# Can anyone solve this cipher?



## FordGT90Concept (May 8, 2014)

It may have typos in it and it probably says something about murder.  I have a sneaking suspicion the + doesn't mean anything.

```
E>lVk1T3N+7ODY<K6yc+ZW6$HSpv!Vp+R3@+td0PPkpRFO^CF070K%3cG.L73f$+N9*@<++RFcA0-lVv+p<B-+/t|YpTK3cR|02.PF5S$N0B7!lFv02.Vt+B1I@EVZ-|.9KOvfq3c+1C+lB6+6CWPST7pFd<t&O^C>DNk9OAK+
```
Frequency analysis:

```
+	14
0	7
3	6
p	6
F	6
O	5
7	5
V	5
K	5
c	5
.	4
t	4
C	4
R	4
P	4
v	4
6	4
l	4
B	4
<	4
N	4
T	3
1	3
S	3
k	3
@	3
-	3
$	3
|	3
9	3
2	2
f	2
A	2
^	2
Z	2
W	2
E	2
Y	2
>	2
D	2
!	2
d	2
5	1
I	1
q	1
&	1
/	1
H	1
G	1
%	1
y	1
*	1
L	1
```
It may not be solvable.


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## the54thvoid (May 8, 2014)

Where is it from?


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## FordGT90Concept (May 8, 2014)

Zodiac Killer 340 cipher but only about half of it.  It's a long story.


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## the54thvoid (May 8, 2014)

Is this useful?  I've only skimmed it - it might be BS or a spoiler for you.

http://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedM...mple_solution_to_the_zodiac_killer_340symbol/


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## FordGT90Concept (May 8, 2014)

That doesn't seem credible to me.  In the solve 408-cipher (mailed July 31, 1969), he used all of those characters ( L, backwards L, <, >) and they weren't directions inside the cipher, they were simply cipher characters.  That's not to say he couldn't have changed it up but if you look at what he proposes, it doesn't really make any sense either.  The 408-cipher had very few typos in it.  It was in coherent sentences.

What's unique about the above cipher is that, not long after he had the 340-cipher published (mailed Nov. 8, 1969), he published this (mailed April 20, 1970):
http://www.zodiackiller.com/MyNameIsLetter.html


> This is the Zodiac speaking
> By the way have you cracked the last cipher I sent you?
> My name is----
> 13-cipher


He calls himself "zodiac," he clearly wants people to solve the 340-cipher, and I believe he gave his name using the same cipher to help decipher it (clearly the intent of the text leading up to the 13-cipher).  The problem is, those circled 8's don't appear in the 340-cipher.  They are unique to the 13-cipher.  I reason that this was deliberate.  Coincidentally:

```
AEN+8K8M8tNAM
_Z_O_D_I_A_C_
```
It fits like a glove and dodges all of the characters that are not in the 340-cipher.  What that suggests to me is that every even index of character is junk data hiding the message.  The non-junk data is what is posted above.  Unlike the 408-cipher, it isn't just a little random, it is extremely random.  That's what made me post this.  I doubt I can solve it beyond the initial riddle.  The more eyes looking at it the better.


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## RCoon (May 8, 2014)

My grandmother did cryptographics in the war, she always said Zodiac was a narcissist, and most of his cyphers were likely never supposed to be solved unless he wanted them to.


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## FordGT90Concept (May 8, 2014)

In the 408-cipher, he pseudo-copied _The Most Dangerous Game_ by Richard Connell but, we didn't need the ciphers to tell us he's demented.

And your grandma is right: only a narcissistic criminal would go to this length to get attention.  Your average criminal doesn't send mail to journalists.  At the same time, that raises doubt that the ciphers were even done by the murderer.

I think there was only five ciphers.  Only the first has been definitively solved.  It's possible that he was so dismayed by the first cipher being solved in less than a week that the remaining four are simply gibberish.  In his mind, they would never be solved which makes him the winner.


I just woke up this morning thinking about it so I looked into it again.


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## FordGT90Concept (May 14, 2014)

Ironically...
Louisiana man claims his biological father was Zodiac Killer

Most of these claims don't pan out.


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## Disparia (May 14, 2014)

Hmm...

"I peed in the pool"

You monster!


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## Solaris17 (May 14, 2014)

The + may not mean anything but have you considered it a vowel?


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## FordGT90Concept (May 14, 2014)

Yeah, e is the most common letter in the English language.  The problem is that it is homophonic.  There is likely to be many characters for each letter which means the most frequent letters (like e) are likely to be spread across several other characters.  That's what makes it difficult to solve.


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## Vario (May 16, 2014)

original 340:






edit:

also on the previous codes cracked by Don Harding:


> "I like killing people because it is so much fun it is more fun than killing wild game in the forrest because man is the most hongertue animal of all to kill something give eryetheyo a thrilling experience it is even better than getting your rocks off with a girl the best part of it I athae when I die I will be reborn in paradice and all the I have killed will become my slaves I will not give you my name because you will trs to sloi down or atop my collecting of slaves for my afterlife ebeo riet emeth hpiti."
> 
> 
> 
> Harden said the writer tried to make the cipher more difficult by using 12 different symbols for "e," the most commonly used letter in the language.



To further throw cryptoanalysts off the track, Harden said, the writer used a backward "q" 16 times, in an effort to make an analyst think that stood for "e," as, indeed, Harden first thought it did.


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