This airfield represents the legacy of ancient civilizations, which, according to some information, had aircraft - the so-called vimanas. In any case, no one knows for certain who and when Yundum was built. I offer you all the available information on this issue, since the riddle of Yundum really exists, and it has yet to be solved.
This airfield is a legacy of ancient civilizations, which, according to some information, had flying vehicles - the so-called vimanas. In any case, no one knows for certain who and when Yundum was built. This former British colony is located on the Atlantic coast of tropical Africa and belongs to the group of the most economically backward countries not only in the world as a whole, but also in its far from prosperous continent. The territory of the state is strongly elongated in the latitudinal direction. Inland the Gambia juts out 350 kilometers from west to east, it is located along the bed of the full-flowing river of the same name. The width of the country from north to south does not exceed 50 kilometers. A little more than one and a half million people live in Gambia, including 75% in rural areas. The industry is extremely underdeveloped there and consists of enterprises for the production of peanut butter, beer, soft drinks and tailoring. Peanut exports provide the country with half of its foreign exchange earnings. The backwardness of the Gambia is eloquently shown by the fact that until recently the population could only receive higher education abroad: in Senegal, the United States or Western Europe. The situation changed only in 1999, when the University of The Gambia was established in the capital Banjul. There is only one library in the country and not so long ago the first museum was opened, but now, however, there are already five of them. Here, the transition at the end of the last century from manual processing of fields with hoes to plows drawn by bulls, horses or donkeys is considered an achievement. The addition of outboard motors to fishing boats is also a testament to the technological advancement of the Gambia, and of course this small country has its own strengths. She is one of the few on the Black Continent where a multi-party political system operates. In the vicinity of Banjul, there are several magnificent resorts with spacious and clean sea beaches, where tourists from the UK love to relax. Animal husbandry can be considered highly developed: the number of cattle exceeds 400 thousand heads.
Paved, marked and flew.
But the Gambia has a real international airport. Also mysterious. This is Yundum - the one so beloved by ufologists and alternative historians. It is located 27 kilometers from Banjul. The length of its runway (runway), which meets the highest requirements, is 3,600 meters, so Yundum is capable of accommodating aircraft of any weight. The Gambians themselves did not build this expensive runway. They only laid asphalt on the roughly polished stone slabs already cleared from the ground and made the markings. NASA then helped Gambia, as the US space agency was interested in creating an alternate airfield for reusable shuttle ships. Initially, the US chose the airport in the Senegalese capital of Dakar, but its runway has too large an angle relative to the main trajectory of the shuttles. Therefore, in September 1987, the Americans reached an agreement with the Gambian side on the use of the Yundum airfield for this purpose. The runway has been improved. In particular, its width was increased from 29 to 45 meters. The Americans also installed the necessary electronic control and navigation systems. And in 1996, the building of the international airport was commissioned, built according to a joint Anglo-Gambian project. If you look closely at the satellite images, you can see that the central part of the Yundum runway is actively exploited, but there are unused sections on both sides of the runway. They are paved with light slabs of an unusual sandy-brown color. There are also continuation strips not yet cleared of the ground. And the trees grow along it in a very interesting way - along the lines of some faults in the soil.
Versions, versions, versions.
So where did this runway come from? The most sensational, of course, is the hypothesis that the runway was built during the time of pre-civilization, and that from here, very possibly, ancient Indian or Atlantean aircraft - vimanas - took off. However, lovers of versions of the conspiracy plan expressed another assumption. They say that the airfield was secretly built by the Germans during the Second World War. Sometimes a more precise date is called - 1944. At first glance, this version is not devoid of some plausibility. Indeed, during the war, the Nazis showed great interest in African uranium and allegedly even took it out of the Congo by plane, making several intermediate landings. In this regard, one can even recall the secret German airfields built in the Arctic in the rear of the Soviet troops. As far as the Gambia is concerned, there are some big buts. Firstly, such airfields were paved not with massive stone slabs, but with small metal slabs, which also had several holes to reduce weight. Secondly, the Gambians claim that slabs partially covered with soil have always been there, and did not appear in the middle of the 20th century. Finally, thirdly, back in January 1943, US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt traveled through Banjul. This was due to the holding of a conference in Moroccan Casablanca. During the meeting, Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, together with members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States and Great Britain, discussed the prospects for opening a Second Front and a strategy for combating German submarines in the Atlantic. The port of Banjul was used at that time for intermediate stops for Allied naval convoys, and the mysterious airfield was chosen by the US Army Air Corps. So there could be no secret Nazi bases in the immediate vicinity of such a strategic Anglo-Saxon hub.
