Unsolved Mysteries [Weekly Discussion]

LoopyPanda

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C'mon gang! We've got mysteries to solve.

This is a weekly discussion thread inspired by r/UnresolvedMysteries on Reddit.​
Sometimes, things happen that we can't find answers to. Be it ongoing missing persons cases with strange circumstances, natural phenomenon, strange events with no conclusion or explanation to what happened, or even murder cases that became dead ends. These events all are considered unsolved mysteries.

Some of us here on the web are curious people who are not satisfied with never knowing the truth, so we seek to theorize and draw our own conclusions in hopes to piece together the clues a mystery has left behind (if any). Others are more content with never knowing the truth to the mystery at all. For you amateur sleuthers who like to make theories about the unknown, this thread is just the right place to tease your brain.

How this works: Every Friday at 3:00 p.m. CST, I will post a new mystery with the required information available on the internet. You, the detective, post a response detailing your idea that can explain or debunk the mystery. It can be backed up with further research on the mystery at hand, or remain solely based on your available knowledge. It is a mystery after all, so there is no correct answer until the truth is actually confirmed. As always, your posts must adhere to the rules of this forum. Once the full week is up, a new mystery will be selected for discussion.

Of course, I will offer my own theories, but most likely I will withhold my thoughts until someone else replies so that I may refute it or not. Well-crafted posts will be rewarded with Reputation points and perhaps more bragging rights down the line if the thread is successful.

You will receive your first mystery to solve tomorrow, so keep an eye out!
 
Huh.. that's actually a sweet idea! I can get behind this fun little game. My binge watching of Law and Order: SVU will come in handy :wagh:
 
Your first mystery is....
The Disappearance of Lars Mittank
(Archived) Missing Persons poster​
LM%2Bmissing%2Bposter.jpg

Name: Lars Mittank
Age at time of disappearance: 28 (DOB: February 19, 1986)
Last seen: July 8, 2014, near Varna Airport in Varna, Bulgaria.
The Circumstances of his disappearance:
Lars is a German who went vacationing with his friends to a seaside resort Golden Sands in Bulgaria, arriving in June 30th:

Mittank was on vacation with four friends at Golden sands, a sea side resort on the coast of the black sea in Bulgaria, a popular and relatively low cost holiday destination for those in nearby European countries who want to take a break and soak up the sun.  They arrived at their destination on the 30th of June 2014, after a 2 hour plane ride, and checked into their hotel (Hotel "Viva Club"), which was all inclusive, with food and drinks provided. The place is described as a sort of party resort popular amongst Germans- think Ibiza.

On July 6th, the group of five went to a local bar (The Rock Bar). Apparently, they had gotten into an altercation with other bar attendees over a football dispute-- it was cited to be nonviolent at this time, but for context, Lars was a Werder Bremen fan, whereas the others (presumably other tourists or unidentified locals) were fans of the rival team Bayern Munich. The trip hadn't suffered any issues until later that night;

Although there was no violence inside the bar at the time Lars went missing later that night when he was waiting for his friends to purchase food from a nearby McDonald’s fast food restaurant on the way back to the hotel. 
They looked for him to no avail, and eventually decided to go back to the hotel expecting him to be there. Unfortunately he was not, but he returned the next morning claiming to have been accosted by a group of men that he believed were sent for him by the group they had an altercation with earlier in the night. He claimed that the group had hired a bunch ofeither locals or Russians to rough him up.
Apparently his friends weren’t convinced by the story, but let it go.
He had walked away from the beating with a ruptured ear drum and injured jaw. (This wasn't known until he had visited a physician)

Where exactly was Lars Mittank between waiting outside of McDonalds for his friends to order and returning to the hotel in the morning?
Was he unconscious? If so for how long?

[There are] conflicting reports on the severity of the ear injury. Some reports say that he was actually good to fly, but didn’t want to.
Other reports state that the ruptured ear drum was an injury that wouldn’t allow him to fly back to Germany on schedule with his friends.
Although they wanted to stay with him until he was fit to fly, Lars Mittank insisted that he was fine and would find a hotel to stay at until he was well enough to return home.

