KEVIN PATERSON - PHOTOGRAPHER - CAMERAMAN

When ever someone mentions any form of secret aircraft, people automatically think of Area 51, Nevada. This is obviously going to happen because for the last decade, the public has been bombarded with magazines, books, t-shirts and TV shows about Area 51, apparently the most secret base on the planet. I personally feel that this is not the case, the base itself is not a secret, its known by just about everyone with access to some form of media, its what goes on within the base that is the secret. However, although it is so widely known, it still remains the place where the U.S Government goes when they want to be alone, you cannot get anywhere near the base, and with its security you would be foolish to try.

On a global scale, there are many military installations that conduct covert testing but at the same time, remain pretty much unknown to the general public. One of these bases is located on the West Coast of Scotland, RAF Machrihanish. Many rumours have came out of the area for over 10 years from the secret hypersonic spyplane "Aurora" being operated from the base, to the other extreme of crashed UFO's being dismantled and reversed engineered at the base. As with most things of this nature, the only people who really know the truth, are the people who conduct these operations, everyone else can only look at what evidence there is regarding the activities of these installations and then make their own assessment based on what they have learned.

For whatever reason, the history behind the base is very very sketchy. Very little information can be found on the exact history of the installation. The base was officially opened in 1941 and played a major part in NATO's strategic defence plan for Europe. The base was then upgraded since the threat from the Soviet Union was increasing in the 1950's which seen the runway being extended to a massive 1.89 miles long. At the time, it was to allow British Vulcan bombers to operate from the base and also act as an Emergency landing site for NATO P-3 Maritime Patrol aircraft.

From that point on, the activities at Machrihanish are currently unknown until we come to the late 1980's when the US Administration decided to spend tens of Millions of dollars to upgrade the base. The exact details of the money spent remains unknown. These figures however show some of the money that was spent on the upgrade : -

£407,000 on the construction of a new control tower, representing 20 per cent. of a NATO-funded project

£2,090,000 VAT payment on NATO-funded construction of underground fuel pipes and pumps

£2,000,000 VAT payment on NATO-funded airfield pavement improvements, including the strengthening of runway aprons

£1,807,000 on the construction of new single living quarters. In the same period NATO has contributed £28,306,000 on upgrading at RAF Machrihanish.

As of 1995, the base became officially under the highest state of advanced care and maintenance. How would a base which had millions spent on upgrading the base just 5 years previous, suddenly become disused and require maintenance?

It should also be noted at this point, that Machrihanish was the European staging area for No.2 Detachment of the US Navy SEALS. Spec War 2. They were actively engaged at the base since the early 80's, with a unit being stationed there for 6 months at a time. There was three units who would be stationed at the base, switching every 6 months. From what I can gather, the SEAL teams were relocated sometime in 1997/1998 to a base in Germany so that they were more centrally stationed in Europe, and closer to the perceived theatre of operations.

What involvement they have with this base is anyone's guess. After speaking to a retired Navy Seal Operator, I was told that if the SEALS are at the base, then it will only be for a few weeks on some form of training mission. This is consistent with Operation Springbank 2001. This involved four MH-53Ms from the 21st Special Operations Squadron (SOS) based at RAF Mildenhall being deployed to Machrihanish between July 16th-27th. Two MC-130 (SOS) also flew up from Mildenhall every day to take part in the exercise.

The British Army's Special Air Service (SAS) also use the base from time to time to conduct various training exercises. Many people have reported seeing these exercises taking place, including military personnel practicing water insertions from low flying helicopters. A private aircraft was also diverted away from the area one day since the US Navy SEALS were practicing their HALO ( High Altitude Low Opening ) parachute jumps, and using the base as a landing site. Various other units have been known to use the base as a stop over while on long range exercises.

More recently in 2005, the USAF 352nd Special Operations Group once again deployed to the base for several weeks during both September and October.