Mysterious Radio Station UVB-76 Goes Offline 336
leathered writes "Tinfoil hatters around the world are abuzz that UVB-76, the Russian shortwave radio station that has been broadcasting its monotonous tone almost uninterrupted since 1982, has suddenly gone offline. Of course no one knows what the significance of this is, but best brush up on your drills just in case."
Explanation: (Score:3, Funny)
Another explanation for the constant buzzer is...radio waves are reflected from ionosphere inhomogeneities. Changes of an ionosphere state can be caused by solar geophysical or seismic events. This method involves comparing a continuous radio transmission which is reflected by the ionosphere with a stable basic generator. The continuously transmitted carrier frequency currently used for this research matches that of the Russian Buzzer (4.625 MHz).
If the ionosphere can change state from seismic events, why couldn't seismic events be changed through manipulation of the ionosphere? It is indeed possible to control large-scale events with small-scale signals with phenomina such as resonance. What of all of the earthquakes which seem to hit the people we don't like, providing opportunities to rebuild and sieze their resources as part of the growing trend of disaster capitalism [naomiklein.org], the ultimate way to make money and spread influence without declaring war?
And why is there no comparison to HAARP [wikipedia.org] in that article?! From the HAARP wiki:
The High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) is an ionospheric research program jointly funded by the US Air Force, the US Navy, the University of Alaska and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).Its purpose is to analyze the ionosphere and investigate the potential for developing ionospheric enhancement technology for radio communications and surveillance purposes (such as missile detection)...The current working IRI was completed in 2007, and its prime contractor was BAE Advanced Technologies.
Which is a big, big military industrial comglomerate.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to change the state of my tinfoil hat into a pipe, so I can put some more weed into it and smoke [youtube.com] out of it.
Re:Explanation: (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm hoping like hell this is an attempt at a joke because if it isn't...
If the ionosphere can change state from seismic events, why couldn't seismic events be changed through manipulation of the ionosphere?
If the direction of the sun relative to earth can change the amount of light in my bedroom, why couldn't the direction of the sun relative to earth be changed through the action of my light-switch?
I could possibly tolerate the idea that HAARP could effect the weather, although the system has so many variables that I doubt any controlled effect could be created, but earthquakes? really?
Re:Explanation: (Score:5, Funny)
maybe the guy pushing the button every 1-1.3 seconds figured out he didn't need to..?
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If the ionosphere can change state from seismic events, why couldn't seismic events be changed through manipulation of the ionosphere?
It's in Wikipedia, it has to be true.
Re:Explanation: (Score:4, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
You know, by switching that light switch, you are creating a tiny ripple in the Earth's momentum, which could, over a period of time, change the direction of the sun relative to the Earth.
I suggest doing it continuously for 28 years and seeing if there are any measurable results.
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'If the direction of the sun relative to earth can change the amount of light in my bedroom, why couldn't the direction of the sun relative to earth be changed through the action of my light-switch?'
Sounds pretty reasonable. You turn on your switch, this causes photons to flood the room and bounce all over the place. These photons inevitably collide with the photons coming from the sun. This causes a sub-catacolonic reaction* in a neighboring universe which causes trans-unlilateral-multidimensional-orbital-
Re:Explanation: (Score:5, Insightful)
This signal may well have been a check signal of some kind for various defense services - something like a dead man's grip but now it has been obsoleted. (At least we can hope that it has been)
As long as there is a carrier there is no real problem. Of course there has had to be other channels too, so this was probably a last resort when/if all other means of communication did break down.
All related to the M.A.D. [wikipedia.org] doctrine. We can all hope that this is a sign that Russia no longer needs this transmitter because the warheads that were involved are no longer active or are rearranged to a setup where this is no longer necessary or useful.
Re:Explanation: (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Explanation: (Score:5, Funny)
Great, useful, in place for years and then superseded.
Or the lack of a signal and a change to a numbers station means KGB and FSB sleepers are digging out their weapons caches ready for a Red Dawn
Somewhere in the depths of Bolling Air Force Base a DIA nerd is searching scanned East Bloc documents for any hint to signal changes.
Did the CIA buy the right documents back at the end of the cold war and will the DIA worker find them in time.
Re:Explanation: (Score:5, Interesting)
If you like some ELF and history I suggest that you go here: SK6SAQ [n.se]
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
You kids need to stop playing that fucking World of Warcraft game. There are no such thing as Elfs, whether they be night or blood varieties. But Orcs, as we all know, are real.
