Solution goes on auction for CIA HQ’s ‘Kryptos’ sculpture that has stumped code breakers for decades

By MICHAEL CASEY

BOSTON (AP) — When Jim Sanborn was commissioned to create a sculpture at CIA headquarters, he wanted to do something that spoke to its world of spies and secret codes.

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The result was a 10-foot-tall, S-shaped copper screen called “Kryptos” that resembles a piece of paper coming out of a fax machine. One side features a series of staggered alphabets that are key to decoding the four encrypted messages on the other side.

“At the time, codes and encoding was an esoteric subject,” Sanborn said. “I wanted it to be less so, and I wanted it to be fun. … Any artist’s goal when they make an artwork is to have the viewer’s attention for as long as possible.”

Sanborn figured the first three messages on the sculpture, dedicated in 1990 and known as K1, K2 and K3,