REPORT #12,527
Report type: Incident Report
Date of incident: November 15th, 2020
Location: Kingsley & Tristam Island
(coordinates: 18°57'01.7"S 1°34'07.7"E)
Description of the incident
On the 15th of November of 2020, around 7:05pm (5:05pm Central African Time), Namibian
Coast Guards listening on the 12,403.5 MHz frequency received an SOS call from an unknown
source. Using RDF techniques with other receiving stations, they determined the approximate
coordinates of the source to be 18°57'01.7"S 1°34'07.7"E. The source claimed to be on an island,
which did not match their maps.
A contact in Namibia, xxxx xxxxxxxx , alerted us to this call. These coordinates correspond to
a pair of islands, Tristam Island and Kingsley Island, which the Crown used for military purposes
until early 1962 (see Report #5,585). These islands do not appear on a conventional map, as what
happened on the island is still under SECRET classification (see Report #5,586). The island still
contains numerous pieces of evidence related to the experiments, as the island had to be evacuated
precipitously in early 1962 following the catastrophic failure of the tests (see Report #5,585).
Steps taken
Seeing as:
- a discovery of the island might embarrass the Crown;
- the castaway had the means to call Namibian Coastguards for help until rescued, and
potentially divulge information,

the following measures were taken:
- on the 16th of November 2020, at 1:30 am (11:30pm Central African Time), an AW101
Merlin helicopter of the Royal Navy left HMS xxxxxxxx stationed in xxxxxxxxxx, xxxxxxxx in
direction of Kingsley and Tristam Island;
- Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Namibia was notified, and diplomatic channels were used
to request secrecy on the sensitive matter;
- on the 17th of November 2020 at 4:30 pm (2:30pm Central African Time), the helicopter
team radioed being on their way back after finding and picking up a Crown subject, xxxxxx
xxxxxxx;
- the subject xxxxxx xxxxxxx was flown to London and remains at Thames House for the
moment.
Remediation and recommendations
Seeing as:
- Report #5,585 has been classified for 57 years;
- the activities of the Crown on the island did not violate international treaties at the time;
- extensive archival research (see attached queries) has shown that the past activities of the
Crown on the island do not represent a threat to the current activities of the Crown;
- some knowledge, including the location of the island, has leaked,
we recommend that:
- exploratory steps be taken towards declassification of Report #5,585 and public
acknowledgement by the Crown of its past activities on Tristam Island;
- the subject xxxxxx xxxxxxx be reminded of the penalties that come with disclosing
SECRET information;
- the subject xxxxxx xxxxxxx be informed of the fact that the Crown is considering
declassifying the information;
- the subject xxxxxx xxxxxxx be informed of the fact that xxxx will have the opportunity
to tell xxx story to the press, and gain some level of prominence as a result, when this process is
accomplished. This is more likely to ensure compliance than the legal threat.

This report is filed as Report #12,527 and is classified at the SECRET level.