Mt Whitney Zone Forums The Chat Room What In The World Happened Here?

Yea, I saw the cryptic answers explanation--I just have never been able to decrypt them. Now for answers to my puzzle there are two numbers which mean....what?

Now, Salty, don't turn into a blowhard!

How about this?

Same Place, different vantage point:

Just do it!

Good responses, especially the numbers. I've been up there, but only know 231 from reading, going back to childhood days.

Another guideline should be:
After at least one player (or maybe two) has properly identified the location and the "what happened" part to the author's satisfaction, it would be very kind of y'all to post a fuller explanation and description so that those of us with more obtuse abilities might be enlightened.

During a wild April storm in 1934, a wind gust of 231 miles per hour (372 kilometers per hour) pushed across the summit of Mount Washington.

I think it's clear that nobody has the answer as yet, according to the new pic.

So, I'm guessing a dewy evening with an incredibly scary moonrise.

Actually, I am more geographically advantaged about this one than the MWO: my high school is a couple of blocks from an associated site. Rally round the flag to get this one, boys!!

Hint: that's rust on the radomes.

Oh, and the technical answer to the question is that fortunately, nothing much ever happened here.

Close, but nights here are well below the dew points, and the design is older, although this particular installation is a bit newer. The later upgrade here was akin to cleaning the Augean stables.

Okay I finally figured out the numbered answers---which as already noted incorrectly pointed to Mt. Washington. Not sure if anyone picked up on my hint in the post with the second picture.

Agreed.

OK Wagga's got it. That makes two of us. Want the story?

Salty, just do it.

Here are the secret magic incantations to make titles...

Below is forum code for titles for Puzzle/Answer/Update.
Substitute [ and ] for { and } and you will get the correct colour and the pretty serifs. You can copy/paste.
Then, of course, put in the desired numbers.

{font:Times New Roman}{b}{color:#FF0000}Puzzle: What In The World Happened Here? XXXX (40):{/color}{/b}{/font}

{font:Times New Roman}{b}{color:#0000ff}Answer: What In The World Happened Here? XXXX (40):{/color}{/b}{/font}

{font:Times New Roman}{b}{color:#CC33CC}Update: What In The World Happened Here? XXXX (40):{/color}{/b}{/font}

OK:Chicagowright's unnumbered WITWHH is the last remaining Nike/Hercules missile site, Site Summit at Elmendorf Joint Site (FKA Elmendorf AFB) overlooking Anchorage, Alaska.

Interpretation of the clues:

6288 and 231 referred to Mt Washington, our first (wrong) stab at it, because the Nike site bears a striking resemblance to the Mt Washington Observatory, el 6288 and location of the highest recorded surface wind speed on the planet 231 MPH

I actually didn't notice CWright's "Just do it!" clue until wagga repeated it, but that would be the famous Nike shoe slogan.


My first answer about rallying round the flag refers to Max Shulman's satirical novel (and later movie) "Rally Round The Flag, Boys!" based on the controversy around the siting of a Nike base in Westport, Connecticut, where I grew up, in the 50's.

Wagga's clue about the dewy night and moonrise refers to the Distance Early Warning radar array line, installed a couple thousand miles north of the Summmit site in 1957, designed to detect Soviet bombers coming over the pole, a scary moonrise indeed. No doubt the Nike sites were in communication with the DEW line, but were not part of it.

My mention of the rust on the clamshell radar cowlings was a hint that this site is way out of date and not operating.

The fact that nothing actually happened here is an observation that if this site had actually ever been used for its intended purpose - to fire on Soviet strategic bombers - we would probably not be having this conversation.

The Augean stables is a reference to one of the twelve tasks of Hercules. In 1962 or so, all these sites (there were hundreds of them, 25 or ore in the Bay Area alone) were upgraded to the Hercules missile.

SO: I just did it.

Salty, that is THE BEST roundup summary ever.

&nbsp Thank you!