Palermo Air Force Station Palermo Air Force Station ( ADC ID : P - 54 , NORAD ID : Z - 54 ) is a closed United States Air Force ( USAF ) General Surveillance Radar station . It is located north of Sea Isle City , New Jersey . It was closed in 1970 . History . In 1948 USAF directed Air Defense Command ( ADC ) to take radar sets out of storage for operation in the Northeastern United States . By August . a radar had been placed in operation at Palermo , NJ . This hasty program was appropriately named " Lashup . " The AN / TPS - 1B long - range search radar at Palermo ( Lashup Site L - 14 ) fed into a primitive control center established at Roslyn Air Warning Station , New York . Prompted by the start of the Korean War , on July 11 , 1950 , the Secretary of the Air Force asked the Secretary of Defense for approval to expedite construction of additional stations , and it received the Defense Secretary ’ s approval on July 21 , the Air Force directed the Army Corps of Engineers to proceed with construction of Palermo Air Force Station . The 770th Aircraft Control & Warning Squadron was activated to control the site . Because of difficulties with new production radar equipment , Palermo AFS initially received radar equipment from the former Lashup site to expedite operational status . Thus it was designated as site LP - 54 , 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 1951 AN / CPS - 5 and AN / TPS - 10 A height - finder radars were added to the site . By April 1952 the 770th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron was operating AN / CPS - 4 and AN / FPS - 3 radars . In the spring of 1957 , Palermo was one of the first to deploy an AN / FPS - 20 radar . Palermo also received two AN / FPS - 6 height - finder radars at this time . During 1958 Palermo AFS joined the Semi Automatic Ground Environment ( SAGE ) system , initially feeding data to DC - 01 at McGuire AFB , New Jersey . After joining , the squadron was redesignated as the 770th Radar Squadron ( SAGE ) on 1 Oct 1958 . The radar squadron provided information 24 / 7 the SAGE Direction Center where it was analyzed to determine range , direction altitude speed and whether or not aircraft were friendly or hostile . By late 1959 this station also was performing air traffic control duties . On October 1 , 1961 , the 770th Radar Squadron and the site designation ( RP - 54 ) left for Fort Meade , Maryland . The Palermo site was then operated by Detachment 1 of the New York Air Defense Sector and designated as site RP - 63C . This unit was replacecd by the 680th Radar Squadron in 1962 and the P - 54 site designation returned to Palermo in 1963 . On 31 July 1963 , the site was redesignated as NORAD ID Z - 54 , and later the AN / FPS - 20 was upgraded into an AN / FPS - 65 radar . In 1968 one AN / FPS - 6 height - finder radar was retired . I was stationed at Palermo from 1968 until it closed in 1970 , and I worked in the " 6 shop " - and both FPS - 6 height finders were in operation until just before the site closed . The 680th was inactivated and the Air Force closed the facility in May 1970 . Palermo ' s GATR ( Ground Air Transmitter Receiver ) site ( R - 28 ) remained active until 1975 , becoming a detachment of the 770th Radar Squadron at Fort Meade , Maryland . The housing reportedly was transferred to the U . S . Coast Guard after site closed . For many years , the site was abandoned and overgrown , with deteriorating buildings and former radar towers dominating the site . Palermo AFS was demolished in 2003 and was redeveloped into the " Osprey Point " single - family housing development , with no evidence of the former military radar station . External links .