These Unidentified HOAX Shortwave Numbers Stations Were Terrifying!

[@JesusIced]

this is the best channel on youtube, period. its like mystery stories channels but these mysteries are real and everyone with antenna and sdr can immerse into this. and the pirate radio stories, the technical side, well, everything. thank you, man!

[@mbenn8168]

I don't have any listening gear but I find this channel completely engrossing. Like a little peek into the cold war, spies, weirdos and so on. Nice one.

[@metrotek5]

FR

[@timothythompson3029]

😮😅​@@mbenn8168

[@SsnakeBite]

Can't believe even numbers stations have shitposters.

[@billywiththebulgingbaloonb5105]

That fake number station with the Hispanic guy having a Tourettes episode is hilarious.

[@UD503J]

"Eat me! Eat me!"

[@matambale]

That final track sounds like a mix of very-slowed-down-music from the movie "Forbidden Planet" and German numbers taken from Kraftwerk's track called "Numbers" on the disc "Computer World". While Kraftwerk used a particular and popular voice chip, the inflections in the number pronunciation, pitches, reverb and rhythms were of their own....craftsmanship.

[@raymondmartin6737]

Das is Richtig, mein Herr. 😅

[@raymondmartin6737]

Drop the Chalupa! 😅

[@raymondmartin6737]

The Voice of Laryngitis went off when the transmitter went to an ENT doctor. 😅

[@InfiniteRhombus]

the noises before the numbers sound like the sounds at the beginning of the track "electric cafe"

[@RCAvhstape]

Yes, now that you mention it, the footsteps of the id monster.

[@daveh7720]

The last station gives me the same feeling of eerieness that I got from listening to Dad's shortwave radio when I was a kid in the 1960s. The drones, squeals, thumps, clicks, and alien voices (SSB on an AM receiver) in between the normal-sounding AM broadcasters gave me the feeling that "there's something out there." So of course I got a ham radio license. I wanted to be part of that something.

[@Kq4hcuDan]

😂ikr 73, kq4hcu

[@taschenrechner]

The last one, the gong and chimes one, the numbers in German sound like the German counting in the Kraftwerk song "Numbers" / "Nummern".

[@Cstoney420]

I love all these videos and you are one of the reasons i have gotten into amature radio and history of pirate radio stations ect

[@Maschine103]

Good to hear some Kraftwerk 😊

[@hogfishmaximussailing5208]

Number Stations,,,,,,,,Non Stop!

[@explorer914]

Numbers non stop. Agent pop! 😊😊

[@technoman9000]

Radio activity in the air for you and me

[@s90210h]

she's a 10 and she's looking good i'd like to hone her beacon that is understood

[@hogfishmaximussailing5208]

@@s90210h for beauty we will pay!

[@aarong9378]

These recordings make me want to make my own fake numbers station. Let's see... I have my old speech synthesizer for my TI-99/4a... let's do this! :D

[@pauljs75]

Also it's super easy-peasy to do in VCV Rack using a modern computer.

[@RCAvhstape]

You just need a transmitter and a way to avoid getting caught and sent to jail.

[@pauljs75]

@@RCAvhstape I'd guess staying mobile would be it. Or even funnier yet, put up the needed gear on a weather balloon that can stay aloft for a week or so.

[@nigehomer9744]

@aarong9378 There is a numbers station project for the raspberry pi zero. Think it only works on FM though.

[@TeaBeeAdventures]

YES! Number stations are getting creepier!!! YESSSSSS!! I love this shit. Question, if I just want to hear number stations in real time, able to explore the different frequencies, what's the minimum hardware I need? Will I need a huge antenna just to pick them up properly? I don't need to broadcast, I just want to be able to freely explore.

[@frazerguest2864]

I believe that there is an online ‘digital’ radio frequency tuner website. You can also find information relating to the frequency of know numbers stations, along with the time such frequencies are due to broadcast

[@dirtbagdeacon]

The Bangalore Poacher one cracks me up. Probably some guy in the GTA having some fun. 🍁😁

[@mikeburch2998]

The video title doesn't lie. I walked away terrified. No sleep tonight for this guy. 🙂 Greetings from Arizona.

[@Zapruderfilm1963]

That sounds like a combination of the East German Gong station and electronic music pioneer’s Kraftwerk with their song “ Numbers “

[@ifiwereme]

The Mexican food number station made me bust out laughing! And I became a member! Thanks for the great content!❤

[@ljubomirculibrk4097]

And these radio emitions are spreading thru the universe representing us all, no wonder no one wants to come 😂

[@armisis]

Brilliant we should be scary

[@JK-gm6kk]

@ljubomirculibrk4097 I think I'm detecting deliberate usage of the words "spreading" and "come". Well done

[@JK-gm6kk]

@@ljubomirculibrk4097 radio ejaculations, one might say

[@CaritasGothKaraoke]

Yeah, they’re this clear here, imagine the signal quality at Beta Eridani

[@SynFuZe]

@@CaritasGothKaraoke They would be far less clear the farther away you are.

