---
title: "Realtors Are Trying to Sell a Decommissioned Nuclear Missile Silo"
description: "A decommissioned nuclear missile silo in Arizona just went on sale for $395,000, in case you’re in the market for a doomsday bunker."
date: "2019-11-12"
modified: "2019-11-12"
authors:
  - name: "Kristin Houser"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/kristin"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/someone-selling-decommissioned-nuclear-missile-silo"
categories:
  - "Future Society"
tags:
  - "arizona"
  - "doomsday bunker"
  - "missile silo"
  - "the digest"
---

# Realtors Are Trying to Sell a Decommissioned Nuclear Missile Silo

![A decommissioned nuclear missile silo in Arizona just went on sale for $395,000, in case you’re in the market for a doomsday bunker.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/sell-decommissioned-nuclear-missile-silo.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Grant Westcott Hampton/Realty Executives Tucson Elite\</em\>*

## Planning Ahead

Not trying to be a downer, but humanity's future on Earth [isn't looking so bright](<https://futurism.com/scientists-human-extinction-likely>).

Between the threats of [climate change](<https://futurism.com/tips-climate-change-ipcc>), [nuclear warfare](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/video-horrifying-devastation-us-russia-nuclear-war>), [antibiotic resistance](<https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/oct/08/world-faces-antibiotic-apocalypse-says-chief-medical-officer>), [biological weapons](<https://futurism.com/biological-weapons-department-of-defense>), [incoming asteroids,](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-asteroid-hit-earth>) and [killer robots](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/relatively-easy-killer-robots-2021>), civilization could [seemingly collapse](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/doomsday-clock-two-minutes-midnight>) at any moment — and if or when it does, you're really going to wish you bought this decommissioned nuclear missile silo in Arizona.

## Fixer Upper

From 1963 through the early 1980s, the United States operated [18 underground missile silos](<https://tucson.com/news/local/tucson-in-objects-missile-silos-brought-cold-war-to-tucson/article_2a5ba77b-446e-593c-a709-afa48a4d17ab.html>) near Tucson, Arizona, each containing a Titan 2 missile armed with a nine-megaton nuclear warhead.

After the Cold War, the U.S. decommissioned the silos, selling several to private buyers. In 2002, a man named Rick Ellis bought one of the silos for $200,000, a new *Arizona Daily Star* [story](<https://tucson.com/news/local/not-ready-to-launch-missile-silo-for-sale-is-handyman/article_06a15060-ec0c-52e2-ba70-4e404b1b74e8.html#22>) claims.

On Friday, he put it [back on the market](<https://www.estately.com/listings/info/24665-s-highway-79--3>) with an asking price of $395,000 — but the silo isn't exactly move-in-ready. Currently, the only way to enter it is by climbing down a [40-foot-long extension ladder,](<https://images.estately.net/43_21928852_24_1573405853.jpg>) and some of the interior walls are covered in [peeling lead paint](<https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/tucson.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/4/a6/4a6be1cb-cda0-5b39-846f-85031f788d79/5dc5ecf27162a.image.jpg>).

## Underground Scene

Even if you can afford to buy Ellis's missile silo and make it into your dream doomsday bunker, though, you'll need to convince him your plans for it are worthwhile.

Ellis told the *Arizona Daily Star* he's already rejected two offers, one from someone who wanted to use the silo as an underground medical marijuana greenhouse and the other from someone who envisioned it as a post-apocalyptic porn studio.

"I didn’t want that," he told the newspaper.

**READ MORE:** [Not ready to launch: Missile silo for sale is handyman's dream](<https://tucson.com/news/local/not-ready-to-launch-missile-silo-for-sale-is-handyman/article_06a15060-ec0c-52e2-ba70-4e404b1b74e8.html#3>) \[*Arizona Daily Star*\]

**More on bunkers:** *[Worried About Doomsday? You Can Rent This Bunker for $1000 Per Year](<https://futurism.com/worried-about-doomsday-rent-bunker-1000-year>)*

### Author social links  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinjhouser>)