World War III almost started here

Yesterday I took a tour of a Nike Missile base in Sandy Hook NJ. Around lunch time on a summer day in 1972 it almost started world war III.

During the cold war soviet heavy bombers flew up and down the East coast of the USA. They would periodically make a turn and head towards land, waiting for our radar to lock onto them so they could make note of their positions for future possible use. The US had three rings of defense. The final, or inner ring, was the battery of Nike Missiles all up and down the East Coast and in many other places throughout the country. One such battery was locate in Sandy Hook NJ from 1954 to 1974. On noon on a summer day in 1972 world war III almost started when that missile battery locked onto a soviet bomber and started its 20 minute preparation to fire. It was just 5 minutes from launch time when a hold was initiated and they stayed locked on for one hour. Our tour guide told us all about the missile battery, including facts that were never public while the base was operational. They had 20 nuclear tipped missiles, almost all larger than the ones that were dropped on Japan during world war two. The small ones would take out one aircraft while the larger ones would be used for a squadron. They had a range of over 100 miles, and would travel that distance in one to two minutes. They also had surface to surface capability.

He went on to tell us how just a few years ago he learned what happened on that afternoon, a day when he was on active duty at one of the control panels. He was giving a tour telling how they locked on and a man asked if he would like to know the whole story. He knew something was up when the man first spoke in a Russian accent. The man told him the crew of that bomber wrote a book in Russia about the incident. It turns out that the bomber had been totally upgraded with all new electronics and was out on its first patrol when they had a total electronics failure. They had no radar, no navigation, no communications. They were flying without any way of knowing what direction they were headed. They were very thankful when the outer ring radar locked on them and US fighter jets intercepted them. They happily followed the US jets back towards Russia, well as far as the fighter’s fuel supply would allow.

Unfortunately not many people get to see this, or even know it is there. Tours are only given about 20 Saturdays a year. My wife and I accidently stumbled onto this, and only six other people were on our tour. It was facinating to hear the first hand accounts of the facility from a man that was active duty during its time of use. Unfortunately these people will not be around that much longer to tell us first hand about this history.

There are more pictures of the equipment HERE