"The history alone is overwhelming," said Polly Figueroa. Several former Atlas sites have been converted into private homes by buyers interested in something different to live in. In 1965, the billion-dollar Atlas-F missile program was replaced by more dependable, less expensive Minuteman missiles. Realtor John Dautel, from Hirsch Real Estate, who listed the nuclear-proof bunker, explained the silo was commissioned to go into operation in 1960 before being decommissioned a few years.
One of America’s deterrents were the Atlas missile sites in Nebraska. The Cuban nuclear crisis was averted when the Soviet Union backed down and dismantled its missile sites. Because you aren’t going to live after it.” "If I were you, if you heard there was warheads coming our way. "The launch crews did not know if we were going to have to go to war," Duffy said.ĭuffy called home to tell his family what to do if the Soviets launched nuclear missiles.
military on high alert after learning Russia was building nuclear launch sites on Cuba. Kennedy ordered a naval blockade of Cuba and placed the U.S. "Most of the whole time I was here I was in a missile silo," Duffy said. The Atlas-F nuclear missile could be ready for launch in 15 minutes.Įighty-year-old Dan Duffy of Lincoln was a technician on one of the Air Force launch crews that manned the Atlas sites at the height of the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. The steel framework within the silo equals the height of an 18 story building and weighed about 1,500 tons. In 1965, the missile silo was decommissioned and the land was auctioned off. Through three more blast doors is the massive Atlas silo itself, now mostly filled with water. They have, really, I mean, all the basics that you would need." "So they've got hot and cold running water, and they've got an electric furnace as well as a wood burning stove. "They've got two wells to fill up four 500 gallon water tanks," Mike Figueroa said. The doors open into the two-story living area that used to be the missile site’s command and control center. At the thickest point it looks like it’s probably close to a foot.," Mike Figueroa said. Why it’s here: For a buyer in search of an underground lair, there’s no better option than a decommissioned missile silo. Thirty-feet underground we pass through the first of five steel doors built to protect the Air Force launch team from nuclear attack. Some of the hottest times in the Cold War." "Lincoln had some of the first missile silos ever built in the United States. "Basically when Atlas missiles came along it was this brand new science that the Air Force really took and ran with to supplement their bomber force," Branting said.īranting says the former Lincoln Air Force Base commanded 12 Atlas Missile sites in Nebraska. The missiles were decommissioned in the 1960s, replaced with the far deadlier Titan I and Titan II missiles.Cold War historian Rob Branting, a native of Lincoln, is supervisor of North Dakota’s Ronald Reagan Minuteman Missile Historic Site. The Atlas F, armed with a thermonuclear warhead, was also the first missile fielded in underground, vertical launch missile silos. The Atlas missile was the first real intercontinental ballistic missile fielded by the United States. ➡ Get unlimited access to the weird world of Popular Mechanics, starting NOW. The Survival Condo can house 75 people for up to five years, sheltering them from the nuclear, chemical, and biological threats while pampering them with luxuries that include a custom bar, library, and swimming pool.ĭIVE DEEPER.
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