- For thousands of years, individuals have been
writing down information to be passed on to others, either to share knowledge or wisdom. But some of that knowledge is so secretive that it was written in a puzzling code that as of today, nobody
has been able to decipher. (digital beeping) Here are the 10 most cryptic
texts nobody can crack. Number 10 is the Tamam Shud. On December first, 1948,
a man's body was found on Somerton Beach in Adelaide, Australia. Dubbed the Somerton Man,
there was no identification and no clues as to how he died. An examination showed enlarged organs and blood in his stomach, but no signs of trauma
or foreign substances. What made this case
memorable was a slip of paper in the man's pocket which
had Tamam Shud written on it. Tamam Shud is Persian
for finished or ended, and the paper was traced back to the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, a book that was discovered in a car close to where the Somerton Man had
allegedly been before he died. In the last few pages, five coded lines were written in pencil, a
cipher which is still unsolved. What does the code say? Who is the Somerton
Man and why did he die? To this day, nobody knows. Number nine is the D'agapeyeff Cipher. In 1939 after authoring
a book on cartography, Russian-born English author
Alexander D'agapeyeff decided to write a book on cryptography, even though he wasn't a cryptographer. As humble as he was about
his lack of experience, he successfully created a cipher that had even experts
scratching their heads for over 77 years. That cipher was on the
last page of his book, Codes and Ciphers, on
which he invited the reader to test their skill by solving it. But nobody could, and
D'agapeyeff eventually removed it from future printings, claiming that he himself
forgot the solution. As of today, the coded
message stands as a challenge to many, and while some
claim it is simply unsolvable and that he removed it due
to seeing his own error, those who take the amateur
cryptographer at his word believe that there is
still an answer out there. Number eight is Kryptos. On the grounds of the CIA's headquarters in Langley, Virginia, is a giant sculpture by American artist Jim
Sanborn simply called Kryptos. Dedicated on November 3rd, 1990, the copper artwork, which is named after the ancient Greek word for hidden, has baffled experts and
amateur code breakers for nearly 27 years. It contains four encrypted
messages made from 1,735 letters, all of which are from the Latin alphabet. Sanborn, who went through
cryptography training with a CIA code expert,
has publicly given out two clues to the puzzle. As of today, three of the
codes have bee broken. However, the fourth still stumps everyone who has tried to crack it. According to Sanborn, the
key to solving the last one is contained within the
first three puzzles, which means that this
famous cipher may not be considered unsolved forever. Number seven is the Chinese
Gold Bar Cryptogram. In 1933, seven gold bars were minted in relation to a business deal between the United States and General Wang Gia Li, a military leader in Shanghai, China. They weigh 1.8 kilograms
and if melted down, would be worth about $80,000 today. However, that's not the most
interesting thing about them. Each bar is engraved with
different symbols and images, including English, Chinese,
and Latin characters, in addition to several strange designs that have yet to be identified. What these images mean is unknown, though allegedly the
Chinese writing refers to a transaction of over $300 million. It's been claimed that
the bars were deposited by General Wang into
the United States bank shortly after being minted, but
that fact has been disputed. It is widely believed that if
the ciphers on the gold bars are decoded, that dispute
could be put to rest, but people still wonder, was this simply a monetary transaction or something more? Number six is the Shugborough Inscription. Between 1748 and 1763, on the
grounds of Shugborough Hall in Staffordshire, England
the shepherds monument was created by Flemish
sculptor Peter Scheemakers. The piece features a mirror
image of Nicolas Poussin painting the shepherds of Arcadia. However, it also features
one of the world's most famous unsolved cipher texts. Carved into the monument
directly underneath the image and between the letters
D and M are the letters O U O S V A V V, a series of characters nobody's been able to explain to this day. One theory suggests that the letters refer to the location of the holy
grail or some other treasure, while others look at it
as simply a practical joke to keep people guessing. A large number of experts
have studied the code, but none have ever been able to come up with a solid explanation. Number five is the Phaistos Disc. The Phaistos Disc was
discovered in the Minoan Palace of Phaistos on the island of Crete, Greece by Italian archeologist Luigi
Pernier on July 3rd, 1908. The disc is 15 centimeters in diameter and is made of fired clay,
but what makes this artifact truly unique are the seals that have been stamped on both sides of it. The 241 symbols spiral
clockwise towards the center, and there are 45 different
designs in total, including humanoid figures,
plants, animals, and tools. Experts still can't
determine why the symbols are arranged the way they are or what they're actually saying. Though it's obvious how
the disc was likely made, where it was made has
been strongly debated. This question, along with
what the symbols represent and what the disc was actually used for, make it one of archeology's
most famous mysteries. Between December 1968 and October 1969, the Zodiac had the people
of northern California staying home or traveling only in groups, terrified of becoming the next victim. He had five confirmed kills, but claimed he had taken 37 lives. He enjoyed taunting the
authorities and press, sending them at least four cryptograms that he claimed would
reveal his next victim's and his own identity. One of the coded messages
was 408 characters long and was solved in a matter of days, revealing Zodiac believed his victims would be his slaves in the afterlife. However, another cipher,
this one 340 characters long, has never been solved, though it's been released to the public. You yourself can literally
solve the Zodiac's coded message right now
and potentially help identify who this was. Why is this relevant? Because it's believed that the Zodiac is still out there. Number three is Rongorongo. Initially discovered by Eugene Eyraud, a lay friar of the Roman catholic church on January 2nd, 1864,
the Rongorongo writing is a set of symbols etched
into 26 wooden tablets. The etchings were found on Rapa Nui, better known as Easter Island,
a remote volcanic island located in the south Pacific Ocean that's world-famous for being
home to nearly 400 Moai, giant carved human statues
with oversized heads created between 500 and 800 years ago. The etchings have never been decoded and some believe that they
may not be writing at all, but simply pieces of art. Regardless, they are
considered one of the biggest unsolved linguistic mysteries on Earth. The hope is that with the deciphering of the Rongorongo writing,
the mystery surrounding the fall of the Easter Island civilization will finally be solved. Number two is Linear A. Discovered by archeologist
Sir Arthur Evans, Linear A was a writing system used between 2500 and 1450 BC, aka ancient Greece. It was popular in palace
and religious writings within the Minoan civilization,
and although it evolved into Linear B, which has
been almost totally decoded, the initial style is
still largely a mystery. Deciphering Liner A has proven to be incredibly difficult, even
though it seemingly shares symbols with its more evolved version. It has hundreds of signs
relating to syllabic, ideographic, and semantic values, so many that it's hard to determine if the words are formed left
to right or right to left. The complexity of Linear A makes
the Micenean civilization's decision to switch to Linear
B appear totally rational, as even the best minds
of today cannot crack it. And number one is the D-Day Pigeon Cypher. On June 6th, 1944, D-Day in World War II, a pigeon carrying a coded
message landed on a rooftop in Bletchingley, England and somehow died, its message seemingly lost. That is, until David
Martin tore out the chimney in his home and found the bird's remains. The coded message was still intact, but the encryption was very complex. Addressed only to X02, from W Stot SJT, the code was written as
27 groups of five letters and had been sent from France, which at the time was
occupied by the Experts believe the code likely lays out German movements within the city, but there's no way to know
without breaking the cipher. Though hundreds of
people wrote to the GC HQ with their solutions, all
were carefully examined but none were found to be correct. This incredible piece of history
has still not been solved. So, those were the 10 most cryptic texts nobody can crack, and if you enjoyed this, remember to give it a thumbs up. Also be sure to subscribe
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