| Phou Pha Thi | |
|---|---|
 The mountaintop military area of Laos Site 85 was at the curved location of the Phou Pha Thi cliff. | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 1,786 m (5,860 ft)[1] |
| Coordinates | 20°28′05″N 103°42′21″E / 20.468°N 103.7058°E |
| Geography | |
 | |
| Location | Laos |
| Parent range | Annam Highlands |
Phou Pha Thi (Phathi) is a "sacred mountain" in Laos "believed...inhabited by great "phi", or spirits [2] and used for the clandestine Lima Site 85 military installation during the Vietnam War. The lightly defended installation was destroyed by North Vietnamese attackers in the 10-11 March 1968 Battle of Lima Site 85. From 1994 to 2004, searches for USAF remains were conducted at the mountain, but few bodies were located. The mountain is "100 miles south of Dien Bien Phu, 160 miles west of Hanoi, and just 25 miles from the capital of Samneua".[2] The site had been used as a military site by French colonialists until seized by the North Vietnamese in 1962,[1] and the Hmong "Secret Army" recaptured the area and a Central Intelligence Agency airstrip was built by 1966.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
DeStattewas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Linder, James C (2004). "The Fall of Lima Site 85". In Sharad Chauhan (ed.). Inside CIA: Lessons in Intelligence. S.B. Nangia. ISBN 81-7648-660-4. Retrieved 2012-10-17.
helipad, a 20-minute walk down the ridge from the radar vans on the peak