Spy Radio: Numbers Stations
A look at mysterious shortwave "numbers stations" around the world.
Filed under Conspiracies, Urban Legends
| Skeptoid #107 July 01, 2008 Podcast transcript | Listen | Subscribe |
|
Today we're going to point our skeptical eye at something that's been intriguing amateur radio enthusiasts since the cold war: so-called numbers stations, mysterious shortwave radio broadcasts sending coded messages to the world at regular intervals. Some say they are government intelligence agencies sending instructions to deep-cover operatives in foreign countries. Some say they are integral parts of nuclear arsenals. Some even say that if you're caught listening to the wrong one at the wrong time, you might mysteriously disappear one night.
Shortwave radio occupies the frequency range between 3 and 30 MHz, and most numbers stations can be found in the range between 2 and 25 MHz. The benefit of shortwave is that your transmission can potentially cover the entire world, given the right conditions. It's one way, but if all you need to do is send someone else a message that you want to be sure they're able to receive, shortwave is a great way to do it. Some histories state that numbers stations have been around in one form or another since World War I, but it was toward the end of the cold war in the 1980's when they really started gaining popularity. Many early numbers stations used Morse code or an actual person's speaking voice, but today most numbers stations use automated voices like you hear when you call information on the telephone. Today many of the numbers stations are switching to single side band. The typical numbers station begins its broadcast with some recognizable tone or statement, and then proceeds to read off 5-character code groups. It is widely suspected that these are encrypted messages that can be decoded by a listener using a one-time pad. A one-time pad is a character replacement key that's used only once. Since it's never reused, one-time pads are extremely difficult (in fact, virtually impossible) to crack. You can Google for "numbers stations" and you'll find plenty of web sites that list them by frequency and by schedule, so if you get ahold of a shortwave receiver you can actually sit down and listen to them. They are real, and they are broadcasting, right now.
Now, whenever I hear claims about spy networks or secret coded radio broadcasts, my skeptical radar goes into Red Alert mode, like Moneypenny's pulse when 007 enters the room. If you tell me there's a mysterious coded radio broadcast on shortwave at the same time every day, my first reaction is not likely to be to grab my tinfoil hat and shout "The government's spying on me!" When I first heard about numbers stations, I asked a few friends, and I got some pretty reasonable answers. For one thing, all over the world are floating oceanographic buoys, and all throughout every day they transmit their tide, temperature, and weather data via radio. I did a bit of searching online and found a lot of information about a number of different networks of these buoys, but none broadcast in the shortwave band, rather they are quite a bit higher, above 900 MHz. They also use radio modems for data transmission, there would be no need for them to include spoken text. But even with these differences, it seems likely that at least some of the "mysterious radio stations" that amateurs have found are probably nothing more interesting than oceanographic buoys, or other remote automated stations transmitting who knows what kind of mundane information.