Re:Explanation: (Score:4, Funny)
... not to mention trolls. Those guys are everywhere.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
If you had been listening back in 1982, just before the tone started, you would have heard, in Russian, "This is a test. This is only a test..."
It just takes them a long time to test over there.
Re:Explanation: (Score:4, Interesting)
This reminds me a lot of my monitoring systems for servers. Of course, I use an active check for most stuff, but there are also passive checks that listen for a SNMP trap. Probably that's what this is. There's something important that someone wants to monitor. When it drops out, probably the monitoring device starts recording the message. We have something similar in the U.S. called the Emergency Broadcasting System. Interestingly, the EBS uses a non-automated system (at least it did when I was in radio). So basically you receive a signal from your upstream provider and then you send it out to your downstream people, and then whatever payload there is you send out on the air. It's all manual, the operator in the control room has to know how to do it. This sounds like something similar. The odd thing is the constant carrier. That can get expensive. So it must be something really important, or they use it for other calibrations or orientations.
Obviously, it could be a spy thing also, it wouldn't be surprising at all. If it's stopped, it's not a big of a problem as if there were a lot of messages ;) Anyway, rest assured the NSA is hard at work and knows much more than you.
The reason (Score:5, Funny)
It's a conspiracy! Damn them! This means something, but WHAT COULD IT MEAN?
"Maintenance"
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Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
It's funny because you conspiracy nuts think it means anything. "Oh no, a station that is easily monitored and does nothing useful went off the air! It clearly must be the precursor to something evil!"
How about no.
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i am not normally a conspiracy nut...but to be fair would a conspiracy nut realize they are one?...but i find it hard to believe that this station, which was on the air for nearly 30 years, and was undergoing regular maintenance (as detectable by the drop in transmitting power at regular intervals) wasn't serving some purpose. now do i think it was serving some evil purpose? probably not, but it appears someone was spending a significant time/effort/resources to keep this station on the air for about 30 y
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
I have an alternate conspiracy. I reckon they're doing it for a laugh. Every now and then they stop it and broadcast gibberish, just to see what the reaction is. That sounds like the Russians I know.
Re:The reason (Score:4, Funny)
I grew up in Moscow, and I agree. This thing reminds me of the Diablo II chat gem.
Re:It's no mystery (Score:5, Informative)
Chances are, it's a power failure. The area reportedly had a significant storm yesterday. It's possible that the power failed and that they didn't have enough fuel or battery capacity or whatever to keep it running during an extended outage. That would also neatly explain why it reportedly came back and has reportedly died again.
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that's the combination on my luggage!
Article Quality. (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:Article Quality. (Score:5, Insightful)
Remember, just because you're a paranoid psychotic nut job crank doesn't mean there isn't a conspiracy.
Actually it usually does (Score:5, Insightful)
For one thing, you'll notice that the conspiracy nuts are, well, always wrong. They have an abysmal track record throughout history and in modern times. Well, with a trend like that, it is pretty safe to say that they'll continue to be wrong. Same sort of thing with any crackpot thing that has been wrong time and time again. I mean just because ESP has failed every test doesn't prove beyond any and all doubt that it doesn't exist in some form... But it gives really strong evidence of that fact, and thus makes it pretty safe to say that indeed it's BS.
The other thing is that the people who are in to conspiracies seem to have extremely poor logic skills. They ignore obvious evidence, jump at tenuous connections, straight out make shit up, and place more faith in that which can't be proven than that which can. As such, the conclusions they draw are very likely wrong. When you use a bad logical process, your conclusion usually isn't right. That's just how things go. The scientific method, logical principles, and so on aren't random. It is the stuff that works reliably for separating truth from fiction. So when you fail to use it, well your results are probably incorrect.
So yes, just because you are a paranoid, psychotic nut job who thinks there's a conspiracy probably DOES mean there isn't a conspiracy. If you bet against them, you'd make plenty of money.
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So yes, just because you are a paranoid, psychotic nut job who thinks there's a conspiracy probably DOES mean there isn't a conspiracy. If you bet against them, you'd make plenty of money.
Spoken like a true conspirator.
