0:01

I'm not going to lie. I'm a

0:03

sucker for puzzles. Crosswords, wordle, escape

0:05

rooms. Which of my 90s kids

0:07

remember that impossible computer puzzle

0:09

game? Mine sweeper. You name

0:11

it. I'm in. And the

0:13

more challenging the better, right? Like

0:16

there's something nice about giving your

0:18

brain a little workout. Now that

0:20

I think about it, maybe that's

0:22

why I'm so fascinated by true

0:25

crime. It's sort of the ultimate

0:27

puzzle. a chance to put the

0:29

clues together, examine the evidence, and

0:32

try to figure out who done it.

0:34

I know I'm not alone here. These

0:36

things can be impossible to

0:38

resist. But I bet only

0:40

a handful of you took

0:42

a stab at this one

0:45

puzzle that took the internet

0:47

by storm back in 2012.

0:49

It was posted by a

0:51

mysterious group known only as

0:53

Secata 3301. Now I cannot

0:55

overstate how complex this game

0:57

was and the people who

0:59

tried to solve it were

1:01

totally addicted. It took over

1:03

their lives, even caused injuries

1:05

to some people. Nobody knew

1:07

what this game was for

1:09

or what Sikkida 3301 was

1:12

trying to accomplish by posting

1:14

it. But the people who

1:16

solved it found themselves

1:18

pulled into a strange

1:21

secretive organization with murky

1:23

intentions. Was it a

1:25

government agency, a cult,

1:28

or some twisted terrorist

1:31

group? People still aren't

1:33

sure. But whoever they

1:35

are, they might still be

1:38

operating today. I'm Ashley

1:40

Flowers, and this is

1:42

so supernatural. Now

1:54

you're probably wondering why I'm still here,

1:56

why I haven't passed the mic or

1:58

the torch back to Roshit. an event

2:00

yet. But just know that your

2:03

ears aren't playing tricks on

2:05

you. I'm going to stick

2:07

around for this entire story,

2:09

because it is one of

2:11

those internet mysteries that has

2:13

me absolutely stumped. So today,

2:15

we're talking about a top-secret

2:17

organization called Saketa 3301, who

2:19

posted a series of puzzles

2:21

online beginning in 2012. The

2:23

people who solved their riddles

2:25

got an invitation to join

2:27

them. But even once they

2:30

were inside, they had no

2:32

idea who Sakada was,

2:34

or what their intentions were,

2:36

only that they planned

2:39

to change the entire

2:41

world. Aloha so

2:43

supernatural listeners. Some of

2:46

you might know that Russia and

2:48

I used to live in Hawaii.

2:50

So Hawaii is absolutely near and

2:52

dear to our hearts. And there's

2:54

a very haunting case from Hawaii

2:56

that recently received a big update

2:58

that we know you will not

3:00

want to miss. It's the case

3:02

of Dana Ireland's abduction and murder

3:04

on the Big Island. And in

3:06

the newest season of the podcast 3,

3:08

you will not only dive into the

3:11

details of Dana's case, but you'll also

3:13

explore the human cost that can occur

3:15

when the justice system gets it wrong.

3:17

This crime didn't just shake the vacation

3:20

land community. It had a life-changing impact

3:22

on three families, and under pressure to

3:24

solve the case, investigators named not one,

3:27

not two, but three men. They were

3:29

all convicted of Dana's murder, but the

3:31

thing is, none of them committed the

3:33

crime. Get all of the details of

3:35

this case, the fallout that spanned decades,

3:38

and the recent update that changed everything

3:40

on the latest season of the podcast.

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5:22

It's 2012. The iPhone 5

5:24

has just been announced. Facebook

5:27

is going public. Pinterest,

5:29

Twitter and Instagram are

5:32

all thriving. Meanwhile, one

5:34

little corner of the internet

5:36

is about to have its

5:38

own moment in history. A

5:41

website called Fourchan to

5:43

be specific. Now for those of

5:45

you who don't know, Forechan is an

5:47

online message board, kind of like read

5:50

it, except on Forechan, anything goes. Really,

5:52

there are basically no rules. People

5:54

can post adult content, hate speech,

5:56

even live stream violent crimes. It

5:59

is the Wild West. But in all

6:01

fairness, there's a lot of safer

6:03

work chats too, like the Science

6:05

and Math Channel. It has everything

6:07

from nerdy memes and games to

6:09

advice on what jobs to get

6:12

with a science or math degree.

