Ep 240: Numbers Stations
Description:
Since antiquity, espionage and deceit have always been crucial weapons of warfare. As technology and strategy have advanced over the centuries, methods for governments to deliver information and orders to their secret agents in the field have become more sophisticated. Yet, one form of cryptic communication implemented in the early 20th century has proven ever effective and relatively simple. With the advent of wireless telegraphy combined with a cipher technique called a "One-time Pad," intelligence agencies have been sending coded messages to their undercover operatives abroad since World War I. It wasn't until shortwave and HAM radio enthusiasts started noticing eerie and enigmatic broadcasts of spoken series of numbers or strange electronic sounds that these coded communiqués aroused widespread curiosity during the height of the Cold War. Although the use of public airwaves for clandestine messaging seems to have declined in recent years, listeners can still hear these top-secret instructions delivered to unknown spies, perhaps even your neighbor. One can only wonder how these spooky transmissions saved or cost lives or what world-changing actions they triggered. Join us as we delve into the mysterious world of spycraft and Numbers Stations.
Location:
The UK Royal Air Force Base Akrotiri on the island country of Cyprus, where the MI6 “Lincolnshire Poacher” Numbers Station is believed to have broadcast from in the 1960s & 70s, after first originating at Bletchley Park.
Reference Links:
PDF: “The Conet Project – Recordings of Shortwave Numbers Stations” booklet
“SECRET SIGNALS - THE EURONUMBERS MYSTERY” by Simon Mason, from his archived website
Numbers Stations Research and Information Center, numbers-stations.com
“The First Numbers Stations and Listener” on numbers-stations.com
“The Lincolnshire Poacher” audio broadcast, from The Conet Archive YouTube channel
Entry for “The Cherry Picker” aka the “Cherry Ripe” Numbers Station on RadioHobbyist.org
“1_02: Counting CIA” Numbers Station from The Conet Archive YouTube channel
Cold War era spy for Communist Czechoslovakia, Václav Jelínek
“VARA HF MODEM, Start to Finish file transfer at 7K bps” from the Graham Brown YouTube channel
“North Korea sends chilling coded radio messages to South Korea amid fears of WW3” from the Express
“North Korea numbers station V15” on the Signal Phantom YouTube channel
“UVB-76/The Buzzer (4625Khz) LIVE” from the SWL Channel on YouTube
Former East German STASI espionage story from the Warner Blog, Chapter 6
The WWV shortwave “time signal” radio station out of Ft. Collins, CO
“How do submarines communicate with the outside world?” from the Naval Post
“BBC World Service Revives Shortwave to Russia, Ukraine” from RadioWorld.com
“INSIDE THE REAGAN LIBRARY - SPY: THE SECRET WORLD OF ESPIONAGE
Related Books:
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CREDITS:
Episode 240: Numbers Stations. Produced by Scott Philbrook & Forrest Burgess; Audio Editing by Sarah Vorhees Wendel of VW Sound. Sound Design by Ryan McCullough; Tess Pfeifle, Producer, and Lead Researcher; Research Support from the astonishing League of Astonishing Researchers, a.k.a. The Astonishing Research Corps, or "A.R.C." for short. Copyright 2022 Astonishing Legends Productions, LLC. All Rights Reserved.