Kryptos-The CIA’s Mysterious Sculpture Unsolved Puzzle Open Challenge To Intellectuals Globally
‘Kryptos’ sculpture placed at on the grounds of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Headquarters in Langley, Virginia was created by the American artist, Jim Sanborn has been mystifying intellectuals across the globe with its cryptic code. There have been much speculations and surmises about the Kryptos sculpture which has been carved out by Jim Sanborn since its dedication on November 3, 1990.
Kryptos Sculpture – Unsolved Mystery of World
There are total four puzzles on the Kryptos sculpture while three have been solved and still fourth persists as one of the most famous unsolved codes in the world. The final section of the Kryptos sculpture decipherment is being carried out by many global of the amateur and professional cryptanalysts none of them have been successful so far.
Jim Sanborn the sculptor of Kryptos sculpture hinted two clues for the unsolved fourth section so as to assist the cryptanalysts. Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) Fine Arts Commission started out to acquire fitting artwork for New Headquarters Building (NHB) in 1991 so that the iconic sculpture ponders life in all its positive aspects such as
- It brings forth all feelings of welfare, hope
- Boasts style and manner.
- Has acknowledgeable American roots in concept, materials, representation, and so forth at the same time should be wordly.
The red granite sculpture appears like a page protruding from the earth with copperplate ‘between the pages’ on which there are International Morse code and ancient ciphers. It is reported that the Kryptos sculpture copperplate screen has exactly 1,735 alphabetic letters cut into it which constitute the major part of the puzzle.
Kryptos sculpture copperplate screen puzzle is acclaimed as an appreciation of beauty or good taste. Speaking over the unsolved left over the fourth sequence of the copperplate screen puzzle, creator of it James Sanborn once said “They will be able to read what I wrote, but what I wrote is a mystery itself.”, As of now we could only say that time would answer the secret code and the final message of the multi-layered puzzle which has been ever revealed.
All together there are four Puzzles in this Kryptos and out of those three are answered and the fourth one is left open to the public. But none of the brilliant people could answer that last and final puzzle. Lets have a look to those three which have been answered.
Kryptos Puzzles With Solutions :
The Kryptos Sculpture Solutions
Kryptos Puzzle I
The first section was solved using Vigenere with the keywords PALIMPSEST and KRYPTOS.
| K | R | Y | P | T | O | S | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | L | M | N | Q | U | V | W | X | Z | |
| 1 | P | T | O | S | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | L | M | N | Q | U | V | W | X | Z | K | R | Y |
| 2 | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | L | M | N | Q | U | V | W | X | Z | K | R | Y | P | T | O | S |
| 3 | L | M | N | Q | U | V | W | X | Z | K | R | Y | P | T | O | S | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J |
| 4 | I | J | L | M | N | Q | U | V | W | X | Z | K | R | Y | P | T | O | S | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H |
| 5 | M | N | Q | U | V | W | X | Z | K | R | Y | P | T | O | S | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | L |
| 6 | P | T | O | S | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | L | M | N | Q | U | V | W | X | Z | K | R | Y |
| 7 | S | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | L | M | N | Q | U | V | W | X | Z | K | R | Y | P | T | O |
| 8 | E | F | G | H | I | J | L | M | N | Q | U | V | W | X | Z | K | R | Y | P | T | O | S | A | B | C | D |
| 9 | S | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | L | M | N | Q | U | V | W | X | Z | K | R | Y | P | T | O |
| 10 | T | O | S | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | L | M | N | Q | U | V | W | X | Z | K | R | Y | P |
Encrypted Code 1 (Puzzle)
EMUFPHZLRFAXYUSDJKZLDKRNSHGNFIVJ
YQTQUXQBQVYUVLLTREVJYQTMKYRDMFD
Decrypted Text (Solution)
Between subtle shading and the absence of light lies the nuance of iqlusion.
