Keep Out!: Top Secret Places Governments Don't Want You to Know About

During the early 1950s, my father, Frank Redfern, served with the British Royal Air Force as a radar mechanic, and was involved in a series of extraordinary UFO incidents that occurred throughout the course of three days and nights during the latter part of September 1952. The encounters took place at the height of a military exercise code-named Mainbrace, and involved a number of fast-moving, unidentified targets that were tracked over-flying the North Sea by radar operators at RAF Neatishead, Norfolk, England, for several days. The aerial encounters mystified the finest minds of the Air Ministry’s scientific and technical personnel.

When my father related this story to me I was barely 13 years old; it proved to be a key turning point in my life and ultimately led me on a continuing quest to determine the strange truth that lies behind the UFO puzzle. I made mention of my father’s experience in my first book, A Covert Agenda, which hit the bookstores in late 1997. Following its publication, a number of important sources came forward to corroborate the remarkable events of September 1952—including a man named Bill Maguire, who had enlisted in the Royal Air Force in 1950. To say that Maguire had an interesting story to tell of a Top Secret facility is quite an understatement.

Bill Maguire

For a brief period in September 1952, at the height of Operation Mainbrace, Maguire was holed up in a Top Secret military facility buried far below the English countryside. It was hardly of conventional proportions: The entrance-point was a metal hatch that sat atop a small mound in the middle of a normal-looking field near RAF Sandwich, in the county of Kent. Maguire was afforded a truly astonishing, firsthand taste of just one of many government-controlled underground lairs that secretly dominate the world below our very feet. As he lowered himself into the entrance-point, Maguire was confronted by a staircase that descended for approximately half a mile into a huge room populated by more than a hundred people, all frantically involved in tracking something sensational on the huge wall of radar screens that dominated the room.

As Maguire finally got his bearings within this massive underground domain, and as the situation was revealed to him in its starkest form, the reasons behind the blind panic became staggeringly clear. It seemed that some form of absolutely gigantic UFO was being tracked on the radar scopes high above the deep waters of the English Channel, and, as a specialist in radar, Maguire’s thoughts, analyses, and conclusions about what was afoot were immediately required. But, then, without any warning, something astonishing occurred: The gargantuan UFO split into three sections, all of which proceeded to zoom away at phenomenal speeds. One section went north, a second headed towards the French coastline, and the third was tracked until it finally disappeared in the Eastern Balkan region. Afterward, Maguire said, he was told by the superior officers present never to talk about the strange series of events, and he did not for almost half a century. (Whatever it was that Maguire, and a whole team of experienced radar operators, tracked from that vast, secret underground complex nearly 60 years ago, it is to Maguire’s credit that he eventually had no qualms about speaking out publicly.)

Aside from what may have been occurring in the sky all those years ago, what to make of the extraordinary world that Maguire encountered far below the surface? Can we, today, identify it? The answer is yes; or, at least, with near certainty we can.

By 1949, the tension that existed between East and West was worsening, and a catastrophic, civilization-ending atomic confrontation between the Soviet Union and the United States was seen by many as being right around the corner. As a result, deeply concerned British authorities recognized it was imperative that preparations should be made to deal with the unthinkable, should such a terrifying situation ever come to pass. As a result, a highly secret program was launched by the British government to create a brand-new chain of radar installations throughout the country, with a significant number located on the eastern and western coasts. The classified program became known as Rotor, and it led to the careful construction of a wealth of secret bunkers that, in a national emergency involving a confrontation with the Russians, would work diligently to defend the nation from outright nuclear disaster.

One of those installations that played a significant role in Rotor was none other than the aforementioned RAF Sandwich. During the hostilities of 1939–1945, the base was termed a Ground Controlled Interception site. It was located at Ash Road, in the town of Sandwich (after which the base was named) and was comprised of nearly 400 active personnel. Eventually, however, its operations were transferred to a secret, below-ground, two-level installation in the nearby village of Ash. The Ash installation was not completed until May 1953, with operations commencing there in August 1954. However, there seems to be very little doubt that the classified bunker to which Bill Maguire was taken, from which the movements of the extraordinary aerial object were tracked (and which he clearly recalled was located somewhere extremely close to RAF Sandwich), was, at the very least, somehow inextricably linked to the secret Rotor program. To what extent the staff hunkered down in the Rotor bunkers may have tracked UFOs on other occasions is unfortunately unknown. But there is an interesting footnote to this particular matter and the saga of Bill Maguire.

