Langley, Virginia
Kryptos, derived from the ancient Greek word for “hidden”, is a ciphertext sculpture located on the grounds of the CIA headquarters in Langley Virginia created In November of 1990 by sculptor Jim Sanborn. The sculpture contains some 1800 characters cut out along its large s-shaped copper scroll creating a series of four encrypted messages, the last of which has yet to be solved.
In 1999, computer scientist James Gillogy became the first person to publicly state that he had deciphered the first three passages utilizing a computer. Soon after Gillogly’s announcement, the CIA itself claimed that one of their analysts, David Stein, had solved the same passages earlier in 1998. Later in March of 2000, the NSA would claim that a team of their employees had actually deciphered the same three passages ahead of the others in late 1992 though not providing the documents to prove their claim until 2013 in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.
In the years since its creation, Jim Sanborn’s sculpture has thwarted all attempts at deciphering its last remaining puzzle, prompting Mr. Sanborn to publicly state that should he die before the last passage is deciphered, he plans to have the answer put up for public auction after his death to ensure someone will be able to confirm its solution.
Visit
Should you not be able to make it to Langely anytime soon but would like to take your own crack at the cipher, here’s a little help: https://mathweb.ucsd.edu/~crypto/Projects/KarlWang/index.html
Colonial Farm Road, Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center, Evermay, McLean, Fairfax County, Virginia, 20812
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