- Deserted military site lies below the Texas desert and is known only to a network of thrill-seeking divers
- Originally built in 1963, the 127 foot deep silo was built to house nuclear-tipped Atlas missiles
- It was abandoned in the late 1960s after which water began seeping in through the launch doors
Once home to a nuclear missile pointed toward the USSR during the Cold War, this decommissioned US nuclear missile silo was abandoned and left to fill up with water for nearly 50 years.
The deserted military site lies below the desert, known only to a network of thrill-seeking divers who seek to penetrate the depths of the 127 foot deep flooded silo.
The silo, in Texas, is known to divers as Valhalla, a hall in Norse mythology where dead warriors can find peace in the afterlife.
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The missile silo was originally built by the US government in 1963. The government built a series of intercontinental ballistic missile silos throughout Texas to act as a part of the mutually assured destruction deterrent during the Cold War.
Two years after it was built the Atlas missile became obsolete and the site was decommissioned. The missiles were modified to launch satellites and astronauts into space.
The contents of the silo were sold for salvage, the launch doors sealed and the site was left to fill with groundwater.
A couple, Mark and Linda Hannifin, bought the silo in 2000 and now offer diver training through their company Dive Valhalla.
The water has been tested to ensure it is not radioactive.
Read more at Having a blast: Inside the flooded nuclear missile silo, now an underwater playground for daredevil divers