6:14

But on January 4th, 2012,

6:16

a post appears that sort

6:18

of changes the landscape of

6:20

this forum entirely. Like a

6:22

lot of four-chan threads, it's

6:25

started by an anonymous user.

6:27

The post contains an image

6:29

of a black box with

6:31

text and an image of

6:33

a cicada all in white. And

6:35

it says, Hello, we are looking

6:38

for highly intelligent

6:40

individuals. To find

6:42

them, we have devised a

6:44

test. There is a message

6:46

hidden in this image. Find

6:49

it, and it will lead you on

6:51

the road to finding us. We

6:53

look forward to meeting the few

6:55

that will make it all the

6:57

way through. Good luck. 3301. A

6:59

puzzle like this is catnip for any

7:01

of those math and science

7:03

fans, especially when you say

7:06

you're looking for highly intelligent

7:08

individuals. Everyone is going to

7:11

want to prove that they're smart

7:13

enough to solve the puzzle.

7:15

And reportedly, thousands of

7:17

people answer the call, trying

7:19

to figure out what the

7:21

secret message is. Within hours of

7:24

this thread going up, there is a

7:26

brand new forum on Four Chance, specifically

7:28

for people to talk about this puzzle.

7:30

They can share what they've tried

7:32

already, what's working or not working,

7:34

and theories about who created the

7:37

original post. Apparently, some people

7:39

have already run the image through

7:41

programs that are designed to detect

7:43

hidden messages, but they turn up

7:45

nothing. There doesn't seem to be

7:48

anything hidden in the background of

7:50

the image either. But within a day...

7:52

Someone solves it. Sort of. Now fair

7:54

warning, this gets technical, but

7:56

I'm going to explain this in

7:58

the simplest way possible. Basically,

8:00

this guy who will be identified

8:02

by a pseudonym, Tech, he downloads

8:05

the image, then he opens it

8:07

in notepad, a program that

8:09

usually can't open images. So

8:11

instead he gets a string of

8:14

words, pretty much gibberish, popping up

8:16

on his screen. That's when he

8:18

sees the words, Tiberius, Claudius

8:21

Caesar, followed by other

8:23

random-looking numbers and letters.

8:25

Now, if you're a history buff, or

8:27

even if you're not, you probably

8:29

recognize this as the name of

8:31

the Roman Emperor. But here is

8:34

where it gets interesting. Caesar is

8:36

also the name of an ancient

8:38

code. During the days of Emperor

8:41

Julius Caesar, the military used it

8:43

to send secret messages. So

8:45

Tack assumes that the phrase,

8:47

Tiberius Claudius Caesar, is a clue.

8:49

and that he should use the

8:52

Caesar code to decipher the

8:54

random string of nonsense that

8:56

comes after. And it works. He

8:58

finds a URL for a

9:01

website. But when that page

9:03

loads, it doesn't say, great

9:05

job, you've solved it, not

9:07

even close. Instead, it shows

9:09

another image. This time, it's

9:12

in color. A wooden duck with

9:14

text that says, whoops, in all

9:16

caps. Just decoys this way. looks

9:18

like you can't guess how to

9:20

get the message out. Now at first,

9:22

it sounds like maybe this is

9:24

just another dead end. Except, a

9:27

group of other 4chan users

9:29

figures that maybe this is

9:31

actually just another puzzle. That's

9:33

where things stand for three more

9:35

days. People have found the duck image,

9:37

but they don't know how to solve

9:39

it. That's when a 15-year-old boy

9:42

named Marcus Warner gets into

9:44

the game. Now as you can probably

9:46

guess from his age, Marcus is a

9:48

high school student. He lives

9:50

at home outside of Roanoke, Virginia.

9:52

His parents are devout Catholics and

9:54

they are very strict, which means

9:56

that they keep close tabs on

9:58

what he does online. At least, they

10:00

think they do. Truth is, Marcus is

10:02

really good with computers. And while

10:05

his mom and dad don't approve of

10:07

him visiting websites like Fourchan, he still

10:09

finds a way to go behind their

10:11

backs and get on the site, all

10:14

while covering his tracks. So, Marcus

10:16

is a little late to the Secata

10:18

game, but that doesn't stop him from

10:20

stepping up to the challenge. And even

10:22

though he really knows his way

10:25

around programming and deciphering stuff, even,

10:27

Marcus is stumped at first. So

10:29

he jumps into the thread with

10:31

the other code breakers, eventually

10:34

forming a team with tech and

10:36

some other four-chan users. As far

10:39

as they can tell, there are

10:41

no rules against working together, so

10:43

they figure that they might as

10:45

well pool their resources and collaborate.

