Flaky Skin On Forehead

The mysterious numbers stations.

Since the mid-Cold War, a number of radio stations broadcast day and night

strange codes and signals to the world, away from the eyes and ears of the public.

No country recognizes possess, but do not stop broadcasting. Over the years,
have added others still more rare and disturbing.

In these times of Internet and cell phones are becoming increasingly less amateur. The convenience, simplicity and economy of these advanced telecommunications have made many people forget that so old to lift an antenna and transmit-or hearing-their own. Thus, much of this reality we call spectrum has disappeared from public view (which, however, was never very popular). It is used constantly, but behind so many layers it is as if invisible.

... six, nine, three, five, seven, seven, zero ...

States, its military and some private entities, of course, are equally interested in the field of reality that, among other things, to communicate over very long distances autonomously. It is rightly said that the world's most dangerous weapon is a radio, and the armed forces allocated significant resources to protect themselves and incapacitate the enemy. All countries worthy of the name monitor, oversee and monitor carefully the airwaves (and try to get to the other). In

this frontier heritage, like all frontiers, many things happen and some of them quite bizarre. Of those that feed on the legends and myths. In recent decades, have been airing a rare seasons, almost one might say that spooky, or at least, spectral . The most famous have come to be called, for lack of a better name numbers stations. The reason is simple: day and night, tirelessly, at times and exact frequencies, the voice of man, woman or child issues to world number after number without apparent meaning, occasionally inserting a word or music (always the same, and fans has their name from there.) They come in many languages, especially English and Russian (how strange, huh?), Although there are those that transmit in Castilian. Some of these voices are clearly synthetic, others may belong to a type of speaker undoubtedly unique.

station numbers "Attention" V2a, which is Cuban. In the course of an espionage case, the United States several people accused of possessing software to decode these messages, one of the few occasions where there has been an "informal confirmation" its usefulness.

No country recognizes their existence and, in general, think about those of other nations. Simply, they are there. The consensus view is that transmit coded messages to their agents all over the world that broadcast on shortwave / high frequency (which increases the scope for long-distance ionospheric propagation) along the presence of short bursts of modulated data signal, reinforces this hypothesis. That, in fact, has been unofficially confirmed in at least two occasions.

One was when a spokesman for the British Ministry Trade and Industry, responsible for the regulation of such frequencies in the United Kingdom, said in statements to the Daily Telegraph that "... these are what you suppose they are. People should not fascinated with them. They're , say, public consumption. " More forceful during a case of espionage in the United States is more or less publicly accused several people of coded instructions by issuing Care linked with the Cuban government, was the first break of the pact Knights whereby these stations do not belong to anyone, do not transmit anything of interest and Dissolve, here there is nothing to see.

Lincolnshire Poacher Numbers Station, probably the most famous. This issue, preceded in the first minute of his famous signature tune has been traced to the British air base at Akrotiri (Cyprus). Lincolnshire Poacher stopped broadcasting in June 2008, replaced by Cherry Ripe, believed to come from Australia. Both have been linked speculatively with the British secret services.

Aunt Henrietta has arrived safely at York.

Already during the Second World War attracted much attention to the long series of "personal message" broadcast on BBC Radio London or Moscow, to name but two of the best known. These emissions, hidden among real public service messages, containing encrypted information to spies, and guerrilla resistance located in Nazi-occupied Europe.

The format was simple and innocent appearance, she could be, for example, something like "John Smith, of Glasgow, their cousins \u200b\u200bin Leicester: Aunt Henrietta has arrived safely at York." does not take much imagination to understand that this can be well you an encrypted message to a recipient secret ... or not. It is, in any case, unidirectional transmission: no expected response from the receiver, at least not so imminent. They are used to send orders, instructions, data ... and sometimes things like birthday greetings or any national holiday. We must protect the staff.

The most interesting use of this type of message is that if the channel has not been entered and no mistakes are made, are completely indecipherable. To do this use encrypted arbitrary (phrases previously agreed, as we just saw) or so-called books single use, which correspond much better with these stations numbers. When used properly, single-use pads can not break in any way, unlike what happens with the figures based on logical-mathematical algorithms (such as those commonly used on the Internet or cell phone , type RSA , A5 or KASUMI ).

figure the world safer.

In essence, single-use books are nothing more than a substitution cipher or, sometimes, by transposition, technic used since ancient times. Using it is as simple (but cumbersome without computers) how to combine each word, letter or number of the message with the corresponding word, letter or number pad, a capella or with different combinations. But despite its simplicity, are information theoretically secure : that is, completely safe (if applicable following the theoretical model).

