“To introduce women into after so much human engineering had gone into setting up the system for four men,” explained Morris, “I think that probably took a lot of scrutiny.”

She was part of the Air Force’s early recruitment of women soldiers. 3rd photo: Jim Merithew/ĭecades after Barthelette was investigating UFOs, Morris’ military career included its own unique frontier. We never found out what that was all about.”ġst photo: Drew Reeves. The lady who called said that each time I appeared topside the light would disappear. “A neighbor called the main base,” said Barthelette, “and told them that a light was hovering over the site. Barthelette recalls an eerie incident from his time spent underground. Paranormal enthusiasts may beg to differ. “There’s nothing down there to bother you, there’s no spiders. He dismisses concerns of claustrophobia, citing the size of the bunker. “We always had underground forts, and I always wanted an underground house because they’re so unique and easy to heat and cool,” he said.Īlthough the space hasn’t been renovated, Reeves occasionally spends the night. Substrata has been alluring to Reeves since childhood. The miles of conduit, piping and air ducts remind Reeves of the missile frigate he served on as an electrician during the Vietnam War. I was never stung.”ġst photo: Courtesy SiloMan. We would line up and step on what was in front of us always looking behind as well. When you entered the building early in the morning there were hundreds of the critters on the floor trying to stay warm on the cool nights. “Each site had a Quonset hut on site where building equipment was stored during construction. “Some of the strings of rattles were over a foot long.

“I do remember one of the favorite pastimes of some of the Air Police was to shoot rattlesnakes and hang their rattles on the guard house,” Barthelette said. In addition to the rugged terrain and isolation, military crews had to contend with mother nature. He began his career overseeing site purchases and construction, and eventually took a position on a missile control crew. I learned to sleep anywhere and at anytime while in the service.”īarthelette served eight years at various missile sites, including Bitburg, Germany. Some of the sites were up to 50 miles from the base so normally I would eat the foil packs they sent out to the site and slept in my parka on the steel-plated decks of the silo. “We would work 18-hour shifts,” Barthelette said of the beginning of his service, via e-mail, “as there was a deadline assigned to each site. According to former Power Production Specialist Ken Barthelette, who joined the Air Force in 1960, the dynamite was just the beginning of a grueling process.

Titan missile silo