READERS’ COMMENTS
“I just received and read a copy of David’s new book The Successful Treasure Hunter’s Secret Manual. To put it mildly, I was totally blown away. Is this for real? If it is, it will dramatically improve my treasure hunting results for the rest of my life! I am in the process of assembling all of the recommended gear so I can get out into the field as soon as possible. From a scientific perspective, my associates and I all agree that this may actually be the modern-day solution for a specific, huge treasure in Ecuador that we have been seeking for years.
Can you tell? I am REALLY excited! Congratulations on an amazing book!”
STAN GRIST, Ecuador
"Wow! David, the 'Secret Manual' is not only very well presented and easy to read but, in a word, it's brilliant!"
DAVE DUNN, Treasure hunter and author, Gloucester, UK
THE SUCCESSFUL TREASURE HUNTER’S SECRET MANUAL: How to Use Modern Cameras to Locate Buried Metals, Gold, Silver, Coins, Caches…
By David Villanueva
All Rights Reserved, Copyright 2012 David Villanueva
Smashwords Edition
Table of Contents: (click on link to go to chapter; click on chapter heading to return to Contents)
Introduction * The Treasure Aura Secret * The Polaroid SX-70 SLR Camera * An Iron Age Gold Coin Cache * Some Possibilities * The Digital Solution * Canon EOS 350D Rebel XT, DSLR * Olympus D-490 Zoom Digital Camera * Filters * Digital Image Processing * Image Processing in the Field * Metal Detectors * Treasure Law * Landowner/Searcher Agreement * The End of the Beginning * Bibliography * About the Author * Acknowledgements
There is nothing new about the discovery that buried metals give off an aura that can be captured by certain cameras. Louis J Matacia has been promoting a Polaroid camera for years as a major tool for finding treasure, which was great, I found treasure myself using just such a tool. The problem now is that the camera is obsolete, although still readily available on the previously enjoyed market and competition from digital cameras forced Polaroid to stop making the film in 2005. The last original film pack I bought was two years out of date and cost $60. And it will only get worse from here on in, eventually becoming unobtainable at any price! So is that the end of using auras to locate buried treasure?
Not at all! I set about trying to find a solution and came up with two! The first that I am going to tell you about is that there is a Polaroid film readily available, at the time of writing that can easily be used in the camera. The second solution that I will be describing in great detail is – wait for it – YOU CAN CAPTURE TREASURE AURAS WITH DIGITAL CAMERAS! Not collector’s items like the Polaroid, mind you, but recent models that you can buy anywhere tomorrow.
And the digital camera works brilliantly. Auras can be obtained on gold down to a quarter of an ounce or less – that’s a single coin or nugget! The camera can even discriminate between different metals- all from a distance and can be used anytime during daylight hours.
By definition, instruments that can reveal hidden treasure from a distance are long-range locators. But I won’t be talking about expensive commercial long-range locators that in use, can be like searching a coal-bunker, in the middle of the night, trying to find a black cat that isn’t there! This is long-range location at its best - showing you precisely where treasure is hidden. You really can see the colour of the money (providing it is metallic or contained in metal) and what’s more you can get started for much less than the cost of a commercial long-range locator – less than $100 at present - you may even already have most everything you need!
Treasure auras are simply the appliance of science so you don’t need any special gift to use these cameras – there is none of this hairy-fairy stuff about ordinary instruments producing extraordinary results in the hands of someone with psychic awareness. Hands-on is not even needed – hands-off is actually better!
And, clearly, you have absolute discretion with this approach – you can take a camera almost anywhere and no one will have any idea that you are not just taking snapshots.
Of course, you are not going to be able to buy a camera off the shelf and start taking photographs of treasure auras – if cameras naturally photographed auras, most folks would take them back to the store complaining about the photo quality. So you are going to need to do a few modifications. But don’t worry, it doesn’t have to be rocket science – everything you need either plugs in, screws in or sticks on and all will be clearly explained.
So for your modest investment in this manual and possibly some reasonable expenditure on equipment you will have the finest opportunity to find millions of dollars in buried and hidden wealth!
