A huge remnant from the Cold War used today as a missile warning station and to listen in on Britain’s enemies sits in a stunning Yorkshire dale and is affectionately known as the ‘Golf Balls’.
Rows of massive antenna housed in giant white domes look like something from a sci-fi movie, but they are in fact part of a joint US-UK military intelligence installation known as RAF Menwith Hill, in Nidderdale, North Yorkshire.
The closest village to the site is the tiny hamlet of Kettlesing, home to just 283 people, which is part of the Felliscliffe Parish and contains a local pub and primary school.
The 37 giant spheres on the miltary base, which house top secret listening equipment, make many playfully think they resemble the small white balls whacked around by golfers.
Known as radomes, the white circles are weatherproof enclosures that are transparent to radio waves and which help conceal sensitive equipment.
Built in the 1950s, RAF Menwith Hill is owned by the Ministry of Defence but under a NATO agreement the site is heavily staffed by US forces. The location comes equipped with a variety of home comforts for American personnel including a bowling alley and United States-themed facilities.
Local school children are occasionally invited on tours of the base to see the ‘little America’ built in the heart of the English countryside.
In total around 630 US and 580 UK staff work at the installation which covers an area currently of 605 acres. Each of the ‘golf ball’ radomes on the site measures approximately 69 feet in diameter.
The UK’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) and America’s National Security Agency (NSA) oversee operations.
The intelligence station has occasionally been dubbed ‘Britain’s Area 51’ in the past because of the security surrounding it, a reference to a secret US base linked to UFO sightings in Nevada.
RAF Menwith Hill has reportedly been used to aid US and UK military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq together with drone strikes and covert missions by special forces in the Middle East and North Africa.
With the war raging in Ukraine it’s likely the base is now involved in some operations monitoring Putin and Russian forces.
A three metre high razor wire-topped perimeter fence with CCTV, and patrolled by armed military police, protects the base.
The BBC reported last year submissions had been made to North Yorkshire County Council to expand the site adding “a new administration block and access roads”.
