# Vincent 2014: Masonic conspiracy or MI6 recruitment tool? Internet mystery Cicada 3301 starts up again

> James Vincent, 2014. 4 records on Mysteries Department cite it. Corroborates the 2012 ending and the primes motif.

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D7R6TP47EGH/masonic-conspiracy-or-mi6-recruitment-tool-internet-mystery  
Publisher: Mysteries Department  
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page)  

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[Sources](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources)[Cicada 3301](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/cicada-3301)Vincent 2014

**0**

# Masonic conspiracy or MI6 recruitment tool? Internet mystery Cicada 3301 starts up again

James Vincent, 2014. _The Independent, 7 January 2014_.

Report on the start of the third round. Shows a Cicada poster with a QR code on a lamppost in Warsaw; explains the prime-number motif (3301 is prime; periodical cicadas have 13- and 17-year cycles); quotes the 2012 closing message, "We have now found the individuals we sought... Thus our month-long journey ends. For now."

**Cicada 3301** Web pageChecked against the original0

## What it's used for here

Corroborates the 2012 ending and the primes motif.

## Cited by on this site 4 records

[A recruitment exercise by an intelligence or security agency.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/cicada-3301/answers/ANS0D7R7118595J/a-recruitment-exercise-by-an-intelligence-or-security-agency)

Answer

ANS

[Cicada 3301 poster on a lamppost in Warsaw](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/cicada-3301/artifacts/ART0D7R78BM5QRE/cicada-3301-poster-on-a-lamppost-in-warsaw)

ART

[Cicada announces it has found the individuals it sought](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/cicada-3301/events/EVT0D7R6XKW7772/cicada-announces-it-has-found-the-individuals-it-sought)

EVT

[Cicada 3301](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/cicada-3301)

The mystery article

MYS

## Cite it

```
Vincent, J. (2014). Masonic conspiracy or MI6 recruitment tool? Internet mystery Cicada 3301 starts up again. The Independent, 7 January 2014. https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/masonic-conspiracy-or-mi6-recruitment-tool-internet-mystery-cicada-3301-starts-up-again-9044049.html
```

[Read it free at independent.co.uk](https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/masonic-conspiracy-or-mi6-recruitment-tool-internet-mystery-cicada-3301-starts-up-again-9044049.html)

Key

**SRC** 0D7R6TP47EGH

Kind

Web page

Rights

The publisher's

Kept

29 Oct 2026, for editors

Checked

Against the published original

Added by

[apollo](https://mysteriesdept.com/u/apollo)

The record

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