If you ever wondered how early civilisations, like the Incas, found all their gold and silver, one answer is that at the height of the full moon, Latin American Indians would see a bluish-green flame glowing above the ground where precious metal was buried. The Indians and later the Spanish Conquistadors used these auras to locate large quantities of silver and gold and this is still possible today – I have heard several stories of people being able to see auras coming from old gold mines. If you are not too keen on wandering about in the middle of the night hoping to chance upon an aura, the alternative is to use certain cameras.
Let’s cut to the chase. The auras are actually infrared radiation, which appears to be generated by all buried or hidden metals. I now need to explain what infrared radiation is. There exists a range of related energy waves, with the generic name of electromagnetic radiation. Electromagnetic (EM) radiation is divided into types according to frequency and wavelength (which are inversely proportional to each other, i.e. the lowest frequency has the longest wavelength). In order of increasing wavelength the most well known types of EM radiation are: gamma rays, X-rays, ultraviolet radiation, visible light, infrared radiation, microwaves and radio waves. Visible light consists of a small band of wavelengths, which is variably detected by the human eye and likewise that of other seeing organisms.
The standard unit of measurement of length of very short wavelengths is the nanometer (nm), or nanon, equivalent to one billionth of a meter or one millionth of a millimeter. The nanometer is equivalent to 10 Ångström units and was formerly called a millimicron (mμ). Light that is visible to the human eye lies in the band 400-700nm approximately and is divided into seven different colors each having its own smaller range of wavelengths: 400nm=violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, red=700nm. In optical systems, such as camera lenses, visible light is measured in the range: 300nm=near ultraviolet to near infrared=1400nm, because that is the light range detectable by such systems.
There, I’ve just mentioned infrared, which is the next band of EM radiation above visible red light and covers the range 700nm-1mm (1,000,000nm). I hear Latin scholars cry that infra means below and they are absolutely right, infrared is below red light in frequency, the inverse of wavelength. Terminology is just complicated by the fact that EM radiation around the visible light range is normally discussed in terms of wavelength rather than frequency. As we are only concerned with visual and optical systems we will only be considering near infrared in the 700-1400nm wavelengths, which I will just call infrared to save keep writing ‘near’.
Going back to the human eye, visible light is detected typically from 380nm to 750nm with greatest sensitivity in the green-yellow band at about 550nm. From there sensitivity tapers off towards the violet and red ends of the spectrum and, of course, eyesight varies, to some extent, from person to person. The eye is much less sensitive to light over 700nm, however wavelengths up to around 780nm are detectable, particularly if visible light is subdued or removed as was the case with our Latin Americans seeing auras by moonlight.
The other factor associated with infrared is temperature. In 1800 Sir William Herschel, the British astronomer, carried out a simple study passing a thermometer through the spectrum obtained by passing sunlight through a prism. He recorded that as the thermometer moved from violet to red the temperature increased and continued to increase beyond the red. Moved further beyond the red the thermometer reached a maximum temperature and then slowly decreased. This showed the maximum heat radiation from the sun was in the infrared band.
What I’ve discovered through experimentation is that different metals produce different auras and fortunately precious metals produce the strongest auras. In other words a smaller amount of gold or silver will produce an aura than is the case with base metals. This stuff is so cutting edge here that I’m afraid I don’t know all the answers. I do recall that when I was doing a lot of beach treasure hunting in the summer evenings, when the crowds had left, that coins coming out of the sand were always quite hot to the touch. The mechanism is presumably emission of infrared radiation selectively absorbed by metals from the sun although it could just as likely be metallic interference with the earth’s magnetic field. It doesn’t matter too much, as it is results in finds that we’re after, not a degree in physics. A useful way of comparing metals seems to be thermal and electrical conductivity, I must stress these may not be the only factors or even the correct factors that determine aura strength but they do tie in quite nicely with my observations.
Soil, sand and water have thermal and electrical conductivities around 1 or less; the conductivities of common metals and alloys, are:
Pure copper has conductivities in between gold and silver, however copper is normally found alloyed with zinc or tin forming brass or bronze respectively, which have much lower conductivities. Diamond, interestingly has a thermal conductivity of 1000 but an extremely low electrical conductivity. Unfortunately I couldn’t afford a large heap of diamonds to test whether they produced auras but it might be something worth looking out for.