[@markt.3454]

I love stuff like this! Motivates me to get on the radio and listen.

[@JK-gm6kk]

OOOOOOORGASM

[@frankchan4272]

The predecessor to pornhub.🤣

[@KeystoneInvestigations]

No help from my wife in that area! ☹

[@JK-gm6kk]

@@KeystoneInvestigations do you know what her preferred "love language" is? If you're being serious there's some books out there built on this premise, that seems to have helped thousands of couples out tremendously. Might be worth checking out

[@jacktlee34]

death grips reference

[@Dwigt_Rortugal]

It's also awkward that it's a guy poorly speaking in a falsetto voice.. 😂

[@devineleven514]

Number stations are so interesting to me. I just find it so cool how all of this has the creep vibe attached to it without even trying. CB AM UHF is something i should have gotten into because it goes hard as fuck

[@midlander4]

Kraftwerk and Steely Dan in a Ringway video. The perfect trifecta

[@davidsandy5917]

This reminds me of something I used to do when I lived overseas. I knew my communications were being intercepted. I took a page of random numbers from the CRC mathematical handbook and faxed it back to the U.S. There are probable code breakers to this day trying to figure out my communications.

[@s90210h]

The last bit sounds a bit like Delia Derbyshire's music and a German Speak n Spell. Specifically reminded me of her track "Falling", from The Dreams (1964)

[@homeonegreen9]

The song at 14:06 is a US Civil War song called "The New York Volunteer." Tennessee Ernie Ford has a good recording of it.

[@davidkgame]

It's an old English folk tune, called "The Lincolnshire Poacher" - hence the name of the station. The Yanks stole the tune for the Civil Disagreement song. Much like your Graduaion song is actually our National Anthem :D

[@oogami256]

@@davidkgame Actually, the piece we typically use for University graduations is a looped excerpt from Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance No 1, not God Save the King. We did rip that off, though simply to reset it as a patriotic song for reasons I still cannot fathom.

[@matambale]

I must be really, really tough, Lewis. I felt no fear, but did get this sudden inexplicable urge to listen to Kraftwerk.

[@ardeladimwit]

speaking of Rabbit Holes--there is one over in Manchester. laughing fit to cry... especially the Gongs and Chimes parody. If you mixed the Gongs and chimes with Attenttion-69 that would be perfect. Makes a person want to go out and do something in your wacky radio world. Thanks for the entertainment.

[@Hi-lb8cq]

Bro...i absolutely love your channel...thank u for the interesting and sometimes spooky videos...very very cool

[@bwest6275]

The closing audio is so eerie...LOVE IT! 👌

[@nigehomer9744]

The Gongs and Chimes parody is using samples from Numbers by Kraftwerk.

[@TheTechPianoPlayerKid]

I speak German fluently myself. Even that voice was creepy, along with that music. However, the one video where you showed the atom alarm, where it said, “Würstchen Alpha, hier ist Würstchen alpha eins. Atomalarm, Atomalarm” was strange, but also kind of funny. It just, didn’t really make sense. Then again, many shortwave transmissions out there.

[@RingwayManchester]

Cheers!

[@minibikemadman]

You need to check out the K1MAN story...crazy dude outta maine.

[@wes11bravo]

Wasn't there some French Canadian guy who used to broadcast on 20m, swearing and arguing with people for hours?

[@TheMajkla]

The number station with goat sounds probably worked on behalf of Taliban 😅

[@thehappywanker4298]

Or Goat Molester Radio on 43 m of late😂

[@wes11bravo]

Somehow, the "on-purpose" creepy numbers stations aren't as creepy as those stations that are creepy accidentally...

[@nhoquee]

The last one looks like the mashup of numbers by kraftwerk and the music kraftwerk plays before their shows begin, i loved it!

[@Spee2k12]

ooh more strange signals, I love your channel! Keep them coming!

[@gerardouribe9939]

Exelente tu canal!!! Felicitaciones!!!

[@RogueError617]

The 1st/last one is awesome! The TTS voice is the same one used in Numbers by Kraftwork. As for the tones in the background, it sounds like a preset from one of waves synth vst's. It's either from Flowmotion or Codex.

[@RogueError617]

forgot to clarify in Numbers, It's the TTS voice reading the German numbers.

