An enigmatic concrete ring 50m (160ft) in diameter, located at the National Trust site of Orford Ness in Suffolk, has been the subject of much debate for decades. This area was once home to a top-secret military testing site, and the ring’s purpose had long been forgotten or concealed. To help solve the mystery, members of the International Research Group Orford Ness (IRGON), a volunteer-led initiative, have combed through technical drawings, aerial photographs, and declassified files from the AWRE (the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment) in Aldermaston, Berkshire, in order to learn more about the feature’s creation and use.
Through this research, the group came up with a working theory that the ring represents the base of an over-the-horizon radar, known as the R System, which was designed to detect nuclear explosions and rocket launches during the Cold War. Two volunteers (friends Steve Clifton and Olaf Kirchner) then travelled to Muirkirk in Maryland, USA, to photograph a similar concrete ring and meet the chief designer of the R-System, 94 year-old Edwin Lyon. After interviewing Ed, Steve and Olaf established that the Orford Ness ring had supported a steerable helical transmitter featuring double rows of receivers measuring 150m (490ft) from end to end, capable of detecting activity thousands of miles away. The pair also visited Roswell, New Mexico, to record another such ring (shown in the 1960s in the image below) – and at both American sites they found that no one knew of their original function.
The Orford Ness ring is now believed to be one of only eight structures of this design to have been built around the world by the US Air Force in the early 1960s. The system was soon replaced by satellite technology, however – and these sites, which were already highly classified, with few knowing of their existence or use, were quickly forgotten. It is only through the persistence of IRGON’s members that their purpose has been brought to light once more.
