foreign
in many ways the Cold War was unlike any other War the world had experienced because it wasn't
about direct combat and success wasn't defined by eliminating an enemy it was about distrust tension
and competition in the arms race Illustrated the intensity and severity of what was at stake
by the 1950s both the United States and the Soviet Union were quickly building nuclear weapons
sending the message that each nation was prepared to use extreme deadly force if needed
so what does a pyramid in the middle of nowhere have to do with this
what was the Stanley R Mickelson Safeguard complex what was its purpose and why was
it only operational for one day let's try and find out hello I'm Mike droberg a Marine Corps
veteran filmmaker history Enthusiast and investigator of the supernatural
and we will answer these questions on today's episode of Forgotten history [Music]
the complex itself is named after Stanley Raymond Mickelson who was a U.S army General
born in Minnesota in 1895 and a graduate of the University of Minnesota Mickelson joined
the army in 1917. as a young officer Mickelson commanded Coastal artillery units including the
74th Coastal artillery regiment and the 47th Artillery Brigade during World War II he served
on the war department general staff but later commanded an anti-aircraft Brigade in 1943 he was
assigned as the commandant of the anti-aircraft artillery Training Center at Fort Bliss Texas
from 1947 to 1949 he was the assistant commandant of the army field artillery School
from 1952 to 1957 he was the Commanding General of the U.S Army Air Defense command
he retired in 1957 at the rank of Lieutenant General during his career the Army moved from
air defense based guns to Advanced anti-aircraft missiles an anti-ballistic missile systems
this is why the Stanley R Mickelson Safeguard complex was named in his honor
the Stanley R Mickelson Safeguard complex was built as a part of the Safeguard program
a U.S army anti-ballistic missile program developed to defend the Air
Force's Minutemen intercontinental ballistic missile silos during the Cold War the product
of Decades of research and development the Safeguard complex in Nekoma North Dakota
which defended the Grand Forks Air Force Base is one of 12 Safeguard systems planned for the
country and the only one ever completed the site was approved in 1969 and construction
began in 1970. the most recognizable part of the Nekoma site is the pyramid it's four
feet thick concrete walls are nuclear hardened the structure is made of twenty seven thousand
five hundred pounds of steel and 714 000 cubic feet of concrete built at a cost of around 6
billion dollars the site was a massive complex of missile silos giant pyramid-shaped radar system
dozens of launching silos for surfaced air missiles tipped with thermonuclear Warheads
it included a par Backscatter radar sight designed to follow missiles being fired from Russia which
would shoot down over Canada however due to its expense and concern over both its Effectiveness
and the danger of detonating defensive nuclear warheads over a friendly territory the program was
shut down having only been operational for one day the safety art program was a collaborative effort
of 20 years of research not everyone believed in its Mission or even the idea that the program
had one The 1975 article from The New York Times reported that its Senate critics came to charge
that it was a system in search of a mission the story mentioned it was technically infeasible to
provide an area-wide defense for American cities against the Russian missile attack on November
24th 1975 the El Paso Herald post published the that the first of 12 planned bases was essentially
used as a bargaining chip with Russia Russia was purportedly impressed with the base in North
Dakota the Kremlin saw what that 5.8 billion was buying and agreed to limit Russia and the United
States to one anti-ballistic missile site each thus saving the United States Untold billions
seen in that light Safeguard was a multi-billion dollar bargaining chip that perhaps worked today
the pyramid's massive tunnel systems are flooded it is a military industrial shell in the middle of
nowhere a remnant of what could have been while visitors are not able to explore the pyramid or
enter the grounds photos can still be taken from the gravel road outside the gate the pyramid is
just outside the tiny settlement of Nekoma North Dakota there's a small store restaurant in town
and not much else the nearest gas station is in Langdon about 19 miles away the site sits
40 miles from the Canadian border biggest waste of taxpayer money perhaps thanks for watching today's
episode of Forgotten history please like share and subscribe send us your questions or comments
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