WEBVTT - S05 Episode 10 Extra: Under cover of the Night 0:00:10.280 --> 0:00:14.560 Welcome to Unexplained Extra with me Richard McClane Smith, where 0:00:14.560 --> 0:00:16.880 for the weeks in between episodes, we look at stories 0:00:16.880 --> 0:00:19.360 and ideas that, for one reason or other, didn't make 0:00:19.400 --> 0:00:22.840 it into the previous show. In last week's episode, in 0:00:22.920 --> 0:00:26.120 the Shadow of the Mountain, we roamed the Berwin Mountains 0:00:26.160 --> 0:00:29.280 in North Wales in search of a mysterious object that 0:00:29.440 --> 0:00:33.080 some believed crashed there one rainy night back in nineteen 0:00:33.159 --> 0:00:38.199 seventy four. The incident has become known rather unimaginatively as 0:00:38.240 --> 0:00:42.440 the Welsh Roswell. However, this isn't only because it dovetails 0:00:42.520 --> 0:00:46.120 as a supposed UFO event. There are some who say 0:00:46.200 --> 0:00:48.920 that not only did an alien spacecraft to crash into 0:00:48.960 --> 0:00:52.640 the Berwin Mountains, but similar to what some believed occurred 0:00:52.640 --> 0:00:56.040 at Roswell, the craft was recovered by the British military 0:00:56.280 --> 0:00:59.680 and remains in their custody to this day. It's a 0:00:59.720 --> 0:01:02.840 far fetched story, perhaps, but does lead us to some 0:01:02.960 --> 0:01:07.280 very interesting and enigmatic military installations to point towards some 0:01:07.440 --> 0:01:12.360 very mysterious goings on. Indeed, perhaps none are more enigmatic 0:01:12.680 --> 0:01:16.319 than r F. Rudlow Manner, considered by some to be 0:01:16.400 --> 0:01:27.000 Britain's answer to area fifty one. At some point following 0:01:27.000 --> 0:01:29.959 the incident on the Berwin Mountains, a rumor began to 0:01:30.040 --> 0:01:33.520 spread in ufologist circles that a mysterious craft had been 0:01:33.520 --> 0:01:36.800 taken from the mountain and transported under cover of night 0:01:37.120 --> 0:01:41.800 to a secret underground military facility. A similar claim had 0:01:41.800 --> 0:01:44.760 been made as far back as nineteen fifty five, when 0:01:44.840 --> 0:01:49.880 journalist Dorothy Kilgallen alleged that a British government official revealed 0:01:49.880 --> 0:01:52.760 to her that the British government had recovered a downed 0:01:52.800 --> 0:01:56.320 alien spacecraft during World War Two and were in the 0:01:56.360 --> 0:02:01.320 process of examining it by the nineteen ninety perhaps owing 0:02:01.360 --> 0:02:04.280 to it being situated in the mystical county of Wiltshire, 0:02:04.640 --> 0:02:08.080 but also its proximity to porton Down, the Ministry of 0:02:08.120 --> 0:02:12.959 Defenses top secret Defense Science and Technology Laboratory, only thirty 0:02:13.000 --> 0:02:16.320 miles away. The rumors had begun to center on r 0:02:16.480 --> 0:02:21.200 F Rudlow Manor as a possible location. At the time, 0:02:21.639 --> 0:02:25.600 Like most top secret military facilities, little was known about 0:02:25.639 --> 0:02:28.840 what actually took place at Rudlow and the wider facility 0:02:29.000 --> 0:02:33.600 of mod Caution of which it was a part. Despite 0:02:33.720 --> 0:02:36.760 not much appearing to happen there, The high Chain link 0:02:36.800 --> 0:02:40.920 defencing surrounding the site and its heavy security presence, not 0:02:41.040 --> 0:02:44.520 to mention the peculiar artificial mounds dotted about the place, 0:02:44.840 --> 0:02:49.280 complete with small doorways that disappeared into them, suggested otherwise. 