The Polaroid SX-70 camera, by accident rather than design, has the ability to ‘see’ auras emanating from buried precious metals. The quantity of buried metal doesn’t have to be large for I have photographed auras emanating form single gold coins, however larger targets give better responses. The metal doesn’t need to have been buried for long, a couple of days will suffice, although the aura does tend to increase the longer the target has been buried. The SX-70 camera itself is a Single Lens Reflex (which means focusing is accomplished directly through the lens instead of a viewfinder). ‘The only camera Polaroid ever made that was worth a damn,’ some say. Unfortunately, the SX-70, a success of the 1970’s is no longer in production and has to be sought out on the ‘previously enjoyed’ market. I bought mine for £30/$60 through placing a wanted advertisement in my local ‘freeads’ paper and I spotted two others recently: one on Ebay, the Internet auction, with a starting price of £60/$120 and a special edition SX-70, in the collectors section of a camera store, priced at £90/$180. Other places you might look for a camera to buy are: boot fairs, antique shops, flea markets, second-hand shops, charity shops, garage sales, yard sales and photographic equipment fairs. Just be aware that there are a number of cameras bearing the SX-70 name and even more that can use SX-70 film but they are not all SLR cameras. The SX-70 Model 3 for instance is not a SLR camera. I haven’t been able to quite get to the bottom of why SLR cameras seem particularly good at capturing auras, I believe it is related to the amount of light reaching the film. The SX-70 camera I use is the original SLR folding camera, newer SX-70 SLR cameras should work but I have not heard of one single non-SLR Polaroid producing an aura. If in doubt, stick with the original.
The instant film specifically made for this camera in cartridges of ten is called Time Zero in the USA and SX-70 instant film in Europe. Regrettably Polaroid took the decision to cease production of this particular film in 2005 and all available film is now out of date and extremely expensive. I have used this film successfully up to four years out of date but success in using out of date film depends very much on storage conditions. Refrigeration but NOT freezing, prolongs the film’s life so if the film hasn’t been refrigerated it is probably not safe to use more than two years out of date and all SX-70 original film expired in 2006. If you have out-of date film all I can say is try it- if the film will produce a satisfactory picture it will produce an aura providing you have a suitable target in the viewfinder. However, all is not lost for the moment as in 2007 a group of enthusiasts produced SX-70 Blend Film on Polaroid’s equipment in Holland. The cassette is original SX-70 although the film is made to a different formula but that does not matter, the secret is in the camera, not the film and the film works fine. Also the current Polaroid 600 film can be used successfully with a couple of modifications. The first is that the film cassette has a row of four plastic nubs or protrusions on the underside at the rear. This is actually to stop you using the film in the SX-70 because it’s speed is four times faster than SX-70 film and under normal circumstances pictures would be hopelessly over-exposed and looking like you had photographed a white cat in a snowstorm. But we’ll cure that later. There are two ways of loading 600 film into the SX-70 camera, the easiest is to file off or otherwise remove the two nubs in the middle of the row, which will allow the film cassette to slide into the camera as normal. The alternative is to use the black cover slide (that ejects when you load an instant film) from a previously loaded film, to ‘shoehorn’ the cassette into the camera. Simply hold the slide under and slightly beyond the cassette so the nubs will have a smooth surface to slide over and into the camera.
The film speed can be compensated for by fixing a 2-stop neutral density (ND) filter in front of the lens, which will also darken the view in the viewfinder. The SX-70 Blend film cassette is actually fitted with a sheet of 2-stop neutral density filter material on top of the cassette, clearly labelled do not remove. So if you can get yourself a pack of SX-70 Blend film, which may be available from http://www.unsaleable.com or Ebay, when you have used the film you can remove the filter sheet and cut out a filter disc to fit inside the UV filter you will also have to use. The alternative is to buy a 2-stop ND filter that will fit over the lens along with the mandatory UV filter.
