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Two theories I like wrt number stations. 1. Most of the time you don't have a message to send, so you send random numbers. Maybe you have an agreed upon header
by jazzyjackson 5y ago
Two theories I like wrt number stations.
1. Most of the time you don't have a message to send, so you send random numbers. Maybe you have an agreed upon header to signal to your spy that the following bytes are significant
2. Maybe you don't have any spies, and just want your adversary to think you have spies, so you blast your numbers station into their territory just to make them nervous. Who knows, someday maybe you'll have spies, and you wouldn't want to announce this change by suddenly having a numbers station.
- heavyset_go 5y agoRelated to #2, the US puts out bogus patents, press releases, etc so that adversaries will spend resources investigating whether they're real or not. Other countries do it, too. That's how the US got Project Stargate[1] in response to word that Soviets had psychic spies. Some number stations could be a low-cost effort to keep other nations busy. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stargate_Project https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stargate_Project
- trasz 5y agoNote that the description above doesn't match the Wikipedia article: it wasn't "bogus patents", it was a full fledged research program.
- handrous 5y agoIt reads like it's the outcome of the Soviets doing this successfully. The US spent resources on a bunch of BS (a full-fledged research program) because the Soviets got the US to believe they were taking it seriously and had achieved results.
- heavyset_go 5y agoRight, the Soviets successfully caused the US to spend time and resources on a full fledged research program based on rumors about Soviet psychic spies.