On the way to Scribner, Nebraska (pop. 857) there is a sign near a gravel road that winds south up into the bluffs. The sign reads, “Scribner Air Base”. Over the last fifty years, on my way to Niobrara, Nebraska, I’ve driven past that sign but never thought much about it. Last week, with a little time on my hands, I decided to see if there was anything up there.
I found some long runways that still looked serviceable, what looked like a care taker’s house, and a few prefab buildings that appeared to be crop dusting operations. Near the road to the runways, I found the scene above … some sort of communications? I tried to imagine what they could be … which led to thoughts of high tech communication, which led to thoughts of something hidden in plain site, which led to thoughts of surveillance capabilities, which led to thoughts of being watched.
If you know what these ovals are, pleeease let me know. Was I in the Twilight Zone?
Thought for the Day: Imagination … its limits are only those of the mind itself. Rod Serling
Larry's Blog 
Larry,
The Scribner AF site is the High Frequency (HF) receiver site, or some referred to it as the ground entry point, for what was the Strategic Air Command, now the Global Strike Command. The structure in the background is a modified vertical polarized log-periodic (LP) antenna (if I remember correctly). Scribner also has rhombic HF antennas and other styles of electronic steerable directional antennas and omnidirectional antennas. The antenna in the foreground is unknown to me. But it looks like it is associated with a Low Frequency (LF) receiving system. I am familiar with a similar antenna used by SAC that was associated with a LF system. Scribner is the other half of Elkhorn. Elkhorn has the HF transmitters, Scribner has the HF receivers. Scribner was selected for the receiver site because it is further away from electronic “noise”.
The Scribner site is also know for having the original bunker for Gen Curtis LeMay. This was when SAC first existed and before the underground at Offutt was built. Buildings there were disguised as farm buildings, silos, etc. The runway was painted to look like farm field. Scribner was thought to be far enough away from Offutt to survive a nuclear attack on Offutt.
I used to be involved with the SAC HF mission when I was working at SAC headquarters. That was a long time ago, thus I don’t know about the antenna in the foreground.
Tom
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