Proposed Missle Interceptor Base adjacent ot AT in Maine

[peakbagger]

http://bangordailynews.com/2013/09/1...erceptor-site/


The location is just north of the AT in the section from Saddleback to Orbeton Stream. It is adjacent to the recent search area for the lost hiker this summer. There is no detail on configuration but in the past the missle sites usually had radar installations on nearby mountaintops.

[Starchild]

If the president of the US is important enough to have missile defense certainly AT hikers would be entitled to that, and if it would have helped Inchworm from disappearing then they should have installed this long ago for us, but somehow I don't feel it would have helped her, incoming missiles are just not a great threat for AT hikers. Would be better if they were to improve the shelters, get more bog crossing bridges and more moose for us to see.

[Slo-go'en]

Oh well, we already have wind turbines popping up along the AT view shead, why not a missle base or two? I don't think there will be a local radar station attached, this system is designed to intercept at the top of an ICBM flight path, rather then on the final approch which current systems use against short to medium range missles. Detection and guidance would be via satellite.

[Hill Ape]

I would rather a missile defense system, than a network of cameras. don't really think this installation has anything to do with the trail, its just close. don't really see the trail as a strategic target

[Sailing_Faith]

There are some really cool old gun emplacements along the Marin Headlands here in California. Very neat to go and explore, I have been climbing all around them since I was a small child.

i suppose that a missile Defence installation will result in some very cool ruins some day, once the technology makes such things obsolete.... Or one can hope anyway.

[slbirdnerd]

Huh. And my mom keeps trying to convince me the AT isn't safe...

[1234]

So they are to build it, lets ask them to copy the national weather service and not paint it white, perhaps bolder grey or camo or just green! And if they want to put a 6 foot fence with razar wire let them also paint it green or grey so it does not stick out like the one on Apple orchard mtn in va.

[Symba]

The east coast is in danger of getting hit by missiles? More monies need spent for this? Helping protect Canada? I'm lost with this proposition. How about fixing things before building anew.

[Hill Ape]

I think icbm's coming up and over the poles are a factor. And yes, protecting Canada and all of North America is in our interests. How much of a real threat exists may a valid question. Personally I don't think America will ever be invaded, or directly attacked in a conventional sense. I still feel safe on the trail, never once have I been hiking along worried about a Russian/Cuban/Korean/Muslim invasion. The only red dawn I'm interested in tomorrows sunrise. One thing the US government has always been very good at, is fighting the last war.

[atraildreamer]

Perhaps the missiles can be used to intercept the black flies and mosquitoes.

[Teacher & Snacktime]

I don't think they'll be a viewshed issue.....I've been told dozens of times that there was a nike site at the college in Bristol, which was 1 mile from where I lived at the time...I never saw it.

[atraildreamer]

I don't think they'll be a viewshed issue.....I've been told dozens of times that there was a nike site at the college in Bristol, which was 1 mile from where I lived at the time...I never saw it.

I used to go to Roger Williams College (now Roger Williams University) in 1968. The Nike base was about 1/2 mile north of the school. The missiles were Nike Hercules solid-fuel, multi-stage interceptors designed to take out enemy bombers. The missile was tipped with a small tactical nuclear warhead, or conventional explosive, depending on the target. The Nikes were housed in underground launch facilities which had doors that opened up allowing the missile to be quickly raised and fired. The command and control radar(s) were situated near the Haffenreffer Museum, also located in Bristol. On the way to class, I often saw a Nike pop up out of the underground silo on it's launch rail. It was quite a disconcerting sight to see. If they ever fired on of them off, I was going to find a hole to crawl into and pull a rock over the top! When the program was discontinued, the Nike base property was deeded over to the college for $1.

[Wise Old Owl]

I can throw a rock and it would hit a old Nike Nuclear Missile Site in my back yard. We have a military base a mile away that is surface and sub surface active today... I have truck convoys coming and going late at night so there isn't any photos from satellites, the russians are very much watching... in Chester County There are Monkey houses from the 1950's for chemical testing, There are active deep secret buildings off dirt roads. Don't ever forget a strong defense is in all our interests..

Folks there is nothing to see here. Odd but so what.

[Teacher & Snacktime]

I used to go to Roger Williams College (now Roger Williams University) in 1968.... The command and control radar(s) were situated near the Haffenreffer Museum, also located in Bristol. .

I knew you'd know where I meant. Nice to think that they were right by King Phillip's chair....I'm surprised they didn't just dig it up for "progress".

[ChuckT]

There were Nike installation in Miami during the Cuban missle crisis. We drove passed one. Some of this kind of thing is a Senator flexing clout.
In today's world we are more in danger from a nut with gun or a kitchen chem lab. And, sadly, a fanatic with a cause.
Cvt