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1

10/10.

Posted by Mr. Poe | February 6, 2008 11:42 AM
2


Goose Island does exist, although no people live there and it's a tiny place.

Falken doesn't mention that he's near a "sub base" -- he states that he's three miles from "a primary target." Yes, the target may be a sub base, but maybe it's something else.

Posted by stinkbug | February 6, 2008 12:00 PM
3

thanks stinkbug for both your geographic and movie knowledge. I've made the corrections (and corrected an embarrassing grammar mistake.)

I grew up next to another primary target, the AM General main assembly plant where the M1A1 tanks were built. Elementary school had both tornado and nuclear war drills--both proclaiming the life-saving properties of Formica desks.

Posted by Jonathan Golob | February 6, 2008 12:04 PM
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If some kind of nuclear apocalypse occurs, I always wanted to be one of the first ones to go. Now I know I don't have to move anywhere to achieve that.

Posted by Hernandez | February 6, 2008 12:07 PM
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Also, the Goose Island that they take a ferry to is actually Anderson Island

(more WarGames filming locations)

Posted by stinkbug | February 6, 2008 12:11 PM
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Man, I totally wanted to fuck teenage Ally Sheedy, she was every pathetic geek's dream girlfriend.

Posted by wile_e_quixote | February 6, 2008 12:18 PM
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The dock on Indian island is visible from the dock at Fort Flagler State Park.

It's a good place to fish, stare at the aircraft carriers and think about nuclear annihilation.

Posted by A Non Imus | February 6, 2008 12:22 PM
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@7. Ah, yes. That is the ship dock. The sub dock? Underwater.

Posted by Jonathan Golob | February 6, 2008 12:24 PM
9

Welcome to Seattle newb.

Posted by stunk | February 6, 2008 12:29 PM
10

Does the old water tower near Bainbridge High School still exist? I remember people I knew who graduated from BHS in the late '70's/early '80's used to mention it had target rings painted on it, a somewhat blackly humorous acknowledgement of all the military facilities in close proximity, not to mention Boeing & the Duwamish industrial area, plus of course downtown Seattle itself.

I guess the thinking was, drop a multi-megaton warhead set for an air-burst detonation over BHS, and you'd take out most of the major targets in the North Puget Sound region, if not destroying them outright, then at the very least creating a sufficiently large EMP to essentially wipe out all transistored electronics for a 50 mile radius or so.

Posted by COMTE | February 6, 2008 12:29 PM
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Right after they level the state of North Dakota, which had (or used to have) the largest individual amount of ICBM nuclear missles. If North Dakota would have been its own country, it would have only ranked behind (the former) U.S.S.R. and USA in total nuclear destructive capacity. During the cold war 1/5 of all warheads were pointed at N.D.

Scary stuff indeed...

Posted by ND Native | February 6, 2008 12:33 PM
12

I always thought the "primary target" was Seattle itself - major population center, no?

Rochester, MN ranked in the Soviet's top 10 nuclear targets in the US because of the Mayo Clinic. Just thought I'd mention that . . .

Posted by MplsKid | February 6, 2008 12:52 PM
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@12 It depends if you mean strategic or tactical "primary targets."

The strategic targets for Seattle were/are:
1. Space needle (easy to aim for)
2. Boeing Field (ditto)
3. Seatac airport.
4. UW main campus.

But as Comte pointed out, when you're dealing with megaton devices, aiming is a relative term.

Posted by Jonathan Golob | February 6, 2008 12:57 PM
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Don't leave out the eastside! Washington state has been rich with strategic targets since the dawn of nuclear weapons. You got Hanford in the Tri-Cities and Fairchild AFB in Spokane, which was home to Strategic Air Command B-52 Nuke bomber wings up through the mid-90s.

Posted by Westside forever | February 6, 2008 1:16 PM
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Matthew Broderick was pretty hot in it too, in a geeky sort of way.

Posted by Ed | February 6, 2008 1:23 PM
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Well, duh--given that any of the SSBNs at Bangor could launch and hit their targets while tied up at the dock, of course it's a primary target, probably attacked by another sub just off the coast.

The Space Needle, because it sticks out of the ground and is easy to spot? You don't need to see an aiming stake sticking up in the sky, it just takes someone punching in the right coordinates.

Posted by Toe Tag | February 6, 2008 2:13 PM
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If Seattle rates it's own nuke it's probably a air burst for EMP effect leaving the buildings standing. Bangor, Bremerton, Everrett, Fort Lewis on the other hand...

We're definitely on the short list and just about guaranteed to be downwind of any nuke that doesn't hit us directly.

Posted by K X One | February 6, 2008 2:19 PM
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In actual practice (this from my Army days), we rate nukes for the following (at least one each):

Nuclear sub base
Port city
Rail city
Population
Net intertie
Communications
Army base (yes the park counts)
Navy base (yes NOAA counts)

and one to glow on.

Posted by Will in Seattle | February 6, 2008 2:28 PM
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oh, dang, forgot the universities - that's another three ....

Posted by Will in Seattle | February 6, 2008 2:30 PM
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don't forget EMP ;)

Posted by from east of miss | February 6, 2008 3:24 PM
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How does one level North Dakota?

Aren't you really only making it level-er?

Posted by NapoleonXIV | February 6, 2008 5:16 PM
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personally, I'd rather die in the first explosion, than survive in a radiation-sickness wasteland. But that's just me.

Posted by treacle | February 6, 2008 6:18 PM
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And we've also got Bellevue Square. That definitely warrants a nucular strike.

Posted by NapoleonXIV | February 6, 2008 8:59 PM
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When you watch Raiders of the Lost Ark again, note that Indiana Jones clings to the outside of that U-boat for what must be hundreds of miles. Apparently submarines weren't really in the habit of submerging themselves in 1937.

Posted by Kiru Banzai | February 6, 2008 9:03 PM
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Actually, they weren't. Subs are normally powered by a diesel engine, and operate far more efficently on the surface.

Then again, Indiana Jones is a comic book made into film.

Posted by NapoleonXIV | February 6, 2008 11:52 PM
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My folks have a place on neighboring Marrowstone Isl., where I spent many long summer days as a youth. It's my understanding that Indian Isl. was a target for the Soviets because it was known to be a large depot for the storage of sub-launchable ICBMs. Marrowstone rumor had it that the Trident nuclear subs had to offload their weapons there before entering the densely populated Puget Sound on their way to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton.

Posted by Russ | February 7, 2008 1:38 AM
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@ #26.

And that's all it ever was: a rumor. SWFPAC has always been at Bangor.

Posted by LT L | February 7, 2008 3:51 AM
28

Speculation, rumor & bullshit.

Posted by bluewillow | February 7, 2008 1:42 PM

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