0:02:50.600 --> 0:02:53.240 The fact that the facility was known to be sitting 0:02:53.320 --> 0:02:57.040 above a vast network of underground tunnels only added to 0:02:57.040 --> 0:03:01.320 the mystery. But what really gave R. F. Rudlow an 0:03:01.320 --> 0:03:05.760 air of almost cinematic intrigue was the beautiful seventeenth century 0:03:05.760 --> 0:03:10.000 manor house around which it was built. With its imposing 0:03:10.040 --> 0:03:14.520 facade and grand stone pillared entrance gate overlooking the gentle, 0:03:14.639 --> 0:03:17.920 rolling hills of the Wiltshire countryside, it was hard not 0:03:18.000 --> 0:03:22.640 to wander just what secrets were being kept and discussed inside. 0:03:23.280 --> 0:03:26.200 What was known was that the facility had been set 0:03:26.280 --> 0:03:29.560 up sometime in the nineteen thirties after the British War 0:03:29.680 --> 0:03:33.959 Department commandeered the nearby tunnels for use as ammunition storage 0:03:34.200 --> 0:03:39.360 and later for weapons manufacturing. The tunnels, some of which 0:03:39.480 --> 0:03:42.920 dated back to eighteen forty nine, were originally part of 0:03:42.960 --> 0:03:46.800 a quarry network from which a distinct yellow colored limestone 0:03:47.120 --> 0:03:51.000 known as bath stone had been extracted. The stone has 0:03:51.000 --> 0:03:54.600 been used in buildings throughout the country, most notably in 0:03:54.680 --> 0:03:58.480 the town of Bath during the Second World War. The 0:03:58.600 --> 0:04:03.160 site also housed an ground operations room responsible for directing 0:04:03.320 --> 0:04:07.559 RAF aircraft on their missions, as well as a filter room. 0:04:07.760 --> 0:04:11.160 Staff assigned to the filter room were responsible for filtering 0:04:11.360 --> 0:04:16.000 whatever intelligence they came across regarding the movements of opposition forces. 0:04:17.240 --> 0:04:20.799 In two thousand, though the wider site surrounding it remained 0:04:20.800 --> 0:04:26.840 in operation, RAF Rudlow Manor was officially closed down. As such, 0:04:27.279 --> 0:04:30.440 what exactly had gone on there was destined to disappear 0:04:30.680 --> 0:04:33.760 into the midst of history, along with the echoes of 0:04:33.760 --> 0:04:36.599 all the many women and men who'd worked there over 0:04:36.640 --> 0:04:41.479 the years. But then in twenty ten, thanks to the 0:04:41.560 --> 0:04:44.320 arrival of the full provisions of the Freedom of Information 0:04:44.360 --> 0:04:48.360 Act in two thousand and five, came a startling revelation. 0:04:54.720 --> 0:04:57.240 Are you a proud cat person? You love your cat, 0:04:57.480 --> 0:04:59.479 but there doesn't mean you love having a litter box 0:04:59.480 --> 0:05:02.320 in your home. Kitty Poo Club takes care of the 0:05:02.320 --> 0:05:05.000 more unpleasant parts of kat ownership so you can get 0:05:05.000 --> 0:05:08.000 back to loving your furry friend. Kitty Poo Club is 0:05:08.000 --> 0:05:10.400 an all in one litter box solution designed to be 0:05:10.440 --> 0:05:14.520 convenient for you every month, Kitty Poo Club delivers an affordable, 0:05:14.680 --> 0:05:17.920 high quality, recyclable litter box that's pre filled with the 0:05:17.960 --> 0:05:20.960 litter of your choice. The box is a leakproof, eco 0:05:21.000 --> 0:05:23.839 friendly and have a fun design for every season. And 0:05:23.880 --> 0:05:26.600 when the month is up, just recycle the box and 0:05:26.720 --> 0:05:29.479 Kitty Poo Club will automatically deliver a new one to you. 0:05:29.920 --> 0:05:32.920 No changing used litter and no more cleaning the box. 0:05:33.120 --> 0:05:35.279 So give yourself the gift that keeps on giving the 0:05:35.279 --> 0:05:38.800 whole year a Kitty Poo Club subscription. Right now, Kitty 0:05:38.839 --> 0:05:41.159 Poo Club is offering you twenty percent off your first 0:05:41.240 --> 0:05:44.440 order when you set up autoship by going to kittypooclub 0:05:44.520 --> 0:05:47.960 dot com and entering promo