10:48

They even make a team name,

10:50

pound decipher. At one point, they

10:52

focus on the text of

10:54

the duck message, specifically the

10:56

second sentence. Looks like you

10:58

can't guess how to get the

11:00

message out. There are two words

11:02

that really stand out to pound

11:05

a cipher. The word guess and

11:07

out. That's because there is

11:10

a code-breaking program called

11:12

out-guess. So they plug this

11:14

duck image into that and

11:16

check for hidden messages. And

11:19

sure enough, there's another clue

11:21

in there. This time, a

11:23

list of numbers. which means

11:25

that the solution to the

11:27

puzzle is yet another puzzle.

11:30

That's going to be a

11:32

reoccurring theme for the rest

11:34

of this game. Each time

11:37

Marcus completes one puzzle, he

11:39

realizes there's another, then

11:41

another. Eventually, though, Marcus

11:43

finds a signature while

11:45

unraveling one of these

11:48

riddles. It says, Secada,

11:50

3301. So, Marcus wonders. Is he

11:52

getting close to figuring out the

11:54

author of these things? He still

11:56

doesn't know if Saketa is a single

11:59

person or... or if they're a

12:01

business, a government agency, a

12:03

secret society, or something else

12:05

entirely. But he is obsessed with

12:07

finding out. He pulls all-nighters,

12:10

dropping the important stuff like homework

12:12

and piano lessons. He's falling asleep

12:14

at all hours of the day

12:16

and missing out on time with

12:18

his family. Meanwhile, the cicada

12:20

puzzles are getting more complicated and

12:23

bigger with each and every step.

12:25

They're even leaving the internet and

12:27

popping up in real life. At

12:30

one point, players have to scan

12:32

QR codes that are posted on

12:34

lamp posts all over the world.

12:37

I mean, think major cities like

12:39

Miami, Paris, and Seoul. So whoever

12:41

created the codes has the ability

12:43

to get to all those cities.

12:46

Some players are even getting

12:48

phone calls, even though they

12:50

never publicly shared their numbers.

12:52

Other players seem to just

12:55

disappear without a trace. Like one

12:57

day, they're posting actively.

12:59

The next, they're just

13:01

gone. Maybe they solved it

13:03

and got whisked off to

13:06

wherever Secata 3301 is operating,

13:08

or maybe they were eliminated

13:10

for knowing too much. Now players

13:13

are starting to get nervous,

13:15

wondering if Secata is somehow

13:17

putting them in danger. It's

13:19

enough to scare some people off

13:22

entirely. One by one, the

13:24

code breakers drop out. While

13:26

thousands of people were trying

13:29

to solve the riddles at

13:31

first that number has dwindled

13:34

to a few dozen by the

13:36

end of January But Marcus

13:38

is still one of them.

13:40

He's determined to finish the

13:43

puzzles and see what's at the

13:45

end and on February

13:47

6th 2012 He does it

13:49

he cracks that final riddle

13:51

and that day he gets

13:53

an email from Cicada 3301

13:56

They're happy with everything

13:58

he's done. Happy enough. that

14:00

they want Marcus to join

14:02

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up today at Ixel. In February

16:06

2012,

16:10

15-year-old

16:17

Marcus

16:21

Warner

16:25

gets

16:28

an if he agrees to

16:30

abide by their rules and

16:32

their values. Except, Marcus

16:35

doesn't know what those values

16:37

are, let alone who these people

16:39

are. They've been so secretive

16:41

this entire time. After a

16:43

few emails back and forth,

16:45

Marcus gets a few answers,

16:47

though. Sakeda explains that they

16:49

care about privacy, they oppose

16:51

censorship, they fight tyranny, they

16:53

fight tyranny, they fight tyranny,

16:56

they fight tyranny, they fight

16:58

tyranny, and they don't do

17:00

anything illegal. But their responses

17:02

are pretty vague, and they don't

17:04

answer a lot of Marcus's

17:06

follow-up questions. However, on February 28th,

17:09

after almost a full month

17:11

of emailing, they do send

17:13

Marcus a link. It lets him

17:15

sign up for a

17:17

secret password-protected message board.

