Dugway Proving Grounds
Monday, 17th July 2006 by Alex Turnbull
Surrounded on three sides by mountain ranges, this is the eerie and desolate Dugway Proving Grounds, a large-scale biological and chemical agent testing grounds south of Salt Lake City, Utah. The US has tested all sorts of nasty things here over the last 65 years including flame throwers, chemical spray systems, biological warfare weapons and toxic agents.
Encompassing around 32 3200 km², there's a large area of high-resolution imagery to the east which contains various empty structures including this spooky-looking thing.
Here's some links for you: The Dugway Official Site, some ground level photos of the area and of course the obligatory Wikipedia page!
Thanks to Phillip Lockwood-Holmes and Matthew.
About the author
Alex has decided that his title will be Senior Vice President of Stuff.
this place looks extremely dead, except for these… hmmm.. anybody have a clue what these blobs are supposed to be?
https://www.googlesightseeing.com/maps?p=&c=&t=k&hl=en&ll=40.191365,-113.118314&z=17
My guess would be that since its the salt flats… You blow a big enough hole and it will have water seep in making a blue pool…
i would guess those blobs are craters from weapons testing
They’re the only 2nd degree burns on the face of the earth.
I think you meant to have a full stop after “toxic agents,” but then again, you might have been being creative and experimenting with your paragraph structure. 🙂
A little off topic, but about 30 miles NE is the largest open-pit mine in the world, The Kennecott Copper Mine.
View Placemark
One day I’ll write a post which SpedAngel doesn’t have to correct sigh 😀
And Babaganoosh, I’ve been wanting to post Kennecott for months, but it seems such a shame when you can only see half of it!
Is this an explosion caught by the satellite?
if it is an explosion a) its very cool and b) its very close to the road.
If what diego suggested are craters then this must be some very accurate bombing.
Google Maps Link
It is aligned along the cardinal axis, and very precisely spaced.
Dont know…. but they do have VERY accurate bombs nowadays just ask Al-Zarqawi
By the way, that “Spooky-looking thing” Looks like to me to be a warhead testing arena. They hang test pannels around on the scaffeling shown and then detinate a warhead in the center. That way they can see where the fragments go.
see photos on http://www.nawcwpns.navy.mil/r2/fs/SkyProp.htm#
the one shown here is shorter then some such as in the post
Cool
Yes, Ben is right. It is a warhead testing area. They test munitions for buried targets and tunnels. Dugway mainly deals with chemical and biological weapons testing. CB defense equipment testing too.
I lived in Dugway for 2 years. I really liked it there. There is a small group of army and civ families that live there in small community. The pictures you are looking at are grids used to test different weapons.
I am producing a show for History Channel on Dugway. Would you be available to talk asap? Please advise.
Thank you,
Ann Putney
Are these things (spooky one) used in filming Armageddon, where the dude sais goodbye to the hot chick and where he stuffs cookies in her bellybutton?
According to Wikipedia, this actually encompasses land area of 3200 km2, not 32.
How right you are Ian, post updated, thanks.
I grew up in Dugway, the school was so small my graduating class had 17 kids in it. It seems alot of people (including a close family member) have been diagnosed and are dying from different types of cancer. The testing they do (did) was more than what they will admit to. Sad.
I am producing a documentary episode for History Channel on Dugway. Would you be available to talk asap? Please advise.
Thank you,
Ann Putney
whats up with the airfield on the southeast side of that hill
Bellhalla: Yes, that may be the explosion of an Air Force bomb. After all, Dugway Proving Ground abuts the Air Force’s Utah Test & Training Range (UTTR) to the north. nothing unusual about seeing explosions there; the UTTR is a bombing range!
Ben: That explosion may indeed be close to a road. But it’s important to understand that Dugway Proving Ground is criss-crossed with many roads — and roads are closed within miles of the impact area when the bombs fall. It’s a dirt road that may not have been used in a long time.
Gracielou: The grids are used to test DEFENSES against bio/chem weapons. Defenses such as detectors, analyzers and such. And no actual bio/chem weapons are used in outdoor testing. Instead, simulants are used. Simulants are substances with the same characteristics as an agent, but are benign. For example, a common simulant for VX (nerve gas) and HD (mustard gas) is methyl salicylate, or MES, also known as Oil of Wintergreen. It’s the mint flavoring used in foods, and in medicines such as Ben-Gay.
dugway is 980,000 acres and the pictures on this page are grids for many differet test.