The latest set back is that Polaroid ceased production of all instant film at the end of 2008 with a latest expiry date of August 2009 on the 600 film, so it would seem prudent to stock up on long-dated 600 film and keep it in the refrigerator. With luck that film will remain useable until at least 2013. Fortunately there has now been a Polaroid management buyout, which is now manufacturing film again under the name of The Impossible Project. The best fit for the SX-70 camera is PX-70 film in packs of eight. The film is not identical to Time-Zero film and the SX-70 camera’s lighten/darken wheel needs turning to the darkest setting. The film is largely untested for auras but will be tested later in 2012. The Impossible Project can be found here: http://www.the-impossible-project.com
As I just mentioned, regardless of the film you use, you will need to get an ultraviolet (UV) filter to fit over the lens. There isn’t a fitting on the lens to take a filter and as far as I know no filters were ever made for this camera, although there are clip on lenses which, if you get hold of one, could be adapted to take a filter. You won’t go too far wrong if you take your camera to a camera store and ask them to supply a filter a little larger in diameter than the lens; 30mm diameter is about right but check that the filter will fit your camera before you leave the shop. When you come to use the camera attach the filter with a couple of blobs of a solid reusable adhesive putty like ‘Blu-Tack’ (poster putty or fun tac), one either side of the lens but not obscuring it. Don’t stick the filter on with super-glue or other permanent glue or you won’t be able to close the camera up. Finally, one accessory that it would be useful to have is a compass, it doesn’t need to be fancy as you only have to identify North and South with it.
Having equipped yourself with SX-70 camera, film, filter(s) and compass you only need a site where you think there could be gold or silver buried. Temperature may be critical, the higher the temperature the stronger the aura. The film needs to be above 55°F/13°C to develop so put it in your inside pocket or somewhere warm in low temperature conditions. Auras should be obtainable below this temperature providing the ground isn’t frosty, as the frost tends to scatter the light. The optimum time for taking pictures is either early morning sunlight or late evening sunlight (recommended as the temperature will usually be higher and the aura will be stronger); foggy mornings are also said to produce good results. Presumably a low angle, of sunlight and possibly reduced light is needed for the camera to capture the aura. You may be successful outside of these conditions but if you don’t know for sure where the treasure is you will give yourself the best chance if you follow the guidelines. You can always experiment later, when you have more experience.
Aim to be at your treasure site either at sunrise or a half-hour before sunset. Stand as close as you can to the area where you think precious metal may be buried and, using the compass, position yourself to the North or South of the target area so that you are at right angles to the sun. Focus the camera on the target area and take a photograph. As I am sure you know, Polaroid photographs are self processing and you will have your picture within a couple of minutes of clicking the shutter. Take a look at the photograph to see if it shows an aura. You may be lucky and get an aura first time or you may have to keep trying, perhaps shifting your position backwards or forwards or to the opposite side of the target area. Take a series of photographs over the half-hour period after sunrise or before sunset, if you need to. Persevere and you will soon find your aura and the treasure that produced it.
Aura on scattered gold coin cache (Time Zero film)
Beach aura from probable treasure wreck (Time Zero film)
Polaroid SX-70 camera with 600 film on target of an ounce of gold & two ounces of silver
Polaroid 600 film. Note lighter patches over buried metal and double images on plastic coated metal window frames.
One small farm field I was searching with a metal detector had been pasture for many years although in that state identifiable finds dated no earlier than medieval but the plow soon changed that.
Much to my chagrin at the time, the day the field was plowed and rolled the farmer walked across the field and plucked a single Iron Age gold coin from the ground. The condition was almost as minted which suggested there might be more especially considering that the field sloped gently down to a ditch that had once held an impressive ring of bright water - a classic contender for a Celtic sacred site where offerings might be made to their gods. The farmer showed me where he had found the coin and I searched carefully around the find spot with a metal detector and pretty well searched the whole field with the metal detector over the next few weeks until the growing crop forced me to stop. The only two finds worth mentioning amounted to an Elizabeth I sixpence and a Scottish four pence piece of David II, both about fifteen hundred years later than the Iron Age.
The crop had been harvested for more than a month and I hadn’t set foot on the field until the farmer asked why I didn’t go and have another look. ‘The weeds are knee high’ I thought: ‘And what’s more I’ve already searched every square inch.’ The question sounded somewhat rhetorical however, so saying “What a good idea!” I made my way to the field. ‘Good idea indeed!’ I thought as I struggled through the undergrowth making my way to the far side of the field where the farmer had found his coin. I eventually reached the spot the richer for one piece of lead and a fly button. As I turned at the field boundary, I noticed a relatively clear piece of ground a few metres away and headed for that. Just as I reached the patch a crisp signal stopped me in my tracks. I took out a trowelful of earth to be greeted by a gleaming gold disc lying on top of the little black spoil heap. I knew it was an Iron Age coin before I had even picked it up and amazingly within the hour I was holding a second gold coin. It was quite some minutes before I had recovered from the shock enough to carry on detecting.