Re: (Score:2)
What does esp have to do with conspiracy? Early 1933 Jewish conspiracy theorists were right. Bernie Madoffs scheme made wall street conspiracy theorists right. In fact conspiracies are uncovered all the time throughout history - Et tu, Brute? So much in fact that most cultures have specific laws to deal with them, ironically labeled 'Conspiracy'.
Just because you prefer to live in your fairytale world where nothing ever goes wrong and are spoon fed sugary truthiness does not make it reality for those of us l
Re:Actually it usually does (Score:5, Insightful)
For one thing, you'll notice that the conspiracy nuts are, well, always wrong. They have an abysmal track record throughout history and in modern times.
That's because they aren't remembered as conspiracy nuts once they prove their case.
And the ones that are nutty get a whole lot more attention.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Another nut job fallacy is.. Absence of evidence is not proof of absence. Well we've all heard that one. In reality absence of evidence is indeed evidence of absence. Is it not that lack of evidence one was at the murder scene is indeed evidence one is not guilty?
Oh and I do love the saying "cor
Re:Actually it usually does (Score:4, Interesting)
Yep. Hit this one on the head.
Something I think the so called "conspiracy theorists are nuts" mentality is hurting is America's ability to accept evidence of boring conspiracies, or to not think much of them when they come out. So-and-so embezzled a million bucks with custom software? Meh. Such-and-such company has been stealing from the population for decades? Meh. The NSA/FBI/ATF/IRS/whatever has been with their funding that's illegal? Meh. Oh, but if there was evidence that the government has puppet Presidents, or something like that... people would be interested.
Re:Actually it usually does (Score:4, Interesting)
For one thing, you'll notice that the conspiracy nuts are, well, always wrong.
That's only because when a conspiracy is proven its no longer considered to be in the realm of "conspiracy nuts."
I'm sure there are hundreds like that, I can think of a few off the top of my head - COINTELPRO, Watergate, Iran-Contra. Tuskegee experiments, Greek Wiretapping Scandal. [ieee.org]
Comment removed (Score:4, Informative)
Public Transport Conspiracy (Score:3, Interesting)
Also don't forget the American streetcar scandal [wikipedia.org], in which several corporations--including GM, Firestone, and Standard Oil (now Chevron [wikipedia.org]/Exxon [wikipedia.org]?)--were convicted in court of conspiracy. Ever wonder why you jump in your 2000+ pound car to travel in the US while pumping out greenhouse emissions, when Europe has trains and trolleys? It's because of a conspiracy.
Also, it could be that the UVB-76 buzzer was designed to make people wonder what it did, to make big goofs write comments on slashdot /*looks at self*/,
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
For one thing, you'll notice that the conspiracy nuts are, well, always wrong.
That is a gross misrepresentation of the truth [newworldorderreport.com].
The other thing is that the people who are in to conspiracies seem to have extremely poor logic skills.
Not as poor as your logic skills:
So yes, just because you are a paranoid, psychotic nut job who thinks there's a conspiracy probably DOES mean there isn't a conspiracy
You appear to assert overall that because some people who think that there are conspiracies are paranoid and/or psychotic (nice ad hominem added on) that everyone who asserts their existence is a "nut job" but the truth is very much the opposite. If you think that numerous conspiracies that affect you are not in progress right now, you are forgetting the lessons of history. Our government has proven vulnerable to conspiracy tim
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Any conspiracy that can be proven is a pretty rubbish conspiracy - it's in their nature that they need to be denyable! :-D
Re:Actually it usually does (Score:5, Insightful)
Has nothing to do with profit motive, just simple statistics. Supposing you could find a place that would give you even money on conspiracy theories, well you'd make a ton betting against them. Reason is because they are wrong all the time. It is just a way to illustrate the extremely bad track record.
One of my favourite recent ones was that the US was cutting communications lines to Iran in preparation for an invasion due to the opening of the Oil Bourse. The media noticed that undersea cables were getting cut and reported on it, without reporting that this happens all the time and there are ships who do nothing but fix cable breaks. The conspiracy theorists on /. came out of the woodwork and said that this was a precursor to attack (the cuts were happening in the Mediterranean) and it was a "sure thing" that the US would invade shortly.
Well, of course, that didn't happen. The cuts were repaired, life went on, and cables continue to get cut by various sources (careless ships, natural phenomena, etc) all the time and the media pays it no mind.
It was a completely ridiculous theory, with no good evidence, yet it was a "fact" to the nuts, until it didn't happen. They of course never came out and admitted error or anything.
