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8 JUNE 1976 - ST. ISHMAELS

An object hit the sea off St. Ishmaels, at St. Donats Holiday Park, 200 yards from a beach packed with holidaymakers. The beach is on the opposite side of the Gwendraeth Estuary to the Pembrey rocket range.

Eyewitness, Gwyn Maddox, site manager at the holiday park, said he saw the object hit the water near a bank of the Gwnedraeth Estuary.

"There wasn't much of an explosion, just a sharp report when the missile hit the water. I was on the phone to the RAF to complain about this as soon as the missile hit the water, because another 100 yards or so and it would have been close to where people use the beach. In this case the plane was quite off target."

Planes from RAF Brawdy use the land target area as a firing range. An RAF officer visited the site and took measurements, and an investigation was undertaken, but the RAF were mystified as all their ordnance had been accounted for and nothing was missing from any of their aircraft.

They were not sure what the object was. Other air bases used the range.

Carmarthen MP Gwynfor Evans demanded a full investigation. After a full investigation the RAF repeated their confirmation that all their missiles had been accounted for.

Source: Western Mail 10 and 11 June 1976.