Occidental Development Foundation International

ARCHAEOLOGY, MALAPROPISM AND EXEGESIS DIVISION

 

Register:  RF-23 (See Ya FVA) 

Type:  Graffitto

Location:  Warwick, NY

Origin:  Unknown

Full Inscription/Graffitto:

 

                      SEE YA

                           FVA

                                LIVES

                         V.4.78 ON!

Translation:  Unknown

Photo Specimen A:

AppleMark

Photo Specimen B:

AppleMark

 

ONE OF THE GREATEST MYSTERIES OF THE WORLD

For years, scholars and amateurs alike have pondered the meaning of the mysterious message scrawled upon the exposed rock face of the Mt. Peter region of Warwick, NY.  Popularly believed to have been written by a race of giants from Crete, the See Ya FVA graffitto continues to captivate into the twenty-first century.   As part of its continuing dedication to academic excellence and cultural enrichment, the Occidental Development Foundation International recently established a new Archaeology, Malapropism and Exegesis Division with the express mission of analyzing and interpreting the text, the most famous Neolithic feature of the lower Hudson Valley.   The Archaeology, Malapropism and Exegesis Division has scheduled a major symposium for 21-27 March 2005 at Imperial College in the UK, and many of the worldıs leading FVA scholars will be on hand to discuss the latest findings, as well as debate current methodological issues and problems of interpretation.  Below is the email correspondence of two of ODFIıs leading experts in the AME Division through the fall as research gets underway.    

 

Sun, 10 Oct 2004 05:17:27 -0700 (PDT)

See Ya photos

 

jeff- tell me if you got these! and start making some theories!

TIM

Sun, 10 Oct 2004 07:41:20 -0700 (PDT)

Re: See Ya photos

 

Tim,

 

Excellent reconaissance work out there.  This is certainly one mystery that needs solving.  Those pictures are incredible.  The graffitti looks so ominous and foreboding in the images...it really looks like some political warning or resistance message...like FVA is the acronym for some Third World rebel group and stands for something like Frente Vigilante y Armado...but they are writing in English to throw everyone off their tail. 

 

Did FVA "Live On"?  A Question for Debate

 

The thing that always struck me about the "See Ya FVA" series is a strange feeling that perhaps, despite their boast, the FVA group didn't "Live On" at all.  That graffitti has been there as long as I can remember, and indeed, my belief is that the cryptic code written on the lower left of the message is nothing more than a date, written using an obscure symbology typical of other Southern New York State highway writings.  So, if my hypothesis is correct, and it is in fact a date, it is not unreasonable to assume that the graffitti in its entirety may have all been written at the same time, in 1978. 

 

Obviously, FVA was an important organization.  They had some access to all-purpose long-lasting outdoor paint.  They must have also had some rudimentary technology to access the cliff face to inscribe the message, as it is at a forbidding height from ground level.  They were probably educated at some point in their careers, learning to write Roman as well as Arabic numerals and the letters of the Latin alphabet.  However, it can be surmised that their education never got far, because instead of using the Standard English form "you" in their address to the viewer, the scribe opts instead for the colloquial Orange County form of "ya."  Of course, it has been posited that "Ya" may in fact be someone's name.  Without further written evidence, it is impossible to ascertain what the scribe intended.

 

Nevertheless, what remains is thus:  the organization, FVA, has at least one member, the scribe, who is at least moderately educated.  The organization also has some access to scaffolding technology or otherwise to be able to write a graffitto at such a height.  And

finally, they had to have some financial backing in order to undertake a project such as this. 

 

So, if a group had enough clout and influence to write a startling and bombastic message in 1978, why did they stop there?  I have no knowledge of any other FVA-related graffitto in the Warwick Valley, or indeed the Orange County area.  Perhaps this was a last ditch effort by a rebellious group that was slowly becoming obsolete or extinct in the face of increasing social pressures of the late 1970's.  Much has yet to be written on other variables, including the time period that nearby Route 17A was built, the amount of Warwick-Greenwood lake traffic in the 1970's and the role of Linda Tripp in all of this, considering that she was arrested in Greenwood Lake around the time I hypothesize the message was written.  Perhaps she was somehow involved in this shadowy organization, and she took the fall.

 

If I think of anything else, I will inform you.

 

Thank you again for your brilliant investigative work.  This picture is going on my desktop.

