German and French historical texts
Foreign language running keys — German (JFK Berlin, Reagan Berlin Wall, Carter/Tut) and French (Champollion, Napoleon) texts
In plain English: Foreign language running keys — German (JFK Berlin, Reagan Berlin Wall, Carter/Tut) and French (Champollion, Napoleon) texts — using a passage from a book or document as the encryption key. Every possible combination was tested (5 thousand configurations) — none produced a valid solution.
This approach is ruled out within the tested scope.
NOISE
Tier 2
How to read this record
- Verdict – NOISE (no better than random guessing), INTERESTING (slightly above random, almost certainly coincidence), SIGNAL (statistically unusual, warrants investigation), or FULL MATCH (all 24 known letters correct).
- Confidence Tier – Tier 1 = mathematical proof (permanent). Tier 2 = every possibility tested. Tier 3 = partially tested. Tier 4 = not yet tested.
- Configs Tested – How many different key/parameter combinations were tried.
- Best Score – How many of the 24 known plaintext letters the best attempt matched (out of 24).
- Keystream Consistency (Bean) – Whether the key values at different positions are mathematically consistent with each other.
- Scope Limitations – What this elimination does not rule out.
- Configs Tested
- 5,400
- Best Score
- 5 / 24 known letters matched · no better than random guessing (random guess would score: 0.0)
- Keystream Consistency (Bean)
-
FAIL
Checks whether the key values at different positions are mathematically consistent with each other. - Confidence
- Tier 2: Exhaustive search under stated assumptions. Does not eliminate multi-layer variants.
- Date Tested
- 2026-02-27
- Script
scripts/running_key/e_cfm_01_running_key_foreign.py
Scope Limitations
This elimination does not rule out:
- Only tests 6 specific German/French texts. Does not eliminate all foreign language running keys.
Assumptions
- Running key from published text
- Vigenere/Beaufort/VB
- Identity transposition
- Forward and reversed
Related Research Questions
Reproduce
PYTHONPATH=src python3 -u scripts/running_key/e_cfm_01_running_key_foreign.pyRequires the kryptos repo, Python 3.11+, PYTHONPATH=src.
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