WHERE: Next to National Cryptologic Museum in Annapolis Junction, MD
WHEN: Dawn to Dusk
WHAT: Historic surveillance aircraft
If this park has a single goal, it’s to help Americans appreciate the appropriate use of covert surveillance, its pivotal role through history, and those who risked their own lives to accomplish it. Many of these lives could not be properly honored for years after their deaths. Now a C-130 aircraft serves as the centerpiece to the Vigilance Park. It is painted to resemble Flight 60528, which was brought down in 1958 after accidentally flying into Soviet airspace. Other vintage surveillance aircraft grace the rest of the park, including a vintage C-130 from 1957. Even the trees in the park are meant to represent airframes that were lost during vital missions. Throughout the park you’ll find signs and benches explaining everything you see.