From:
[email protected] (Havana - Moon)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,alt.conspiracy
Subject: Re: Spanish Five Digit Groups
Date: 26 May 91 00:35:27 GMT
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
In response to a recent question about Numbers Stations,
their origin and purpose, the following information should
be of interest. This article was initially written about
two years ago - with the massive changes in Eastern Europe,
one would think the broadcasts would have diminished. No
such luck. Certain of the transmissions have ceased, that's
true - but many others continue, and new ones continue to
appear. An ongoing mystery, to be sure.
----------
"Spy Numbers Transmissions" are a shortwave oddity which have
been around for the last 25 years. They are commonly heard
in English, German, Spanish and the Slavic languages and take
the form of four and five digit groups of numbers which are
preceded by a three digit "identifier" and "group count".
They are generally broadcast by a mechanical-sounding female
voice, although Morse code (CW) "cut number" transmissions
are also frequently reported. Several distinctly different
transmission formats have been noted.
The "who" and "why" aspects of these transmissions are,
for the most part, unknown. Their mysterious nature has
resulted in their common characterization as 'spy' trans-
missions. Information on the "where" aspects below.
The spy theory has been enhanced over the years by the FCC's
inconsistent position in response to numerous inquiries by
the Shortwave Listening community.
If you've never heard a numbers transmission, tune your
radio to 11468 kHz any Saturday at 4pm EST (2100 UTC).
You'll almost certainly hear a 'classic' numbers transmission
which will run from 15-30 minutes. The signal from this
Saturday transmission is very powerful and can be heard
across the United States.
In regards the "where" - a number of sites have been identified
in recent years, notably in Warrenton and Remington, VA and
Miami, FL. In addition, with the aid of sophisticated RDF
(radio direction finding) equipment and the invaluable assist-
ance of highly authoritative and professional resources, three
new transmission sites have been positively identified in recent
weeks. They include the following:
1. A five-digit Spanish station on 6577 kHz has been traced to
a site near Jinotega, Nicaragua. This station has been
creating interference on this frequency which is allocated
to air-to-ground communications for international airliners
in the busy Caribbean sector.
2. A five-digit Spanish station on 3927 kHz has been located
approximately 15 miles SW of Havana near Guineo, Cuba.
3. A five-digit CW station on 3690 kHz has also been traced
to Guineo, Cuba.
Another government source believes Guineo to be a major trans-
mitter site used by DGI (Cuban Intelligence).
Finally, there has been wide speculation that these transmissions
are messages which are meant to be decoded using a 'one-time-
pad' -- If that is the case, it's very curious to note that
the same five digit groups are oftentimes seen to repeat over and
again in the same crypt -- and that the very same transmissions
are seen to repeat from week to week, and from month to month -
so often, in fact, that tape breaks are sometimes noted! When
spliced back together, the 'sloppy' handling sometimes results
in truncated 5-digit groups - the end result being a mixture of
4 and 5-digit groups in the very same transmission!
These facts would tend to point one away from the one-time-pad
concept and support a couple of other theories - suggesting that
the numbers are NOT a cipher, but rather a code unto themselves,
and that much of this traffic is 'dummy' in nature - broadcast
simply to keep a frequency open over a long period of time.
In addition, most five-digit Spanish numbers transmissions are
very badly over-modulated, resulting in numerous spurs up and
down frequency. When broadcast under such conditions, the
numbers (6) seis and (7) siete are almost indistinguishable,
making it impossible to copy a crypt without numerous errors.
It is worth noting that the four-digit Spanish and English
transmissions do not reflect this same technical ineptitude.
There are a number of reference materials available which provide
detailed information about cryptography and cryptanalysis, in
general, and numbers crypts, specifically. I'd be happy to provide
anyone interested with a list of books.
Only two publications I know of are currently available which
provide regular coverage of numbers, clandestine, pirate and
other interesting transmissions. The ACE Bulletin (monthly news-
letter of the Association of Clandestine Enthusiasts - PO Box
11201, Department KK, Shawnee Mission, KS 66207) and The Numbers
Factsheet - PO Box 149, Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510, of which I
am the Executive Editor. Sample edition of The ACE is $2.00,
annual dues $18.00; sample edition of The Numbers Factsheet is
$6.00, annual subscription is $20.00
For those of you with access to shortwave - I'll be doing another
live interview on this topic - among others - next Saturday night
on Radio Free New York - 7520 kHz at 11pm Eastern.
Havana Moon
__________________________________________________________________________
| |
| HAVANA MOON |
[email protected] |
| The Numbers Factsheet | ...!sun!portal!cup.portal.com!HAVANAMOON |
| PO Box 149 | HAVANA.MOON (GEnie) |
| Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510 | 1:272/39 (FidoNet) |
|__________________________________________________________________________|