 

To your health,

Jeff

Sun, 10 Oct 2004 08:28:15 -0700 (PDT)

Re: See Ya photos

 

jeff,

i am DEEPLY moved by your hypothesis regarding FVA. In fact, i am still laughing and peeing in my pants from reading it. we should open the See Ya FVA files on the Invader site as soon as we re-do the october page.  have you been able to work on it? I have some feedback

on the case, but need to peruse further your ideas. I think we are on to something with this. now i don't want to know the real story behine the grafitto. I am afraid it will be boring and therefore depressing.  it is a dark and cold day today. i think the orange is

catching up with cardiff.

 

i will write more l8r.

TIM

Sun, 10 Oct 2004 13:09:22 -0700 (PDT)

other FVA theories

 

jeff,

 

The FVA code is, in fact, biblical. V.4.7.8 stands for book 4, which is the gospel according to john, and it refers to verse 7-8. hence, the V. The verse refers to a figure in light everlasting.  It has become apparent that FVA was a charismatic leader of a millinarian cult movement, and he was a messiah whose message of truth, reconciliation and ressurection has been scrawled upon the wall in a

apocalyptic fashion, signaling end times when we will all be obliterated and FVA will "Live on."

 

It is also possible that FVA was a prostylitizing missionary who, upon leaving warwick at the turn of the century, his apostles of the mountains scrawled a valediction for passerbys of the future to commemorate FVA's historic stop in warwick. The graffitto could be

nothng more than a historical marker of a special visit. The embedded code would still reference FVA's favorite biblical passage, one which would hold great significance to his group of followers.

 

It has also been speculated that FVA is an acronym for this leader, who goes by a branded style logo name, which forsaw the corporatiziation of religion and the acronymization of entities. FVA most likely stood for Free Veterans Association or Fred Villanova

Accountants. Or perhaps Franciscan Vissectitiude Ascetics. The name still remains a great and unsolvable peice to the puzzle.

 

FVA most likely left warwick in a state of celebration and the writer of the graffitto intended that generations upon generations of warwikians would come to revere and respect the memory of this great

religious leader.  It would be interesting to see if FVA left permenant impessions upon other communities in the lower Hudson valley. There is no indication if FVA actually "lives on" or not. However, if FVA lives on in our hearts and minds, he is never really, truly dead. Therefore, FVA actually "Lives on"

 

TIM

Sun, 10 Oct 2004 13:13:31 -0700 (PDT)

Re:  FVA Code Cracked, maybe?

 

jeff,

I did a google search for the v.4.7.8 code and there's what i found in the search: is this weird or WHAT!??!

 

iXBT.com: ??????? 2: ?????

... ???????: WinXP Manager v.4.7.8 — Alien @ 13:15

????????

 ??? ??????? ? ?????? ??????? ?????. ... 

www.ixbt.com/news/soft/archive.shtml?soft20030917 -  39k

Mon, 11 Oct 2004 05:45:46 -0700 (PDT)

Re: FVA Code Cracked, maybe?

 

Tim,

 

This code is troubling.  Obviously, someone (or something) has anticipated our search, and thus left this puzzling reminder that we may be in over our heads.  I think FVA may be more powerful than we previously imagined.

 

On the topic of FVA:  If this graffitto was in fact written in a Late Antique Latin script (and the style and form of the letters indeed meshes with that of funerary inscriptions and mileage markers from the Late Roman Empire), then the "V" in "FVA" may in fact be a modern "U".  This changes our interpretations immensely, as F-U-A makes infinitely more sense as an acronym.  Possible frightening organizations utilizing the FUA acronym include:  Fanatic Underground

Alliance, Fascist Union of America, Frontal Urban Assault and the famed Fraternity of Unorthodox Activities, among others. 

 

I am working on cracking the iXBT code.  I think it's time we paid these iXBT people a visit to find out what they know about FVA/FUA.

 

Yours in Christ of the Pierced Cross,

Gotfredus Cambrensis

Mon, 11 Oct 2004 09:09:12 -0700 (PDT)

This is getting sick

 

TIMOTHEVS WARVICENSIS:

 

Again, brilliant work with your interpretation of the code here.  However, upon careful inspection of the photograph, I wish to take your initial concept a few steps further.  V.4.7.8...clearly a Biblical passage, perhaps serving a dual role as a date, as I stated in my first hypothesis.  I disagree, however that the passage indicated is in the New Testament for several key reasons.

 

     1.  The use of the V (Roman Numeral five) is reserved primarily                 for the ordering of Old Testament books, and is especially common for the five books of ancient Jewish law including Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.  Therefore, V corresponds to the fifth book of the Pentateuch, ie, Deuteronomy.

 

     2.  Until we receive some information regarding the age of Route 17A and the creation of the cliff face in question, we may safely assume that the graffitto predates the Christian era.

