Welcome to an intriguing corner of the espionage world were even to this day spies are communicating around the world on short wave radio where anyone can listen in.
Shortwave Numbers Stations are a perfect method of anonymous, one-way communication. Spies located anywhere in the world can be communicated to by their masters via small, locally available, and unmodified Shortwave receivers. The encryption system used by Numbers Stations, known as a “one time pad” is unbreakable. Combine this with the fact that it is almost impossible to track down the message recipients once they are inserted into the enemy country, it becomes clear just how powerful the Numbers Station system is.
These stations use very rigid schedules, and transmit in many different languages, employing male and female voices repeating strings of numbers or phonetic letters day and night, all year round. The voices are of varying pitches and intonation; there is even a German station (The Swedish Rhapsody) that transmits a female child's voice!
One might think that these espionage activities should have wound down considerably since the official “end of the cold war”, but nothing could be further from the truth. Numbers Stations (and by inference, spies) are as busy as ever, with many new and bizarre stations appearing since the fall of the Berlin wall.
Why is it that in over 30 years, the phenomenon of Numbers Stations has gone almost totally unreported? What are the agencies behind the Numbers Stations, and why are the eastern European stations still on the air? Why does the Czech republic operate a Numbers Station 24 hours a day? How is it that Numbers Stations are allowed to interfere with essential radio services like air traffic control and shipping without having to answer to anybody? Why does the “Swedish Rhapsody” Numbers Station use a small girls voice? These are just some of the questions that remain unanswered.
Here are some links to this interesting short wave underworld.
http://www.simonmason.karoo.net/page30.html
http://www.spynumbers.com/
http://www.dxing.com/numbers.htm
To start your own investigation into this modern mystery you are tasked with tracking down and decoding a numbers station recording. Somewhere on the Internet you will find a recoding of a man reciting numbers recorded only a few years ago. The file name is tcp_d2_17_english_man_irdial. When you find it, download a copy and listen to it. You will notice that the voice reads out numbers in groups of 2, 3, or 5 numbers repeating each each group twice for clarity.
To decode this secret transmission and find the dead drop (cache) you must follow these steps;
1. Discarding the repeats, transcribe the groups of numbers onto paper from start to finish. You will end up with a series of 26 number groups starting with 821 704 ...
_821 _704_ ____ ____ ____ ____
A B C D E F
____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____
G H I J K L M
____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____
N O P Q R S
____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____
T U V W X Y Z
2. This cipher will be used to decode the next part of the message. Now you must find a commonly available non-copyrighted book on the Internet and use it to decode the next segment. To decrypt the title of the book substitute the letters for the code sequences you transcribed in part 1.
For example;
G O P L A Y
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
1234 5678 9012 3456 789 0123
_____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ ____
13677 84679 53821 30833 23301 53933 53821 88315 53933 13677 23301
_____ _____ _____ _____ _____ ___ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____.
14423 88315 94069 88315 53933 821 13677 84679 53821 94069 22476
3.Now go to the Project Gutenberg web site and search for the above book by title and download a copy.
4. Take the list of DRAMATIS PERSONAE near the beginning of the book and using just the UPPER case names as they appear, in order and removing the spaces, line breaks, and lower case words, join them all into a string of letters.
For example;
TAURUS, Lieutenant-General to Caesar
CANIDIUS, Lieutenant-General to Antony
SILIUS, an Officer in Ventidius's army
EUPHRONIUS, an Ambassador from Antony to Caesar
ALEXAS, attendant on Cleopatra
Would become;
TAURUSCANIDIUSSILIUSEUPHRONIUSALEXAS
5. You will need the first 44 letters of these names from step 4 to decode the instructions on how to find the last part of the code. This code uses a One Time Pad where public text can be deciphered to the secret message using a private key. To decode the next message take the letters in order from step 4 and convert them to the correct letter of the answer by shift them forward or backward in the alphabet by the number of positions as indicated on the key below.
This is your One Time Pad key:
0 –1 –8 +10 -9 0 –9 +12 +14 –8 –14 +8 –20 +9 –1 –11 –5 –6 –5 +1 +3 -8 0 –3 +8 –9 +9 –5 –4 -10 0 0 –15 –4 +14 +11 –13 –14 +2 +3 +12 +9 +2 +10
6.To help you decode I have formatted the key below with spots to fill in your answers. Write the letters from part 4 on the top line, convert using the adjustment number below and write the resulting answer letter below that.
For example;
T A U R U S C A N... <- this letter
-13 +15 -5 -6 -20 +6 +12 +20 +6 <- moves up or down this far
G O P L A Y O U T... <- to create this letter
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
0 -1 -8 +10 -9 0 -9 +12 +14 -8
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
-14 +8 -20 +9 -1 -11 -5 -6 -5 +1
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
+3 -8 0 -3 +8 -9 +9 -5 -4 -10
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
0 0 -15 -8 +14 +11 -13 -14 +2 +3
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
___ ___ ___ ___
+12 +9 +2 +10
___ ___ ___ ___
To help you translate the letters here is the alphabet -
<-(-)A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z(+)->
7.The resulting letters from step 6 will form a sentence telling you where to find the last clue. At that location you will find a sequence of numbers in two rows. Take these numbers and place them in the spaces below.
---- ---- -----
ABCD EFGH IJKLM
--- --- --
NOP QRS TU
8. The final coordinates for the dead drop are below. Using the letters under the numbers in the chart from part 7, substitute the number for the associated letter in the final coordinates below. This step can be done on location.:
N 49 GH.BL7
W 124 CD.N7E
Go there and claim your prize!
This exercise illustrates one possible way spies can be using these number stations to pass real messages. Using freely available public sources of information combined with a secret "one time Pad" to pass messages anonymously.
This may seem like a lot of work but it should go smoothly from the comfort of your home with a bit of Internet sleuthing. The final calculations can be done while in the cache area and it will take less than half an hour to retrieve the cache once you get there.
You can check your answers for this puzzle on Geochecker.com.
We have included a selection of nice trade items as well as 1st, 2nd, and 3rd finders certificates. There is also a complete Canadian Military Field Ration Pack containing a full boil in the bag meal with all the trimmings. Great for camping, backpacking, hiding in your attic listening to short wave radio, or to save as an emergency meal for when the big one hits. I will replace it occasionally with another one as the mood strikes me.
This cache was placed on our 13th wedding anniversary.
Good Luck and don't get caught!
For news, events, and discussions about geocaching in the Mid Vancouver Island area browse to http://www.migeocaching.org
For a list of caches in the Comox Valley that I believe are suitable for out of town visitors with a limited amount of time to hunt, follow this link. Quick and Scenic Comox Valley caches