Cracking the Code: Unsolved Mysteries in Cryptography
By Ed Malaker
Cryptography is a fun subject for both amateur sleuths and professional cryptographers, and there are several real-life mysteries still waiting for someone to solve them, with some promising great wealth for doing so. Let’s discuss a few now to see if you can solve them.
The Beale Ciphers
The Beale Ciphers date back to the early 19th century. The story says Thomas J. Beale created them to document the location of hidden treasure, which many believe is hidden somewhere in Bedford County, Virginia and could be worth more than 60 million dollars. The Beale Papers were published in a pamphlet in 1885. The author was anonymous and said they got the three papers from a hotel worker.
The Puzzle
Of the three Ciphers, we only know the text of the second, and it tells about a large amount of gold, silver, and jewels hidden several feet underground, sealed in iron surrounded by stone about 4 miles from “Buford’s.”
Current Status
Unsolved, while the person who solved the second cipher used the Declaration of Independence as the key, it doesn’t work for the other two, and so far, no one has been able to solve it and find the treasure.
Ricky McCormick’s Notes
In 1999, authorities found Ricky McCormick in a field in Missouri. In his pockets were two handwritten notes that seemed to be in some secret code. So far, no one has been able to determine how he died or what the notes mean.
The Puzzle
The notes contain a series of letters and numbers in an arrangement that prevents anyone from determining meaning, and the case has stumped both the FBI’s Cryptanalysis and Racketeering Records Unit.
Current Status
Unsolved, and the FBI believes that doing so will provide clues into the strange death of Ricky McCormick.
The Dorabella Cipher
The Dorabella Cipher is a mysterious note sent by composer Edward Elgar in 1897 to his friend Dora Penny. No one knows its meaning, and cryptologists have been puzzling it for more than 100 years.
The Puzzle
The note contains 87 characters composed of symbols. Some believe it could be a musical composition as there doesn’t appear to be any breaks in the words and only one dot after one of the symbols on line 3.
Current Status
Though there are a few proposed solutions, none are the official solution.
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