Many years ago I grew up in the desert bordered on the north with the White Sands Missile Range. To the east was another U.S. Army testing range called McGregor Range. My father was stationed at McGregor Range as a U.S. Army Nike/Hercules missile operator. Becky and I recently made a trip to Alamogordo, NM to spend some time with my mother who lives there. While there we decided to do some history tourism. One of our day trips took us to the WSMR missile park museum. It is located on the base just inside the WSMR gate off of highway 70.
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| Organ Mountains above WSMR |
Here is where you can see a real UFO. They say is was used in experiments for Mars rover landings. But I know different. It has been on display in the missile park since I was a kid. That by the way does not date back to the Roswell incident. HA
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| Real life UFO |
The missile park covers all the history of missile testing during the history of the range. That history includes the testing of captured German V2 rockets and the first Atomic Bomb test at Trinity site.
The Nike/Hercules that my father was part of was Nuclear capable. At one point every large city in the United States was protected by Nike/Herc missile batteries. We were able to watch a couple of Nike test when I was a kid. Pretty exciting stuff. From where we lived we could actually see missile test launches. At night it was really spectacular with some of the test shots you could see in the distance.
Here is a picture of what the missile park looks like with the Nike/Herc in the middle.
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| U.S. Army Nike/Hercules missile at the WSMR missile park |
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| Wider view of the missile park |
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The museum is also well worth the stop as it has a wealth of information on American rocket and missile history. As you begin the walking tour of the missile park there is a memorial area. Here they have placed bricks in memory of those who put their lives into the work that took place at both ranges. That is where you can find a brick dedicated to Sargent First Class Jerry Harris. The memorial brick also denotes that he was part of the HERC (Nike/Hercules) program.
If you are ever driving between Alamogordo,NM and Las Cruces, NM on highway 70, take a little side trip onto the base for a very interesting walk through history. Take time to remember all those patriots who worked hard at keeping us all safe in the free world.
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| Nike missile at the rest area going through San Augustin Pass. |
