UVB-76 : Mysterious Sound Suddenly Appear On Radio Station

UVB-76, also known as The Buzzer, is the nickname given by radio listeners to a shortwave radio station that broadcasts mysterious buzz on radio station day and night. It broadcasts a short beeps; after that, it switched to buzzes, repeating at a rate of approximately 25 tones per minute, for 24 hours per day on the frequency 4625 kHz. On very rare occasions, the buzzer signal is interrupted and a male voice recites brief sequences of numbers and words, often strings of Russian names: "Anna, Nikolai, Ivan, Tatyana, Roman."

On August 25, UVB-76 went entirely haywire. First there was silence, then a series of knocks and shuffles that made it sound like someone was in the room. For the first week of September, transmission was interrupted frequently, usually with what sounded like recorded snippets of "Dance of the Little Swans" from Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake.

UVB-76: mysterious buzz sound

UVB-76: Voice message

On the evening of September 7, at 8.48pm Moscow time, a male voice issued a new call sign, "Mikhail Dmitri Zhenya Boris," indicating that the station was now to be called MDZhB (though listeners still widely refer to it as UVB-76). This was followed by one of UVB-76's (or MDZhB's) typically nebulous messages: "04 979 D-R-E-N-D-O-U-T" followed by a longer series of numbers, then "T-R-E-N-E-R-S-K-I-Y" and yet more numbers that may be coded instruction to spies.

Frequently, distant conversations and other background noises have been heard behind the buzzer, suggesting that the buzzing tones are not generated internally, but are transmitted from a device placed behind a live and constantly open microphone. It has been active since at least the late 1970s or early 1980s, when the first reports were made of a station on this frequency. Some theorist explained that the Buzzer is used for propagation measurements and weather research. There are even sources from Russian research magazines claiming this. But, no further confirmation of this has been ever found. Russian government has never officially confirmed the purpose of the signal on 4625 kHz. Theorist also suggest the signal was related to the Dead Hand, the system that would automatically retaliate with nuclear weapons in the event of a nuclear war. Its origins have been traced to Russia, but although several theories with varying degrees of plausibility exist, its actual purpose remains unknown to the public.