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WE CALLED A SECRET MI6 PHONE NUMBER

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ChrisSmolinski:
After The Kernel reported on the mysterious Russian radio signal UVB-76, we were inundated with anonymous tips. One email informed us of a legendary radio signal originating from Cyprus nicknamed the “Lincolnshire Poacher”, and run by the British Secret Intelligence Service.

According to our anonymous source, the radio signal ran from 1976 to 2008, far longer than has previously been reported.

Archived recordings of the old radio signal are available to listen to on the internet, but The Kernel has learned that the Poacher lives on as a secret telephone number for MI6 agents in the Middle East.

Our source, “Mr Bland” (we presume not his real name), tells us that after the Lincolnshire Poacher radio signal closed five years ago, it was moved to a UK telephone number. According to Mr Bland, that number is +44 1252 230 607. The number turns out to be registered in Aldershot, Hampshire in the south of England.

Like UVB-76, the Lincolnshire Poacher is a numbers station, which means a line of communication through which spies can securely receive encrypted messages at specific times. Anyone can call the number or tune into the radio signal of a numbers station.

But unless you have a “one-time pad”, issued to spies for single use with a numbers station, to decrypt the signal at the other end, there’s no way of working out what is being transmitted.
We decided to call the number anyway – and got lucky. Here’s what we heard at the other end of the line.

https://soundcloud.com/kernelmag/the-lincolnshire-poacher

As you can hear, when the message ends, our mysterious spy controllers hang up on us. Seeking more information and evidence, we replied to Mr Bland. Our email failed to reach its destination: his email address had already been deactivated.

Comparing the recording of The Kernel’s telephone call with archived recordings of the Lincolnshire Poacher signal reveals an exact match in tone and transmission pattern. Internet sleuths on the trail of the old Lincolnshire Poacher radio signal now have a new point of origin to hunt down.

Sealord:
I guess with cellphone technology being as prevelant as it is an MI6 agent doesn't need to tote a radio around to get their instructions - wonder how their spys in the nether parts, out past cell tower reach, get their info?

Maybe this was also the route Mossad took when E10 dissapeared?

ChrisSmolinski:
IIRC the Cuban Wasp Network of spies used pagers and phone numbers to send messages.

Fansome:
Reminds me of the "Z-Line" in the LA area in the mid-70s. It was listed in the LA phone book as "AAAAAAA" and "ZZZZZZZ", the first and last entries for a number of years. If you called it a recorded joke would play. Originally they were long and involved, almost shaggy dog-like, and spoken by an American with sound effects. Later, they became one-liners, and apparently spoken by an Englishman. The only jokes that I remember are:

Don't give blood needle-lessly!

What's the nitrate of potassium? Half the day rate!

I was never able to find out who was responsible, but it was on for years, and it was always busy. In fact, if you had to give out a phone number to someone, such as the authorities, you could give them the Z-Line, and it was almost guaranteed to be busy during business hours. You had to call it in the wee hours of the morning to get through.

By the way, it seems to me that I've heard of a similar, spy-number phone number story years ago. I think it was in the Boston area, but I don't recall the details. It might have been on the FRN that I saw it, and I recall trying the number myself, and it worked.

ChrisSmolinski:

--- Quote from: Fansome on September 06, 2013, 2235 UTC ---Reminds me of the "Z-Line" in the LA area in the mid-70s. It was listed in the LA phone book as "AAAAAAA" and "ZZZZZZZ", the first and last entries for a number of years. If you called it a recorded joke would play. Originally they were long and involved, almost shaggy dog-like, and spoken by an American with sound effects. Later, they became one-liners, and apparently spoken by an Englishman. The only jokes that
--- End quote ---

In the Baltimore area we had The Lizard Line back in the 80s and 90s. People could call and leave messages, which the operator then used to create the next outgoing recording.  I assume it is gone now.

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