Big white radar (?) sphere things near A59 (?)
Discussion
Yup, RAF Menwith Hill, right alongside the A59:
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/RAF+Menwith+Hi...
http://www.raf.mod.uk/organisation/rafmenwithhill....
<Adjusts tin foil hat, as they're probably listening....>
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/RAF+Menwith+Hi...
http://www.raf.mod.uk/organisation/rafmenwithhill....
<Adjusts tin foil hat, as they're probably listening....>
Don`t pull up & start taking photos or you`ll find yourself having a chat with some blokes in uniform:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/tjblackwell/12243668...
If you can have a chat with one of the Yanks there they`ll be able to help you with locating those emails you deleted a few years ago.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/tjblackwell/12243668...
If you can have a chat with one of the Yanks there they`ll be able to help you with locating those emails you deleted a few years ago.
julianm said:
Don`t pull up & start taking photos or you`ll find yourself having a chat with some blokes in uniform:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/tjblackwell/12243668...
You aswell? I took some pics of a car a year or two ago with that as a background, a few days later I had the boys in blue knocking on my door, I https://www.flickr.com/photos/tjblackwell/12243668...
Many years ago (about 10!) i was nominated to deliver a load of gear here (IT, printer stuff)
So i drive up but go in the wrong entrance.... whoops. I wondered why there were all these obstacles to stop me gaining any speed, 5-6 guys pop out with MP5's and a couple of dogs. They had to sweep the van inside/outside and underneath.
They realised my mistake but gave me very privileged badge to pass through the "back entrance" into the base to then drive back out and back in the proper entrance to get a vehicle pass + ID, whoops.
It was a bit daunting when i was first stopped though
So i drive up but go in the wrong entrance.... whoops. I wondered why there were all these obstacles to stop me gaining any speed, 5-6 guys pop out with MP5's and a couple of dogs. They had to sweep the van inside/outside and underneath.
They realised my mistake but gave me very privileged badge to pass through the "back entrance" into the base to then drive back out and back in the proper entrance to get a vehicle pass + ID, whoops.
It was a bit daunting when i was first stopped though
My dad once got a job to repair a monitor there when he worked for Ganada TVs, this was 30+ years ago so things were repaired rather than replaced.
He was told by the guard at the front gate how to get where he needed to be on the base in typical military fashion but since my dad is deaf in one ear he didn't quite it all so was told if he gets lost to just stop and they'd find him.
As expected he got lost, stops and put his hazards on, within 60 seconds a jeep pulls up with four very armed soldiers in it. He explains and they politely say they will escort him to where he needs to be but with the last stern instruction from one of the guards "follow us, if you stop or decide to take a different route you will be arrested or shot"
Gets to the building and says the monitor needs to be taken to the workshop for repair - not allowed, under no circumstances, being told abruptly that he isn't taking any equipment away and he won't be allowed back on the base if he leaves. So had to get all of the spares and equipment driven up and dropped off at the gate which was brought to the building after being searched through. Took all day to fix one monitor.
Not his most enjoyable experience and the company apparently didn't like doing jobs there because of similar experiences. Understandable why but you'd think they'd have their own tech staff rather than using outside contracts if it's so secret.
He was told by the guard at the front gate how to get where he needed to be on the base in typical military fashion but since my dad is deaf in one ear he didn't quite it all so was told if he gets lost to just stop and they'd find him.
As expected he got lost, stops and put his hazards on, within 60 seconds a jeep pulls up with four very armed soldiers in it. He explains and they politely say they will escort him to where he needs to be but with the last stern instruction from one of the guards "follow us, if you stop or decide to take a different route you will be arrested or shot"
Gets to the building and says the monitor needs to be taken to the workshop for repair - not allowed, under no circumstances, being told abruptly that he isn't taking any equipment away and he won't be allowed back on the base if he leaves. So had to get all of the spares and equipment driven up and dropped off at the gate which was brought to the building after being searched through. Took all day to fix one monitor.
