A daily signal that can be heard across the Monterey Peninsula leads to many questions.

Celia Jiménez here, thinking about how a question can lead to an interesting story. 

One such story was the signal many of us at the Weekly hear from the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center in Monterey three times a day. We mentioned it during one of our recent weekly editorial meetings. Is a recording being played? Is it live? Is it always the same song?

My colleague Agata Popęda started a quest to answer these and other questions, and the result is this feature story in this week’s edition of the Weekly.

I found it amusing that many who live nearby have picked up the phone to ask DLI the same questions we had. Hopefully, you will similarly find the story illuminating. 

Popęda also explains why sometimes the signal sounds louder than other days, what each signal is called and how it started. 

There is also context for what the signal means to those on base. “Everybody on base should stop and face the sound,” Cameron Binkley, command historian at DLI, told Popęda. “And if you’re driving, you should stop and flash your lights.” 

I’m curious to know if you've heard any of these signals. I have while visiting friends who live in Monterey; but a few weeks ago, I heard the 5pm signal at home in Seaside.