Iam the owner of the missile silo featured on the front page and r/osha AMA!

Do you use your missile silo to one up people when you're having a conversation?

"Check out my new car"

"Oh cool, I own a goddamn missile silo"

Yes, I've been known to do that. MIC DROP.

Need any henchmen to help with your plans for world domination? I look good in a black jumpsuit.

Thank you for the offer! :-)

how much had the water ruined the silo?

Also started watching the videos after that post. cool stuff

The water ruined the old lighting and conduits a bit. But main steel and concrete is perfect! Thanks!

Maybe this is a dumb question, but why didn't the water fuck up the steel? I would imagine it was there for a while with a bunch of unpleasant stuff in it.

Gaseous oxygen and water will jack steel up. But just plain water doesn't really hurt it. There was very little rust actually.

Without having watched the youtube channel, what are you aiming to do with the silo?

We are turning the complex into an underground home. The actual silo (where the missile was) is quite destroyed. So may not ever open it. We are in about 4500 sq ft of the launch control center.

So how much asbestos is in the complex?

None.

Do you own a missile and if so, can I touch it?

The answer to both of those questions is classified.

Did you find a safe inside the bunker ? Did you open it? Did you take pictures?

No, they took the safe out.

I watched all your videos on it after that.

Do you ever plan to uncover the main silo? Or are you going to leave it filled in?

I would love to open it but its probably $250 - $500k to do anything useful with it. Thanks for watching!

Well just get some shovels :D

:-)

Invest in ventilation and anything to make it habitable and open up your own Silo Bar & Hotel. Dreaming of course

I've looked into it a LOT. Hard to get a liquor license. Watch the videos to see where I'm taking it. Think about a club called Nuclear...

Here in Wyoming I have read a bit about how some old missile silos have contaminated the ground water with the TCE cleaner they used. Is there any issue with this at your silo? If so what did you do about the toxicity?

They were better about this in the 80s when they decommissioned the Titan II. So, no issues!

I always wanted one of those...I imagine it's pretty dank though, and not in the sense of "dank bud", or "dank memes", but rather in the sense of, "My, this place is quite dank sir, have you considered investing in a dehumidifier?"

What's the upkeep like?

I do have a dehumidifier... there's not too much to maintain at this point. Once its fully done it should be easier than a regular home. No rotting wood or roof to replace!

So how bad of shape is the main silo in? What did they do to it?

Also how much living space do you think you will have when you are done?

Thanks for doing the AMA!

Main silo had the top 25 feet blown off of it. Then they filled it in with debris. Would be a huge PITA to do anything with it. Should have about 4000+ sq ft of living space without opening the silo.

Welcome!

How did you find a silo to buy in the first place?

There a quite a few of them in the US. This one is in Arkansas and there are 18 here. Hard to buy actually... most land owners don't want to sell them. They think they'll dig it up one day. Oh... if they only knew... :-)

Is it in the same missile field as that one that blew up in the 1970s in Arkansas? There was an excellent book called command and control by Eric Schlesinger that was focused Around The Accidental explosion and fire in that missile silo.

It isn't but mine is in Arkansas. I met Eric at a screening of the movie. Not sure if you know, Command and Control was turned into a great movie. You can find it on PBS under American Experience

Just watching your videos now, thanks for documenting it all, really facisnating stuff.

What are the most interesting things you have found or any of your buddies found left behind in these Silos?

1960's silver dime... old coffee cup. A few tools. Nothing as cool as I would have hoped.

I'm assuming the coolest thing you were hoping for was a 9 megaton ICBM?

I would have been plenty thrilled if they would have left us some damn copper to salvage. :-)

How much are you estimated to spend? I've always felt this would be a great but super expensive project.

We've been at it almost 7 years. I haven't kept track of how much we've spent. Too much. But well... can't stop now. :-)

sunk cost fallacy is best fallacy

I'm a big fan of it! :-)

What made you decide to buy a missile silo? I have done some weird purchases while drunk, but this is kinda extraordinary. Did you just wake up one day, saw the listing and bought it?

What are your long term plans for the silo?

