sadatx

This is on a sculpture outside CIA Headquaters. The sculpture was put up in 1990 and so far only a few people have been able to decipher parts of it, but noone has been able to decipher the last part. So I figure someone here should be able to do it

I present to you:

KRYPTOS



Have fun....

Pellaz

Way above my head. Is this just one side? If so, do you have the other two to post, pretty please?

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Xell101

How do I go about solving it?

sadatx

I believe this is the entire cryptogram as it appears on the sculpture.


A cryptogram is a code that stands for something. Codes need to follow a line of logic, a pattern in order to be useful. Find the pattern.

TIO

Looks like it should be doable. Is it a particularly secure cipher? Or just some kind of substitution-transposition combination?

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sadatx

I have no idea....



....what that is.

But, take a crack at it. If you solve the whole thing you'll be famous (I think, the website I got it from might be outdated, but still, at the very least I'm sure you'd be one of only a handful who've actually solved it.)

Jonsgirl

Any clues to start us off?

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ABCNews.com

The CIA Sculpture Mystery

So far, the full message hidden within this copper sculpture has eluded everyone who has tried to decode it. (ABCNEWS.com) Full Coded Message Stumps All Who Try

By John Martin

L A N G L E Y, Va., June 15 — Behind the Central Intelligence Agency’s headquarters, there’s a secret message waiting to be decoded.
ABCNEWS’ John Martin reports on the mysterious sculpture.
RealVideo

To the delight of its creator, artist Jim Sanborn of Washington, the message remains a mystery to the agency and the hundreds of employees who relax in the courtyard where his sculpture stands. “I don’t know that it will ever be totally figured out,” says Sanborn.

Only William Webster, CIA director at the time the sculpture was erected, was given the decoded text, and he locked it in the office safe when he left the agency in 1991.

A Break in the Case
But finally, after all these years, there’s been a break. An analyst at the agency has deciphered part of the message. In fact, he’s deciphered two parts of the message.

The CIA public affairs office is quick to point out that each employee works to unravel the puzzle on his own time. Presumably, the agency’s computers, or those of the code-breaking National Security Agency, could unlock the message in a matter of hours or days.

David Stein, a 38-year-old CIA physicist, working at home nights and weekends for about 400 hours, has deciphered all but 97 of the letters.

This is part of what he deciphered: “They used the earth’s magnetic field. The information was gathered and transmitted underground to an unknown location.”

What location? If you know the code, the coordinates are there.

“Thirty-eight degrees, 57 minutes, 6.5 seconds, north. 77 degrees, 8 minutes, 44 minutes west. ID’ed by rows,” reads Stein. That is the approximate location of the sculpture.

We showed retired CIA cryptographer Ed Scheidt Stein’s work. Scheidt says Stein is on the right track. And he should know — Scheidt is the one who taught the artist how to encode his message.

As to the section Stein hasn’t been able to solve, Scheidt says, “That’s still a secret.”

And that’s how the sculptor wants it. “I think it’s important that every piece of artwork holds one’s attention for as long as possible,” says Sanborn.

Still, after nine years, the veil has been pulled back slightly. But the mystery continues, and the CIA says it still wants the message deciphered, if only to show it enjoys the challenge.

Your Turn
We invite you to try cracking the code. You can see the full code at the bottom of this page. Mull it over and then post your guesses on the message board above or use the board to discuss things with fellow cryptographers. And then we will see whether one of our readers can accomplish what the CIA has not in nearly a decade.

Need a Hint?
We have posted a partial transcript with an interview Stein to help you. Each day we will post a portion of what Stein has already deciphered. Look for it at the bottom of the yellow box.


The Full Code

L E F T S I D E
EMUFPHZLRFAXYUSDJKZLDKRNSHGNFIVJ YQTQUXQBQVYUVLLTREVJYQTMKYRDMFD VFPJUDEEHZWETZYVGWHKKQETGFQJNCE GGWHKK?DQMCPFQZDQMMIAGPFXHQRLG TIMVMZJANQLVKQEDAGDVFRPJUNGEUNA QZGZLECGYUXUEENJTBJLBQCRTBJDFHRR YIZETKZEMVDUFKSJHKFWHKUWQLSZFTI HHDDDUVH?DWKBFUFPWNTDFIYCUQZERE EVLDKFEZMOQQJLTTUGSYQPFEUNLAVIDX FLGGTEZ?FKZBSFDQVGOGIPUFXHHDRKF FHQNTGPUAECNUVPDJMQCLQUMUNEDFQ ELZZVRRGKFFVOEEXBDMVPNFQXEZLGRE DNQFMPNZGLFLPMRJQYALMGNUVPDXVKP DQUMEBEDMHDAFMJGZNUPLGEWJLLAETG ENDYAHROHNLSRHEOCPTEOIBIDYSHNAIA CHTNREYULDSLLSLLNOHSNOSMRWXMNE TPRNGATIHNRARPESLNNELEBLPIIACAE WMTWNDITEENRAHCTENEUDRETNHAEOE TFOLSEDTIWENHAEIOYTEYQHEENCTAYCR EIFTBRSPAMHHEWENATAMATEGYEERLB TEEFOASFIOTUETUAEOTOARMAEERTNRTI BSEDDNIAAHTTMSTEWPIEROAGRIEWFEB AECTDDHILCEIHSITEGOEAOSDDRYDLORIT RKLMLEHAGTDHARDPNEOHMGFMFEUHE ECDMRIPFEIMEHNLSSTTRTVDOHW?OBKR UOXOGHULBSOLIFBBWFLRVQQPRNGKSSO TWTQSJQSSEKZZWATJKLUDIAWINFBNYP VTTMZFPKWGDKZXTJCDIGKUHUAUEKCAR

