June 25, 2019 • 9 mins
Mysterious signals and unexplainable crimes are on full display in the Cabinet today. We hope you enjoy your tour.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history
is an open book, all of these amazing tales are
right there on display, just waiting for us to explore.
Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. The march of progress
(00:29):
is a ruthless one. In its wake, it leaves the
antiquated and inefficient behind, while the demands for newer, faster,
and better get louder and louder. Player pianos gave way
to phonographs, which were eventually put out of pasture by
eight tracks. Those lost the war against cassette tapes and CDs,
which eventually led to the rise of streaming music over
(00:50):
the Internet. But one thing is certain about the past,
and technology in particular, it doesn't go away forever, and
it tends to repeat itself. Vinyl records have made a
triumphant return, though in a way they never really left.
Analog technology doesn't die, It just goes underground, often dug
up later by hobbyists and the nostalgic. We have cell
(01:13):
phones that allow us to talk to people anywhere in
the world, yet there are still roughly three million ham
radio operators. Amateur radio operators often begin transmissions with their
call signs a combination of letters and numbers rattled off
using the NATO phonetic alphabet. It's as easy as alpha, Bravo, Charlie.
(01:33):
What they expect to hear back is usually the same
thing from the other person, letters and numbers identifying the
party on the other end of the line. They don't
expect music, however, beginning in the nineteen seventies, music is
exactly what they got. A jaunty electric tune like something
played by a passing ice cream truck, followed by a
(01:53):
creepy recording of a woman reading this series of numbers.
They're called number are stations, and while their origins aren't definitive,
an initiative known as the KNAT Project has been cataloging
these recordings for decades. Shortwave radio transmissions utilize the Earth's
atmosphere to propagate all over the world with the help
(02:16):
of an unlicensed station to maintain anonymity, These number stations
became the perfect vessels for one way communications. The original
number stations were thought to have been started back in
World War One as a way to transmit encoded messages.
The person listening to the message would often have a
paper or a small pamphlet with a key of random
(02:38):
numbers and letters by which to decode the messages. Once
they'd been deciphered, the keys would then be shredded, making
it nearly impossible for enemies to uncover its meaning. From
the Gong station in East Germany broadcast coded number groups
that corresponded to specific times and locations where active spies
(03:01):
would be dropped. Air Force printer Joaquim Pruss used those
recorded messages to transcribe over sixteen thousand documents for his superiors,
and as recently as Russian stations made several unscheduled broadcasts
with new numbers during an attempted coup from the U.
S s Are against President Mikhail Gorbachev. Several years later,
(03:22):
Cuban spies were caught decoding fourteen hundred pages worth of
secret messages being transmitted by a local station. Some of
those messages said things like prioritize and continue to strengthen
friendship with Joe Dennis and congratulate all female comrades for
International Day of Women. Since the end of the Cold War,
(03:43):
listeners are theorized as to why these stations still exist.
Some believe drug cartels are using them to coordinate shipments
across the US border. Others think they're still being utilized
by the counterintelligence community for their original purpose. In fact,
many of the prevailing theories about the use of number
stations were confirmed in the late nineties by a government
(04:04):
official from the United Kingdom who stated that the transmissions
were not meant for regular users, including the ham radio operators.
Despite the proliferation of technology such as cell phones, email,
and Twitter, number stations are still in use today, and
new ones have been known to crop up from time
to time. They transmit all over the globe in different languages,
(04:27):
including Russian, Chinese, Spanish, and English. No one knows why
or for what purpose. All they know is that someone
somewhere is listening and waiting. The Canned Film Festival brings
(04:55):
over on people to the shores of the French Riviera
every year. Among the guests and general tourists, you'll find directors, actors, producers,
and some of the wealthiest members of Hollywood's elite, accepting
awards and making deals. And where do these elite members
choose to stay? Many prefer the luxury of the Carlton
(05:16):
can an Art deco hotel that has been featured in
films like to Catch a Thief starring Carry Grant and
Grace Kelly. In the film, Carry Grant plays of former
cat burglar trying to clear his name after he's accused
of a string of robberies plaguing the hotel's guests. It's
an eerily appropriate film to be set at the Carlton,
seeing as how the hotel has been a hotbed of
(05:38):
crime over the years, ranging from simple pickpockets to brazen
armed robberies. Those who choose to spend the night in
one of its suites must do all they can to
hold onto their valuables, but even then their diligence may
not be enough, not when someone is holding a gun
to their head. Literally. In the summer of months, after
(06:00):
the festival had ended, three men walked into a jewelry
store within the Carlton and opened fire. Guests and employees
fell to the ground. The assailants smashed the glass cases
housing over sixty million dollars worth of jewelry, while terrified
hostages kept their heads low and their eyes pointed at
the ground. The whole affair was over in minutes. When
(06:21):
it was clear that the thieves had gone, everyone got
up and assessed the damage. No one had been killed
or shot. Glass lay shattered on the ground as the
smoke dissipated. Authorities arrived to take statements and investigate the scene.
