For y'all who have been following the stuff with the Kryptos sculpture at the CIA and the fact that the cryptographic message has been decoded down to the last 97 characters...

The decrypted text is as follows below:

1. Between subtle shading and the absence of light lies the nuance of iqlusion. 2. It was totally invisible. How's that possible? They used the earth's magnetic field. x The information was gathered and transmitted undergruund to an unknown location. x Does Langley know about this? They should: it's buried out there somewhere. x Who knows the exact location? Only WW. This was his last message. x Thirty-eight degrees fifty-seven minutes six point five seconds north, seventy-seven degrees eight minutes forty-four seconds west. ID by rows. 3. Slowly, desparatly slowly, the remains of passage debris that encumbered the lower part of the doorway was removed. With trembling hands I made a tiny breach in the upper left-hand corner. And then, widening the hole a little, I inserted the candle and peered in. The hot air escaping from the chamber caused the flame to flicker, but presently details of the room within emerged from the mist. x Can you see anything?

The last 97 characters are widely believed to be encrypted using a one-time pad system. Some folks also think that the key to the final 97 characters are at the latitude and longitude indicated below.

As a service to those searching, here are various maps I've made at several sites on the Web that offer interactive mapping services. I hope these will be useful to folks searching for the final key to decrypting the Kronos sculpture.

  • USGS Map 1.
  • 7.5-minute map of the area. Courtesy USGS Mapping.

  • USGS Map 2.
  • 1-minute map of the area. Courtesy USGS Mapping.

  • USGS Map 3.
  • 1-minute map, zoomed in. Courtesy USGS Mapping.

  • USGS Map 4.
  • 15-second map of area. Courtesy USGS Mapping.

  • USGS Map 5.
  • One-minute map at high zoom, with coordinates marked as point. Courtesy USGS Mapping.

  • Etak Map.
  • Zoom of area with coordinates marked in decimal latitude/longitude notation. (Thank goddess for Casio calculators with degree/minute/second conversion. :) Courtesy of Etak.

  • MapsOnUs Map 1.
  • Zoom of area with coordinates marked in decimal notation. Courtesy MapsOnUs with assistance from Etak.

  • MapsOnUs Map 2.
  • Zoom of area with coordinates marked in decimal notation. Courtesy MapsOnUs with assistance from Etak

  • MapQuest Map.><li>Zoom of area.  Notice how area
on
this map is classified as belonging to CIA (?!?).  Recent speculation
indicates the key may be hidden in a parking lot...<p>
<li><img src=map1.gif alt=
  • Map of area. A legend is also available. Courtesy Census Bureau Tiger Pages.

  • Census Bureau Map 2.
  • Map of area at closer zoom. A legend is also available. Courtesy Census Bureau Tiger Pages.

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