Creepy radio station broadcasts the same deadly tone 24 hours a day for the past three decades
Topics: Russia, World News
Ben Thompson
Featured Image Credit: @Morbidful/X, ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP via Getty Images
Topics: Russia, World News
Radio is a popular medium throughout the world.
Not only can it be used for listening to music, it can be the platform for important conversations and debates.
In countries with repressive governments, it's served as a lifeline for persecuted civilians.
During the Second World War, the BBC would transmit news into Nazi Germany to stir up 'revolutionary energy'.
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So as a medium, it's been very important throughout history.
But just as it can be important, it can also be mysterious.
After all, we're not seeing the people behind the microphone, so there's an element of intrigue.
A radio station in Russia takes this to another level.
UVB-76, also known as MDZHB, has been transmitting strange sounds since the 1970s.
The radio station's location took years of research to uncover and there are two spots.
The first is believed to be in a remote area of the Russian city of St. Petersburg.
It's an unremarkable location, surrounded by abandoned buildings and power lines.
The second one is in the abandoned town of Povarovo, which is in the Moscow Oblast area.
According to first hand reports, the station has been abandoned and access is completely restricted to the building where the antenna sits.
The radio station transmits a dull buzzing noise at all hours of the day and night, seven days a week.
It's interrupted every few seconds by a horn.
In the 1990s, the station transitioned from transmitting beeps to buzzes.
There are between 21 and 34 a minute, leaving some to speculate that its part of a secret code the station is trying to transmit, hence why the station has gained a curious audience.
As if that's not creepy enough, every few weeks, the silence is broken.
A male or female voice will read out a list of names and objects.
The station also makes use of different formats.
One is the Russian phonetic alphabet, known as 'monolyth' by the Russian military.
It follows a specific pattern: a call sign, a 5-digit number, a code word, a 4-digit number and two 4-digit number groups.
Needless to say, it's not easy to decipher what any of this means.
There are a number of theories circulating as to what this station's purpose is.
One theorises that the station is sending messages to Russian spies living in foreign countries.
Another is that it runs 24/7 on the off chance that Russia gets invaded.
That way, it can send out messages quickly and discreetly.
Neither the government or the military have admitted to involvement with the station, though these assertions have been doubted.
During the Cold War, radio stations in the Soviet Union were popularly used to transmit messages to spies.
It's not clear whether the station is actively in use or just a relic from this bygone era.