Hidden US Missile Base
Tuesday, 7th April 2009 by Kevin Batdorf
Google is at it again. As we have seen before, El Goog is sometimes asked to censor specific areas from public view. This time they are not just using the typical "this image is no longer available" message or an amusing Photoshop technique, but instead giving us these fun and exciting images to gaze upon.
While it's probably true that if a 4th dimension were discovered then you'd see it here first, this is actually an active missile launch-site in North Dakota that houses the destructive one-and-a-half ton Minuteman III nuclear missile.
This is an intercontinental-range, silo-based, solid propellant ballistic missile system. Sounds dangerous! Even more shocking, a quick Google maps search of “Minuteman III ICBM Launch Facility” along with a random letter of the alphabet such as the letter a or the letter v will show hundreds of these launch sites, mostly situated in the central United States. These missiles have a range of 13,000km - which is over a quarter of the circumference of the planet!
One reader suggested the images bring to mind the Candy Land board game, but to me it's more along the lines of an eerie backdrop for a new Willy Wonka movie. Either way, I can't figure out why they chose to replace the images in this way.
What do you think is the reasoning behind this?
Thanks to Bob P.
About the author
They were never hidden. Built in plain view for a reason. Missile silos are 10 miles away from the Launch Controls. When Salt II treaty decommissioned half of the missiles, they were destroyed on site and left out for the soviets to verify by satellite imagery back in the eighties.
this is high iso static in a dark place…. say, as if they put the lens cap on.
If you look at <a href=”View Larger Map“>this Street View, the entrance to a missile site is barely secured at all. Just an ordinary metal gate.
That’s the outer gate. I’m sure the inner gate and fence is considerably more protective.
Kevin, Welcome to GSS and great topic for a first post! One of the things I love about this blog, besides the content, is the fact that it is always well-written and grammatically correct, unlike so much online. I was therefore disappointed to see that this post contains a number of rather blatant errors in spelling, punctuation, and capitalization. Please make sure to proofread your posts so the high standards that Alex, James, and Ian have set are maintained. Thanks!
Can you elaborate on the blatant errors? Because I can’t see any!
Thank you Longtime Reader, I have corrected the post.
Kevin remains blameless of course, as it was my responsibility to proof his submission before it was posted!
Hey guys thanks for the comments!
Just to clarify, I know the base is not literally hidden, it’s just been hidden from our view on the google street maps. Check out the street view and peruse the area, it’s quite an interesting “mini universe”. Google was asked to eliminate the images from the database but replaced them with these. Strange.
As for the spelling errors, etc. I am not quite sure what you are referring to, but I appreciate the criticism! Thanks for reading.
Top of my head, “forth” instead of “fourth” and “one and half ton” should be hyphenated 😀
Thanks Gridlock, I was in the process of correcting those as you posted your comment – they should hopefully all be fixed now.
Hi Kevin ! As a non-native english speaker, I welcome you into GSS 😉 Since you’re living in Japan, maybe you’ll find a japanese translator for the blog ?
Wait.. I’ve seen this kind of thing before…
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16885-what-would-it-look-like-to-fall-into-a-black-hole.html
I think that explains it all.
Man, that looks like a boring place to live.
Are we sure that Google was asked to remove the images? To me it looks like the camera malfunctioned. Why would they replace them like this and not have a blank image with the regular “this image is no longer available” message? If you go further up the road and you see the google car pulled over….maybe to fix the camera? https://www.googlesightseeing.com/maps?p=5408&c=&f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=47.853609,-102.127275&sll=47.853609,-102.127275&sspn=0.002131,0.005686&ie=UTF8&ll=47.853789,-102.125409&spn=0.008524,0.022745&t=h&z=16&iwloc=addr&layer=c&cbll=47.853771,-102.128953&panoid=rSRlHKvtTt2iycZBx7Mt3A&cbp=12,249.84601914130744,,0,12.556603773584905
That’s what I was thinking. Why would they have stopped except for fixing broken cameras?
