BOSTON (AP) — The sought-after knowledge to unlock the last remaining unsolved secret message embedded within the famous Kryptos sculpture at the CIA headquarters has fetched nearly $1 million at auction, as announced by RR Auction in Boston.
A total of $963,000 was paid for the archive belonging to the artist Jim Sanborn, which contains valuable documents and coding charts pertinent to the sculpture dedicated in 1990. The auction winner will receive a private meeting with Sanborn, 80, to discuss the intricate codes and artistic intentions behind his work.
The sculpture has four encrypted messages, of which three — K1, K2, and K3 — have been deciphered. The fourth message, referred to as K4, has eluded even the most skilled codebreakers for years, leaving enthusiasts and experts in a state of intrigue.
Artist Jim Sanborn's work resembles a piece of paper emerging from a fax machine, featuring staggered alphabets that aid in decoding the encrypted messages. Over the past two decades, one persistent decoder has contacted Sanborn regularly, motivating him to charge $50 for submissions seeking help in cracking the K4 code. To facilitate progress, Sanborn ultimately decided to auction his secrets, hoping that the new owner would carry on the engagement with fellow enthusiasts.
Sanborn's comprehensive archive, now under the ownership of an anonymous bidder, opens an exciting door of possibility for those yearning to unravel the mysteries of Kryptos.
In a noteworthy twist, there was an earlier attempt to thwart the auction when two Kryptos aficionados uncovered Sanborn’s original scrambled texts hidden within the artist's documents at the Smithsonian. However, the sale proceeded with an expanded offer, selling the entire archive rather than just the secrets of K4.
“The important distinction is that they discovered it. They did not decipher it,” Sanborn highlighted, reiterating that they lack the key and the method needed for deciphering the remaining coded message.
