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|  |  | | | | | | | | | | | Forbidden Zone Geocaches
OPERATION SILVERBACK is a geocaching series created by the Simian Guerrilla Task Force (SGTF) consisting of seven (7) Top Secret Geocaches (TSGs) hidden in and around San Diego in Southern California. It draws inspiration from Project A.P.E., the geocaching promotion introduced by 20th Century Fox prior to their release of the "blockbuster" Planet of the Apes remake in 2001, The X-Files and other science fiction classics. Authentic Planet of the Apes Memorabilia (POTAM) has been stashed at some FBZs and has also been sent on Special Reconnaissance (SR) missions to various current and former Project A.P.E. cache locations around the globe.  Some FBZs also include printed images of prized Project A.P.E. geocoins which can be discovered and logged via their corresponding tracking numbers. GC members who enter the TNs will add instances of the ape face icon to their online profiles!
 Activity Details:
FBZ top secret briefing document (.pdf) placed in Project A.P.E. Mission 9 Tunnel of Light cache container on 13 July 09 at 13:29:34.
Operation Silverback is the code name for SGTF's self-assigned Intelligence Support Activity (ISA). We purport a link between extraterrestrials and primates and strongly adhere to the notion that aliens are planning to unleash an imminent attack against mankind using an Alternative Primate Evolution (A.P.E.). * We believe our role is to collect "intelligence" related to our assumption and present documentation to its effect. In our TSGs we provide "top secret" reports and relevant evidence to prove our hypothesis. In addition to these materials, a codeword is hidden at each FBZ that can be deciphered using the Silverback Cipher and entered here on the codeword panel to reveal coordinates to the final FBZ mission, a remote TOP SECRET Forbidden Zone where the "truth shall be revealed!" Operatives must gather and enter all six (6) mission codewords before they will be able to view the final mission coordinates.
Optionally, operatives are welcome to create an account on this Web site to display their progress as they visit TSGs and successfully enter corresponding Operation Silverback codewords. Points and a special command ranking are assigned to operatives' profiles for correct submissions and other relevant operation engagements. Keep in mind that codewords can be gathered in any order so you DO NOT need to visit FBZs sequentially!
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 | | | | | | | | | | |  |  | | | | Operation Silverback: Final Assault | | | | | | |
Operation Silverback | Report submitted by: Lieutenant Colonel balcanthez
Once all the codeword’s were obtained for the final mission, an assault plan was devised with assistance of Operative Golden Siren. The mission date was set and only generic locations of our whereabouts would be known by the unbelievers. The drop-off site was attained and descent into the abyss was achieved with little trouble.
Guardians of the Forbidden Zone had taken quite a beating, with only 1 sentry still standing guard. We easily avoided capture and moved down the tunnels toward the archeological site. Searchers were above, and we heard their machinery pass as we slowly marked the trail. Additional warning signs were encountered, but since they were simian in nature, we were not deterred.
Upon reaching the Government warnings that this was a POTAM Restricted area, we began our search. This took a while, with our detector identifying the correct location, but not the correct altitude. A deeper investigation revealed a curious marking which led us to the secret container. Revealing the truth was quite exhilarating, and we were overjoyed to find the contents quite intact. All materials were studied and photographed for recording of the encounter. Official photographs were encoded with the latest encryption to avoid incidental exposure to non-authorized personnel, and keep the encounter out of the media.
Upon recording of the event, Golden Siren and I departed the area just as found. The secrets are hidden once again for another operative to find for additional studying and retrieval.
Once we returned to the drop-off site, we noticed residents of a similar nature observing our movements. Those too were photographed for later classification.
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Operation Silverback: FBZ A.P.E. 57 The Forbidden Zone Final Mission | | | | | | |
Operation Silverback | Report submitted by: Honorable Discharge blondhilites
I thoroughly enjoyed each and every FBZ A.P.E cache and sorry to see this is the end, the final, The Forbidden Zone...or is it? The series obviously took a lot of time to put together as it does to maintain...all for our enjoyment![:D] Accomplishing all seven missions have been the most fun I've had in my four years of Geocaching ~ truly amazing work you've done in creating each and every one!
We carefully worked our way through the detailed documents, studied them, took our notes, snapped pictures and pulled our jaws back in place. The details you've provided are incredible.
Thanks to Ragfoot for including me on these missions,for his help,teamwork,and most of all, patience. Patience as I went 'APE' at every cache, playing with the props and goofing off like a kid at the zoo~'wild & crazy' what can I say?
Thanks to The JJ Duo for explaining the details and checking in with me often as I learned to navigate through the Forbidden Zone website, making several mistakes along the way.
I also appreciated Jim (JJduo) and Bkip for hiking with me to Warlock Mine and hiding breadcrumbs for the rest to follow.