So sorry, but you aren't convincing me by making vague references to "disinformation". Simple fact is that conspiracy nuts suck at logic. Their track record is abysmal. Thus, when they make a claim, my default position is to assume it is wrong.
Re:Actually it usually does (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
No, the simple fact is that MOST people suck at logic. When ANYone makes a claim, you should definitely assume it's wrong because most people are complete morons.
You're not helping your case at all; you understand that, right?
Let's test it! (Score:3, Funny)
Mark my words, somebody will click on this link [google.com] and regret it.
Re:Article Quality. (Score:5, Funny)
>but holy-jumping-jeebus can we get an article with some legitimate [CITATION NEEDED] please.
In the 1980s the US was eager to test the resolve of the Soviet's glasnost policy of open relations with the West. A drunken Caspar Weinberger, the current Secretary of Defense, decided to ask the Soviets to work closely with experimental music artist Brian Eno after reading an article about him in the Post. Brian was supplied with the best drugs Iran/Contra could supply. After months of negotiations and late night stoner brain-storming sessions, Brian finally got the approval for his epic 10,000 year song which is to be broadcast by the Russians. The break from today was simply the start of the chorus.
Shortly after the Soviets got revenge by allowing Yakov Smirfnoff passage into the US and then "losing" his paperwork for return.
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Re: (Score:2, Informative)
Sounds a bit like http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/As_Slow_As_Possible [wikipedia.org]
Basically, it is a short piece of music that is to be played as slow as possible. In the church where it is played, it is expected to last more then 600 years. Ironically, it started with a pause of 17 months.
Re:Article Quality. (Score:5, Informative)
They're changing the format (Score:5, Funny)
Russian media says the station is switching to soft rock.
Re:They're changing the format (Score:5, Funny)
UVB-76 AM 4625 THE BUZZ! THE BEST BUZZ ALL THE TIME, SINCE 1982!!!
28 Years is a hell of a long time to be stunting.
Re:They're changing the format (Score:5, Funny)
Russian media says the station is switching to soft rock.
It would be redundant. The uncreative repetition of top 40's these days is no different than "a buzzing sound that lasts 0.8 seconds, pausing for 1–1.3 seconds, and repeating 21–34 times per minute". Mainstream must all wear tinfoil hats, because they already took a page out of UVB-76's book.
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The uncreative repetition of top 40's these days is no different than "a buzzing sound that lasts 0.8 seconds, pausing for 1-1.3 seconds, and repeating 21-34 times per minute".
Yeah, the video for that is *awesome*!
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they're going to make a movie too.
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It's back up (Score:5, Informative)
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My fat fingers, also it's gone again.
Stupid IU!
Re:It's back up (Score:5, Funny)
Its been slashdotted.
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
I just listened to 4625 kHz in Southern Finland with my portable shortwave receiver. I've heard the buzz signal earlier while scanning the frequencies but didn't really pay any attention to it. The signal is still there today, but they might have switched on SSB modulation, since it was much clearer when the radio was in SSB mode.
Boxer Rebellion (Score:3, Funny)
His name was Sock'em Dazer
He took a look around and said...
Where's my Occam's Razor?
Re:Boxer Rebellion (Score:5, Funny)
A week or so after last episode of Lost? (Score:4, Insightful)
At least WWV is still on the air (Score:2)
Re: At least WWV is still on the air (Score:5, Funny)
WWV? Did I miss WWIII and WWIV?
Guess that's what happens when you spend too much time on Slashdot.
Don't worry... (Score:5, Interesting)
FOUR SIX SIX SIX
Plenty of freaky shortwave left...
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Come now, not a single hunk of wire laying around, no gutters, no bedsprings?
Doomsday machine (Score:3, Funny)
[discussing the Doomsday machine]
President Merkin Muffley: How is it possible for this thing to be triggered automatically and at the same time impossible to untrigger?
Dr. Strangelove: Mr. President, it is not only possible, it is essential. That is the whole idea of this machine, you know. Deterrence is the art of producing in the mind of the enemy... the FEAR to attack. And so, because of the automated and irrevocable decision-making process which rules out human meddling, the Doomsday machine is terrifying and simple to understand... and completely credible and convincing.
Listen to the last words transmitted (Score:2, Interesting)
If anyone here can understand German, take a listen and report back what it says!
http://media.abovetopsecret.com/media/6950/UVB-76_06052010_2030_MP3/
Fast-forward to the end... sounds like a news broadcast to me.