R I G H T S I D E
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZABCD AKRYPTOSABCDEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZKRYP BRYPTOSABCDEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZKRYPT CYPTOSABCDEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZKRYPTO DPTOSABCDEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZKRYPTOS ETOSABCDEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZKRYPTOSA FOSABCDEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZKRYPTOSAB GSABCDEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZKRYPTOSABC HABCDEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZKRYPTOSABCD IBCDEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZKRYPTOSABCDE JCDEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZKRYPTOSABCDEF KDEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZKRYPTOSABCDEFG LEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZKRYPTOSABCDEFGH MFGHIJLMNQUVWXZKRYPTOSABCDEFGHI NGHIJLMNQUVWXZKRYPTOSABCDEFGHIJ OHIJLMNQUVWXZKRYPTOSABCDEFGHIJL PIJLMNQUVWXZKRYPTOSABCDEFGHIJLM QJLMNQUVWXZKRYPTOSABCDEFGHIJLMN RLMNQUVWXZKRYPTOSABCDEFGHIJLMNQ SMNQUVWXZKRYPTOSABCDEFGHIJLMNQU TNQUVWXZKRYPTOSABCDEFGHIJLMNQUV UQUVWXZKRYPTOSABCDEFGHIJLMNQUVW VUVWXZKRYPTOSABCDEFGHIJLMNQUVWX WVWXZKRYPTOSABCDEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZ XWXZKRYPTOSABCDEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZK YXZKRYPTOSABCDEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZKR ZZKRYPTOSABCDEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZKRY



H I N T O F T H E D A Y
“Kryptos” Completed Plaintext. Top Half.
BETWEEN SUBTLE SHADING AND THE ABSENCE OF LIGHT LIES THE NUANCE OF ILLUSION. THEY USED THE EARTH’S MAGNETIC FIELD. THE INFORMATION WAS GATHERED AND TRANSMITTED UNDERGROUND TO AN UNKNOWN LOCATION.
DOES LANGLEY KNOW ABOUT THIS? THEY SHOULD ITS BURIED OUT THERE SOMEWHERE. ONLY WW. THIS WAS HIS LAST MESSAGE.
THIRTY-EIGHT DEGREES FIFTY-SEVEN MINUTES SIX POINT FIVE SECONDS NORTH SEVENTY-SEVEN DEGREES EIGHT MINUTES FORTY-FOUR SECONDS WEST ID BY ROWS.
(Bottom Half) SLOWLY DESPARATLY SLOWLY THE REMAINS OF PASSAGE DEBRIS THAT ENCUMBERED THE LOWER PART OF THE DOORWAY WAS REMOVED WITH TREMBLING HANDS I MADE A TINY BREACH IN THE UPPER LEFT HAND CORNER AND THEN WIDENING THE HOLE A LITTLE I INSERTED THE CANDLE AND PEERED IN THE HOT AIR ESCAPING FROM THE CHANBER CAUSED THE FLAME TO FLICKER BUT PRESENTLY DETAILS OF THE ROOM WITHIN EMERGED FROM THE MIST. CAN YOU SEE ANYTHINGQ?

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Splice

Thanks for sharing. This is fascinating! I never even heard of this sculpture behind CIA headquarter. If only we were like that professor, Dr. John Nash in "A Beautiful Mind."

giblfiz

Well, this is'nt a substitution cypher, so I'm out of the running. I have a feeling that means everyone else here is out of the running as well. A good cypher is unbreakable, but then since some of this has been broken its clearly not a good cypher.

good luck to anyone who tries. I would be curious to hear about your approach before you start.

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Fremen

This part sounds like they're describing the opening of Tutankhamens' tomb.


It's an intriguing puzzle. Good luck.

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pagliachi2003

Very interesting. I'll have to get back to you on what it means (actually I'm completely clueless)...

djtestudo

I was just aout to post that. It was the first thing I thought of when I read it.

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MSD

That was what was said when the tomb was opened.

MSD

If it's a substitution, then it would have been broken by now.

BentNotTwisted

What confuses me is how someone could decode part of the message and not the rest. Once you have the cipher you should be able to read the whole thing. Unless the message is written in several different codes...

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IS THAT IT ???!!!
Do you even know what 'it' is?

When the last man dies for just words that he said... We Shall Be Free

Cynthetiq

or an evolving cypher...

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sbscout

yeah, second half is the conversation between Harold Carter and Lord Kinarnan when they first opened Tut's tomb.

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Ryan

Wow, very wierd indeed. I cant wait to hear what it means..