View source for CFS Falconbridge

{{Infobox military installation
| name = CFS Falconbridge
| native_name = RCAF Station Falconbridge
| partof = [[Pinetree Line|The Pinetree Line]]
| location = [[Sudbury, Ontario]], Canada
| image = 
| caption = 
| map_type = Canada Ontario
| map_relief = 
| map_size = 
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| coordinates = {{coord|46.62619|-80.84378|type:landmark|display=inline}}
| code = C-9
| built = 
| builder = {{air force|Canada}}
| materials = 
| height = 
| used = 1952-1985
| demolished = 
| condition = Partially repurposed,<br>partially derelict
| ownership = Private
| open_to_public = No
| controlledby = {{air force|Canada}}
| garrison = 33 Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron<ref>{{cite book|title=A History of the Air Defence of Canada, 1948-1997|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kH3yAAAACAAJ|year=1997|publisher=Commander Fighter Group|isbn=978-0-9681973-0-1}}</ref>
| current_commander = 
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}}

'''Canadian Forces Station Falconbridge''' (CFS Falconbridge) was a military radar station in the [[Canada|Canadian]] province of [[Ontario]], active from 1952 to 1985.

The station was geographically located in [[Valley East]], [[Ontario]], although the nearest settlement — and the source of the station's name — was the community of [[Falconbridge, Greater Sudbury, Ontario|Falconbridge]] in [[Nickel Centre]]. The site is now within the municipal boundaries of [[Greater Sudbury]].

==History==

CFS Falconbridge was opened as '''RCAF Station Falconbridge''' in 1952 as part of [[NORAD]]'s [[Pinetree Line]] of radar stations.  The original operating unit was No. 33 Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron, later renamed No. 33 Radar Squadron when aircraft monitoring functions were transferred to Regional Headquarters in [[Duluth, Minnesota]].  In 1967, the base was renamed Canadian Forces Station Falconbridge with the unification of Canada's military into the [[Canadian Forces]].<ref name="ozorak">Ozorak, Paul.  ''Abandoned Military Installations of Canada: Volume I: Ontario''.  1991.  {{ISBN|0-9695127-1-6}}.</ref>

The station's operational call sign was '''Tomboy'''.<ref name="tomboy">[https://www.ontarioabandonedplaces.com/upload/wiki.asp?entry=681 CFS Falconbridge], Ontario Abandoned Places.</ref>

In 1975, a detachment of [[CFB North Bay]]'s Air Weapons Control and Countermeasures School opened in Falconbridge. Instruction was provided in target plotting, weapons control and radar anti-jamming techniques.<ref name="ozorak" />

A visual and radar [[UFO]] incident occurred in the community on November 11, 1975, later reported in a press release by [[NORAD]]. The object was tracked on radar from the base and sighted in binoculars, and estimated to be a 100-foot diameter sphere with craters. Seven [[Ontario Provincial Police|OPP]] police officers also witnessed the UFO. Some explanations given for the sightings included [[Venus]], clouds, and/or [[weather balloon]]s.<ref>''The Canadian UFO Report: The Best Cases Revealed'', Chris Rutkowski and Geoff Dittman, 2006, {{ISBN|1-55002-621-6}}</ref>

CFS Falconbridge was closed when the Pinetree Line was declared redundant in the mid-1980s. The station was sold to Pine Ridge Developments, a private real estate developer, in 1987 for $1.9 million.<ref name="barracks">[http://www.ontarioabandonedplaces.com/cfbfalco/cfbhazard.html "Radar base no bargain for tenants"] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20061103172650/http://www.ontarioabandonedplaces.com/cfbfalco/cfbhazard.html |date=2006-11-03 }}. ''[[Northern Life (newspaper)|Northern Life]]'', May 6, 2003.</ref> The residential part of the base is now a commercial rental housing development, and the radar operations building was torn down in 2007.<ref name="tomboy" /> Pine Ridge faced some criticism in 2003 for making only minimal safety improvements to the base's badly deteriorated former barracks and mess hall despite having rented out homes on the site to tenants with children.<ref name="barracks" />

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

{{Canadian Forces Bases}}

[[Category:Canadian Forces bases in Ontario|Falconbridge]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Greater Sudbury]]
[[Category:1952 establishments in Ontario]]
[[Category:1985 disestablishments in Ontario]]
[[Category:Military installations established in 1952]]
[[Category:Military installations closed in 1985]]