OK so what is going on in Alaska? Another strange Google Earth Object

Ok so I was looking through "Odd-looking Military Aircraft in the Alaskan Wilderness" LINK When I realised that it was not the only strange object in the area. The co-ordinates to go to are: 64° 2'16.93"N
146°22'28.72"W and look to the south a few miles, see my first picture below.

So any guesses what it is that is nearly a mile long?

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/5473b47b32f8.png[/atsimg]

closer:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/6e56891daccb.png[/atsimg]

closer still:

Notice how it looks like someone has tried to camouflage the object or site with the hi-lighted area that runs through it. I do not believe with the local topography that this object/site is naturally occurring. So one has to ask, how does not get to something that is in the middle of no where without roads?

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/a24da9170a29.png[/atsimg]

Isn't it possible to zoom in even closer? Maybe we could get a clearer idea if that was done. As for what we have now, it looks no more sinister than a secret/unused aircraft runway. It also reminds me of bamboo.

reply to post by theregonnakillme
i can assure you helicopters are used quite frequently to commute rural alaska.

Looks to me like a pipeline. Maybe a regarded section. Not to sure though.

Maybe look for other objects like it?

I would agree with the pipeline...

Times 4 million on the pipeline. You can see the braces every couple of hundred metres.

Case closed!

So one has to ask, how does not get to something that is in the middle of no where without roads?

Alaska has lots of places not accessable by road. Its why 3 of the 5 busiest airports there are Nome, Kotzebue and Bethel.

Military airstrip. You can zoom in even farther than this on Bing maps:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/cd230d11f5a5.jpg[/atsimg]

They would have to be incredibly huge braces from a pipeline and it isn't lead to anything either way.

travel.webshots.com...

That is a pic of a pipeline from not far away and the braces clearly aren't that thick. Nowhere near big enough to show up on the google earth pics in my opinion.

Check out this thread from 2009
Odd-looking Military Aircraft in the Alaskan Wilderness

Originally posted by DeltaNine
Times 4 million on the pipeline. You can see the braces every couple of hundred metres.

Case closed!

A Pipe line that is .9 of a mile in the middle of no where that is not connected to anything on either end and has not acecss roads to it? guys please, if you think it is a pipe line then what is it moving? what is at either end as there are no buildings at either end, no oil wells nothing? Case NOT closed!

I went to flashearth.com to look at this and it shows the Alaskan highway running right through there. In fact, the line you are looking at appears to be the highway itself. It shows houses and farmland right along side the line, so this one area of Alaska is not so isolated.

It's part of Fort Greely, which is a test site and also part of the missile defense system.

If you look at the older imagery above, 1999, you'll see military planes.

My guess is that they retired the airstrip and built long metal buildings over it.

reply to post by DeltaNine

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/eba4d1078575.png[/atsimg]

The mashup above is from Google Maps. You can see the Fort Greer area highlighted in grey. You can also see an area just north where the rivers meet called Delta Junction (not the same place Google has labeled on the map). This junction spot is zoomed in on so you can see the pipeline up close.

As you can plainly see, the pipeline isn't quite as large as some may think. In fact, it's MUCH smaller than any runway. Having seen the pipeline up-close in person myself, I can tell you that it's not much to look at.

In any event, the pipeline is NOT in the same place as the supposed runway, nor does it run through the perimeter of Fort Greely.

Case closed, huh? Look before you leap.


Ground-level view of Delta Junction pipeline bridge:


Typical pipeline segment with people nearby for scale reference:

Oh blah blah blah. Looking before leaping is NOT the ATS way

So I might have been wrong about the pipeline. My thinking was it was an exposed section of an otherwise underground pipeline, the exposed bit being for maintenance and whatnot.

That picture of the aircraft on the supposed runway looks hinky. The runway appears to be rundown and the aircraft don't look real. I'd wager my standard wager, that it's a target airfield.

Originally posted by DeltaNine
Oh blah blah blah. Looking before leaping is NOT the ATS way

Hoping that's sarcasm! lol

So I might have been wrong about the pipeline. My thinking was it was an exposed section of an otherwise underground pipeline, the exposed bit being for maintenance and whatnot.

It's not that you had a bad idea or were wrong in your line of thinking... but be sure to call it what it is: a theory!

That picture of the aircraft on the supposed runway looks hinky. The runway appears to be rundown and the aircraft don't look real. I'd wager my standard wager, that it's a target airfield.

