From the Words of a Serial Killer to the Secret Messages of Soldiers, Cryptic Texts That Cannot Be Solved Even Today

There are many unsolved mysteries in the world! Despite centuries of research and cryptanalysis, there are still many encrypted texts whose mysteries cannot be solved.

Source: https://news.sophos.com/en-us/category/serious-security/

1. Dorabella — 1897, United Kingdom

Famous English composer Sir Edward Elgar included an encrypted message consisting of 87 symbols in a letter he sent to his close friend Dora Penny (Dorabella). No one, including Dorabella, could understand what was written in this letter.

The same symbols were found in Elgar’s 1886 Liszt concert programme. Additionally, the same symbols were found in a notebook of Elgar’s from the 1920s.

2. Beale Papers — 1885, Virginia, USA

These documents reportedly give the location of hidden treasure discovered by Thomas J. Beale and buried somewhere in Virginia in 1820. The documents consist of three ciphertexts in a pamphlet published in 1885 by an unidentified author. Even though years have passed, neither the mystery written in this document nor the location of the treasure has been solved!

3. Zodiac Killer — 1968–9, Northern California, USA

The identity of the serial killer responsible for attacks on at least four men and three women in the United States is still unknown. Around the time of these attacks, a person nicknamed ‘Zodiac’ sent a series of taunting messages to police and newspapers, containing a total of four cryptic texts. One of them has been decrypted. The decrypted text is as follows:

‘I like killing people because it’s so much fun. From there the wild animal is more fun. Because humans are the most dangerous animal. Killing something is an exciting experience for me. Killing a girl is the best part about it. When I die, I will be reborn in heaven and those I kill will become my slaves. ABEORIETEMETHHPITI…’

The meaning of the last 18 letters is unclear, and the remaining three ciphertexts have never been successfully decrypted. If all the messages from the Zodiac can be deciphered, the identity of the murderer can be reached.

4. Ricky McCormick’s Notes — 1999, Missouri, USA

In June 1999, the body of 41-year-old Ricky McCormick was found in a cornfield in Missouri, USA. Twelve years later, it was revealed that two encrypted notes were found in McCormick’s pockets. Although ruled a murder by the FBI, McCormick’s killer was never caught and the notes were never decrypted. None of McCormick’s family members know how to read his notes, and FBI crypto chief Dan Olson said: ‘We’re really good at what we do, but we could use some help with this.’

5. Voynich Manuscript — 15th Century, Italy

The 240-page Voynich manuscript, purchased by bookseller Wilfrid Voynich in 1912, is known as one of the most mysterious manuscripts in the world. This manuscript consists of six separate sections containing herbal, astronomical, biological, cosmological and pharmaceutical illustrations as well as indecipherable text. The text uses more than 170,000 symbols and still maintains its mystery even after centuries have passed.

6. Linear A — Ancient Crete, 18th Century BC

Linear A is one of more than 25 writing systems that, unlike Hieroglyphs, cannot be deciphered. Clay tablets unearthed by archaeologists on the Greek island of Crete point to an ancient Minoan Empire, possibly the origins of the Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. The symbols on one set of tablets (dating from 1450 to 1375 BC) are taken from a language known as Linear B.

These inscriptions, called Linear A, are clearly the written system from which Linear B is derived. However, although Linear B has been deciphered, the mystery of Linear A has still not been solved.

7. D-Day News pigeon — 6 June 1944, France

Last November, the remains of this messenger pigeon were found in a chimney in Surrey, England. The message sent from ‘W Stot Sjt.’ to ‘X02’ consists of 27 sets of five letters and is one of two messages sent from Nazi-occupied France during the D-Day landings.

The encryption used is most likely based on a codebook where each group of letters has a specific meaning. The message is thought to be encrypted with a one-time pad (theoretically unbreakable cipher). This means that without the actual cryptographic material used at the time, it is impossible to verify a decryption.