The 'Atención' Numbers Station
For decades, a woman's voice on shortwave radio read out strings of numbers in Spanish. In 2001, it was heard in a US courtroom.
What was reported
Shortwave listeners across the Americas have long heard a station that opens with the word 'Atención!' followed by a woman reading groups of numbers in Spanish. It was one of many 'numbers stations' that puzzled radio enthusiasts during the Cold War.
Its purpose was a matter of speculation, as no government admitted to running such stations.
Explanations offered
In 1998, the FBI arrested members of a Cuban spy ring in Florida, known as the Wasp Network. At their trial in 2001, prosecutors showed that the spies had used shortwave radios and decoding software to read secret instructions from the Atención broadcasts. It was the first time a numbers station was publicly tied to spies in court.
- When
- Heard since the 1960s; exposed in a trial in 2001
- Where
- Broadcast from Cuba
- Witnesses
- Shortwave listeners and the FBI
- Status
- Explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.