Modern Mysteries

Could mysterious radio station UVB-76 be a 'Dead Hand' signal ?

By T.K. Randall
May 30, 2024 ·  6 comments

What is the purpose of UVB-76 ? Image Credit: Pixabay The shortwave radio station, which is known as UVB-76 (but also sometimes 'The Buzzer'), has been broadcasting a signal from somewhere within Russia for several decades.

Its indeterminate purpose, coupled with the strange and disjointed nature of its broadcasts, has earned it something of a reputation among radio enthusiasts around the world.

Ardent listeners have managed to pick up all manner of strange sounds from the station ranging from hums and buzzes to clips of cartoon characters, disjointed sentences, numbers being recited by a synthetic voice and other seemingly random words, phrases and sounds.

This has led to a great deal of debate over exactly what these broadcasts mean and whether there is some overarching purpose to UVB-76 that nobody has been able to decipher.Some subscribe to the idea that it is some sort of 'Dead Hand' signal.

What this means is that when you can still hear it, everything is fine, but if it stops, it can signal that Russia has been attacked by nuclear weapons and that a reciprocal attack is forthcoming.

That said, the station has been known to stop for brief periods without anything happening.

It has also been suggested that UVB-76 is simply broadcasting nonsense for the sole purpose of keeping the channel open and preventing anyone else from using it.

Whatever the case, the mystery of the station's true purpose is unlikely to be solved anytime soon.

Source: IFL Science | Comments (6)

Tags: UVB-76, Radio