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Mysterious Radio Station UVB-76 Goes Offline

Posted by timothy on from the fired-that-dj dept.

leathered writes "Tinfoil hatters around the world are abuzz that UVB-76, the Russian shortwave radio station that has been broadcasting its monotonous tone almost uninterrupted since 1982, has suddenly gone offline. Of course no one knows what the significance of this is, but best brush up on your drills just in case."

16 of 336 comments (clear)

  1. Article Quality. by cosm · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So the main article comes from a discussion board on a conspira-blog-forum. And the description of the station in question is from Wikipedia, followed by a YouTube video in the third link. Now, don't get me wrong, I am not questioning the journalistic capabilities of the submitters, but holy-jumping-jeebus can we get an article with some legitimate [CITATION NEEDED] please. Perhaps this one was a tongue-in-cheek submission facetiously posted for the TFH crowd.

    --
    'We are trying to prove ourselves wrong as quickly as possible, because only in that way can we find progress.' RPF
    1. Re:Article Quality. by binarylarry · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Remember, just because you're a paranoid psychotic nut job crank doesn't mean there isn't a conspiracy.

      --
      Mod me down, my New Earth Global Warmingist friends!
  2. Re:Explanation: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'm hoping like hell this is an attempt at a joke because if it isn't...

    If the ionosphere can change state from seismic events, why couldn't seismic events be changed through manipulation of the ionosphere?

    If the direction of the sun relative to earth can change the amount of light in my bedroom, why couldn't the direction of the sun relative to earth be changed through the action of my light-switch?

    I could possibly tolerate the idea that HAARP could effect the weather, although the system has so many variables that I doubt any controlled effect could be created, but earthquakes? really?

  3. Re:Explanation: by Z00L00K · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This signal may well have been a check signal of some kind for various defense services - something like a dead man's grip but now it has been obsoleted. (At least we can hope that it has been)

    As long as there is a carrier there is no real problem. Of course there has had to be other channels too, so this was probably a last resort when/if all other means of communication did break down.

    All related to the M.A.D. doctrine. We can all hope that this is a sign that Russia no longer needs this transmitter because the warheads that were involved are no longer active or are rearranged to a setup where this is no longer necessary or useful.

    --
    If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
  4. A week or so after last episode of Lost? by feepness · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I think this is pretty obvious.

  5. Re:Explanation: by Belial6 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If it was M.A.D. and it wasn't no longer needed, we would probably already know. So, sleep easy tonight.

  6. Re:The reason by Sycraft-fu · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It's funny because you conspiracy nuts think it means anything. "Oh no, a station that is easily monitored and does nothing useful went off the air! It clearly must be the precursor to something evil!"

    How about no.

  7. Re:Any confirmation on this? by Lije+Baley · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Come now, not a single hunk of wire laying around, no gutters, no bedsprings?

    --
    Strange things are afoot at the Circle-K.
  8. Actually it usually does by Sycraft-fu · · Score: 5, Insightful

    For one thing, you'll notice that the conspiracy nuts are, well, always wrong. They have an abysmal track record throughout history and in modern times. Well, with a trend like that, it is pretty safe to say that they'll continue to be wrong. Same sort of thing with any crackpot thing that has been wrong time and time again. I mean just because ESP has failed every test doesn't prove beyond any and all doubt that it doesn't exist in some form... But it gives really strong evidence of that fact, and thus makes it pretty safe to say that indeed it's BS.

    The other thing is that the people who are in to conspiracies seem to have extremely poor logic skills. They ignore obvious evidence, jump at tenuous connections, straight out make shit up, and place more faith in that which can't be proven than that which can. As such, the conclusions they draw are very likely wrong. When you use a bad logical process, your conclusion usually isn't right. That's just how things go. The scientific method, logical principles, and so on aren't random. It is the stuff that works reliably for separating truth from fiction. So when you fail to use it, well your results are probably incorrect.

    So yes, just because you are a paranoid, psychotic nut job who thinks there's a conspiracy probably DOES mean there isn't a conspiracy. If you bet against them, you'd make plenty of money.