Did the allies try?
On some sites, you can even find statements that Yundum, in fact, was built by the allies themselves. So is there really no secret of the ancient airfield? No matter how it is! The runway length is clearly excessive for the aircraft of the time. As we already know, the locals saw this cover long before the war. And the color of the slabs differs sharply from concrete. There is a photograph of the only combat aircraft of the Gambian army, bought in 2008 in Georgia by a Su-25 attack aircraft, standing on a platform of concrete slabs attached to the Yundum runway. They have a clearly different - gray - color, which concrete should have. It can also be noted that, judging by the photographs, the sandy-brown stone slabs vary in size, and this is absolutely not typical of the airfields of the XX-XXI centuries. So the mystery of Yundum really exists, and it still has to be solved.
Recently, a lot has been said about the mysterious Yundum airfield, discovered in the small African country of Gambia.
This airfield is almost a legacy of ancient civilizations, which, according to some information, had flying vehicles - the so-called vimanas.
In any case, no one knows for certain who and when Yundum was built.
In this photo, red circles mark the unpaved portions of the ancient runway slabs.
This former British colony is located on the Atlantic coast of tropical Africa and belongs to the group of the most economically backward countries not only in the world as a whole, but also in its far from prosperous continent. The territory of the state is strongly elongated in the latitudinal direction.
Inland the Gambia juts out 350 kilometers from west to east, it is located along the bed of the full-flowing river of the same name. The width of the country from north to south does not exceed 50 kilometers. A little more than one and a half million people live in Gambia, including 75% in rural areas.
The industry is extremely underdeveloped there and consists of enterprises for the production of peanut butter, beer, soft drinks and tailoring. The export of peanuts gives the country half of its foreign exchange earnings.
The backwardness of the Gambia is eloquently evidenced by the fact that until recently, the population could receive higher education only abroad: in Senegal, the USA or Western Europe. The situation changed only in 1999, when the University of The Gambia was established in the capital Banjul. There is only one library in the country and not so long ago the first museum was opened, but now, however, there are already five of them.
Here, the transition at the end of the last century from manual processing of fields with hoes to plows drawn by bulls, horses or donkeys is considered an achievement. Equipping fishing boats with outboard motors also testified to the involvement of the Gambia in technological progress.
Of course, this small country also has its strengths. She is one of the few on the Black Continent where a multi-party political system operates. In the vicinity of Banjul, there are several magnificent resorts with spacious and clean sea beaches, where tourists from the UK love to relax. Animal husbandry can be considered highly developed: the number of cattle exceeds 400 thousand heads.
Paved, marked and flew
But the Gambia has a real international airport. Also mysterious. This is Yundum - the one so beloved by ufologists and alternative historians. It is located 27 kilometers from Banjul.
The length of its runway (runway), which meets the highest requirements, is 3,600 meters, so Yundum is capable of accommodating aircraft of any weight. The Gambians themselves did not build this expensive runway. They just laid the asphalt on the roughly polished stone slabs already cleared of the ground and made the markings.
The Gambia was then helped by NASA, as the US space agency was interested in creating an alternate airfield for reusable shuttle ships. Initially, the US chose the airport in the Senegalese capital of Dakar, but its runway has too large an angle relative to the main trajectory of the shuttles.
Therefore, in September 1987, the Americans reached an agreement with the Gambian side on the use of the Yundum airfield for this purpose. The runway has been improved. In particular, its width was increased from 29 to 45 meters. The Americans also installed the necessary electronic control and navigation systems. And in 1996, the building of the international airport was commissioned, built according to a joint Anglo-Gambian project.
If you look closely at the satellite images, you can see that the central part of the Yundum runway is actively exploited, but there are unused sections on both sides of the runway. They are paved with light slabs of an unusual sandy-brown color. There are also continuation strips not yet cleared of the ground. And the trees grow along it in a very interesting way - along the lines of some faults in the soil.