But most of the numbers stations you can read about online are clearly nothing of the kind. One of the most well-known numbers stations is called the Lincolnshire Poacher, named after the song that the broadcast always starts with. Enthusiasts using direction finders have tracked it down to an array of curtain antennas inside the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force Base at Akrotiri on the island of Cyprus. Note that Cyprus is right off the coast of Syria and the Middle East. After the introductory music, the Lincolnshire poacher repeats some coded 5-digit series, which nobody has ever managed to decode, presumably excluding the intended recipients: [play sample]
The prevailing theory, that many of these numbers stations are in fact used by intelligence agencies to transmit information to spies located in foreign countries, has been proven true in at least a few cases. In 2001, nine days after 9/11, the US Defense Intelligence Agency arrested one of its own, senior Cuba analyst Ana Montes. Among a wealth of other evidence against her, she had been using a commercially available shortwave radio receiver to receive coded messages from a numbers station known to be originating in Cuba. This was only strike two of a series of interceptions of intelligence broadcasts from Cuba. One of the best known numbers stations, called ¡Atención!, came into the limelight at the 1998 conviction of the so-called Wasp Network of spies from Cuba. The FBI had entered their apartment and copied a cryptography program off of their laptop computer. It was found that every day, they would listen to the ¡Atención! station, enter the numbers into their laptop, and use the program to decode each day's instructions using a one-time pad. Here's a sample of ¡Atención!: [play sample]
Some numbers stations have purposes that are more obscure, even though they may still have a government connection. One of them is called Yosemite Sam. Yosemite Sam began broadcasting in 2004 and has been tracked down and found to be located near Albuquerque, NM, which is near a whole host of military facilities including the Los Alamos National Laboratory and White Sands Missile Range. Sam transmits an 800 millisecond data burst followed by a line from a 1949 Bugs Bunny cartoon, on a number of different frequencies. Every 40 seconds, the broadcast moves to the next frequency and repeats. Here's a sample transmission: [play sample]
Of course the Russians are in on the game too, demonstrated by this station known simply as "the Buzzer" which broadcasts around the clock from a Moscow suburb: [play sample]
Why transmit a meaningless buzz all the time? There are a few theories. One is simply that in order to keep a frequency, you have to actually use it, or it will be reallocated to someone else. The Russians may want to keep this frequency open and available should they need it in a time of national emergency. The same might apply to Yosemite Sam or to any of a number of other numbers stations. In fact, this explanation need not even be military. Private companies may also have similar needs. Amateur radio enthusiasts might also have some reason to do this. Russia has about 150 radioisotope thermoelectric powered lighthouses along their arctic coast and it's been postulated that the Buzzer might somehow be used in monitoring them.
There are other perfectly rational explanations for at least some numbers stations that don't involve Tom Clancy scenarios. It's been suggested more than once that some of the numbers stations, particularly those coming from Central and South America, could be drug traffickers giving delivery instructions.
What about the stories that you can be arrested if you're caught listening to numbers stations? Assuming you're not a spy who actually is decoding these messages in a treasonous kind of way, you're not doing anything wrong, you're just receiving electromagnetic radiation that someone is transmitting into your home. Lucille Ball's dental fillings did that. In some countries, notably the UK, this is actually illegal. But, it has nothing to do with numbers stations. In the UK it's simply illegal to receive any radio transmission that you're not licensed for. Obviously it's the type of crime that ordinary listeners not involved in some misuse of the airwaves are unlikely to actually get arrested for.
The thing I like about numbers stations is that it's one case where the spooky explanation, the one that would appeal most to the conspiracy theorists, actually turns out to be the right one in at least some instances. We do know that some numbers stations do exist for the purpose of international espionage, and that's pretty cool. Do all numbers stations exist for that purpose? Certainly not. There are a number of plausible non-espionage scenarios that, if true, would result in broadcasts consistent with some of the numbers stations out there. They're a fun mystery, made even more fun by the high stakes of the spy game.
You should follow me on twitter here.
© 2008 Skeptoid Media, Inc. Copyright information
References & Further Reading
Curtis, A. "How to eavesdrop on cloak-and-dagger radio." Popular Mechanics. 1 Aug. 1976, Volume 146, Number 2: 73.
Nieves, G. "Lawyer: Accused spy to plead guilty." The Miami Herald. 14 Sep. 2001, World Briefs.
Pierce, L. Intercepting Numbers Stations. Dorset: Interproducts, 1994.
Poundstone, W. The Big Book of Big Secrets: The Uncensored Truth About All Sorts of Stuff You Are Never Supposed to Know. New York: Barnes & Noble, 2001.
Segal, David. "The Shortwave And the Calling: For Akin Fernandez, Cryptic Messages Became Music To His Ears." The Washington Post. The Washington Post, 3 Aug. 2004. Web. 30 Jun. 2008. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35647-2004Aug2.html>
Reference this article:
Dunning, Brian.
"Spy Radio: Numbers Stations." Skeptoid Podcast. Skeptoid Media, Inc.,
1 Jul 2008. Web.
10 Sep 2010. <http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4107>
Discuss!
