In the late 1980s, artist Jim Sanborn was commissioned to create a sculpture for display at the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia. Knowing that some of the world’s top intelligence officials would see the piece virtually every day, Sanborn made a work of art that is, in a word, puzzling.
Introduced on November 3, 1990, it is called Kryptos, and it contains a crypto challenge. Surely someone would crack the code in just a couple of weeks, Sanborn thought.
But no one did. And, today, Kryptos remains one of the most famous unsolved mysteries in the world.
“I didn’t think it would last that long, thirty years, without being deciphered,” says Sanborn.
Kryptos sits in a courtyard outside the CIA headquarters. A curved copper screen measuring 12 feet high and 20 feet wide, the sculpture is filled with letters. “I cut almost 2,000 letters by hand,” says Sanborn.
The text covering the sculpture looks like gibberish to the inexperienced eye, but Kryptos contains four distinct, coded messages that together form a puzzle, according to Sanborn.
Sanborn had no experience in the art of writing code before creating Kryptos. And he wasn’t particularly good at math.
“So I had to turn to someone. Would it be the Soviets? Would it be the Mossad? Would it be another intelligence agency?” he breaks. “I almost crossed them all out because it probably wouldn’t end well.”
The artist finally sought guidance from Edward Scheidt, a cryptology and encryption expert who had been president of the CIA Crypto Center before retiring.
He became an expert
“
We met more or less in secret, and he educated me on the subject of code, modern codes, contemporary coding systems, at least contemporary in ’88, “says Sanborn.
Using what he learned from Scheidt, Sanborn composed encoded text messages to embed them in Kryptos using various techniques, including patterns and matrices.
“I wanted it to be revealed as peeling layers from an onion,” he says of the mystery carved in Kryptos.
Three of the encrypted messages have been deciphered over the years by members of the NSA, the CIA, and the general public.
But more of the onion needs to be peeled.
What the messages read
The first message says: “Between the subtle shading and the absence of light lies the nuance of iqlusion.”
“Iqlusion” is not a typo. Sanborn intentionally misspelled the word “illusion”. It was his way of misleading people.
The second message, which also contains a misspelling, shares latitude and longitude coordinates for the CIA, hints that something is buried there, and refers to “WW”.
The initials are a nod to William Webster. He was the head of the CIA in 1990 when Kryptos was installed.
The third message borrows from the writings of archaeologist Howard Carter about opening the door to King Tut’s tomb.
So what does all this mean?
That remains a mystery. We will be one step closer when someone finally cracks the code behind the fourth message.
There are many who think so, but according to Sanborn, no one has yet.
“I have an individual who contacts me once a week at exactly the same second, I think it’s Tuesday at 8:23 in the morning, with a decryption, and this person has been doing this for two and a half years.” says Sanborn.
People who try to figure it out
A cryptologist has been trying to solve Kryptos for 20 years.
Sanborn has met some of the people who work to solve Kryptos. He admires Elonka Dunin’s efforts and says, “He probably knows more about Kryptos than I do.”
Dunin, a cryptologist and video game developer, first heard about Kryptos in the late 2000s. She loves solving puzzles, but she knew she couldn’t understand Kryptos alone.
She created a website dedicated to the code. It has become a network of people committed to a common goal.
“Our Kryptos community is made up of people from all over the world. We have thousands of people interested in Kryptos, either cracking it or helping to see it cracked,” he says. “Some of them are professional code breakers. Some of them are students.”
Code breakers meet regularly
Dunin organizes events where codebreakers can roast Sanborn and Scheidt in person. They usually meet every two years in a restaurant or in Sanborn’s Maryland studio.
Sanborn appreciates the group’s enthusiasm, especially since there is no reward for solving Kryptos beyond bragging rights.
That said, it is not making it easier for anyone.
Over the years, Sanborn has publicly shared three one-word clues from the elusive fourth passage: “clock”, “Berlin” and, more recently, “northeast”, to aid the process.
But that is all.
It remains unsolved
Dunin cannot predict exactly when it will happen. But she believes that Kryptos will be resolved someday. “I would personally feel an immense sense of relief. It would be out of my reach,” says Dunin.
And she doesn’t care who finds out right now. “It doesn’t have to be me,” he emphasizes. “I want to see it resolved.”
Sanborn, who keeps the solution for Kryptos hidden in a safe deposit box, do you think will be solved? Does he even want it resolved?
“I wouldn’t be distraught if it ended tomorrow,” reflects Sanborn. “Maybe I would be relieved.”
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