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I remember seeing on daily orders, the request for "volunteers" on occasion. We all knew it was for Porton Down. You can guess how many of us put our names forward!

Stories like these by the US and British governments engaging in unethical research are by no means the only ones, they're just some of the ones that have come to light so far. It's extremely naive to think that they are the only two governments that have engaged in such research, and there are undoubtedly many more programs in countries with even less history of openness that no one has heard of.

Should we dose people with Sarin? Yes Should we have an ambulance on standby? -No Are there any medical personal here? -No "We did our best tho .."🙄

My dad was stationed there in the 50s. Told me there was some crazy stuff going on.... He never elaborated

I was in the RAMC between 1971 and 1974. As with all other soldiers, we were subjected to NBC training (Nuclear, Biological & Chemical). It comprised training in full NBC suits and gas masks while doing physically demanding tasks and culminating in exposure to CS gas (tear gas). This involved walking around in a sealed chamber while the gas was pumped in. We had to continue this walking (which directly followed the more strenuous tasks) in order to ensure we were out of breath. Before being allowed out of the chamber, we were ordered to remove the gas mask and recite out number, rank and name before replacing the gas mask. Most of us had been advised by other soldiers who had already undergone this ordeal to take a deep breath before removing the mask and recite our number, rank and name in one breath but not to take a breath until the mask was back on. The 'Brass' had wised up to this so we were invariably to repeat the process as soon as we had replaced the mask, making it virtually impossible not to gasp in a lungful of the gas. Just the skin exposure alone resulted in intense burning in the eyes, nostrils and lips. Breathing it in caused equally intense burning in the throat and lungs. CS gas is used to disperse mobs and is very effective. However, these scenarios tend to be in open air where the gas mixed with fresh air and it is possible to escape the worst of it. It's a different kettle of fish in a sealed chamber where the gas is concentrated. When you sign up to the military, you are agreeing to obey orders that are likely to be fatal. Having agreed to that, they have carte blanch to use you in any way they choose, regardless of any long term effects or even death. Whatever they do is protected by secrecy.

Excellent vid. I'm Scottish and wondered about Porton Down ever since I found out about the Anthrax Island.

Back when i was slightly younger,40+ years ago, and on the dole we would see on the job boards in the wiltshire area " would you like to help in the cure for the common cold"..these as you can imagine were never taking up as it was "common" knowledge around here that you would go to Porton for a long weekend.

When I was in the military in the 70s I received a letter from Porton Down. It explained to me that only 1 in 17 people die there so I had a good chance of getting through. It said that the medical facilities were excellent so I would be very comfortable and I would get a couple of pounds a week extra pay. I threw the letter in the bin and hoped that they would forget about me.

Porton Down is featured in the 2022 psychological horror film The Sleep Experiment directed by John Farrelly. Two detectives begin an investigation into a disastrous secret military experiment where five prisoners were kept awake for thirty days in the facility. "Porton Down" is the name of a song by Peter Hammill. The song "Jeopardy" by Skyclad is about the experimenta developed in Porton Down.

I was a young recruit in the British Army in January 1963. Shortly after joining our platoon was offered the chance to volunteer for "safe" experiments into cures for the common cold at Porton Down. We were assured that should we get any nasty reactions then the Army doctors would ensure our complete recovery. The amount of money offered to volunteer for this experimentation amounted to a few shillings. I am always thankful that I had the good sense to decline their generous offer..!!!. Also as regards the CS gas experiments..we had to run around a soccer pitch wearing respirators...then we were thrust into the gas chamber which was just full of CS GAS ..and as we ran through the door the respirator was whipped off our faces by a senior nco. We had to complete two circuits of the gas chamber..whilst running before being allowed out..which ensured that our skin..our eyes and our lungs were totally contaminated with the gas. Needless to say at the ripe old age of 78 years...I have no time..patience or sympathy...for this sort of lying crap that was forced on to just a bunch of young kids..who believed in their government and their so called "betters".!

I totally notice and love the new graphics!

I remember in about 1983 in the RAF I was the usual pisshead and one day the routine orders came round and they were looking for volunteers for Portan Down, to find a cure for the common cold. It promised extra pay and a few weeks away from the humdrum of normal life. I was on about volunteering. I worked with Aircrew at this facility and one of them just turned on his wheelie chair, looked me in the eyes and said, it isn't the common cold. Don't volunteer. I was normally one to buck authority but the way he looked at me and said it was enough for me. I'm glad now I never went.