It would be an awesome story if I drunk bought a missile silo. But no... I was sober. I've always like the idea of living in one. I live in Arkansas and when I found out there were some there I went on a search.

Long term plan is to turn it into a home. Hopefully a really nice one!

Have you sent a link to your blog to the Russians with a polite request to be taken off their list of targets?

Twice. Same response. "Drink more Vodka"

How much did it cost you to buy a missle silo?

I paid $90k for the property (10 acres) with the silo. The property alone was worth $60k so I paid a $30k premium. Not bad for a facility that costs tens of millions to build. :-)

Are you living there?

If so:

• How far do you drive for groceries?

• How do you get water/electricity/internet there?

Good questions. Yeah, I get all services including city water. Not city sewer. Groceries are about 10 min away. I have privacy but close to necessities. I like that balance.

That seems nuts to me! I'm shocked at how close to civilization this silo must be. I picture it 40 miles away from anything, for security and in case of a launch.

Nuclear weapons are so destructive it didn't really matter. And Russia had / has so many location is almost irrelevant.

Why did you buy a missile silo?!

Do you think you're on an (outdated) list of targets to strike if North Korea actually pulls off an ICBM?

Oh... this place was for sure on a target list somewhere. It was the largest ICBM the US has EVER had. 9 Megatons. Bad bitch.

Oh... hard to explain why if it isn't obvious. Its pretty awesome and I like it down there. Cool temp and a feeling of cosiness when I close the 6000lb front door.

What are your plans if the door becomes stuck closed when you're inside?

Get on Reddit and ask for help.

Is there a room with a big red button?

Not at this time. :-)

How much to see your bunghole?

Funny you should ask... we will be AirBnBing it once I get it done. Not sure what I'll charge... open to suggestions. $350 per night too much?

It honestly depends on where you are.

You definitely get a premium for the whole "it's a missle silo" thing, but it also looks fairly remote where you are. People are going to have a make a special trip to get out there, unless you happen to be near a sizable city.

I'm close to Little Rock but of course its still Arkansas. And who comes here on purpose? :-)

Cool, there is certainly a market for this type of thing.

Yes, that is too much. Charge whatever you want, but $125 to $150 max is my reasonable suggestion.

Cool. Thanks for the feedback!

Cool beans man! Do you wish you had my username?

Yes! :-)

Where do you get your missiles....? asking for a friend in North Korea area.

Amazon.com

Hey all. My son Sam is ohnonotsam. He may answer some questions. Be nice please. :-)

I remember hearing about the Titan II silos being sealed and the land sold off, but I thought that due to treaty restrictions (which didn't apply to the older Titan I silos that are still around and open) the deal was that the land owners could never dig them up. Am I remembering that wrong, or has something changed?

Not that any silo that has standing water in it is of any use for its intended purpose. I heard from a START inspector once that as long as they saw ground water in a silo, that was all they cared about. It meant the silo hadn't been maintained and wouldn't be feasible to put back in service.

I've also seen a number of Titan IIs launched. I have to wonder if that includes the one that came out of your silo.

They launched the Titan IIs later as Gemini to launch satellites. But no Titan II was ever launched in anger. Of course... b/c that would have been WWIII.

I've heard rumor that you couldn't dig them up but I've never seen any documentation of such. And the USAF is aware of my project.

Do you live in the missile silo?

Not yet but probably will when I get it done. Or AirBNB it and try to get a few $ back.

What's your opinion on nuclear weapons? Necessary deterrent or morally wrong?

If they could be eliminated from ALL arsenals then I would rather not have them. But MAD (mutually assured destruction) is the reason the United States isn't speaking Russian right now.

When are you buying the missile? :⁾

You may find this hard to believe but every time I try scary people show up to my door. So I stopped asking. Some people. :-)

please at least get a couple of those Estes model rockets from hobby lobby and launch them out of your missile silo.

Its funny you say that. We've been thinking about shooting fireworks off from there. :-)

What's the coolest thing in the silo?

Me of course. Oh... real answer... its hard to chose. Its just overwhelming. Maybe the 6000lb doors?