I returned the next day for another go but the success of the previous day was not to be repeated. I had, however, brought a Polaroid SX-70 camera with me. As sunset approached, I set the camera and stood in the centre of a mentally described circle that surrounded the find spots of the three gold coins. I took the first shot of the lower part of the field where I had found the two coins and then stood staring at the developing print as bright yellow streaks formed around the find spots. I turned around and took another shot of the upper part of the field where the first coin had been found and saw five separate streaks develop, fainter than the previous print but definite nevertheless. These pictures seemed to indicate that there was more gold waiting to be found.
The following day I was back on the field with an arsenal of deeper seeking devices: an 11-inch searchcoil on my Laser, my Goldscan pulse induction detector and my dowsing rod. I selected the Goldscan and set about the field, going over the find spots. I was quite surprised at the quantity of non-ferrous metal that emerged although a little disappointed that none was gold.
I continued searching over the following few weeks but nothing significant turned up until finally the plow returned. As if mocking all my previous effort, half an hour after searching the freshly plowed field I was holding gold coin number four. The next two sessions produced no precious metal and I was beginning to believe that the field only gave up its gold on the initial search after plowing or harvesting. Christmas was now upon us and I took some time out to study the Polaroids. The last coin I had found was just outside the shot and the predicted finds were scattered randomly over a quarter of an acre. Instead of concentrating around the areas immediately around the previous finds as I had been, I thought it would be worthwhile to investigate the predicted find spots one by one.
An hour into the search on Boxing Day I recovered coin number five. At the start of my next search, on the second day of the new Millennium, I was a little perturbed to hear crackling noises in my headphones as I switched my detector on but dismissed it as arcing from an electric fence. It was approaching dusk with almost nothing in my finds bag when I noticed that a piece of brass scrap I had just passed the coil over, failed to produce a signal. I unplugged the headphones and scanned the brass to check the detector, which reassuringly gave a clear signal. I continued detecting expecting to go home with nothing for my foolishness in not spotting the headphone problem earlier but the last signal pointed out a gleaming gold crescent; the edge of coin number six just breaking the surface. Before I had to abandon the field to the crop yet again, I added one more coin to the score, making the total a magnificent seven.
Occasionally things happen which defy belief. The next time the field was plowed the farmer walked across the field and plucked another gold coin from the ground. I visited the field a couple of days later and within half an hour I spotted that unmistakable glint in the bottom of the hole. I knew the score before I picked the find up – farmers: two, treasure hunters: seven…With recent developments, the total to date now stands at eighteen.
The eight staters declared treasure (with kind permission Museum of Canterbury)
35mm Film Camera
Louis J Matacia advocates in his books that when you get a Polaroid shot containing an aura that you take photographs from the same position with an ordinary film camera. With the imminent demise of Polaroid photography a 35mm film camera may be the only traditional route left, although it is obviously much less convenient than using instant film. By way of experiment I tried out my old Asahi Pentax K1000 on various known targets, using the same parameters as on the Polaroid SX-70, i.e. from half-hour before sunset, facing north-south and with a UV filter fitted. The film used was Kodak Gold ISO200. Unfortunately none of the processed photos showed any trace of an aura whatsoever. That doesn’t say that you won’t get auras with a different camera or film. Feel free to experiment with film cameras if you wish.
Aura Glasses and Kirlian Photography
A correspondent suggested that I take a look at aura glasses, particularly a book by Wendy Lambert: Aura Glasses: You Can See Auras! The book included a free pair of aura glasses. I duly checked this out without any success at all in regards to identifying buried metal! The problem I see is that the aura surrounding humans and animals are not of the same nature as metal auras although of course warm-blooded creatures will give off infrared radiation but this may be at a different (higher?) wavelength than that given off by metals. The aura glasses supplied actually had blue lenses, which would filter, at the lower wavelength end of the visible spectrum. Not what we are looking for! The other problem is the limited range of wavelengths detectable by the human eye.