Versions, versions, versions
So where did this runway come from? The most sensational, of course, is the hypothesis that the runway was built during the time of pre-civilization, and that from here, very possibly, ancient Indian or Atlantean aircraft - vimanas - took off. However, fans of the versions of the conspiracy plan expressed another assumption. They say that the airfield was secretly built by the Germans during the Second World War.
Sometimes a more precise date is called - 1944. At first glance, this version is not devoid of some plausibility. Indeed, during the war, the Nazis showed great interest in African uranium and allegedly even took it out of the Congo by plane, making several intermediate landings.
In this regard, one can even recall the secret German airfields built in the Arctic in the rear of the Soviet troops. As far as the Gambia is concerned, there are some big buts. Firstly, such airfields were paved not with massive stone slabs, but with small metal slabs, which also had several holes to reduce weight.
Secondly, the Gambians claim that slabs partially covered with soil have always been there, and did not appear in the middle of the 20th century. Finally, thirdly, back in January 1943, US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt traveled through Banjul. This was due to the holding of a conference in Moroccan Casablanca.
During the meeting, Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, together with members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States and Great Britain, discussed the prospects for opening a Second Front and a strategy for combating German submarines in the Atlantic.
The port of Banjul was used at that time for intermediate stops for Allied naval convoys, and the mysterious airfield was chosen by the US Army Air Corps. So there could be no secret Nazi bases in the immediate vicinity of such a strategic Anglo-Saxon hub.
Did the allies try?
On some sites, you can even find statements that Yundum, in fact, was built by the allies themselves. So is there really no secret of the ancient airfield? No matter how it is! The runway length is clearly excessive for the aircraft of the time.
As we already know, the locals saw this cover long before the war. And the color of the slabs differs sharply from concrete. There is a photograph of the only combat aircraft of the Gambian army, bought in 2008 in Georgia by a Su-25 attack aircraft, standing on a platform of concrete slabs attached to the Yundum runway.
They clearly have a different - gray - color, which concrete should have. It can also be noted that, judging by the photographs, sandy-brown stone slabs vary in size, and this is absolutely not characteristic of airfields of the XX-XXI centuries.
So the riddle of Yundum really exists, and it has yet to be solved.
Valdis PEYPINSH
Secrets of the twentieth century
The mysterious Yundum airfield, discovered in the small African country of Gambia. This airfield is almost a legacy of ancient civilizations, which, according to some information, had flying vehicles - the so-called vimanas. In any case, no one knows for certain who and when Yundum was built.
Today it is the main airport in the country, capable of accepting aircraft of any weight and type. But at the same time, no one knows by whom and when it was built.
During the construction of the airport, the Gambians only rolled asphalt on roughly polished stone slabs already in this place and made the markings. According to local residents, the mysterious stone slabs have been here for centuries. NASA actively helped in the organization of the Gambia airport, since this department needed an alternate airfield for its shuttles.
Not all slabs are covered with asphalt, they can be seen on the sides of the runway, they are unusual sandy brown. It is amazing, but with a length of the GDP of 3600 meters, there is an extension of the strip that has not yet been cleared of land.
The runway of the Gambian Yundum airport. The image clearly shows that modern asphalt and road markings cover only a fraction of the ancient stone slabs.
Skeptics, of course, tried to find a completely earthy explanation for the origin of the strip. For example, a version appeared that Yundum was a secret airfield built by the Germans during World War II. However, the fascists at that time did not need such a long runway, and they paved such airfields with small metal tiles, not massive stone ones. It is worth remembering the assertion of the Gambians that these plates were seen by their distant ancestors, that is, they always lay here.
Whose aircraft in time immemorial took off from this strip - alien ships, Atlantean aircraft or Vimaanas of the ancient Indians? This question remains to be answered.
On some sites, you can even find statements that Yundum, in fact, was built by the allies themselves. So is there really no secret of the ancient airfield? No matter how it is! The runway length is clearly excessive for the aircraft of the time. As we already know, the locals saw this cover long before the war. And the color of the slabs differs sharply from concrete.
Gambian airports
There is a photograph of the only combat aircraft of the Gambian army, bought in 2008 in Georgia by a Su-25 attack aircraft, standing on a platform of concrete slabs attached to the Yundum runway. They clearly have a different - gray - color, which concrete should have. It can also be noted that, judging by the photographs, sandy-brown stone slabs vary in size, and this is absolutely not characteristic of airfields of the XX-XXI centuries.
