![]() In Kansas, the government constructed 12 Atlas F sites and nine Atlas E sites. “The splitting of the atom changed everything - for humans on the planet,” Peden said. Construction began in 1959 on several hundred missile silos across America’s Farm Belt. “It was making people nervous because we also had nuclear weapons that could be lofted into space.”Īmerica wanted to make sure Russia knew “that they better not mess with us,” Peden said. “We knew that the Russians had missile technology we couldn’t match yet,” said Ed Peden, a former high school history teacher who turned his Atlas E missile silo near Eskridge into a home. However, fears began to implode in 1957 when Russia’s Sputnik began orbiting Earth. “It’s just probably … the fort mentality of it - knowing it is a Cold War relic, and the size and the strength of the place is fun to think about.”Īfter World War II, both the United States and Russia began building an arsenal of nuclear weapons. “When I was a kid, I built forts,” he said. With global uncertainty both economically and politically, others are eying missile silos, designed to withstand earthquakes and even nuclear attacks, as a protection from an eventual Doomsday.įlaningam admits he isn’t really much of a “prepper,” as these folks are called, despite an appearance on National Geographic’s “Doomsday Preppers” TV series last year. Sure, it might seem like a crazy, daunting task, but Flaningam isn’t the only one with underground dreams. He also rappelled into the silo, which is half-full of water, to fix some of his equipment. He has hauled out truckloads of mud and scrap - one wheelbarrow at a time - and there is still tons more to remove.įor a few weeks in August, he and friend Dale Schramm worked on a new door sure to keep out the curious. So, for the past four or five years, Flaningam travels from his Wisconsin home to the location near Lyons, spending two weeks at a time cleaning and repairing his property. Perhaps someday it will become luxury condominiums. He wants to “try to showcase the potential of the place,” he said. ![]()
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