Calumet Airforce Station
The Haunting
At the top of Mount Horace Greeley, Calumet Air Force Station once operated around the clock as part of America’s Cold War air defense network. More than 200 military personnel and their families called this self-contained community home, complete with housing, a school, medical clinic, commissary, bowling alley and movie theater. After the station closed in 1988, its radar facilities, military buildings and empty corridors were left behind… creating an eerie reminder of the people who once lived and worked here.
The station also played a key role in the 1953 Kinross Incident, one of the Great Lakes’ most enduring aviation mysteries. Radar operators at Calumet detected an unidentified aircraft over Lake Superior and later helped guide an F-89C Scorpion toward it. The two radar returns appeared to merge before the fighter jet—and its crew, First Lieutenant Felix Moncla Jr. and Second Lieutenant Robert Wilson—vanished. Despite an extensive search, no confirmed trace of the aircraft or its crew was ever found, and theories about what happened continue to fuel speculation today. Read more about the Kinross Incident.
Paranormal investigators and curious visitors have ventured into the station’s aging buildings in search of answers, conducting EVP sessions and reporting unexplained voices and other unusual activity. Could these encounters be echoes of the military personnel and families who once called the mountaintop station home…or is something else lingering amid its empty corridors?
Contact
8107 Horace Greely Rd.
Mohawk, MI 49950
(906) 256-3588
Opportunities for visitors:
Guided walking tours explore approximately one mile of the former station, beginning at the temporary museum before continuing through the residential and military operations areas. Along the way, visitors learn about daily life at the base, its role in Cold War air defense and the mysteries connected to the skies above Lake Superior. Tours generally last between one and one-and-a-half hours.
Days/times of operation:
Guided tours are offered Wednesdays and Saturdays from May 23 through October 24. Tour times vary; advance reservations are required. Additional dates and winter tours may be available by special arrangement, weather and site conditions permitting.
Costs:
Tours are free, with donations encouraged. Advance reservations are required and can be made online. Private and large-group tours may be available outside the regular schedule by contacting the Open Skies Project.
Accessibility:
The station is partially accessible. Tours cover approximately one mile and include paved surfaces, uphill sections and areas with uneven terrain or debris. Visitors who cannot complete the walking route may be able to follow the tour in a vehicle with advance notice. Contact the Open Skies Project before visiting to discuss specific accessibility needs.
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