17:19

Even though Marcus doesn't know what

17:22

he's getting himself into, he

17:24

does go ahead and create

17:26

a profile. He thinks he's

17:28

about to meet the other

17:30

members of Secata 3301, except

17:32

all he finds is more

17:34

secrets and more mysteries.

17:36

There are some high-ranking Secata

17:38

leaders on this board, but

17:40

they don't use their real

17:43

names or explain who they

17:45

are. They do talk a little bit

17:47

about the group's history, though. Like

17:49

they say they were founded when

17:52

a few important people teamed up

17:54

to promote their values and again

17:56

those goals and values are pretty

17:59

big unclear is that they

18:01

have something to do with privacy,

18:03

but also with sharing information freely.

18:05

He also learns that up

18:07

until recently, whenever Secata recruited

18:10

new members, they relied on

18:12

personal referrals. Existing members only

18:14

brought in people they knew

18:16

personally. People they thought would

18:18

be a good fit and were trustworthy.

18:21

Except recently, they realized they

18:23

needed members who were more

18:25

computer savvy, who understood the

18:27

ins and outs of programming.

18:29

which is why they posted all of

18:32

those puzzles online to expand their

18:34

circle and bring in the best

18:36

of the best. Which just brings

18:38

a little false to Marcus? In

18:40

his mind you wouldn't be able

18:42

to design those super complicated

18:44

puzzles in the first place

18:46

without a pretty strong tech

18:48

background. So he thinks Sikata

18:50

must already have some excellent

18:52

programmers, which begs the question,

18:54

why do they need more?

18:57

There's one other key

18:59

piece of information that Marcus

19:01

learns. Apparently, Sakada keeps

19:03

their inner workings very secret,

19:06

even from its own members.

19:08

Nobody knows for sure how

19:10

many of them there are, or

19:13

what everyone is up to. Instead,

19:15

the organization is broken

19:17

up into little

19:19

subdivisions called broods. So

19:21

members might know who is in their

19:23

own brood. But they don't know how

19:26

many broods there are, total, or what

19:28

other broods are up to. Now all of

19:30

the people in this one particular

19:32

online forum are Marcus's brood. There

19:35

are roughly 20 of them, and

19:37

Marcus recognizes about half of the

19:39

username. A ton of the new recruits

19:41

were part of Pound Decipher. So

19:43

there Marcus is friends. Some he

19:45

knows well enough to have their

19:47

phone numbers, and others he knows

19:49

nothing about. At first, they're all

19:52

active on the forum, waiting for Secata

19:54

to tell them what they're supposed to

19:56

do next. But eventually, the

19:59

leaders say Marcus... and the rest

20:01

of the brood can decide for

20:03

themselves what their next move is.

20:05

As long as it is aligned

20:07

with those very vague values I

20:09

mentioned earlier, it is up to the

20:11

brood on how they want to spend their

20:14

time. All they have to do is

20:16

come up with an idea, get the

20:18

okay, and then they have total freedom

20:21

to move forward however they want to.

20:23

It's almost like another puzzle.

20:25

Figure out what we want you to

20:27

do and then do it. Will Marcus

20:30

and his brood come up with

20:32

a pretty interesting project? It's

20:34

called Secata Anonymous Key Escrow

20:36

System or Cakes. In very

20:39

simple terms, it's a program

20:41

that will make it easier

20:43

and safer for whistleblowers to

20:45

leak information online. So Marcus

20:47

and the rest of his brood

20:49

go to Secata, explain what it

20:51

will do, how it will work,

20:53

and Secata's like, sounds great, go

20:55

make it. Now, interestingly,

20:58

3301 doesn't give them money or

21:00

any real resources. It's all on

21:02

Marcus and his brood to make

21:04

cakes a reality, in their own

21:06

time, for free. Occasionally, secata leaders

21:09

will pop in and give advice

21:11

and feedback, but other than that,

21:13

it's not clear what the group

21:15

even offers, Marcus or the others.

21:17

Honestly, they could do this work on their

21:20

own if they wanted. But at this

21:22

point, they're in so deep, I

21:24

guess they think maybe the payoff

21:26

is answers, right? Which may be

21:28

why Cakes becomes Marcus's new

21:30

obsession. All those hours he used

21:33

to spend solving puzzles now

21:35

goes into writing code for

21:37

the program. Problem is, he

21:39

still has no idea how this

21:41

software will be used when it's

21:44

finished. So fast forward a little,

21:46

a few weeks go by, then

21:48

months. And as it turns

21:50

out, nobody wants to spend

21:52

their time writing a computer

21:55

program for mysterious overlords,

21:57

for free. So people quit, one

21:59

by one. of 2012 or early 2013,

22:01

Marcus's brood is down to just

22:04

him and one of his friends.