Kryptos Puzzle II
The second section was solved using Vigenere with the keywords ABSCISSA and KRYPTOS.
| K | R | Y | P | T | O | S | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | L | M | N | Q | U | V | W | X | Z | |
| 1 | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | L | M | N | Q | U | V | W | X | Z | K | R | Y | P | T | O | S |
| 2 | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | L | M | N | Q | U | V | W | X | Z | K | R | Y | P | T | O | S | A |
| 3 | S | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | L | M | N | Q | U | V | W | X | Z | K | R | Y | P | T | O |
| 4 | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | L | M | N | Q | U | V | W | X | Z | K | R | Y | P | T | O | S | A | B |
| 5 | I | J | L | M | N | Q | U | V | W | X | Z | K | R | Y | P | T | O | S | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H |
| 6 | S | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | L | M | N | Q | U | V | W | X | Z | K | R | Y | P | T | O |
| 7 | S | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | L | M | N | Q | U | V | W | X | Z | K | R | Y | P | T | O |
| 8 | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | L | M | N | Q | U | V | W | X | Z | K | R | Y | P | T | O | S |
Kryptos Encrypted Code 2 (Puzzle) :
VFPJUDEEHZWETZYVGWHKKQETGFQJNCE
GGWHKK?DQMCPFQZDQMMIAGPFXHQRLG
TIMVMZJANQLVKQEDAGDVFRPJUNGEUNA
QZGZLECGYUXUEENJTBJLBQCRTBJDFHRR
YIZETKZEMVDUFKSJHKFWHKUWQLSZFTI
HHDDDUVH?DWKBFUFPWNTDFIYCUQZERE
EVLDKFEZMOQQJLTTUGSYQPFEUNLAVIDX
FLGGTEZ?FKZBSFDQVGOGIPUFXHHDRKF
FHQNTGPUAECNUVPDJMQCLQUMUNEDFQ
ELZZVRRGKFFVOEEXBDMVPNFQXEZLGRE
DNQFMPNZGLFLPMRJQYALMGNUVPDXVKP
DQUMEBEDMHDAFMJGZNUPLGEWJLLAETG
Decrypted Text (Solution)
It was totally invisible Hows that possible? They used the Earths magnetic field X
The information was gathered and transmitted undergruund to an unknown location X
Does Langley know about this? They should Its buried out there somewhere X
Who knows the exact location? Only WW This was his last message X
Thirty eight degrees fifty seven minutes six point five seconds north
Seventy seven degrees eight minutes forty four seconds west ID by rows
Kryptos Puzzle III
The key is 0362514 (KRYPTOS).
And the encryption process is Route Transposition followed by a Keyed Columnar Transposition.
Step 1, Route Transposition:
First we pad the message fitting it into a 86xN box.
Why padding it? To make the text in all the columns line up leaving columns of only two different lengths for
the person decrypting to deal with, who is expected to know exactly how many of them there are and which ones
they are. We are just being considerate of the guy with the key on the other end.
How many letters to add? The message length is 336 and we are fitting it into a box of width 86. 86 mod 7 = 2.
It means that every line except for the last one will have 2 extra columns. 336 mod 86 = 78.
The last line will be 78 letters long and 78 mod 7 = 1.
And since the number of the last line’s “extra” columns has to be the same as the first lines
to make the columns line up, we only need one extra Q to make it 2 for all the lines. Clear enough?
Now to the transposition itself:
In by Rows backwards into 86×4, Out by Columns in groups of 7 which is the length of the key:
SLOWLYDESPARATLYSLOWLYTHEREMAINSOFPASSAGEDEBRISTHATENCUM BEREDTHELOWERPARTOFTHEDOORWAYWASREMOVEDWITHTREMBLINGHAND SIMADEATINYBREACHINTHEUPPERLEFTHANDCORNERANDTHENWIDENING THEHOLEALITTLEIINSERTEDTHECANDLEANDPEEREDINTHEHOTAIRESCA PINGFROMTHECHAMBERCAUSEDTHEFLAMETOFLICKERBUTPRESENTLYDET AILSOFTHEROOMWITHINEMERGEDFROMTHEMISTXCANYOUSEEANYTHINGQ?