(Wiki blurb: At the end of his trip, due to the ruptured ear drum, a doctor advised him not to fly and prescribed an antibiotic named Cefuroxime (500 mg) and later referred him to a hospital. His friends wanted to stay with him, but Mittank insisted he was fine on his own... but there is no supported citation or footnote for this statement)


On July 7th his friends left the hotel in one taxi, and he left in another in search of medical attention. After refusing surgery (he did not want to get surgery outside of Germany), which the local doctor insisted Mittank needed, he was instead prescribed 500mg of  Cefuroxime / “cefzil”- a type of cephalosporin  antibiotic sold under the name of “Ceftin / Zinacef” by Glaxo smith Kline in the UK, commonly used to treat bacterial infections.

The antibiotics were prescribed by a Dr. Boris Najdenow and Mittank obtained the medication from a local pharmacy. He walked around the local area looking for a new place to stay and eventually decided on a place named “The hotel color” in Varna, which costs around $25 a night and is reviewed as average on trip advisor.  One user comments that the hotel is just a 15 minute walk from the bus stop, and another describes it as a “friendly, family run hotel”. Some complained of outdated interior and stained sheets. 

The following day (July 8th) Lars started acting strangely. [His friends had departed from Bulgaria about a day before his behavior became erratic]

At 11:50 p.m. July 7, Lars called his mother using his cell phone and told her that he felt scared. He asked her if she would contact his bank and freeze his credit card. He also called her again at 3:00 a.m. and told her in a low whisper that he was hiding from a group of men who had been following him.

Lars had left the hotel with his things in the middle of the night, staff said. He texted his mother asking her what “CFC 500” was. CFC500 is the abbreviation for the anti-biotics he had been prescribed earlier for his ruptured eardrum. He would have most likely been prescribed this to prevent an ear infection.

At 6:00 a.m. Lars was dropped off at the airport in a taxi. He had apparently shared the cab with another passenger after waving it down in the street. They supposedly described him as having Mydriasis. Although most people's first thought when they hear someone has “large” or “dilated” pupils is drug use (such as amphetamines), mydriasis can also be caused by trauma, including head injuries, although the trauma usually has to be quite severe.

Once at the airport, he called his mother who booked him a flight home and advised him to drop in on the airport doctor before boarding. He still believed that the group of men (four individuals) were chasing him and would refuse to let him leave Bulgaria by bus or plane.

Who were these 4 men? Did they actually exist? Did Lars possibly attempt to get back to Germany by another method of transport? It’s possible to drive from Bulgaria to Germany. It would take a full day but maybe Lars thought he could hitchhike back home if he was afraid of being found by these 4 mystery men on the scheduled buses and trains.

Lars managed to locate the airport doctor who examined him and would later describe him as being emotionally depleted.
The examination was momentarily disturbed by an airport employee who wanted to chat to the doctor about doing some work on her office.
This set Lars off and he jumped up, fleeing the airport. Eventually he found his way out and witnesses say he managed to climb over a fence and jump into a field on the other side. The barbed wire wrapped around the top of fence did little to prevent his escape. (This is not shown on CCTV footage, however)
This entry is a compilation of different news sources, but is the best one I've found that explains things better than the wiki.

The aforementioned CCTV footage was obtained and showed Lars fleeing the airport, and running through the parking lot into woodland, never to be seen again. It is considered to be the last concrete evidence of his existence.
[align=center][video=youtube]
He has essentially vanished without a trace. No updates have come up other than unproved claims:​
  • In April 2015, a truck driver claimed to have given him a ride, but this has not been confirmed.
  • A redditor posted 8 months ago about having sighted him in Canada speaking only German, but many have doubted the validity of this encounter as they have no picture of the man, nor would it be very likely Lars had gotten into Canada without any documentation (unless he had obtained falsified papers).
Mittank's mother has previously said that the family has no medical history of mental illness.

So, what happened to make Lars take off like this? what type of surgery did Dr. Boris Najdenow suggest that Mittank needed? There are surgeries with low risk to repair ruptured ear drums, but it can also heal on its own given time (usually a month or so). Surgery would have allowed Mittank to leave the hospital within a couple of days and be on his way, so maybe it was offered so he could get back to Germany more quickly? 
Who were the four men Lars claimed attacked him? Do they actually exist?
 
This was an engaging read; the disappearance of Lars Mittank (not a Pokémon folks!) is definitely a strange one.

