Sightings of Retired Radar Operator

Recently I've had a lodger. He's in his seventies, and was part of the first mobile radar project in the UK. He was a radar operator for the first radio signal bounced off the moon, and was involved in many other "firsts".

During a chat with me he mentioned a phenomenon he encountered frequently, which he reported several times to his superiors - A super fast dot moving across the screen, faster than anything he'd ever seen, just flashed across. The official explaination given to him was that it was nothing more than a meteor and that he should ignore it. However, as with most these events, that was never the end of the story - the sightings continued and so did the government's interest in these things, albeit a concealed interest. The military scientist who studied it said that the object was travelling in the order of 35,000 miles per hour. 7 times faster than the fastest human propulsion today, and at that time it was before we'd even launched a satellite into space let alone any humans.

Food for thought if nothing else.

hi there Mouse on mars

very interesting story, it is an area i am interested in as my field of expertise is also radar and MIRTS but in an avionics capacity,

can you poss ask your lodger some follow up questions ?

if so can you please ask him if he was stationed or involved with any of the chain low rotor radar stations here in the UK ?

many thanks

Dr. S D Mckay

u2u me if you want my private email to carry on any correspondence in private.

Originally posted by snoopyuk
hi there Mouse on mars

very interesting story, it is an area i am interested in as my field of expertise is also radar and MIRTS but in an avionics capacity,

can you poss ask your lodger some follow up questions ?

if so can you please ask him if he was stationed or involved with any of the chain low rotor radar stations here in the UK ?

many thanks

Dr. S D Mckay

u2u me if you want my private email to carry on any correspondence in private.

I can indeed ask him any question you like.

As far as I know, the unit he operated was the first mobile radar, which was apparently used mainly on coastal defense for lack of anything better to do with the unit. I've been told it was developed with the intention of tracking the trajectory of mortar bombs to triangulate launchers. It was a small box, similar to a horsebox, that was towed by a jeep or similar, and had a paraboloid on hydraulics that lifted it up through a hole in the roof. There was a small explosive charge mounted on the single axle, which would detonate if the door was opened unless the vehicle was earthed (which it was during training exercises).

These units worked during the second world war in conjunction with heavy ack-ack gun emplacements to track enemy aircraft and triangulate their position.

That's all I know, and some of it may be wrong. Being a Trowbridge man, born and bred, he sometimes gets words mixed up but conveys the "general idea" as seems to be traditional in Wiltshire.

I will ask him though and get you a clearer answer