Is there any particular kind of failure that would leave you locked in???????????????

Not at the moment. But I'll always have safeguards to prevent that.

Does the government clear out all debris? Or did you find anything cool down there?

They took out the classified stuff. Then let a contractor take whatever they wanted. Some sites that have been opened (like in Arizona) have random differences in how they were decommissioned. The entire place is pretty cool. Nothing that really stands out.

Oh... the entire top was filled with methane gas. That was pretty awesome to find.

That is...odd. Do you know if it was put there on purpose or what?

Not on purpose. It was just a biological reaction to the sewer tank that's in there.

What are your plans with the silo? What compelled you to buy it?

Plan is to turn it into a nice underground home. If you check out the channel you can see the (slow but noticeable) progress!

Do you consider yourself a prepper (the dooms day type) or was this more of just wanting to live underground because it's something different?

I tell people that I'm 20% prepper. So a bit, but I'm not cool enough to be on Doomsday Preppers or anything. :-)

How cold was the water?

58 degrees

Do you have a picture album of the silo you can post?

I don't... good idea though

How do you like your eggs done?

Scrambled

FRIED OR FERTILIZED

Fried. I'm too old to want any more fertilized eggs. :-)

What's the endgame for the whole thing, and how much did a behemoth like that cost?

I want to turn it into a luxury home. And I paid $90k for it. Has cost a bit more since then. :-)

Do you miss sunlight?

I don't live in there yet but that's for sure one of the downsides. On the upside it won't wake me up before I'm ready!

How does one acquire a nuclear missile silo?

Easier than you'd think. Most are in private hands so you just buy them.

What is the airspeed velocity of a laden swallow?

I don't allow such things in my silo. Next question? :-)

I always wanted to turn the main missile tubey bit into a giant aquarium.

Do you have a garden!?

No, but I plan on making the tunnel into an underground green house.

How are you going to pay for the renovations?

We've been working on it for a bit over 6 years. Pay for it little by little.

What's the difference between Jam and Jelly?

I'd have to google it.

What do your friends think?

They are locked up down there against their will. So they don't like it much. :-)

Most think its interesting... some of course thinks its crazy which I get. A lot of times that's how they introduce me. This is GT and he has a missile silo. :-)

I just wanted to say I respect your humility, and your hesitancy to even speak poorly about the contractor, and the workers. Im watching the access portal video and very cool. Very genuine, feels like we're in the room with you, keep up the great work.

I may have missed it, I've only watched the portal video so far, do you mind if I ask your career background to be able to afford this?

I work in technology so that helps with the $ but its still taken 6+ years due to financial reasons.

There may be a delay in my response for a while but please keep the questions coming!

I always thought it'd be a great getaway, but terrible house. How are you finding it, now that things are really coming along?

By the way, the videos of your progress clearing it out of mud and stuff were awesome. Lots of fun discovering new things with you guys as the series went along.

I don't live in it yet so probably can't comment. For sure some downsides.

Who owned the silo before you and have you found anything interesting inside when you first explored it?

The silo was in private hands before. The government gave first right of refusal to original owners or their decedents. If not, it went to auction. Most were purchased for $5000 ish.

What do you do for water and sewage down there?

The original sewer system was still in tact. The pump motors weren't usable so I replaced them. But they work perfectly. Love 60's engineering.

For water we have a water line coming in that is connected to city water.

I have nothing to really ask. Because... If you can, of course you would.

As a lowly Brit, I love your channel and I do hope you update right to the point where it's so finished it's like, no longer cool (though I doubt that could be a time!).

I guess if I had to ask a question: knowing what you know now, would you have done anything differently? Perhaps besides have a gas reader when going in for the first time after draining!

Gas reader for sure.

Yeah, I'd do a lot differently. I could do another one for half the cost.

If the world were to be taken over by gorillas or machines, which would you prefer and why?

Gorillas. I know how to defend myself against them.

Was it listed on GSA?

No, was in private hands.

Shouldn't missile silos be owned by the military or something?

All the decommissioned ones (well, most of them) are in private hands.