One of the strangest thing I came out of this is him bolting the fuck out of there when he went to the nurse office. You would think someone would call security if some guy suddenly dropped his belongings on the ground like that and start running for the hills.

I think that, based on what is described here, he was hit super duper hard in the head during the supposed fight and his brain is now a jumbled mess. Does the medicine he was prescribed have any effects on his mental status? 

Another thing that comes arise is how he would call his mother at such odd hours—I feel like there were so many opportunities to avoid this and had him examine a bit more. His friends should’ve stayed to make sure his ass was in check if he was that afraid of his life, but that’s another story.

No idea if he’s still alive though; most likely dead if he’s under such mental distress.
 
The doctor in Bulgaria prescribed him Cefuroxime 500mg: this antibiotic is used to treat a wide variety of bacterial infections, and the side effects for the most part aren't anything crazy aside from the usual "vomiting and runs" deal. Here is a blurb from a Rx site I found:
It is used in the treatment of conditions such as acute or chronic bronchitis, tonsillitis, Lyme diseaseChlamydiagonorrheasyphilis, pneumonia, laryngitissinusitis and urinary tract infections. This drug is also used to treat bacterial infections of the throat, cervix, pelvis, urethra, skin, middle ear and nasal passage.

While taking Cefuroxime, the common side effects that could occur include nauseaheadaches, dizziness, vomitingrashes, fever, chills, muscle aches and diarrhea. These side effects might resolve themselves within a few days, and hence, it is not a major cause for concern. Some of the major side effects that could occur are severe stomachaches, mood swings, fatigue, jaundiced eyes or skin, yeast infection, inflammation of the bowels, bloody stools and dark urine. You should call for medical aid as soon as you detect any of these side effects. You could have an allergic reactionfrom taking Cefuroxime. An allergy to this anti-biotic will result in symptoms such as hives, rashes, swelling of the tongue, throat, face, hands or feet, itchiness and difficulty in breathing. If you experience any of these symptoms, you should discontinue the usage of this drug and contact a medical health professional immediately.

Nothing about delirium or psychosis until I look at the Drug Interactions section:

"Central nervous system disorders [MAJOR]

You may experience tremors, restlessness, anxiety, confusion, hallucinations if you suffer from CNS disorder and use {levofloxacin}} or other fluoroquinolones. Avoid using caffeine-containing products like coffee, chocolates and energy drinks.
 
Colitis [MAJOR]

Avoid if you experience severe diarrhea, abdominal pain, and blood in stools after taking Cefuroxime. Inform the doctor if you have any gastrointestinal diseases. Drink adequate amount of water to prevent dehydration

...

Aspirin [MODERATE]

You may experience tremors, involuntary muscle movements, hallucinations, or seizures if these medicines are used together. This interaction is more likely to happen if you have a history of seizures or family history of seizures. Appropriate dose adjustment or replacement of the medicine should be made under the doctor's supervision."

I have read on Reddit that Cefuroxime is banned from usage in Germany particularly because of the hallucinogenic side effect, but I've yet to find a proper source for that.

Aspirin is a fairly common thing to use, so it's very likely Lars may have developed a headache or felt discomfort even while taking the antibiotic and mistakenly took some aspirin and this ended up interacting with the antibiotics (let's be real, most people don't typically thoroughly read the warnings onnthe prescription paper unless it's a daily medication, not a temporary one). He was perfectly normal up until after his friends left and he got the medicine from the pharmacy (which could have been anywhere between the early afternoon and before 11:50 pm when he began to call his mother). He said he was attacked by 4 men, so why would a woman coming into the office freak him out if he had never seen her before?

His friends probably didn't think he was beaten too badly, or may have thought he was just drunk (it doesn't say whether anyone became inebriated after going to the bar or not). Heck, maybe THEY were drunk and just didn't want to admit that to the police. There's a lot of possibilities to consider.
 
You're right that the friends considering the condition of Mittanks, but still, I felt like they should've stay behind for extra measures. 

He said he was attacked by 4 men, so why would a woman coming into the office freak him out if he had never seen her before?

That's the thing I never understood myself. Perhaps he saw some connection between her and them?  Maybe he recognized her at the bar during the fight (I know, I know, big leap of logic here), and made some connection between her and the rest of the four men. Otherwise, it would like he had a mental breakdown and started hallucinating like crazy. It's possible that even though he has no history of mental illness, the symptoms of the head injuries was not apparent until several days after the fact.

