[Atompunk] Conet Numbers Project

[Ross Payton]

I am definitely a fan of the Conet Project. I run a RPG podcast, Role
Playing Public Radio and I got Irdial's permission to use the Conet Project
as intro and outro 'music' for the October episodes (all which related to
Halloween and horror) I also used them in a horror game I ran. The
characters listened to them while undergoing a ritual to go back in time.

Episode 22:
http://slangdesign.com/rppr/2008/10/podcast-episode/rppr-episode-22-get-your-fear-on/
Episode 23:
http://slangdesign.com/rppr/2008/10/podcast-episode/rppr-episode-23-halloween-tricks-and-treats/
The RPG session:
http://slangdesign.com/rppr/2008/10/actual-play/in-case-you-missed-it-fear-itself-actual-play/

On Wed, Dec 24, 2008 at 5:28 AM, Adam Rothstein <adam.rothstein at gmail.com>wrote:

> I just listened to a bit more of this today--quite haunting really.  Did
> somebody mention this early on in the list?  I seem to hear mention of it
> come up every once in a while among parties interested in the arcane and
> uncanny, so my memory fails.  Anyway... for those who haven't had the
> pleasure, The Conet Numbers Project:
>
> "Numbers stations are shortwave radio stations of uncertain origin. They
> generally broadcast voices reading streams of numbers, words, letters
> (sometimes using a spelling alphabet), tunes or Morse code. The voices that
> can be heard on these stations are often mechanically generated. They are in
> a wide variety of languages, and the voices are usually women's, though
> sometimes men's or children's voices are used. Evidence supports popular
> assumptions that the broadcasts are channels of communication used to send
> messages to spies. This has not been publicly acknowledged by any government
> that may operate a numbers station, but in one case, Cuban numbers station
> espionage has been publicly prosecuted in a United States federal court.
> Numbers stations appear and disappear over time (although some follow
> regular schedules), and their overall activity has increased slightly since
> the early 1990s. This increase suggests that, as spy-related phenomena, they
> were not unique to the Cold War.
>
> According to the notes of The Conet Project, numbers stations have been
> reported since World War I. If accurate, this would make numbers stations
> among the earliest radio broadcasts. It has long been speculated, and was
> argued in court in one case, that these stations operate as a simple and
> foolproof method for government agencies to communicate with spies working
> undercover. According to this theory, the messages are encrypted with a
> one-time pad, to avoid any risk of decryption by the enemy.
>
> High frequency radio signals transmitted at relatively low power can travel
> around the world under ideal propagation conditions, which are affected by
> local RF noise levels, weather, season, and sunspots, and can then be
> received with a properly tuned antenna of adequate size, and a superb
> receiver. However, spies often have to work only with available hand held
> receivers, sometimes under difficult local conditions, and in all seasons
> and sunspot cycles. Only very large transmitters, perhaps up to 500,000
> watts, are guaranteed to get through to nearly any basement-dwelling spy,
> nearly any place on earth, nearly all of the time. Some governments may not
> need a numbers station with global coverage if they only send spies to
> nearby countries.
>
> Although no broadcaster or government has acknowledged transmitting the
> numbers, a 1998 article in The Daily Telegraph quoted a spokesperson for the
> Department of Trade and Industry (the government department that, at that
> time, regulated radio broadcasting in the United Kingdom) as saying, "These
> [numbers stations] are what you suppose they are. People shouldn't be
> mystified by them. They are not for, shall we say, public consumption."
>
>
> available for download here: http://www.eggcityradio.com/?p=239  (decide
> your own ethical use of media, of course!)
>
> Check the rest of that guy's site, if you have the chance or desire.  A lot
> of synth and other prog/new-wave/post-punk/rare/bizarre recordings, most of
> it unavailable elsewhere for sale or not.  all good quality recordings and
> typically well-researched info.  Not much of it is atom-punk, but it is a
> great resource/archive of stuff that is hard to find and often good.
>
> also, I'm pretty sure several people here read BLDGBLOG, but in case you
> missed it, this bit on a Google maps overlay for looking at nuclear blast
> damage was interesting:
> http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/2008/12/nuclear-urbanism.html
>
> That New Yorker article from the other day about "atom John" was
> spectacular by the way... thanks for all the great links!
>
>
> Adam
>
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>
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