In South America, on the Nazco plateau, a flat surface with a length of 2,000 meters was found and several such sites have been found. It is assumed that these are airfields for the ancient Vimans. Before the great war, there were many and different vimanas, just as today there are passenger vimanas and military ones. The Mayans and the Egyptians and Indians had Vimanas.
In the movie avatar, when the battle of people against the Pandora tribe began. Combat was flying objects like animals with wings, while humans have modern tomahawks.
Also in this film was the cradle of the ancestors of the Pandorians where the fireflies were summer and the inhabitants saw them. These are the spirits that fly around us, but because of undeveloped perceptions, we do not see. And those who see the world of spirits are called psychics. Although this is very general knowledge.
Mysterious airfield Yundum
Recently, there has been a lot of talk about the mysterious Yundum airfielddiscovered in the small African country of Gambia. This airfield is almost a legacy of ancient civilizations, which, according to some information, had flying vehicles - the so-called vimanas. In any case, no one knows for certain who and when Yundum was built.
Inland the Gambia juts out 350 kilometers from west to east, it is located along the bed of the full-flowing river of the same name. The width of the country from north to south does not exceed 50 kilometers. A little more than one and a half million people live in Gambia, including 75% in rural areas. The industry is extremely underdeveloped there and consists of enterprises for the production of peanut butter, soft drinks and tailoring. The export of peanuts gives the country half of its foreign exchange earnings.
But the Gambia has a real international airport. Also mysterious. This is Yundum - the one so beloved by ufologists and alternative historians. It is located 27 kilometers from Banjul. The length of its runway (runway), which meets the highest requirements, is 3,600 meters, so Yundum is capable of accommodating aircraft of any weight. The Gambians themselves did not build this expensive runway. They just laid the asphalt on the roughly polished stone slabs already cleared from the ground and made the markings.
If you look closely at the satellite images, you can see that the central part of the Yundum runway is actively exploited, but there are unused sections on both sides of the runway. They are paved with light slabs of an unusual sandy-brown color. There are also continuation strips not yet cleared of the ground. And the trees grow along it in a very interesting way - along the lines of some faults in the soil.
Versions, versions, versions
So where did this runway come from? The most sensational, of course, is the hypothesis that the runway was built during the time of pre-civilization, and that from here, very possibly, ancient Indian or Atlantean aircraft - vimanas - took off. However, lovers of versions of the conspiracy plan expressed another assumption. They say that the airfield was secretly built by the Germans during the Second World War. Sometimes a more precise date is called - 1944. At first glance, this version is not devoid of some plausibility. Indeed, during the war, the Nazis showed great interest in African uranium and allegedly even took it out of the Congo by plane, making several intermediate landings.
In this regard, one can even recall the secret German airfields built in the Arctic in the rear of the Soviet troops. As far as the Gambia is concerned, there are some big buts. Firstly, such airfields were paved not with massive stone slabs, but with small metal ones, which also had several holes to reduce weight. Secondly, the Gambians claim that the slabs partially covered with soil have always been there, and did not appear in the middle of the 20th century. Finally, thirdly, back in January 1943, US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt traveled through Banjul. This was due to the holding of a conference in Moroccan Casablanca.
Airports in Gambia
During the meeting, Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, together with members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States and Great Britain, discussed the prospects for opening a Second Front and a strategy for combating German submarines in the Atlantic.
Did the allies try?
On some sites, you can even find statements that Yundum, in fact, was built by the allies themselves. So is there really no secret of the ancient airfield? No matter how it is! The runway length is clearly excessive for the aircraft of the time. As we already know, the locals saw this cover long before the war. And the color of the slabs differs sharply from the concrete. There is a photograph of the only combat aircraft of the Gambian army, bought in 2008 in Georgia by a Su-25 attack aircraft, standing on a platform of concrete slabs attached to the Yundum runway. They have a clearly different - gray - color, which concrete should have. It can also be noted that, judging by the photographs, sandy-brown stone slabs vary in size, and this is absolutely not characteristic of airfields of the XX-XXI centuries.
So the riddle of Yundum really exists, and it has yet to be solved.
