WE CALLED A SECRET MI6 PHONE NUMBER

[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]

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

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.

[Pigmeat]

I remember those things. It was where we first tested the "Mr. Fansome, check your tire pressure.".

After it became known his name was Al, we began to refine the messages. These days we can get him to check his tire pressure merely by handing his control bunny a toy truck.

[orourkeda]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FObo3-Q6FEA&ab_channel=RingwayManchester

[Molvania Poacher]

As a fellow Poacher, I staunchly maintain that this shadowy espionage organization is behind both the now-defunct transmissions as well as this telephone number:

https://lincolnshirepoachercheese.com/

Check your tire pressure, everyone, and let's be careful out there.

[Pigmeat]

And please learn to play "Barnacle Bill The Sailor" on the recorder so we know when the number sequence begins and ends.

[Charlie_Dont_Surf]

As a fellow Poacher, I staunchly maintain that this shadowy espionage organization is behind both the now-defunct transmissions as well as this telephone number:

https://lincolnshirepoachercheese.com/

I'd say that you only need the addition of a poached egg to complete the trifecta.

[Pigmeat]

And put that egg on some toast for the quadrafecta.

I spent entirely too much time at the track in my 20's.

BTW, that's a fine looking cow. A mount worthy of Otis Campbell on his weekend rides to the Mayberry Jail.

[Molvania Poacher]

Great ideas, all! Maybe a "poached" egg on the toast?

[Pigmeat]

Poached eggs on toast are the only way to go.

Paul McCartney used to be notorious for leaving phone numbers in the liner notes on Wings albums. Most of the time it was recording studios in the L.A. area that Wings used after Sir Paul relocated to Arizona.

I knew a guy in HS who worshipped McCartney. He was always in trouble, but his rich folks bought him anything he wanted, hoping it would occupy him. He had Rickenbacker bass like the Man himself. He was always calling the numbers on the Wings albums hoping someone famous would pick up, but he only got janitors and studio flunkies. He was a doofus, but he was our doofus.