Unless the site zapped the camera with freakin laser beams!
“Unless the site zapped the camera with freakin laser beams!”
That may not be far off. As stated in another comment, they probably have some kind of motion sensor system in place and that may have interfered with the camera. The last place there is a picture is https://www.googlesightseeing.com/maps?p=&c=&t=h&hl=en&ll=47.846431,-102.128992&z=15&layer=c&cbll=47.84439,-102.128952&cbp=12,0,,0,5 and it lasts until https://www.googlesightseeing.com/maps?p=&c=&t=h&hl=en&ll=47.883053,-102.128863&z=15&layer=c&cbll=47.878937,-102.128976&cbp=12,0,,0,5 then there are no pictures at all until https://www.googlesightseeing.com/maps?p=&c=&t=h&hl=en&ll=47.883053,-102.128863&z=15&layer=c&cbll=47.883807,-102.128971&cbp=12,0,,0,5 and you see here that the google car was pulled over, maybe to fix the camera. If we could find out if the pictures were all taken on the same day, it might help. But I ask again, is it a definate fact that Google was asked to remove the pictures?
Hey Brainsmith,
I have not contacted Google on this matter and have no way of knowing for sure whether or not this is the case, but…
It seemed like too much of a coincidence to me for the camera to just suddenly malfunction right there, until I read the theory you just mentioned, which actually makes it sounds very reasonable (and pretty awesome).
Oops, try this link:
https://www.googlesightseeing.com/maps?p=&c=&t=h&hl=en&ll=47.883039,-102.129207&z=16&layer=c&cbll=47.883807,-102.128971&cbp=12,359.6606974552309,,0,27.733270499528746
Here are a few Minueman Sites that are clearly visible in Street View:
View Placemark (48.895506,-102.439485) View Placemark (47.257541,-111.277181) View Placemark (48.001667,-100.456281) View Placemark (47.934689,-100.48085) View Placemark (48.102416,-100.62747)
Shouldn’t Kevin get a satellite next to his name in the comments?
Depends if you lot like him or not….
Only kidding! We’ll get right on that 😀
Of course, anyone can have their own icon by getting themselves a Gravatar.
Am i being really dim here but am i right in thinking the fate of the world rested in lay-bys off major roads? As far as i can tell these ‘launch sites’ are just empty plots. I take it missles werent stored here permanently – on sites with little or no protection in full view off of a major road? I’m not doubting the validity of this whole thing – its just that these launch sites look a bit ……well……..lame.
The silos are covered with a heavy concrete and steel lid. Diagrams
The silos are pretty secure all by themselves. First, each has a microwave motion sensor in the fenced area. You go in and “someone” knows it.
I stopped at one in 1986 outside of Minot and it had a “Deadly Force Authorized” sign on the outer fence.
Then there is the 100 ton concrete and steel cover. In 1984 couple from the peace group Ploughshares broke into a site with a rented jack-hammer and spent 30 minutes unsuccessfully to trying to break in before being arrested.
Because it looks like a data error instead of deliberate censorship, leading, perhaps in theory, to less curiosity. “The satellite camera screwed up here” doesn’t induce nearly as much curiosity as “Someone deliberately doesn’t want you to see this.”
Presumably obscuring them makes it harder for someone with the weapons that would be required to incapacitate them (100-ton concrete/steel doors and all) to hit pinpoint the target. Then again, any entity capable of having such weapons also likely has access to unfettered satellite photos. Nuclear stockpiles incorporate a significant failure and incapacitation rate, which is part of why the nuclear powers have so bloody many of them.
Regardless of the reasons here, this was a cool first post Kevin, Congrats!
I grew up near these – they’re scattered throughout northeaster North Dakota and are certainly not secret. They were mostly separate launch sites coordinated via central radar stations at Concrete and Nekoma, ND – see http://atlasobscura.com/places/giant-pyramids-north-dakota . Oh, and they were fully operational for about 3 days before being closed down so no state secrets here….