[@pogue972]

I read in an article that Russian forces in Ukraine still use Morse code over open & unencrypted wireless radio. I don't know if you could physically pick that up without a huge antenna but that might make for an interesting video

[@DJ_Cthulhu]

Shocking lack of security! They should at least be using ROT13 🙄

[@tr606]

The gongs and chimes is heavily influenced by Kraftwerk. The DVD of the live concert Minimum - Maximum plays a sound very similar to this during the DVD menu. It's a slowed down version of the sound from the menu minus the speech synthesizer. The speech synthesizer is also the one Kraftwerk used on the song "Numbers"

[@michaeltaylor8835]

The music box is creepy

[@That_song_in_my_head]

8:30 - Sounded French to me, apart from a possible "ok" near the start

[@w8natshenanigans705]

If you have been to a live Kraftwerk concert in the last 20 years or so, the weird tones in that last station match what comes out of their PA for several minutes before they take the stage. The spoken numbers are one of the computer voices that opens their song "Numbers". Based on that, the station was probably put together by a Kraftwerk fan.

[@simontemplar0468]

Hi Lewis, good stuff as always. Thank you 😊

[@RA-ATUM]

Excellent work as usual!

[@StalinTheMan0fSteel]

Brother Stair looks like Alec Guinness as Obi Won Kenobi.

[@hanginlaundry360]

Evil pervert he was.

[@wisteela]

I like how someone did a parody of a parody.

[@raymondmartin6737]

Brother Stair was a really winner 🏆, with serial assault charges against him in the past in South Carolina. 😅

[@68hoffman]

i live about 10 minutes from east st.louis :) all on the iillinois side of the river :)

[@antongromek4180]

"Wir fahr'n fahr'n fahr'n auf der Autobahn..."

[@evyatarmery9688]

Every time you upload a video on number station I firstly pull the like button and then watch the video😂

[@IndependentNewsMedia]

Nice overview, God bless.

[@thehappywanker4298]

Of late we have had a Hawaiian numbers station running on 43 m. Nice to see your covering some North American content. Thx THW

[@gnlimber]

I wonder if drug cartels would ever utilize this kind of communication?

[@jaymzx0]

6:52 "Depressing philosophical discussions" Sounds like most of the religious programming already out there.

[@robertgreen7593]

That last one would be good for a Halloween episode

[@BarneySaysHi]

The gongs and chimes reminds me of Forbidden Planet!

[@Milcom34]

Thanks RM. Another Video Full of Great Information and Secrets**** Take Care.

[@Seasonstobecheerful]

Dada number stations are audio gold ..love it

[@ShawnTewes]

As several people already pointed out, the last example uses the synthetic speech from Kraftwerk's "Numbers". However, the tones in the background also come from Kraftwerk. They can be heard on various bootleg recordings of some of their live concerts from the 2000s (example: v=LDfTrAhdvGE ) during the show pre-intro as filler sound used for ambiance. And as someone else mentioned, it can also be heard on the Minimum-Maximum DVD in the menus. And as a bonus, their old website played the tones on the landing page, but sped up quite a bit.

[@daveirwin6903]

The idea of a numbers station using Roman numerals made me laugh out loud 🤣

[@craww1990]

giving me the spookies before my bedtime hell yeah. Gonna bash a load of cheese too and have cool alien dreams.

[@danielsoderstedt1941]

The voice reading numbers on the last station are samples from the Kraftwerk song "numbers"

[@jeffk7734]

Back in 2006, I caught the very end of a number station in SSB that appeared to be live. I heard somewhere that many of these strange number stations are connected with drug smuggling and other illegal activity?

[@JK-gm6kk]

@jeffk7734 espionage has always been the main thing I heard for numbers stations that only go to plain text with the one time pad of the person receiving the message. I haven't ever heard drug trafficking, and while I wouldn't be terribly surprised, most of these guys probably have pgp set up for them

[@johnnorth9355]

The present day equivalent ? High power stations with beam antennas shouting 59 continuously ? They seem to proliferate mainly at weekends 73 .

[@showbizsam4440]

That one with the Mexican food is interesting. Actually reminds me of one that somehow made its way on to the FM band, with the message, "Pizza Hut / Pizza Hut / Kentucky Fried Chicken /Pizza Hut."

[@vvvovez]

There are so many interesting things to listen to on the radio. It's a pity that I can't listen to the radio because I live in a multi-story panel house.

[@hogfishmaximussailing5208]

That should not keep you from listening in the least. Why do you think you cant put up a hidden antenna and listen?