Remember, you should always read with skepticism the comments of anyone too lame to put their real name & city.
My Dad introduced me to these when I was a kid. Nice summary.
4 8 15 16 23 42
jnc, Charlotte, NC
July 01, 2008 12:03pm
"In the UK it's simply illegal to receive any radio transmission that you're not licensed for" is nearly right, but not perfect. See http://www.ofcom.org.uk/radiocomms/ifi/enforcement/guidance
Martin, Derbyshire, England
July 01, 2008 1:16pm
It doesn't seem very likely that Lucy actually picked up radio through her teeth:
http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/tv/fillings.asp
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_057.html
Also judged "busted" on Mythbusters season 1, episode 4.
Bryan, St. Petersburg, FL
July 01, 2008 1:21pm
Gotta say, it never occurred to me that listeners would think I actually believe Lucille Ball's teeth were radio receivers. IT'S A JOKE!!!!
Brian Dunning, Laguna Niguel, CA
July 01, 2008 1:23pm
I've always thought spoken text over shortwave was highly inefficient in today's world of sattelites and cellphones. It's also quite useless, as transmitters aren't exactly subtle equipment, and you can be pretty sure that every single government is monitoring the signal and where it's coming from.
Still, I guess it's usefull for largescale communication, such as Go-codes and such, but I think it's highly unsubtle to send it in plain speech over the air, when you could be sending it in a single directed burst message with 1024-bit encryption, or simply dropping it in a darknet online somewhere, or any number of other methods. How many people still have a shortrange reciever in their homes?
Alcari, the Netherlands
July 01, 2008 1:28pm
Engrossing episode, Brian. Always fun to learn about something mysterious that I had no idea existed.
For the record, I got that your Lucy comment was a joke and I'm sure there were plenty of others who did as well. So keep making with the funny. I guess with your voice being so 'newscaster matter of fact-y' its hard to get used to the idea that someone who sounds like that can display a sense of humor. To me that only makes the joke more funny.
Regardless, good links, Bryan, for those out there who don't have the background info to get the joke.
LittlePharma, Sydney, Australia
July 01, 2008 6:37pm
As an amateur radio operator I know for a fact you can receive CW on fillings. My dad (WA0CKX) was able to read my CW transmission on one of his fillings, the one touching his bridge. Likely this was crucial. CW transmits a pure carrier wave so carries no sound to hear, that's generated by a beat frequency generated in the receiver. So my dad didn't "hear" the CW but did sense it as a tingle. When near a commercial AM radio tower that filling sometimes (not always) would vibrate to the AM modulation sufficient that when he opened his mouth you could hear highly distorted audio from it. He had the filling replaced. -- problem solved. I worked in a building next to a 1 kw AM (1400KHz) tower. The coffee maker had to be replaced because it started to vibrate quite loudly with the audio from the station and was quite distracting.
Now this says nothing about the Lucy case other than it is possible. Especially the AM radio station part. Since you can't "hear" CW code, only feel and taste it, her description of that aspect seems like it might be an embellishment of the AM story.
The comment in the Skeptoid article that says amateurs may have a valid purpose in keeping a frequency open is wrong. That is against the rules. Also we must identify at the beginning and end of each series of transmissions AND no less often than every 30 minutes. Anything else is illegal. Amateurs will quickly locate such a flagrant violator of the rules.
Rick Johnson WA0CKY, Nevis, MN
July 01, 2008 8:23pm
WAOCKY? Hmmm.....methinks the 'o' superfluous.
Marius vanderLubbe, Nullabour Plain, Australia.
July 01, 2008 9:27pm
I know something about "numbers stations" from the U.S. and actually world wide. Most of these stations are nothing more than the transmission of grid coordinates by radar surveillance stations tracking aircraft. There have, of course, been coded messages passed in this manner, but the vast majority are pretty mundane.
