Number Stations

Spending one of my usual days off stumbling the internet to find anything interesting, I came across something I've never heard of before...

Apparently there's been a great mystery spanning across the world that started during the tension-filled months following World War II. Hidden in the seldom-used static of short-wave radio, something called "number stations" have been broadcasting unknown messages to unknown recipients- no one knows who is generating these waves, why they are sending them, or whom they are meant for. Many speculate that they are government-encoded messages sent out by the military of each major country around the globe to relay secret information or instructions to military personnel or even spies.

One of the most fascinating of these stations is the Russian UVB-76, or The Buzzer, as it's been called by researchers. Apparently, this station has been broadcasting a monotonous buzzing sound 24 hours a day, 7 days a week since 1982, only breaking this pattern 7 known times over it's 29 year run to give a short message in Russian- usually listing numbers or unknown names. Major speculation has surrounded this station in particular since it's discovery, and has been thought to be everything from a Russian weather monitor, to a nuclear weapons robot that was set up during the cold war- armed to launch Russia's entire nuclear arsenal at the United States with just a single signal...

Here are a few creepy clips of number stations that have been recorded over the years through the Conet Project..

And this one is of the infamous UVB-76...

If you're interested, there is a blog set up to monitor UVB-76 for free on the internet at http://uvb-76.net/.

Keep it cryptic!
-Shawn

Are You Afraid of the Dark?

          Being a 90's kid myself, Nickelodeon's recent decision to bring back its shows from the 90's in a new block called "The 90's are All That" on their Teen Nick network was possibly the greatest news that I've heard in a long time. The internet has been abuzz with petitions and Facebook groups begging the kids' station to bring back all of these programs since the day they were cancelled. Momentum has grown over the years and it seems that the channel's executives have finally heard the calls from thousands of fans: "bring back the 90's!"

     Well, you're probably wondering why I'm posting this on Cryptic Happenings. No, it's not just me gushing over the fact that we'll all get to have Clarissa explain "it all" to us again (while battling her evil, ginger brother of course), or that we'll get to see Doug chase after his beloved Patty Mayonnaise, or even that we'll find out how much Kel actually loves orange soda... On second thought, yeah, I am sort of gushing, but the main point in me even bringing this all up is because Nickelodeon has also said that it will be focusing on bringing back almost all of its classic favorites including "Are You Afraid of the Dark". Who can't recall that creepy show opening that terrified us all as kids, or the weird sand stuff they would throw into the campfire while telling the night's scary story, or even better yet, the infamous clown episode? 

       Sure, the acting on the show was horrendous and the effects were completely laughable, but as a kid, even I have to admit that show used to scare the hell out of me.


    Nickelodeon has yet to comment on when they will be airing this and many of our other classic favorites, but for now we'll just have to sit back on the orange couch with a bottle of orange soda and enjoy reruns of "Doug", "All That", "Clarissa Explains it All", and "Kenan and Kel". You can catch them all weeknights on Teen Nick @ Midnight EST.








Keep it Cryptic!
-Shawn

An Evil Night Together..

There's just something about Jill Tracy's music that I can't even begin to explain... I would even go as far as to say it's... cryptic? ;)



-Shawn

Creepy Vintage Photography

Anyone else find old pictures to be strange, bizarre, or just plain... cryptic?  Sure, you probably won't find any of these laying around in grammy's attic, but hey... someone did.

We're Baaaaa-aaaack

Sadly, posts have been slow lately here at Cryptic Happenings, but I plan on changing this very soon... Stay tuned for new surprises coming in the next few days...

Keep it cryptic!

-Shawn