| WWW.SECRET-BASES.CO.UK NEWS EXCLUSIVE
Quite Extraordinary! Rendition? |
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| First published December 2007 Page last updated/modified: |
| 16th May 2008 |
| COPYRIGHT © 2007 - 2008, Alan Turnbull Pagliacci Productions Limited |
Consultants
AFI Research and Andy Blackmore
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Allegations of "extraordinary rendition" flights utilising UK military airfields have been widely reported for several years and the worldwide community of aviation enthusiasts – or "plane spotters" – has proved invaluable in charting their movements. The camera and the registration number on the tail never lie! Well, until the numbers are changed! Rogue jets licensed to CIA "ghost companies" have been tracked landing at various locations, en-route between the USA, Iraq, Afghanistan and sinister "black prisons" – clandestine interrogation and torture facilities set-up after the "9/11" incidents, in the global "war on terror". Consider the whole theme of my website, www.secret-bases.co.uk, established in 2003. Then imagine my astonishment in December 2007, when I discovered that some of my favourite research tools – Google Earth and Windows Live Local Bird's Eye aerial photography – apparently showed rendition operations being carried out at one of the UK's most important, secure and sensitive military bases! CIA caught on camera? Be intrigued, amazed, shocked, outraged – all of the above. But above all, be entertained by the power of public domain information, available from open sources! Analyse my research findings and draw your own conclusions! Read on and enjoy! RAF Northolt in West London, close to Heathrow International Airport, is home to the Queen's Flight (now known as No. 32 Royal Squadron) and is the official facility used by the Royal Family, the Prime Minister and VIPs within UK Government. It is also used by US Embassy staff (and one assumes by inference, CIA agents). Northolt has an official listing of Station Flights, including the BAe 146 for Her Majesty the Queen and three Agusta 109E helicopters for VIP travel and "communications" functions. But judging by evidence I found on Google Earth and Bird's Eye in December 2007, there are many other undisclosed airframes touching down on that tarmac! As a high security military facility, Northolt has been chosen as the site for consolidating many other functions previously carried out at various sites spread out around London. The Ministry of Defence Estate London MoDEL Project is well under way and will ultimately result in many old RAF sites being sold off, with staff relocating to Northolt. Project MoDEL is being run by VSM Estates Limited – a joint venture between VINCI plc and St. Modwen Properties plc. Another major Northolt redevelopment project is a huge new hangar type building (below) to house the British Forces Post Office (BFPO), which obviously needs to be in a very secure environment. The BFPO project is being run by Bovis Land Lease and will relocate the function from the BFPO's previous operational facility together with the Defence Courier Service based within Inglis Barracks, Mill Hill in North London, on the edge of the Hertfordshire commuter belt. In October 2006, security at Northolt was massively upgraded with the installation of a new £1.2 million perimeter fence enhancement [press release]. It was supplied by Link Integrated Security Systems Limited based in Chesterfield, UK and ObjectVideo, Inc in Reston, Virginia, on the edge of Washington Dulles International Airport. It utilises sophisticated 24-hour motion detection sensors and video analytics software. The press release remarks, "ObjectVideo technology also enhances the security of the USAF at Andrews Air Force Base in the United States. Andrews AFB is best known as the airfield used by the President of the United States and home base for his plane, Air Force One. The base also provides air transportation for the Vice President, the Cabinet, Members of Congress, military leaders and receives high-ranking dignitaries from around the world". |
 Bird's Eye view looking east across the construction site of British Forces Post Office (BFPO) Part of the MoDEL Project for the 21st Century at RAF Northolt Aerial photo data courtesy of http://local.live.com – COPYRIGHT © Windows Live Local Aerial photo data courtesy of www.blomasa.com – COPYRIGHT © Blom ASA |
These invariably involve the Gulfstream executive jets, so popular with the CIA rendition agents. Could that explain away the suspicious planes on the tarmac caught on camera? Well, Netjets is actually based over on the north east side of the Aerodrome in Hangar 311. This facility was leased out by the Ministry of Defence back in 2001, as seen in an advertisement placed in Flight International magazine in July of that year (right). There are quite distinct public and military areas at Northolt Aerodrome. Whilst some Gulfstreams can also be seen on the southern apron, associated with the Queen's Flight and some commercial operations, a much more interesting group of buildings can be spotted in the north west corner. Some urban scale maps use the label Warehouse Hangar (right) and it is located in a highly secure military area next to the underground fuel depot. Greater detail is revealed on Ordnance Survey mapping at 1:10000 scale. Could this have been converted in recent years to act as a CIA "holding facility"? In March 2006, Richard Norton-Taylor revealed in a Guardian newspaper exposé that the Ministry of Defence had finally admitted to rendition flights "passing through RAF Northolt", so perhaps we're onto something. The Google Earth imagery I present further below is possibly as recent as 2005 or even early 2006, but not 2007 – it doesn't show any of the MoDEL building projects in progress. However, the Bird's Eyes are fairly contemporary – if you experiment with multiple angles of views, various other MoDEL construction sites can be found as well as the new BFPO. Crucially, two out of the three brand new white Agusta 109E helicopters from the No. 32 Royal Squadron appear on the Bird's Eyes. They were delivered to the base by the manufacturers in March 2006 and replaced Twin Squirrels. On Google Earth, two Gulfstreams can be spotted on the southern apron along with a Cessna Citation – rumoured to be used by US Embassy staff in London and therefore probably CIA too. Examine that north west corner around the "Warehouse Hangar" on Google Earth. You see a Cessna Citation, a Gulfstream and shuttle coaches for transportation around the airfield. Hop over to Bird's Eye (obviously filmed at a different time and indeed date) and the shuttle buses are still there. The Gulfstream has gone, but the number of Citations has increased first to two, then to four.