code unexplained. Just go to 0:05:48.080 --> 0:05:52.039 kittiepooclub dot com and enter promo code unexplained to get 0:05:52.040 --> 0:05:55.080 twenty percent off when you set up autoship that's k 0:05:55.320 --> 0:05:59.440 I T t y p ooclub dot com and enter 0:05:59.480 --> 0:06:08.039 promo code unexplained a checkout. According to journalist doctor David Clark, 0:06:08.600 --> 0:06:11.520 since the Freedom of Information Act was ratified in two 0:06:11.560 --> 0:06:15.119 thousand before coming fully into force in two thousand and five, 0:06:15.720 --> 0:06:19.599 the subject of UFOs were the third most popular subject 0:06:19.600 --> 0:06:23.599 of inquiry to the Ministry of Defense. In two thousand 0:06:23.680 --> 0:06:27.400 and eight, under the sheer weight of FOI requests, the 0:06:27.640 --> 0:06:31.640 mod made the startling decision to release every last UFO 0:06:31.760 --> 0:06:34.560 file it had ever collated over the years to the 0:06:34.680 --> 0:06:38.680 National Archive. With the release of the files staggered over 0:06:38.720 --> 0:06:42.400 the next few years, one set made public in twenty 0:06:42.480 --> 0:06:47.560 ten immediately caught the eye. One report detailed the story 0:06:47.600 --> 0:06:50.680 of a scientist whose grandfather had worked as one of 0:06:50.720 --> 0:06:55.600 Winston Churchill's bodyguards during the Second World War. After the war, 0:06:56.000 --> 0:07:00.200 the man's grandfather claimed that he'd witnessed Winston Churchill and 0:07:00.400 --> 0:07:04.200 U S President Dwight D. Eisenhower agreeing to cover up 0:07:04.240 --> 0:07:08.920 a u FO sighting. A mysterious craft had apparently been 0:07:08.960 --> 0:07:11.760 seen by an entire ra F crew on their way 0:07:11.840 --> 0:07:14.560 back to the UK from a bombing raid in Germany. 0:07:15.360 --> 0:07:19.800 The metallic, unidentified object had reportedly approached their plane as 0:07:19.800 --> 0:07:22.560 they drew near to the English coast, with some of 0:07:22.560 --> 0:07:25.280 the crew believed to have even taken photos of it. 0:07:26.360 --> 0:07:29.640 Churchill had allegedly insisted on covering the story up due 0:07:29.720 --> 0:07:32.800 to his concerns over mass panic and the effect it 0:07:32.880 --> 0:07:37.680 might have on people's religious beliefs. For what really drew 0:07:37.720 --> 0:07:41.600 the attention of uthologists and other conspiracy theorists was the 0:07:41.680 --> 0:07:44.520 document revealing that not only had there long been a 0:07:44.560 --> 0:07:48.920 government department set up to investigate UFO sightings, a fact 0:07:49.000 --> 0:07:52.160 long denied by the British Ministry of Defense, but that 0:07:52.280 --> 0:07:55.720 the department had been based at none other than ra 0:07:55.960 --> 0:08:06.800 F Rudlow Manor. The department, known as the Flying Complaints 0:08:06.840 --> 0:08:10.560 Flight or FCF, was a unit of the RF Police 0:08:10.960 --> 0:08:15.080 that formed part of Provost and Security Services, whose principal 0:08:15.120 --> 0:08:19.880 responsibilities were to provide security vetting for numerous government departments. 0:08:20.760 --> 0:08:24.360 Although the FCF was primarily involved in dealing with complaints 0:08:24.360 --> 0:08:28.360 of low flying aircraft or reports of possible aviation accidents, 0:08:29.080 --> 0:08:34.760 its remit inevitably strayed into UFO sightings. Things only became 0:08:34.840 --> 0:08:38.920 even more intriguing when in two thousand and four, Burlington Bunker, 0:08:39.240 --> 0:08:43.200 a vast thirty five acre complex located one hundred and 0:08:43.200 --> 0:08:47.680 twenty feet under Rudlow Manor and MO Decaution, was declassified, 0:08:48.360 --> 0:08:51.680 revealing that the supposed tunnel network under the site was 0:08:51.720 --> 0:08:57.480 far more substantial than previously thought, comprising roughly sixty miles 0:08:57.480 --> 0:09:01.240 of tunnels and two point two million square feet of space. 