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| Spy base boob gets Reagan
out of bed
Contemporary 1980s newspaper report from Bedfordshire, when Chicksands was home to US forces and a listening post |
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President Reagan was called out of bed in the middle of the night, because of a 'foul up' at Chickands which led Washington officials to believe that the balloon had gone up and nuclear war was imminent. One lieutenant colonel and a senior civilian were posted immediately from the American spy base. Chicksands refuse to confirm or deny the story but say that the postings of the two men were routine. The reason for Reagan's disturbed night was a 'dummy run' exercise at the Bedfordshire base which listens to military and civil radio communications all over Northern and Eastern Europe including Russia. But the exercise commander failed to inform others that this was purely
a practice and there was panic when it was thought to be the real thing.
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(c) 2000 |