22:06

Finally, Marcus has to

22:08

go to Saketa 3301 leaders and

22:10

basically say, look, we can't do

22:12

this on our own. If you

22:14

want to see cakes get finished,

22:16

we at the very least need

22:18

more people. And the good news

22:21

is, the higher-ups listen. They launch

22:23

a new puzzle in January of

22:25

2013. It goes up on the

22:28

4th. One year to the day

22:30

since the very first one appeared

22:32

on 4chan by the way. And

22:34

this time, Marcus actually gets to

22:37

help design some of those

22:39

puzzles. But a few hours

22:41

before their new game launches,

22:43

another anonymous user posts on

22:46

a message board. And there, they

22:48

drop a bombshell about the

22:50

group. This person writes, I was

22:52

a part of what you call

22:55

3301 slash Secata. for more than

22:57

a decade. And I'm here to

22:59

warn you, stay away. This

23:02

is a dangerous organization. Now

23:04

this poster says that CEDA

23:07

doesn't actually care about

23:09

privacy or anti-censorship at

23:12

all. It's just something

23:15

the group says in order

23:17

to make themselves look good.

23:19

The truth is, according to

23:21

this poster, that CEDA is

23:23

a cult. They only pretend to

23:26

care about science to trick

23:28

people into joining. The user says

23:30

that instead of science, Saketa

23:33

actually believes in something called

23:35

a global brain. The idea

23:37

is that each human being

23:39

is like an individual neuron.

23:42

When you put all of them

23:44

together, they form a more

23:46

powerful, more intelligent mind. One where

23:48

everyone's working toward one

23:51

single purpose. Apparently,

23:53

they worship the global brain, like

23:56

a god from what I can

23:58

tell. They also believe that... The

24:00

ends justify the means. In

24:02

other words, they'll do anything

24:04

to achieve their goals. There's

24:06

no such thing as right and

24:09

wrong. In fact, reality itself

24:11

doesn't exist. The whole post goes

24:13

on for pages, and it might be

24:16

tempting to shrug all of this off,

24:18

but the poster backs up a

24:20

lot of their claims with facts.

24:22

They get into Sakada's history

24:25

and their recruitment

24:27

practices. They say a lot of

24:29

the same things the leaders told

24:32

Marcus in that secret forum.

24:34

Except, according to this person,

24:36

many of those initial members

24:38

were part of the military.

24:40

Now, is it possible this poster

24:43

was making everything up? Sure.

24:45

But there are so many details that

24:47

are consistent with what Marcus

24:50

has already been told. They

24:52

seem to really know what

24:54

they're talking about. Which

24:56

is why there's a lot of

24:58

debate about this post, known in

25:01

these circles as the warning. Some

25:03

people take it seriously, others

25:05

don't. As for Marcus, he

25:08

doesn't believe the warning. In

25:10

fact, he thinks it's a test.

25:12

That Sakada leadership is

25:14

spreading misinformation about themselves.

25:16

This will drive off

25:19

code breakers who are

25:21

more gullible or conspiracy-minded.

25:23

On top of that, he trusts

25:26

Secata and thinks they're doing

25:28

good work. In his mind, Cakes is

25:30

going to make the world a better

25:32

place. Even if Secata 3301 has

25:34

some weird beliefs, everyone will still

25:36

be better off if he sticks

25:39

around. All he needs is someone to

25:41

help him. And he figures, once

25:43

this latest round of recruitment is

25:46

over, he'll have plenty of new

25:48

broodmates to work with. Except, after

25:50

the new puzzle is posted, Nobody

25:53

makes it in. Even those who

25:55

say they've solved it. But for

25:57

whatever reason, they never got the

26:00

to join. Maybe they're lying,

26:02

maybe they didn't finish the

26:04

game, or maybe Secata decided

26:06

they didn't want them for

26:09

whatever reason. Regardless,

26:11

Marcus is out of luck. He is

26:13

pretty much on his own. And by

26:15

this point, he is worn out.

26:17

He's been trying to keep this

26:19

Cakes program afloat with

26:21

just one other person for

26:23

a while, and he still

26:25

doesn't know who he's actually

26:27

working for working for. So

26:29

he stops visiting the forum

26:32

and sort of backs away

26:34

from the project as a whole.