This final mission was accomplished by The Silverback Operatives Assalt Team: Ragfoot, Bkip, Dillweed, jahoadi&john and w/out injury, Fisnjack [:D].
MANY THANKS TO YOU SGTF -over and out [;)]
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Operation Silverback: The Monkey's Triangle | | | | | | |
Operation Silverback | Report submitted by: Honorable Discharge blondhilites
Another incredibly prepared and executed A.P.E cache that I get so da-gum excited to find! Ragfoot and I planned for a whole day to accomplish all three sectors. We drove to sector 1 via the “recommended off-road vehicle trail” early morning 30/Oct/2010. At GZ we search for a bit and I broke off to expand the possibilities. I got a glimpse of the prize and a taste of how our day would follow :D.
Ragoot decided to test his skill with the ‘stock’ (at the time) Grand Cherokee on a very steep sand dune. Knowing we still had 2 WP to go and I had a thumb to hitch hike, I opted to walk around the hill. (this is the Saltan Sea~’Bermuda Triangle’, ya know)
As navigator, I got busy converting the coordinates and we headed for sector 2. Once we arrived, Ragfoot announced our first mission and went about it. I went off to I paw-taa and when I had returned, he had expanded his search. I found what we needed where you both said it would be. ;). I tell ya, the door opened and it was game on. I went 'back in time' looking at those old ledgers, labor hours/costs, (thinking of my Mom and Dad) the ape memorabilia, etc, etc, etc ! priceless! The wind was blowing and howling through the building like crazy. If it weren’t for the mystery that remained at the “Final”, I would’ve asked to stay longer. Ragfoot had already denied me the fun of climbing to the roof so I knew not to push my luck. Besides, no one would even see a hitch hiker out here.
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Operation Silverback: FBZ A.P.E. 51: Stone of the Lost Valley - Mission Complete | | | | | | |
Operation Silverback | Report submitted by: Green Beret BKip
Oh woes the ignorant person who goes forth in this world and puts his faith more heavily in electronics than in proper planning, paying attention to details and common sense. That ignorant person spoken of would be I and today I got what I deserved. My only excuse (and not a good one) is that I was just over anxious and excited. To make a short story very long…
06 May 2011 (early evening) Read FBZ A.P.E. 51: Stone of the Lost Valley cache page and decided I would go for it. Copied and printed cache page along with graphics for required code breaking. Created a “Route” and ran it as a “Query” for other GC’s along the way. I confirmed via electronic-mail with the CO that no Adventure Pass was required for this area. Loaded up waypoints and waited out the night.
07May2011: I was ready to depart the fueling depot at 0951. Unknowing, I was about to perform the fatal flaw that ended this event in failure. Activating the ”future position prediction projector (FPPP)“ (oft referred to as GPSr) I ordered the machine to, “take me to the trailhead waypoint”. The machine did as trained to do and I blindly followed.
I Transited 90 kilometers via automatic motor vehicle on the well traveled route known as "The Eight", ignoring incidental GC waypoints along the way… I was on a mission!
“The Eight”, is patrolled by agents of CHP. They did not build it but they are the self-declared masters and are not to be trifled with. Avoiding contact with them is highly desirable. Other organizations vying for dominance of “The Eight”, encountered more often in this neck of the woods than even the CHP, are the very fast driving (where they going so fast all the time?) USBP, also worthy of avoiding their attentions?
Eventually, the machine told me to leave “The Eight” and go to dirt. At this point just a bit of thinking could have still saved the day. I had exited on Crestwood (nearly 5 miles from the intended McCain Valley road) and continued to follow the detached female voice of the FPPP.
The dirt road was quite passable in my normal height passenger automatic motor vehicle, though the surface turned to “washboard” every so often. At one point I saw ahead a squirrel in the middle of the road prancing/playing with a large stick. As I neared, the four legged critter scampered off, and I saw that the “stick” was a 2.5’ rattlesnake. The rattle snake was kind enough to pose for a few photographs. As I continued down the lane I contemplated “what kind of area am I in that squirrels tease rattlesnakes?”
Soon, I came across an amazing area, where farmers of wind, stole energy from the sky using monstrous plant stalks that had rotating petals, grabbing the wind as it passed. As I drove slowly by, near the base of the stalks, were many amputated petals, mauled and damaged, from lost battles. The sound of these beasts, a loud rhythmatic whooping, was eerie and somehow menacing. I moved on.
Right at the 10 kilometer point, I came to a surprising halt. Right in front of me was a shiny new chain link fence, blocking the path my FPPP was demanding I follow. Within the compound were various large pieces of unattended construction equipment. The only sign of life was a hovering helicopter, dangling a long cable. It soon became disinterested in whatever had attracted its attention and shortly flew off.
