It's Miller time on 'haunted' radio

Published on Friday 4 June 2010 23:32

THE stretch of Angus coast where the Royal Flying Corps established Britain's first operational military airfield is no stranger to the world of the paranormal.

There have been reports of ghostly goings on at the site of the former Montrose airbase since a pilot, Lieutenant Desmond Arthur of the Royal Flying Corps, was killed in 1913 when his biplane crashed at nearby Lunan Bay.

But yesterday, the Montrose station was at the centre of a bizarre new mystery after an old radio – filled with cobwebs and with no power and no aerial – began broadcasting speeches by Winston Churchill and music by the Glenn Miller Orchestra, the Allies' favourite band during the Second World War.

The phantom broadcasts have left staff at the airfield's heritage centre bewildered … and just a little scared.

At the centre of the latest Montrose mystery is the vintage Pye valve radio once owned by Alfred Stoneman, a retired Coastguard officer and the late father-in-law of Dr Dan Paton, the curator of the heritage centre.

Dr Paton's wife, Moira, 68, placed the radio amongst the collection of artefacts in the centre's 1940s room, filled with household items from the war years, following her father's death last February.

The radio lay almost forgotten in the room until the May bank holiday weekend when, without warning, it reportedly burst back into life and began transmitting what appeared to be wartime broadcasts.

Graham Philip, a volunteer at the station for the past 20 years, was one of the first to hear the phantom radio.

He explained: "We had a military vehicle weekend at the beginning of May and one of the lads said he could hear music coming out of the radio.

"Everybody dismissed it because the radio is disconnected from the electricity supply and the plug was cut off years ago. The aerial is also disconnected. There was no way it could have worked.

"Nobody thought any more about it, but then we heard the same story from different people at different times. And last weekend it began broadcasting again. I went up to the room and it was actually playing Glenn Miller. I heard it, no problem at all."

Mr Philip continued: "It sounds ridiculous, but we were also listening to what sounded like Churchill giving a wartime speech years ago. Stuff like that was coming out the radio. It was totally weird."

A local radio buff checked the radio to ensure that the heritage centre had not fallen victim to a misguided prankster. But all he found inside were countless cobwebs and spiders.

Mr Philip said: "It didn't bother me. But I wouldn't sleep in the building anymore, I must admit. People are becoming a little bit scared."

Mrs Paton has also heard the broadcasts. She said: "It just plays Glenn Miller. And that's scary because they were my mum and dad's favourite band."

The heritage centre is housed in the original headquarters building of the former airbase.