The Rocket

This isn't something I see every day. Perched on top of a mountain is a truck with a rocket on its back. You're damn right I had to see it with my own eyes!

The hike up to this peculiar anomaly was well worth the effort. I was out in nature, and saw creatures that I don't see in my home country. I can't confirm exactly what they were (I'm not a zoologist) but it was still pretty cool. There was a ginormous bird of prey, far larger than anything I've seen in the wild in the UK, and as I made my way up the mountain I noticed loads of tiny lizards scuttling away from me. Perhaps the bird had its eye on them and I'd frightened away its lunch. That would be typical of me to go on holiday and accidentally destroy an ecosystem. 

Google maps had recommended a more convoluted route that was twice as long, but I could see a short cut that google seemingly couldn't. It turned out there was a good reason for that. This road hadn't actually been used in years, and was very overgrown at the bottom, and treacherously crumbly towards the top. And everywhere I looked, there were lizards. It was like being at Buckingham Palace during an Illuminati meeting. 

Finally at the top, I came across a motorcyclist appreciating the rocket, totally baffled that I'd just taken the "unofficial" route on foot. Having several cans in my bag, I offered him a drink, and he declined before speeding off. More for me!

The truck itself is a Citroen 55, a model produced from 1955 to 1965. This one was likely an early fire engine, as evidenced by the ladder that the rocket is resting on. 

The rocket has been the cause of speculation for years. Why is it here? What purpose does it serve? 

Some say that it was put here as a political statement given that it's pointing in the rough-ish direction of a nuclear power plant. 

But no, in actual fact this rocket was a promotional eye-catcher for a roadside antique and curiosity store. It had a lot of random things, from hearses to church pulpits, and even a zebra pen, because every curiosity store needs an added zoo. The man running this wacky bonanza found a rocket in an army surplus sale back in the 1990s and decided that if motorists saw it looming on a mountain next to the road, it would draw attention to his business.

The truck has seen better days. 

But the view is pretty good. 

The rocket is pretty cool. It looks like a prop from Thunderbirds or something. I have no idea what AP stands for. Associated Press? Amanda Palmer? 

Angry People? That's a pretty apt slogan for a rocket.

One day some angry people did come to the curiosity store. They were from the military, and they were concerned because their surveillance satellites had seen the rocket pointed in the general direction of the nearby nuclear power plant, and they wanted to know what was going on. The owner had to take them up the mountain to prove to them that it had been disarmed. 

Naturally this event only served to drive publicity.

It seems that the owner has since passed away. His children took over the business for a bit, but it closed down in 2015. There's now a café there instead. The rocket was just abandoned up here, left to the elements, becoming a curiosity for hikers and weirdos like me. 

The rocket is apparently a "Veronique," and it allegedly has its roots in the German V-2 rocket. Its name is a portmanteau of Vernon and Electronique, Vernon being the location of the research laboratory that created it. 

The very abridged version of the history is that after World War 2, the Allies noticed the technological advancements of German engineers and decided that their war crimes and various human rights violations could be overlooked if they agreed to come work for the other side instead. This whole fiasco is more famously seen in "Operation Paperclip" where the Americans recruited about 1,600 German scientists, engineers and technicians, and brought about the post-war technological revolution that put men on the moon and got everyone else on commercial airlines. 

But the US wasn't alone in this. Newly liberated France got hold of a few dozen Nazi scientists and had them work on their aerospace technology too. 

Unlike the V2 Rocket, the Veronique was not built for offensive purposes, but it's still probably wise to get out of the way when one is heading towards you. There's no explosive payload but it might still give you a bit of a headache. 

It was developed in the 1940s and 1950s, primarily to study Earth's outer atmosphere and also "launch scientific payloads at high altitudes." 

By "scientific payloads," they meant small animals. The Veronique can be credited for the only recorded launch of a cat into space in 1963. 

Felicette was a stray on the streets of Paris when she was "drafted" into the space program, mainly to study the effects of space travel on the mammalian nervous system. She was initially known as C341 to stop the scientists getting attached, but when she survived going into space they decided that she was deserving of affection after all, and named her Felicette. 

Ironically she was put down two months later so that they could study her brain. 

Poor kitty. 

The first Veronique launch was in 1959 and the last in 1974, at which point it became eclipsed by newer rocket technology. While nobody knows for sure if this specific Veronique made it into space, it did allegedly have traces if soot around the rear, which would indicate it was launched at some point. 

I decided to climb on the rocket. This is probably the only time I'll ever have the opportunity. 

Scrawled on the top is "Dick Lover." I guess it's fitting, seeing as I had to literally straddle a rocket to see this. 

Also attached to the truck is this padlock bearing the names "Bertrand and Rose Kappy." 

I wonder if they're still together. 

I am a bit of a romantic, deep down beneath my cynical sense of humour and overall lack of faith in the human race. I think it's kinda sweet, this symbol of love inscribed on a padlock. The world is a mess and it's not getting better, and it's important to hold onto whatever positivity we can get in these lugubrious times. May every Rose find her Bertrand, and vice versa.

Unless he's beating her, or something. Then I take that back. 

Finally here's the view. Camera's don't do it justice. They never do. Nothing beats actually seeing something in person. 

So that's it for the rocket. Isn't it cute? It's hardly the most historic spot I've ever covered, but weird things like this will always attract me more so than the every day stuff like houses and pubs. I enjoy those too but I wouldn't travel this far for one. I'd pass a hundred before I even left my home county. This rocket is totally worth a visit for those who don't mind a mildly challenging hike. Bring refreshments and watch out for the lizards. 

My next blog will be on my "local" blog. It's just a little something I've known about since 2015 and should have done then but didn't for some reason. I'm quite happy with the research side of things. 

In the meantime, to stay updated with my blogs, follow my social medias. I'm particularly fond of the rising "independent" ones like Bluesky, Cara and Vero, each one an adequate substitute for the more mainstream social medias that are just algorithmic hellscapes designed to make us miserable. I am active on Facebook, rather begrudgingly, and I do have a Twitter for some reason. I'm also making my return to Instagram. I did deactivate it for a bit to take a break. If you look, my blog hasn't actually linked to Instagram since 2024. I just needed time to focus on my brain rather than being distracted by endless scrolling. I do think it's healthy to take breaks. I think the most miserable people in society are the ones who depend too much on social media. So follow me if you want, and then focus on your own hobbies and go for a walk! Get out in nature. It's beautiful out there.

Thanks for reading!