On 4th May 2008, the Mail on Sunday picked up on my observations and featured this article in a major news story! Islanders Ahoy – Spies in the Sky! Just before we leave that north west corner — "Special Projects Area" or "Station Flight Enclave" — there's one more exciting surprise. With considerable experimentation, I managed to obtain a Bird's Eye of Northolt's most elusive and secretive residents – a Britten-Norman Islander, used by the RAF in a classified surveillance, Communications Intelligence (COMINT) and Electronic / Electromagnetic Intelligence (ELINT) counter-terrorism role!The details in the public domain so far, not surprisingly, have been very sketchy indeed. However, they are regularly seen circling and almost "hovering" over London at all times of the day and night – they can be used a bit like helicopters, as they have very low stall speeds. They have been spotted in the sky at other locations across the UK at times of major security alerts, for example in July 2005 in Birmingham when the city centre was evacuated just days after the "7/7" London bombings. They are being used to intercept, monitor and interrupt the communications of "individuals deemed to pose a threat to the security of the UK". During 2007, plane spotters based near Northolt published pictures on a forum of both Islanders fitted with their high-tech surveillance and communications equipment. The enthusiasts have been using a £380 box of tricks — the Kinetic Avionics SBS-1 Real Time Virtual Radar base station connected to PCs — to track them circling over London at 10,000 feet, the maximum altitude the Islanders can fly at because they are unpressurised.
The two numbers – ZH536 and ZF573 – were quoted incorrectly as ZF563 and ZH537 respectively (actual screen capture, right)! Possibly just a simple innocent typographical error by the MoD webmaster, or maybe an attempt to throw inquisitive researchers "off the scent"? Take a further look at the Bird's Eye of the Islander and note all those identical black cars lined up in the compound behind. They look just like .... Read on, study the public domain, open source evidence and make your own mind up! But most of all enjoy! Quite Extraordinary! Rendition?
Consultants |
 Bird's Eye view looking south across RAF Northolt Netjet's base in Hangar 311, left (east) Aerial photo data courtesy of http://local.live.com – COPYRIGHT © Windows Live Local Aerial photo data courtesy of www.blomasa.com – COPYRIGHT © Blom ASA |
 Bird's Eye view looking north across RAF Northolt Netjet's base in Hangar 311, right (east) showing two of the three Agusta 109E helicopters of the Royal Squadron Aerial photo data courtesy of http://local.live.com – COPYRIGHT © Windows Live Local Aerial photo data courtesy of www.blomasa.com – COPYRIGHT © Blom ASA |
 RAF Northolt – Google Earth Gulfstreams and a Cessna Citation on the southern apron Aerial photo data courtesy of http://earth.google.com – COPYRIGHT © Google Inc Aerial photo data courtesy of www.bluesky-world.com – COPYRIGHT © BlueSky International Limited |
 RAF Northolt – Google Earth Gulfstream and Cessna Citation ... plus shuttle coaches and an ambulance on standby Aerial photo data courtesy of http://earth.google.com – COPYRIGHT © Google Inc Aerial photo data courtesy of www.bluesky-world.com – COPYRIGHT © BlueSky International Limited |
 RAF Northolt – Google Earth Close-up of ambulance and two shuttle coaches (angle reversed for clarity, to show sides of vehicles) Aerial photo data courtesy of http://earth.google.com – COPYRIGHT © Google Inc Aerial photo data courtesy of www.bluesky-world.com – COPYRIGHT © BlueSky International Limited |
 Bird's Eye view looking west across RAF Northolt "Special Projects Area" in the north west corner Two Cessna Citations, two shuttle coaches but no ambulance Aerial photo data courtesy of http://local.live.com – COPYRIGHT © Windows Live Local Aerial photo data courtesy of www.blomasa.com – COPYRIGHT © Blom ASA |
 Two more Cessna Citations join in the fun! Aerial photo data courtesy of http://local.live.com – COPYRIGHT © Windows Live Local Aerial photo data courtesy of www.blomasa.com – COPYRIGHT © Blom ASA |
 Bird's Eye view looking north across RAF Northolt "Special Projects Area" in the north west corner Britten-Norman Islander, either CC.2 (Reg: ZH536) or CC.2A (Reg: ZF573) on classified counter-terrorism surveillance operations, plus Gulfstream jet Are those black vehicles in the car park assigned to CIA and the US Embassy in London? Aerial photo data courtesy of http://local.live.com – COPYRIGHT © Windows Live Local Aerial photo data courtesy of www.blomasa.com – COPYRIGHT © Blom ASA |
 Britten-Norman Islander CC.2 (Reg: ZH536) at RAF Northolt in June 2007 Photo courtesy of www.air-britain.com / www.abpic.co.uk COPYRIGHT © Adrian M. Balch Reproduced under licence |
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Islanders Ahoy! – Spies in the Sky Watching them watching you! RAF Northolt's ZH536 circling London in April 2007 with "special add-on kit" COPYRIGHT © Reproduced by special arrangement with the photographer |
| Click on thumbnail below for Islander CC2 / ZH536 at Leeds-Bradford Airport – May 2006 |
Click on thumbnail below for Islander CC2A / ZF573 at Leeds-Bradford Airport – June 2006 |
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| © Harry Morrow – HDM Photography More at Jetphotos.net More at Airliners.net |
© Harry Morrow – HDM Photography More at Jetphotos.net More at Airliners.net |
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