Rulison Nuclear Blast Site
Parachute, Colorado
By the late 1960s the U.S. government was anxious to find some use for its surplus of nuclear bombs. Its friends in the petroleum industry had the answer: explode them underground to release natural gas! It would be a lot faster and cheaper than drilling.
On September 10, 1969, that's what the U.S. government did. A 40-kiloton atomic bomb was blown up here, a little over a mile underground. The explosions released lots of natural gas -- but it was too radioactive to ever be used.
The project was abandoned, the shaft was sealed with cement, and a concrete marker and plaque now mark this remote site.