Valdis Peipins
Secrets of the 20th century
We are also interested in:
Recently, there has been a lot of talk about the mysterious Yundum airfielddiscovered in the small African country of Gambia. This airfield is almost a legacy of ancient civilizations, which, according to some information, had the so-called Vimana aircraft. In any case, no one knows for certain who and when Yundum was built.
List of airports in the Gambia
In this photo, red circles mark the unpaved portions of the ancient runway slabs.
This former British colony is located on the Atlantic coast of tropical Africa and belongs to the group of the most economically backward countries, not only in the world as a whole, but also in its by no means prosperous continent. The territory of the state is strongly elongated in the latitudinal direction.
Inland the Gambia juts out 350 kilometers from west to east, it is located along the bed of the full-flowing river of the same name. The width of the country from north to south does not exceed 50 kilometers. Slightly more than one and a half million people live in Gambia, including 75% in rural areas. The industry is extremely poorly developed there and consists of enterprises for the production of peanut butter, soft drinks and tailoring. The export of peanuts gives the country half of its foreign exchange earnings.
The backwardness of the Gambia is eloquently evidenced by the fact that until recently, the population could receive higher education only abroad: in Senegal, the USA or Western Europe. The situation changed only in 1999, when the University of The Gambia was established in the capital Banjul. There is only one library in the country and not so long ago the first museum was opened, but now, however, there are already five of them.
Here, the transition at the end of the last century from manual processing of fields with hoes to plows drawn by bulls, horses or donkeys is considered an achievement. Equipping fishing boats with outboard motors also testified to the involvement of the Gambia in technological progress.
Of course, this small country also has its strengths. She is one of the few on the Black Continent where a multi-party political system operates. In the vicinity of Banjul, there are several magnificent resorts with spacious and clean sea beaches, where tourists from the UK love to relax. Animal husbandry can be considered highly developed: the number of cattle exceeds 400 thousand heads.
Paved, marked and flew
But the Gambia has a real international airport. Also mysterious. This is Yundum the same one so beloved by ufologists and alternative historians. It is located 27 kilometers from Banjul. The length of its runway (runway), which meets the highest requirements, is 3,600 meters, so that Yundum is able to take aircraft of any weight. The Gambians themselves did not build this expensive runway. They only laid the asphalt on the roughly polished stone slabs already cleared from the ground and made the markings.
The Gambia was then helped by NASA, as the US space agency was interested in creating an alternate airfield for reusable shuttle ships. Initially, the US chose the airport in the Senegalese capital of Dakar, but its runway has too large an angle relative to the main trajectory of the shuttles.
Therefore, in September 1987, the Americans reached an agreement with the Gambian side on the use of the Yundum airfield for this purpose. The runway has been improved. In particular, its width was increased from 29 to 45 meters. The Americans also installed the necessary electronic control and navigation systems. And in 1996, the building of the international airport was commissioned, built according to a joint Anglo-Gambian project.
If you look closely at the satellite imagery, you can see that the central part of the Yundum runway is actively exploited, but there are unused sections on both sides of the runway. They are paved with light slabs of an unusual sandy-brown color. There are also continuation strips not yet cleared of the ground. And the trees along it grow very interesting along the lines of some faults in the soil.
Versions, versions, versions
So where did this runway come from? The most sensational, of course, is the hypothesis that the runway was built during the time of pre-civilization, and that from here, very possibly, the ancient Indian or Atlanta aircraft of the Vimaana took off. However, fans of the versions of the conspiracy plan expressed another assumption. They say that the airfield was secretly built by the Germans during the Second World War. Sometimes a more accurate date is called 1944. At first glance, this version is not devoid of some plausibility. Indeed, during the war, the Nazis showed great interest in African uranium and allegedly even took it out of the Congo by plane, making several intermediate landings.
In this regard, one can even recall the secret German airfields built in the Arctic in the rear of the Soviet troops. As far as the Gambia is concerned, there are some big buts. Firstly, such airfields were paved not with massive stone slabs, but with small metal ones, which also had several holes to reduce weight. Secondly, the Gambians claim that the slabs partially covered with soil have always been there, and did not appear in the middle of the 20th century. Finally, thirdly, back in January 1943, US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt traveled through Banjul. This was due to the holding of a conference in Moroccan Casablanca. During the meeting, Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, together with members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States and Great Britain, discussed the prospects for opening a Second Front and a strategy for combating German submarines in the Atlantic.
