(Photo: Pexels/ Levent Simsek)
Researchers are left scratching their heads because a mysterious signal has been transmitting for the last four decades, and they can't say for sure what it is.
The Buzzer Theories: From UFOs to Mind Control Device
For 40 years since the Cold War, a bizarre radio signal has been broadcast out of Russia. The enigmatic broadcast has been dubbed "The Buzzer." However, there's no concrete information about what it is all about.
There are rumors that it's part of the Russian government's secret SETI program and is linked to unidentified flying objects (UFOs) or a way to communicate with visiting extraterrestrials.
Another theory suggested it might be a "Dead Hand" doomsday trigger. The theory claimed that Russia could launch nuclear weapons if its leadership is knocked out of commission.
Ary Boender, a freelance radio monitor from Holland and the owner of the website Numbers Oddities, has heard and considered a lot of hypotheses on the signal.
She says there are rumors that it is an old Soviet Dead Man's Switch that triggers a nuclear attack on the West when it stops buzzing. However, others reportedly claimed that it was a "mind control device" that Russia allegedly used to control one's mind. Some also suggested it was a "home beacon for UFOs." There were also claims it was a remote control station from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
The Buzzer is a numbers station, a radio broadcast that enables agents in the field to send coded signals, according to Jochen Schäfer, a longtime leader of a citizen's group in Germany that spied on professional spies.
Professor David Stupples, who teaches electronic and radio engineering at the City University of London and studied the signal, believes that the Russian government has been using it.
"If it is the Russian government, it wouldn't be for peaceful purposes," he added.
Broadcast at the 4625kHz shortwave radio frequency, the Buzzer has led some physicists to speculate that its signal is being used to monitor Earth's ionosphere.
But Professor Stupples, whose expertise is in orbital or otherwise space-based reconnaissance platforms, surveillance, and navigation systems, acknowledges that both incredible and mundane explanations are still possible.
He added that they may be just reserving the channel for air defense or some other form of defense. If they don't actually use it, someone will poach it. They are keeping the channel available by broadcasting and saying, "This is ours."
What Is the Buzzer?
In Russian, "The Buzzer" is referred to as "Жужжaлка" (Zhuzhzhalka; English: Hummer). It is a commandment network for the Russian military that supports the Western Military District. It transmits on 4625 kHz continuously.
The channel identifier unique to the station is emitted when no other traffic is sent. The majority of the traffic is made up of the following common message types --
"Monolith"-style text, Like "Uzor" and command messages.
Multiple other frequencies simultaneously receive the traffic sent on this station in Morse code. On occasion, the voice station has been able to hear the Morse code simulcasts due to channel separation concerns.
It was officially designated as "UVB-76" in 1982, and amateur ham radio operators and unclassified scientific curiosity were drawn to it.
The station's sole transmission at the time was a disorienting, cipher-like series of beeps. By 1992, though, the broadcasts had gotten even more odd, with frightening foghorn noises sporadically amidst a series of buzzing noises that happened 25 times per minute for less than a second at a time.
During the 1990s, male and female voices appeared to be reading lists of seemingly random words, figures, or names. They would also periodically interrupt UVB-76's buzzing. The station would also broadcast a range of tones of noises, some of which might have carried classified material.
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