->
?QGNIHTYNAEESUOYNACXTSIMEHTMORFDEGREMENIHTIWMOOREHTFOSLIATEDYLTNESERPTUBREKCILFOTEMALF EHTDESUACREBMAHCEHTMORFGNIPACSERIATOHEHTNIDEREEPDNAELDNACEHTDETRESNIIELTTILAELOHEHTGNI NEDIWNEHTDNARENROCDNAHTFELREPPUEHTNIHCAERBYNITAEDAMISDNAHGNILBMERTHTIWDEVOMERSAWYAWROO DEHTFOTRAPREWOLEHTDEREBMUCNETAHTSIRBEDEGASSAPFOSNIAMEREHTYLWOLSYLTARAPSEDYLWOLS
What makes me think it was written backwards? Because the extra space is not at the end of the message but
before the first letter. Who would bother calculating the position of the first letter and start writing
the message beginning with the 7th column just to make it fill up the rectangle perfectly at the end?
I think it is easier to simply fill out the rectangle backwards if you are doing it with pen and paper.
Either way, it is 86×4 with 7 spaces in front of the first letter.
?QGNIHT YNAEESU OYNACXT SIMEHTM ORFDEGR EMENIHT IWMOORE HTFOSLI ATEDYLT NESERPT UBREKCI LFOTEMA LF EHTDESU ACREBMA HCEHTMO RFGNIPA CSERIAT OHEHTNI DEREEPD NAELDNA CEHTDET RESNIIE LTTILAE LOHEHTG NI NEDIWNE HTDNARE NROCDNA HTFELRE PPUEHTN IHCAERB YNITAED AMISDNA HGNILBM ERTHTIW DEVOMER SAWYAWR OO DEHTFOT RAPREWO LEHTDER EBMUCNE TAHTSIR BEDEGAS SAPFOSN IAMEREH TYLWOLS YLTARAP SEDYLWO LS
Whichever way the text was written initially, after we restack it into 7 columns, it will result in:
?QGNIHT EHTDESU NEDIWNE DEHTFOT YNAEESU ACREBMA HTDNARE RAPREWO OYNACXT HCEHTMO NROCDNA LEHTDER SIMEHTM RFGNIPA HTFELRE EBMUCNE ORFDEGR CSERIAT PPUEHTN TAHTSIR EMENIHT OHEHTNI IHCAERB BEDEGAS IWMOORE DEREEPD YNITAED SAPFOSN HTFOSLI NAELDNA AMISDNA IAMEREH ATEDYLT CEHTDET HGNILBM TYLWOLS NESERPT RESNIIE ERTHTIW YLTARAP UBREKCI LTTILAE DEVOMER SEDYLWO LFOTEMA LOHEHTG SAWYAWR LS LF NI OO
Now write the key on top and proceed with…
Step 2, The Keyed Columnar Transposition:
KRYPTOS KOPRSTY 0362514 -> 0123456 ?QGNIHT ?HNQTIG EHTDESU ESDHUET NEDIWNE NNIEEWD DEHTFOT DOTETFH YNAEESU YSENUEA ACREBMA AMECABR HTDNARE HRNTEAD RAPREWO RWRAOEP OYNACXT OXAYTCN HCEHTMO HMHCOTE NROCDNA NNCRADO LEHTDER LETERDH SIMEHTM STEIMHM RFGNIPA RPNFAIG HTFELRE HRETELF EBMUCNE ENUBECM ORFDEGR OGDRREF CSERIAT CARSTIE PPUEHTN PTEPNHU TAHTSIR TITARSH EMENIHT EHNMTIE OHEHTNI ONHHITE IHCAERB IRAHBEC BEDEGAS BAEESGD IWMOORE IROWEOM DEREEPD DPEEDER YNITAED YETNDAI SAPFOSN SSFANOP HTFOSLI HLOTISF NAELDNA NNLAADE AMISDNA ANSMADI IAMEREH IEEAHRM ATEDYLT ALDTTYE CEHTDET CETETDH HGNILBM HBIGMLN TYLWOLS TLWYSOL NESERPT NPEETRS RESNIIE RINEEIS ERTHTIW EIHRWTT YLTARAP YAALPRT UBREKCI UCEBIKR LTTILAE LAITELT DEVOMER DEOERMV SEDYLWO SWYEOLD LFOTEMA LMTFAEO LOHEHTG LTEOGHH SAWYAWR SWYARAW LS L S LF L F NI N I OO O O
Now to the last…
Step 3, Out by columns downwards, left to right resulting in:
?ENDYAHROHNLSRHEOCPTEOIBIDYSHNAIACHTNREYULDSLLSLLNO HSNOSMRWXMNETPRNGATIHNRARPESLNNELEBLPIIACAEWMTW NDITEENRAHCTENEUDRETNHAEOETFOLSEDTIWENHAEIOYTEY QHEENCTAYCREIFTBRSPAMHHEWENATAMATEGYEERLBTEEFOASFIO TUETUAEOTOARMAEERTNRTIBSEDDNIAAHTTMSTEWPIEROAGR IEWFEBAECTDDHILCEIHSITEGOEAOSDDRYDLORITRKLMLEHA GTDHARDPNEOHMGFMFEUHEECDMRIPFEIMEHNLSSTTRTVDOHW
Reminds you of anything? 😉
The decryption process requires knowing the key and the rectangle size for the route transposition:
KRYPTOS and 86.