Re: (Score:2)
That is why it is from many Catholics ? partially annoying
that next to the main house a chapel of 80 cubic
Tone sounds like normal "BBC/PBS" type German news.
Re: (Score:2)
Holy crap, WTF is that? It's German alright, sounds like a news broadcast, the lady also sounded like a familiar news-reader.
The last sentence says "Because of this, it is especially aggravating for many Catholics that next to the dorm building there is an own chapel with ca. 80 quadrat".
So is
Maybe (Score:5, Funny)
Meanwhile...in no longer Soviet Russia... (Score:2, Funny)
"So we cut the power to that computer over in the corner. What was it doing, no-longer Comrade..."
"I don't know, fellow Capitalist, the guy who put it in drank himself to death"
"Ah, nothing important then I'm sure"
No satellite imagery? (Score:2, Informative)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
it's missing on Google Maps right now... that's actually pretty interesting. I'm not really the conspiracy type but definitely interesting.
Bing has aerial photography that isn't really helpful..
http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v=2&cp=56.082778~37.089444&style=h&lvl=15&sp=Point.56.082778_37.089444_UVB-76___
More sources at http://toolserver.org/~ge [toolserver.org]
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Ionosperic sounder (Score:4, Interesting)
Well, at least this one is still up. . . (Score:4, Funny)
http://www.khaaan.com/ [khaaan.com]
I've lost track; how many years has Kirk been yodeling into the ether like that?
-FL
Oh noes! (Score:2)
It's all Sealab (Score:3, Funny)
Spooky (Score:4, Funny)
This is pretty spooky, I mean the conspiracy theories are kind of warranted considering this station's eerie history.
Someone must have been funding a station that has lasted since 1982 and is powerful to be heard world wide. I have done a little bit of amateur radio and I know that in order to do that you need some serious power, a huge antenna, and quite a bit of constant maintenance. It is definitely not a stretch to think that this station was/is run by the Russian Government as at the very minimum for some sort of testing or maybe as an emergency broadcasting system during a disaster.
However, I really doubt its part of the Dead Hand system. I would think they would use something more secure if the dead hand system was under automatic control. If there is any possibility that it is part of the Dead Hand system than the Dead Hand system is certainly a system that requires some sort of human intervention due to possibilities of interference, false positives, or someone over riding the system to send a the activation codes.
Just my 2 cents, I am certainly no conspiracy theorist but it is always fun to think about the possibilities. There is plenty of stuff that we simply don't know about; however, I do hope that the some of the theories are real because than at least I would know that our government has a high enough level of competence to actually keep fool us in a significant way.
Message finished (Score:3, Funny)
Maybe they finally finished typing out the message in morse code?
I hear the translation was something like:
Hi Mom! The camp counselors insist we learn to use ham radio to communicate with you. Hope this reaches you before you die. Love, Junior.
I hate the editors (Score:4, Funny)
Before I read this, I had no idea this thing existed.
Now, I am consumed with an overwhelming need to discover the reason for this transmission. I will not be able to rest until I have discovered the secret. This transmission is now the most important thing in my life.
DAMN YOU!
Who . . . (Score:2)
Listens to (and often records) these stations non stop to know the 3 or 4 times in 20 years that something actually happened.
"offline" (Score:3, Insightful)
Radio transmitters do not go "offline". They go "off the air".
Re:Heard about this on 4chan (Score:5, Funny)
Heard about this on 4chan's science board
Current events research. Your doing it wrong.
Re:Heard about this on 4chan (Score:5, Funny)
Your doing it wrong.
...
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Re:Heard about this on 4chan (Score:5, Funny)
No, no... that's spelled correctly in the native language of 4chan.
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Transmission at Outpost 79 [youtube.com]
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Don't panic! Don't panic! Fix bayonets!
They don't like it up 'em, you know.
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In Soviet Russia BP oil expertise funds a new communications network for you.
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Except that the light was SpaceX's Falcon 9
http://science.slashdot.org/story/10/06/05/1951233/SpaceXs-Falcon-9-Appears-As-UFO-In-Australia [slashdot.org]
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The flight was only a little over 9min30sec
The flight went into orbit. Maybe the video went that long.
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All your monotonous tones are belong to us
FTFY
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So they waited a full year before sending information about the world trade centers?
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