You Can Take A Virtual Tour Of The Eerie Pyramid On The Prairie In North Dakota
By Leah|Published March 08, 2019
×
Leah
Author
Leah moved to North Dakota when she was 12 years old and has traveled from the Red River Valley to the badlands and many places in between. She loves small-town life and currently enjoys living on a small farm in the ND prairie. She's always had a passion for writing and has participated in novel writing challenges such as NaNoWriMo multiple times. Her favorite part about this job is recognizing small businesses that deserve a boost and seeing the positive affect her articles can have on their traffic, especially in rural areas that might have otherwise gone overlooked.
One of North Dakota’s most unusual, lesser-known landmarks is located out in the middle of nowhere near Nekoma, North Dakota. Nekoma only has a population of 24 people and there’s not much to do or see there, but when you spot this thing you will not be able to look away. It’s the Pyramid on the Prairie, which is actually a defunct military complex that has become a spot of curiosity and conspiracy. Up until recently, it was shut off to the public and on private property, but now you can see it inside and out right from home on a new virtual tour. Check it out:
The Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex is something that catches the eye of anyone who happens to stumble across it out in the middle of the prairie.
This now-defunct military complex was originally built in 1975. It was decommissioned after only a day of full operation as it was deemed ineffective. It has been sitting vacant for decades ever since then. The purpose of this site was a launch control complex for anti-ballistic missiles. Should the country come under attack from missiles in enemy countries, it was here they would deploy missiles to destroy incoming ones. Of course, it never did any of these things and has only been rotting away for years.
The complex and the land it sits on were purchased at auction in 2012 for $530,000.
Even after it was purchased, nothing really seemed to be done with it up until a couple of years ago. Public tours were offered very briefly but have since been discontinued due to safety concerns.
Advertisement
Most people have only seen photos of the outside of the complex, and even though you can't go tour the inside yourself, you can now take virtual tours and see the interior from your device.
A company called Be More Colorful has been creating fascinating virtual tours of the complex so you can see it inside and out. The tours have 360-degree views, historic photo inserts, and even audio so you can learn about the complex.
Though it has been vacant for decades, thanks to protection from the elements inside the massive concrete structures there is little lost in the inside. Most of it looks old and abandoned but it is not nearly as weathered as it would be if it were exposed to nature.
You can see tons of different angles of the insides and outsides of most of the buildings in the complex.
From inside the pyramid itself to inside all the other structures that were to serve various purposes, you really get the full experience of the Stanley R. Mickelsen Complex.
The incredible visuals are as close as can get to experiencing this truly incredible place - a place that's so big on the inside, fog is formed in the right conditions. Crazy!
To explore the virtual tours of the Stanley R. Mickelsen Complex, click on this link. The app has many features that you can click on throughout the tour. The drop-down menu on the top left will give you options on which views and buildings to look in, and there are buttons for audio information and historic photos of the complex. It’s like a virtual museum!
