The only megaton missile silo from the Cold War that is open to the public, the Titan Missile Museum offers a unique experience. It is located in the hot Arizona desert – a bleak setting that feels appropriate for a nuclear missile silo – and was the largest nuclear missile silo in the continental United States until it was decommissioned in 1982 by Ronald Reagan.

Inside the silo, you can see up close a missile that was used for training exercises (the original was moved when the silo became a museum), the control room, and the living quarters in a place that was built to survive a direct attack from a multi-megaton nuclear blast. The corridors look like they belong on the Death Star, but this is no science fiction. The culmination of the tour is a simulated launch, complete with secret codes and two-key ignition, a count down, and a blastoff. The nuclear winter, resulting fallout and post-apocalyptic aftermath is left to the imagination. Sitting deep within the chambers of one of the most destructive devices ever created by man is a much more frightening experience than any haunted house.

Attendants, for security reasons (and perhaps psychological ones too), were never told where the missiles they were ready to fire were aimed.