The FPPP still insisted that I go through the blockade. Zooming my map out any distance at all made the dirt road disappear from the screen and I couldn’t tell if any of the roads led to where I wanted to go. At one point I guided my steel and plastic steed down a randomly picked lane but the FPPP insisted that I make a U-turn and go back. Eventually I made the command decision to turn back and route a course for home via unplanned GCs.
Not until arriving at home base did I figure out that I simply needed to go a few more miles east on “The Eight” and exit on the intended road. Also worthy of mention at this point… don’t be lead to go north on Ribbonwood Road, which seemingly goes where needed but comes to a dead-end at a fence blocking the road at about the 3 mile mark. The path to happiness is to exit Robbonwood Road, go south and catch Old Hwy 80 eastbound, to finally catch McCain Valley Road going north and all the way to the trailhead.
30May2011: The correct route to ground zero is quite doable in a standard highway vehicle with minimal ground clearance and this day I arrived with no problems. Many interesting sights were seen on a level, easy, fairly short hike. The rock climbing took enough effort to make it fun without being over strenuous. Finding the shale I broke out the cipher devise and shortly discovered that I was holding it upside down. Re-breaking the code upside right provided needed information for obtaining the final code word. After searching for and finding the “hidden item” I spent the next 45 minutes climbing the rocks, exploring the area, and taking lots of photos. MISSION COMPLETE! A very good day indeed.
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Operation Silverback: FBZ A.P.E. 55: The Monkey’s Triangle - The Assualt | | | | | | |
Operation Silverback | Report submitted by: Green Beret BKip
Mission Date: 28 May 2011
This mission was planned by others, and again, I was invited to join the assault team (thanks BlondHiLites) by Special Operative Ragfoot. A rendezvous was arranged for 0600 at the secret meeting place designated WP1 (publicly known as the Lake Jennings Park & Ride).
Arriving just prior to the appointed hour, there were already 5 agents, jahoadi & john, Ragfoot, Dillweed, and Fisnjack standing by, with bon scott soon to arrive and complete the team. Being the “stranger” in the group, introductions were made, coffee was finished off, and soon all agents were assigned to the two assault vehicles, and the task force was off and running.
Two stops were made along the way to adjust and zero equipment, one of which required all wheel drive that allowed for proper calibration of vehicle capabilities. Continuing onward to our ultimate destination we arrived at “one avenue of approach” that was barricaded by a hill of sand. The lead vehicle easily made the transit but the following vehicle wanted to dig-into rather than go over. A quick decision was made for both vehicles to remain together and to take the secondary route.
It wasn’t long before we were bailing out of the transports and taking in the sights of ground zero. A lone cement bunker covered in sand with its blast doors opened wide. There was a large hole chipped(?) through the front wall, assumingly to gain entrance at some long ago time.
Agent Dillweed made the find of the first container while I was still taking in the surroundings. The contents were closely examined for hints and other useful items before the main container was grabbed. In this special case, instead of having the opportunity to make new discoveries of more great sites, the main cache had been moved to this site and left for us. Apparently, the cache may have been compromised and to insure the security of the container the CO had made special arrangements for our assault.
When opened, there were many items that required examining, not the least of which was the required code word. Photos were taken, everyone took turns double checking hints, and triple checking that everything that could be found, was found. Instead of returning the cache to its hiding place it was put into the back of Agent Ragfoots assault vehicle, to be returned to the CO.
The Agents went about the rest of the day seeking more trivial caches and exploring the fantastic sites and sights of the desert. It was a good day. END OF REPORT
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Operation Silverback: Report 01May2011: OP FBZ#56 | | | | | | |
Operation Silverback | Report submitted by: Green Beret bkip
Report 01May2011: OP FBZ#56 - The original planning for today's mission was only for the Warlock mine #52 but my two, more experienced, companions made a tactical decision to attempt Little Green Men #56 first. Leaving our wheeled transportation behind, we headed uphill on foot. The temperature had dropped to a brisk 47 degrees F, and the wind was picking up as we neared the summit, but the sky was clear and the sun was bright.
The team lead, JJ Duo directed by memory, while agent BlondHiLites, followed her GPSr arrow, and I, unprepared without the coordinates searched between the two. Scouring the hillside the wind was at its peak as we cautiously moved among the scrub bushes on the steep, stone covered slope.
Splitting the middle, I was in the right place to make the find. The large container held numerous documents and artifacts, all of which required close examination for fear of missing a critical piece of badly data.
As we sat, on convenient rocks, dissecting every bit and scrap of evidence, BlondHiLites discovered that her feet and ape feet were the same size... coincidence? Each of us independently logged codes, snapped photos, and did whatever it took to document our discovery.
Eventually, we all were satisfied that we had found all available hints and clues. We secured the cache, returned it to its waiting place and covered it as found. Heading up the slope the wind took my ballcap off my head twice slowing my ascent. The remainder of the return trip was rather uneventful and we were able to take in and enjoy the scenery having successfully completed the mission.