First we determine the line lengths to split the message:
86 mod 7 = 2. It means that two of the columns are going to be longer.
Which two and by how much?
The first two in our system (they are 0 and 3 for the person decrypting the message), with lengths 51 and 47.
The difference between those lengths will be the same (4) for 86 mod 7 regardless of the message length.
You may want to find out why as an excercise.
So we…
Step 1, Split the input as follows:
0 ?ENDYAHROHNLSRHEOCPTEOIBIDYSHNAIACHTNREYULDSLLSLLNO 1 HSNOSMRWXMNETPRNGATIHNRARPESLNNELEBLPIIACAEWMTW 2 NDITEENRAHCTENEUDRETNHAEOETFOLSEDTIWENHAEIOYTEY 3 QHEENCTAYCREIFTBRSPAMHHEWENATAMATEGYEERLBTEEFOASFIO 4 TUETUAEOTOARMAEERTNRTIBSEDDNIAAHTTMSTEWPIEROAGR 5 IEWFEBAECTDDHILCEIHSITEGOEAOSDDRYDLORITRKLMLEHA 6 GTDHARDPNEOHMGFMFEUHEECDMRIPFEIMEHNLSSTTRTVDOHW
Step 2, Write it in columns… (i omitted it to make Step 3 clearer, hence the following text is on its side)
Step 3, Reorder the columns according to the key:
0 ?ENDYAHROHNLSRHEOCPTEOIBIDYSHNAIACHTNREYULDSLLSLLNO 3 QHEENCTAYCREIFTBRSPAMHHEWENATAMATEGYEERLBTEEFOASFIO 6 GTDHARDPNEOHMGFMFEUHEECDMRIPFEIMEHNLSSTTRTVDOHW 2 NDITEENRAHCTENEUDRETNHAEOETFOLSEDTIWENHAEIOYTEY 5 IEWFEBAECTDDHILCEIHSITEGOEAOSDDRYDLORITRKLMLEHA 1 HSNOSMRWXMNETPRNGATIHNRARPESLNNELEBLPIIACAEWMTW 4 TUETUAEOTOARMAEERTNRTIBSEDDNIAAHTTMSTEWPIEROAGR
Step 4, Chop them into 86-letter long lines
(in groups of 4 of course, since 337/86 is > 3 but is <= 4)
0 ?END YAHR OHNL SRHE OCPT EOIB IDYS HNAI ACHT NREY ULDS LLSL LNO 3 QHEE NCTA YCRE IFTB RSPA MHHE WENA TAMA TEGY EERL BTEE FOAS FIO 6 GTDH ARDP NEOH MGFM FEUH EECD MRIP FEIM EHNL SSTT RTVD OHW 2 NDIT EENR AHCT ENEU DRET NHAE OETF OLSE DTIW ENHA EIOY TEY 5 IEWF EBAE CTDD HILC EIHS ITEG OEAO SDDR YDLO RITR KLML EHA 1 HSNO SMRW XMNE TPRN GATI HNRA RPES LNNE LEBL PIIA CAEW MTW 4 TUET UAEO TOAR MAEE RTNR TIBS EDDN IAAH TTMS TEWP IERO AGR
Step 5, Read the resulting 4 lines of the message backwards (reverse of the Step 1 of encryption). Done.