Absolutely not. I don't think anyone would ever want to use this place as target practice... considering what lies right underneath the ground around there:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/9e1203fbacc3.jpg[/atsimg]
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/5b9fb8251992.jpg[/atsimg]
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/bcb960f452a3.jpg[/atsimg]
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/47ec81132cf0.jpg[/atsimg]

Fort Greely is a United States Army launch site for anti-ballistic missiles located approximately 100 miles southeast of Fairbanks, Alaska. It is also the home of the Cold Regions Test Center (CRTC), as Fort Greely is one of the coldest areas in Alaska, and can accommodate cold, extreme cold, or temperate weather tests depending on the season. It is named in honor of Major General Adolphus Greely.

Source: Wikipedia

Eleven interceptor missiles are installed in underground silos here, buried beneath the snow and a former forest of black spruce.

Source: New York Times

The Fort's former area totaled approximately 600,000 acres. The current area is approximately 7,000 acres. The U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command (USASMDC) operates Fort Greely in support of the Ground Based Midcourse Defense Joint Program Office. The Missile Defense Agency funds the USASMDC to maintain the facilities and infrastructure for the development and fielding of a Ballistic Missile Defense System. The Department of the Army directed a portion of Fort Greely to be transitioned from the U.S. Army Alaska Command to the Missile Defense Command on 1 October 2002.

Source: dec.state.ak.us

The area was once used as an equipment testing facility, but primarily for testing in extreme cold environments. I'm not aware of any bombing ranges having ever been operated there. But there's absolutely no bombing ranges there now. You probably can't even light a cigarette at that place! lol

As far as the runway goes... there are plenty of images of it (some linked/posted in this thread) that show detailed images of the planes. And if it's showing up on today's satellite imagery sites, then you can be assured that the pics are no more than 10 years old. With there being a massive missile defense facility on the same property, why is it so hard to believe that there is an active/inactive runway out there with some planes sitting around?

Either way, I think the purpose of this thread has been served. I'll leave you guys to it.

There is no airfield with fighters near Delta Junction. Its very probably a target airfield, since Eielson AFB is not that far away, and they host Red Flag Alaska. Part of that exercise will be simulated strikes on enemy airfields, along with defending against strike aircraft too.

Its rather obvious that is not a functioning runway

Our mystery airstrip now has a name:

Sullivan Air Strip

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/d665b5ea694a.jpg[/atsimg]

Plenty of information here if you feel like reading.

www.thelivingmoon.com...

Mmm... looks like I get to eat half of a word-sandwich.

The big area to the west of Fort Greely that is still within the grey perimeter of the proerty (indicated in my images a few posts above) is the Donnelly Training Area West. It is subdivided into various areas that are named after certain states.



It seems that in the past, the area was used for "target practice". There are lots of targets setup in the "impact areas" (indicated by dark diagonal lines in last post). The military even did some ecological testing of the area to determine the amount of propellant residue left behind and the impact of their weapons on the environment.

Here's a big PDF with a report from the Army Corps. of Engineers - PDF

What I'm not sure of is whether or not they STILL use this area for impact training. Seems unlikely, since there is a missile defense station in to the East now... and I read somewhere that most of the old Donnelly lands were being given back to the state to some degree... But then I also read in the first link above and somewhere else that the Sullivan Air Strip is a functional gravel landing strip used for dirt landing training.

So go figure. It was a tasty sandwich though...

Now, someone said that there are no fighters stationed anywhere near the Delta Junction. Not sure about this one, one way or the other. There IS a military airfield at Fort Greely called Allen Army Airfield. Wikipedia says:

For the 12-month period ending January 3, 1984, the airport had 29,200 aircraft operations, an average of 80 per day: 91% military and 9% general aviation.

Source: Wikipedia

So they fly 80 planes per day out of Fort Greely. And the overwhelming majority of them are military aircraft. I can't find anything that confirms fighter operations out of Greely. But with 80 flights per day, I can't imagine that none of them were fighters. Then again, these statistics are from 1984... a full 20 years before the missile silos and base re-purposing took place. My logic is that they would surely have some fighters on standby to protect this vital missile defense site and airspace... but I can't find anything to confirm that yet.

Now, someone said that there are no fighters stationed anywhere near the Delta Junction. Not sure about this one, one way or the other. There IS a military airfield at Fort Greely called Allen Army Airfield.

That was probably me, there is no need for figthers to go land at Ft Greeley, when Eielson AFB is nearby. I used to fly fire aircraft out of Ft Wainwright, about 20 nm from Eielson, and we never had fighters come in. We would sometimes have C-17s do touch and gos, but never had fighters touch down.

Besides, USAF tends to have better facilities, so I am guessing they would rather not go into an Army base anyways.