However, I found this bit after a bit of digging:

An unknown male walked into Medical Services dressed like a construction worker. When Lars saw this man, he became anxious, mumbled something to the doctor, then sprinted out of the airport leaving his luggage and backpack behind. He lightly jogged across the parking lot and scaled a fence. He continued running out of camera’s view. Lars disappeared after that, and has not been seen since. Lars had no history of mental illness.

So maybe it's not the nurse, but rather, he recognized this guy as one of the four men?
 
Possibly-- if the body type is similar, and he was indeed hallucinating at the time (along with delirium induced from a likely head injury), he easily could have thought it was one of his assailants.

If the men were gang members or part of some kind of criminal organization, something had to happen aside from a relatively small altercation at the bar. But either way, it's likely he died from exposure out in the woods after getting lost in them. If he was hallucinating, along with an untreated traumatic head injury (based on the dilated pupils), it probably didn't help his condition. The men may also have been human traffickers, but they typically don't go after young men, I think.
 
LoopyPanda said:
Possibly-- if the body type is similar, and he was indeed hallucinating at the time (along with delirium induced from a likely head injury), he easily could have thought it was one of his assailants.

If the men were gang members or part of some kind of criminal organization, something had to happen aside from a relatively small altercation at the bar. But either way, it's likely he died from exposure out in the woods after getting lost in them. If he was hallucinating, along with an untreated traumatic head injury (based on the dilated pupils), it probably didn't help his condition. The men may also have been human traffickers, but they typically don't go after young men, I think.

Honestly, if he got into some kind of mess with a gang member, he would've been killed right then and there. I personally don't see any good reason for a gang member to follow someone after kicking their asses. Not saying that he wasn't followed (it may or may not be true), but I highly doubt they would just stay their distance for three days, then suddenly show up to kidnap/kill them later.

I'm definitely leading towards him being dead at this point; untreated head injury, possible hallucinations and irrational fear may have drove him. Bad enough that he was alone and had nothing to rely on aside from his mother (and the sudden cancellation of his card).
 
There's also an extremely slim possibility he resembled someone they believed to be a related persons they should be following/targeting. As slim as it may be, it happens. Not long ago there was a double murder of 2 film students in a warehouse that a drug ring used, and they had no idea. The gang members thought they belonged to a rival gang by accident. But I feel like a murder would have turned up a body by now, or at least a few clues.
 
Gonna jump in this mystery!

I have seen this mystery before but I never got all the details in full. If he got into a fight/ruffed up, perhaps the injuries were more serious than initially diagnosed? If he had no history of mental illness in his family, then the only thing I could rile up is that his injuries were worse than what was recorded. I would think that it takes a lot of force to rupture an eardrum with just your hands (or maybe not, I'm not a doctor.) Maybe he fell and hit his head and that's why he might be having hallucinations? 

What intrigued me was when he bolted out of the airport. He must have seen something that literally scared the hell out of him. I wouldn't exactly agree that it was these mysterious 4 men Lars mentioned (It could have all been in his head) but whatever he saw that day was enough for him to fear for his life. All I can honestly say is that his injury might have been worse than people thought. As for the drug he took... worse case scenario, he might have mixed it in with another prescription we are unaware of or he might have been under the influence of other drugs right before he went to the airport (Though I doubt they would've let him on the plane high as a kite.) All we can say is that Lars saw something that we didn't/couldn't, and whatever it was, was enough for him to run for his life or express fear for his safety.

As for his current whereabouts? I HOPE he's okay, but like Shine said: He might be dead at this point. If someone REALLY wanted to hurt/kidnap/kill him they would have done it the moment he was all alone, not in an airport where dozens of people can see them unless he was being hunted by 4 members of the Bulgarian/German Government, AND EVEN THEN, I doubt they would strike in broad daylight. All in all, I doubt this poor man is alive at this point and if he is, he clearly hasn't returned home which might prove that he is not in the right state of mind.
 
