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The Ghostly Radio Station That No One Claims To Run (bbc.com)

Posted by msmash on from the what's-happening dept.

Zaria Gorvett, writing for BBC: In the middle of a Russian swampland, not far from the city of St Petersburg, is a rectangular iron gate. Beyond its rusted bars is a collection of radio towers, abandoned buildings and power lines bordered by a dry-stone wall. This sinister location is the focus of a mystery which stretches back to the height of the Cold War. It is thought to be the headquarters of a radio station, "MDZhB", that no-one has ever claimed to run. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, for the last three-and-a-half decades, it's been broadcasting a dull, monotonous tone. Every few seconds it's joined by a second sound, like some ghostly ship sounding its foghorn. Then the drone continues. Once or twice a week, a man or woman will read out some words in Russian, such as "dinghy" or "farming specialist". And that's it. Anyone, anywhere in the world can listen in, simply by tuning a radio to the frequency 4625 kHz. It's so enigmatic, it's as if it was designed with conspiracy theorists in mind. Today the station has an online following numbering in the tens of thousands, who know it affectionately as "the Buzzer." It joins two similar mystery stations, "the Pip" and the "Squeaky Wheel." As their fans readily admit themselves, they have absolutely no idea what they are listening to.

10 of 127 comments (clear)

  1. Follow the money by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It doesn't run for free. It has power lines that someone pays the bills for the power usage. No doubt Russia has an FCC equivalent that all radio broadcasters must be licensed with. If it isn't officially licensed, then the government is allowing it, meaning the government is ultimately running it.

    1. Re:Follow the money by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      The most obvious explanation is it is part of a military strategy to facilitate an insurgency should Russia be invaded.

      Basilcy the station broadcasts nonsense on regular intervals so that at any time in the future it can be used by remnants of the Russian military to broadcast coded information without giving away the fact that they started communicating. It also broadcasts a solid tone and heartbeat so they can reduce the likelihood of somone else using the channel and so they can tell if the station is destroyed or deactivated without waiting for the next broadcast. It is also possible but IMO less likely that it is in active use for espionage.

      It probably isn't a nuclear deadman switch as those would have been shut down as part of post soviet disarmament. It might have been a decoy deadman switch that no one has the guts to turn off because they can't find the documentation saying where the missiles it controls are and are (because they don't exist) but no one is entirely certain the documents weren't just lost.

      It also probably isn't just a random troll as it's continued operation implies that someone with some kind of pull set it up not just a random citizen (they had to make arrangements with the power company at the very least, and likely ongoing matinance given it's age)

  2. No Real Mystery by Myrdos · · Score: 5, Informative

    As I understand, it's almost certainly used to send coded messages to Russian agents in case of emergency. The Russians are probably broadcasting a constant tone to reserve the frequency, so other people don't start using it. They say as much in the article.

    1. Re:No Real Mystery by olsmeister · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Maybe it's a component of Dead Hand.

    2. Re:No Real Mystery by penandpaper · · Score: 5, Funny

      Welcome, to the scary door.

  3. It's encrypted messages... by MindPrison · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...when everything else fails.

    Hidden in plain sight.

    --
    What this world is coming to - is for you and me to decide.
  4. Time for the yearly "number station" post? by pegr · · Score: 5, Funny

    Where does the time go?

  5. UVB-76 by Jack+Malmostoso · · Score: 5, Informative

    In case you're wondering, this article is about the very famous UVB-76 station.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

  6. No mystery, only one more myth by NuclearCat · · Score: 5, Interesting

    One more nonsense, i guess just to fuel current trend about "those strange russians". This is typical (post-)apocalypse radio, that will coordinate militaries and probably civilians in case of extraordinary disasters. Note: most probably non-war related, because sites of transmitters are known, and easy to destroy.
    AM receivers for such frequency usually very robust, they are installed in many cities in military enlistment office(voenkomat) and easy to make.
    Buzzing and etc is just making sure noone else occupy frequency, sometimes(rarely) it is used for other communications, but nothing extraordinary.
    P.S. Old transmitter side abandoned in 2010, there is several new, at least 3.

  7. Re:Could be worse... by msauve · · Score: 5, Funny

    That's nothing. A radio station around here plays Justin Bieber and Kanye West, DURING THE DAY.

    --
    "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law