WEBVTT - The Buzzer - A Signal That Never Stops 0:00:05.921 --> 0:00:21.200 Approach production. Hi, welcome to Silent Secrets, a bedtime podcast 0:00:21.321 --> 0:00:29.281 for curious minds. I'm Jay, I'm glad you're here. This 0:00:29.681 --> 0:00:33.201 is your time to let go of today, to settle 0:00:33.241 --> 0:00:38.841 in and slow down, and let curiosity gently carry you 0:00:38.881 --> 0:00:45.801 towards sleep. In each episode, I'm going to share a 0:00:45.840 --> 0:00:49.561 true story of the unexplained, not to alarm you, but 0:00:49.601 --> 0:00:52.961 to quiet your mind, to remind you that the world 0:00:53.040 --> 0:00:59.121 is full of wonder and some things we'll never truly understand. 0:01:00.601 --> 0:01:05.281 So take a deep breath, feel your body sink into comfort, 0:01:07.921 --> 0:01:11.401 let the weight of the day drift away as we 0:01:11.481 --> 0:01:23.241 begin tonight's story. Tonight, I want to tell you about 0:01:23.280 --> 0:01:29.881 a sound. Not a scream, not a voice asking for help, 0:01:30.920 --> 0:01:39.881 not even a story about someone who disappeared, just a sound, 0:01:41.840 --> 0:01:47.481 one that most people were never meant to hear. Once 0:01:47.521 --> 0:02:00.761 you hear it, it's very hard to forget. If you've 0:02:00.761 --> 0:02:04.881 ever been awake late at night when the house is quiet, 0:02:05.481 --> 0:02:09.960 any thoughts start to slow, you'll know the feeling. I'm mean, 0:02:11.801 --> 0:02:17.761 that strange space between being awake and asleep, where curiosity 0:02:17.800 --> 0:02:23.441 feels heavier than fear. That's usually when people find it 0:02:23.561 --> 0:02:29.961 first by accident. They're turning a doll on an old radio, 0:02:31.721 --> 0:02:36.761 or scrolling through recordings online, or following a link They 0:02:36.800 --> 0:02:45.401 don't remember clicking, and then suddenly they hear it. A 0:02:45.481 --> 0:03:02.001 steady buzz, not loud, not aggressive, just there, over and 0:03:02.121 --> 0:03:18.881 over again, patient, unemotional, endless. This is UVB seventy six. 0:03:20.921 --> 0:03:29.641 Most people just call it the buzzer. This signal comes 0:03:29.721 --> 0:03:35.681 from somewhere in Russia. No one knows exactly where, or 0:03:35.721 --> 0:03:41.761 at least no one officially will say. It's broadcast on 0:03:41.841 --> 0:03:51.161 the same frequency, day and night, year after year, decade 0:03:51.481 --> 0:03:58.361 after decade. The buzz never gets bored. It never stops 0:03:58.361 --> 0:04:06.081 to explain itself. It doesn't care who's listening. And that 0:04:06.201 --> 0:04:20.481 might be the strangest part of this story. You might 0:04:20.481 --> 0:04:24.200 have heard of shortwave radio, and it's an odd thing. 0:04:25.561 --> 0:04:31.241 Unlike modern broadcasts. It doesn't travel neatly from tower to phone. 0:04:31.401 --> 0:04:37.081 It bounces and skips and drifts. A signal can leave 0:04:37.121 --> 0:04:41.761 one country and arrive in another, carried by the atmosphere itself, 0:04:43.281 --> 0:04:48.440 which means that this sound, this quiet, mechanical buzzing, has 0:04:48.481 --> 0:04:57.201 floated over forests, cities, oceans, and homes all over the world, 0:04:58.841 --> 0:05:04.601 sometimes landing in a bedroom two in the morning, sometimes 0:05:04.601 --> 0:05:11.521 finding someone who wasn't looking for it at all. If 0:05:11.521 --> 0:05:15.001 you had a short wave radio, you could find this 0:05:15.121 --> 0:05:25.281 sound UVB dash seven six. But if you listen long enough, 0:05:25.761 --> 0:05:33.361 something else happens. The buzzing stops just for a moment, 0:05:34.481 --> 0:05:40.801 and then in that pause, a human voice appears, calm, 0:05:41.281 --> 0:05:47.241 flat and almost bored. Two six three nine alpha five 0:05:47.361 --> 0:05:50.921 zero zero one Bravo. It reads out a short string 0:05:50.961 --> 0:05:52.801 of words nine. 0:05:52.801 --> 0:05:59.041 Seven seven delta, proceed to checkpoint, acknowledge, receipt, no reply expected. 