Specifically commenting on the extraordinary underground complex to which Bill Maguire was taken via a hidden entrance in an innocuous-looking field near RAF Sandwich in 1952, the late Graham Birdsall of UFO Magazine had the following to say: “As recently as 1997, I learned how Communications Technicians were operating from supposed disused airfields and similar moth-balled bases here in the UK, whose location and means of access to underground facilities below must remain confidential. However, I can categorically state that one such access point was described as being in the middle of a plain-looking field.”[5]

Could it be that this is a direct reference to the underground installation to which Bill Maguire was dispatched all those years ago? If the answer to that question should be yes, then it may well be the case that to this day its deeply buried staff still continues to secretly monitor the skies for UFOs. And apparently, it’s not the only British-based underground installation with a Top Secret tie to the UFO conundrum. That’s right: There are more.

Rendlesham Forest

Between the nights of December 26 and 28, 1980, a series of almost science-fiction-like events occurred in Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk, England, a densely treed area adjacent to the joint Royal Air Force/U.S. Air Force military complex of Bentwaters-Woodbridge. Essentially, what many believe took place throughout the course of several nights was nothing less than the landing of a craft from another world, out of which small, humanoid entities reportedly emerged. The vehicle was tracked on radar, deposited traces of radiation within the forest, succeeded in avoiding capture, duly made good its escape, was the subject of intense secrecy on the part of both British and American authorities…and thus created a wild controversy that rages to this very day.

Equally profound are the rumors suggesting that far below the now-decommissioned installations exists a super-advanced base, possibly with an intimate connection to the UFO mystery. One of those who has commented at length on this particularly mysterious underworld is a man named Larry Warren, a U.S. Air Force witness to the UFO landing at Rendlesham Forest in December 1980. Warren, at the time a member of the Air Force Security Police, has stated that his own, personal encounter occurred late on the night of December 28. It sounds just like something straight out of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Warren’s experience was hardly Hollywood fiction, however; it was incredible, unearthly fact.

As the evening unfolded, rumors flew around the base about the nature of the UFO encounters of the previous two nights. Military personnel armed with sophisticated scientific equipment and hardware were reportedly swarming around the dense, dark woods, seemingly anticipating the return of the UFOs. Wild animals, such as deer and rabbits, were seen fleeing the forest in unbridled terror, clearly spooked to their collective cores by something menacingly unknown in their midst. And, at the height of these extraordinary events, Warren and a number of his colleagues and friends were ordered to head into the heart of those spooky woods. As for why? Well, they were just about to find out.

The mystified group carefully made its way through the trees, until a clearing was finally reached, on the other side of which was an open expanse of field…which, ominously, seemed to be illuminated by a form of weird, glowing fog. The tension began to mount. As Warren and his colleagues slowly moved closer, they could now see there were already approximately 40 personnel in the field, some armed with cameras, others weighed down with sophisticated motion-picture equipment, and a few even possessing Geiger counters.

The reason why suddenly became graphically and unbelievably clear: From the direction of the North Sea, a small ball of red light came flying towards the unearthly fog, and then stopped, hovering right above it. In an instant, there was a blinding flash. When Warren’s eyes acclimated to the situation, he could see that both the ball of light and the fog were now completely gone. In their place was something even more remarkable: At a distance of only about 20 feet from the shell-shocked Warren and his comrades was a pyramid-shaped craft that was clearly mechanical in nature, and appeared under intelligent control. That sight was nothing compared to what happened next, however.

A large ball of bluish-gold light appeared from the right side of the UFO, and moved slowly away from the craft, to a distance of about 10 feet from the stunned airmen. Within the ethereal ball were three entities; three non-human intelligences from some unknown realm. Aliens. The ball then split into three cylindrical creations, each containing one of the three beings, which were attired in silvery suits, had large heads, and displayed large, catlike eyes. They weren’t locals, then. According to Warren, some sort of communication — possibly telepathic — took place between the creatures and a high-ranking U.S Air Force officer, after which Warren and his colleagues were ordered to return to their trucks and await further orders. And that’s precisely, perhaps somewhat reluctantly, what they did. The encounter in the woods, for Warren at least, was over. But there was something even stranger waiting on the horizon for him, something destined to take the man not back into Rendlesham Forest, but under it.