~ Z ~ said:
 If he got into a fight/ruffed up, perhaps the injuries were more serious than initially diagnosed? If he had no history of mental illness in his family, then the only thing I could rile up is that his injuries were worse than what was recorded. I would think that it takes a lot of force to rupture an eardrum with just your hands (or maybe not, I'm not a doctor.) Maybe he fell and hit his head and that's why he might be having hallucinations? 

What intrigued me was when he bolted out of the airport. He must have seen something that literally scared the hell out of him. I wouldn't exactly agree that it was these mysterious 4 men Lars mentioned (It could have all been in his head) but whatever he saw that day was enough for him to fear for his life. All I can honestly say is that his injury might have been worse than people thought. As for the drug he took... worse case scenario, he might have mixed it in with another prescription we are unaware of or he might have been under the influence of other drugs right before he went to the airport (Though I doubt they would've let him on the plane high as a kite.) All we can say is that Lars saw something that we didn't/couldn't, and whatever it was, was enough for him to run for his life or express fear for his safety.

As for his current whereabouts? I HOPE he's okay, but like Shine said: He might be dead at this point. If someone REALLY wanted to hurt/kidnap/kill him they would have done it the moment he was all alone, not in an airport where dozens of people can see them unless he was being hunted by 4 members of the Bulgarian/German Government, AND EVEN THEN, I doubt they would strike in broad daylight. All in all, I doubt this poor man is alive at this point and if he is, he clearly hasn't returned home which might prove that he is not in the right state of mind.

Unfortunately, we won't ever know whether or not he actually had a head injury, nor the specifics. The doctor probably would have done a few basic examinations to determine the extent of his head injury: it's a lot easier to get one by being hit in the head with a blunt object than something potentially life-ending like falling down the stairs-- it's easier to get hit in the head on your own than injure your jaw without someone else inducing it (at least, it's very difficult to injure your jaw without an outside force from an inanimate object).

He was noted to have dilated pupils, which is potentially indicative of a concussion:
Signs and symptoms of a concussion may include:
  • Headache or a feeling of pressure in the head
  • Temporary loss of consciousness
  • Confusion or feeling as if in a fog
  • Amnesia surrounding the traumatic event
  • Dizziness or "seeing stars"
  • Ringing in the ears
  • Nausea
  • Vomiting
  • Slurred speech
  • Delayed response to questions
  • Appearing dazed
  • Fatigue
You may have some symptoms of concussions immediately. Others may be delayed for hours or days after injury, such as:
  • Concentration and memory complaints
  • Irritability and other personality changes
  • Sensitivity to light and noise
  • Sleep disturbances
  • Psychological adjustment problems and depression
  • Disorders of taste and smell

A traumatic brain injury is also possible to diagnose based on whether or not the pupils contract automatically if a light is held to them (or if they contract in different ways from each other), but is less likely compared to a common concussion since this implies blunt force trauma that entails symptoms somewhat unrelated to his reported condition. Though, certain drugs induce the effect of dilated pupils and would have required a drug test. As to whether an untreated head injury inducing delirium eventually did him in, or he got lost and couldn't make it back out (seeing as his accounts are all frozen), I don't think he's made it this far on his own without money or anything but the clothes on his back.

I'd like to add that as a follow-up to the reddit post, someone managed to get a picture of a guy who spoke German and English but seemed unaware of who he was (possibly the same encounter as the redditor's), but the family confirmed it "definitely was not/ him". And since it's friday (I was supposed to update this about an hour ago, but I came home not long ago running errands), I might as well post a blurb of something from a now-missing episode from a show called Aktezeichen XY: the entire thing is in German, and does not exist on youtube anymore (links are all broken), but someone on Reddit was kind enough to summarize it in english. The show interviewed the friends and airport doctor:

[url=https://tl.reddit.com/r/UnsolvedMysteries/comments/3arw41/lars_mittank_update_from_earlier_this_month/]https://tl.reddit.com/r/UnsolvedMysteries/comments/3arw41/lars_mittank_update_from_earlier_this_month/[/url] said:
I write down some more information about what happened in Bulgaria.

I watched it now.

His friends were interviewed. They wanted to stay but he said it's ok and they should leave first.

There is no footage of him running into the woods but to the fence close to the woods and eye witnessess saw him climbing this fence (with barbwire).

The story with the cab is strange, so I will just summarize from the beginning what they showed in the newest episode.