I was stationed here for almost 3 years (1959 To 62). It wasn’t that bad of a place to be. We (the troops) did partcipate in chemical and biological warfare experiments. The CN tear gas, which is used today for roit control, was part of the experimentation. Also a lot of biological work as well. Frankly, I am surprised that CB warfare has not been used more often todate (in spite of treaties). It has a lot of advantages over conventionl, and particuarly nuclear, warfare. For the most part, it is indescriminate. Perhaps that is the reason. Shortly after I left, 3,000 sheep were killed down wind of the base in Skul Valley. The Army never admitted guilt, however they did reimburse the ranchers for their loss. Nerve gas? Perhps. There was a movie made about it, staring Geo. C. Scott. Don’t remember the name of it.
I am working for History Channel on a Dugway show. Would you be available to talk asap? Please advise.
Thank you,
Ann Putney
The movie was named “Rage”. The spooky looking thing looks a lot like part of a Wullenwebber array.
Stationed there in late 68 and 69. Everything one could want located in central area. But the site was brutal. Supposdedly testing was finished. NOT THE CASE. As you all know,huge grounds. At my time they still penned in Goats,Sheep,Rabbits that they used as test proxies. Had the farm. They would pen them in or put in tanks and then nosedive with jets spraying nerve agents. Their is acreage there that will be contaminated for next 1000 years. And don’t think they still don’t do shit. They do under pretense,experimenting to find anti-toxin.
Producing a show for The History Channel. Please contact me asap.
On Michaels Airfoce Base at Dugway Proving Grounds there is this runway and several buildings that have been blacked out. This object here – that seems to be the entrance for the aircraft – was even airbrushed:
https://www.googlesightseeing.com/maps?p=&c=&t=k&hl=en&ll=40.200592,-112.946856&z=16
Must be some really secret stuff going on there.
back in 2001 a cloud of anthrax simulent drifted into the nearby community of terra
several dogs, cats, pet rodents,, pet birds, and livestock came down with growths and died not long after exposure
also
black mold growth increased in the area and lung problems among other health problems increased
The “rings” you see are testing grids. Many were created in the 1950s and 60s, when live agent testing was conducted. The rings are used as reference marks. Agent was released at the center, and detectors measured its presence and amount at each ring, a known distance from center. Live agent testing was banned in 1969, by international treaty. Since then, simulated agent has been used. A common simulant for VX nerve agent and mustard gas is Methyl salicylate (MeS) or Oil of Wintergreen — the same mint flavoring/menthol found in candy, mouthwash, Ben Gay, etc. Treaty inspectors from signatory countries all over the world visit Dugway on occasion to ensure compliance with the international treaty. To my knowledge there have been no major violations since the U.S. agreed to the ban.
Dugway does NOT test biological or chemical weapons. It does retain small amounts of biological or chemical agents, for which to test defenses against such agents: gas masks, protective suits, detectors, field analyzers, etc. All live agent testing is conducted indoors in chambers with multiple walls and redundant safety systems. Testing is done with simulants first; if the item fails a simulant test it is not tested with actual agent. Animals or humans are not used in testing. Today’s technology, especially in detection and analysis, makes such testing obsolete.
The Kennecott Mine is about 60 air miles northeast of Dugway’s border line, and one must go over two mountain ranges to get there. It has nothing to do with Dugway.
Hard to tell what that is, but it’s no explosion. My guess is that it may be a “Dust Devil,” a sort of miniature tornado. They are common in the desert, to include Dugway.
To my knowledge, Dugway has never tested “warheads for buried targets” and the like. That sort of testing is done at other Department of Defense installations.
The “cloud of simulant” drifting over Terra is news to me. When you consider that Terra is nearly 10 miles east of the main gate of Dugway, and simulant testing is conducted at least 30 miles west of the main gate, that’s some cloud! I don’t know where you got your information but I’d dispute it. And like I pointed out earlier, simulants are benign. They were selected not only for having characteristics similar to the real agent, but also for their safety. If you’ve ever used Raid insecticide indoors, you’ve likely been exposed to more VX “nerve agent” than has been released in the air over Dugway since 1969.
The State of Utah, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, OSHA and other agencies monitor and approve of every test at Dugway.
As for the sheep being killed, there are other scenarios that may be responsible but are rarely mentioned because it’s easier to blame Dugway: feed contaminated by insecticide, insectide or herbicide spraying by the Bureau of Land Management, ingestion by the sheep of a particularly deadly weed common to the desert (its name escapes me at the moment), etc.
The VX that was released in 1968 would have had to travel 30 miles or more, then do a sudden right turn and go over the Cedar Mountains to reach the sheep. And interestingly, only sheep were killed. Rabbits, coyotes and other common wildlife were not affected. This is according to people who were there, that I have spoken with.
You can add Albatross and Rhesus monkeys to your list. 1962-1965 biological, Able area. Dr. Holly Hayes, Dr. Victor Cabelli, Mr. Knopff. Plenty of fun in those days!!!!
terra anthrax cloud info was from intercepted radio communications when i was living in terra