Kryptos

Kryptos uses several techniques:

— K1 uses a Vigenère cipher with a disordered alphabet KRYPTOSABCDEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZ and the encryption key PALIMPSEST.

The decrypted K1 message is BETWEEN SUBTLE SHADING AND THE ABSENCE OF LIGHT LIES THE NUANCE OF IQLUSION.

— K2 also uses Vigenère cipher with the same modified alphabet KRYPTOSABCDEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZ but with the key ABSCISSA.

The decrypted K2 message is IT WAS TOTALLY INVISIBLE HOW 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 IT'S 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`

— K3 uses a two-column transposition, a method that rearranges the letters of the text without changing them. The first transposition arranges the text into rows of 21 characters, followed by reading it in columns from right to left to obtain an initial rearranged text. This is followed by a second transposition of the text written in rows of 28 characters, then read in columns from right to left.

The deciphered K3 message is 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

— K4, unknown method, remained undeciphered for more than thirty years, its complete text was discovered in the Smithsonian archives, but not revealed.

— K5 remains hypothetical, announced by Sanborn as a future enigma to be revealed after K4.

Jim Sanborn admitted to having deliberately included errors to enhance the mystery and throw people off the scent: missing letters, spelling mistakes, or misaligned characters.

Sanborn revealed several deciphered fragments:

— NYPVTT corresponds to BERLIN

— MZFPK corresponds to CLOCK

— FLRV corresponds to EAST

— QQPRNGKSS corresponds to NORTHEAST

These clues point researchers towards the Berlin Clock (or Mengenlehreuhr), the famous clock in the German capital.

The first three Kryptos passages were deciphered independently by several cryptanalysts:

— NSA team (1992): first complete solution, kept internal.

— David Stein (CIA) (1998): solution confirmed internally.

— Jim Gillogly (American computer scientist) (1999): first public publication.

In 2025, Jim Sanborn announced the sale of the complete solution to the fourth passage (K4) at the auction Decoding History: Kryptos, Enigma and the Rosetta Stone.

Shortly before this sale, two journalists stumbled upon the complete text of K4 in documents Sanborn had deposited with the Smithsonian's Archive of American Art. These fragments allowed them to reconstruct and confirm the final message, which Sanborn authenticated.

The archives were then sealed until 2075, in order to preserve the mystery of the exact contents, although the solution is now known to a limited number of people.

Derived from the Ancient Greek word kryptós (κρυπτός), it means hidden or secret.

Jim Sanborn chose this word to represent the notion of mystery at the heart of intelligence.