Between the time he entered the officead when he ran away are exactly 46 minutes.

Mittank got involved in two fights. First with Bayern Munich fans, then with other foreign tourists but he could calm the situation down. After visitng a bar and watching the footbal lmatch between Costa Ice and the Netherlands, Mittank and his friends left the bar as the last customers. They went to McDonalds but Mittank stayed outside.

Now the first strange think happens.

Mittank disappeared after his friends came back. They didn't know where he was. The next morning he said, he got involved into an other fight with Bayern Munich fans and they paid some Russian or Bulgarian guys to beat Mittank.

No way this happened in my opinion. His friends didn't believe the story as well. Theywent to the hospital because Mittank claimed his ear hurts. The doctor diagnosed a ruptured eardrum.

Mittank was allowed to fly but he said he doesn't want to fly because he doesn't want to risk to hurt his ears more.

When his friends left, Mittank bought an antibioticum called Cefuroxim 500. A doctor in this show said that side effects are not common but possible if used with other meds or alcohol.

Not sure if Mittank used these pills but now the next strange case about the hotel.

Mittank arrived late in this hotel/hostel and called his mother. He said this hotel is strange, he is scared and she should ban his credit card.

He left that hotel at night, calling his mom again and said he is hiding now, 4 men are following him. He hanged up and messaged her: "What is Cefuroxim 500?"

Two hours later a cab drove him to the airport where he arrved in the early morning.

His mother booked for him a bus and airplane ticket. Now also important. Mittank told his mother before meeting the doc, that he is not allowed to fly AND drive.

Inside the doctor's office (there is an interview with the doc) entered construction worker the room. Mittank became anxious, muttered something. The doctor tried to calm him down.

Then after a few minutes Mittak ran away. I think this footage might be longer and shows how he runs to the gate.


His suitcase was conrolled by the police, there were no signs of drug use and he also never had any mental problems before. I also doubt the medication was the reason because he already acted strange after the McDonald's incident. His friends also said he didn't eat much when they arrived in Bulgaria. I don't think this is importan as well because I also didn't like to eat much when I go abroad in hot countries.

I think, Mittank maybe saw something after they came back from the pub. These guys also threatened him and by accident, they might be somehow related to the hostel and that's when he freaked out.

The family is looking for information about a German guy who talked to him at the airport and a German school class who might have talked to him in Bulgaria. They also got an information from a truck driver who says that Mittank wanted to drive with him as hitchhiker this year around Easter but I dont know if Bulgaria or which country. It was written on the facebook homepage.

While I prepare the next post for the next hour, have this to mull over and see if it changes any of your conclusions you've drawn so far. (Hasn't changed mine very much though)
 
Apologies for the delay. I slept a lot last night and felt ill most of yesterday. And there was double XP weekend on Overwatch during the anniversary, so I was grinding levels all day for loot.
Here's an inherently less sinister mystery, that probably warrants a shorter discussion based on how little we know about it. Which is fine since you got less time than the typical 7 days of sleuthing.

Mystery #2: UVB-76
Also known as "The Buzzer"​
Callsigns: УВБ-76, МДЖБ, ЖУОЗ​
UVB-76-detail.png
Broadcasted in Russia, UVB-76 is the name of a mysterious shortwave radio station that broadcasts at 4625 kHz; apparently at all hours of the day, it broadcasts a buzztone that repeats at 25 tones/minute. A few instances have been observed where this grating noise is interrupted and someone speaking cryptically in Russian will come on the broadcast.​
Audio sample:​
[video=youtube]

[align=left]Although it's uncertain for how long the Buzzer has been active for, the first widespread reports of its existence began in 1973: the sound was initially a "repeating two-second pip" but changed to the Buzzing tone in 1990. The earliest known recording dates back to 1982. Of other note, this briefly changed to a higher tone of longer duration (20 tones per minute) on January 16, 2003, but it has since reverted to the previous tone pattern. Up until 2010, the station identified itself as UVB-76 since its first known vocal transmission on Christmas Eve of 1997:​

[21:00 UTC on December 24, 1997]
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

Aside from this message, however, the nature of the station nor its purpose was outright identifiable. The tone continued as usual, with very rare voice messages of no importance until 2010; ​


[June 5, 2010] 
UVB-76 went silent for approximately 24 hours, resuming the usual buzzing on the morning of June 6.

