![]() The methods for doing so vary from browser to browser, and from version to version. Most browsers allow you to refuse to accept cookies and to delete cookies. Google’s privacy policy is available at: policies/privacy/ The information gathered relating to our website is used to create reports about the use of our website. Google Analytics gathers information about website use by means of cookies. To learn more about CafeMedia’s data usage, click here: We use Google Analytics to analyze the use of our website. Fortunately, on this day, we didn’t need to test that theory.This Site is affiliated with CMI Marketing, Inc., d/b/a CafeMedia (“CafeMedia”) for the purposes of placing advertising on the Site, and CafeMedia will collect and use certain data for advertising purposes. We could have a nice enjoyable dive with the apocalypse going on overhead. If a tornado came overhead, we would just go underground and shut the blast doors behind us. It was impossible to get “blown out” on this dive. This is the only dive I have ever been on where the weather did not matter. On the day we visited the silo, there were some mild threats of tornadoes in the area. There is one small nondescript concrete doorway that gives the first hint of the silo below. ![]() The site is mostly left over junk from previous years as a farming community. ![]() The location for the dive is about 20 miles south of Abilene, Texas in the middle of one of the largest wind farms in the country.Īfter driving through scrub brush and the rolling desert hills near Abilene, you approach the dive site. The coolest thing about the place is the fact that you are diving in a Nuclear Missile Silo.Īnother interesting feature about this dive is that it qualifies as an Altitude Dive (2500ft above sea level), Night Dive, Deep Dive, and Wreck Dive in one. There are parts of the wall, though, that have deposits on them from when the ground water seeped in over time and they are interesting to check out. The walls of the silo are mostly featureless and smooth which can make for a very eerie feeling when ascending and descending. Inside you can see some control panels and plaques for the machinery manufacturers. Apparently it was too difficult to remove, so it was left in place. At 40-50ft, there is a metal shack attached to the wall which served as the inertial guidance shack. The bottom is littered with debris made up of mostly twisted metal and duct work. Those were salvaged after the silo was decommissioned, but as they lifted some stuff out through the blast doors the shackles would break and some material would fall to the bottom of the silo. The first question I get asked when I talk about this dive is, “what is there to see?” The silo once housed a lot of equipment and instruments. The air temperature of the silo stays at 68 degrees year round, so this is a great dive to escape the summer heat in Texas. The water is extremely clear and at a constant 60 degrees year round. The water comes from ground water that seeped through the concrete walls of the silo. It is now mostly empty and filled with nearly 130ft of water. This silo was once filled with many levels of equipment to service, fuel and guide the missile. The main silo is 180ft tall from the base to the blast doors. The other is the main silo where the missile and fuel was held. One is 2 stories tall and served as the command room and crew quarters. The silo itself is divided into 2 separate silos. If you want to check it out for yourself, contact them to find out when there are open dives you can join. Valhalla is owned by Family Scuba in Midland Texas. ![]() I talked with him prior to the dive to learn more about the silo myself. To learn more about the silos check out this guy’s site:. It is actually part of a complex of 12 silos located around Texas and formerly run by Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene. Valhalla is a decommissioned Atlas-F hardened nuclear missile silo located near Abilene, Texas. ![]()
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