{"id":5758,"date":"2013-02-24T08:33:39","date_gmt":"2013-02-24T12:33:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=5758"},"modified":"2013-02-24T08:33:39","modified_gmt":"2013-02-24T12:33:39","slug":"numbers-stations-stranger-than-fiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/02\/numbers-stations-stranger-than-fiction\/","title":{"rendered":"Numbers stations: stranger than fiction"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"towers\"More mentions of numbers stations<\/a> in the popular press, thanks to the new movie, The Numbers Station<\/a>. Hat tip to SWLing Post reader, HK:<\/p>\n

(Source: Reelz.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n

[…]If you ever find yourself wishing your life was filled with a little more mystery, a little more excitement, save up thirty dollars and go buy a shortwave radio and start scanning the airwaves. With a little luck and a lot of patience, you might come across a band carrying the monotone voice of a man reciting military call letters (“Echo \u2014 Kilo \u2014 Charlie”), the robotic voice of a woman counting in Russian, or one broadcasting a continual string of beeps, chirps or hums. If you manage to tune in to one of these stations, you could very well be listening in on a coded message intended for a spy.<\/p>\n

Once thought to be useless for communications purposes because of their high frequencies and short wavelengths, shortwave radio bands were, it was discovered in the 1920’s, ideal for sending messages over extremely long distances. Shortwave signals are broadcast into the sky, where they are reflected or refracted off of the electrically-charged ionosphere layer of the upper atmoshpere and sent back down to Earth as far as a continent away. By the start of the Cold War a few decades later, countless shortwave radio stations were found to be broadcasting strange, seemingly coded, messages using this technique. At the time, these so-called “number stations<\/a>” (or “numbers stations”) were widely believed to be in use by various government intelligence agencies to broadcast secret messages to spies over great distances, but none of the codes \u2014 if, indeed, that’s what the signals were \u2014 were ever cracked and no governments ever officially acknowledged their use.<\/p>\n

Number stations remained a mystery and were all but forgotten by the general public until the discovery in the ’70s of a station that was broadcasting a powerful signal comprised of the synthesized voice of a British woman speaking a sequence of five numbers. The station came to be known as “The Lincolnshire Poacher” because two bars from the English folk song of that name served as interval signals. The signal from the station was traced back to the Royal Air Force base at Akrotiri, on the island of Cyprus, providing number station enthusiasts with the first “proof” that government organizations like the British Secret Intelligence Service were behind some, if not most, of the number stations.[…]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read the full article at\u00a0Reelz.com<\/a>. Keep track of news on numbers stations and our recordings by following the\u00a0numbers stations<\/a>\u00a0category.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More mentions of numbers stations in the popular press, thanks to the new movie, The Numbers Station. Hat tip to SWLing Post reader, HK: (Source: Reelz.com) […]If you ever find yourself wishing your life was filled with a little more mystery, a little more excitement, save up thirty dollars and go buy a shortwave radio […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8,172,43],"tags":[4088,1727,1726],"class_list":["post-5758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","category-numbers-stations","category-shortwave-radio","tag-numbers-stations","tag-reelz-com","tag-spy-numbers-the-numbers-station-movie"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-1uS","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10770,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2014\/09\/numbers-stations-featured-in-highbrow-magazine\/","url_meta":{"origin":5758,"position":0},"title":"Numbers stations featured in Highbrow Magazine","author":"Thomas","date":"September 9, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to\u00a0SWLing Post reader, Richard Cuff, who shares this link to a numbers station piece in Highbrow Magazine; one of the more comprehensive numbers station articles I've read in a while. Here's an excerpt: \"Many nights, Spooks turn on their shortwave radios and drift through the frequencies. On any\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"towers","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/grimetonbandw-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3652,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2012\/05\/finding-numbers-stations-while-scanning-for-pirates\/","url_meta":{"origin":5758,"position":1},"title":"Finding the “English Man” numbers station while scanning for pirates","author":"Thomas","date":"May 26, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"While listening for pirate radio stations last night, I recorded a numbers station. I found it on 6,949 kHz at 1:30 UTC, 26 May 2012. It was broadcast in USB for almost exactly ten minutes. The ID was sent for a full four minutes of that time. I have a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Numbers Stations"","block_context":{"text":"Numbers Stations","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/numbers-stations\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/grimetonbandw-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5614,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/02\/finally-the-official-trailer-for-the-movie-the-numbers-station-with-john-cusack-and-malin-akerman\/","url_meta":{"origin":5758,"position":2},"title":"Finally: Official trailer for the movie The Numbers Station with John Cusack and Malin Akerman","author":"Thomas","date":"February 13, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The long-awaited trailer for the new movie, The Numbers Station: We first mentioned the The Numbers Station\u00a0in 2011, when it was still being filmed. In this film, John Cusack's character, Emerson, has been given\u00a0the task of protecting Katherine (Malin Akerman), the operator of a shortwave numbers station that broadcasts encrypted\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5882,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/03\/david-gorens-numbers-station-installation-audio\/","url_meta":{"origin":5758,"position":3},"title":"David Goren’s numbers station installation audio","author":"Thomas","date":"March 12, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Two months ago, I posted that David Goren, talented radio producer and shortwave radio artist, created a Numbers Station installation in the Secret Wars exhibition\u00a0at the Proteus Gowanus gallery in Brooklyn, NY. David has recently published the audio that accompanies his installation. Take note that this is not\u00a0a radio documentary--rather,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Art"","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/art-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"DG-Performance-Shortwave","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/DG-Performance-Shortwave-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":30374,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/01\/going-by-the-numbers\/","url_meta":{"origin":5758,"position":4},"title":"Going By the Numbers","author":"Robert Gulley","date":"January 18, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"For those who follow numbers stations or, like me, enjoy seeing articles about numbers stations, below are a few paragraphs from a recent article in Radio World by author James Careless: \u201c6-7-9-2-6. 5-6-9-9-0.\u201d Tune across the shortwave bands (above AM\/MW), and chances are you will come across a \u201cnumbers station.\u201d\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/numbers.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/numbers.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/numbers.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/numbers.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":65563,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2026\/03\/new-persian-numbers-station-surfaces-after-u-s-attacks-iran\/","url_meta":{"origin":5758,"position":5},"title":"New Persian Numbers Station Surfaces After U.S. Attacks Iran","author":"Thomas","date":"March 12, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Paul Jamet who shares this article from Radio Free Europe\/Radio Liberty about a Persian-language numbers station that has recently appeared on shortwave: https:\/\/www.rferl.org\/a\/mystery-numbers-station-persian-signal-iran-war\/33700659.html Long-time shortwave listeners know that numbers stations often seem to surface during periods of geopolitical tension. With the recent U.S. attack\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/SWLingPost-Numbers1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/SWLingPost-Numbers1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/SWLingPost-Numbers1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5758"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5758\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}