To passers by, they look like just another abandoned lot or fenced enclosure: a cattle grazing area, remnants of an electrical transformer site, a sewer utility access point.  

But buried at these sites within sprawling acreages of ranches and farmland all across America's Great Plains lies hundreds of literally explosive nuclear secrets.

Underground silos — armed with Cold War-era Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) — sit behind anonymous fences tucked away inside sprawling plots of privately held fields and lush pastures.

The ICBMs, capable of reducing Moscow or Beijing to rubble in under 30 minutes, have left many locals in these remote US states afraid of being a top target of any US adversaries planning a decapitating 'first strike' against America's nuclear arsenal.

These nuclear silos, constructed in deals between the US Air Force and rural residents over half a century ago, are now preparing for a massive, $141 billion, taxpayer-funded overhaul. 

But Montana native Ross Butcher is far from concerned about housing some of the most lethal weapons known to man in his backyard. 

'It's a huge benefit to us,' said Butcher, who grew up on a Fergus County ranch that was home to one Minuteman silo. 

'My grandfather was just happier than heck to get one on the place — because in our county, it's very tough to maintain roads because we have lots and lots of clay,' he remembers.