[13:35 UTC on August 23, 2010, Voice Transmission]
UVB-76, UVB-76. 93 882 NAIMINA 74 14 35 74. 9 3 8 8 2 Nikolai, Anna, Ivan, Mikhail, Ivan, Nikolai, Anna. 7 4 1 4 3 5 7 4
Transmissions were found to even include snippets of Swan Lake, a female voice counting from one to nine, a question mark transmitted in Morse code, and strange telephone conversations overheard by the receiver. No further notable activity until later in 2013, with a direct order issued.​

[January 4, 2013, Voice Transmission]
OBYaVLENIYA KOMANDA 135 / "Command 135 Initiated."


[October 17, 2016, The Buzzer broadcasted at least 18 different messages in less than 24 hours:]​


Other Notable Observances:​
  • Similar to what you hear in the video of the buzzer, others have noted white noise in the background during the broadcastings. Reports of unintelligible distant conversations, TV static, and so on have been noted. Sometimes the pitch/frequency of the buzzing shifts. These noises suggest that the buzzer emits noise into a live microphone rather than direct broadcast.
  • The former Minister of Communications and Informatics of the Republic of Lithuania Rimantas Pleikys has written that the purpose of the voice messages is to "confirm that operators at receiving stations are alert". Additionally, it is implied that the broadcast is constantly being listened to by military commissariats, although no confirmation from the Russian government or broadcasting officials is available yet.
  • There are two other Russian stations that follow a similar format, nicknamed "The Pip" and "The Squeaky Wheel". Like the Buzzer, these stations transmit a signature sound that is repeated constantly, but is occasionally interrupted to relay coded voice messages.
  • The first location of the buzzer's transmitter was traced to a military bunker near Povarovo, Russia (56°5′0″N 37°6′37″E): halfway between Zelenograd and Solnechnogorsk and 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) northwest of Moscow, near the village of Lozhki. The location and callsign were unknown until the first known voice broadcast of 1997.
  • The Buzzer changed locations September 2010 along with its callsign from UVB-76 to MDZhB/МДЖБ. Supposedly, in 2010 "One night a dense fog rolled in ("The storm"), and the military outpost was evacuated within 90 minutes," as told by a local who was living in the original area they thought the Buzzer was stationed in. According to the exploring group, after making their way across the site and past the guard dog stationed outside, the groups found the bunker and military buildings in a state of abandonment. Possessions and equipment were strewn across the base. Icy water had filled the bunker, yet they still found some clues. A now defunct blogsite described the Povarov military bunker as “a quiet and lonely dark place, something like a maze with lots of corridors and rooms.”
  • The bunker contained a book that appeared to serve as a message log for UVB-76: they were convinced it was indeed run by members of the Russian military. [BOOK ARCHIVE]
  • The station used a new callsign in December 2015: ZhUOZ/ЖУОЗ, pronounced "Zhenya, Ulyana, Olga, Zinaida."
  • Apparently you can actually listen for the radio station via iTunes if you download a certain file. Wonder if they ever broadcast Britney Spears on it...
The new location of the Buzzer was presumed to be in Saint Petersburg, near the village of Kerro Massiv: coincidentally, the Russian military was reportedly undergoing a reorganization. It has reportedly changed locations based on triangulations, so nobody knows its exact location yet. But there were different locations traced over the years:
  • the small Russian village of Kirsino, which has a registered populace of just 39 people. One signal can be traced here.
  • Pskov Oblast. This is currently the most likely source of UVB-76, due to the multiple triangulation attempts that lead here.
  • "One location that appears during triangulation attempts is very close to a transmitter array southeast of Kolpino that is reportedly used by the Russian government to transmit state radio across Russia. As UVB-76 settled into the new location, Dance of The Little Swans from Swan Lake was played. Instrumental passages from Swan Lake are a favorite of Voice Of Russia."
The closest thing to an official explanation for the signal’s purpose comes from an academic paper published by the Borok Geophysical Observatory. This state-funded organization describes itself as a “branch of the Federal state budgetary institution of science.” They explain that the signal originates from an observatory using the 4625 kHz frequency to measure changes in the ionosphere.

