The
CIA, encryption, and sculpture. Which one of these three words does
not belong? If you guessed sculpture, you would be incorrect since this
is a trick question. David Hagburg's spy thriller End Game involves
betrayal, rogue agents, WMDs in Iran, grotesque murders, and the the
decryption of the Kryptos sculpture at CIA headquarters to solve a
national crisis.
Jim Sanborn, the artist, called the assembly
"Kryptos" which is Greek for "hidden." In a feature with flowing water,
petrified wood, quartz, and granite sits a S-shaped copper scroll with
excised letters. The theme is Intelligence Gathering. The sculpture
contains four panels of text--each of which is encrypted using a
different method--and was designed with the help of retired CIA
cryptographer Edward M. Scheidt. All four codes need to be broken
before the ultimate riddle can be solved. After its dedication in 1990,
the CIA challenged the public to solve the codes. Jim Sanborn provided
a few clues and, perhaps, has left the ultimate solution with a CIA
representative. Some misspellings were included deliberately, and some
unintentionally, which added to the complexity of the challenge.
In 1999, Jim Gillogly, a computer scientist, used a computer to break the first three codes. A year earlier, a CIA agent David Stein used pencil and paper to solve the same three panels but the information was kept within the intelligence community to not discourage the public.
Passage 1:
BETWEEN SUBTLE SHADING AND THE ABSENCE OF LIGHT LIES THE NUANCE OF IQLUSION
Passage 2:
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 X LAYER TWO
Passage 3:
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 CHAMBER CAUSED THE FLAME TO FLICKER BUT PRESENTLY DETAILS OF THE ROOM WITHIN EMERGED FROM THE MIST X CAN YOU SEE ANYTHING Q ?
This is a paraphrased version of Howard Carter's observations during the opening of Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922
Passage 4:
Has yet to be solved by the public. The artist has provided the clue that letters 64 to 74 are BERLIN CLOCK. There is a piece of art in Berlin called Mengenlehreuhr or "Set Theory Clock" which uses rows of panels that light up to tell the time.
"They will be able to read what I wrote, but what I wrote is a mystery itself." James Sanborn
Here's a link to the Web site if you want to attempt to solve the final panel.
Source: Wikipedia, CIA Web site
https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/headquarters-tour/kryptos/
Jim Sanborn, the artist, called the assembly
"Kryptos" which is Greek for "hidden." In a feature with flowing water,
petrified wood, quartz, and granite sits a S-shaped copper scroll with
excised letters. The theme is Intelligence Gathering. The sculpture
contains four panels of text--each of which is encrypted using a
different method--and was designed with the help of retired CIA
cryptographer Edward M. Scheidt. All four codes need to be broken
before the ultimate riddle can be solved. After its dedication in 1990,
the CIA challenged the public to solve the codes. Jim Sanborn provided
a few clues and, perhaps, has left the ultimate solution with a CIA
representative. Some misspellings were included deliberately, and some
unintentionally, which added to the complexity of the challenge.In 1999, Jim Gillogly, a computer scientist, used a computer to break the first three codes. A year earlier, a CIA agent David Stein used pencil and paper to solve the same three panels but the information was kept within the intelligence community to not discourage the public.
Passage 1:
BETWEEN SUBTLE SHADING AND THE ABSENCE OF LIGHT LIES THE NUANCE OF IQLUSION
Passage 2:
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 X LAYER TWO
Passage 3:
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 CHAMBER CAUSED THE FLAME TO FLICKER BUT PRESENTLY DETAILS OF THE ROOM WITHIN EMERGED FROM THE MIST X CAN YOU SEE ANYTHING Q ?
This is a paraphrased version of Howard Carter's observations during the opening of Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922
Passage 4:
Has yet to be solved by the public. The artist has provided the clue that letters 64 to 74 are BERLIN CLOCK. There is a piece of art in Berlin called Mengenlehreuhr or "Set Theory Clock" which uses rows of panels that light up to tell the time.
"They will be able to read what I wrote, but what I wrote is a mystery itself." James Sanborn
Here's a link to the Web site if you want to attempt to solve the final panel.
Source: Wikipedia, CIA Web site
https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/headquarters-tour/kryptos/
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