I think it’s been a while since I blogged about numbers stations. To be honest it’s probably best not to.
But, via Murky, I’ve found another page of recordings of numbers stations. My eyes still water at the spookiness of it all. Considering how important they presumably are, I find it amusing that so many of them seem so amateurish (although I guess it’s mostly the interesting ones that end up on the internet).
What I still find interesting about numbers stations is that (according to the Wikipedia article at least) their use has increased since the early 1990s. And if they want to keep it all inconspicuous (as you would presume they do), why do they have weird things like ice cream van melodies, and why are the voices always strange?
Update: Nick has more.
Follow the links that Collie posted in the comments; there is some very interesting stuff around. This is particularly strange.
What You Can Get Away With
12 August 2005 15:09
#1
an interesting little post
qwghlm.co.uk: blog
13 August 2005 21:44
#2
Fun With HTTP Headers Fewer cases of “All Your Base” than I though there would be… Glasgow is the stabbing/heart attack/designer shopping capital of Europe Using Google wildcards to fill in the blanks… Numbers stations Wow – I’d never heard of these. They sound quite scary – are they just some sort of Chris Morris-esque prank? Or an attempt to distract the tinfoil-hat brigade with what’s really going on? New Boards of Canada album reviewed
Collie
13 August 2005 13:05
#3
I was reading and listening to interviews about number stations a few weeks back. Always a freaky thing, although to be honest I don’t really care that much about them now. They’re obviously useful to someone, and it’s probably best the rest of us plebs don’t know what exactly they’re all about. Let them plot our demise with voice synthesizers and silly tunes!
http://www.simonmason.karoo.net/page485.htm Is a pretty good radio broadcast about them I think, although this page: http://www.simonmason.karoo.net/page30.html (which you probably know already) blows your mind with its information and resources.
doctorvee
13 August 2005 13:37
#4
Hadn’t seen those before, thanks for the link Collie!
highrise
13 August 2005 16:24
#5
Holy crap – I must have missed your original posting; this is absolutely fascinating – I’d never heard of numbers stations before.
thehighrise
13 August 2005 16:29
#6
Numbers game
If you only read one other weblog post today, make sure that it’s doctorvee’s entry about Numbers Stations – shortwave…
doctorvee
13 August 2005 17:51
#7
Hmm, just found the old post. It’s not as substantial as I thought it was, but here it is anyway…
doctorvee » Shouting ‘fire’ on a crowded train
3 September 2006 03:08
#8
[...] I’ve just found out about something that’s almost as scary as numbers stations. Inspector Sands. I’ve seen more than one person on the internet calling themselves this, and I always thought it was the same person. I’m not so sure now! [...]
doctorvee » We interrupt this programme
5 January 2008 03:50
#9
[...] couple of times in the past I have blogged about numbers stations, a slightly creepy phenomenon where coded messages are broadcast over shortwave radio [...]