Cipher Texts
[unsolved
link]
- Beale Letters [Wikipedia]
- In 1885, a small pamphlet
was published in Virginia containing a story and three
encrypted messages. According to the pamphlet, around
1820 a man named Beale buried two wagons-full of treasure
at a secret location in Bedford County, Virginia.
- Voynich Manuscript [Wikipedia][link]
- At least 400 years
old, this is a 232-page illuminated manuscript entirely
written in a secret script. It is filled with copious
drawings of unidentified plants, herbal recipes of some
sort, astrological diagrams, and many small human figures
in strange plumbing-like contraptions.
- Dorabella Cipher [Wikipedia]
- In 1897, the well-known
composer Edward Elgar sent an encrypted message to a
23-year-old friend, Miss Dora Penny. To this day, it
still has not been solved.
- Zodiac Letters [Wikipedia]
- From 1966 to 1974,
the Zodiac serial killer sent more than 20 written communications
to police officials. Most of these messages have been
cracked, but there are still some that remain unsolved.
- D'Agapeyeff Cipher [Wikipedia]
- Alexander d'Agapeyeff
wrote an elementary book on cryptography in 1939, entitled
"Codes and Ciphers." In the first edition,
he included a challenge cipher.
- Kryptos [Wikipedia][link]
- In 1990, a sculpture
was installed at CIA Headquarters in Langley Virginia,
as a challenge to the employees at the Agency. Its thousands
of characters contain encrypted messages, of which three
have been solved, but there is still a fourth section
at the bottom which remains uncracked.
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