Numbers Stations: Mystery Over The Airwaves

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: dewayne () warpspeed com (Dewayne Hendricks)
Date: July 17, 2010 7:27:38 PM EDT
To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <xyzzy () warpspeed com>
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Numbers Stations: Mystery Over The Airwaves

Numbers Stations: Mystery Over The Airwaves
by NPR STAFF
<http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128586766>

In the shadowy corners of the shortwave radio spectrum, you can often find mysterious mechanical voices counting off 
endless strings of numbers — in English, Czech, Russian and German … even Morse code. But who's listening?

The voices are coming from what are known as "numbers stations," and they've long been thought to be part of 
international espionage operations. In fact, the Russian spies recently captured here in the U.S. may have been getting 
orders from Moscow via a shortwave numbers station.

Mark Stout is the official historian at the International Spy Museum. He tells NPR's Guy Raz that the stations are 
unlicensed, which makes it hard to figure out where they're broadcasting from. And the mystery only deepens: No 
government has ever officially admitted to using numbers stations. No one's really sure when the stations began 
broadcasting, though they're most likely a Cold War-era invention.

[snip]RSS Feed: <http://www.warpspeed.com/wordpress>




-------------------------------------------
Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now
RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/
Modify Your Subscription: https://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=18849915&id_secret=18849915-aa268125
Unsubscribe Now: https://www.listbox.com/unsubscribe/?member_id=18849915&id_secret=18849915-32545cb4
Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com