0:09:01.640 --> 0:09:05.120 The bunker, virtually a town in itself, had been built 0:09:05.160 --> 0:09:07.840 to accommodate up to four thousand people for up to 0:09:07.920 --> 0:09:11.800 three months in the event of nuclear fallout in what 0:09:11.960 --> 0:09:15.320 would have comprised an emergency headquarters for the British government. 0:09:15.600 --> 0:09:19.520 The bunker also included a fully operational hospital, as well 0:09:19.559 --> 0:09:24.440 as a BBC broadcasting studio. To date, the Ministry of 0:09:24.440 --> 0:09:27.680 Defense claimed to have released most, if not all, their 0:09:27.800 --> 0:09:32.760 UFO files to the National Archive. However, as many have noted, 0:09:33.200 --> 0:09:36.040 a large number of files from the nineteen fifties and 0:09:36.160 --> 0:09:41.280 sixties have apparently been destroyed. When eighteen files relating to 0:09:41.320 --> 0:09:44.520 the Rerendelsham Forest incident, one of the UK's most well 0:09:44.559 --> 0:09:48.160 known apparent UFO encounters, were discovered to be missing from 0:09:48.160 --> 0:09:53.160 the National Archive, the MOD promised to locate them. Although 0:09:53.240 --> 0:09:56.200 the files were later added, some were said by the 0:09:56.360 --> 0:10:02.600 MOD to have been inadvertently destroyed. Today, although r F 0:10:02.720 --> 0:10:07.760 Rudlow Manor is no longer in operation, Modcuum remains fully active, 0:10:08.360 --> 0:10:11.240 with a large part of its underground network now home 0:10:11.400 --> 0:10:16.200 to the intriguingly blandly titled Cautionum Computer Center, which is 0:10:16.200 --> 0:10:20.160 described rather vaguely as a center for processing data in 0:10:20.240 --> 0:10:24.040 support of the Royal Navy. The Rudlow Manor House was 0:10:24.080 --> 0:10:27.040 put on the market for two million pounds and has 0:10:27.080 --> 0:10:31.320 since been sold off. It isn't known who bought it. 0:10:36.320 --> 0:10:39.040 If you enjoy Unexplained and would like to help supporters, 0:10:39.120 --> 0:10:42.360 you can now do so via Patreon. To receive access 0:10:42.400 --> 0:10:45.520 to add free episodes, just go to patron dot com, 0:10:45.640 --> 0:10:49.200 forward slash Unexplained Pod to sign up, or if you'd 0:10:49.200 --> 0:10:51.560 like to make a one time donation, you can go 0:10:51.600 --> 0:10:56.359 to Unexplained podcast dot com forward Slash Support. All donations, 0:10:56.400 --> 0:11:00.400 no matter how large or small, are greatly appreciated. Un Explained, 0:11:00.400 --> 0:11:03.680 the book and audiobook, featuring ten stories that have never 0:11:03.720 --> 0:11:06.520 before been covered on the show, is now available to 0:11:06.559 --> 0:11:10.520 buy worldwide. You can purchase through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, 0:11:10.600 --> 0:11:15.800 and Waterstones, among other bookstores. All elements of Unexplained, including 0:11:15.840 --> 0:11:18.960 the show's music, are produced by me Richard McClain smith. 0:11:19.400 --> 0:11:22.480 Please subscribe and rate the show wherever you listen to podcasts, 0:11:22.720 --> 0:11:24.960 and feel free to get in touch with any thoughts 0:11:25.000 --> 0:11:27.600 or ideas regarding the stories you've heard on the show. 0:11:28.200 --> 0:11:30.320 Perhaps you have an explanation of your own you'd like 0:11:30.360 --> 0:11:33.760 to share. You can reach us online at Unexplained podcast 0:11:33.800 --> 0:11:38.640 dot com, or Twitter at Unexplained Pod and Facebook at 0:11:38.679 --> 0:11:42.480 Facebook dot com. Forward Slash Unexplained Podcast