Not his most enjoyable experience and the company apparently didn't like doing jobs there because of similar experiences. Understandable why but you'd think they'd have their own tech staff rather than using outside contracts if it's so secret.
DoctorX said:
I've been in one, it contained a normal looking radar dish and the dome is a radio transparent protection from the elements.
(or so they said, who knows what's in all the others..... )
Most jaw dropping sight was the 'gas' prices at the petrol station. Jammy sods!
They pretty much all used to be open to the elements, I think, and (at the time) they were just fairly ordinary-looking radar dishes. Who knows what's gone on since then of course. From memory the golf balls started to proliferate in anger in the late 1980s... or thereabouts? I was a child at the time and my family used to take the dog for walks at nearby Brimham Rocks. My childhood memories could easily be faulty of course...(or so they said, who knows what's in all the others..... )
Most jaw dropping sight was the 'gas' prices at the petrol station. Jammy sods!
My school friends and I often used to gawp at the American saloons that could sometimes be seen parked or driving round Harrogate, looking (it must be said) somewhat out of place. I'd always assumed that people working on the base got free shipping for their cars, and the cheap petrol would explain why they bothered to actually use them
Edited by to3m on Sunday 12th October 22:29
The ones at Menwith Hill were all big radar dishes the last time I looked.
I remember in the mid 90's they were doing work up there, a few new ones (a bigger one) and some of the others had their domes off for a time.
I also recall going on to their site to go bowling many moons ago, and having burger and fries. That may not seem like a fancy thing now but in the mid to late 80's it was probably quite new ish to the UK.
I still don't get why they have radar dishes in there though, or the domes. Maybe they went to planar array like Fylingdales but have left them inside domes?!
Fylingdales is a weird one indeed. I've managed to be able to walk around the outside quite closely when it was domes and also the new planar array, and that new one has a certain 'thrum' to it in the air. Feels kinda weird. I felt like if I hung around too long I might become sterile
Ah the joys of rounding up sheep over hundreds of acres of bleak moorland!
Dave
I remember in the mid 90's they were doing work up there, a few new ones (a bigger one) and some of the others had their domes off for a time.
I also recall going on to their site to go bowling many moons ago, and having burger and fries. That may not seem like a fancy thing now but in the mid to late 80's it was probably quite new ish to the UK.
I still don't get why they have radar dishes in there though, or the domes. Maybe they went to planar array like Fylingdales but have left them inside domes?!
Fylingdales is a weird one indeed. I've managed to be able to walk around the outside quite closely when it was domes and also the new planar array, and that new one has a certain 'thrum' to it in the air. Feels kinda weird. I felt like if I hung around too long I might become sterile
Ah the joys of rounding up sheep over hundreds of acres of bleak moorland!
Dave
I live very near Menwith Hill, I have been in quite a few times as there is an Independance Day car show every year, which is really good, plus, as it's filled with yanks, so there is always an array of American muscle cars round me(they bring their cars with them). I was in the supra about a year ago and a nice black SRT Challenger in front of me did the most epic rolling burnout I have ever seen...........at 4 in the afternoon, on a Tuesday
It started out as part of the US's early warning system for ICBM launches in the Soviet Bloc.
It then developed into a key part of the Echelon system and is used for signals intelligence, up to and including private mobile, landline, email and web traffic monitoring. This information is shared between us, them and the Aussies I think.
It then developed into a key part of the Echelon system and is used for signals intelligence, up to and including private mobile, landline, email and web traffic monitoring. This information is shared between us, them and the Aussies I think.
Marshalled on a stage that ran past Fylingdales a couple of years ago, lots of weird electrical glitches, one of the guys was locked out of his car despite having the key in his hand! On my car the odometer zeroed itself then went back to normal. I thought I had imagined it then it did it again a minute or two later. We also had horrible comms problems all day, the bigger sets wouldnt work at all, only managed any communication with the little handhelds.
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