This does not explain the military bunker, or the voice messages. Nor does the paper detail how successful the research has been. A signal on the 4625 kHz frequency would have suffered from extreme interference, rendering it nearly unusable for researching the ionosphere.

Further Reading:
[video=youtube]
It's a bit creepy to find information about this, so I wanted a nice gentle voice to hold my hand while I went down the rabbit hole. Informative and has more content.

This article! It also offers a few theories which you may agree with or may not. Feel free to pick them apart here!
The Wikipedia article: features various technical specifications of the Buzzer, possibly interesting to you. Good summary.



Possible Questions:
  1. What the heck are the tones for? Is it merely white noise or something more?
  2. What is the purpose of the station? What do the direct messages imply?
  3. If the original station is long abandoned, who's been running the station the past 20 or 30 years? (Nosferatu?)
  4. If it really was Russian-operated by the military, and is no more important than a mere soundwave ghost station, why haven't they dispelled any rumors and simply confirmed that the purpose of the station is merely for testing or scientific purposes, or that it's just something that fell out of necessary use other than signal testing?
  5. Do you have some crazy tinfoil hat crackpot theory about the station that may or may not hold water!? THINK IT'S RUSSIAN MIND CONTROL TO MAKE US VOTE FOR HILLARY CLINTON, THE REPTILIAN LEADER!!?! Blab it out HERE!!!
  6. Who's the poor sap running the broadcasts that lacks the technical know-how to put the buzzer in front of a mic instead of directly broadcasting the noise? This is the Cold War equivalent of filming an episode of Family Guy playing on your TV with a camera in front of it. For shame...
In retrospect it isn't all that mysterious if you dig enough, but we like to creep ourselves out by letting our imaginations fill in the gaps for us.
@ Russian government: pls dont hurt me for being curious about your weird radio station, I'm just a person who likes spooky things​

 
What the heck are the tones for? Is it merely white noise or something more?

Hmm, as far as I know, the purpose of the station has not be confirmed neither by the Russian Government or broadcast officials, which makes things a little strange. Of course, considering the recent political climate of events (and the stereotypes of Russians being the big bag since Germany lost their seat), I wouldn't be surprised if someone else had a plausible theories that the station is some kind of decoded messengers for the country.

If the original station is long abandoned, who's been running the station the past 20 or 30 years? (Nosferatu?)

Inb4 it's actually a bunch of teenagers who's in the joke and messing with people's heads :maybe:

If it really was Russian-operated by the military, and is no more important than a mere soundwave ghost station, why haven't they dispelled any rumors and simply confirmed that the purpose of the station is merely for testing or scientific purposes, or that it's just something that fell out of necessary use other than signal testing?

That's what gets me, if it was a Russian-operated function, then it would be quite easy for the Russian just admit and be on their way. If anything, it quite surprising we haven't gotten any form of information about the base, no leaks, no dropfiles, not even a single phone call. So either they're really keeping it underwarps or it's simply just a radio station that sometimes broadcast some weird shit (either by accident or intentional).
 
I'm sure it was intended to be a discreet alarm system back when it was actually used at the bunker, say for oncoming communication during nuclear fallout (this WAS the cold war after all) or creating a messaging system that would be next to impossible for an enemy to intercept because they would say "oh, this is just a testing buzzer for (insert seemingly mundane reason)" and just not pay attention to when they actually used it. 

After that, I guess someone's having fun keeping it going and making things interesting... or maybe... ITS HAUNTED
 
LoopyPanda said:
I'm sure it was intended to be a discreet alarm system back when it was actually used at the bunker, say for oncoming communication during nuclear fallout (this WAS the cold war after all) or creating a messaging system that would be next to impossible for an enemy to intercept because they would say "oh, this is just a testing buzzer for (insert seemingly mundane reason)" and just not pay attention to when they actually used it. 

After that, I guess someone's having fun keeping it going and making things interesting... or maybe... ITS HAUNTED

I would definitely agreed that during the Cold War, especially when the two nations were practically itching to bomb the living hell out of each other at any moment notice. 

I would vouch that it was a normal radio station that just pick up weird shit most of the time. I feel that even the Russian Government would eventually say "yeah, we did this, whaddya gonna do about it?". 

Though, a haunted radio station? Now that's the spooky stuff right there. Inb4 it's trying to established communication with Stalin :wagh:
 
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