S5 E25: The Number Stations

The air around us hums with voices we’re not meant to hear. For decades, strange radio signals have slipped through the static—buzzing tones, eerie music, and robotic voices reciting endless strings of numbers. They’re called numbers stations, and they may be the creepiest reminder that the Cold War never really ended.

From Russia’s infamous UVB-76 “Buzzer” to the haunting Swedish Rhapsody music box, from Cuba’s Atención broadcast that landed spies in a U.S. courtroom, to an unplugged RAF radio that still plays Winston Churchill speeches—these transmissions blur the line between espionage, folklore, and the paranormal.

This week, we’ll tune in to:

• The relentless drone of UVB-76, the Russian “doomsday buzzer.”

• The Lincolnshire Poacher and its cheery folk song masking coded messages.

• The nightmare fuel of Swedish Rhapsody and its childlike voice.

• The bizarre Yosemite Sam broadcast from the New Mexico desert.

• Atención—a numbers station that became hard evidence in a federal espionage trial.

• Old Tape and other hijacks that feel more urban legend than spycraft.

• The haunted radio of RAF Montrose, still whispering from beyond the grave.

• The Russian Woodpecker, a Cold War radar array that spawned mind-control conspiracies.

We’ll explore:

• Why spies still use shortwave radio in the internet age.

• How secret codes become modern folklore.

• And why listeners can’t shake the feeling that someone, somewhere, is on the other end.

Join us as we dive into the secret world of numbers stations—equal parts spy story, ghost story, and conspiracy theory.

Stay strange. Be Rad.

Got a theory or spooky radio story of your own? Send it our way—we’d love to feature it.

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