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For some time now, I have been very intrigued by mysterious shortwave radio broadcasts known as "Numbers Stations".
According to Wikipedia: "Numbers stations generally broadcast artificially generated voices reading streams of numbers, words, letters (sometimes using a spelling alphabet), tunes or Morse code. They are in a wide variety of languages and the voices are usually female, although sometimes men's or children's voices are used."
One very famous station plays the tune "The Lincolnshire Poacher" before beginning the code series.
The general belief is that the numbers stations are broadcasts from spies, using numeric code to send information. The codes are believed to be what are called "one time pads" or single-use codes, making them very difficult to crack. It is believed that these broadcasts come from a variety of organizations, including the CIA, KGB, Mossad, and MI-6.
Has anyone else looked into these broadcasts? At the very least, the recordings of them are interesting and somewhat eerie to listen to. Furthermore, there are still such broadcasts in operation and if you have a shortwave radio you can find them.
Links:
I looked through the forum and did not find a thread on this. If I missed it, let me know.
According to Wikipedia: "Numbers stations generally broadcast artificially generated voices reading streams of numbers, words, letters (sometimes using a spelling alphabet), tunes or Morse code. They are in a wide variety of languages and the voices are usually female, although sometimes men's or children's voices are used."
One very famous station plays the tune "The Lincolnshire Poacher" before beginning the code series.
The general belief is that the numbers stations are broadcasts from spies, using numeric code to send information. The codes are believed to be what are called "one time pads" or single-use codes, making them very difficult to crack. It is believed that these broadcasts come from a variety of organizations, including the CIA, KGB, Mossad, and MI-6.
Has anyone else looked into these broadcasts? At the very least, the recordings of them are interesting and somewhat eerie to listen to. Furthermore, there are still such broadcasts in operation and if you have a shortwave radio you can find them.
Links:
I looked through the forum and did not find a thread on this. If I missed it, let me know.