Story by Mark Newton on the Movieplot website about our HF numbers station. As usual some of it is incorrect. For instance:
"What do the 'The Lincolnshire Poacher,' 'The Buzzer,' 'Cherry Ripe,' 'Wop Wop,' 'Three Day Mystery' and 'The Workshop' all have in common?
"Well, if you immediately know the answer to that question, you're either a shortwave radio enthusiast or a spy.
"All of these are the nicknames of some of the dozens of bizarre number stations which appear from time-to-time on shortwave radio frequencies. No one officially knows where they come from because no one officially takes responsibility for the often strange, repetitive and, admittedly, creepy broadcasts.
Well some of the numbers broadcasts from the past have been IDed positively as spy numbers station thanks to several public trials of spies and court transcripts. Some of the numbers have also been tied up with known military activity (e.g. Russian Air Defense, Russian and Chinese military, etc). One series of numbers was identified as a message conduit to U.S. Drug agents in Latin and South America.
"Due to official denial that number stations even exist, no one has actually come forward to explain their use. Despite this, a number of assumptions can be made."
Again as I mentioned above, not quite true. But admittedly some still transmitting today are still unknown for who uses them and what they are used for.
You can click here for the complete story.