And people wonder why there's so little trust in government...

Some of this is covered in greater detail in Ulf Schmidt's 'Secret Science'. It's an equally terrifying and infuriating read.

Secret government facilities give off a vibe like future serial killers in their teens starting to experiment and steadily ramping up. (or sometimes just like full blown serial killers!)

Lots of dodgy stuff went down in the old days. The facility these days is very important in it’s one of the few places in the world that is equipped to study biological threats and come up with solutions to deal with them. It has emergency labs when something needs looking at urgently. Sadly it still has a farm section and animal testing still goes on.

2:15 - Chapter 1 - The beginnings 4:25 - Chapter 2 - The rawalpindi experiments 6:20 - Chapter 3 - Gruinard island 9:40 - Chapter 4 - Continued experiment 14:55 - Wrap up

I went there when I was 18, I took part in the trials for the new general service respirator. I remember our escort telling us to "stay away from that compound" in the middle of the camp, due to the "minefield and shoot on sight policy" there. Apparently it was Europe's only biosafety level 4 storage facility, which from what I can gather, basically means that it's a building chock-full of various apocalypses.

Porton Down's history serves as a stark reminder of the fine line between pushing scientific boundaries and ethical compromise. Great civilisations throughout history have often placed the pursuit of power and knowledge above individual lives, from Ancient Greece's use of slaves in infrastructure projects to the atrocities committed during World War II. Porton Down joins this unfortunate list alongside Unit 731 in Japan and the Tuskegee Syphilis experiments in the United States - in which subjects were disrespected and their rights disregarded for the sake of science. Whilst results driven by urgency can certainly serve a purpose, it's an unsettling reminder that morality can be sacrificed if not taken into consideration. The words of Plato remain pertinent: "Seek knowledge, but always with justice". The goal of progress should never come at a greater cost than what is reasonable; otherwise we cannot call it progress.

My dad was exposed to Agent Orange in his U.S. army unit. He wasn't even in Vietnam, it was just after.

I'm deep into Biographics withdrawl...

When I was in the RAF we were told we'd be paid a substantial bonus if we volunteered for Porton Down, so I did. My boss called me in and advised me against it. He wouldn't say why but he left me in no doubt it was a very very bad idea, so I un-volunteered.

One of my relatives worked there. He was a doctor in "occupational health".

Wow, Simon, give your staff a raise. The intro looks great!

I've vilified the Japanese government for their human experiments in China, they weren't alone were they. I got chills multiple times during this video, incredible. Are we beyond the point where we just randomly test humans we feel are in an inferior class or position or country? As of the late 90's, apparently not in Britain. Some guys volunteered for "common cold" experiments to get a weekend pass. What a world

I live just a few miles away from Porton Down, even nearly got a job there. Now just the other side of where I live there was a mental home called Park Prewett. Allegedly patients from the Park would be take to Porton Down on "day trips". No idea if it's true or not, but knowing of the ethics that Porton Down had, even before watching this video, I wouldn't be surprised if it was true!

The American military is much the same, even today. Soldiers will be warned (sometimes) that they’re going to be exposed to something but won’t be told what. Some friends of mine decided not to have anymore children because of that.

Britain exports nearly half of the world's medical cannabis. One called GW Pharmacitals is based at Porton Down. Theresa May's husband has shares in medical cannabis. Also company in charge of detention sites along US Mexico boarder.

Members of parliment put themselves forward in service for our country, I think that service should also include these tests from Portan Down. They order it, they do it themselves.

Simon I would like see you do a video on INTERPOL and exactly what they do. Thanks Greg

My grandparents had friends who lived in Wiltshire. Like all of the civilian population, they had only scant knowledge of what was truly going on at Porton Down. My grandparents' friends kept gas masks at the ready. The man of the house had been a British soldier who saw combat in WWI. I just wonder how many more "research" facilities are located near large population centres. It's what "they" don't tell us which unnerves me to the core. To be foretold is to be forewarned. Thank you, Simon.

