BYU Studies Quarterly
Keywords
Book of Mormon studies, Moroni, Book of Mormon prophets, latter days, apocalypse
Abstract
The MX missile program was proposed by the United States as a response to a perceived missile gap with the Soviet Union in the late 1970s. The basing mode, consisting of multiple silos between which a single launch vehicle would be shuttled, would have consumed large portions of western Utah and eastern Nevada. Although touted as a counterforce weapon, the extraordinary accuracy of the MX would have resulted in the USA constructing an invisible first strike system, destabilizing the strategic balance. Stopping or even slowing the MX deployment seemed impossible before two unexpected events occurred: explicit opposition to the MX by the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and discovery of a rare orchid species growing on one of the proposed missile sites.
Recommended Citation
Cox, Paul Alan
(2022)
"The Orchid and the Missile,"
BYU Studies Quarterly: Vol. 61:
Iss.
2, Article 4.
Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol61/iss2/4