Aural hieroglyphs: Number stations

A close-up of an antenna in Dorchester, UK, thought to be the site of a numbers station. Image found here.

Excerpt of a number station transmission by The Lincolnshire Poacher

"These [numbers stations] are what you suppose they are. People shouldn't be mystified by them. They are not for, shall we say, public consumption." --a spokesperson for the U.K.'s Department of Trade and Industry (source)

Not that we have by any means exhausted the naturally-occurring mysteries of this planet, but human beings seem hell-bent on creating a few of their own, as places such as Area 51 and the Pyongyang Metro system (which I mentioned in passing here) will attest. Area 51's mysteries arise from its highly-classified status (it wasn't officially acknowledged as even existing until 2003). The Pyongyang Metro is arguably more mysterious, though, precisely because it is ostensibly designed to serve the citizens of the capital yet so little is officially acknowledged about even such basic things as the miles of lines and number of stations in the system . . . and even where those stations are (they aren't marked on maps).

I would argue that number stations are similarly mysterious: they broadcast their repeated strings of random number sequences over shortwave frequencies that anyone with a decent receiver can pick up, but their ultimate significance is opaque. Aside from the British official's acknowledgment in the epigraph at the beginning of this post, governments don't even admit they exist, much less what their purpose is--even when, as occasionally happens, these stations' transmissions interfere with commercial broadcasts. Some of these stations are so regular in their transmissions and manner that they have acquired nicknames among those who keep track of their transmissions (The Lincolnshire Poacher is called that because of that station's use of the first two bars of the English folksong of that name). Much like the Pyongyang Metro, then, number stations are out there taking up the radio equivalent of space, yet remaining inscrutable to all but a very very few.

I have known about number stations for some time now, but I recently bumped into a mention of them and so have done a bit of reading around about them today (not that I fully understand everything I've read, mind you). I was intrigued to learn that the first number stations may have broadcast shortly after the end of World War I; if true, this would make them among the very earliest radio transmissions). Given the end of the Cold War and the rise of the computer, you'd think that these stations would become obsolete; in fact, though, listeners report an increase in the number of stations since the 1990s.

Perhaps the best-known number station transmission is the beginning of this transmission, the source of the title of Wilco's album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and sampled in the song "Poor Places" on that same album (both of which I briefly wrote about here). As someone I read somewhere today wrote, if Wilco likes number stations, you should, too.

The Salon article is a good, brief introduction to number stations. If reading that and listening to the sample at the beginning of this post at all pique your curiosity, then you'll want to pay a visit to The Conet Project. This is a gathering and publishing of excerpts from number station transmissions, along with an elaborate accompanying text. You can buy this in the form of a 4-CD box set, or (legally!) access and download all that material for free through Internet Archive. In addition to The Conet Project site, you may want to make the acquaintance of Simon Mason's blog. He maintains a page called Shortwave Espionage that lists new recordings of transmissions (including videos of people listening to stations); personal websites of numbers-station aficionados; radio, television and print stories; links to musicians and other artists' works who have used numbers station transmissions; and much, much more. If you are even mildly curious about this stuff and/but don't have much time just now, I strongly suggest you not visit Mason's site until you do have the time. My visit there made me wish I still had my old shortwave set.

Below the fold: a complete transcription of the transmission of the Lincolnshire Poacher, a (probably) British-run number station (probably) located in Cyprus (text found here). Since you who are reading this are (probably) not in the employ of Her Majesty's Secret Service, you will not possess the one-time pads needed to make any sense of that transcript. Still, it is strange: the world of espionage, a world that, usually, remains well below the surface of our awareness, still chooses this very public method to transmit messages and we can all listen in, sort of. At the very least, we can be awed by its audacity.

Transcribed September 26 1996 21:00 13.375usb London

Lincolnshire Poacher x12
87383 87383 87383 87383 87383 , 87383 87383 87383 87383 87383
Lincolnshire Poacher x12
87383 87383 87383 87383 87383 , 87383 87383 87383 87383 87383
Lincolnshire Poacher x12
87383 87383 87383 87383 87383 , 87383 87383 87383 87383 87383
Lincolnshire Poacher x12
87383 87383 87383 87383 87383 , 87383 87383 87383 87383 87383
Lincolnshire Poacher x12
87383 87383 87383 87383 87383 , 87383 87383 87383 87383 87383
gong gong, gong gong, gong gong
69410 69410 03932 03932 42175 42175 72964 72964 79383 79383 32644 32644 41968 41968 81600 81600 27645 27645 01668 01668
75898 75898 77571 77571 22542 22542 72782 72782 17620 17620 92981 92981 39558 39558 75112 75112 51791 51791 91591 91591
04022 04022 65795 65795 63699 63699 75494 75494 27113 27113 80431 80431 64559 64559 88391 88391 55111 55111 04232 04232
94571 94571 16108 16108 54769 54769 22363 22363 57267 57267 00473 00473 04415 04415 84529 84529 48108 48108 78257 78257
35750 35750 00125 00125 00972 00972 93238 93238 64992 64992 26438 26438 21189 21189 07732 07732 86970 86970 41073 41073
66933 66933 66770 66770 50246 50246 46424 46424 38644 38644 65703 65703 78450 78450 83540 83540 11965 11965 05537 05537
52013 52013 47316 47316 70356 70356 08017 08017 05198 05198 52850 52850 32733 32733 48057 48057 92573 92573 28092 28092
82209 82209 15080 15080 60040 60040 50477 50477 63942 63942 63699 63699 37038 37038 21904 21904 54520 54520 42624 42624
04285 04285 98545 98545 45667 45667 93307 93307 89293 89293 71254 71254 11866 11866 75828 75828 88178 88178 09520 09520
50685 50685 06968 06968 96858 96858 64049 64049 92490 92490 83954 83954 94863 94863 94473 94473 91415 91415 78605 78605
99132 99132 02286 02286 35966 35966 70494 70494 26640 26640 04531 04531 91108 91108 93350 93350 22759 22759 25047 25047
43325 43325 70480 70480 17455 17455 02114 02114 38097 38097 87095 87095 70293 70293 16126 16126 21448 21448 61963 61963
51151 51151 63751 63751 93326 93326 32975 32975 59964 59964 97770 97770 49281 49281 75247 75247 35139 35139 18632 18632
20320 20320 53244 53244 05033 05033 97922 97922 48038 48038 54522 54522 19480 19480 70414 70414 87957 87957 38298 38298
67236 67236 13390 13390 87356 87356 47911 47911 23899 23899 22741 22741 78572 78572 60094 60094 26927 26927 29191 29191
19948 19948 80098 80098 07838 07838 99141 99141 92233 92233 99877 99877 52352 52352 75256 75256 41706 41706 40313 40313
77828 77828 21701 21701 67649 67649 56787 56787 22710 22710 50739 50739 55263 55263 80172 80172 00887 00887 80085 80085
44102 44102 99870 99870 20899 20899 05744 05744 32309 32309 05564 05564 59870 59870 09832 09832 95878 95878 64883 64883
58778 58778 43222 43222 40261 40261 90977 90977 74673 74673 52360 52360 50760 50760 54182 54182 35043 35043 69885 69885
10637 10637 24575 24575 35391 35391 65522 65522 03354 03354 55063 55063 05265 05265 78539 78539 17813 17813 46367 46367
gong gong, gong gong, gong gong
Lincolnshire Poacher x