Dulce Base -- The Manzano Weapons Storage Complex: What Was Really There
Dulce Base -- The Manzano Weapons Storage Complex: What Was Really There
What Bennewitz Was Actually Watching
Paul Bennewitz's home on the eastern edge of Albuquerque sat with a clear line of sight toward the Manzano Mountains, which lie on the southeastern edge of Kirtland Air Force Base. Inside those mountains was one of the most sensitive nuclear weapons storage complexes in the United States. Understanding what was actually in those mountains is essential to understanding why the AFOSI treated Bennewitz as a serious security threat rather than a harmless eccentric.
The Manzano Weapons Storage Complex
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Location | Manzano Mountains, Kirtland AFB, southeast Albuquerque, New Mexico |
| Type | Underground nuclear weapons storage complex; tunnels excavated directly into the granite of the Manzano Mountains |
| Construction period | 1947-1952 (original construction); expanded subsequently |
| Capacity | One of the largest nuclear weapons storage facilities in the United States at its peak; held hundreds to thousands of nuclear weapons components |
| Current status | Now officially redesignated the Kirtland Underground Munitions and Maintenance Storage Complex (KUMSC); reduced role from peak Cold War use; still active |
| Classification | Existence was secret during the Cold War; has since been acknowledged in declassified documents and historical accounts |
| Significance | Part of the "nuclear triangle" -- the cluster of nuclear weapons facilities in New Mexico (Los Alamos; Sandia; Kirtland/Manzano) that formed the heart of the U.S. nuclear weapons complex |
Adjacent Classified Research: Sandia National Laboratories
Immediately adjacent to Kirtland is Sandia National Laboratories -- one of the three national nuclear weapons laboratories (with Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore). Sandia's research programs in 1979-1980 included:
- Nuclear weapons design and testing
- High-energy laser weapons research -- Kirtland has been confirmed as a major laser research center since at least 1963; visible laser tests would produce exactly the anomalous lights Bennewitz filmed
- Electromagnetic pulse (EMP) research
- High-power microwave weapons research
- Stealth materials research
- Advanced electronics and sensor systems
The combination of nuclear weapons storage tunnels (producing unusual security activity) and cutting-edge laser and electromagnetic research (producing anomalous optical and radio-frequency signatures) created exactly the environment that would produce the observations Bennewitz made -- and exactly the classified programs that made his observations a serious security concern.
The Reasonable Interpretation Bennewitz Missed
In retrospect, the most straightforward interpretation of everything Bennewitz observed is:
- The lights: High-energy laser tests at the Air Force Weapons Laboratory at Kirtland; possibly also atmospheric optical experiments and classified aircraft with unusual lighting profiles
- The radio signals: Electronic warfare research; EMP experiments; classified communications systems testing; radar research -- Kirtland's research programs would produce a rich electromagnetic environment
- The anomalous aircraft: Early stealth aircraft test flights; remotely piloted vehicles; classified high-altitude surveillance aircraft
Bennewitz had the wrong explanation (alien spacecraft) for real observations of real classified programs. The AFOSI's decision to encourage the wrong explanation rather than correct it was what turned an eccentric but harmless civilian observer into the origin point of the Dulce Base mythology.
