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[–]libcrypto 28 points29 points  (2 children)

Calls can be traced. This would not be suitable for number-station-grade security.

[–]askouijiaccount[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Yeah good point. The phreaker community was still active though (this was 88 or 89) and they had some crazy shit going on.

[–]bit_shuffle 2 points3 points  (0 children)

In the late 80s, pay phones still existed.

[–]sr0me 24 points25 points  (4 children)

A lot of methadone clinics in Florida used to have a system for patients where you would have to call a number and listen for a recording that would say random colors/numbers and if the color/number for that day matched the one you were assigned, you would have to go in that day for drug testing. This could have been that.

[–]askouijiaccount[S] 3 points4 points  (2 children)

I don't think we had methadone clinics yet did we? I was just a kid and also not a junkie so I don't know lol. I guess it could have been something like that but it really didn't seem that way. It was more.....chaotic, maybe? I was used to shortwave at the time and knew about code stations etc and it really felt like code. But like you're saying it could have been code for something mundane.

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll look into what would have been around like that at the time.

[–]wombat_cubed 6 points7 points  (1 child)

They’ve had methadone clinics for many many decades.

[–]askouijiaccount[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I've been trying to find out if there were any in that area at the time. Google says there were protests against the opening of a clinic during the late 80s but it's unclear whether there were others open locally. It's a theory I can get behind though.

It was so creepy and panic-inducing that it seems like a cruel joke to play on recovering addicts. 😄 Maybe it was a test like if the message makes you flip out then you're clearly still on the dope lol

[–]TastyBoy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

source?

[–]bg-j38 8 points9 points  (1 child)

This is really odd but it's possible it was some sort of telemetry system. The "buzzers" could have been low speed data transmission of some sort. The "alarms" could be various signaling tones that are used in the phone network. Some telemetry systems will read back numbers that really only mean something to someone who knows how to decode it. The colors and random words are a little weird but could have some significance related to specific parts of whatever is being reported on.

That said, I've been involved with telecom with a special interest in test lines over the years and I've never heard of something like this specifically.

[–]askouijiaccount[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Ok that makes sense. The alarms were electronic sounds much like those bullhorns that have the alerts. Some were the "woo woo" type, some were like beeps or honks. It had a real cold war red alert creepy kind of vibe lol I'll never forget it.

[–]MinorVandalism 6 points7 points  (3 children)

I'd write this down as a script and pitch it to Stranger Things producers.

I got no idea what this might be about, but cool memory.

[–]askouijiaccount[S] 3 points4 points  (2 children)

Damn, good idea lol. You should have heard the theories my friends and I came up with. One girl was pissed at me, she thought for sure the feds were on the way.

[–]MinorVandalism 5 points6 points  (1 child)

Theories? Care to mention a few? I think I am a little more invested in this than I thought I'd be.

[–]askouijiaccount[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Oh they were stupid theories based on nothing but our own imagination. For example, I thought for a couple days that it was a government experiment that would give me the power of telekinesis. Sadly, that was not the case.

[–]argoneum 7 points8 points  (1 child)

When a new cell station is tested here one operator has a test number that is being called (by a test app). There are some random quotes, like: "never touch my computer again", some DTMF tones, "situation on the sea was hard", more DTMF, something about flowers, etc. Maybe it was something like this? Just a test number?

[–]askouijiaccount[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Maybe similar but this was 1989. It really had a foreboding mood to it. Every one of us felt some level of panic on hearing it the first time. It was eerie. A simple test number is a definite possibility but it was so creepy that it's hard to imagine what the test was.

[–]Captlard 6 points7 points  (1 child)

The Manchurian program would like a word, as would Treadstone.

[–]askouijiaccount[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

As kids, that's exactly the type of stuff we said about it. We were sure it was some top secret shit and we were being brainwashed or documented. Then it just went away and we went back to watching MTV or whatever.

[–]ScaredGorilla902 1 point2 points  (3 children)

I've never heard of this, but it makes sense for a "spy" to call in and get details.

[–]askouijiaccount[S] 7 points8 points  (2 children)

I'd give anything to go back in time and record one. Or even have that list back.

[–]Northwest_Radio 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Phone companies had numbers that were used for testing. But, not what you describe.

[–]askouijiaccount[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah this was way different and the quality was as poor as possible for the voice to still be as plain as it was. I know what you talking about though.