West Mesa Air Force Station West Mesa Air Force Station ( ADC ID : M - 94 , NORAD ID : Z - 94 ) is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station . It is located west of Albuquerque , New Mexico . It was closed by the Air Force in 1968 and turned over to the Federal Aviation Administration ( FAA ) . The site is now is now data - tied into the Joint Surveillance System ( JSS ) . History . West Mesa Air Force Station was established as part of the planned deployment by Air Defense Command of forty - four Mobile radar stations across the United States to support the permanent Radar network established during the Cold War for air defense of the United States . This deployment had been projected to be operational by mid - 1952 . Funding , constant site changes , construction , and equipment delivery delayed deployment . A temporary Lashup ( L - 45 ) station was operational at Kirtland AFB by late 1949 . The Lashup station provided coverage for the Albuquerque - Los Alamos region . The site used AN / CPS - 5 and AN / CPS - 4 radars , and initially the station functioned as a Ground - Control Intercept ( GCI ) and warning station . As a GCI station , the squadron ' s role was to guide interceptor aircraft toward unidentified intruders picked up on the unit ' s radar scopes . In late 1952 an AN / CPS - 5 radar was still operating on a Lashup basis to provide temporary coverage . Meanwhile , plans to permanently site the radar on Mt . Vulcan ( located within what is now the Petroglyph National Monument ) were thwarted by an owner who refused to sell at the price offered . Instead , the Air Force selected a site twenty - two miles west of Albuquerque , on West Mesa . The 687th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron ( AC & W Sq ) was assigned to West Mesa AFS on 1 April 1956 . At this site the 687th AC & W Sq used AN / MPS - 7 search and AN / MPS - 14 height - finder radars . In 1960 West Mesa AFS was also handling air - traffic - control functions for the Federal Aviation Administration . In 1961 the site hosted an AN / FPS - 20 search radar . On 31 July 1963 , the site was redesignated as NORAD ID Z - 94 . By 1966 the 687th AC & W Squadron was operating an AN / FPS - 91 A search set . In addition to the main facility , West Mesa operated an AN / FPS - 14 Gap Filler site : The Air Force inactivated West Mesa Air Force Station on 8 September 1968 . In July 1969 the station was officially surplused to the General Aviation Administration . 4 . 3 acres was transferred to the Federal Aviation Administration in January 1970 . The remaining 38 acres were transferred , along with 54 buildings , to the Office of Economic Opportunity on July 1970 , which then quitclaimed the property to three private owners . 10 acres of the housing area was then sold to individual private owners . The FAA continues to operate the AN / FPS - 91A search radar and is now data - tied into the Joint Surveillance System ( JSS ) . A vacant area lies between the FAA and family support facilities of the former Air Force Station , and this vacant area is abandoned and deteriorated due to owner neglect and lack of maintenance . Six buildings are still standing on the site , and are physically damaged , some of which have been demolished to their foundations .