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Again, solvers were faced with another formidably eclectic range of subjects – from ancient Hebrew code tables to Anglo-Saxon runes to Victorian occultist Aleister Crowley. Within a few weeks the puzzles stopped, with only a select few allowed through to a hallowed “inner sanctum” of Cicada.

And, of course, no-one was left any the wiser as to the source or ultimate purpose of the puzzles. Were they part of an elaborate PR campaign for a new Alternate Reality Game? A recruitment drive by the CIA, NSA or MI6? Or just a bit of fun?

The first week of January saw dozens of messages appearing on message-boards purporting to be from Cicada – some of which were elaborate enough to be believable. And yet all of which have been proved fake.

Until, that is, just before 11 p.m. on Jan. 5. A Twitter account previously used by the Cicada organization released a message, bearing the faint image of a cicada, to its 700 followers.

“Hello,” it read. “Epiphany is upon you. Your pilgrimage has begun. Enlightenment awaits. Good luck. 3301.”

Enthusiasts have since confirmed the message has the necessary PGP signature – a common encryption method used for privacy – to prove it is legitimately from Cicada 3301.

And so the hunt is underway once more. Already, a debate has begun online into the relevance of “Epiphany”, as January 6 is the Christian feast day known as Epiphany, when the divine nature of Jesus was made revealed.

But by examining the image for steganography – a technique used to hide data inside images, sometimes used by pedophiles or terrorist organizations – solvers have already revealed a quote: “The work of a private man/ who wished to transcend,/ He trusted himself, / to produce from within.”