BREATH TEST TO DETECT COVID. WE’RE GOING TO EXPLAIN HOW THAT WORKS. IN PLACES ALL ACROSS
METRO DETROIT. THERE ARE RELICS
FROM THE COLD WAR, LITERALLY
HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT. THE NIKE
MISSILE SYSTEM WAS DESIGNED TO
PROTECT MAJOR CITIES LIKE
DETROIT FROM BALLISTIC MISSILE
OR AIR ATTACKS AND TO SAY IT WAS
COMPLEX IS PUTTING IT MILDLY.
GRANT HERMES IS LIVE AND RIVER
VIEW TONIGHT WITH A REALLY COOL
HISTORY LESSON. THAT’S RIGHT
BESIDE YOU THERE, GRANT. YEAH
YEAH, IT IS AND TOWERING OVER ME
HERE, SO MISSILES JUST LIKE
THESE WERE ALL ACROSS OUR
NEIGHBORHOODS. IN FACT, THIS ONE
HERE IN RIVERVIEW, THEY WERE IN
A MAGAZINE IN A SOCCER FIELD.
THAT IS JUST BEHIND ME HERE, AND
THERE WERE MORE THAN A DOZEN OF
THESE SITES ALL ACROSS METRO
DETROIT, A PART OF OUR MISSILE
DEFENSE. NESTLED INTO QUIET
PLACES THAT ARE NOW PARKS,
PRESERVES, AND EVEN THE AIRPORT
ARE REMNANTS OF FEARS MOSTLY
FORGOTTEN, BUT NOW REKINDLED
WITH THE WAR IN UKRAINE. GROWN
OVER SITES WITH LITTLE SIGNS
LEFT OF THE WEAPONS HOUSED
UNDERGROUND TO PROTECT DETROIT,
METRO DETROIT WAS HOME TO 16
DIFFERENT SITES OF THESE NIKE
TACTICAL MISSILES IN PLACES LIKE
UNION LAKE ROUGE PARK, AND EVEN
BILL I’LL. THE MISSILES WOULD BE
AIMED AT INCOMING NUCLEAR
BOMBERS AND LATER LONG RANGE
NUCLEAR MISSILES THEMSELVES.
THIS IS WHAT’S LEFT OF THE NIKE
SITE ON BELLE ISLE, THIS RADIO
TOWER AND ONE JUST OVER TO MY
LEFT. THEY WOULD GET WORD FROM
RADAR THAT THAT BOMBER WAS
COMING IN. THEY WOULD THEN SEND
WORD FROM HERE ACROSS THE BELLE
ISLE, WHERE THEY WOULD LAUNCH
THE NIKES THAT WOULD STREAK OVER
THE CITY OF DETROIT. TO
INTERCEPT THE INCOMING MISSILE.
THE IDEA WAS PRETTY SIMPLE. THE
MISSILES HAD A SPECIFIC RANGE
THEY COULD COVER IN THOSE RANGES
OVERLAP, MAKING A SHIELD OF
NUCLEAR WEAPONS TO PROTECT SOME
OF THE COUNTRY’S MOST IMPORTANT
FACTORIES AND INDUSTRIAL PLACES
RESPONSIBLE FOR CREATING
MILITARY EQUIPMENT DURING THE
COLD WAR, SHOWN IN THIS CIVIL
SERVICE TRAINING VIDEO FROM 1963
EYES CONNECTED BY ELECTRONIC
BRAIN CELLS AND NERVES. ACROSS
SEVERAL 1000 YARDS. STEVE BROZAK
IS A HISTORIAN AT THE SELFRIDGE
AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE AIR
MUSEUM AND ONE OF THE STATE’S
TOP EXPERTS ON WHAT WERE THEN
CALLED NIKE, AJAX AND LATER NIKE
HERCULES MISSILES. ORIGINALLY IT
WAS THE NIKE AJAX, WHICH WAS A
SHORTER RANGE ROCKET THAT WOULD
GO UP REACHING ALTITUDE AND
COULD BE COMMAND DIRECTED TO
EXPLODE, SO WHEN THEY SENSE THEM
, THE MISSILE WAS GETTING CLOSE
TO THE TARGET. THEY CAN SET IT
OFF ON THE GROUND, IT WOULD
EXPLODE. MISSILES IN DETROIT
WERE ALSO SOME OF THE MOST
IMPORTANT IN THE COUNTRY, NOT
JUST BECAUSE THEY PROTECTED
FACTORIES BUT ALSO BECAUSE THERE
WAS SOME OF THE CLOSEST TO THE
SOVIET UNION, THE SHORTEST ROUTE
BETWEEN RUSSIA AND THE UNITED
STATES IS OVER THE NORTH POLE
ACROSS CANADA INTO NORTHERN PART
NORTHERN CHEER STATES OF THE
UNITED STATES. BUT BY THE EARLY
19 SEVENTIES, THE MISSILE
PROGRAM WAS DEEMED OBSOLETE
AFTER THE SOVIET UNION STOPPED
USING BOMBERS AND STARTED USING
MORE ADVANCED MISSILES. THE
SITES WERE DEMOLISHED, LEAVING
LITTLE TRACE AND SOMETIMES NOT
AT ALL. OF THE FEARFUL ARMS THEY
ONCE HOUSED. NOW THESE MISSILES
COULD HAVE EITHER CONVENTIONAL
OR NUCLEAR WARHEADS ON THEM AND
SOME OF THE 265 MISSILE SITES
DID HAVE NUKES ON THEM AT ALL
THESE PLACES AROUND THE COUNTRY
NOW, STEVE SAYS NOT TO WORRY.
NONE OF THE PLACES AROUND HERE.
JASON HAD NUCLEAR WARHEADS ON
THEM AT ANY TIME. IT REALLY IS
INCREDIBLE BECAUSE WE ALWAYS
KNEW WE WERE PROBABLY CLOSE TO
THESE THINGS, AND WE NEVER
REALLY KNEW HOW CLOSE WE WERE.
GRANT WITH THE NIKES
DECOMMISSIONED. WHAT’S THERE IN
THEIR PLACE NOW? YEAH SO AFTER
THAT MISSILE CHANGE WITH THE
RUSSIANS, THEY WENT FROM THE
BOMBERS TO THOSE I C B M STYLE
MISSILES. DETROIT REALLY WASN’T
ON THE FRONT LINES ANYMORE. SO
WE SWITCHED THOSE MINUTEMAN
MISSILES, THE ONES THAT WE
MOSTLY THINK OF THAT ARE HOUSED
IN THE WESTERN STATES
UNDERGROUND. THOSE WERE SHORT
LIVED. AND NOW OUR NUCLEAR
MISSILES ARE ON BOATS AND SHIPS
AND SUBMARINES OUT IN THE OCEANS
AND THOSE GET LAUNCHED. INTO
ORBIT. WE’VE GOT A LOT MORE IN
THE HISTORY OF WHAT HAPPENED
AFTER THESE NIKE MISSILES, HONEY
MUCH LONGER STORY UP ON
CLICKONDETROIT’S .COM AND LOCAL
4 PLUS RIGHT NOW REVIEW
GRANT HERMES LOCAL 4 GOOD STUFF,
GRANT IT HOPEFULLY, JUST LIKE WE
ALWAYS THOUGHT BACK THEN,