Number Station - A Source of inspiration?

**Nineteen-Delta** · 15th February 2006, 12:55 PM

Here’s a little known gem I found a week or two ago, I thought I might share….

“Numbers stations are shortwave radio stations of uncertain origin. They generally broadcast people reading streams of numbers, words, or letters (often using a phonetic alphabet).

It is not known publicly with certainty where these signals originate or what purpose they serve. The voices that can be heard on these stations are often mysterious: mechanically generated; spoken in a wide variety of languages; usually female, but sometimes male or those of children.”

Source: Wikipedia entry “Number station”

It sent a shiver down my spine, especially the ‘mechanically generated voices of children’

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_station

At the bottom of the article, there is a link to a radio program, running time about 25 minutes, with examples, some background and conspiracy theories.

Tracking The Lincolnshire Poacher BBC Radio 4 program on Number Stations - Streaming audio

All I need now is to work it into a story, either DG or CoC. Any ideas anybody?

**GBSteve** · 15th February 2006, 02:34 PM

And you can get them in mp3 format here: http://irdial.hyperreal.org/

About halfway down.

**WinstonP** · 15th February 2006, 02:46 PM

Wilco fans might enjoy:
this one

**Simstim** · 15th February 2006, 03:00 PM

Woah, this one makes me think of the court of Azathoth.

squashua · 15th February 2006, 05:48 PM

Sounds like Lost. The tv show.

Dunno if you non-US get that show.

**banshee** · 15th February 2006, 06:04 PM

Originally Posted by Squashua

Sounds like Lost. The tv show.

Dunno if you non-US get that show.

Some of us poor European sods have been subjected to this plague too, yes...

**ThothAmon** · 15th February 2006, 08:07 PM

Didn't the numbers stations get a Mythos-esque explanation in Tim Powers' 'Declare'? Memory failure...

**Nineteen-Delta** · 15th February 2006, 10:01 PM

Thanks to all for all your hard work in research. In the game, maybe they're a Mythos chant of some kind, which has to be performed over many decades before it works?

I'm still after some more ideas about how to work them into a story....

Kindest Regards.

**banshee** · 16th February 2006, 06:28 PM

You could have some cult organize their operatives this way...

Suddenly a new numbers station joins the odd choir. After a time a pattern becomes apparent: the station's transmissions are correlated with events of occult/Mythos significance.

Or, a slightly more sinister version: Somebody is transmitting Mythos secrets by radio... secrets that are hardly encrypted at all. Why?

To undermine the sanity of eavesdroppers? As a cover for something else?

Who knows