The Mystery of Numbers Stations

Have you heard of Numbers Stations or ghost frequencies? 

Here are the main distinguishable aspects of a ghost frequency.

The source of these broadcasts is unknown. Their purpose is unknown.

They are all shortwave radio, the source of which can be hard to track.

Many people speculate they are old war time frequencies that have been running for years, however those who have studied these broadcasts and who record the sounds say (UVB76  in particular) never appears to loop and that it is a deliberate transmission..

When you listen to them, they are eerie….

The most famous one is called UVB76 nicknamed The Buzzer because it will play a monotone sound all day long, then occasionally play what sounds like morse code, a series of beeps. Then out of nowhere an old Russian military tune followed by a list of random words, (possibly code) will appear. It’s been playing for over 3 decades.

A recent theory is that the buzzer is actually an official coded military broadcast for military units within Russia and is used to convey tasks and instructions.

This theory is supported by the fact that listeners have narrowed the broadcast location down to somewhere in Russia. Russia being the huge size that it is means the mystery remains but there are a few interesting theories around the shortwave community and YouTube, here are a couple of those theories

They are broadcasts created pre wartime transmitted to Aliens or other beings in the galaxy!

They were used in covert espionage! 

If you want to get your message out to a large number of people you would broadcast on AM with a message people can understand. Remembering that these broadcasts originated prior to telephones, If you didn’t want everyone to hear your message, (perhaps it was only for one person), you might use a numbers station to transmit to one country at a pre-organised time, using a predetermined code.

There are some even crazier theories online, like people during wartime being hypnotised and these broadcasts contained random trigger words to trigger people into action.

Either way, it is an intriguing mystery! Why were they started and why do they continue to broadcast and are they still being used to this day?

Want to find UVB76? For many, there is a constant beeping, buzzing, or morse code sound and randomly it will stop for words, music, or speaking then resume its beeping again so you need to be lucky to catch it between long periods of beeping! 

Why don’t you try and locate some numbers stations yourself and let us know what you found.

Alternatively, jump on YouTube and you may find some people streaming their experiences whilst tuning in to these stations.