appears to be culminating in Chile with the announcement by a group of adventurers that they have found an estimated 600 barrels of gold coins and Incan jewels on the remote Pacific island.
"The biggest treasure in history has been located," said Fernando Uribe-Etxeverria, a lawyer for Wagner, the Chilean company leading the search. Mr Uribe-Etxeverria estimated the value of the buried treasure at US$10bn (£5.6bn).
The announcement set off ownership claims. The treasure hunters claimed half the loot was theirs and said they would donate it to non-profit-making organisations. The government said that they had no share to donate. It also prompted speculation about the contents of what is considered to be one of the great lost treasures from the Spanish looting of South America. Chilean newspapers were filled with reports that the stash includes 10 papal rings and original gold statues from the Incan empire.
The hoard is supposedly buried 15 metres (50ft) deep on Robinson Crusoe island, also known as the Juan Fernández island, home to Scottish sailor Alexander Selkirk, the adventurer immortalised by Daniel Defoe as Robinson Crusoe. Selkirk was dumped on the island and lived alone for four years before being rescued. His exploits brought worldwide attention to the islands.
For centuries treasure hunters have scoured the island in search of booty which was reportedly buried there in 1715 by Spanish sailor Juan Esteban Ubilla y Echeverria. Using everything from old Spanish ship manifests to teams of islanders with shovels and picks, foreigners have made so many claims of discovering the lost treasure that islanders are usually sceptical of the proclamations.
This most recent announcement, however, deserves greater credence because of the equipment used by the treasure hunters: a mini robot that can scan 50 metres deep into the earth. The robot, dubbed "Arturito", was invented by Chileans and over the past year has grabbed headlines by breaking some of the country's biggest criminal mysteries.
First, the robot detected the buried arsenal of a rightwing sect known as Colonia Dignidad. The guns and rocket launchers were buried at some 10 metres and while the authorities had searched for years, the robot found the buried weapons almost instantly. Then, in the case of missing businessman Jose Yuraszeck, Arturito was able to analyse the soil and identify the molecular composition of human bones, allowing investigators to dig straight to the body of the murder victim.
May Gilligan RIP.
Yours:
"That's a lot of Booty!
The Jennifer Lopez of buried treasure."
Bump!
Sunshine Booty....we all dream of it!
Yours: "10 papal rings"
Did you mean 10 papal pings ?? ( LOL)
Fer later
GGG PING
"A long quest for booty from the Spanish colonial era appears to be culminating in Chile with the announcement by a group of adventurers that they have found an estimated 600 barrels of gold coins and Incan jewels on the remote Pacific island. "
Rrrrrr!
I don't suppose there's any move to give back to the Incans that which was stolen. Didn't think so.
Keep the treasure, just gimme one of those robots !
( LOL)
It's mine, I tell you, mine!
Typically stuff went from the New World to Europe not the other way around.
1. Find treasure
2. Remove treasure from site to a known disinterested country secure site known only to you.
3. Announce treasure. Consider lying about source.
bttt
Wow! We need a robot like "Arturito" on Oak Island
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Oak Island? Are you nuts? Get it over to Iraq! Uncover some WMD's and the whole National Media empire of the Democratic Party, and the democratic party itself will go nuclear! The radioactive fallout would make the democrats and their media propaganda arm the most hated people on the planet! Add to that find specific plans related to attacks on the U.S. and ties to Al Quida, maybe even a few French, German, and Russian parts and the U.N. Collapses too!!!!
A guy can dream can't he??
ANTI-DNC Web Portal at ---> http://www.noDNC.com
Treasure:
1) Find treasure.
2) Lose treasure.
Reality sucks. :-)
"awesome story but don't trust a thing off the guardian"
thanks. we get a lot of it posted here. It's just a tabloid?
Whats on board or on site of these ships..goes to the State and/or Government. Even though it is loosely stated the finder be, as stated: " recognize(d)the interests of individuals and groups engaged in shipwreck discovery and salvage". The "finder" would be lucky if even his or her name were mentioned in the State museum to which it would be available to for public view.
There's a lot of great finds out there, maybe not as grand as the "600 barrels of loot"; but artifacts of historical importance (cannons, ivory, artifacts, etc) remain quietly resting in the "deep" and kept a secret by many commercial fishermen/ divers who's occupation has them diving for scallops, sea urchins, etc.
State salvage laws may vary..that I have not researched. Just your story caught my eye and know in the State where I reside..you'd be lucky if you even got a handshake.
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