26:36

Then about two months later in

26:38

March, he gets a text

26:40

from his one and only

26:42

other active brood mate. According

26:45

to this friend, they've both

26:47

been kicked out of Cicada.

26:49

They're not needed anymore.

26:51

Sure enough, when Marcus tries to

26:53

go back to that forum,

26:55

he finds it's offline. Someone took

26:58

the page down. He can't even

27:00

go back and look at his

27:02

old messages anymore. There isn't even

27:05

a note to explain what happened

27:07

or why Marcus is apparently

27:09

on the outs. And that's the

27:12

last contact he ever has with

27:14

anyone in Secata 3301. They never

27:16

come out and explain who they

27:18

are, or what their actual goals are.

27:20

Not a peep. Marcus spent

27:22

a year of his life working for

27:25

this group. He sacrificed his

27:27

future. lied to his parents

27:29

and he still doesn't have

27:31

any answers. All he can try to

27:34

do is make sense of the

27:36

situation by going public with his

27:38

story. In January of 2015

27:40

he gives an interview to

27:42

a reporter from Rolling Stone

27:45

and he tells him everything. That's

27:47

the only reason we know this

27:49

much about Secata today. But even

27:51

now, at 27 years old, Marcus

27:54

still doesn't know who or

27:57

what Sikkada 3301 is. He

27:59

doesn't... know whether he made a

28:01

powerful enemy like the leader of

28:03

a government agency or a criminal

28:06

group or if the warning was

28:08

right and he spent over a

28:10

year of his life working for

28:12

a dangerous cult. Have you

28:14

experienced serious complications

28:17

with the Parryard IUD like

28:19

breakage or fracture? You're not

28:21

alone. Keller Postman is here

28:23

to help. Tap the banner

28:25

now for a free case

28:27

review. We're helping women hold

28:29

manufacturers accountable. If eligible, you

28:31

may be entitled to compensation

28:34

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28:36

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28:38

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28:40

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28:44

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iud injury.com Is

28:49

anyone out there?

28:51

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28:53

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60-day at linkedin.com/ trial. It's

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been 15 years since that first

29:24

Secata puzzle went up on

29:27

Fourchan. And one of the biggest

29:29

questions people are still asking

29:31

is who even is Secata anyway?

29:33

If we want to answer that

29:35

question, we should probably

29:37

start with the biggest,

29:39

most widespread allegations against

29:42

them. That theory from The Warning

29:44

Post. Is Secata 3301 really a

29:46

cult that believes in a global

29:48

brain? Do they reject ideas of right

29:51

and wrong and say there's no

29:53

such thing as reality? Now at

29:55

first glance, it does make sense.

29:57

Especially when you look at some of the

30:00

thing Sakada has said about itself.

30:02

Earlier, I mentioned how Marcus had

30:04

a lengthy back and forth with

30:06

them when he was recruited to join.

30:09

He was trying to get a sense

30:11

of what the organization was about,

30:13

and he was given a lot of

30:15

non-answers. But at one point, they did

30:18

say this. Quote, we are a group of

30:20

individuals who have proven

30:22

ourselves much like you

30:24

have by completing this

30:26

recruitment contest. And we are

30:28

drawn together by common beliefs.

30:30

A careful reading of the

30:32

text used in the contest

30:35

would have revealed some of those

30:37

beliefs. That tyranny and

30:39

oppression of any kind must

30:41

end. That censorship is wrong

30:43

and privacy is an inalienable

30:46

right." End quote. So let's take

30:48

them at their word. Let's assume

30:50

that Sakada's real beliefs are

30:52

clear if you look at

30:54

the puzzles closely enough. Some

30:56

of the games included references

30:59

to different books, poems,

31:01

and other bits of culture. You

31:03

need to be familiar with a lot

31:05

of classic art to be able to

31:07

solve some of their riddles. And

31:10

the specific works they reference

31:12

have a lot of the

31:14

same themes. Empowerment, self-reliance, becoming

31:17

a better version of yourself. For

31:19

example, in the 2013 puzzle, they

31:21

built a step inspired by author

31:24

Alister Crowley. That name might ring

31:26

some bells, because Crowley was a

31:28

pretty culty figure in his own

31:30

right. He was born in 1875,

31:32

but really became famous around the

31:34

turn of the century. At that

31:36

time, he belonged to a ton

31:38

of secret societies and religious

31:40

organizations. He even started a

31:43

couple on his own. He

31:45

also claimed that he could

31:47

communicate with other worldly spirits

31:49

and do magic. Remember

31:51

how the warning said Secata

31:53

only pretended to care about

31:55

science? If that's true, then the Crowley

31:58

puzzle might hint at what they

32:00

really believe in. Using occult

32:02

practices to elevate yourself,

32:04

maybe even to join

32:07

a spiritual global brain.

