U.F.O Test Site?

The following account is in response to a question regarding what took place at the Hafren site in Mid-Wales, the account is as follows: I personally worked at this facility in the late 80s and the early 90s. During the late 80s it was used for Electromagnetic compatibility Testing as well as looking into the possibility of a cheaper form of S.D.I. In the early 90s it was for testing the Rapier Missile System which was primarily designed for deployment in the Middle East. A lot of negative feeling was generated in the local population due to the activity taking place in the forest where the Hafren site was located, and also because the site was classified. This resulted in a pressure group being formed and also the local M.P. becoming involved. The first time the site was commissioned in the late 80s would probably be of more interest for your request of more information on the site. The Environmental Enclosure would have been in use at this time.

The photograph on the right shows how the Environmental Enclosure looked in the late 80s.

This poor quality photograph on the left shows how only the skeletal remains of the Environmental Enclosure remain. Also the test pad can be seen in front the structure. I had to wait about six weeks before I was allowed access to the Environmental Enclosure as I needed MOD clearance to enter this part of the facility. Once I had clearance I did help the scientists on more than one occasion in a very basic way. This involved running wires from a clear tubular central column which was filled with what appeared to be oil and equipment, the wires formed something like a spiders web within the Environmental Enclosure and all of them originated from this central column. A special concrete pad was constructed by B.A.E engineers which was located next to the Environmental Enclosure nothing metallic could be placed on this pad while the site was active. I remember that a metallic tower had been placed on this pad which was coated in plastic, high energy was involved as it gave off a coronal discharge when active. I believe that this must have generated some sort of beam as one of our responsibilities was to form a triangulation point spread out around the site to keep watch for low flying jets, our call signs were Kimini 1,2 and 3, even though this was designated as restricted airspace the pilots would see the environmental Enclosure in the middle of the forest and then return for a clearer view, when this happened we would alert the site to shut the test down. I was told that the test would interfere with the aircrafts electronics and bring the plane down.

The Electromagnetic compatibility testing involved recreating the electromagnetic pulse which is generated during a nuclear bomb detonation and the problem this causes to electric circuits which tend to get fried. Various tests were done on various types of equipment from satellites to army and airforce equipment, on one occasion a low loader got stuck carrying a Harrier Jump Jet to the site (minus its wings) as the roads were not suitable for heavy traffic. It was after this incident that further equipment was flown in by helicopter and which sparked off complaints by locals of low flying helicopters above the forest.

I took the photograph on the right from a helicopter bringing equipment to the site in the early 90s.

It was probably some time in October or November of 1989 when scientists from Los Alamos in New Mexico were brought to the site, the  reason I know this was because the location was stamped on the boxes of equipment that accompanied them. I believe they were flown into the American Airforce base at Lakenheath, I thought it was quite comical really as they had come in the back door so to speak and yet they were driving around a small Welsh market town wearing baseball caps in dark vans with blacked out windows, really blending in well with the local population. I believe that some of the work they were involved with concerned a satellite they were running tests on, the infra red photograph  shown here was taken by the satellite in orbit which they were running tests on and shows the location of the site.

It was in conjunction with these scientists arrival on site that I believe testing took place over a period of about a week on what was described as an NTSV, this acronym I later found out stood for Non Terrestrial Space Vehicle. I was not on shift when this was brought to the site by helicopter and a B.A.E security detail accompanied it, I was relegated to the access road which approaches the site while what I termed as the cupola section was on site.

During the week while the NTSV was on site I was only able to get a brief view of it, I would describe it as the cupola section of a larger vehicle, the colour was a gun metal grey and the size would be approximately six feet in height by about twenty feet in diameter. I assume that Electromagnetic compatibility testing took place as the NTSV had been placed on the test pad in front of the Environmental Enclosure.

In the early 90s I worked at the site again, this time testing was taking place on the radar section of the Rapier Missile System, a shed (really futuristic) had been placed on a scaffold tower, inside the shed was equipment which simulated an enemy aircraft.

The radar section of the Rapier Missile System would interrogate the equipment which simulated an enemy aircraft and if it didn’t receive the correct response it would activate the missiles to fire. The radar section of the Rapier Missile System can be seen in the photograph, it is sited below the skeletal remains of the Environmental Enclosure.

An interesting footnote is that when the American Stealth bomber flew over Farnborough airshow in 1996 it was the Rapier Missile System that detected it, even though it was supposed to be invisible to radar. The newspaper article below describes the incident.

Hi!
We’ve spoken before when this blog post was password protected, I was hoping you could upload the attached picture of a wooden bolt that was used at the site, it’s something I found while up there once. I just find it amazing they would go to the trouble to make a wooden nut/bolt!!
I also have photos of when it was used by Aberystwyth university about 10-15 years ago and have some of present day with every trace gone if you’re interested?
Hope you get this and look forward to your reply
Kind regards
Kit Bridgen

Hi Kit, thanks for the e-mail and the attached picture. I can only speculate as to its use, however I would have thought it would have been used on or in the vicinity of the concrete test pad when the site was active during the trials. I remember that nothing metallic was allowed anywhere near the test pad during this time.

Regards Gary