Really appreciated this episode. Found myself uttering “FOR FUCK’S SAKE!” a number of times.

And this is why when in the military you NEVER VOLUNTEER for anything

Thanks for throwing the sponsor in in the beginning, makes for a greater viewing experience

Love this channel! Keep going!😊😊😊😊❤❤❤

Simon, your voice is a welcome companion during my long, sometimes stressful work days. I love the fact that you have 682 KZfaq channels, because I never run out of things to listen to.

9:25 i'd much rather call it "risky illegal acts that could endanger people but will spur a nation to action at the very least". i'm sure they took some measure of effort to avoid accidental exposures and/or deaths. no need to kill if you don't have to.

"What they don't want you to know but is actually public knowledge"

Gees, who was on charge of porton down, Colonel Dr. Evil? Great video and education as always Simon!

Nearly got an industrial placement at Porton Down last year within the microbiology lab. God knows what I would be doing

Ive been a Guinea pig at porton down in a chemical weapon decontamination trial, that was a rough experience! I had a substance which they claimed was a harmless simulant applied to my body in varying amounts and my body was marked out in sections with marker pen. Then I had to walk along a 60ft walkway which had fire hose style water jets positioned all along the sides and above on scaffolding and got blasted with water the full length of the walkway, the water was so powerful that it was hard to stay on your feet! This was done in winter in a very large marquee tent with cold water and i had to to it in just shorts, then i was not allowed to dry myself with anything and had to drip dry. Once i was dry, i was placed in a cubicle with UV lights in it and my body had photos taken. I was on the border of hypothermia at the end of the ordeal and it took me many hours to recover from how cold i got and still did not feel 100% the next day. I then had to collect my urine in a big plastic fuel can style container for the next 24 hours so they could test it for what they claimed was a harmless simulant, makes you wonder what was really in it!

Thank you so much for captioning well!

Gotta admit, if I knew that they wanted someone to try liquid THC on, I would probably volunteer. That sounds great!

just when I think i'd found all the inspirations for Resident Evil, Simon gives me some new ones XD i saw your previous video, I'm glad you did a remake.

I like the new presentation backgrounds.

My partner did have an interview to work there (though it would be on the IT side) really glad he didn’t get it. Not that his current employer is much better, what with all the tax dodging and being owned by Rishi Sunak’s father in law. As he always says in his defence, he doesn’t work very hard.

I was aware of approximately 80 percent of the content with the exception of the Pakistani trials and experiments with nerve gas. Not that I did any research into this, rather I learned it all from watching Simon Whistler's videos😅

The Novichok poisonings happened down the road from the facility, and we blamed the Russians. 😂

Never use paint stripper (trchloromethane) on car body work and heat it with a blowtorch. This could lead to deadly phosgene gas, particularly in an enclosed space like a garage.

The way you say "carcinogenic" reminds me of how Benedict Cumberbatch says the word "Penguin" 😂

I lived in a town that consisted of 10 or so houses. A large barbed wire fence and a manned guard house, the fence had another gate where my dad went to work in the morning. He worked at the Edgewood arsenal. It was shutdown for some reason around 1975 we moved into army housing a few miles away and he was transferred to the Aberdeen proving grounds. Neat thing Frank Zappa lived in the same little town years earlier. He said in his book if died from cancer it was probably because of where his father worked.

Do one on the use of deadly toxines in the insect repellent used by the military in 40s through to the 90s. Alot of the boys are dropping from cancers and all sorts of diseases. Weird how the fittest, healthiest most physically robust of the species die at a young age.

I have done a delivery to this place. I have been to many military places and even nuclear storage sites. This place is the only one that actually made me nervous.

We call it Voluntold now, same principle though

hi Simon, have you ever considered a video in the history of Plum Island? Its a small research facility just east of Long Island and NYC

I live incredibly near to here and have always wanted to know more about it. Bit like Stonehenge I guess, there's definitely more to find out.

....yet some people really think that we can trust our government!

Based at Colerne in the mid 90's. There was a request for volunteers for a 2 week (prone to extension if necessary!) course and anyone who went got an extra £20 a week. After all the rumours and such surrounding the place, you can guess how many signed up!

This is the best one of his into the shadows the delivery is better unlike the others

Scary stuff.

