Giant Cold War Radar Bought by Tech Millionaire to “Find UFOs”

The abandoned Royal Air Force (RAF) air defense radar station was home to British IT entrepreneur William Sachiti for around three months until he asked for assistance in a Reddit thread.

He wrote in a post on /r/electronics that featured a picture of a massive AMES Type 84 radar equipment, that he wanted help to bring that back to life. It is a huge dish that is 60 feet wide and 25 feet tall and is supported by a pedestal. It sent out microwaves with a 250-mile range, and there were warnings around that warned of ionizing radiation.

Despite posting under an assumed identity, Redditors swiftly identified Sachiti as the author. Only five Type 84s were ever produced by Britain, and Redditors were able to find this one using some open source intelligence technologies. Additionally, Sachiti’s acquisition of the tower and the former RAF site made British headlines.

A few people have responded, according to Sachiti, expressing a desire to use it to scan the Moon. Someone asked him why he purchased the item in the discussion itself. Because he said he has persuaded himself in using to look for UFOs may be entertaining.

The response, according to Sachiti, was somewhat of a joke, but other individuals had contacted him in a serious manner about utilizing the device to search for unexplained flying objects. There are undoubtedly UFO seekers, he claimed. He also doesn’t get to decide what the best use is for it in the present world. As long as it’s not harmful and obtrusive, we should give it some life… He has the technology.

When questioned about the abundance of new information regarding UFOs and the potential of extraterrestrial life in general. He said that although aliens could already be here, they are likely too evolved for us to even contemplate them. The lack of actionable knowledge throughout all this time is the reason it doesn’t worry him too much, he added. Assuming an ant wanted to communicate with humanity, would we even notice? These UFOs, if there is any form of intelligence behind them, have mostly ignored us.

Through Reddit, we were able to contact Sachiti and get him on Zoom. He was on the grounds of the RAF base, sitting in a solar-powered bus as we talked. He managed to get his laptop out to where I could see the Type 84, which was looming behind some trees.

He claimed that although it was just sitting there, it was slowly deteriorating because nobody had been around for a long. And each time he had looked at it, he had simply felt that something needed to be done.

Roboticist and artificial intelligence entrepreneur Sachiti’s business, Kar-go, employs autonomous vehicles to deliver products around Britain. He said that the reason he purchased the base was because he required area for research and development. Roads, industries, and subterranean bunkers were all present. It is essentially all our business required.

However, the acquisition included more than simply the area he needs. The Type 84 is classified as a Grade II listed structure. That indicates that it is protected as a historical monument of considerable cultural significance to the nation and its history and cannot be destroyed.

Sachiti claimed that he felt depressed every time he saw the object. He desired to make repairs. He continued by saying that it is more about giving something new life when it had otherwise progressively deteriorated. It is gorgeous, and he urgently wanted to give it some sort of new life.

AMES Type 84 radar is a remnant of the Cold War. The five radar devices were a part of a system that could notify the British military if nuclear weapons were approaching. They ran from 1962 to 1994 and produced a significant amount of ionized radiation using microwaves. Additionally, he said that once this item was done, it used to spin around four times each minute. Every TV [in the surrounding] would be static for roughly three seconds whenever it performed a scan.

The ionizing radiation will be left behind, according to Sachiti, who wants to set the machine spinning once more. He told me that the bus he’s riding on now operates on solar energy after previously using fuel.

In order to give contemporary technology life, he added, we must figure out how to use it. Finding professionals who could assist him in getting it back up and running was his immediate thinking. He also said that we can today create little desktop-sized devices and power some of the things that in the 1960s required a huge room.

When asked why he utilizes Reddit to locate helpers, he responded that you can see in the thread that you can find individuals that are very detailed and will explain everything to you in detail. You would never find someone with that kind of talent by placing an ad in the newspaper. Even a television advertisement… The ability to publish in a very particular subreddit, where geeks who produce stuff like this play with it, is what he enjoys about Reddit. The beauty of asking the correct question to the appropriate audience is that he has received an overwhelming number of responses from unquestionable experts.

Although Sachiti is unsure of where this may go, he is optimistic that improving the historic place will have positive effects. Eventually, he says, possibly colleges or students will logon and utilize it to do the necessary scans.