Chris, San Antonio
July 02, 2008 9:22am
A quick "Google" for "numbers stations" is an information avalanche. Looks like a crypto-geek dream. Thanks for introducing me to such an interesting subject.
AlanB, Long Island, NY
July 02, 2008 11:55am
Great stuff. there is a 4 disk set of numbers staions recordings called the Conet Project. You can find the recordings at www.archive.org search "conet project". They are available for streaming and also for downloading.
Meister, Apache Junction, AZ
July 03, 2008 3:07pm
I used some of the Conet Project audio, mixed as background behind an old LP of the legendary psychic Criswell. Search eMule for "jfitz 1202 mix", give it a listen, it's quite a trip.
John K. Fitzpatrick, Grand Rapids, MI
July 04, 2008 4:42pm
Interesting topic, glad you covered it. You actually revived a childhood memory I had locked away. When I was 8 or so my uncles friend was a radio guy, and we were at his house once and he was tuning into some really weird stuff. I bet this was it. :)
I was a kid, so I can't remember anything but the experience. But I can imagine he was into the conspiracy aspect of it. :)
David W., Chicago
July 04, 2008 6:01pm
Marius,
It's not superfluous at all. It is a zero and it denotes the 10th call sign district that I lived in when the FCC assigned me that call. I had no say in it. The FCC had an odd sense of humor back in 1962 it would seem. At some point in time each of the other 9 districts had a "wacky" as well. Some may still be assigned calls, I haven't checked.
BTW, number stations were very common on radio teletype as well as phone. This is a much more reliable mode of transmission than A.M. phone. Many of these stations seemed to transmit nearly continuously. I haven't operated that mode since the early 80's so don't know if they are still using it. Even more reliable digital modes are available now so I'd expect they have moved to those modes by now. The teletype ones mostly used 60 wpm 5 bit Baudot code rather than 8 bit ascii. Though that was found as well. 5 bit code would have a greater signal to noise ratio at any given speed of transmission so I was surprised to find 8 bit code even used. It certainly isn't needed for sending numbers. Phone is far worse for getting through reliably and far slower. I'd think the CW stations just as fast and even faster if the person receiving the numbers has any skill at all as well as far more reliable. Seems they use all available modes of modulation and encoding of the numbers.
Rick Johnson WA0CKY, Nevis, MN
July 07, 2008 9:52pm
Glad to see you covered this topic. I recently became enamored with Shortwave Radio and it's culture, and was pretty interested in the Numbers stations. I've yet to actually hear a Numbers broadcast, but unfortunately I've always unquestioningly swallowed the whole espionage angle. Thanks for reminding me to always question my own assumptions and other's anecdotes...
Another thing to consider: the Numbers stations have been around for a while, right? Has anyone ever really considered that maybe some of the stations out there might be imitators? I could easily see somebody with a broadcasting antenna and some free time coming up with their own Numbers station in order to screw with their friends :)
Shnakepup, Euless, TX, U.S.A.
July 12, 2008 2:31pm
Cool article Brian!
Being into amateur radio myself, I can tell you that (in the US at least), it is highly ILLEGAL to broadcast encrypted voice/data on the amateur frequencies. I think that there is an international ban as well, but I am not sure. If these stations ARE transmitting encrypted voice/data, then they could get in big trouble if someone reported them to the FCC. Anyhow, that's my 2 cents.
Andy, Los Angeles, CA
August 12, 2008 11:25am
I'm surprised no one's poked you over Lucille Ball & the dental work comment. I've heard the story and seen one of Lucy's interviews where she tells the story, but it's also a story that make some concrete claims (spies being arrested because of it) for which I've not seen any evidence. And the whole phenomenon of picking up radio signals on dental work is one that I've never seen rise above anecdotal reports, and never any verifiable evidence.
Did you throw that piece of bait out there just to see if anyone rose to it?
M, Ithaca, NY
August 15, 2008 6:44am
For those interested the Conet Project is a compliation of different number station recordings.