Onwards to more adventures...
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Operation Silverback: Report 01May2011: OP FBZ#52 | | | | | | |
Operation Silverback | Report submitted by: Green Beret bkip
Report 01May2011: OP FBZ#52 - Leaving #56 in the rear view mirrors, team lead JJ Duo, BlondHiLites, and I, continued down the road, headed for another mission, another adventure. Arriving at the trail head, to the inexperienced eye it would seem that the locals might not be so friendly. Reading the signage clarified that the trails, are in fact on private land, but open to the public as long as you stay on the trails. Further edification was provided by the team lead who recalled that should you drive down the private lane you should take care in where you park. Better to park on the main road. Agent BlonHiLites decided right off to leave behind trail markers (Geocaches) to ease our return trip and to mark the way for future adventurers.
Realization soon set in that it would take more fortitude and time, than our previous event, but the scenic vistas were on an equal par. It was a long, easy, hike with a gradual slope along a well beaten path. Signs of civilization popped up at unexpected times along the route. Spaced along the way were water bowls, all empty, and with empty plastic bottles laying nearby. Occasionally, there would be a sign, for example, "Poison Oak", or, "Stay on the trail".
Midway down, we came across a mine shaft. Braced with large wooden beams, the entrance was narrow, and would require a belly crawl to enter. Team lead, JJ Duo, noted that he had explored it himself and extended an invitation for BlondHiLites and myself to go exploring...we declined, anxious to get to our destination (or was it...?)
As we neared end of the initial, long arm, of the first leg, our destination came into view below. Marked by a small sign providing a bit of historic background, the view gave away the presence of another team. We could see two "unknowns" exploring ground zero. Were they agents? On whose side? There was only one way to find out, and we continued down.
After a few mild switchbacks we made it to the final stretch. Soon, me came upon the "unknowns" coming up trail. After a short chat it was determined that they were friendlies with no knowledge of the significance of the site. We bade them well and made it to the end of the trail in short order.
We had another decision to make. Down slope a short ways was our final goal, up slope, a bit nearer was a looming, black shaft of another mine. Agent BlondHiLites bounded uphill and after gaining the entrance she hollered, "lets get some pictures!" That settled it, the mineshaft first. a few shots and soon all three of us were inside. Plenty of room to stand erect, once inside, it was cooler, and darker. More photographs and finally we were ready for the final assault on our ultimate goal.
It took only a few minutes to cover the last couple hundred feet and almost immediately find the large container. Like the previous find, this one was chock full of documents and artifacts. Again, all three of us individually made our own notes and photos to ensure all that was needed was noted. Obviously, great effort had gone into the creation of this/these caches. Very, very impressive.
When all was closed up and returned to its hiding place our group started the long uphill trudge. Around this time, I think, agent BlondHiLites, decided to announce, in her own unique way, TICKS! To say she was upset would be to put it mildly. Without going into great detail, ticks were noted throughout the remainder of the hike.
Hours after starting, the great expedition ended and was celebrated by a bit of drink supplied by the team lead. There was complete concurrence that the hike was a complete success. The goal was obtained, there was fantastic scenery, and even better company. A fine day indeed!
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| | | | | | | | | | | Simian Guerrilla Task Force
SGTF operates in support of the Intelligence Support Activity or ISA (“The Activity”) known under the code name Operation Silverback. Those who claim knowledge say SGTF’s primary objective is to conduct top secret operations in tribute to the spirit of geocaching as
introduced in Project A.P.E.
It is believed that the SGTF's primary Area of Responsibility (AOR) is to operate as a forward scouting and surveillance team conducting Special Reconnaissance (SR) in relation to materials acquisition including the
search and recovery of Planet of the Apes Memorabilia (*POTAM) for emplacement in top secret geocaches (TSGs) named Forbidden Zones (FBZs).
 Profile Information:
Country: United States of America
Military Branch: Special Mission Units (SMUs)
Type: Special Operation Force (SOF)
Part Of: United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM)
Motto: SANCTUS TELUM OF PACIS ("Holy Weapon of Peace")
Nickname: Monkey Ballz
Engagement: Operation Silverback
Contact: sgtf@geocaches.org
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*Disclaimer: Stories here and at FBZ caches are a combination of historical conjecture, anecdote and pure fiction. Any similarity to any event, group, or person living or dead is merely coincidental. Additionally, SGTF has utilized a variety of signs/stickers as props in the FBZ geocaching series. Labels or warnings (e.g. biohazard, radioactive, etc.) which are fictitious will display some form of the SGTF/Silverback moniker; all other warning signage encountered during this or any other FBZ adventure should be respected and observed as posted.
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