The Backwards Music Station has been picked up by international short-wave listeners for decades. Ironically, it doesn’t actually play backwards music, nor does it play whale songs. However, typical reports from listeners have likened the sounds to whale mating calls or records played backwards. No one knows for sure who’s responsible for the station, but there are a few working theories.
Some believe that the radio signals originate from U.S. naval bases on the southern coast. This is because the frequencies are similar to naval frequencies, and some reports have speculated that the station is in Virginia Beach, Jacksonville or Florida. Others believe that the radio signals originate from England, where the frequency strength is relatively strong. The third theory is that the Whalesong signals are actually transnational communications that employ LINCOMPEX. LINCOMPEX is a unique form of signal communications employed by both defense and commercial industries.
The Yosemite Sam station has only been in operation since the early 2000s. Each broadcast starts and ends with repeated recordings of cartoon character Yosemite Sam saying “Varmint, I’m a-going to b-b-b-bloooow yah t’smithereens!” Like clockwork, the Yosemite Sam station starts every seven seconds following the top of the hour. The transmission is then followed by a data burst that is repeated in ascending order over four different frequencies, and 10 seconds go by before the repeat of the transmission. The complete process takes around two minutes. The purpose and origin of the station are unknown.
Last heard in 1997, KKN50 was run by the CIA, although the station was official operated for the US Department of State. It is believed that the station was operated out of the Warrington Training Center in Marshall, Virginia, though false locations were often given. The WTC is essentially a transmitter site that was used as a CIA Counting Station for the sending of transmissions to both foreign and domestic entities. The station transmitted messages that were a combination of alphanumerical codes. Though you would be hard pressed to actually understand or decode the messages, here’s a typical example: “QRA QRA QRA DE KKN50 KKN50 KKN50 QSX 6/10/11 K.” For years, local residents who picked up the frequency were dumbfounded by the meaning of these codes.
The Swedish Rhapsody station is actually a German station that transmits an eerie, almost child-like voice. It emerged in the 1970s and disappeared in 1988. Transmissions began with a tune that sounds like a music box version of the first few bars of Swedish Rhapsody No.1 by composer Hugo Alfvén. This version plays for five minutes straight, and is followed by three separate five-figure messages that are repeated three times in sequential order. Following this intro is three 100-group messages, and one 50-group message, with each group message being repeated twice. It’s dumbfounding, to say the least.
UVB-76 is the most famous and elusive station in history. People believe the radio signal has been in existence since the 1970s, but the earliest recording was made in 1982. The station transmits a repeating buzzing sound that plays almost endlessly, only occasionally being interrupted with an eerie Russian voice that recites a mix of Russian names and numbers. The purpose of the UVB-76 Buzzer station has never been revealed. Regardless of events occurring in Russia, including the end of the Afghan War and the fall of the Soviet Union, UVB-76 has continued to do its thing.