32:09

That might sound like a

32:11

big leap, but let's look

32:13

at another secata puzzle. It

32:15

used an essay by Ralph

32:18

Waldo Emerson called Self Reliance.

32:20

I think you can guess what

32:22

it's about based on the name.

32:24

However, the 3301 cipher built on

32:27

Emerson's themes. I'm going to read

32:29

a quote from that puzzle. The

32:31

work of a private man who

32:34

wished to transcend, he trusted himself

32:36

to produce from within. So there

32:38

are those same themes from the

32:40

warning post again, references to

32:43

becoming something bigger than yourself,

32:45

literally transcending. And that can

32:48

sound pretty cultish. Many cults

32:50

promise to help make people

32:53

better versions of themselves. Then

32:55

instead, sometimes isolate their victims and

32:58

require members to fork over lots

33:00

of money. And speaking of

33:02

isolation, let's go back to the

33:04

initial recruitment around 2012. At one

33:06

point, while the puzzles were still

33:08

out there, waiting to be solved,

33:11

Sikkida actively warned people not to

33:13

collaborate with one another. This was

33:15

after Pound Asifer had been formed

33:17

and apparently they weren't the only

33:19

team out there. So to stop

33:21

people from working together to

33:23

solve the puzzles 3301 posted

33:26

on the message board saying

33:28

quote You've shared too much to

33:30

this point. We want the best

33:32

not followers So that could

33:34

be interpreted as an early attempt

33:37

to isolate the people who wanted

33:39

to join They wanted the

33:41

brood to include people who

33:43

didn't have a lot of

33:45

online relationships or support networks

33:48

Maybe The truth is the only

33:50

evidence that their occult comes from

33:52

the warning Marcus has never said

33:54

that they tried to talk to him

33:56

about God or group minds They also

33:58

never asked him for money. But

34:01

they didn't hand out anything either.

34:03

They were having Marcus and

34:05

his brood fork up their own

34:07

time and resources to make software

34:10

for them. So who can say for sure?

34:12

But that got me thinking. Maybe

34:14

Marcus was right when he

34:16

said the warning post was

34:19

a disinformation campaign from Secata

34:21

themselves, which brings me to

34:23

this next theory. That Secata

34:25

3301 is actually a recruitment

34:28

tool. One that's bringing new

34:30

employees in for the FBI, the

34:32

NSA, the CIA, or some other

34:35

government agency. In fact, we know these

34:37

groups have used puzzles exactly

34:39

like CEDAs to recruit new

34:42

members before. In April of 2014,

34:44

the U.S. Navy released a bunch

34:46

of puzzles on their Facebook page

34:48

and some related Twitter accounts. Users

34:51

could solve codes and break ciphers

34:53

to complete the challenge. In the end,

34:55

10 people were named as winners and

34:57

the Navy used the whole game as

35:00

a way to build good PR. Then

35:02

in May of 2014, the

35:04

United States National Security Agency,

35:06

or NSA, tweeted out a

35:08

series of cryptic codes. They said

35:10

anyone who solved them could find

35:13

out more about job openings. Except,

35:15

in both of these cases, it

35:17

was clear from the get-go who

35:19

was posting these riddles. I mean, they

35:22

literally came from the at-NSA career's

35:24

Twitter account and one of the

35:27

Navy's Facebook pages. There were

35:29

no secret chat rooms or anonymous

35:31

4chan posts. One time, a

35:33

reporter even asked a CIA

35:35

spokesperson if they were behind

35:37

the Secata 3301 puzzles, and

35:39

the spokesperson denied it. Of

35:41

course, it's the CIA we're talking about,

35:43

so in theory, they could have been

35:45

lying. The CIA or the NSA

35:48

could have still posted the Secata

35:50

3301 puzzles. But why would they

35:52

deny using a recruiting tool that

35:54

was so dang successful? To me,

35:57

this says Secata has a good reason

35:59

to hide. their identity, especially if

36:01

they were terrorists or

36:03

criminals. And actually, it sounds

36:05

like someone may have caught them committing

36:08

a crime at one point. In

36:10

2015, a local government agency

36:12

in Chile publicly said that

36:14

Sikkida was running a crime

36:16

ring in their country. Supposedly,

36:18

the Chilean police learned that someone

36:21

had created a fake website impersonating

36:23

a bank's login screen. When people

36:26

went to this wrong URL,

36:28

they entered their login information.

