Ongs Hat Vortex

[suresue592003]

I wanted to learn more about this subject (story??) so online I went to "The Incunabula Papers" and brought up a windows media player window with I am assuming it was Joseph Matheny telling the tale. It was thirtyseven minutes long. The begining was very hard to follow, with the ending very bizarre. It gave some map direction to follow. Guy, did you ever check it out? They said there was some type of nucleur base somewhere near Ft. Dix. I wonder if the right one was ever found since I am sure there are a few abandon base areas out there. Maybe the place they talk about isn't even there anymore. And of course all of this is to be consider true if not the author was on some bad trip.
Anyway, I was quite disapointed in the story and hoped for something more. Where is H.G.Wells?

 

[Ben Ruset]

The closest thing to a "nuclear" base is the BOMARC site at McGuire, which is in Plumstead Township.

BOMARC was a nuclear tipped missile. In 1960 a fire broke out at the BOMARC site in Plumstead and destroyed a missle, releasing plutonium into the environment. The site was recently remediated.

It's an interesting story though, and I have been meaning to do some research to put it in article form for the site.

Edit: Deleted the link that said that Joe claimed it was a hoax. Apparently those messages may be hoaxes. *shrug*

 

[gagliarchives]

Well, I know Joe pretty well as he was a guest and we talk frequently. There are several truths, and several myths. He has never come out and said it never happened. Something did happen, and based on what was gathered, you have to make your own assumption. But nonethless, there were some weird happenings out there, but the nuclear mess had nothing to do with it that's for sure.

 

[suresue592003]

Well, I know Joe pretty well as he was a guest and we talk frequently. There are several truths, and several myths. He has never come out and said it never happened. Something did happen, and based on what was gathered, you have to make your own assumption. But nonethless, there were some weird happenings out there, but the nuclear mess had nothing to do with it that's for sure.

Curious to what you know to be the truth and what is actual fact concerning what really did occur out there??? I would like to know more but once again find Matheny's verbal/writings extremely hard to follow.

 

[autumn_mist]

The McGuire BOMARC site is infamous as the site of a radioactive material spill.

The incident happened on July 7, 1960, according to the book “U.S. Nuclear Weapons: A Secret History”, by Chuck Hansen.

A nuclear-armed BOMARC missile in ready storage condition (permitting launch in 2 minutes)

was destroyed by explosion & fire after a high pressure helium tank

exploded & ruptured the missile's fuel tanks.

The warhead was also destroyed by the fire although the high explosive did not detonate.

Plutonium fragments from the warhead were spread over an area surrounding the launcher.

The firefighting efforts around the missile building resulted in contamination being washed into the soil & a nearby stream.

All identifiable fragments of the warhead were recovered, but the surrounding soil in the site has remained in a low level radioactive state for over 40 years.

http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA256664 is a link to the "Environmental Impact Statement for BOMARC Missile Site, McGuire AFB, New Jersey. Volume 3. Methodology Development." if that is at all of interest to you.



SUPPOSEDLY there is a "ghost town" back there are well. It's not supposed to be haunted or anything like that, just the remnants of an old town that just disappeared. I wouldn't recommend trying to go back there though as the site is supposed to be gaurded.

 

[Stu]

BOMARC is surrounded by serrated barbed wire. Unless you want to totally ruin a good coat, don't try it.

I know a kid who was all bragging he stole a sign from there. Guess what? Metal holds radiation for a long, long time. He was a blundering idiot. I blame the plutonium.

 

[Ben Ruset]

SUPPOSEDLY there is a "ghost town" back there are well. It's not supposed to be haunted or anything like that, just the remnants of an old town that just disappeared. I wouldn't recommend trying to go back there though as the site is supposed to be gaurded.

Colliers Mills. Right up the road from it.

 

[ZZ3GMC]

I was there in the early 90's, I didnt see any guards at the time but I also did not go inside the fenced in area. Maybe the town you speak of is the base itself.

 

[autumn_mist]

Colliers Mills. Right up the road from it.

Is is accessible or is that what is surrounded by the fence? I was told you couldn't get to it, and that the DOD Police made passes by there often, but that could just be people trying to keep others away from the site (I was told by someone who was in the Army and did drills @ Utz which is right near there). It would be interesting to get photos of it though.

 

[Ben Ruset]

You can probably get up to the fence. It's probably patrolled by MP's.

You could just click on the link in my first post and that shows you a google map of the place. That will help you plan how you'd get there.

 

[gurbanik]

BOMARC site

I find it interesting that the military did next to nothing to clean the site until 45 years or so after the accident. They routinely held exercises at the BOMARC site, on foot, for years. The plutonium that is there is rather harmless at this point unless you happen to inhale dust containing the radioactive elements. Much more scary is the TCE plume expanding to the east on the other side of the base - that has the chance to spread into water supplies, into Manchester and perhaps Toms River.

Geoff

 

[amf]

I find it interesting that the military did next to nothing to clean the site until 45 years or so after the accident.

No surprise there... the military has been one of the worst polluters in the nation for years, with none of the enforcement standards that apply to private industry or public utilities. I lived in New Egypt around 1980 & it was the norm to see raw sewage from Ft Dix floating in Oakford Lake. To their credit, they have been slowly coming around.

 

[kingofthepines]

this may be a repost