Episode 7 - The Zodiac Ciphers

11/22/17 • 16 min

by Jackson Kelley

Imagine a man who killed 37 people, and sent a letter to a newspaper revealing his name... yet the identity of this person still remains a complete mystery. On this episode of Serial Unsolved Ciphers we explore the mystery of the Zodiac Killer, a murderer who attacked during the 1960s in Northern California. We delve into the ciphers themselves, including how one of them was broken by two high school teachers. We, explore who the Zodiac Killer could be, why the second cipher is unsolved, and even talk about the popularity of Zodiac Killer in today’s society.

SOURCES

patch.com/california/fostercit...-killer-been-cracked
Used for more info into alleged solve of the Z340 cipher

en.oxforddictionaries.com/explore/whic...re-used-most
Frequency of letters in the alphabet

www.biography.com/people/zodiac-killer-236027
Biography on the killings of the Zodiac Killer

www.purple-planet.com/mysterious-bac...nds/4588158576
Background Audio and Music came from this site

www.elonka.com/UnsolvedCodes.html
Helpful in looking up unsolved codes

en.wikisource.org/wiki/Zodiac_Kill...s#July_31st_1969
The full list of all the letters that the Zodiac Killer sent

www.wondersandmarvels.com/2013/02/the-...ciphers.html
Essay written by former Vanderbilt student which was incredibly helpful in learning how the cipher was broken

zodiackillerfacts.com/main/the-340-c...her-dead-ends/
Helpful for learning about the methods people tried to solve the other cipher

zodiackillerciphers.com/wiki/index.ph...rom_Dan_Olson
FBI Analysis of alleged solved cipher

zodiackillerfacts.com/main/the-starliper-solution/
Invalid Solution

www.oranchak.com/zodiac/corey/hoax.html
How the cipher should have been deciphered by Corey

www.zodiologists.com/z408_cipher_fi...er_theory.html
The last 18 lines of the Z408 cipher theories

www.zodiackillerciphers.com/?p=233
How Harden solved the Z408 cipher

by Jackson Kelley

SOURCES

patch.com/california/fostercit...-killer-been-cracked
Used for more info into alleged solve of the Z340 cipher

en.oxforddictionaries.com/explore/whic...re-used-most
Frequency of letters in the alphabet

www.biography.com/people/zodiac-killer-236027
Biography on the killings of the Zodiac Killer

www.purple-planet.com/mysterious-bac...nds/4588158576
Background Audio and Music came from this site

www.elonka.com/UnsolvedCodes.html
Helpful in looking up unsolved codes

en.wikisource.org/wiki/Zodiac_Kill...s#July_31st_1969
The full list of all the letters that the Zodiac Killer sent

www.wondersandmarvels.com/2013/02/the-...ciphers.html
Essay written by former Vanderbilt student which was incredibly helpful in learning how the cipher was broken

zodiackillerfacts.com/main/the-340-c...her-dead-ends/
Helpful for learning about the methods people tried to solve the other cipher

zodiackillerciphers.com/wiki/index.ph...rom_Dan_Olson
FBI Analysis of alleged solved cipher

zodiackillerfacts.com/main/the-starliper-solution/
Invalid Solution

www.oranchak.com/zodiac/corey/hoax.html
How the cipher should have been deciphered by Corey

www.zodiologists.com/z408_cipher_fi...er_theory.html
The last 18 lines of the Z408 cipher theories

www.zodiackillerciphers.com/?p=233
How Harden solved the Z408 cipher

Previous Episode

Episode 6 - The Buzzard

by Shalin Naik

Olivier Levasseur was a ruthless and cunning pirate that terrorized the seas earning him the title La Buse: The Buzzard. Along with being a pirate, La Buse was highly educated and created a cipher to hide his 500 million Euro treasure he had pirated from a Bishop from France. His cipher has become one of the most confusing artifacts from the pirate times and has led one man to the edges of the Seychelles Archipelago trying to find it.

Sources:

Bath, G. The Levasseur Cryptogram. Retrieved from www.gjbath.com/Misc/LaBuse.htm

La Buse Cryptogram. Retrieved from
cipherfoundation.org/older-ciphers/...se-cryptogram/

Soteriou, H. (27 April 2017). The Island with $100 million hidden. Retrieved from
www.bbc.com/travel/story/201704...-100-million-hidden

Burridge, G. (10 August 2012). The Buzzard’s hoard: The fabulous, undiscovered pirate treasure of Seychelles. Retrieved from
glynnburridge.com/blog/2012/08/the...e-of-seychelles/

Tiburcio, M. (2012). Prying Open the Pigpen Cipher. Retrieved from
derekbruff.org/blogs/fywscrypto/...he-pigpen-cipher/

Music:

www.royaltyfreemusicforfree.com/free-back...und-music
www.royaltyfreemusicforfree.com/free-back...und-music
www.royaltyfreemusicforfree.com/free-back...ther-life
www.orangefreesounds.com/big-waves-cr...-stormy-sea/

Image: www.flickr.com/photos/miwok/10960921734/

Next Episode

Episode 8 - Purple

by Rachael Osman

Tune in to the following Podcast on the Purple Machine, a not widely known coding machine used by the Japanese to hide covert messages. For keen insight about how the United States was able to turn around the war in the Pacific, missed clues regarding the Pearl Harbor attack, and background behind the Purple Machine, you won’t want to miss this podcast. The Purple Machine closely followed the design of the German coding machine, also known as Enigma. The Purple Machine was crucial to the Japanese in keeping messages secret from the Allies in World War II until the coding technique was compromised, and ultimately led to Japan’s demise.

Works Cited

Alberto-Perez. “How the U.S. Cracked Japan’s ‘Purple Encryption Machine’ at the Dawn of World War II.” Io9. Io9.gizmodo.com, 22 Mar. 2013. Web.

Balciunas, Marijus. “Japan’s Purple Machine.” (n.d.): n. pag. 18 Mar. 2004. Web.

Chen, C. Peter. “Hiroshi Oshima.” WW2DB. N.p., n.d. Web.

Contributor, Quora. “How Did the U.S. Break Japanese Military Codes Before the Battle of Midway?” Slate Magazine. N.p., 20 Nov. 2013. Web.

Enigma T – Tirpitz. N.p., n.d. Web.

“Japanese Purple Cipher.” Cipher Machines. N.p., n.d. Web.

Kahn, David. The Codebreakers: The Story of Secret Writing. N.p.: Scribner, n.d. Print.

The music/ sound effects were from www.orangefreesounds.com/.

Image: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Type...er_machine.jpg