HikeArizona.COM

I came across this site http://www.siloworld.com regarding missile silo's. At one time (who knows perhaps we still do) Arizona had Titan II missile silo's around Tucson. In the late 70's I had an ecounter with a security force after getting to close to one while hiking from Mammoth to AZ 89 (now AZ79). The sites has coordinates and some interesting links. Deactivated and abandonded some folks have been able to get down inside them.

There's one south of Tucson on the way to Nogales. I haven't stopped yet but it's setup for tours. A friend of mine went and said it was pretty cool.

Many years ago, I worked at Electric Boat in Groton, CT and actually worked on both the 688 class and Trident submarines. The Tridents had an entire compartment for just the Titan missiles.....it was MASSIVE and impressive to say the least. Imagine 18+ missile silos a hundred feet high and 20 feet in diameter.


Trish

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/AZGREtitan.html

The only remaining Titan II missile site in the world is right in the middle of the town of Green Valley Arizona.
All of the others were decommissioned by filling them full of concrete in the presence of military observers from the former Soviet Union. The one in Green Valley has the 25-ton blast door permanently fixed half open so Russian recon satellites can see inside. The guided tour is well worth the trip, plus Green Valley is a pretty little corner of the state.

I'm all for exploring abandoned missile silos! Anyone wanna show me where to find some?

Check out the siloworld web site and look for the Titan II locations. Visted several locations already.

John did you visit them before they were filled in with concrete or is jwaltz a true fictitious character?

There is a doctor in tucson that built his house on top of one. Talk about one heck of a man cave!

So what are those white things sticking up that look like the nose cone of a big missile? There is one somewhere along I-40 between Holbrook and Flag, and I think there's one somewhere along the 8 on the way to Yuma. I just googled "missile silo" images, and found no photos of those things, which I have always been told were missile silos. So I guess they aren't, after all!! So what are they? The have this white rocket-shaped thing that sticks up, they are in open desert areas, and they have a fence around them.

azbackpackr wrote:So what are those white things sticking up that look like the nose cone of a big missile? There is one somewhere along I-40 between Holbrook and Flag, and I think there's one somewhere along the 8 on the way to Yuma. I just googled "missile silo" images, and found no photos of those things, which I have always been told were missile silos. So I guess they aren't, after all!! So what are they? The have this white rocket-shaped thing that sticks up, they are in open desert areas, and they have a fence around them.

Ventilation stacks.

What are they ventilating? Natural gas lines?

I was told that those white cones are part of a radio telemetry system across the country that pilots can tune into to help navigate in bad weather. Directional Radio something or other, I think.

Oh, now, that does make sense.

For the most part, they were destroyed, You can vist the Titan Missile Museum and tour the Silo comples. Some sites are on private property.

PageRob wrote:I was told that those white cones are part of a radio telemetry system across the country that pilots can tune into to help navigate in bad weather. Directional Radio something or other, I think.

They're called VORTACs ... Very High Frequency Omni-Directional Ranging, together with the military's Tactical Air Navigation (although some of them don't have the TAC part). They're used for cross-country navigation in all weather, not just bad. There are a couple thousand of them sprinkled around the country, and all aircraft use them ... private, commercial, military. They're also used for instrument approaches at some smaller airports.

I have a private pilot's license, if you're wondering how I know

Cool, I thought she was referring to something else...

Finally someone gets what I'm referring to! Thanks!

I know you guys must have seen those things. Sometimes you'll be driving across the desert and that is the only man-made thing out there, this white cone thing no more than two stories tall, on a little building with a fence around it.

azbackpackr wrote:Finally someone gets what I'm referring to! Thanks!

I know you guys must have seen those things. Sometimes you'll be driving across the desert and that is the only man-made thing out there, this white cone thing no more than two stories tall, on a little building with a fence around it.

I immediately got what you were talking about - I know the specific one you're referring to as well!
We see one when we drive to Vegas as well. It's in between Mesquite and Vegas itself.

I have taken the tour of the Titan Missile facility and it is really interesting to see and hear about. Fun fact- parts of Star Trek: First Contact were filmed there.

azbackpackr wrote:Finally someone gets what I'm referring to! Thanks!

I know you guys must have seen those things. Sometimes you'll be driving across the desert and that is the only man-made thing out there, this white cone thing no more than two stories tall, on a little building with a fence around it.

I thought you meant the smaller, wider stacks usually seen at MISSILE SILOS since that was what this thread was about...