Kryptos Cylinder Viewer

The Kryptos cipher panel as 28 rotatable rings in a 31-column window. The rows are the panel’s characters, with one of the four question marks left out, re-wrapped at an even 31 per row. The carved lines vary in length (the K1 and K2 lines alone run 30 to 32), so not every row here matches a line on the copper. The idea comes from two margin marks on Sanborn’s K1/K2 encoding chart, an arrow pointing right beside row 1 and one pointing left beside row 2, which some read as rows sliding independently, like a Jefferson cipher wheel or combination lock. Our study of the chart found no non-letter mark on it that clearly points beyond ordinary place-keeping, so this viewer is for exploration, not a known method. On that chart, row 5 (starting IMVMZJA) holds 32 letters instead of 31 (see the chart).

Rotate any row with the arrow buttons or by click-dragging. The offset badge on the right tracks how far each row has shifted. Look for vertical alignments, repeating patterns, or columnar relationships that emerge as you slide rows relative to each other.