The port of Banjul was at that time used for intermediate stops for Allied naval convoys, and the mysterious airfield was chosen by the US Army Air Corps. So there could be no secret Nazi bases in the immediate vicinity of such a strategic Anglo-Saxon hub.
Did the allies try?
On some sites, you can even find statements that Yundum, in fact, was built by the allies themselves. So is there really no secret of the ancient airfield? No matter how it is! The runway length is clearly excessive for the aircraft of the time. As we already know, the locals saw this cover long before the war. And the color of the slabs differs sharply from the concrete. There is a photograph of the only combat aircraft of the Gambian army, purchased in 2008 in Georgia by a Su-25 attack aircraft, standing on a platform of concrete slabs attached to the Yundum runway. They have a distinctly different gray color, which is what concrete should have. It can also be noted that, judging by the photographs, sandy-brown stone slabs vary in size, and this is absolutely not characteristic of airfields of the XX-XXI centuries.
So the riddle of Yundum really exists, and it has yet to be solved.
Valdis Peipins
Secrets of the 20th century
We are also interested in:
2016-12-01 00:00:00
This airfield is a legacy of ancient civilizations, which, according to some information, had flying vehicles - the so-called vimanas.
In 1875, in one of the temples in India, the Vimanika Shastra treatise, written by Bharadwaja the Wise in the 4th century BC, was discovered. e. based on even earlier texts. Before the eyes of astonished scientists, detailed descriptions of strange aircraft of antiquity appeared, resembling modern UFOs in their technical characteristics. The devices were called vimanas and possessed a number of amazing qualities, among which 32 basic secrets are listed that make vimanas also a formidable weapon.
In any case, no one knows for certain who and when Yundum was built.
This former British colony is located on the Atlantic coast of tropical Africa and belongs to the group of the most economically backward countries not only in the world as a whole, but also in its far from prosperous continent. The territory of the state is strongly elongated in the latitudinal direction. Inland the Gambia juts out 350 kilometers from west to east, it is located along the bed of the full-flowing river of the same name. The width of the country from north to south does not exceed 50 kilometers. A little more than one and a half million people live in the Gambia, including 75% in rural areas. The industry is extremely underdeveloped there and consists of enterprises for the production of peanut butter, beer, soft drinks and tailoring. Peanut exports provide the country with half of its foreign exchange earnings. The backwardness of the Gambia is eloquently shown by the fact that until recently the population could receive higher education only abroad: in Senegal, the United States or Western Europe. The situation changed only in 1999, when the University of The Gambia was established in the capital Banjul. There is only one library in the country and not so long ago the first museum was opened, but now, however, there are already five of them. The transition at the end of the last century from manual processing of fields with hoes to plows drawn by bulls, horses or donkeys is considered an achievement here. Equipping fishing boats with outboard motors is also a testament to the Gambia's commitment to technological advancement, and of course this small country has its own strengths. She is one of the few on the Black Continent where a multi-party political system operates. In the vicinity of Banjul, there are several magnificent resorts with spacious and clean sea beaches, where tourists from the UK love to relax. Animal husbandry can be considered highly developed: the number of cattle exceeds 400 thousand heads.
Paved, marked and flew.
But the Gambia has a real international airport. Also mysterious. This is Yundum - the one so beloved by ufologists and alternative historians. It is located 27 kilometers from Banjul. The length of its runway (runway), which meets the highest requirements, is 3,600 meters, so Yundum is capable of accommodating aircraft of any weight. The Gambians themselves did not build this expensive runway. They only laid asphalt on the roughly polished stone slabs already cleared from the ground and made the markings. NASA then helped Gambia, as the US space agency was interested in creating an alternate airfield for reusable shuttle ships. Initially, the US chose the airport in the Senegalese capital of Dakar, but its runway has too large an angle relative to the main trajectory of the shuttles. Therefore, in September 1987, the Americans reached an agreement with the Gambian side on the use of the Yundum airfield for this purpose. The runway has been improved. In particular, its width was increased from 29 to 45 meters. The Americans also installed the necessary electronic control and navigation systems. And in 1996, the building of the international airport was commissioned, built according to a joint Anglo-Gambian project. If you look closely at the satellite images, you can see that the central part of the Yundum runway is actively exploited, but there are unused sections on both sides of the runway. They are paved with light slabs of an unusual sandy-brown color. There are also continuation strips not yet cleared of the ground. And the trees grow along it in a very interesting way - along the lines of some faults in the soil.
