Featured Image Credit: GAVRIIL GRIGOROV/Getty
Topics: Russia, Conspiracy Theories, Vladimir Putin, Europe, World News
Ella Scott
Topics: Russia, Conspiracy Theories, Vladimir Putin, Europe, World News
A Russian radio station that dates back to the Cold War is believed to have sent out its first ominous ‘message’ in months, with experts claiming it probably wasn’t for ‘peaceful purposes’.
UVB-76, also known as ‘The Buzzer’ is a Russian shortwave radio station known for broadcasting short, monotonous tones lasting between one to 1.2 seconds.
These frequencies are sometimes interrupted by cryptic Russian voices, thought by many to relate to the country’s military.
It’s believed the disembodied voices have issued call signs, names, and have read out number sequences.
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Newsweek reports that the station has been broadcasting since the 1970s.
Some conspiracy theorists are convinced the messages are directly related to the fabled 'Dead Hand' system - a Cold War-era nuclear weapon control system.
This supposed link has led to the radio station being colloquially dubbed ‘Doomsday Radio’.
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The last time The Buzzer transmitted anything was back in May. Then, the eerie code ‘NZhTI 89905 BLEFOPUF 4097 5573’ was heard.
This was broadcast just before a call between Russia’s Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump.
Months later, the Doomsday Radio has now made another rare broadcast. The code ‘Nicolai, Zhenya, Tatyana, Ivan’ or ‘NZhTI’ was aired again.
This was reportedly followed by a series of numbers - ‘38, 965, 78, 58, 88, 37’ - then the names Olga, Tatiana, Elena, Leonid, whose initials spell ‘OTEL’.
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The outlet reported that the voice finished with: ‘Soft sign, 78, 58, 88, 37’.
At this time, the meaning behind the message remains unknown.
However, experts have been having their say, with journalist Chay Bowes speculating: "Russia's UVB-76 'Doomsday Radio' makes its second cryptic broadcast today. Codewords 'NZHTI' and 'HOTEL' spelled out for unknown listeners far from the motherland."
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Professor David Stupples, who teaches electronic and radio engineering at the City University of London, claimed he was ‘almost certain’ that it was the Russian Government who was broadcasting.
"If it is the Russian government, it wouldn't be for peaceful purposes," he told Popular Mechanics magazine.
He added that perhaps the military is just keeping it active in case they needed to use it again for some form of defense.
"If they don't actually use it, someone will poach it," he explained. "They are keeping the channel available by broadcasting and saying 'this is ours'."
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Ary Boender, a Netherlands-based freelance radio monitor, has had a different idea. He claimed some people believe that the shortwave station is a ‘homing beacon for UFOs or a mind control device’, as per The Express.
"Some say that it is an old Soviet Dead Man's Switch that triggers a nuclear attack on the west when it stops buzzing," he explained.
Others have said in the past that the Doomsday radio is a ‘remote control station belonging to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant’ - a theory Boedner has described as ‘nonsense’.
While the station’s latest broadcast has kicked up a fuss on social media, there is no evidence to suggest that the codes or the numbers uttered on September 8 were indicative of anything obvious.
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However, it did come just days before NATO member Poland confirmed they’d shot down Russian drones after a ‘huge number repeatedly’ violated the country’s airspace.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said ‘at least eight strike drones’ were aimed towards Poland, calling the escalation an ‘extremely dangerous precedent for Europe’, as per BBC News.
The rare Russian broadcast and the ‘dangerous’ drones in Poland has caused some X users to debate whether we are really on the cusp of World War III.
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"It's almost like we have been in WWIII for a while now but that 1/4 of the people don't know, 1/4 don't care and 40 percent are busy debating about dumb s**t and 10 percent want the other 90 percent to believe we are not at war all over the place," remarked one social media user.
A second commented: "WWIII is that you?"
"Have been trying to tell and show people that we are already in essence in WWIII," someone else claimed. "People don’t wanna research and confirm themselves..."