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July 9, 2009 8:00 AM PDT

Road Trip pic of the day, 7/9: What is it?

by Daniel Terdiman
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This military equipment is based in Utah. The first person to tell me what and where it is wins a prize.

(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET)

Update at 9:22 a.m. PDT: We have a winner. It's a BOMARC B--Boeing/Marc CIM-10B surface-to-air missile housed at the Hill Air Force Museum, near Ogden, Utah.

BOISE, Idaho--Out here on the highways of Colorado, Utah, and Idaho, I've seen a lot. I'm on Road Trip 2009 and making daily stops at military installations, national parks, small towns, big cities, energy research institutions, and more.

That means I take a lot of pictures, and every day from here until the end of Road Trip 2009, I'll be presenting you with one picture--and a challenge.

On Wednesday, I challenged you to identify the large yellow sphere, in the picture below, that's located in Arco, Idaho. In part it was because I wanted to know what my readers would think it was and, I'll be honest, it was also because I didn't know myself, and I wanted to. I got lots of responses. But, my dear readers, none of them seemed like the correct answer. So the prize for being the first to send me the right answer is still available.

What is this yellow sphere in Arco, Idaho? Tell me and you could win a prize.

(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET)

Now, however, I'm offering up a picture that I do know the truth about. So in this case, I want to hear from you about what it is and where.

I'll give you a hint: it's a Cold War-era relic, clearly military, and currently located in Utah.

If you're the first person to send me the right answer, Thursday's prize is yours.

Please send your thoughts to daniel--dot--terdiman--at--cnet--dot--com, and include "Pic of the day" in the subject line. If you're the one, I'll get back to you.

Good luck.

For the next several weeks, Geek Gestalt will be on Road Trip 2009. After driving more than 12,000 miles in the Pacific Northwest, the Southwest and the Southeast over the last three years, I'll be writing about and photographing the best in technology, science, military, nature, aviation and more in Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota and Colorado. If you have a suggestion for someplace to visit, drop me a line. And in the meantime, join the Road Trip 2009 Facebook page and follow my Twitter feed.

Daniel Terdiman is a staff writer at CNET News covering games, Net culture, and everything in between. E-mail Daniel.
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Add a Comment (Log in or register) (12 Comments)
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by JustinJudd July 9, 2009 8:40 AM PDT
These are surface to air missiles. I believe they are even nuclear warheads
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by higleydc July 9, 2009 8:43 AM PDT
These are ICBMs and they are at Thiocal, Utah. This is a rocket testing and building site.
Reply to this comment
by July 9, 2009 8:49 AM PDT
this is the first drone aircraft. it's located at Hill AFB is Utah.
Reply to this comment
by tektaktyks July 9, 2009 8:56 AM PDT
yea u right,u can actually c it on google maps
by rmckeeth July 9, 2009 8:55 AM PDT
I believe that's a BOMARC missile:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIM-10_Bomarc
Reply to this comment
by gerrrg July 9, 2009 9:01 AM PDT
dammit, i missed it by 5 minutes. :P
by d3unan July 9, 2009 9:00 AM PDT
yellow sphere - total containment vessel
Reply to this comment
by utahcarter July 9, 2009 9:19 AM PDT
tomahawk missles on display outside hill airforce base air museum
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by RACEHEAD July 9, 2009 9:20 AM PDT
Looks like a target drone to me.
Reply to this comment
by grumpyMicrobe July 9, 2009 9:30 AM PDT
The 1st photo is an air force Bomarc pilotless interceptor.
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by billmosby July 9, 2009 10:41 AM PDT
They're Bomarc surface to air missiles. Ramjet powered. Retired, when, sometime in the 60s, if they were ever operational for all that long. I seem to remember there was some embarrassment when one of them got away during testing and headed into Canada. Nobody had anything that could catch up to it and shoot it down!

Hill AFB museum- a really outstanding collection.
Reply to this comment
by July 9, 2009 9:42 PM PDT
Yes, I know I won't win the prize because I'm not the first to correctly identify what that is. I would like to elaborate on it a bit. It is indeed a BOMARC Surface-to-Air Missile. As a Canadian, I am aware of this ramjet-powered missile for a very important reason: The BOMARC Missile was marketed to Canada for the reason that, apparently, manned interceptors were 'yesterday's news'. It's not the only reason, but thanks in part to the BOMARC missile, the Avro Arrow supersonic interceptor program was cancelled, causing over 50,000 people to lose their jobs. Turns out the BOMARC did not have the best accuracy, so Canada had to order U.S. built aircraft (like the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter and F-101 Voodoo) to replace the cancelled Avro Arrow. Avro Canada Ltd. lived on after the Arrow cancellation as SPAR Aerospace, which became primarily responsible for developing the Canadarm for the space shuttle.
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About Geek Gestalt

Daniel Terdiman, uniquely positioned to take you into the middle of another side of technology, chronicles his explorations of the "fun beat," from cultural phenomena such as Burning Man to cutting-edge aircraft to game conventions.

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