We explore the abandoned Nike Missile Control and Launch sites in Portland Connecticut.
Located in the Meshomasic State Forest, straddled between Portland and Glastonbury, lies a relic of cold war history. These Nike Missile sites were intended to intercept Russian bombers, detonating nuclear warheads above American soil as insane as it sounds. Located in numerous places around the US, we are lucky to have both a launch and command center in our metaphorical backyard. With a little encouragement from my friend we set off
to explore the crumbling abandoned ruins.
Unfortunately for us, we could not locate the entrance to the large underground portion of the facility. This means we are do for a second visit, no doubt with my friend in two as a guide. In my video above I posted a link to his video where he delves directly into the ruins with a full tour. Luckily for us though, the grounds themselves are still interesting to explore without even having to crawl under ground in the darkness.
From the Eastern section we discovered the control site first. This has the most photographed building of the park. The graffiti covered... thing? There are also tons of toppled cinderblocks and a recently collapsed building you can still half stick your head in. The real mystery here is if you follow the hiking trail west you will come upon an open field with a large white object in the center.
This "thing" is surrounded by a fence and is under video surveillance with many posted warning signs. I consulted the internet but could not come up with an answer as to what this thing was. Some speculated that it has to do with a water tower like situation but I really can't speculate. I linked another video in mine that has an aerial view courtesy of a drone if you would like to see it more clearly.
The Launch site was located a bit further down the road. This area was mostly flat, although there were several staircases that led nowhere. The real highlight here is the sheer number of holes in the ground! They all seem to be filled in for the most part, but you can still peak your head in. The launch site overall was less exciting but since both are located so close together there is no reason not to visit.
As an additional note, the road these sites are located on is a pretty rough dirt road. I appeared to be the only one dumb enough to be driving a low clearance car out here. So do be careful if you plan to take the trip. I will update this article sometime in the spring when I'm able to return and see the real highlight, the underground facility.
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