Cold War Relics

Bell Laboratories began the Nike missile project in 1945.  The project was intended to provide a viable line of site anti-aircraft gun replacement that was capable of keeping up with jet aircraft.  Traditional anti-aircraft guns could not match the speed and altitude at which jet aircraft were flying.  The first missile system, Nike Ajax, was delivered in 1953. 

Nike missile batteries were deployed around large cities and Strategic Air Command bases that were home to long-range bombers (such as Loring AFB).  The Nike sites would be placed in a defensive perimeter around whichever city or base they were to protect. 

The Connor site, L85, is located to the northwest of Loring AFB, approximately 10 miles away.

To reach the Connor, ME Nike site from Bangor, take I95 north to Houlton and then take Route 1 north through Presque Isle and Caribou.  Connor is approximately 15 minutes north of Caribou on Route 1.  The Connor Nike site is right on Route 1 with former housing on the left and the former missile site on the right.

If you make it to the Louis Blotner Bomb Scoring Site, you'll see that the Connor Nike Ajax site, Louis Blotner, the Caribou JSS radome and Loring AFB are within line of site.  This is due, in large part, to the tracking abilities of the Nike missile system.  The information sent from the missile tracking radar to the Nike missile site only traveled in straight lines.     

About the Images

These pictures were taken in the fall of 2008.

Special thanks to Ed Thelen and his website for helping me to get a better grasp of the Nike missile system.