"Okay so I figured since we are talking Numbers Stations I figured that it would be nice to know how to potentially decode one of these broadcasts. Thankfully I happen to have the cipher memorized. Well more like forcefully implanted into my head to be exact! Ugh... This is gonna be hard to explain. So anyway the Numbers Stations use a more complex version of the proverbial secret decoder ring. Basically they use a simple substitution alphabet like this."
A=0, B=1, C=2, D=3, E=4, F=5, G=6, H=7, I=8, J=9, K=10, L=11, M=12, N=13, O=14, P=15, Q=16, R=17, S=18, T=19, U=20, V=21, W=22, X=23, Y=24, Z=25
"So our alphabet code is A equals 0 on up to Z equals 25. Now the Numbers Stations use what is known as a One Time Pad which is single use alphabetical key tied to a message given numerically. This is the one and only cipher that is been proven to be mathematically unbreakable provided that you never use the same key twice, the keys are generated in a truly random manner, each key is the exact same size as the message of larger, every key is destroyed immediately after use by burning or something like that, and that no unauthorized personnel ever see your keys."
"So let's say we want to send the word HEY to our fellow spies. Not that long, 3 letters. So today's predetermined key is PUJ. Uh, keys can go on indefinitely depending on the size of the message."
"So to encrypt a message you take the numerical value of the letters of your message and add the numerical values of your key to them."
"So in this case H is 7, E is 4, and Y is 24 for our message and P is 15, U is 20, and J is 9 for our key. Now we add the numbers up:
7 + 15 = 22, 4 + 20 = 24, and 24 + 9 = 33. Now we don't want any numbers larger then 25 so subtract 26 from the 33 to get 7 as the result."
"So now we have our coded message that we breadcast: 22, 24, 7."
"Now to decrypt a message we do the opposite. We take the numbers that come from the coded message and subtract the numbers from our key."
"So 22 - 15 = 7, 24 - 20 = 4, and 7 - 9 = -2. Now if you have a negative number you'll need another key or another code alphabet what ever you want to call it:"
Z=-1, Y=-2, X=-3, W=-4, V=-5, U=-6, T=-7, S=-8, R=-9, Q=-10, P=-11, O=-12, N=-13, M=-14, L=-15, K=-16, J=-17, I=-18, H=-19, G=-20, F=-21, E=-22, D=-23, C=-24, B=-25, A=-26
"So our -2 becomes a Y or if you don't want to play that way you can add 26 to the -2 and wind up to the original 24 that we had earlier."
"So our message is 7 = H, 4 = E, and 24 = Y: HEY."
"I need to take a break, I don't feel so well."
Links that further explain what the Numbers mean:
Read the Spooks and ENIGMA 2000 Newsletters. www . numbersoddities . nl
Listen to the Numbers live on WebSDR and blog detailing insider knowledge of the stations. priyom . org
ENIGMA 2000 Official Website. www . brogers . dsl . pipex enigma2000 /
Numbers Stations Information Research Center formally the International Numbers Station Monitoring Association. www . numbers - stations . com
Simon Mason's Numbers Stations Site. www . simonmason . karoo page30 . html
