{"id":66352,"date":"2026-06-10T18:17:33","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T22:17:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=66352"},"modified":"2026-06-10T06:26:36","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T10:26:36","slug":"the-gps-numbers-station-hidden-encrypted-messages-in-plain-sight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2026\/06\/the-gps-numbers-station-hidden-encrypted-messages-in-plain-sight\/","title":{"rendered":"The GPS Numbers Station: Hidden Encrypted Messages in Plain Sight"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Image: NASA<\/p><\/div>\n

Many thanks to SWLing Post<\/em> contributor Scott Gamble, who writes:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hi Thomas –<\/p>\n

An interesting article was published in the most recent issue of Inside GNSS magazine that suggests that the US Military has been using an obscure field in GPS broadcasts to deliver encoded messages, potentially for use by intelligence agencies.<\/p>\n

The article \u201cThe Empty Field That Wasn\u2019t: GPS, OTAD, and Two Decades of Encrypted Messages,\u201d by Steven J. Murdoch of University College London, is available via the link below:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/lsc-pagepro.mydigitalpublication.com\/publication\/?i=865273&p=62&view=issueViewer<\/a><\/p>\n

Scott<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor Scott Gamble, who writes: Hi Thomas – An interesting article was published in the most recent issue of Inside GNSS magazine that suggests that the US Military has been using an obscure field in GPS broadcasts to deliver encoded messages, potentially for use by intelligence agencies. The article \u201cThe […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_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},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3,172],"tags":[4193,721,5309],"class_list":["post-66352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-numbers-stations","tag-gps","tag-numbers-station","tag-scott-gamble-w5bsg"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-hgc","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":25219,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/04\/north-korea-activates-numbers-station-prior-to-potential-nuclear-test\/","url_meta":{"origin":66352,"position":0},"title":"North Korea activates numbers station?","author":"Thomas","date":"April 14, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to a number of SWLing Post contributors who've shared this particular item from The National Interest: North Korea Broadcasts Really Strange Messages As New Nuclear Weapons Test Looms Pyongyang is reportedly broadcasting encrypted messages reminiscent of those used to contact spies during the Cold War. [...]As North Korea\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-Spy-Numbers-Station.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/SWLingPost-Spy-Numbers-Station.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/SWLingPost-Spy-Numbers-Station.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10481,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2014\/08\/gotenna-turn-your-smartphone-into-a-text-transceiver\/","url_meta":{"origin":66352,"position":1},"title":"goTenna: Turn your smartphone into a text transceiver","author":"Thomas","date":"August 9, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Richard Cuff who has apprised me of the goTenna: a small device that allows you to use your smartphone to send and receive messages and share your GPS location with others without the need of mobile phone service. goTenna\u00a0describes their device: \"goTenna is a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"goTenna","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/goTenna.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/goTenna.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/goTenna.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"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":66352,"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":58692,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2024\/01\/pyongyang-radio-appears-to-have-halted-broadcasting\/","url_meta":{"origin":66352,"position":3},"title":"Pyongyang Radio appears to have halted broadcasting","author":"Thomas","date":"January 15, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dennis Dura, who shares the following article from The Korea Herald: N. Korea halts radio station known for sending coded messages to spies in Seoul (The Korea Herald) North Korea is pressing ahead with measures to disband its inter-Korean organizations, apparently stopping a radio\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "International Broadcasting"","block_context":{"text":"International Broadcasting","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/international-broadcasting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/SWLingPost-Spy-Numbers-Station.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/SWLingPost-Spy-Numbers-Station.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/SWLingPost-Spy-Numbers-Station.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9317,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2014\/04\/numbers-stations-in-the-news\/","url_meta":{"origin":66352,"position":4},"title":"Numbers Stations in the news","author":"Thomas","date":"April 16, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"There have been a lot of numbers in the news lately. Earlier this week,\u00a0David Goren's numbers station radio documentary\u00a0was featured on the\u00a0ABC Radio National\u00a0show, Sounds Like Radio. Click here to listen. This morning, I also noticed this excellent\u00a0BBC News Magazine\u00a0piece on numbers stations, which includes an interview with\u00a0Akin Fernandez, the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"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":6294,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2013\/04\/no-spoiler-review-the-numbers-station-with-john-cusack-and-malin-ackerman-no-spoilers\/","url_meta":{"origin":66352,"position":5},"title":"No-Spoiler Review: “The Numbers Station” with John Cusack and Malin Akerman (no spoilers)","author":"Thomas","date":"April 25, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The following is a no-spoiler review, as I assume many of you may be waiting for the film to hit the big screen, and I wouldn't want to reveal any cinematic surprises. We first mentioned The Numbers Station back in late 2011 --and admittedly, I was eager to see public\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Current Events"","block_context":{"text":"Current Events","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/current-events\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The-Numbers-Station-Poster","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/The-Numbers-Station-Poster-202x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66352","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=66352"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66352\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66354,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66352\/revisions\/66354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}