It was maybe 6 p.m. on the following night when Warren, on-base but by then off-duty, received a telephone call. The mysterious voice on the line gave no indication of his identity, but ordered the bemused Warren to be in the dorm parking lot in 20 minutes, where he would see a dark blue sedan waiting for him. From his icy tone, the man might as well have added “Or else,” just for good measure. All the while wondering what was going on, Warren followed the orders like a good soldier, and sure enough: there was the car, waiting to take him to destinations unknown. He was motioned to the back door of the sedan by two silent men in dark suits — the dreaded Men in Black, perhaps — and got in the car. But something was wrong; something was very wrong. An eerie, green glow suddenly filled the vehicle, and a strange feeling overcame Warren. Somehow rendered into a semiconscious, befuddled state, and unable to speak clearly or move properly, Warren later speculated that perhaps he had been secretly drugged in some unfathomable fashion. Regardless of how such a situation was achieved, Warren was now as helpless as a terror-stricken deer caught in high-beam headlights.

The next thing Warren recalled, in his semi-sedated state, was being taken to another location, followed by what he described as a definite descent that affected the pressure in his ears. The inference was clear: rather than being taken back to base, Warren was now being transferred to somewhere deep beneath it. With his mind altered and his body unable to fight back, Warren’s involvement in whatever was about to happen next was pretty much assured. Through his stupor he saw rooms filled with high-tech equipment and computers, and was motioned towards a massive door. He walked through it on distinctly unsteady feet, and found himself in a darkened room, to the left of which was some sort of opening, access to which was prevented by a Plexiglas window.

“I stepped into the confined area and felt as if I was no longer on Earth,” Warren later recalled. “I found myself looking into a gigantic, dark, cavernous space. It reminded me of the interior of the Houston Astrodome in a strange way. Beads of humidity rolled down the other side of the seamless glass.”[6] Notably, Warren also recalled seeing a craft resting in a corner of the huge installation, looking very much like the one he had encountered in Rendlesham Forest the previous night. Lights he saw in the distance, Warren was informed by those carefully guiding his movements, represented a huge tunnel under the base that led out to the cold waters of the North Sea.

Warren was then directed to a large, translucent screen, through which he could see the shadowy silhouette of a small-sized, living entity, although it was impossible to make out any specific physical details. But there was something very strange and undeniably unearthly about the creature, or whatever it was: Warren began to sense words and imagery in his mind, all of which gave every indication that the being knew intimate, personal details of Warren’s life and character. The creature also informed Warren, again via some form of mind-to-mind contact, that it originated within a realm of existence that Warren would never be able to comprehend.

Notably, further data was imparted to Warren by the unknown entity in front of him to the effect that he was indeed in a secret facility far below the base, that the underground installation had existed since the 1940s, and was expanded upon in the 1960s, thus allowing the creature and the rest of its kind access to the facility via the huge tunnel system that reportedly had both entry and exit points approximately a mile off the coast of the town of Lowestoft, Suffolk. Warren was also advised that other such secret bases existed across the entire planet; their purpose, however, was never quite made clear.

“Larry: In your life, strive to remember,” were the final words that filled Warren’s head, before the entity vanished, and Warren succumbed to oblivion and the arms of Morpheus. When he finally, slowly regained his senses, Warren found himself back on the surface, wandering around the regular RAF Bentwaters base, in somewhat of a daze. To his shock and concern, it quickly became apparent to Warren that no less than two days had passed since his strange, underground experience began. Now, more than 30 years on, Warren still does not know what to make of the odd events that occurred deep below RAF Bentwaters; only that, in his own words, “I left part of my soul somewhere underground.”[7]

Rudloe Manor

There is one final secret installation in the United Kingdom worthy of study when for its reported UFO connections. As with the story of Larry Warren, it is a place filled with secrets, both above and below the ground. The rumors that have been bubbling quietly but continuously within certain factions of the British UFO research community since at least the late 1970s is that the relatively innocuous-looking base known as Royal Air Force Rudloe Manor, situated within the county of Wiltshire, sits atop a large, futuristic, underground installation, deep inside of which resides the holiest of all ufological prizes: alien bodies from a crashed UFO.