If the same key KRYPTOS=0362514 was used to encrypt the 4th part, the decryption process would be as follows:
Let’s say the number of columns for the route transposition was 49 or 21…
Step 1:
?OBKRUOXOGHULBSOLIFBBWFLRVQQPRNGKSSOTWTQSJQSSEKZZWATJKLUDIAWINFBNYPVTTMZFPKWGDKZXTJCDIGKUHUAUEKCAR
->
?OBKRUOXOGHULB SOLIFBBWFLRVQQ PRNGKSSOTWTQSJ QSSEKZZWATJKLU DIAWINFBNYPVTT MZFPKWGDKZXTJC DIGKUHUAUEKCAR
Step 2:
?SPQDMD OORSIZI BLNSAFG KIGEWPK RFKKIKU UBSZNWH OBSZFGU XWOWBDA OFTANKU GLWTYZE HRTJPXK UVQKVTC LQSLTJA BQJUTCR
Step 3:
KOPRSTY KRYPTOS 0123456 -> 0362514 ?SPQDMD ?QDPMSD OORSIZI OSIRZOI BLNSAFG BSGNFLA KIGEWPK KEKGPIW RFKKIKU RKUKKFI UBSZNWH UZHSWBN OBSZFGU OZUSGBF XWOWBDA XWAODWB OFTANKU OAUTKFN GLWTYZE GTEWZLY HRTJPXK HJKTXRP UVQKVTC UKCQTVV LQSLTJA LLASJQT BQJUTCR BURJCQT
Step 4:
For 49 columns:
?QDPMSD BSGNFLA RKUKKFI OZUSGBF OAUTKFN HJKTXRP LLASJQT OSIRZOI KEKGPIW UZHSWBN XWAODWB GTEWZLY UKCQTVV BURJCQT
For 21 columns:
?QDPMSD UZHSWBN HJKTXRP OSIRZOI OZUSGBF UKCQTVV BSGNFLA XWAODWB LLASJQT KEKGPIW OAUTKFN BURJCQT RKUKKFI GTEWZLY
Step 5:
For 49:
TQCJRUBVVTQCKUYLZWETGBWDOAWXNBWSHZUWIPGKEKIOZRISOTQJSALLPRXTKJHNFKTUAOFBGSUZOIFKKUKRALFNGSBDSMPDQ?
For 21:
YLZWETGIFKKUKRTQCJRUBNFKTUAOWIPGKEKTQJSALLBWDOAWXALFNGSBVVTQCKUFBGSUZOIOZRISOPRXTKJHNBWSHZUDSMPDQ?
Step 6: Breaking the cipher (most probably the same double-key Vigenere) and reading the message.
The final decrypted message (Solution)
SLOWLYDESPARATLYSLOWLYTHEREMAINSOFPASSAGEDEBRIST HATENCUMBEREDTHELOWERPARTOFTHEDOORWAYWASREMOVEDW ITHTREMBLINGHANDSIMADEATINYBREACHINTHEUPPERLEFTH ANDCORNERANDTHENWIDENINGTHEHOLEALITTLEIINSERTEDT HECANDLEANDPEEREDINTHEHOTAIRESCAPINGFROMTHECHAMB ERCAUSEDTHEFLAMETOFLICKERBUTPRESENTLYDETAILSOFTH EROOMWITHINEMERGEDFROMTHEMISTXCANYOUSEEANYTHING Source : Solution taken from here
Kryptos Puzzle IV
Kryptos Encrypted Code 4 (Puzzle) :
OBKR UOXOGHULBSOLIFBBWFLRVQQPRNGKSSO TWTQSJQSSEKZZWATJKLUDIAWINFBNYP VTTMZFPKWGDKZXTJCDIGKUHUAUEKCAR
Solve it and you win millions of rupees as the reward. Yes true…not even the most brilliant people have answered this…So try it and grab the chance.
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