They inspected the walls, the ceiling, and all the places
where the guns had been fired and found nothing. No bullets,
(06:43):
no bullet holes, no evidence that anything had been fired
at all. The people who committed the robbery were never caught,
but the story they left behind is one that's still
told by hotel staff to this day. Beginning in it
was labeled as the costliest jewel high in history, according
to the Guinness Book of World Records, and whenever a
(07:04):
similar crime occurs in the world, the robbery at the
Carlton inevitably comes up as well. It's a fun tale,
especially since it was clear the people responsible had no
interest in hurting anyone, only making off with millions and
stolen jewels. But dig a little deeper and you'll notice
something strange. There was no mention of the robbery in
(07:25):
any newspaper at the time, including local outlets. No TV
reports were broadcast, no photos exist of the crime scene.
Even the items that were stolen weren't described to the police,
who claim they have no record of the heist either,
and according to Guinness, they published their ranking without any
verifiable source to back it up. So did the incident
(07:49):
even happen. The same could be asked of a similar
robbery in two thousand and thirteen, in which a suspect
stole over one hundred thirty six million worth of precious
stones in just thirty seconds. The jewels belonged to billionaire
Lev Lovyev, and the evidence leaves much to be discussed.
The items were part of an outdoor exhibit where no
(08:09):
security guards had been posted to keep intruders away from
the tables. The thief approached a man and a woman
working the booth where the jewels were going on display.
One glimpse of the gun at the thief side and
they dropped to the floor. Then the thief reached behind
the counter and grabbed the black bag that seemed to
have been prepared ahead of time. On the way out,
(08:30):
he also swiped two trays of random jewels. No one
was ever caught for the crime, and it remains open
to this day. The insurance company paid out roughly half
the worth of the stolen merchandise, despite how quickly and
seamlessly the job was performed. It was clear the thief
had help on the inside, but no one could prove anything.
(08:50):
Some say hotel employees assisted, while the French police have
their own theory. They think lovyev orchestrated the theft himself
as a way to resell his jet ms while also
pocketing the insurance money. No one can prove anything yet,
but this case and the one from are just a
few in a long string of unsolved crimes committed at
(09:13):
the Iconic hotel, proving just how hard it can truly
be to catch a thief. I hope you've enjoyed today's
guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free
on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show by
visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created by
(09:35):
me Aaron Mankey in partnership with how Stuff Works. I
make another award winning show called Lore, which is a podcast,
book series, and television show, and you can learn all
about it over at the World of Lore dot com.
And until next time, stay curious.
Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history
is an open book, all of these amazing tales are
right there on display, just waiting for us to explore.
Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. The march of progress
(00:29):
is a ruthless one. In its wake, it leaves the
antiquated and inefficient behind, while the demands for newer, faster,
and better get louder and louder. Player pianos gave way
to phonographs, which were eventually put out of pasture by
eight tracks. Those lost the war against cassette tapes and CDs,
which eventually led to the rise of streaming music over
(00:50):
the Internet. But one thing is certain about the past,
and technology in particular, it doesn't go away forever, and
it tends to repeat itself. Vinyl records have made a
triumphant return, though in a way they never really left.
Analog technology doesn't die, It just goes underground, often dug
up later by hobbyists and the nostalgic. We have cell
(01:13):
phones that allow us to talk to people anywhere in
the world, yet there are still roughly three million ham
radio operators. Amateur radio operators often begin transmissions with their
call signs a combination of letters and numbers rattled off
using the NATO phonetic alphabet. It's as easy as alpha, Bravo, Charlie.
(01:33):
What they expect to hear back is usually the same
thing from the other person, letters and numbers identifying the
party on the other end of the line. They don't
expect music, however, beginning in the nineteen seventies, music is
exactly what they got. A jaunty electric tune like something
played by a passing ice cream truck, followed by a
(01:53):
creepy recording of a woman reading this series of numbers.
They're called number are stations, and while their origins aren't definitive,
an initiative known as the KNAT Project has been cataloging
these recordings for decades. Shortwave radio transmissions utilize the Earth's
atmosphere to propagate all over the world with the help
(02:16):
of an unlicensed station to maintain anonymity, These number stations
became the perfect vessels for one way communications. The original
number stations were thought to have been started back in
World War One as a way to transmit encoded messages.
The person listening to the message would often have a
paper or a small pamphlet with a key of random
(02:38):
numbers and letters by which to decode the messages. Once
they'd been deciphered, the keys would then be shredded, making
it nearly impossible for enemies to uncover its meaning. From
the Gong station in East Germany broadcast coded number groups
that corresponded to specific times and locations where active spies
(03:01):
would be dropped. Air Force printer Joaquim Pruss used those
recorded messages to transcribe over sixteen thousand documents for his superiors,
and as recently as Russian stations made several unscheduled broadcasts
with new numbers during an attempted coup from the U.
