1 00:00:05,921 --> 00:00:21,200 Speaker 1: Approach production. Hi, welcome to Silent Secrets, a bedtime podcast 2 00:00:21,321 --> 00:00:29,281 Speaker 1: for curious minds. I'm Jay, I'm glad you're here. This 3 00:00:29,681 --> 00:00:33,201 Speaker 1: is your time to let go of today, to settle 4 00:00:33,241 --> 00:00:38,841 Speaker 1: in and slow down, and let curiosity gently carry you 5 00:00:38,881 --> 00:00:45,801 Speaker 1: towards sleep. In each episode, I'm going to share a 6 00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:49,561 Speaker 1: true story of the unexplained, not to alarm you, but 7 00:00:49,601 --> 00:00:52,961 Speaker 1: to quiet your mind, to remind you that the world 8 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:59,121 Speaker 1: is full of wonder and some things we'll never truly understand. 9 00:01:00,601 --> 00:01:05,281 Speaker 1: So take a deep breath, feel your body sink into comfort, 10 00:01:07,921 --> 00:01:11,401 Speaker 1: let the weight of the day drift away as we 11 00:01:11,481 --> 00:01:23,241 Speaker 1: begin tonight's story. Tonight, I want to tell you about 12 00:01:23,280 --> 00:01:29,881 Speaker 1: a sound. Not a scream, not a voice asking for help, 13 00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:39,881 Speaker 1: not even a story about someone who disappeared, just a sound, 14 00:01:41,840 --> 00:01:47,481 Speaker 1: one that most people were never meant to hear. Once 15 00:01:47,521 --> 00:02:00,761 Speaker 1: you hear it, it's very hard to forget. If you've 16 00:02:00,761 --> 00:02:04,881 Speaker 1: ever been awake late at night when the house is quiet, 17 00:02:05,481 --> 00:02:09,960 Speaker 1: any thoughts start to slow, you'll know the feeling. I'm mean, 18 00:02:11,801 --> 00:02:17,761 Speaker 1: that strange space between being awake and asleep, where curiosity 19 00:02:17,800 --> 00:02:23,441 Speaker 1: feels heavier than fear. That's usually when people find it 20 00:02:23,561 --> 00:02:29,961 Speaker 1: first by accident. They're turning a doll on an old radio, 21 00:02:31,721 --> 00:02:36,761 Speaker 1: or scrolling through recordings online, or following a link They 22 00:02:36,800 --> 00:02:45,401 Speaker 1: don't remember clicking, and then suddenly they hear it. A 23 00:02:45,481 --> 00:03:02,001 Speaker 1: steady buzz, not loud, not aggressive, just there, over and 24 00:03:02,121 --> 00:03:18,881 Speaker 1: over again, patient, unemotional, endless. This is UVB seventy six. 25 00:03:20,921 --> 00:03:29,641 Speaker 1: Most people just call it the buzzer. This signal comes 26 00:03:29,721 --> 00:03:35,681 Speaker 1: from somewhere in Russia. No one knows exactly where, or 27 00:03:35,721 --> 00:03:41,761 Speaker 1: at least no one officially will say. It's broadcast on 28 00:03:41,841 --> 00:03:51,161 Speaker 1: the same frequency, day and night, year after year, decade 29 00:03:51,481 --> 00:03:58,361 Speaker 1: after decade. The buzz never gets bored. It never stops 30 00:03:58,361 --> 00:04:06,081 Speaker 1: to explain itself. It doesn't care who's listening. And that 31 00:04:06,201 --> 00:04:20,481 Speaker 1: might be the strangest part of this story. You might 32 00:04:20,481 --> 00:04:24,200 Speaker 1: have heard of shortwave radio, and it's an odd thing. 33 00:04:25,561 --> 00:04:31,241 Speaker 1: Unlike modern broadcasts. It doesn't travel neatly from tower to phone. 34 00:04:31,401 --> 00:04:37,081 Speaker 1: It bounces and skips and drifts. A signal can leave 35 00:04:37,121 --> 00:04:41,761 Speaker 1: one country and arrive in another, carried by the atmosphere itself, 36 00:04:43,281 --> 00:04:48,440 Speaker 1: which means that this sound, this quiet, mechanical buzzing, has 37 00:04:48,481 --> 00:04:57,201 Speaker 1: floated over forests, cities, oceans, and homes all over the world, 38 00:04:58,841 --> 00:05:04,601 Speaker 1: sometimes landing in a bedroom two in the morning, sometimes 39 00:05:04,601 --> 00:05:11,521 Speaker 1: finding someone who wasn't looking for it at all. If 40 00:05:11,521 --> 00:05:15,001 Speaker 1: you had a short wave radio, you could find this 41 00:05:15,121 --> 00:05:25,281 Speaker 1: sound UVB dash seven six. But if you listen long enough, 42 00:05:25,761 --> 00:05:33,361 Speaker 1: something else happens. The buzzing stops just for a moment, 43 00:05:34,481 --> 00:05:40,801 Speaker 1: and then in that pause, a human voice appears, calm, 44 00:05:41,281 --> 00:05:47,241 Speaker 1: flat and almost bored. Two six three nine alpha five 45 00:05:47,361 --> 00:05:50,921 Speaker 1: zero zero one Bravo. It reads out a short string 46 00:05:50,961 --> 00:05:52,801 Speaker 1: of words nine. 47 00:05:52,801 --> 00:05:59,041 Speaker 2: Seven seven delta, proceed to checkpoint, acknowledge, receipt, no reply expected. 