Its strength lies in three elements: security of the key, as this is completely random and it will never be used again, which in practice is easier said than done. By reusing the same key if only once, the messages can be decrypted using simple mathematical operations (often called a single use). If not completely arbitrary, too. Sometimes used pseudorandom number generators to produce, but people would really use random generators quantum nature.

Despite being completely safe, its use is not widespread until the advent of computers because of the practical difficulties of managing all these one-note pads. The USSR, for example screwed for a brief period during World War II, because the demands of the conflict required more random keys from a single use that could produce: they had to reuse some pages (although never complete books). Thanks to that, the United States were able to decipher some of the messages sent by its then Soviet allies during the war (some as late as the '80s). In 1946 a spy the error and notified them and their single-use books became completely garbled again.

is almost certain that these numbers stations broadcast messages to their agents scattered around the world, to be decoded using the single-use diaries (now in computerized versions.) However, from the late '60s and especially '70s began to appear in the Soviet bloc a new type of emissions even more strange and mysterious: the letters beacons.

letter beacons.

These radio stations are constantly emitting a letter in Morse code (as Cyrillic), always the same, again and again. Apparently they do nothing, or at least do nothing that the community has achieved amateur understand, and some have really sophisticated equipment and expertise. For that reason and because it easily confused with the NDB aeronautical beacons also transmit its identifier in Morse (though not on shortwave) have been termed letter beacons.

The "beacon C", attached to a transmitter situated in the Moscow region.

speculation here are much more varied, since nobody seems to understand its true function. Many of them have been traced to the fleet's naval bases by Soviet and now Russian. Some believe they are markers of propagation, to know what frequencies respond best at a particular time. Others, which are indicators for marine transmission channels associated with the surface fleet, and even underwater river. Those here, which actually used to track satellites. The folks who are for civil defense. Wow, that nobody has any idea. At least no one willing to publish it.

beacons are at least a dozen letters, all located in the territory of the former Soviet Union, mostly in Russia. Conventionally divided into two categories: those grouped and solitary . The grouped so called because transmit on frequencies close together, separated from each other exactly one hundred hertz. And the lonely are named for it in natural frequencies that do not seem related to the others. Sometimes some of these (notably the "P") interrupted its broadcast to transmit a rapid sequence in Morse code or digital type. Moreover, there are, communicating to the world day and night for a single letter over and over again.

buzzer.

Others have inferred more sinister alternative uses for these obscure stations, especially after the emergence of another named ringer, buzzer or UVB-76. As its name indicates, it sounds like a bell or buzzer beeping twenty-five times per minute, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year on 4625 kHz and other frequencies. For about fifty minutes a day, from 7:00 to 7:50, transmits less power, it is assumed that you do the maintenance at that time. Has been traced to a military installation in Povarovo, forty miles northwest of Moscow.

buzzer.

If beacons are rare letters and gibberish, the buzzer is completely Mars. It was first detected in 1982, but probably had a good season broadcasts. Very occasionally, the transmission has been interrupted to say a few words in code. It is most often heard voices and background noises, as if he had an open mic all the time or most of it. In fact, it appears that the tone is not injected directly into the circuit, but the sound is captured in the mysterious atmosphere study. His distinctive sound has changed in at least two occasions, most recently, last month (June 2010), after a series of transmissions in Morse and ringtones.

Rumors and speculation about this buzzer are extensive and varied. It is generally linked to the Russian General Staff, and there are many who think it is related to the mechanism the dead man's hand Perimeter, come on, that if the hum ceases (alone or with other unknown signals), the entire Russian system would be triggered thermonuclear retaliation. Other, less frightening, saying it may be a variation on the best known numbers stations, a telecommunications system for the Moscow Military District and even a system similar to ionospheric research HAARP.

existed for many years a Western version of Buzzer, called the music station back by transmitting sounds strange, was drawn United States and the United Kingdom, but apparently disappeared in 2004. Comments that have been moved to the Internet, now that is already fully controlled or secure networks. Buzzer, however, remains active and you'd think is being updated and modernized, is for whatever you do.

numbers stations, beacons of letters, Buzzer: radio secret that no one acknowledges that the world ignores, and which undoubtedly are among the most secret and delicate mechanisms of nations. Maybe we have to wait to tell the story to us, in almost half a century, no one seems to have been willing to go out and talk.