high atop apple-orchard mountain not far
from the Blue Ridge Parkway is a tower
that looks like a huge golf ball on top
of the mountain and tonight for a new
segment were calling positively virginia
i set out to find out what it is and
learned that what it was is just as
interesting it sits atop the highest
point along the entire Blue Ridge
Parkway in Virginia a tower that looks
like a golf ball major could you tell us
the purpose of your mission here on
Appalachian Mountain it takes a bit of a
trip back in time to understand what
we're seeing today footage from the
10:00 news archives tells the story the
story of what was once the 649 airborne
control and warning squadron an air
force base on top of the mountain home
to as many as 200 troops at one time
during the Cold War it was a part of the
nation's early warning system the
mission of the air defense command is to
detect and destroy any enemy air attack
and we are at one time there were three
of those golf balls on the side of the
mountain
along with barracks and support systems
for the small base so the air force base
was really great to have this close to
town Jennifer Thompson with the Bedford
Museum has gathered clippings about the
base over the years so anything that you
would find in a military base just
smaller the base offered a two lane
bowling alley and other amenities to
keep the men entertained what accounts
from those stationed there indicate it
was boring atop the mountain so they
went to town whenever they could
story is that a foe it wasn't for the
air force base a lot of the local women
wouldn't be married today the public was
fascinated with the technology and
archival footage shows tours being given
complete with a coca-cola stand but in
1975 the Air Force closed the base and
handed control of the tower to the FAA
which still runs it today and though the
public may have been welcomed during the
Cold War that is not the case today
the road is closed to the public and the
FAA
denied our request for a tour but it
turns out there is a well-known back
entrance called the Appalachian Trail
all right so we're gonna hike up and see
if we can't find this radar station and
get a closer picture of it we're going
in at sunset fields off the Blue Ridge
Parkway it would not be as easy as
driving to the site but the Sun was
shining the trillium were in bloom and I
was determined to get a look at that
tower it's about two miles uphill over
some rocky terrain near the top a gnarly
growth of trees looks like something
from the enchanted forest but a few
steps more and there was the golf ball
there it is the trail goes right by the
tower kinda looks like a big soccer ball
in fact a through hiker from Indiana was
eating lunch right next to it how would
you surprised you're in the woods and
you're in the middle you feel like in
the middle of nowhere and you come
around the corner here it is not too
surprised we have a little guide that
tells us what's coming ahead on the
trail
aside from keegan the hiker there
appeared to be no one else there i
walked around and took photos and video
staying outside the fence as the sign
suggested the official word from the FAA
is that it is a long-range radar tower
the dome covers the radar unit to
protect it from the mountains high winds
the site tracks aircraft for hundreds of
miles around Rouen Oh long gone are the
barracks and other buildings that for 20
years housed the mountains mini air
force base all that remains is that big
ball and a couple of small buildings
seen from afar by people all over the
region and up close by the occasional
hiker on the Appalachian Trail
so with that did they ever detect any
kind of enemy aircraft well they have
these things all over the country at the
time and I talked to a guy today who
served in the military
not at our particular site but he said
only in Alaska where the Russians were
kind of nearby but as far as he knew
there had not been any enemy aircraft
that tried to penetrate this site but
they were there for 20 years yeah but
that mom oh my goodness that's really
really interesting who knew all right