It’s always interesting to research something that people consider to be a mystery. Maybe you’ll dig up some previously unknown information. Maybe you’ll just learn already-existing information. Well, there’s one thing going on in Russia that many people around the world consider to be odd and maybe even a wee bit concerning.
Ham radio operators and others are baffled by radio signals that, to them anyway, have no rational explanation. I speak specifically of a signal called “The Buzzer,” or more officially, UVB-76, a shortwave radio station that actually transmits on what we would call the AM band. Russians call it “Жужжалка.”
Its original call sign has been studied over and over since its discovery in the 1970’s. No one seems to know where the signal is coming from and no one has come forward with a logical explanation. Thus far, no one has truly figured it out and therein lies the fun if you have the desire, proper location, time and equipment necessary to truly solve this riddle.
One source says that, until 1992, long after the December 26, 1991 end of the Cold War era, the beeping, a series of them, continued. For a long time, the only thing that anyone made of the beeps was that they came in a series of bursts with no rhyme or reason.
Another source claims that the station literally started changing its tune in 1990, which would have made it operational during the Cold War era. I don’t think that that distinction matters, but it is an anecdote at the very least.
Which source is correct? My guess would be the 1990 one, but then again, I have absolutely no education or experience in this area, so I’d have to defer to the multiple sources that tell the same thing a different way.
Clearly, those beeps evolved into buzzing noises that repeated themselves twenty-five times per minute. After that, numerous and anonymous male and female voices made all sorts of mysterious noises, possibly names, numbers or words. The buzzing took on many forms, including differences in pitch or tone.
But there’s more to the story.
Referred to by at least one person as a “Judgement Day Radio” station, a signal, after an apparent period of silence, began broadcasting a signal on May 19th at a time that tellingly coincided with a conversation last week between our nation’s finest president, President Donald Trump, and Russia’s longest-serving president, Vladimir Putin.
The timing was probably just a coincidence, however. But given how many articles about the timing have been published, it’s clearly a matter of whatever it takes for some people to get those precious clicks.
The station, thought to be around 18 miles away from Moscow, is a holdout from the Cold War era, but might have present-day purposes. A post on the Hal Turner Radio Show‘s website, authored last month, reported that the station “barely” transmits.
And then came the meeting between quite possibly the two most influential world leaders ever. But none of this answers the question: just where in the hell is the transmitter located? Is that where we can find the source of it all? Sure, but we have to find the damn thing first!
One source places its location near and between Saint Petersburg and Moscow, allegedly transmitting from the former. There’s no way to independently verify the accuracy of that information however.
The station is also referred to “Dead Hand Radio,” a nod to a system that originated during the Cold War that allows Russian’s nuclear assets to launch even if neither their military nor Putin are alive to give those orders. Silence for a certain time frame would, under this scenario, result in ICBMs to automatically launch, perhaps in our precise direction.
Numerous sources, both reliable and unreliable, all seem to agree on one thing: the station is almost certainly part of the Operation Dead Hand scenario. If that’s true, then we’re all in trouble if Putin wakes up one morning and feels the need to end life as we know it.
By the way, if you don’t think that Russia has numerous missiles pointed precisely at us, you’re, to be polite, naive. But then again, we have many pointed directly at them, which is why neither one of us really wants to launch, but that’s another article for another time.
I have a background in both radio and television broadcasting, so this story has intrigued me for some time. I was just never motivated enough to write an article about it until someone thought they connected the dots on that whole happening while Trump and Putin were talking thing.
Will we ever find the true source of the station? Will we ever understand what the hell they’re saying and what their intent is? Maybe, maybe not. Thus far, people have thought that they tracked it down, only to discover that their information is, at best, outdated.
And that’s what Russia seemingly wants to have happen: a disturbing game of cat and mouse. But is the reward worth the risk? Maybe the Russian government wants to disappear anyone who’s curious enough to try to pay the station a little visit.
After all, Russia is not the United States. Their government, without a second thought, disposes of question-askers and would-be tourists. Here in the United States, it is quite easy to find a broadcast signal, even a signal from the least skilled ham radio operator. If this station were in the United States, the mystery would have been solved decades ago.
This station is concerning, but there’s no need to run to your bunkers. This is nothing to be terrified about. Sooner or later, all will be revealed and that’s all we need to know.
With things going the way they are between the United States and Russia, we might find out sooner rather than later what the true purpose of UVB-76 is, so hold on to your lily White butts.