Nike Missile Site - Highlands NJ - Signs of History on Waymarking.com

TEXT ON THE HISTORICAL MARKER

Nike Missile Site
Missiles emerged from silos beneath the pavement, and waited on launching racks while radar tracked the skies. During the 1950’s – the Cold War Era – Nike missiles were stationed here to defend the New York-Philadelphia corridor against long-range bombers.

The peninsula of Sandy Hook provided an isolated location for newly-developed forms of radar. Like other batteries in the area these weapons were mounted as deterrent rather than aggressor. The missile base was closed in 1974, and the missile defenses for this area are now hidden in the Midwest.

Guiding the Missiles
Radar provides the deadly accuracy of these surface-to-air missiles. Long-range search radar emits radio waves that bounce off an unidentified aircraft and return flight-path information to a control computer, which activates tracking radar to lock on the target. If the target is confirmed to be an enemy, the control computer launches the missile and guides it with a command radio.

Group that erected the marker: National Park Service URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: [Web Link] Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary: Hartshorne Drive Sandy Point National Recreation Area Highlands, NJ United States 07732

Visit Instructions:
Take a picture of the marker, preferably including yourself or your GPSr in the photo. A very detailed description of your visit may be substituted for a photo. In any case please provide a description of your visit. A description of only "Visited" or "Saw it while on vacation" by anyone other than the person creating the waymark may be deleted by the waymark owner or the category officers.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log   01/11/2023 Don.Morfe visited it