NSA Fooled by 1930s Nazi Cypher - Rick Astley Never Gonna Give Them Up

The NSA, known for their expertise in cracking codes and deciphering messages, were left scratching their heads in disbelief when they were fooled by a 1930s-era Nazi diplomatic cypher that turned out to be a Rick Astley rickroll.

In a press conference that took place earlier today, the agency admitted that the seemingly complex code, which had stumped their best and brightest for months, was nothing but a cleverly disguised reference to the 1987 pop hit "Never Gonna Give You Up" by British crooner Rick Astley.

Sources close to the NSA revealed that the message, purportedly sent by Hitler himself, contained the following exhortation to his troops: "We're no strangers to love. You know the rules and so do I. A full commitment's what I'm thinking of. You wouldn't get this from any other guy."

The reference to the lyrics of the song, which has been a popular internet meme for years, was apparently too subtle for the NSA codebreakers, who were reportedly left red-faced when they realized they had been rickrolled by a bunch of Nazi war criminals.

In a statement issued after the press conference, the agency declined to comment on the incident, noting only that they would be reviewing their protocols for analyzing encrypted messages.

Many experts in the field of cryptography were quick to point out that while the incident was certainly embarrassing for the NSA, it was hardly the first time that a message had been mistakenly decoded.

"Deciphering coded messages is a difficult and highly specialized skill," noted Dr. Edward Snowden, a former employee of the NSA turned whistleblower. "Even the most experienced codebreakers can make mistakes, especially when dealing with ciphertext that is decades or even centuries old."

Others were less forgiving, however, noting that the NSA's reputation as the premier codebreaking agency in the world had been severely tarnished by the incident.

"This just goes to show that even the best and the brightest can be fooled," noted Dr. Susan Miller, an expert in cryptanalysis at Stanford University. "It's a humbling reminder that cryptography is an art, not a science, and that sometimes the best way to solve a puzzle is simply to take a step back and look at it from a different perspective."

In the end, most agreed that the incident would go down in history as a cautionary tale for anyone who thinks they can outsmart the experts at the NSA.

As for Rick Astley, the singer could not be reached for comment, but sources close to him noted that he was "delighted" to have unwittingly played a part in one of the biggest scandals to rock the intelligence world in decades.