The Frequency That Shouldn't Exist: 7 Nights of Impossible Transmissions

November 14th, 2026 — 03:47 local

I need to document this while the data is fresh, because I've been staring at these spectrograms for three hours and I still can't make sense of what I'm seeing.

Starting November 7th, my software-defined radio began picking up a signal at 162.425 MHz. That frequency sits in a dead zone between NOAA weather broadcasts — it's not allocated for anything. The FCC database shows it as a guard band, deliberately kept empty to prevent interference.

But something's been transmitting there. Every night. Same time window: 03:15 to 03:52.

## THE SIGNAL CHARACTERISTICS

• **Duration**: Exactly 37 minutes per night
• **Pattern**: Burst transmission, 4.7 seconds of signal, 12 seconds silence, repeat
• **Modulation**: Appears to be some form of FSK (frequency-shift keying)
• **Strength**: -73 dBm — weak but consistent, suggesting distant source
• **Direction**: My directional antenna puts the source somewhere northeast, roughly 15-30 miles out

I've been monitoring shortwave and VHF bands for years. I know what digital modes sound like — RTTY, PSK31, FT8. This isn't any of them. Fed it through every decoder I have. Nothing.

## INVESTIGATION LOG

Night 1-3: Assumed it was equipment malfunction. Swapped antennas, checked cables, rebooted the SDR. Signal persisted.

Night 4: Drove to three different locations with my portable rig. Signal strength varied with position — it's real, not internal interference.

Night 5: Set up dual receivers 400 feet apart to triangulate. Got rough bearing: 047 degrees from my position. That puts it somewhere in the direction of the Old Miller Farm and beyond.

Night 6: Contacted two ham radio operators I trust — one 20 miles south, one 35 miles west. Neither could pick it up. The transmission footprint is narrow.

Night 7 (last night): The signal changed. Same timing, same frequency, but the burst pattern shifted: 7.1 seconds on, 17 seconds off. Then at 03:47, it stopped mid-transmission. Just... cut off. Hasn't returned since.

## WHAT IT COULD BE

The engineer in me has to consider the mundane explanations:

Intermodulation interference: My receiver could be creating false signals from legitimate transmissions mixing in the RF chain. But that doesn't explain why two other operators with different equipment heard nothing.

Illegal broadcaster: Someone running unlicensed equipment, maybe encrypted comms for something innocuous — hunters coordinating, rural property owners with a private network. The 37-minute window suggests automated transmission, like a weather station or remote sensor system someone cobbled together.

Military testing: There's a National Guard facility 40 miles northeast. They could be testing encrypted tactical communications on supposedly empty frequencies, knowing civilian monitoring is unlikely. The sudden cessation on Night 7 fits an exercise ending.

All of those are possible. Probable, even.

## WHAT BOTHERS ME

But here's what I can't reconcile: the precision. Seven nights, same 37-minute window, down to the minute. The pattern changes on Night 7 — incorporating that number 17 that keeps appearing in my logs. Then it stops exactly when I get a clear directional fix.

Coincidence has a pattern if you look long enough.

I've been tracking this for 7 years now. Never found proof of anything beyond the ordinary. Maybe that's because there's nothing to find. Or maybe it's because whatever's out there is better at hiding than I am at seeking.

The frequency is silent tonight. My SDR shows only background noise and distant NOAA weather. But I'll be watching. Because if it comes back — especially if it comes back on a schedule — that tells me something.

The signal-to-noise ratio is getting worse.

Another entry for the log.

Stay vigilant.