Cold War missile in Welsh countryside to be sold for cat charity

A decommissioned missile kept in the Welsh countryside is to be sold by its owner to raise money for a cat rescue charity following his wife’s death.

Adrian Hyde, 59, plans to sell the Cold War relic and the vintage truck carrying it for around £15,000, donating most of the proceeds to the Candy Tibby Trust in Wrexham.

Mr Hyde and his wife, Janette, had shared an ambition to buy a decommissioned tank for their 50th birthdays, but abandoned the plan after she was diagnosed with cancer.

“For our 50th we were buying a tank, it was going to be a Russian one then,” he told the Press Association.

“We cleared all the garden for it, all ready for it to come from Poland, importing it. And she was diagnosed with cancer, so we cancelled a lot of things.”

After Janette’s death, Mr Hyde bought a tank, before expanding his collection to include other pieces of old military equipment.

“It snowballed a little bit,” he said.

Among the additions was a Thunderbird surface-to-air missile, now mounted on the back of a 1957 Bedford truck. A friend made a frame for it and bolted it to the vehicle.

An image of the missile prompted speculation on social media, with one widely shared post claiming a rambler had stumbled across it and suggesting it was being prepared for a “false flag” operation.

But Mr Hyde said the missile was harmless.

“It’s Cold War era, from the 50s/60s,” he said.

“The missile is just a tin tube, that’s all it is. It’s even sprayed in the wrong colour as well … they’re usually white or green.”

The Thunderbird missile system was withdrawn from service in the 1980s, according to the Imperial War Museums.

Social media

The unusual sight attracted attention on social media, where a widely shared post claimed a rambler had stumbled across the missile in the Welsh countryside.

Its caption suggested it was “probably getting ready for whatever False Flag comes next”.

PA examined the claim and found older photographs online showing the missile had been parked in the same place for several months.

Reporters traced Mr Hyde through the truck’s number plate and contacted him. He explained that it was part of his collection of decommissioned military equipment, with a friend having built the frame securing it to the Bedford.