The Radio Buzz

The buzzer is a mysterious radio station that has been broadcasting a monotone droning sound for over 50 years. Tune in to the 4625 kHz shortwave dial and you’ll hear a strange, repetitive sound. It’s often referred to as “UVB-76,” but to its dedicated listeners, it’s known as “The Buzzer.” The buzzer has been broadcasting for over 50 years, but no one knows who’s broadcasting it, why they’re broadcasting it, or what their purpose is. The buzzing is sometimes accompanied by a voice speaking Russian. Ryan Schaum, a hobbyist radio enthusiast, runs one of the many websites dedicated to this phenomenon. He says, “What initially got me interested in The Buzzer was the mystery of who was broadcasting it, why it was broadcast, and what purpose it could have. I got so caught up in it that I just kept looking for more information, hoping to find a rational explanation.”

The Buzzer has been the subject of intense speculation on the internet, with many people, including Ryan, believing it has something to do with nuclear weapons. The buzzer is believed to be a part of a system known as the "Dead Hand" station, which is part of the "Mutually Assured Destruction" (MAD) policy. If all sides know that a nuclear war cannot be won, no one will initiate one. The buzzer has been traced back to Russia, and it could be a communication device, a way to communicate with submarines, or a way for spies to communicate with the military. The buzzer stopped working in 2010. Let's take a look at the Buzzer's history and see if it has another disturbing purpose. Tim McMillan is a military expert who has studied The Buzzer and its history.

Fortunately, there were no missiles launched from the buzzer, and there was no sign of an apocalypse. This suggests that the buzzer is most likely not connected to any nuclear detonation devices. When I first learned about the buzzer, I thought it must be used to communicate with submarines deep in the ocean. But that requires very low frequency transmission. Extreme low frequency waves, or ELF, can penetrate ocean water hundreds of meters deep, and at these frequencies the signal does not degrade due to atmospheric conditions or ocean depth. Kaku believes that the buzzer works at much higher frequencies, so he believes it is being used to communicate with people on land but at a large distance. You may be asking yourself, "Why don't the Russians just use the internet?" Well, the answer is security. That's why you want to use Over-the-Horizon radio for certain kinds of sensitive communications. Shortwave radio is extremely effective at sending messages beyond the line of sight. These messages bounce off of the ionosphere and then return down to Earth.

So you could be sending messages across continents. According to Gottesman, these regular bursts of noise are "static buzzing," saturating the shortwave channel so that no one else can compete with them. Gottesman believes that by claiming this frequency, Russia can use it as a numbers station at any time. It is believed that other nations, including the United States, have used numbers stations as a means of espionage. If this is an ancient form of espionage, it is still effective. Why would they continue to use this frequency today? It forces adversaries to listen in. It forces them to decipher a code that they may not even be using. Who knows what else is out there?

This leaves us with mixed feelings. We know for a fact that it’s a Russian numerical station, but we don’t know what message it’s sending, where it’s currently broadcasting from, if it’s just a bluff, or if this is a real frequency. For now, we’ll just have to wait and listen for the next big hint.