I drove by it yesterday and wondered about the weird bowling pin shape.

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[–] 109 points 5 months ago (6 children)

This is an aviation navigation beacon called a VOR, VHF Omnidirectional Radio beacon. The successor to NDB (Non-directional Radio Beacon), and the predecessor to GPS.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VHF_omnidirectional_range

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  • [–] [S] 16 points 5 months ago (3 children)
  • [–] 22 points 5 months ago (2 children)
  • [–] 25 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    It's a VOR used in aviation for navigation.

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  • [–] 10 points 5 months ago (3 children)

    Where in the screenshot does it say “Critical Area”, I can’t find it.

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  • [–] [S] 3 points 5 months ago

    On the blurry little sign in front of it. I didn't take a photo, just noted the address and looked it up on Google Maps, so it's illegible here, but you can read it if you pull up the address and zoom.

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  • [–] 5 points 5 months ago*

    The little red sign on the fence says "Critical Area - Keep Out". It's not very clear in the screenshot, but you can see it on streetview; the coordinates are 35.033706, -81.925449 ; it's labelled "US Government - FAA building".

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  • [–] 6 points 5 months ago

    “Probably used for ritual purposes.”

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  • [–] -1 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (3 children)

    That cone is the tip of a missile. After they built the silo they extended the range of the ballistic missile so its about 50 ft taller than the original design.

    Tap for spoiler\s

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