The Conet Project is now free (legal) to download wherever you can find it.
ian, los angeles
November 12, 2008 2:01pm
This was a fascinating episode, if for no other reason than I'd never heard about these number stations before. (It occurred to me that these were probably the basis of the radio transmission in the first season of LOST, which is one of my favorite shows!)
Thanks for the introduction to this unusual topic, Brian. It's nice to hear a skeptical response to something that is weird, but not wacky.
SeanJJordan, St. Louis
December 02, 2008 11:40am
In high school, I picked up a numbers station on an almost daily basis. It was just below the AM radio band (about 500 KHz), but this could have been overload on my clock radio as I lived only a few miles from Wireless Road in Centereach, Long Island, NY. They were in morse code and at or just above 20 words per minute. I used them as practice for my ham radio test. This was in the early to mid 1970s. My friends and I were convinced that we were listening to spy transmissions, but our parents didn't believe us.
Tony, NJ
January 01, 2009 8:40pm
This broadcast renewed my interest in shortwave radio. I want to get at least a receiver so that I can hear these number stations for myself.
Having a battery-powered HAM receiver seems to be one of the first steps in crossing the line between skepticism and paranoia, though. Next comes the large food supply, bicycle-powered air filtration system, and a bomb shelter.
Mark, San Diego, CA
March 17, 2009 1:18pm
New evidence is now available on the Kendall Myers case, another Cuban spy. The link is a zip with the court indictments and two FBI affidavits:
http://cryptome.org/myers/myers-spy-docs.zip
Here the FBI arrest warrent for Ana B Montes, which also describes in detail her receiving and deciphering of numbers stations
http://cryptome.org/montes/montes092101.pdf
More about such stuff on this blog:
http://rijmenants.blogspot.com
Dirk, Belium
June 12, 2009 11:33am
Numbers stations = Keep it simple, stupid.
So what if you know where the transmission is coming from? Big deal. If you don't know: a. who the message is being sent to (in this case, it could be just about anyone in the world with an inexpensive SW receiver, which, BTW, can also have innocuous AM/FM reception capability); and b. what the message means, you have a one legged stool that tips over. You need all three legs to get somewhere. How many people walk around these days plugged into ear buds? Anyone of them could have a small SW receiver in their pocket and not an iPod. How cool is that?
Matt, Salem, Oregon
December 16, 2009 2:11pm
Hi,
There's a paper on Cuban numbers stations and Cuban spies, cought in the U.S.
http://users.telenet.be/d.rijmenants/en/papers.htm
By the way, forget buoys or lighthouses. SHortwave numbers stations are used for one thing and one thing only: sending encrypted messages. It's simple the reason of existence of these stations.
More info and parers here;
http://users.telenet.be/d.rijmenants
Have fun reading the paper!
Dirk
Dirk Rijmenants, Belgium
February 10, 2010 9:46am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxHNA8rO9K0
strange video...
marian, mars
April 01, 2010 1:11pm
I thought that the Lucille Ball story was fake. I remember the Mythbusters trying that, and it failed. I don't know if you've covered this in one of your correction or listener feedback episodes, so this may have already been covered.
It always seemed a bit farfetched to me, but it's not as weird as some other things that have been shown to be true.
Brandon, Mount Dora
August 25, 2010 5:53pm
Make a comment about this episode of Skeptoid (please try to keep it brief & to the point). Anyone can post:
You can also discuss this episode in the Skeptoid Forum, hosted by the James Randi Educational Foundation.
Join the Skeptalk email discussion list.
What's the most important thing about Skeptoid?
![[Valid RSS]](/images/valid-rss-rogers.png "Validate my RSS feed"){kind=small}
Spies and mafia can use anything at their disposal. The coke can on the side of the road could signal a dead drop for all we know.
51 56 46 56 55 48 53 56 55 44 32 45 55 55 46 48 53 52 51 50 57
Max, Boston, MA
July 01, 2008 10:04am