Many coded messages remain unexplained even after decades of existence.
Top 14 Most Mysterious Ciphers of All Time
1. Voynich Manuscript
The Voynich Manuscript is considered the “most mysterious manuscript in the world.” The manuscript is named after the rare book dealer Wilfrid M. Voynich, who acquired it in 1912.
Photo: Paris Review.
The manuscript consists of 240 pages written in an unknown language, featuring strange diagrams and illustrations of plants. Experts estimate that it was created between 1404 and 1438, and the author remains unknown. Some believe it to be a pharmacopoeia, while others think it may be a book for alchemists or even an extraterrestrial text.
2. Kryptos
Kryptos is a sculpture designed by artist Jim Sanborn, located just outside the CIA headquarters in Virginia, USA. The Kryptos code is so difficult that even the CIA has not been able to fully decode it.
Photo: Wired.
The sculpture consists of four parts, and only three have been decoded. In 2006, Sanborn revealed a missing letter in part two. In 2010, he suggested that the text NYPVTT in part 4 decodes to BERLIN.
3. Beale Ciphers
The Beale Ciphers consist of three coded messages that lead to one of the greatest treasure hoards in American history, containing thousands of kilograms of gold, silver, and precious gems worth approximately $43 million.
Photo: Mind Blowing Facts.
According to the story, a man named Thomas Jefferson Beale discovered this treasure in 1818 in Colorado, USA, then moved the treasure to a new location and created three coded messages. The second cipher has been decoded, revealing that the treasure is buried in Bedford, Virginia. However, the exact location of the treasure remains a mystery.
4. Phaistos Disc
The Phaistos Disc was discovered by archaeologist Luigi Pernier in the palace of Phaistos on the island of Crete, Greece, in 1908.
Photo: Ancient History Encyclopedia.
The disc is made of fired clay with strange symbols that may represent an unknown form of hieroglyphics. Researchers believe the Phaistos Disc dates back to around 2000 BC.
5. Shugborough Inscription
The Shugborough Inscription is a mysterious phrase on an 18th-century monument in Staffordshire, England. From a distance, the monument resembles the famous painting “The Shepherds of Arcadia” by Nicolas Poussin. However, beneath the carving lies an enigmatic inscription that has remained unsolved for 250 years: DOUOSVAVVM.
Photo: Baldhiker.
Some speculate that the inscription is a clue to the location of the Holy Grail left by the Knights Templar. Many brilliant minds, including Charles Dickens and Charles Darwin, have attempted to decode this inscription but have failed.
6. Tamam Shud Case
The Tamam Shud case is considered one of Australia’s greatest mysteries. In 1948, the body of a man was discovered on Somerton Beach in Adelaide, Australia. A small piece of paper was also found in a hidden pocket of the victim’s pants, reading “Tamam Shud.”
Photo: Cipher Mysteries.
This phrase means “ended” or “finished,” appearing on the last page of the poetry collection “The Rubaiyat” by Omar Khayyam. Later, a copy of Khayyam’s poetry containing a scrawled code believed to be the victim’s handwriting was found. However, the meaning of these lines remains unclear, and the identity of the victim is still a mystery.
7. Zodiac Letters
The Zodiac Letters consist of four coded messages believed to have been written by the Zodiac, a serial killer who terrorized the San Francisco Bay area in the 1960s and 1970s.
Photo: Historic Mysteries.
The letters may have been a way for the murderer to mock journalists and police. So far, only one of the four messages has been decoded, and the identity of the Zodiac killer remains a mystery.
8. Georgia Guidestones
The Georgia Guidestones, also known as “America’s Stonehenge”, were erected in Elbert, Georgia, in 1979. The stones inscribe 10 “new commandments” in eight languages, including English, Spanish, Swahili, Hindi, Hebrew, Arabic, Chinese, and Russian.
Photo: Julia World.
They are also arranged according to certain astronomical features. The purpose and origin of this monument remain unknown.
9. Rongorongo
Rongorongo is a series of carved characters discovered on various artifacts on Easter Island. Many believe they represent a lost writing system and may be one of the few independent writing inventions in human history.
Photo: Alex Guerra Terra.
These characters remain undeciphered to this day. Some speculate that they may hold clues to the mysterious collapse of the civilization on Easter Island.
10. Cipher of Olivier Levasseur
Olivier Levasseur was an 18th-century scholar and naval officer with a fascination for magical symbols. After participating in the War of the Spanish Succession, he deserted and began his career as a pirate, plundering many ships over 14 years.
Eventually, when captured and about to be hanged on July 7, 1730, by the French, Levasseur threw a code he created into the crowd and shouted, “Find my treasure if you can understand it!”
This code is a text with 17 lines of unidentified symbols, and it has never been fully deciphered despite many attempts. From what little we know, it is believed to lead to a treasure currently valued at £100 million buried on an island in the Indian Ocean.
11. Indus Script
Also known as “Harappan Script”, this writing system dates back to 2700 – 1900 BCE and was discovered alongside over 4,000 artifacts engraved in the Indus Valley. Some of these artifacts made their way to the Mesopotamian region due to trade relations between the two civilizations. Each artifact typically contains a script composed of five symbols, with the longest script containing 26 symbols. Despite ongoing debates about whether the writing is connected to the Brāhmī script or Dravidian languages, it has yet to be deciphered.
12. D’Agapeyeff Cipher
Created by Russian-born British cryptographer Alexander D’Agapeyeff in 1939, this cipher was published as a “challenge cipher” at the end of the first edition of his book, Codes and Ciphers.
“75628 28591 62916 48164 91748 58464 74748 28483 81638 18174
74826 26475 83828 49175 74658 37575 75936 36565 81638 17585
75756 46282 92857 46382 75748 38165 81848 56485 64858 56382
72628 36281 81728 16463 75828 16483 63828 58163 63630 47481
91918 46385 84656 48565 62946 26285 91859 17491 72756 46575
71658 36264 74818 28462 82649 18193 65626 48484 91838 57491
81657 27483 83858 28364 62726 26562 83759 27263
82827 27283 82858 47582 81837 28462 82837 58164 75748 58162 92000.”
The cipher consists of 395 digits arranged in groups of five and was not published in any subsequent editions of the book. To this day, it remains unsolved, and D’Agapeyeff even claimed that he has forgotten how he encoded it.
13. Dorabella Cipher
The Dorabella Cipher is an accompanying letter from British composer Edward Elgar to his friend Dora Penny, followed by another letter in July 1897.
The cipher contains three lines with 87 characters made up of 24 symbols resembling two to three semicircles arranged in eight different orientations. Dora stated that he was never able to decipher this letter, and its contents remain a mystery to this day.
14. Rohonc Codex
The Codex was discovered in the town of Rohonc in western Hungary in the early 19th century. It is an illustrated manuscript by an anonymous author, containing texts written in an unidentified language and script.
The manuscript consists of 448 pages, with each page containing between 9 to 14 lines of symbols, leading some to believe it could be a textbook or diary.
Despite numerous investigations by scholars, there is still no accurate understanding of the true meaning of the text or the 87 illustrations in this manuscript.
