The Contemporary Conflict Institute presents our research into the mysterious shortwave "numbers stations" transmissions and also presents Steve Rowell's "Sonic Boom Archive."
NUMBERS STATIONS
The Contemporary Conflict Institute has worked in collaboration with researchers from the UK, Europe, Russia, China, and the United States to collect transmissions believed to be Israeli Mossad, Vietnamese TC2, U.S. CIA, U.K. M15, and Cuban CuIS messages to their spies in the field.
Since World War I, unidentified spurious shortwave radio transmissions, usually of simple tones or strings of numbers, have been detected by shortwave hobbyists across the globe. Over time, amateur researchers collected enough clues to theorize the transmissions were the work of international intelligence agencies.
No government had ever confirmed or denied the existence of the broadcasts until 1998 when a spokesperson for the U.K. Department of Trade and Industry admitted to a British newspaper reporter, "These [numbers stations] are what you suppose they are. People shouldn't be mystified by them. They are not for, shall we say, public consumption." The researchers were vindicated
Though modern communications platforms are turning radio into a "dead" medium, the numbers stations broadcasts have expanded beyond their Cold War espionage beginnings and are now heard more frequently and in more languages than ever before. Numbers stations over the past 40 years, like the contemporary economy, have become a "globalized" phenomenon.
THE SONIC BOOM ARCHIVE
The Contemporary Conflict Institute is also very excited to present Steve Rowell's "Sonic Boom Archive."
Since 2006, artist and researcher Steve Rowell has been recording sonic booms generated by U.S. Air Force and Navy jets within the R-2508 Special Use Airspace Complex of the Mojave Desert. The sonic booms of the jets bring the distant “out of sight” live bombings, airdrops, and training exercises within the complex into the minds of the residents living and working nearby. The Contemporary Conflict Institute presents Rowell’s "Sonic Boom Archive" in order to bring the militarized soundscape of the R-2508 Special Use Airspace Complex into the minds of the residents living and working in Troy, NY.
DATES/TIMES
The exhibition runs through Saturday May 22nd
Monday March 22nd - Sneak Peak Hours: 5pm - 8pm
April/May Regular Hours
Saturday Hours: Noon - 4PM (Closed April 3rd and April 17th)
Wednesday Hours: Noon - 4PM
Yes, all this is quite confusing.
Please check out our Google Calendar. It becomes much easier that way.
The Institute is also open by appointment: So if in doubt, just call to schedule a visit!