8 Creepiest Broadcasts Ever Caught On Tape

5. UVB-76

Also called "The Buzzer", UVB-76 is a shortwave radio station that broadcasts a monotonous buzzing tone over the Russian airwaves. It has been broadcasting 24 hours a day, 7 days a week since 1982 at a rate of around 25 buzztones a minute. The usual programming is occasionally interrupted by mysterious voice messages and even the occasional song.

There are a few people out there who keep a close eye (or ear) on The Buzzer, in the hope of someday understanding its meaning, or perhaps just in case anything kicks off (what's the Russian for "launch the nukes" again?) These interruptions are extremely rare and the voice messages usually contain a list of names, such as on Christmas Eve, 1997 when this message could be heard: "Ya UVB-76, Ya UVB-76. 180 08 BROMAL 74 27 99 14. Boris, Roman, Olga, Mikhail, Anna, Larisa. 7 4 2 7 9 9 1 4."

There are plenty of theories as to the actual purpose of the broadcast, and it is almost certainly of military origin, but in the 30-odd years since it began transmission, the true reason has never been confirmed. Given the timing of the Christmas Eve broadcast, perhaps it was a some kind of super sinister version of Santa's naughty list?