FAIRFORD, England—For the past 80 years, locals in this bucolic English village have grown used to the sounds of American and British warplanes taking off from a nearby military base.
But the past few days have brought something entirely new and unsettling: an alleged terrorist plot to strike at American forces on the base.
Police arrested five masked men only a few hundred yards from the base early Sunday morning on suspected explosives and terrorism charges. The residents of a small hamlet nearby, Whelford, were hastily evacuated by police and put up in nearby hotels.
But others wondered if the attempt was all it was cracked up to be by U.K. and U.S. officials.
“Something doesn’t add up,” said Adrian Watkins, a local construction worker sipping a pint at a local hotel. “How serious can the incident have been if they let them go already?” he said.
Watkins wondered if the men were actually stealing diesel, which he says is happening with growing frequency amid sky-high prices.
Residents noticed increased security in recent weeks—more police patrolling the surrounding area and entrances to the base blocked by heavy equipment. The American servicemen also hadn’t visited the town in the past week. Iran had warned the U.K. that it could strike back for allowing the base to be used for attacks.
A local farmer who tipped police off to the masked men has said she doesn’t understand why the men were allowed to get so close to the base, especially if the U.S. and U.K. had some evidence of a threat against the base.
Police cordoned off most of the area around the base following the arrests on Sunday. On Monday, there were no jets taking off and no American servicemen to be seen in town, which was swarming instead with visiting police and journalists.
Jill Lavender, who has lived in the town for 50 years and was out walking her dog, said the incident seemed strange, “fairly amateur.”
Lavender, like many in town, said the town liked having the Americans nearby and had never felt particularly threatened before by geopolitics. But she added that many locals were less happy with the base’s most recent use as a launchpad for attacks in an unpopular conflict with Iran. The conflict has sent already high U.K. fuel and fertilizer prices even higher, hurting farmers.
Fairford has a symbiotic relationship with the base, which helps the local economy. This town is known for two things: the original medieval stained glass windows in its ancient church and a world-beating air show hosted every year with the latest in military technology.
Around town, lined with winding streets and tan-colored stone cottages, locals speak highly of the American servicemen and women, even if their commander in chief gets negative reviews from some.
“We love having them here,” said Bridget Kearney, who manages a pub frequented by the Americans. Her bar is festooned with U.S. military patches and dollar bills. “They are so polite; I get tired of being called ‘ma’am.’”
“No one has a bad word to say about them,” said Gordon Jones, another longtime local.
The base is less popular with others, and was the site of protests in March and April from hundreds of antiwar activists.
The U.K. government initially turned down U.S. requests to use the site as a staging ground for attacks on Iran, angering the Trump administration, but later agreed for it to be used for strikes to protect U.K. allies in the Gulf from Iranian reprisals by hitting Iranian military sites.
Write to David Luhnow at david.luhnow@wsj.com