Several stories of American testing secret aircraft over the North Sea have been going around for years. American military would contact Air Traffic Control and request restricted airspace over the North Sea for testing. A short time later, an unidentified target would speed through the restricted zone. The Americans would then inform Air Traffic Control that testing was complete, and thank them for the airspace.

Mid 80's - The Machrihanish airbase has long been believed to have had a strong connection with the testing and development of the F-117 Stealth Fighter which remained "unacknowledged" for over seven years.

1989 : Chris Gibson, a former member of the Royal Observer Corps, while working on the Gavelston Key oil rig in the North Sea reported seeing what could possibly be the USAF's new spyplane. He observed a loud black traingle in the process of refuelling with a USAF KC-135 Stratotanker, being escorted by two F-111 Fighter Bombers. He said that if he could not identify the craft, then it is not in any book.

November 1991 : RAF radar operator ( location unknown ) tracked an unknown target leaving Machrihanish and then quickly accelerated to Mach 3. When the radar operator called up Machrihanish to find out what just happened, he was told simply to just "forget about it."
There was also a lot of reports of mysterious lights in the sky and sonic booms in the area during this time.

January 1992 : More fast moving targets were tracked by both RAF and civilian radar controllers operating around the Machrihanish area. The target was travelling at speeds between Mach 3 and Mach 6.

May 1992 : A photographer in Armillio, Texas got several pictures of a strange looking contrail stretched out across the sky. A few days later, the same contrails were spotted over the Macrhihanish area. They are described as "doughnuts on a rope."

1993 ( Sometime during the winter months ) : Windows shattered and houses "shook" in the Machrihanish area as what appears to be some form of sonic boom happened over the area. Local residents initially thought it was a plane crash at first due to the loud noise of an explosion, but this was not the case. At the same time, a radar controller at Prestwick Airport ( Ayrshire ) reported tracking an unknown target close to the base.

1994 : A Royal Air Force Chinook helicopter crashed on the Mull of Kintyre killing all 29 people on board, 25 of which were military and police intelligence officers. The military initially blamed pilot error and only recently have their names been cleared. Many people believe that there was a large cover up involving the United States Military. See next section for full details.

1995 : A Mr McRoberts had been playing golf on the Machrihanish Golf Course and when looked out to sea, he was surprised to see the tell tale sign of an aircraft's exhaust effecting the water. The aircraft was travelling at such a high speed that it was not spotted, only the jet wash affecting the waves.

Time Unknown : A local resident of the area was playing golf on the famous Machrihanish Golf Course ( which borders the base ). He had played a bad shot and sliced the ball, so he set off to try and retrieve it. He thought that he had heard movement just a few feet from him, coming from some hedgerow, but dismissed it as his mind playing tricks on him. Once he found his ball, he played it back onto the main course, as he walked away from the area he had a glance back and to his surprise, seen an armed guard, complete with beret and machine gun staring back at him. This sighting has raised a lot of suspicion and speculation.

Time Unknown : A person driving to Campbeltown, he spotted a man walking in the same direction and stopped to offer him a lift. The man he picked up was an American heading to the Machrihanish base, what he done at the base remains unknown. Conversation was minimal as it seems the man didn't want to answer any questions. As they approached the main gate, the driver was instructed to carry on and take a smaller road which leads to an over look of the base. As they turned down a narrow dirt track, the car was suddenly surrounded by armed men in camouflaged clothing with no insignia and wearing blue berets. The weapons were aimed at the car as they surrounded the vehicle. The American passenger reassured the driver, got out of the car and walked over to the soldiers, showing some form of I.D. The weapons were then lowered. The American then came back over and thanked the driver for the lift to the base, he also said "best not say anything about what you have seen."

February 2001 : An air traffic controller mentioned that he had noticed a large increase in American activity at Machrihanish during the month. What sort of activity is unknown. Around this time there was multiple sightings of black triangular aircraft around the west coast of the UK.

September/October 2001 : Several reports of B-2 Stealth Bombers visiting the base after the September 11th terrorist attacks. The claim was also published in the British Intelligence Magazine "Eye Spy". (www.eyespymag.com)

July 2004: During the last week of July, it appears that there were numerous sightings on Kintyre, of some sort of unusual aerial vehicle. I first read about these reports from Campbeltowns local newspaper, the Campbeltown Courier (www.campbeltowncourier.co.uk).

On July 25th 2004, the object in question was spotted near Clachan, Kintyre.
On July 26th 2004, the object was spotted by Allan Heads, the flight information service officer at Islay Airport. He proceeded to contact Scottish Control based at Prestwick Airport but they were unable to pick any object in the area up on their radar.

These two sightings themselves initially raised my curiosity, as most things from that area usually do, due to the close proximity with RAF Machrihanish. What I was told the following week certainly suggests that there may be a bit more to these reports, and that the U.S. Military may well be involved.

On Friday 6th August 2004 - I managed to speak to a captain who flew into the base during daylight hours. During that week, the captain in question had flown from Glasgow to Campbeltown (Machrihanish), which in itself is nothing unusual. It was what this captain witnessed that is unusual.

At the far end of the base, opposite end from the civilian terminal is the Gaydon Hangar, and the military area where several weeks before, a Squadron of RAF Harrier jets operated from during a major military exercise.

Upon landing, the captain witnessed a vast amount of military activity at the Gaydon Hangar, identifying the persons present specifically as American. The pilot in question has an Air Force background, and can easily distinguish between British and American military personnel, and said that they were "Americans, without a doubt."

What exactly they were doing is unclear, the captain did witness camouflage netting around the hangar, which in theory could easily be used to keep things hidden. The exact nature of what they were/might have been trying to hide, is again unclear.

I however find it too much of a coincidence that during the same time there are several reports from the area of unidentified aircraft, that there just happens to be an American military presence at RAF Machrihanish.
During my investigations, I checked the NOTAMs (Notice to Airmen), and there was nothing posted about any military activity at the base. To the best of my knowledge, there also has not been any U.S. military aircraft inbound or outbound from the base in the recent past either.

However, in the weeks before the initial sightings, there were 3 USAF Hercules aircraft operating on training exercises out of RAF Lynham. Part of this exercise, which was intercepted by myself, included Herky 70 flight (3xC-130s) doing a simulated airdrop at Machrihanish.

Maybe it wasn't just a simulation after all.............