The so-called world echo, or long delay echo, is a special type of echo in the transmission of radio signals. It returns after 1-40 seconds (or even more) after the signal was sent, sometimes appearing in the short wave range. For the first time this mysterious phenomenon was probably registered in 1927 by the Norwegian radio engineer Jorgen Hals, who could not explain the anomaly and therefore chose to keep it secret. However, subsequently, the effect of the world echo was repeatedly recorded by radio amateurs and radio engineers all over the planet, and scientists have proved its objective existence. However, the secret of this phenomenon has not yet been revealed.
What is the mystery of the long delay echo, you ask? To begin with, let's recall that the speed of a radio signal is approximately equal to the speed of light. Now imagine that the signal after sending is delayed by at least 5 seconds. To do this, it is necessary that the object from which the signal is reflected was 750 thousand kilometers from the receiver. For comparison, the length of our planet's equator is about 40 thousand kilometers, and the average distance from the Earth to the Moon is slightly more than 384 thousand kilometers. Hence the surprise of those who are faced with a delay of sometimes several tens of seconds.
Hypotheses explaining the rare phenomenon
There are several hypotheses, one way or another, explaining the reasons for this unusual phenomenon. The most popular of them says that a random radio signal finds itself in a kind of trap, falling between the layers of the ionosphere, and repeatedly reflected from them, thereby bending around the Earth until it comes out through the lower layer down. According to another theory, the long delays of the signal are due to the fact that it alternately reflects from the Moon and the Earth several times before reaching the receiver. According to the third hypothesis, radio waves are reflected from clouds of plasma outside the Earth. But this is all pure materialism.
But the Scottish astronomer and cosmologist Duncan Lunan puts forward a much bolder and more interesting assumption. According to him, the world echoes are generated by alien aircraft that capture our radio signals and send them back not only with a noticeable delay, but also with increased power. Indeed, Lunan and his colleagues have shown experimentally that long delay echoes are more powerful than similar radio waves bouncing off various objects on Earth. Many ufologists agree with Duncan, believing that aliens may well be to blame.
Of course, as in the case of many other not fully explained phenomena, the world echo is surrounded by a halo of mysticism, giving rise to various urban legends and rumors. Many radio amateurs swear that they have heard strange voices, sounds and even music on the air with a worldwide echo effect. Believe it or not, it's up to you. It is better, of course, to check everything yourself, that is, to become a radio engineer …
A frightening story that happened to a Russian radio amateur
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For example, there is a known story about a Russian who was fond of radio communication in the 2000s and had a civilian radio radio. One night he was tuning the antenna tuner and at that time he went out to transmit. Clicking the PTT, the man suddenly heard his own voice come back with a delay of 14 seconds. Recalling what a world echo is, at first he was not too surprised, although he was glad that he had witnessed such a rare phenomenon.
But then our compatriot was not only puzzled, but also frightened. After talking to the radio repeating his voice, the radio amateur noticed that in some cases the phrases he said were returned changed. For example, he said the standard “One, two, three, four, five, the bunny went out for a walk”, and in response he received “One, two, three, four, five, the bunny came out to die”. He said, "What other nonsense is going on?", But then I heard, "Will the same nonsense happen?"
It is curious that the delay in sound became less and less, as if a mysterious object from which radio waves were reflected was inexorably approaching our hero. At the end, the man, who was quite agitated by this turn of events, reported to the walkie-talkie "Well, that's it, I'm leaving now", and from the speaker suddenly heard "Well, that's it, I'll come to you now." The delay was now only 5 seconds. Needless to say, after this incident, the Russian henceforth swore to indulge in the radio.