Eldorado

PAVE PAWS radar near Eldorado, Texas [30 58 42N, 100 33 10W]

PAVE PAWS is a military radar network designed to detect ballistic missiles heading toward the US. Since this would include submarine-launched missiles, the network has to look in directions you might not immediately think of when pondering the likely launch areas for ICBMs. The Gulf of California and the Gulf of Mexico, for example. To satisfy that requirement, a PAVE PAWS radar site was built in southwest Texas near the town of Eldorado. The triangular shape of the radar allows for two arrays facing southwest and southeast.

As can be seen from the image, weeds growing in the parking lot and no vehicles in sight is a sure sign that this facility is no longer operational (reportedly shut down in the mid-90's).


But perhaps they should have restarted it a few years ago so they could spy on their neighbors to the south. Mexico? No...I'm referring to the Yearning For Zion (YFZ) Ranch less than four miles south-southeast of the radar. This is the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints compound that became famous in recent years because of the raid by law enforcement officers resulting in various prosecutions and court proceedings in nearby San Angelo for polygamy and related offenses. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FLDS for details...

In the image at left, the PAVE PAWS radar site is visible at upper left and the YFZ Ranch compound is the maze of roads and buildings at the bottom. On a recent drive down US 277, it was easy to spot the radar, but I did not notice the YFZ compound. It may not be visible from the highway...at the time, I didn't actually know where to look.