Why didn’t /do they use murderers and Paedophiles for testing, rather than law abiding members of the public and brave service personal? Plus it would solve the over crowded prison population

Porton Down doesn’t manufacture nerve gas. There’s sufficient left in stock from when the UK did manufacture such weapons in the past.

Petition for Simon to do a glitter beard

What's insane is that they didn't have medical staff on site!

The most interesting takeaway from this video, for me, is that the genesis of the so-called "Mutually-Assured Destruction" principle wasn't actually the birth of nuclear weapons. Britain's condition that it reserved the right to use chemical weapons if they were attacked with them first is TOTALLY an example of "Mutually Assured Destruction" logic.

Wasn’t Porton Down featured in V for Vendetta?

I really really hope those responsible for the horrible experiments that never faced any punishments have had tragedy filled lives.

In early on this one whistle boy!

I believe that its also the base of NHS England....at least thats what the sign said in the fence when i went there! Well sinister place, had a building with massive blast doors and windows that were looking inwards, the ledges were on the outside of the building, the whole place is full of armed security guards, obviously!

Hey Simon! How long did it take you to grow that beard?

@16:12 to be fair its not that hard to get a sample of the bubonic plague. Since in many areas its still endemic to wild rodent populations. If i wanted i could probably get a sample from the prairie dogs or marmots near where i live.

When I was in infantry we were asked if we wanted to go for couple of weeks,o by the way you'll get extra money,my answer. NO kin way 🇬🇧

I worked there for a short time in security and nearly took up a permanant position there. However i was also offered a position at Salisbury CCTV and took that because it was closer.

Am I wierd for actually being excited for when i get these notifactions for t hese videos?

"Britain's Most Cryptic Facility" absolutely cracks me up because it's just another office to me 😂

as a rawalpindi resident ..scared to learn about this..😢

Weird. I passed there today kinda. On the A303 going to Amesbury

9:21 Shouldn’t the resale price have been at least adjusted for inflation or some sort of interest? Especially considering how long the island was withheld from the family.

Videos like this make me wonder why there are so many sheep out there who still believe big brother loves us and will make our lives a paradise, if only we give them more power.

Wouldn't surprise me that lots of people weren't volunteers but were voluntold.

I always get thrown off when I near anything about Wiltshire, my home town is only 40mims from Salisbury...

4:27 Simon says "Military Brace"

The geographics video of porton down from 3 years ago is the next video on my feed 😅

No music! 👏👏👏👏👏! Please continue this practice on all of your channels.

Porton Down has changed over the years. DSTL - Porton Down and the UK Health Security Agency - Porton Down are much more open compared to their predecessors. Cameras have been allowed inside it's Bio-Safety Level 3 and 4 High Containment Facility. Cameras have been allowed inside it's Single Small Scale (Synthetic Organic Chemistry) Facility. It is much more open and accountable thanks to the Health and Safety At Work Act, Health and Safety Executive, Home Office Inspectors, and Inspectors from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Most, if not all, the scientists who worked there during the darker days of the mid 1910s up to the mid 1970s have long since retired. And a new generation of scientists are employed there. It still has it's controversies, such as experimenting on animals, but the Government Organisations now based at Porton Down are much more open and accountable than their predecessors.

All this time i thought it was "portland" down

Operating a vehicle while on acid and being stoned out of your mind must have been wild

Ive been in that place a few times. Its a creepy place for sure

With limited movement between the key and keeper, keys will be more prone to breaking off in locks. it happens enough already under normal circumstances without adding a big fixed handle to the head of the key. The wallet seems like a good product, but as a locksmith I cant endorse the key holder.

And all of the people behind it remain untouchable

The secret bases are so secret, we know all about them. Lol

'wow' - frightening stuff.

Beavis and Butt-Head do America have the “X5”!

Just along the road from Salisbury you say?! 😷

Growing up in Wiltshire meant lots of camping because there was fuck all else to do. I`m sure there is security now but there was just a fence then. Watching tanks train out on the plains was better than any TV. I have no additional limbs

I haven’t been there for many years but isn’t it a university campus & business park now?

Didn't we already see a video on this place from you guys?

@10:07 has picture of the ship 'Lyme Bay', not the location.

One thing you did not mention was the escape due to faulty filters in the middle /early 80`s