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In the early 2000s, there was a massive DEA bust involving a decomissioned missile silo turned into an LSD lab (which was apparently responsible for manufacturi

In the early 2000s, there was a massive DEA bust involving a decomissioned missile silo turned into an LSD lab (which was apparently responsible for manufacturing 90% of the LSD on the market at the time). Other levels of the facility were turned into a massive party/tripping space - it's a fascinating story. The man responsible (William Pickard) served quite some time in federal prison but was finally released sometime last year. I'm sure there's no shortage of creative uses for a property like this. https://historydaily.org/skinner-pickard-1990s-lsd-lab-built-inside-underground-missile-silo https://historydaily.org/skinner-pickard-1990s-lsd-lab-built... https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/2-Bay-Area-Men-Busted-in-Big-LSD-Lab-Raid-Pair-3237712.php https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/2-Bay-Area-Men-Busted...

MaxLeiter 5y ago
Hamilton's Pharmacopeia (a docuseries featuring a pharmacologist) has an episode where Hamilton visits and interviews a women who was involved there. 12 minute clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7qliVpGEk0&vl=en https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7qliVpGEk0&vl=en
mwattsun 5y ago
I saw a really good video documentary about this but forgot how to find it. The Wikipedia is fascinating enough in itself: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Leonard_Pickard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Leonard_Pickard Edit: My mistake, it was about another duo who also made LSD. I'm pretty sure the silo is mentioned in passing. The Sunshine Makers Official Trailer 1 (2017) - Documentary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsvElED0-O0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsvElED0-O0
greggsy 5y ago
IIRC, there was a murder, torture and kidnapping involved as well…
iancmceachern 5y ago
I think this was also touched on in the show Hamiltons Pharmacopeia
oaiey 5y ago
In Germany a formwr bunker was used to host a illegal data center which run a significant part of the dark net. In the end, however, the police raided it and they forgot to lock the place and they had a excel list with all the passwords.
- eightails 5y ago
  There's a great New Yorker article on this for those interested. It's a pretty fascinating read -- doubtless been posted here a bunch before. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/08/03/the-cold-war-bunker-that-became-home-to-a-dark-web-empire https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/08/03/the-cold-war-b...
- DocTomoe 5y ago
  I really dislike the term "illegal data center", which was coined by Germany's yellow press. The data center was perfectly legal (as in: they were allowed to operate a business involving hosting of servers there, and everyone knew they did). What was illegal was some of the business done on its servers - and the fact that the operator did not cooperate with law enforcement.
  - snowwrestler 5y ago
    Maybe it was not an illegal (data center), it was an (illegal data) center.
    - Scoundreller 5y ago
      Time for a (criminal lawyer)
  - mirkules 5y ago
    What does “yellow press” mean in this context? I know the usage of the word “yellow” means “cowardly,” but I suspect there is some other connotation/well-known phrase
    - 5y ago
User23 5y ago
For those who aren’t aware, the national demand for lysergic acid diethylamide in pure form would comfortably fit in the bottom third of a standard test tube. It has a ridiculously low titer. Few drugs have active doses measured in micrograms.
zxcvbn4038 5y ago
Pre-COVID there was a couple in Connecticut who transformed their entire house into a sex dungeon and were getting $1500 a night renting it on Airbnb. I bet you could do at least ten times that with a missile silo of sin. No worries about cops or nosey neighbors. Cleanup would be really icky though (shudder).
- sockpuppet69 5y ago
  Expensive 10 minutes

MaxLeiter 5y ago

Hamilton's Pharmacopeia (a docuseries featuring a pharmacologist) has an episode where Hamilton visits and interviews a women who was involved there. 12 minute clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7qliVpGEk0&vl=en https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7qliVpGEk0&vl=en

mwattsun 5y ago

I saw a really good video documentary about this but forgot how to find it. The Wikipedia is fascinating enough in itself: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Leonard_Pickard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Leonard_Pickard Edit: My mistake, it was about another duo who also made LSD. I'm pretty sure the silo is mentioned in passing. The Sunshine Makers Official Trailer 1 (2017) - Documentary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsvElED0-O0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsvElED0-O0

greggsy 5y ago

IIRC, there was a murder, torture and kidnapping involved as well…

iancmceachern 5y ago

I think this was also touched on in the show Hamiltons Pharmacopeia

oaiey 5y ago

In Germany a formwr bunker was used to host a illegal data center which run a significant part of the dark net. In the end, however, the police raided it and they forgot to lock the place and they had a excel list with all the passwords.

eightails 5y ago
There's a great New Yorker article on this for those interested. It's a pretty fascinating read -- doubtless been posted here a bunch before. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/08/03/the-cold-war-bunker-that-became-home-to-a-dark-web-empire https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/08/03/the-cold-war-b...
DocTomoe 5y ago
I really dislike the term "illegal data center", which was coined by Germany's yellow press. The data center was perfectly legal (as in: they were allowed to operate a business involving hosting of servers there, and everyone knew they did). What was illegal was some of the business done on its servers - and the fact that the operator did not cooperate with law enforcement.
- snowwrestler 5y ago
  Maybe it was not an illegal (data center), it was an (illegal data) center.
  - Scoundreller 5y ago
    Time for a (criminal lawyer)
- mirkules 5y ago
  What does “yellow press” mean in this context? I know the usage of the word “yellow” means “cowardly,” but I suspect there is some other connotation/well-known phrase
  - 5y ago

User23 5y ago

For those who aren’t aware, the national demand for lysergic acid diethylamide in pure form would comfortably fit in the bottom third of a standard test tube. It has a ridiculously low titer. Few drugs have active doses measured in micrograms.

zxcvbn4038 5y ago

Pre-COVID there was a couple in Connecticut who transformed their entire house into a sex dungeon and were getting $1500 a night renting it on Airbnb. I bet you could do at least ten times that with a missile silo of sin. No worries about cops or nosey neighbors. Cleanup would be really icky though (shudder).

sockpuppet69 5y ago
Expensive 10 minutes