S s Are against President Mikhail Gorbachev. Several years later,
(03:22):
Cuban spies were caught decoding fourteen hundred pages worth of
secret messages being transmitted by a local station. Some of
those messages said things like prioritize and continue to strengthen
friendship with Joe Dennis and congratulate all female comrades for
International Day of Women. Since the end of the Cold War,
(03:43):
listeners are theorized as to why these stations still exist.
Some believe drug cartels are using them to coordinate shipments
across the US border. Others think they're still being utilized
by the counterintelligence community for their original purpose. In fact,
many of the prevailing theories about the use of number
stations were confirmed in the late nineties by a government
(04:04):
official from the United Kingdom who stated that the transmissions
were not meant for regular users, including the ham radio operators.
Despite the proliferation of technology such as cell phones, email,
and Twitter, number stations are still in use today, and
new ones have been known to crop up from time
to time. They transmit all over the globe in different languages,
(04:27):
including Russian, Chinese, Spanish, and English. No one knows why
or for what purpose. All they know is that someone
somewhere is listening and waiting. The Canned Film Festival brings
(04:55):
over on people to the shores of the French Riviera
every year. Among the guests and general tourists, you'll find directors, actors, producers,
and some of the wealthiest members of Hollywood's elite, accepting
awards and making deals. And where do these elite members
choose to stay? Many prefer the luxury of the Carlton
(05:16):
can an Art deco hotel that has been featured in
films like to Catch a Thief starring Carry Grant and
Grace Kelly. In the film, Carry Grant plays of former
cat burglar trying to clear his name after he's accused
of a string of robberies plaguing the hotel's guests. It's
an eerily appropriate film to be set at the Carlton,
seeing as how the hotel has been a hotbed of
(05:38):
crime over the years, ranging from simple pickpockets to brazen
armed robberies. Those who choose to spend the night in
one of its suites must do all they can to
hold onto their valuables, but even then their diligence may
not be enough, not when someone is holding a gun
to their head. Literally. In the summer of months, after
(06:00):
the festival had ended, three men walked into a jewelry
store within the Carlton and opened fire. Guests and employees
fell to the ground. The assailants smashed the glass cases
housing over sixty million dollars worth of jewelry, while terrified
hostages kept their heads low and their eyes pointed at
the ground. The whole affair was over in minutes. When
(06:21):
it was clear that the thieves had gone, everyone got
up and assessed the damage. No one had been killed
or shot. Glass lay shattered on the ground as the
smoke dissipated. Authorities arrived to take statements and investigate the scene.
They inspected the walls, the ceiling, and all the places
where the guns had been fired and found nothing. No bullets,
(06:43):
no bullet holes, no evidence that anything had been fired
at all. The people who committed the robbery were never caught,
but the story they left behind is one that's still
told by hotel staff to this day. Beginning in it
was labeled as the costliest jewel high in history, according
to the Guinness Book of World Records, and whenever a
(07:04):
similar crime occurs in the world, the robbery at the
Carlton inevitably comes up as well. It's a fun tale,
especially since it was clear the people responsible had no
interest in hurting anyone, only making off with millions and
stolen jewels. But dig a little deeper and you'll notice
something strange. There was no mention of the robbery in
(07:25):
any newspaper at the time, including local outlets. No TV
reports were broadcast, no photos exist of the crime scene.
Even the items that were stolen weren't described to the police,
who claim they have no record of the heist either,
and according to Guinness, they published their ranking without any
verifiable source to back it up. So did the incident
(07:49):
even happen. The same could be asked of a similar
robbery in two thousand and thirteen, in which a suspect
stole over one hundred thirty six million worth of precious
stones in just thirty seconds. The jewels belonged to billionaire
Lev Lovyev, and the evidence leaves much to be discussed.
The items were part of an outdoor exhibit where no
(08:09):
security guards had been posted to keep intruders away from
the tables. The thief approached a man and a woman
working the booth where the jewels were going on display.
One glimpse of the gun at the thief side and
they dropped to the floor. Then the thief reached behind
the counter and grabbed the black bag that seemed to
have been prepared ahead of time. On the way out,
(08:30):
he also swiped two trays of random jewels. No one
was ever caught for the crime, and it remains open
to this day. The insurance company paid out roughly half
the worth of the stolen merchandise, despite how quickly and
seamlessly the job was performed. It was clear the thief
had help on the inside, but no one could prove anything.
(08:50):
Some say hotel employees assisted, while the French police have
their own theory. They think lovyev orchestrated the theft himself
as a way to resell his jet ms while also
pocketing the insurance money. No one can prove anything yet,
but this case and the one from are just a
few in a long string of unsolved crimes committed at
(09:13):
the Iconic hotel, proving just how hard it can truly
be to catch a thief. I hope you've enjoyed today's
guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free
on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show by
visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created by
(09:35):
me Aaron Mankey in partnership with how Stuff Works. I
make another award winning show called Lore, which is a podcast,
book series, and television show, and you can learn all
about it over at the World of Lore dot com.
And until next time, stay curious.
Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities News
Host
Aaron Mahnke
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