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UVB-76 Explained
Useful Wheat writes "Recently slashdot covered the reappearance of UVB-76. The function of the mysterious transmitter has been revealed: UVB-76 is used to transfer orders to military personnel, along with the time at which they should be executed. 'Words for the radio messages and code tables are selected mainly from the scientific terms of chemistry (Brohman), Geology (ganomatit), philology (Izafat), geography (Bong), Zoology (kariama), history (Scythian), cooking (drying), sports (krolist) and others, as well as rare Russian words (glashatel).' The page continues to list all 23 transmissions that have been made from the station in the past, showing that UVB-76 may be more active than believed."
Uhh.. wikipedia only states that it's speculation; like everything else about UVB-76, this is unconfirmed.. so in reality it still isn't explained. What a crappy submission.
So it must be true then!
Just remember - if the world didn't suck, we would all fall off.
for borscht just got a whole lot sexier.
Absolute power corrupts absolutely. indymedia
Is the basis for this story really the Wikipedia page which cites as its primary source a Geocities web site?
Forgive me for being skeptical.
A wikipedia page, and a link to an old slashdot article. My, it's good to have standards in what goes on the front page.
Despite much speculation, the actual purpose of this station remains unknown to the public, but it is probably used for relaying military orders.
Later in the article there is a section speculating about military use but that's all using an old geocities page (in Russian) found in web archive. Would be good if there was something a little more authorative on the subject.
re: "geography (Bong)"
Is this code given out at 4:20?
You: Gorgeous redhead, red dress, big brown eyes, smile like an angel.
Me: Nerdy-looking guy in torn dungarees and blue T-shirt
You came up to me in Starbucks at 47th St. and Eighth Ave. and said in a golden voice, "Excuse me, but haven't we met in California last year?"
I said, "Uh, yeah. maybe."
You turned around and disappeared on Eighth Ave.
Please, please call me on UVB-76.
Any sentient entity would choose to control the enemy not eradicate immediately.
It took Skynet a good 100 milliseconds or so before deciding to eradicate humanity. Not immediate at all. Everyone knows that 100 milliseconds is an eternity in computer time! I guess it just gave up on our lack of progress during that time.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
Close. They're running SkyNyet. :-P
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
This shit is worse than the cesspool refuse that kdawson posts. Fuck you.
This particular submission may be crap, but the situation around UVB-76 demonstrates that it is becoming hard to keep any secrets on the shortwave band. There are thousands of listeners at any given time. And what is much more important, they now have the ability to record big chunks of spectrum and analyze it in a way that was only available to government agencies not long ago. $500 receiver (there are even sub-$100 DIY alternatives) and free software is all you need. /.
The next big step is exchange of such information. It may be outright illegal (UK) or borderline legal (US) to tell other what you've heard, but people do this more and more on various forums. Now including
Wait ... so ... SkyNet would just displace the Illuminati and nobody would be the wiser?
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
If seen the Terminator movies. As far as I can tell, Skynet runs YOU in pretty much every country!
for the military personnel that will be executed just because somebody send them an order.
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
It was listening!
Best Slashdot Co
A military broadcast from a military base was for military personnel? I'm shocked I tell you, shocked.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
According to an old Geocities page, they are things that fly around in the sky.
I am to understand that they occasionally flip out and kill people.
Nah, those are Ninjas, not UFOs
Support the EFF and Creative Commons. The war is coming, and they're supporting you...
Occam's Razor:
Option A) The numbers station UVB-76, in operation for almost 30 years, was used solely to send a grand total of 23 military orders of very short length.
Option B) The numbers station UVB-76, is used to fuck with the West. Military orders are broadcast on Russian cable TV.
I have to say, I am leaning toward option B.
This seems rather odd, broadcasting military orders in the clear. OK, they are using a code. So we don't know what they are saying. But military units usually have encrypted transceivers. If I were designing a military radio system, I would not include a clear broadcast mode to eliminate the possibility of some critical information going out that could be easily intercepted.
I'm guessing that these broadcasts are targeted at people who can not reasonably be expected to carry secure radio gear with them. Like spys. In some countries, possessing crypto equipment can get you arrested. In many, it will attract undue attention. So they use shortwave. Everyone can get their hands on a shortwave receiver. And there's always the plausible deniability of tuning to BBC when you're not receiving orders.
The continuity of the broadcasts can easily be explained as a method to thwart traffic analysis. Most of the stuff they broadcast is garbage, just to keep the traffic going. If one broadcasts only when orders are to be sent, then the enemy can deduce that something is afoot when traffic picks up. Its possible that UVB-76 may not have issued an order for years, but is being kept alive 'just in case'. If they only powered up the transmitter when they needed it, that would be a dead giveaway that sleeper agents were being activated.
Have gnu, will travel.
I believe that this numbers station is actually a countdown timer for the army of robots created by the soviets in the 80s. When the buzzing sounds end and another codephrase is sent the army will rise up from their vaults that were placed strategically around the world by traveling vacuum salesmen and spread the glorious message of communism, with lasers.
I for one welcome our new robot overlords...
Personally I'd rather have my idiots at home glued to the TV than out doing idiotic things
According to an old Geocities page, they are things that fly around in the sky.
I am to understand that they occasionally flip out and kill people.
Nah, those are Ninjas, not UFOs
I'm not convinced anybody can tell the difference. Nobody that lived long enough to verify it, anyway.
Close. They're running SkyNyet. :-P
Nooooooooooooooooooooo!
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 is the magic number.
...don't broadcast it. "Secrets on the shortwave band" just seems like an oxymoron.
Ever heard of something called a cipher? Or stenography? A combination of both?
The codes read out on UVB-76 are a bunch of unrelated words and numbers, which reminds me of the codes we'd use back when I played rugby, and similar to how baseball codes work. Most of the content of our calls were nonsense, thrown in to confuse it. We'd designate ahead of time, for example, that the third and fifth words were the meaningful ones, or simply mix in non-code words with the codes, although there was always some syntax (order mattered). Similarly we'd memorize calls our opponents used in lineouts and scrums, and try to parse them out at halftime. A halftime code crack almost always meant winning the game by a good margin.
So my guess is that not all of the UVB-76 code is meaningful, but there's an underlying template which is probably switched between transmissions. Still crackable, but can it be cracked before the game is over?
"The ability to delude yourself may be an important survival tool" - Jane Wagner -
are they anything like terminatoes?
Dear Sir,
I have read about your terminatoes with
great interest and would like to procure a bushel
or two immediately for the purpose of making some
killer salsa.
Asta La Vista,
Baby
music lover since 1969