Versions, versions, versions.
So where did this runway come from? The most sensational, of course, is the hypothesis that the runway was built during the time of pre-civilization, and that from here, very possibly, ancient Indian or Atlantean aircraft - vimanas - took off. However, fans of versions of the conspiracy plan expressed another assumption. They say that the airfield was secretly built by the Germans during the Second World War. Sometimes a more accurate date is called - 1944. At first glance, this version is not devoid of some plausibility. Indeed, during the war years, the Nazis showed great interest in African uranium and allegedly even took it out of the Congo by plane, making several stopovers. In this regard, one can even recall the secret German airfields built in the Arctic in the rear of the Soviet troops. As far as the Gambia is concerned, there are some big buts. Firstly, such airfields were paved not with massive stone slabs, but with small metal ones, which also had several holes to reduce weight. Secondly, the Gambians claim that the slabs partially covered with soil have always been there, and did not appear in the middle of the 20th century. Finally, thirdly, back in January 1943, US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt traveled through Banjul. This was due to the holding of a conference in Moroccan Casablanca. During the meeting, Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, together with members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States and Great Britain, discussed the prospects for opening a Second Front and a strategy for combating German submarines in the Atlantic. The port of Banjul was at that time used for intermediate stops for Allied naval convoys, and the mysterious airfield was chosen by the US Air Corps. So there could be no secret Nazi bases in the immediate vicinity of such a strategic Anglo-Saxon hub.
Did the allies try?
On some sites, you can even find statements that Yundum, in fact, was built by the allies themselves. So is there really no secret of the ancient airfield? No matter how it is! The runway length is clearly excessive for the aircraft of the time. As we already know, the locals saw this cover long before the war. And the color of the slabs differs sharply from the concrete. There is a photograph of the only combat aircraft of the Gambian army, bought in 2008 in Georgia by a Su-25 attack aircraft, standing on a platform of concrete slabs attached to the Yundum runway. They have a clearly different - gray - color, which concrete should have. It can also be noted that, judging by the photographs, sandy-brown stone slabs vary in size, and this is absolutely not characteristic of airfields of the XX-XXI centuries.
So the riddle of Yundum really exists, and it has yet to be solved.
Recently, the media reported many times about the mysterious Yundum airfield, which is located in the small country of Gambia, located on the African mainland. Why did the airfield receive the status of "mysterious"?
And because the main and very expensive component of it, the runway (runway), was not built by anyone, because it existed before the airfield appeared here. The runway is made of monolithic stone slabs that fit neatly together.
According to local residents, this "road" of monolithic stones has been in this place since ancient times. When they decided to build an airfield here, they realized that there was no better place to find. The builders rolled asphalt onto the slabs, applied all the necessary markings, resulting in a magnificent runway, the length of which is 3,600 meters. Any modern aircraft of any size and weight can land on the airfield.
Interestingly, the Yundum airfield was created with the active participation of the American space agency, which selected it as an alternate airfield, which is necessary for the landing of reusable ships called Shuttles. NASA representatives assisted in the installation of the necessary electronic control and navigation systems.
In 1996, the opening of the international airport building took place, the project of which was developed jointly by the Americans and the Gambians. Interestingly, not all the stone slabs of the runway were covered with asphalt - some were left unpaved at the beginning and at the end. It turned out that the modern strip turned out to be smaller than the ancient one.
The question remains unsolved: what technique took off from this runway? This question is quite complex. Available publications indicate that no research has been carried out here. In areas not covered with asphalt, light slabs that are carefully fitted to each other and have a sandy brown color are visible.
Nobody knows the exact age of the stone slabs either. Some publications speak of a roughly sanded surface of ancient slabs, while others claim that they are perfectly polished. Published photographs indicate that the rough grinding of the slabs is closer to reality, however, this can only indicate their antiquity. After all, even perfectly polished stones can be severely damaged over time by atmospheric precipitation and winds.
