Missile Silos and the Old West − 20 April, 1991
Four bored college guys, an abandoned missile silo, and rapelling gear... what could go wrong?
One of the guys was big into rappelling, but where can one rappel in the desolation around Roswell, New Mexico? Somehow, he came across some maps showing the locations of old missile silos, many of which were fairly near.
Now, if you knew this guy, you'd already be cringing. Let's just say he was a Navy Seal wannabe -- for example, he would sit at the bottom of the swimming pool trying to breathe water. Yes, you read correctly: he would try to breathe water. Hey, I said he wanted to be a Seal, not a genius. We nicknamed him "Bonk" since he looked uncannily like the arcade game character of the same name.
On a lazy Saturday in April, we packed up the gear and headed into the country. Our target silo was only about 30 minutes out of town.
Once we got there, checked out the silo. Good -- the huge concrete cover was gone. Some old silos were still covered by the monstrous concrete hatches. We all tied off and dropped into the silo. Check this link for a pretty good of idea of what we saw.
It's really pretty cool to do this (but seriously, do NOT do it). Not far down, flashlights are needed to really see where you're going and avoid rusting, twisted gantry.
We couldn't go all the way to the bottom since it was choked with debris, so we stopped about 2/3 of the way down. We pulled ourselves over to a catwalk and started to thread our way back up. I was silently praying that the way was clear -- the thought of climbing back up the ropes was not appealing.
About half way back up, we heard a sound. It almost sounded like someone yelling, very far away. We all stopped and listened intently.
It was someone yelling. Yelling for us to "get the fuck out!" And the owner of the voice sounded really pissed off.
We got out as quickly as we could. Greeting us on the surface was slim, weather-worn rancher with a big fucking six-shooter at his hip. Oh, crap.
After a brief lecture on criminal trespassing and a not-so-vague threat to turn us in to the police and report us to the college (it was a military college, so that would have been bad), he shouted at us to get the hell off his land. You know, I think this guy was born too late. He thought this was the Old West, and we were claim jumpers.
We immediately headed for the car. Apparently, it wasn't fast enough for him, because he shouted at us, "Run!"
Hey, they guy had a cannon as a pistol, and seemed to have no problem going "John Wayne" on us... we ran.
We were afraid he might change his mind and follow us; exact some cowboy justice on our criminal asses. I have no doubt we broke at least 4 traffic laws -- and possibly the sound barrier -- on the way back.
In hindsight, it was really stupid to go down that silo. These places are very dangerous (see the warning at the link above) and no one knew we were there. Then there's the whole "breaking the law" thing...
One of the guys was big into rappelling, but where can one rappel in the desolation around Roswell, New Mexico? Somehow, he came across some maps showing the locations of old missile silos, many of which were fairly near.
Now, if you knew this guy, you'd already be cringing. Let's just say he was a Navy Seal wannabe -- for example, he would sit at the bottom of the swimming pool trying to breathe water. Yes, you read correctly: he would try to breathe water. Hey, I said he wanted to be a Seal, not a genius. We nicknamed him "Bonk" since he looked uncannily like the arcade game character of the same name.
On a lazy Saturday in April, we packed up the gear and headed into the country. Our target silo was only about 30 minutes out of town.
Once we got there, checked out the silo. Good -- the huge concrete cover was gone. Some old silos were still covered by the monstrous concrete hatches. We all tied off and dropped into the silo. Check this link for a pretty good of idea of what we saw.
It's really pretty cool to do this (but seriously, do NOT do it). Not far down, flashlights are needed to really see where you're going and avoid rusting, twisted gantry.
We couldn't go all the way to the bottom since it was choked with debris, so we stopped about 2/3 of the way down. We pulled ourselves over to a catwalk and started to thread our way back up. I was silently praying that the way was clear -- the thought of climbing back up the ropes was not appealing.
About half way back up, we heard a sound. It almost sounded like someone yelling, very far away. We all stopped and listened intently.
It was someone yelling. Yelling for us to "get the fuck out!" And the owner of the voice sounded really pissed off.
We got out as quickly as we could. Greeting us on the surface was slim, weather-worn rancher with a big fucking six-shooter at his hip. Oh, crap.
After a brief lecture on criminal trespassing and a not-so-vague threat to turn us in to the police and report us to the college (it was a military college, so that would have been bad), he shouted at us to get the hell off his land. You know, I think this guy was born too late. He thought this was the Old West, and we were claim jumpers.
We immediately headed for the car. Apparently, it wasn't fast enough for him, because he shouted at us, "Run!"
Hey, they guy had a cannon as a pistol, and seemed to have no problem going "John Wayne" on us... we ran.
We were afraid he might change his mind and follow us; exact some cowboy justice on our criminal asses. I have no doubt we broke at least 4 traffic laws -- and possibly the sound barrier -- on the way back.
In hindsight, it was really stupid to go down that silo. These places are very dangerous (see the warning at the link above) and no one knew we were there. Then there's the whole "breaking the law" thing...
Comments:
kga245 (June 14, 2007. 07:41am)
I think I know exactly the silo you're talking about. It's between Roswell and Riverside on the high Roswell plains just before the road dips down into the Capitan Gap, right? North side of 380?
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=roswell,+nm&ie=UTF8&ll=33.369894,-104.823169&spn=0.004247,0.010042&t=h&z=17&om=0
<a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=roswell,+nm&ie=UTF8&ll=33.369894,-104.823169&spn=0.004247,0.010042&t=h&z=17&om=0">check this out</a>. The maps on google maps blur out the road between Roswell and Riverside!
intrepideddie (June 15, 2007. 05:37am)
That was one on the map... If I remember correctly, that was one of the final 3 we had it narrowed down to. The one we "investigated" was south and east of Roswell just a little ways. Take a look <a href="http://maps.yahoo.com/broadband/#mvt=s&trf=0&lon=-104.120264&lat=33.072556&mag=5">here</a>. It's right at the cross-hairs.
kga245 (June 18, 2007. 08:39pm)
Ah, I see. There are tons of those f-ers around there, I guess. Next time I'm in the neighborhood, I'll look it up. But don't expect me to go spelunking!