UVB-76 Russian Military Radio Station Mystery: Why Is It Sending Strange Messages?

In the field of radio broadcasting, sound is transmitted to the public audience in the form of radio waves. There is a shortwave radio station called number station, which broadcasts formatted numbers. These stations have been around since World War I and became more productive during the Cold War. They are thought to be coded instructions sent by the government to secret agents in the field.

What is the Use of the UVB-76 Number Station?

A particularly alarming number of stations is the "UVB-76," broadcasting since 1982. It ran 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for almost three and a half decades. It can be found by tuning a radio to the frequency of 4625 kHz.

Also known as "The Buzzer," the mysterious number station constantly broadcasts a dull, monotonous tone that is interrupted every few seconds by a second sound that resembles a ghostly ship that sounds its foghorn. Every one or two weeks, a man or woman reads out some Russian words.

Strangely, no one has claimed to run this radio station. The frequency was thought to belong to the Russian military, but they never admitted to owning it. Tracking the signals reveals that it is transmitted from the St. Petersburg site and another location near Moscow, Russia. Strangely, the radio station was found to have increased activity after the Soviet Union collapsed.

There are lots of theories surrounding the purpose and the owner of the UVB-76 station. Some people speculate that it was meant to keep in touch with submarines. Others assume that it acts as a "Dead Hand" signal which means that the monotone serves as an alarm that everything is going well, and stopping it due to a nuclear attack will trigger an automatic nuclear response. However, signals intelligence expert David Stupples from City University, London, explains that no information is contained in the signal.

For several years, the station has changed its call sign many times. When first spotted in the 1970s, its first actual call sign was UZB-76. It was changed to MDZhB in 2010 and to ZhUOZ in 2016. Today, its current call sign is NZhTl.

What is a Number Station?

A number station is a shortwave radio station that transmits encrypted messages sent in numbers. The numbers are sent on predetermined frequencies using various media such as automated voice, Morse, or digital codes. Each number station is given a nickname depending on the type of information included in the broadcast.

Many people are intrigued by the mystery of number stations as they seem to transmit secret messages to an expecting receiver. Before the radio was invented, private messages were delivered in coded letters or with light signals. With the advancement of science in the 19^th century, electric lines allowed the transmission of messages via telegraph and telephone. When the radio was invented, it was further utilized for military missions.

Broadcasting coded numbers started during the end of World War I when messages were sent in the form of Morse Code using low and medium wave frequencies. Since these signals can be heard worldwide, they must be encrypted using a one-time pad. A mathematically unbreakable encryption system allows the letters to be converted into numbers using simple mathematical operations.

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