# "Kryptos" sculpture - Can you decode it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 9, 1999, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kryptos-sculpture-can-you-decode-it/5279 "1999-12-09T22:33:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Waneman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/71e660/32.png) [@Waneman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waneman)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 1999, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kryptos-sculpture-can-you-decode-it/5279/1 "1999-12-09T22:33:00Z")
I tried to search the Strightdope messages to see if this subject has been covered. It involves the sculpture in the CIA’s New Headquarters Building Courtyard. Since I know this board is visited by some of the world’s geniuses I thought someone here could crack this code. I originally heard this story on NPR so rather than clog this message board with the history of the sculpture or code, Just go [here](http://www.npr.org/programs/atc/990826.kryptos.html). ---
**Author:** ![Arken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@Arken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arken)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 1999, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kryptos-sculpture-can-you-decode-it/5279/2 "1999-12-09T23:30:00Z")
The last 92 characters reveal the secret of the 11 herbs and spices. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 1999, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kryptos-sculpture-can-you-decode-it/5279/3 "1999-12-09T23:35:00Z")
The third word that ends in “-gry.” ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 1999, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kryptos-sculpture-can-you-decode-it/5279/4 "1999-12-09T23:45:00Z")
Well, that was easy. The message reads: “Be sure to eat your Ovaltine.” A crummy commercial? Son of a BITCH! * * * Livin’ on Tums, Vitamin E and Rogaine ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 1999, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kryptos-sculpture-can-you-decode-it/5279/5 "1999-12-09T23:54:00Z")
Eww, I mix my Ovaltine in milk. Never tried eating it dry. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 1999, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kryptos-sculpture-can-you-decode-it/5279/6 "1999-12-10T00:09:00Z")
I would tell you, but then I’d have to ki… No. It’s too much of a cliche. * * * Save The Endangered Jackalope! Send Cash Now! If You Do This, I Will Use The Cash To Save Any Jackalope That I Happen To Find! Send Cash Now! Before It’s Too Late! My Bills, I Mean **The Jackalope’s Bills** Are Due The 15th Of The Month! _This has been a message from the Illuminated Committee To Save The Jackalope. Fnord._ ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 1999, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kryptos-sculpture-can-you-decode-it/5279/7 "1999-12-10T00:11:00Z")
No one in the world other than the person who made it knows the code & you think we do? ah haha. Alright here it is: “I love Monica. -Bill” ---
**Author:** ![Waneman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/71e660/32.png) [@Waneman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waneman)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 1999, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kryptos-sculpture-can-you-decode-it/5279/8 "1999-12-10T14:23:00Z")
The artist should have consulted this group. I especially love the Ovaltine comment - Too funny. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 1999, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kryptos-sculpture-can-you-decode-it/5279/9 "1999-12-11T01:16:00Z")
It says repent oh yeh sinners for the world shall end on December 31 the year of our Lord 1999, on the twelfth stroke of midnight. * * * I’m only your wildest fear, from the corners of your darkest thoughts. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 1999, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kryptos-sculpture-can-you-decode-it/5279/10 "1999-12-11T02:52:00Z")
It probably says “This is just a bunch of random letters that don’t mean anything, boy I’m gonna be laughing about this for the rest of eternity” then he shuffled all the letters around. Stupid article doesn’t tell us what the rest of the code says, to at least give us some context. * * * -PIGEONMAN- Hero For A New Millennium! [The Legend Of PigeonMan](http://www.hotkey.net.au/~guanolad/pigeonman/) - updates every Wed & Sat. If I can be bothered. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 1999, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kryptos-sculpture-can-you-decode-it/5279/11 "1999-12-11T04:27:00Z")
It’s the translation of the Voynich Manuscript. ---
**Author:** ![AzRaek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/azraek/32/16739_2.png) [@AzRaek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AzRaek)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 1999, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kryptos-sculpture-can-you-decode-it/5279/12 "1999-12-11T14:44:00Z")
Iqulsion? Let’s see if 0=Y and D=R, then it says: DOO WAH DIDDY DIDDY DUM DIDDY DOO Must be an alien language. * * * John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt. That’s my name too. Wait, no it isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 1999, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kryptos-sculpture-can-you-decode-it/5279/13 "1999-12-12T02:36:00Z")
It’s the lyrics to _Louie, Louie_. Peace. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2025, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kryptos-sculpture-can-you-decode-it/5279/14 "2025-10-18T02:49:00Z")
An actual legitimate bump to a 1999 thread. The answers to the last unsolved Kryptos statue are on the verge of being revealed, but…it’s complicated. The guy who created the ciphers was going to auction them off, but let slip that there were papers in the Smithsonian, and so someone dug them up. Now there are legal threats, cries of bad behavior…gift link below: > **[A C.I.A. Secret Kept for 35 Years Is Found in the Smithsonian’s Vault](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/16/science/kryptos-cia-solution-sanborn-auction.html?unlocked_article_code=1.uU8.hJmq.Y0yM3kq8Mw7p&smid=url-share)** > > Jim Sanborn is auctioning off the solution to Kryptos, the puzzle he sculpted for the intelligence agency’s headquarters. Two fans of the work then discovered the key. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2025, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kryptos-sculpture-can-you-decode-it/5279/15 "2025-10-18T03:01:01Z")
Translated it reads: # [14 k of g in a f p d](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/14-k-of-g-in-a-f-p-d/382249) ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2025, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kryptos-sculpture-can-you-decode-it/5279/16 "2025-10-18T04:51:18Z")
You are a terrible, terrible person.