Spooky Radio

Here's a mystery for ya. On December 19, 2004 shortwave listeners across the United States heard something very strange on their radios. It was an 800 millisecond data burst, followed by the voice of Yosemite Sam (!) bellowing, "Varmint, I'm a-gonna blow ya ta smithereenies!" (The audio was apparently taken from the 1949 cartoon, Bunker Hill Bunny, while the content of the data portion has not been deciphered.) The station, which did not identify itself, would transmit the data/audio on four different frequencies: 3700 kHz, 4300 kHz, 6500 kHz, and 10500 kHz, each in succession. Following the first transmission, the second one would occur ten seconds later on the next higher frequency, and so on, for a 120-second cycle. Transmissions would always begin at exactly 7 seconds after the top of an hour. The transmissions continued from December 19 to 23, 2004 and then went silent.





The transmissions reappeared in February of 2005. At that time a couple ham radio operators in New Mexico tracked the signal using a mobile field intensity meter, and located the source: a high-tech communications development facility called MATIC (for Mobility Assessment Test and Integration Center). MATIC is run by Laguna Industries, Inc. of Laguna, NM, a Native American-owned business. According to Laguna's website, they are "a small, disadvantaged business" with "a proven reputation in the design, manufacture, integration, and support of electro-mechanical systems for military and commercial applications." According to the website of the Southgate Amateur Radio Club (of London, England), the two hams drove up to the entrance of the MATIC site and from the public road began taking pictures of the building and radio towers, only to be quickly chased away by a "not-very-friendly guy" who approached their vehicle. The Yosemite Sam transmissions ceased about 3 hours later and have not been heard since.

I've always been fascinated by radio mysteries, in particular the so-called "numbers stations" which appeared during the height of the Cold War era and have continued to this day.  Skeptoid.com did a piece on this subject last year, which you can read or listen to here.