My friend had an old shortwave radio that he bought from a flea market.
Most nights, we only heard static, random voices, and distant stations in languages we did not understand. It was more interesting than useful.
One evening, we found a signal that sounded different.
It was a repeating pattern. Three tones, then silence. Three tones, then silence. After a few minutes, a voice came through.
It did not sound human exactly, but it was not robotic either.
The voice said one sentence:
“You are early.”
Then the signal disappeared.
We laughed at first because it sounded like something from a science fiction movie, but both of us heard the same words.
The next day, the radio would not turn on.
My friend opened it and said one of the internal parts had melted slightly, even though it had not been hot when we used it.
We still argue about what we heard.
But neither of us has ever said it was just static.