[@ladymunch0]

what a bummer! You put the decrypted sentences on screen without reading them aloud. I can't see the screen as I am totally blind, which means I am left out. I would really appreciate it if you could bear this in mind for future videos, and put any onscreen text into the comments or description fields. TIA

[@animekitten321]

that opener just sounds like someone left their og xbox running

[@richardsanders4624]

Excellent, Thank You 👍

[@The_Kiosk]

Attention 69 sounds like Tourette's Guy.😂

[@CharlesFVincent]

The Poacher parody sounds like the numbers are sampled from TV ads in the Toronto area.

[@Marcus-p5i5s]

My son, who is a USN nuc told me it's nothing to worry about.

[@jjhendo]

Kraftwerk ~ Numbers (station)

[@mistress_remilia]

The last one's tones are the sounds that Kraftwerk use as the opening of their live concerts, before the music starts. I've heard that same sound when I went to one of their concerts, as well as on a bootleg of one of their concerts. The numbers themselves sound sampled from the track "Numbers". Actually, the audio might be samples entirely from the same bootleg recording of a concert I have XD

[@vrpansy]

i love the number station with the music box thats so creepy

[@dafoex]

The midi music station you mention makes me think, I'd assume it'd be trivial to use some degital mode to send midi control messages over the radio, have people recieve the Ikea equivalent of music to play on their own devices. Not that you'd catch me playing pirate music like that, but it'd be interesting to know how well it works.

[@sarag1158]

I'm inspired. I now must create a numbers parody station.

[@ThunderWarrior01]

Thank you for this information 🙌

[@diogeneslantern18]

At the beginning of the Ukrainian war I would go onto a Web based SDR (I hope I'm using the right terminology here as I'm not a radiohead) - and I came across some Asian station that might have been from Pyongyang - the music had this nightmarish surreal, distorted, potemkin village false upbeat sense to it. Your intro reminded me of that now

[@jamesa2961]

I wished I could afford to do more. But awesome video dude

[@drakegypsy5151]

touching in again about the 'cousin of the buzzer' freq. on 8365 kHz USB the same tone can be heard on 4365 & 6365 kHz, same mode, and can be heard at certain times of the day intermittently (used the twente sdr to listen in) little to no info is out on it, i would love to see the community find out more of what it is cheers mate

[@SkinwalkerFarm]

In the 80s when I was at secondary school my mate and neighbors Dad used to park his Artic cab outside their house and we would hide in the cab trolling and abusing CB radio users, who took it seriously enough to drive around hunting us

[@bremnersghost948]

Before the Dark Web it was SW that carried the Dark stuff ;-)

[@lucibelle]

The music box at 8:15 is playing Edelweiss.

[@Kristopher342]

Time to fire up my old valve turn dial radio, used to hear some weird crap on that classic piece .

[@phetes810]

That American broadcast where you can't understand the phrase sounds to me like it's playing backwards

[@hogfishmaximussailing5208]

Thats some Kraftwork mix in there somewhere, or at least thats what it sounds like to me

[@explorer914]

Yep it was definitely snippets from the song Numbers. 😊

[@cdorcey1735]

Curious, sure. But "Terrifying"? I'm not the least bit worried. Maybe ya' had to be there?

[@JoLiKMC]

Yooo, I wanna know more about that MIDI Radio station. That honestly seems like the kind of thing I'd do if I had the equipment. (Though, maybe I'd do CMF Radio, instead…)

[@gaelrodregez321]

3:54💀 WHAT IN THE WORLD I THOUGHT THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THIS SCARY BUT OH MY GOD!!!

[@mhoyle95]

Bro what is the intro recoding? sounds like the best ambient album ever created

[@SybilKibble]

15:16 is straight outta this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qGjQmouieJV2ldU It's the Golf Tip guy from the "cursed" Gold Tip number, which was nothing but a test recording from the number's former owner left behind because he did not pay his bill.

[@maxelldenomie6131]

Shortwave, huh? I'll get one.

[@CaptainCalculus]

8:40...sounds like it's back masked. Try playing backwards.

[@IRL_NEO]

one day i hope to make a pirate station that has its own story like podcast to listen to, next to numbers when " not operating"

[@dereknorry410]

Visit Stafford before it closes completely !

[@DuffyLaudick]

The end music is similar to the soundtrack for Forbidden Planet.

[@marcovL1970]

The last numbers count in German is from a album from Kraftwerk

[@SwagRum76_]

I'd like to hear more numbers stations with swear words in them.

[@JK-gm6kk]

@SwagRum76_ while it is hilarious, I'm surprised the main MO isn't just plain jain transmissions. To draw as little attention outside the recipients as possible

[@slayparty]

atención 69 sounded like a south park bit

[@HorribleHarry]

KRAFTWERK!