    1. Re:Actually it usually does by Sycraft-fu · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Has nothing to do with profit motive, just simple statistics. Supposing you could find a place that would give you even money on conspiracy theories, well you'd make a ton betting against them. Reason is because they are wrong all the time. It is just a way to illustrate the extremely bad track record.

      One of my favourite recent ones was that the US was cutting communications lines to Iran in preparation for an invasion due to the opening of the Oil Bourse. The media noticed that undersea cables were getting cut and reported on it, without reporting that this happens all the time and there are ships who do nothing but fix cable breaks. The conspiracy theorists on /. came out of the woodwork and said that this was a precursor to attack (the cuts were happening in the Mediterranean) and it was a "sure thing" that the US would invade shortly.

      Well, of course, that didn't happen. The cuts were repaired, life went on, and cables continue to get cut by various sources (careless ships, natural phenomena, etc) all the time and the media pays it no mind.

      It was a completely ridiculous theory, with no good evidence, yet it was a "fact" to the nuts, until it didn't happen. They of course never came out and admitted error or anything.

      So sorry, but you aren't convincing me by making vague references to "disinformation". Simple fact is that conspiracy nuts suck at logic. Their track record is abysmal. Thus, when they make a claim, my default position is to assume it is wrong.

    2. Re:Actually it usually does by BikeHelmet · · Score: 5, Insightful

      For one thing, you'll notice that the conspiracy nuts are, well, always wrong. They have an abysmal track record throughout history and in modern times.

      That's because they aren't remembered as conspiracy nuts once they prove their case.

      And the ones that are nutty get a whole lot more attention.

    3. Re:Actually it usually does by drinkypoo · · Score: 2, Insightful

      For one thing, you'll notice that the conspiracy nuts are, well, always wrong.

      That is a gross misrepresentation of the truth.

      The other thing is that the people who are in to conspiracies seem to have extremely poor logic skills.

      Not as poor as your logic skills:

      So yes, just because you are a paranoid, psychotic nut job who thinks there's a conspiracy probably DOES mean there isn't a conspiracy

      You appear to assert overall that because some people who think that there are conspiracies are paranoid and/or psychotic (nice ad hominem added on) that everyone who asserts their existence is a "nut job" but the truth is very much the opposite. If you think that numerous conspiracies that affect you are not in progress right now, you are forgetting the lessons of history. Our government has proven vulnerable to conspiracy time and time again. The best part of that statement is hat there's no nation in the world where you can't use it. Remember, if two people get together to bone one more person out of something, it's a conspiracy. But vast conspiracies have been uncovered time and time again. Skepticism is one thing, but you're engaging in a willful type of blindness, a kind of deliberate obtuseness which transcends into pure foolishness.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    4. Re:Actually it usually does by Cl1mh4224rd · · Score: 2, Insightful

      No, the simple fact is that MOST people suck at logic. When ANYone makes a claim, you should definitely assume it's wrong because most people are complete morons.

      You're not helping your case at all; you understand that, right?

      --
      People will pass up steak once a week, for crap every day.
  9. Re:No satellite imagery? by MillionthMonkey · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Wow... God is in on this too.

  10. Re:The reason by leonardluen · · Score: 2, Insightful

    i am not normally a conspiracy nut...but to be fair would a conspiracy nut realize they are one?...but i find it hard to believe that this station, which was on the air for nearly 30 years, and was undergoing regular maintenance (as detectable by the drop in transmitting power at regular intervals) wasn't serving some purpose. now do i think it was serving some evil purpose? probably not, but it appears someone was spending a significant time/effort/resources to keep this station on the air for about 30 years. so was this station useless? i doubt it, it very much must have been serving some sort of purpose to justify the expense of running it. so what was it doing? i don't know...its possible it could simply be doing some monitoring of remote equipment and they now have a data line connecting the equipment, or setup some microwave transmitters so no longer need the station.

  11. "offline" by N7DR · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Radio transmitters do not go "offline". They go "off the air".