British authorities have long asserted that the stories are all nonsense; little more than modern-day folklore and mythology in the making. Determining the truth of this seemingly endless affair has proven to be just as problematic as the base is deep. One thing that can be said with certainty, however, is that the area of Wiltshire in which Rudloe Manor is situated is the source of a rock known as Bath Stone, which has been quarried extensively for many years — hence huge underground openings, caverns, and tunnels that certainly do exist deep beneath Rudloe Manor and throughout certain sections of the immediate, surrounding countryside.

Until 1998, the Royal Air Force’s elite Provost and Security Services (P&SS) had their headquarters at Rudloe, and their duties included the investigation of crime and disciplinary matters involving RAF personnel, the vetting of employees, and the issuing of identity cards, passes, and permits. Far more significant is the fact that investigators attached to the P&SS are also trained in counterintelligence (C/I).

Such training is undertaken at the RAF Police School. Prospective candidates for counterintelligence work are required to take specialized courses in subjects such as computer security and surveillance. Before being considered for C/I work, personnel have to attain the rank of corporal within the RAF Police. C/I investigators are responsible for issues affecting the security of the RAF, which can include the loss and theft of classified documents, matters pertaining to espionage cases, and the protection of royalty and VIP’s when visiting RAF stations.

Also situated within the headquarters of the P&SS is a division known as the Flying Complaints Flight, which primarily investigates complaints of low-flying military aircraft in Britain. In addition, on October 17, 1996, a member of the British Parliament, Martin Redmond, who had a personal interest in the UFO puzzle and was fully aware of the rumors linking Rudloe with aliens, asked a number of questions in Parliament that revealed further data on the workings of the Rudloe installation. Eleven days later, Redmond was informed by then-Defense Minister Nicholas Soames that RAF Rudloe Manor was home to a parent unit and five lodger units. Specifically, these were:

1. The Detachment of 1001 Signals Unit, which operated the British military’s communications satellite system.

2. No. 1 Signals Unit, which provided voice and data communications for the entire RAF, Royal Navy, Army, and Ministry of Defense.

3. The HQ of the P&SS.

4. The HQ of the P&SS Western Region.

5. The Controller Defense Communications Network (DCN), a tri-service unit controlling worldwide communications for the military. The DCN was situated 120 feet underground and was capable of housing no fewer than 55,000 people in the event of a national emergency.

Soames very carefully refrained from mentioning anything relative to UFOs. So much for the official story.

But what else was, or is, possibly going on at Rudloe? Is the base really the British equivalent of the infamous Area 51?

In 1987, Timothy Good, a dedicated UFO researcher and author, revealed how, after having been tipped off that something strange — unidentified and flying — was afoot at Rudloe, he visited the base and spent some time strolling around taking photographs. Unsurprisingly, Good was later detained by the local police and asked specifically what he was up to and what his intentions were. Good duly revealed the truth: He had heard the UFO rumors and was determined to uncover the facts for himself. He was later released by somewhat bemused police officers clearly unaware of Rudloe’s UFO connection, with a warning to take extreme care when walking around the perimeter of a sensitive British military base in the future.

That was the last UFO enthusiasts heard about Rudloe for a time. In 1991, Timothy Good revealed the account of a former special investigator with the P&SS who claimed specific knowledge of its involvement with UFOs, chiefly with respect to the Flying Complaints Flight. Further corroboration came from a former counterintelligence investigator who informed Good’s source that he had access to just about every Top Secret file held there—except those relative to low-flying issues; it was his understanding that those files dealt with UFOs. Stressing that he could get in pretty much anywhere at the time, the informant added, “…but not in that department. I remember they used to have an Air Ministry guard in the passage — you couldn’t get past them. We could see the Provost Marshal’s Top Secret files but yet I couldn’t get into the place dealing with UFOs.”[8]

In 2000, Rudloe Manor was placed under the control of the Defense Communications Service Agency, which was later replaced by the Information Systems and Services, itself a part of the Ministry of Defense’s Defense Equipment and Support organization. A few of its underground areas have since been sold off, and some are now decommissioned. Notably, other areas, extending to significant depths, remain solidly in the hands of officialdom, and are out of bounds to just about everyone else.

The British government’s UFO secrets, it appears, are deemed important enough to be held under lock and key at all times — whether at secret facilities like RAF Rudloe Manor, or possibly within fantastic, cavernous underworlds of the type to which Bill Maguire and Larry Warren were taken, in September 1952 and December 1980, respectively. As in The-X-Files, when FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder was most keen to stress that “The truth is out there,” perhaps we should amend those now-famous words to: “The truth is under there.”