A miniature model of the Kryptos sculpture by the sculptor Jim Sanborn in the offices of the tech start-up firm Paradigm. Credit. Paradigm One of the world’s most beguiling secrets has a new online life — under new ownership.
Kryptos, a sculpture on the grounds of the Central Intelligence Agency’s headquarters in Virginia, contains four encrypted passages in letters cut through its undulating copper form.
Since the work’s dedication in 1990, amateur and professional cryptographers have unlocked three of those passages, known within the community of Kryptos buffs as K1, K2 and K3.
But the fourth, K4, has stymied all comers, becoming an object of fascination — even obsession — for a worldwide network of would-be solvers. The unsolved K4 code. The two solved passages in black have previously been revealed by the sculptor as clues.
The Kryptos sculptor, Jim Sanborn, has long tired of dealing with the thousands of inquiries from enthusiasts claiming to have teased the truth from the code. Last year, he put the secret of the sculpture up for auction, and in November an anonymous bidder won, with an offer of nearly $1 million.
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