Vintage oscilloscope with mysterious waveform

The winter of 1999 was particularly harsh in Kazakhstan. Our laboratory, located in what was charitably described as “a remote location,” was even more isolated than usual. The heating system worked intermittently, and we spent most days wearing multiple layers of clothing while conducting experiments.

The Discovery

It was Dr. Svetlana Petrovna who first noticed the anomaly. Every Thursday, without fail, the old Tektronix oscilloscope in Laboratory Room 3 would display a strange waveform at precisely 14:37 local time.

The waveform was distinctive: a clean 50 Hz sine wave that would gradually distort over the course of 3-4 minutes, develop what appeared to be harmonic overtones, and then disappear. It occurred regardless of whether the oscilloscope was connected to anything. It occurred even when the oscilloscope was turned off (though we had to turn it on to see it, obviously).

The Investigation

As the facility’s designated “investigator of unusual phenomena” (a title I neither requested nor could escape), I was assigned to determine the cause.

My investigation included:

  • Week 1: Verified the phenomenon was real. It was.
  • Week 2: Checked for radio interference, electrical noise, cosmic rays, and nearby industrial equipment. Found nothing conclusive.
  • Week 3: Discovered that the oscilloscope was manufactured in 1978 at a factory in Zelenograd.
  • Week 4: Learned that the factory also manufactured components for other equipment, which seemed relevant until it wasn’t.
  • Week 5: Attempted to observe the phenomenon with different oscilloscopes. It only appeared on that specific unit.

The Hypothesis Phase

Over the next three months, my colleagues and I developed several theories:

Dr. Yevgeny’s Theory: “It’s picking up radio signals from the weather station 40 km away.”

  • Problem: The weather station didn’t broadcast on Thursdays at 14:37

Svetlana’s Theory: “It’s a manufacturing defect causing internal oscillation.”

  • Problem: Why only on Thursdays?

My Theory: “It’s some kind of resonance effect with the building’s electrical system, modulated by weekly variations in power grid load.”

  • Problem: I had no evidence for this whatsoever

Igor the Technician’s Theory: “Is haunted.”

  • Problem: Not scientifically testable
  • Advantage: No counter-evidence

The Resolution

In April 2000, the oscilloscope stopped displaying the Thursday waveform. It simply stopped, as mysteriously as it had begun.

I checked every Thursday for the next two years. Nothing.

In 2002, I was cleaning out a storage room and found the maintenance logs. On the first Thursday that the waveform didn’t appear, our facility electrician had replaced a faulty transformer in the building’s electrical system.

Mystery solved? Perhaps. But I never determined what about that specific transformer, combined with that specific oscilloscope, on that specific day of the week, at that specific time, produced that specific waveform.

The Paper

I wrote up the findings: “Anomalous Periodic Waveforms in Soviet-Era Oscilloscope Equipment: A Case Study.”

The paper was rejected by three journals. The third reviewer’s comment was memorable: “This is a well-documented account of a broken oscilloscope. We recommend the author contact a repair service rather than a physics journal.”

Technically accurate, I suppose.

Current Whereabouts

The oscilloscope was disposed of in 2004 when the laboratory was decommissioned. I sometimes wonder if whoever bought it at the government surplus auction ever turned it on on a Thursday at 14:37.

Probably not. But if they did, and they saw a strange waveform, I hope they had the good sense to ignore it and go about their day.

Unlike me.

Dedicated to the memory of Laboratory 23-Б (1991-2004): Where we asked questions nobody else thought to ask, and occasionally found answers nobody else wanted.