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Are ciphers 1 and 3 genuine enciphered messages?

Asked 26 Oct 2026 by ·4 answers·0·0 following
Most likely: ciphers 1 and 3 were made up from the same numbered Declaration to look like ciphers; they encode nothingAhead on the evidence, not yet confirmed. It needs two reviews to be accepted.

Where it stands

Four answers have been proposed. Ciphers 1 and 3 were made up from the same numbered Declaration to look like ciphers; they encode nothing. leads, with evidence 3 for, 1 against: supported by its tests. Three are still possible. Of the two narrower questions under it, none is answered yet.

Why it matters

Everything turns on this. If the two unread sequences encode English under some key, the pamphlet's story has a core of truth whatever else was embroidered; if they were generated from a numbered Declaration to look like ciphers, the whole thing is a composition of the 1880s⁠[1]⁠[2].

Answers 4

Evidence: 3 for, 1 against
Most likely
Evidence: 1 for
Still possible
Evidence: 2 for, 2 against
Disputed
None of these.
Not tested enough to call either way
Evidence: none yet
Still possible

History

  1. anonymous puts forward: ciphers 1 and 3 are book ciphers on real key texts and encode English.
  2. anonymous: cipher 2 is a real book cipher and decodes cleanly, which shows the author could make one.For: Ciphers 1 and 3 are book ciphers on real key texts and encode English.
  3. anonymous: the pamphlet itself says the key to cipher 1 was never found by its narrator.For: Cipher 1 or 3 is genuine but uses a key text no one has tried, or a lost private document.
  4. Gillogly puts forward: ciphers 1 and 3 were made up from the same numbered Declaration to look like ciphers; they encode nothing.
  5. Gillogly: applying the Declaration key to cipher 1 yields the run 'abcdefghiijklmmnohpp' and other alphabetical…Against: Ciphers 1 and 3 are book ciphers on real key texts and encode English.
  6. Gillogly: gillogly's alphabetical runs under the Declaration key.For: Ciphers 1 and 3 were made up from the same numbered Declaration to look like ciphers; they encode nothing.
  7. Wase puts forward: cipher 1 or 3 is genuine but uses a key text no one has tried, or a lost private document.
  8. National Security Agency: no key text has turned either cipher into English in 140 years, including searches by NSA staff.Against: Ciphers 1 and 3 are book ciphers on real key texts and encode English.
  9. Hsieh: recent statistical tests (Benford's law; book-cipher distributions; composite-cipher searches) have not found…For: Ciphers 1 and 3 were made up from the same numbered Declaration to look like ciphers; they encode nothing.
  10. Asked on this site
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