[Spooks] Amorous Ram Blamed for Mysterious Signals

[William Knowles]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=817&ncid=757&e=10&u=/ap/20031104/ap_on_fe_st/britain_ram

Nov 04, 2003 

LONDON - A mysterious transmission that baffled British intelligence
analysts for days was caused by a ram rubbing up against an aerial
mast, a government agency said Tuesday.

Scientists at Government Communications Headquarters in Cheltenham,
western England, an intelligence-gathering station, were baffled by
strange high-frequency noises coming from Scarborough signal station
in Yorkshire, northeastern England.

GCHQ's in-house paper, the Daily Observer, said the noises were unlike
anything staff had encountered before and an investigating team
initially thought they were coming from spies or aliens.

Their investigation found the signal only happened in the day time,
went across all the high-frequency bands and only Scarborough aerials
could pick it up.

Eventually, investigators discovered that a ram was rubbing its horns
against the aerial masts "in between servicing some local ewes," the
paper said.

"It's possible the ram was attracted to the mast which may have given
off some kind of tingling sensation, but it was probably just a post
to rub against," said GCHQ spokesman Bob McNally.

___ 

On the Net: 
GCHQ, http://www.gchq.gov.uk/ 



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"Communications without intelligence is noise;  Intelligence
without communications is irrelevant." Gen Alfred. M. Gray, USMC
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