Kryptos - Pop Culture References

Pop Culture References

The dust jacket of the US version of Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code contains two references to Kryptos: One on the back cover (coordinates printed light red on dark red, vertically next to the blurbs) is a reference to the coordinates mentioned in the plaintext of part 2 (see above), except the degrees digit is off by one. When Brown and his publisher were asked about this, they both gave the same reply: "The discrepancy is intentional"; the co-ordinates were part of the first clue of the second Da Vinci Code WebQuest, the first answer being Kryptos. The other reference is hidden in the brown "tear" artwork—upside-down words which say "Only WW knows" which is another reference to Kryptos Part 2.

Kryptos is one of the themes in Dan Brown's 2009 novel, The Lost Symbol.

A small version of Kryptos appears in the season 5 episode of Alias, "S.O.S.". In it, Marshall Flinkman, in a small moment of comic relief, says he has cracked the code just by looking at it during a tour visit to the CIA office. The solution he describes sounds like the solution to the first two parts.

The musical group Between the Buried and Me has a reference to Kryptos in their song "Obfuscation" from the 2009 album, The Great Misdirect.

A very similar sculpture is seen during a scene in the season 2 episode of Homeland, "New Car Smell". In it, Carrie Mathison and Nicholas Brody run into each other in front of the CIA office and various shots place the sculpture between them as they converse.