0:05:59.081 --> 0:06:08.880 Names, Sergei, Kuznitsova, numbers, call signs, confirmed, voltage stable, nothing dramatic, 0:06:09.761 --> 0:06:18.041 nothing emotional, just information clearly meant for someone else. Five 0:06:18.681 --> 0:06:24.561 then gamma. As quickly as the voice came, it disappears, 0:06:27.241 --> 0:06:43.721 and the buzzing resumes. There's something deeply unsettling about that moment, 0:06:45.161 --> 0:06:50.721 not because it feels dangerous, but because it feels routine, 0:06:50.961 --> 0:06:55.801 like you've accidentally overheard part of someone else's job, the 0:06:55.841 --> 0:06:59.561 task that's been done so many times it no longer 0:06:59.601 --> 0:07:06.241 requires thought, a message spoken into the dark for ears 0:07:06.521 --> 0:07:12.201 you'll never see. Over the years, people have tried to 0:07:12.241 --> 0:07:17.481 explain the buzzer. Some say it's a military marker, a 0:07:17.521 --> 0:07:21.121 way of keeping a channel open, letting others know it's 0:07:21.121 --> 0:07:26.321 in use. Some believe it's part of an old Cold 0:07:26.361 --> 0:07:31.641 War system, are leftover from time when silence itself could 0:07:31.641 --> 0:07:40.801 be suspicious. Others imagine something more dramatic, secret orders, coded messages, 0:07:41.961 --> 0:07:47.961 and worst case scenarios. The truth is no one has 0:07:48.001 --> 0:07:52.401 ever given a clear answer, and the station has never 0:07:52.481 --> 0:08:00.361 asked to be understood. There are moments recorded by listeners 0:08:00.401 --> 0:08:04.081 that make the story feel even stranger, times when the 0:08:04.121 --> 0:08:08.121 microphone seems to be left open, where you can faintly 0:08:08.121 --> 0:08:13.041 hear movement shuffle, a distant sound that doesn't belong to 0:08:13.081 --> 0:08:16.881 the buzz as if the room behind the signal briefly 0:08:17.121 --> 0:08:22.441 leaks through, a reminder that this isn't just a machine. 0:08:23.121 --> 0:08:27.361 There are people somewhere sitting in a room keeping watch. 0:08:34.441 --> 0:08:37.321 The thing about the buzzer is that it doesn't chase you. 0:08:38.361 --> 0:08:42.121 It doesn't demand your attention, it doesn't try to scare you. 0:08:43.881 --> 0:08:54.241 It simply continues. Whether the world changes or not, empires, 0:08:54.321 --> 0:09:02.881 faur borders, shift, technology moves on, and still the buzzer remains. 0:09:08.121 --> 0:09:11.201 I think that's why this story belongs in Silent Secrets, 0:09:12.721 --> 0:09:17.601 because it's not loud, it's not violent, it doesn't shock, 0:09:19.441 --> 0:09:23.081 just quietly reminds us that there are systems operating beyond 0:09:23.121 --> 0:09:36.801 our understanding, steady, patient and indifferent. Sometimes late at night 0:09:37.761 --> 0:09:58.361 we stumble across them. If you're listening to this in bed, 0:09:59.681 --> 0:10:06.041 let that idea settle somewhere far away. A signal is 0:10:06.081 --> 0:10:12.641 moving through the air, not for you, not against you, 0:10:15.361 --> 0:10:22.481 just because it always has a sound with no explanation, 0:10:25.161 --> 0:10:31.841 a message not meant to be heard, a secret that 0:10:32.081 --> 0:10:38.441 isn't trying to hide or reveal itself. It's just buzzing. 0:10:41.921 --> 0:10:43.681 Sleep well, good. 0:10:43.561 --> 0:12:50.280 Night must us. 0:13:06.401 --> 0:13:09.241 Thanks for listening to this episode and supporting this story. 0:13:09.881 --> 0:13:13.041 Independent storytelling that shapes the world is what podshape really 0:13:13.041 --> 0:13:16.001 cares about. Right now, there's thousands of people listening to 0:13:16.041 --> 0:13:19.641 this show and our other true Crimes, and they're completely engaged. 0:13:19.881 --> 0:13:22.681 More than ten million Australians listen to podcasts each week. 0:13:23.321 --> 0:13:26.160 If you've ever thought about advertising your business in a podcast, 0:13:26.481 --> 0:13:28.481 there's a link to reach out in the show notes, 0:13:28.841 --> 0:13:31.481 or head to podshape dot com to book a free call.