Listen To 9 Of The Most Haunting Sounds Ever Recorded

Published November 22, 2022
Updated February 27, 2024

Radio Station UVB-76, A.K.A. ‘The Buzzer’

Abandoned Russian Radio Station

WikimapiaAn abandoned radio factory, from which it was once believed UVB-76 was broadcast.

In a forest north of Moscow, there is a mysterious shortwave radio transmission that runs at all hours of the day, but the only sounds coming from it are a series of beeps and buzzes — and no one knows why.

According to Wired, during the 1980s and up until 1992, the radio station only broadcast beeps. Then, it strangely started broadcasting between 21 and 34 buzzing sounds per minute that often lasted only a second each.

Every few weeks, the monotonous sequence was broken by a male voice reciting a list of Russian numbers, words, and names: “Anna, Nikolai, Ivan, Tayana, Roman.”

The station continued its endless sequence through many notable Russian periods — Gorbachev, the fall of the Soviet Union, Boris Yeltsin, Vladimir Putin — without a single interruption, eventually capturing the attention of numerous shortwave radio enthusiasts who nicknamed it “The Buzzer.”

The only interruption to the Buzzer’s endless broadcast came on June 5, 2010. On that day, there was nothing but silence.

And then on June 6th, it started up again as if nothing had happened. For the rest of June and July, it was business as usual for UVB-76.

August, however, was a different story.

In mid-August, the Buzzer stopped and started several times, but the most dramatic change in its broadcast came on August 25, 2010, at 10:13 a.m. Then, the beeps and buzzing went silent before the airwaves were filled with a series of knocks and shuffles — as if someone was in the room.

But it didn’t last long, and once again the Buzzer went on buzzing.

Then, in the first week of September, the Buzzer was frequently interrupted by what seemed like a recording of Swan Lake.

Of course, several theories circulated about UVB-76 over the years. Some people believe it is a top-secret signal transmitting communications to Russian spies. Others have suggested it is a part of the Soviet Union’s “Dead Hand” doomsday device. And others still have offered up less sinister theories, including one that says the Buzzer is pink noise used to calibrate audio equipment.

Ultimately, though the Buzzer continues to broadcast its shortwave frequency — which has now been made available online — the mystery of its true purpose still remains.


After learning about the stories behind nine of the weirdest noises in history, see the haunting photos of people taken just before they died. Then, explore the chilling reality of 19th-century mental asylums in 37 photos.

author
Austin Harvey
author
A staff writer for All That's Interesting, Austin Harvey has also had work published with Discover Magazine, Giddy, and Lucid covering topics on mental health, sexual health, history, and sociology. He holds a Bachelor's degree from Point Park University.
editor
Cara Johnson
editor
A writer and editor based in Charleston, South Carolina and an assistant editor at All That's Interesting, Cara Johnson holds a B.A. in English and Creative Writing from Washington & Lee University and an M.A. in English from College of Charleston and has written for various publications in her six-year career.