    

     3.  The residents of the Mount Peter/Greenwood Lake area have         always shown a special affinity for the early books of the Old    Testament.  It is therefore logical that they would choose to mention    a passage from this part of the Bible on any permanent inscription.

 

V.4.7.8:  Deuteronomy 4:7-8

 

(7) What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him? (8) And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today?"

 

Obviously, the scribe chose this passage because it echoes some of the themes of superiority and eternity previously favored by the FVA group.  The "nation" or here, FVA, exalts itself above all else, much as the ancient Israelites thought of themselves as above their "heathen" neighbors including the Phoenicians, Amalekites and especially the inhabitants of Midian.  God is on the side of FVA, or so the scribe purports, and the Greenwood Lake graffitto is intent on broadcasting this message to the world.

 

To tie Deuteronomy 4:7-8 in with the main message of the graffitto, "SEE YA FVA LIVES ON!" one merely must note the dual themes of invincibility and timelessness present in both.  Considering the brash and almost recklessly optimistic tone of "SEE YA" we are able to detect a similar attitude in Deuteronomy.  The Deuteronomy author is essentially saying the same thing as the FVA scribe, but in the context of ancient Israel viz. the rest of the heathen world.  Unfortunately, at this stage, evidence is scant to be able to ascertain who the FVA scribe principally intended his audience to be, but the message is the same:  "We are moving forward, while the rest are either stagnating, or moving backward."  The God of the Israelites is of course omnipotent, and to the author of Deuteronomy, any nation who chooses to ignore God will be left to eventual destruction, whereas those who believe and follow His law will be rewarded. 

 

The second part of the Greenwood Lake inscription "FVA LIVES ON!" reiterates the concept of the timelessness found in Deuteronomy 4:8.  The laws of the Pentateuch were written to stand the test of time, and it is a testament to their staying power that there remain some ultra-conservative groups who seek to re-implement the laws in modern societies.  It is certain that in writing the laws down, Israelite scribes were in essence proclaiming that Jewish law "Lives On!" in a way that unwritten law, such as the laws of the Ammonites in present day Jordan, could not, and as a result, would be lost forever to posterity.

 

FVA (regardless of the controversy of the meaning of the acronym), wishes to insert itself into the timelessness that is alluded to in Deuteronomy and is fulfilled by the act of writing.  Whereas in a

pre-literate society, the knowledge and existence of FVA would be difficult to sustain once the members of the group were deceased, with the aid of writing, a piece of the group could survive into later epochs and in a very real sense "Live On."  This fundamental

concept was mentioned in your last email, and I think is very appropriate to the discussion here.

 

Sincerely,

GOTFREDVS WARVICENSIS (not Cambrensis)

Mon, 11 Oct 2004 11:09:59 -0700 (PDT)

Re: FVA

 

jeff,

 

your investigation into the FVA case i completely intrinsic to the ODFI mission statement.  i am deeply impressed by your tenacious detective efforts. it is heartening to know that someone is determined to get to the bottom of this perplexing mystery. unfortunately, there is no rosetta stone rubric from which to work, so your theorizing is truly groundbreaking.

 

I am sitting here in this completely dingy computer lab smiling from ear to ear and laughing heartily to myself. i can't control my happiness that you have latched onto FVA in such a complete way.  i am delighted, in fact. i love you!

 

i have drawn up some new intitiatives for The Invader during class time. I have also put out an executive search team to find new blood for the ODFI board. They have discovered two enlightening candidates. Ed Pantaloni as ODFI Commission Chair and E.E. Ellerby as Invader News Analyst and Guidance Counselor. I will tell you more about them when my head hunting team has reached completion. I also have developed new concepts and ideas and revisions for The Invader, yet have no concrete plan for implementation. (of course!)

 

Talk to you L8r.

yours in coats of arm,

TIM

Mon, 11 Oct 2004 09:16:36 -0700 (PDT)

Re: FVA Code Cracked, maybe?

 

Tim,

 

When written as it is on the rock face, the graffitto

really looks like a weird inscription that I've been

reading about this past week.

 

             SEEYA

                FVA

     V.4.7.8 LIVES ON!

 

This is pretty similar to something I saw in a book

about funeral markers in Wales:

 

          AVSTALIS DIBVS

       XIII VAGATVR

            SIB COTIDIM

 

I really am getting carried away with this.  It's so

much fun.  I've spent more time on this issue than I

have on my coursework today.  And I had a lot to

do...oh well, there's always tomorrow.

 

Godspeed,

Jeff