36:30

Then the hackers kept those

36:32

usernames and passwords so they

36:34

could get into people's real

36:36

accounts. Whoever built this website also

36:38

gained Google's algorithm, so if people searched

36:40

the name of the bank, the first

36:42

hit was that fake page, not the

36:45

real one, which is terrifying. Once the

36:47

police found out what was going

36:49

on, they did some investigating. They

36:51

identified and busted a few individuals

36:54

who were behind the website, and

36:56

they found out that these people

36:58

were apparently part of a group

37:00

called Secata 3301. So in July

37:02

of 2015, they publicly warned the people

37:04

of Chile to watch out for the

37:07

scammers in Secata, who may have been

37:09

running other online scams too. But right

37:11

after they released this information, Secata

37:13

put out their own reply. They

37:15

said they had nothing to do

37:17

with the fake website. Some other

37:19

criminals were just using their

37:22

name without their permission.

37:24

And in fairness, I have to

37:26

say, this kind of fake log-in

37:28

screen hoax is really common. You

37:30

don't need to recruit the top

37:32

coders in the world to pull this

37:34

off. So I do think it's

37:36

possible the Chilean hackers had nothing

37:39

to do with Secata. Or if

37:41

they did, it wasn't authorized by

37:43

Secata's higher-ups. That said, I

37:46

don't think we'll ever have

37:48

the answers. It's been more

37:50

than a decade since Sikata

37:52

posted their last recruitment puzzle, but

37:54

they haven't brought in any new

37:56

members as far as we know. Maybe

37:58

Sikata 3301... are government agents

38:01

or criminals or a

38:03

small group of tech

38:05

savvy individuals who just

38:07

want to make the world a

38:09

better place. Maybe they're a cult.

38:12

Who knows? But the answer might

38:14

be out there now, just waiting

38:16

for someone to find it.

38:18

Because you see, in 2014,

38:20

Sakata launched one final recruitment

38:23

drive. This involved a massive

38:25

puzzle that still hasn't been

38:27

solved today. 11 years later.

38:29

And since it still hasn't

38:31

been cracked, nobody can say for sure

38:33

what it says. I mean, it might

38:36

have all the answers we've been looking

38:38

for. Or it might just lead

38:40

to even more mysteries that have

38:42

to be solved. And that's why

38:44

this whole story fascinates me.

38:46

Earlier in this episode, I

38:48

mentioned how much I love puzzles.

38:51

There is something so satisfying about

38:53

working hard at something for a

38:55

few hours and then seeing the

38:58

solution, like... Knowing the game is

39:00

complete. But when you try to

39:02

solve a riddle and only end

39:04

up with more riddles, it

39:06

is frustrating, sometimes

39:09

even unsettling. But

39:11

it's also one of the

39:13

reasons I make this show. Because life

39:15

is full of puzzles too.

39:17

Do aliens exist? How about

39:20

magic or ESP or ghosts?

39:22

Which conspiracy theories

39:24

are true? Even if we don't

39:26

know the answers. The

39:28

truth is still out

39:30

there somewhere. And if

39:32

we can just crack

39:34

the code, maybe someday

39:37

we'll have the answers

39:39

to all of

39:41

life's supernatural mysteries

39:43

too. This is

39:45

so supernatural. An

39:47

audio chuck original produced

39:49

by Crime House. You can

39:52

connect with us on Instagram

39:54

at So Supernatural Podcast and

39:56

visit our website so Supernatural

40:00

Join us next Friday for an

40:02

all-new episode. So what do you

40:04

think, Chuck? Do you approve? Have

40:06

you experienced serious complications

40:08

with the Parigard IUD

40:10

like breakage or fracture? You're

40:13

not alone. Keller Postman is

40:15

here to help. Tap the

40:17

banner now for a free

40:19

case review. We're helping women

40:21

hold manufacturers accountable. If eligible,

40:24

you may be entitled to

40:26

compensation of up to $200,000.

40:28

Don't wait. Tap now or

40:30

visit IUD injury.com/audio to see

40:33

if you qualify. Your health

40:35

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40:37

reach. Tap the banner or

40:39

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