For the entirety of the hunt, Justin has been hesitant to disclose if the treasure is buried or not. I understand his ai concerns, however a little clarity may be helpful to all of us. Below is an analysis of statements/clues either for or against.

Burial

Metal detecting
In the book and documentary, multiple references or stories involved metal detecting. He’s spent thousands of hours doing it, wrote about finds in the book, also probably found the meteor doing so.

Shovel
The illustration on page 168 was always so striking. A shovel the size of a page seems very intentional. Too large and prominent not to be considered.

Manipulation
“Something will need to be manipulated in order for the treasure to be visible”. The treasure isn’t in sight until we so something like manipulate the ground with a shovel, or manipulate the lid of a airtight container, etc. heavily implies burial, entombment, or other vigorous concealment.

Tyler
Someone whose been a life long friend, would’ve known about the book, locations, and creator much before we would. His question from X interview is striking “why did you bury something in the ground for others to find”. Seems like a slip up of someone with intimate knowledge.

Not buried

Recognizable

Justin maintains that the container is immediately recognizable. Meaning we will know as soon as we see it. That statement carries much less weight if buried, of course we’re going to recognize something we had to unearth. Almost seems like something we stumble across.

Logistics

Justin had to know that people would be flying in to search on occasion. Flying with a metal detector and shovel would be quite the trip through tsa. Given that the poem doesn’t imply burial, would it be fair to the fliers if it was buried? Flying 2000 miles and not having the proper tools would be a lovely situation I’m sure.

Poem stands alone
That statement is huge. If it holds true, the treasure cannot be buried. The only reference one could try to say works is “cast your pole” but you would need the book to see the reference to “metal pole” referring to metal detectors. I understand the concerns with AI, but I think knowing if it’s buried or not is absolutely vital for successful retrieval. You’d could get right to where it’s at, but without knowing you needed to bring a shovel and metal detector, you wouldn’t be able to find it.

Conclusion

If it is indeed buried, Tyler knew early and that wouldn’t be cool if he’s searching. It’s a huge advantage to have that piece of information. It also would bring into question the validity of the statement “the poem can stand alone”. There are no clues referring to burial or concealment in the poem. Honestly anything other than it being right out in the open, would invalidate that statement. It wouldn’t really be fair to the people who solve everything from the poem, and end up empty handed because the didn’t bring the necessary equipment.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and feedback if you have any input. What side do you lean towards?