Zeppelins Might Have Docked at the Empire State Building

Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!

MINI BELIEVE IT OR NOT –

The top of the Empire State Building was originally intended as a mooring mast for zeppelins, but that didn’t work out.

In 1929, it was announced that the Empire State Building would be made 200 feet taller
The investors in construction denied that this change was being made to compete with the Chrysler Building
Instead, they said it was being done so zeppelins could dock in Midtown instead of Lakehurst, NJ
The world’s expert on dirigibles said the plan wasn’t practical as landing one needs scores of ground crewmen
By the time the building opened, the apparatus needed to give the plan a shot at working hadn’t been made



MINI BION
“BIONs” – short for Believe It or Not – is the word we use at Ripley’s to refer to anything that is unbelievable and worthy to become part of Ripley’s lore and collection.

Source: Zeppelins Might Have Docked at the Empire State Building