48 00:05:59,081 --> 00:06:08,880 Speaker 1: Names, Sergei, Kuznitsova, numbers, call signs, confirmed, voltage stable, nothing dramatic, 49 00:06:09,761 --> 00:06:18,041 Speaker 1: nothing emotional, just information clearly meant for someone else. Five 50 00:06:18,681 --> 00:06:24,561 Speaker 1: then gamma. As quickly as the voice came, it disappears, 51 00:06:27,241 --> 00:06:43,721 Speaker 1: and the buzzing resumes. There's something deeply unsettling about that moment, 52 00:06:45,161 --> 00:06:50,721 Speaker 1: not because it feels dangerous, but because it feels routine, 53 00:06:50,961 --> 00:06:55,801 Speaker 1: like you've accidentally overheard part of someone else's job, the 54 00:06:55,841 --> 00:06:59,561 Speaker 1: task that's been done so many times it no longer 55 00:06:59,601 --> 00:07:06,241 Speaker 1: requires thought, a message spoken into the dark for ears 56 00:07:06,521 --> 00:07:12,201 Speaker 1: you'll never see. Over the years, people have tried to 57 00:07:12,241 --> 00:07:17,481 Speaker 1: explain the buzzer. Some say it's a military marker, a 58 00:07:17,521 --> 00:07:21,121 Speaker 1: way of keeping a channel open, letting others know it's 59 00:07:21,121 --> 00:07:26,321 Speaker 1: in use. Some believe it's part of an old Cold 60 00:07:26,361 --> 00:07:31,641 Speaker 1: War system, are leftover from time when silence itself could 61 00:07:31,641 --> 00:07:40,801 Speaker 1: be suspicious. Others imagine something more dramatic, secret orders, coded messages, 62 00:07:41,961 --> 00:07:47,961 Speaker 1: and worst case scenarios. The truth is no one has 63 00:07:48,001 --> 00:07:52,401 Speaker 1: ever given a clear answer, and the station has never 64 00:07:52,481 --> 00:08:00,361 Speaker 1: asked to be understood. There are moments recorded by listeners 65 00:08:00,401 --> 00:08:04,081 Speaker 1: that make the story feel even stranger, times when the 66 00:08:04,121 --> 00:08:08,121 Speaker 1: microphone seems to be left open, where you can faintly 67 00:08:08,121 --> 00:08:13,041 Speaker 1: hear movement shuffle, a distant sound that doesn't belong to 68 00:08:13,081 --> 00:08:16,881 Speaker 1: the buzz as if the room behind the signal briefly 69 00:08:17,121 --> 00:08:22,441 Speaker 1: leaks through, a reminder that this isn't just a machine. 70 00:08:23,121 --> 00:08:27,361 Speaker 1: There are people somewhere sitting in a room keeping watch. 71 00:08:34,441 --> 00:08:37,321 Speaker 1: The thing about the buzzer is that it doesn't chase you. 72 00:08:38,361 --> 00:08:42,121 Speaker 1: It doesn't demand your attention, it doesn't try to scare you. 73 00:08:43,881 --> 00:08:54,241 Speaker 1: It simply continues. Whether the world changes or not, empires, 74 00:08:54,321 --> 00:09:02,881 Speaker 1: faur borders, shift, technology moves on, and still the buzzer remains. 75 00:09:08,121 --> 00:09:11,201 Speaker 1: I think that's why this story belongs in Silent Secrets, 76 00:09:12,721 --> 00:09:17,601 Speaker 1: because it's not loud, it's not violent, it doesn't shock, 77 00:09:19,441 --> 00:09:23,081 Speaker 1: just quietly reminds us that there are systems operating beyond 78 00:09:23,121 --> 00:09:36,801 Speaker 1: our understanding, steady, patient and indifferent. Sometimes late at night 79 00:09:37,761 --> 00:09:58,361 Speaker 1: we stumble across them. If you're listening to this in bed, 80 00:09:59,681 --> 00:10:06,041 Speaker 1: let that idea settle somewhere far away. A signal is 81 00:10:06,081 --> 00:10:12,641 Speaker 1: moving through the air, not for you, not against you, 82 00:10:15,361 --> 00:10:22,481 Speaker 1: just because it always has a sound with no explanation, 83 00:10:25,161 --> 00:10:31,841 Speaker 1: a message not meant to be heard, a secret that 84 00:10:32,081 --> 00:10:38,441 Speaker 1: isn't trying to hide or reveal itself. It's just buzzing. 85 00:10:41,921 --> 00:10:43,681 Speaker 1: Sleep well, good. 86 00:10:43,561 --> 00:12:50,280 Speaker 2: Night must us. 87 00:13:06,401 --> 00:13:09,241 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to this episode and supporting this story. 88 00:13:09,881 --> 00:13:13,041 Speaker 1: Independent storytelling that shapes the world is what podshape really 89 00:13:13,041 --> 00:13:16,001 Speaker 1: cares about. Right now, there's thousands of people listening to 90 00:13:16,041 --> 00:13:19,641 Speaker 1: this show and our other true Crimes, and they're completely engaged. 91 00:13:19,881 --> 00:13:22,681 Speaker 1: More than ten million Australians listen to podcasts each week. 92 00:13:23,321 --> 00:13:26,160 Speaker 1: If you've ever thought about advertising your business in a podcast, 93 00:13:26,481 --> 00:13:28,481 Speaker 1: there's a link to reach out in the show notes, 94 00:13:28,841 --> 00:13:31,481 Speaker 1: or head to podshape dot com to book a free call.