The Texas Supercollider That Almost Changed Physics

TEXAS’ CLOSE ATTEMPT AT A PARTICLE PHYSICS REVOLUTION

Tunnel construction under North Texas in 1991

In 2012, scientists at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) near Geneva, Switzerland confirmed the existence of the elusive Higgs Boson—sometimes nicknamed “the God Particle.” First theorized in 1964, this subatomic particle is essential to our understanding of how other particles acquire mass. The discovery earned Peter Higgs and François Englert the Nobel Prize in Physics and cemented the LHC as a major milestone in scientific achievement.

But few people realize just how close we were to making that discovery not in Europe, but right here in North Texas.

How a Particle Collider works - the LHC at CERN

Back in the early 1980s, during the Reagan administration, plans were proposed for a groundbreaking particle accelerator called the Superconducting Super Collider (SSC), also colloquially known as the "Desertron." The site chosen? The limestone bedrock near Waxahachie, Texas—just south of Dallas. The completed ring would have crossed under the Texas cities of Waxahachie, Bardwell, Ennis, Garrett, Palmer, Red Oak, and others.

Construction began in 1991, and by 1993, 14 miles of the planned 54-mile underground tunnel had already been bored. Once completed, the SSC would have dwarfed the LHC in both size and power, making it the largest and most energetic particle collider ever built. It was expected to attract top physicists from around the world, boost the Texas economy, and place the U.S. at the forefront of particle physics research for decades.

But it wasn’t to be.

Map from the early 1990’s showing the proposed placement of the ring of the SSC.

Facing ballooning costs (estimated at over $10 billion), political disagreements, and the looming shadow of a recession, Congress canceled funding for the project in 1993. The tunnels, though partially completed, were left to flood and have since been sealed. The main campus sat abandoned for years before being repurposed by various industries. Today, it houses a chemical manufacturing company.

Interestingly, the SSC site sits just minutes from where I live now. Naturally, I had to go check it out. Below is a short video from my recent drive-by, including footage and a revisited report from WFAA in Dallas.

To me, this is one of the most fascinating “what if” stories in modern science. Had things gone differently, Texas could’ve become the new global hub for cutting-edge research. The project would have drawn international tourism, boosted local education initiatives, and perhaps even fast-tracked the discovery of other fundamental particles.

In fact, many physicists today are still lobbying for a larger collider to be built near the LHC, precisely because a more powerful accelerator is needed to probe deeper into the unknown. The SSC, had it been completed, would have offered those capabilities decades ago.

Despite this missed opportunity, the surrounding area has continued to grow. In fact, Ellis County is now one of the fastest-growing regions in the country. And who knows—if you're inclined to entertain the weirder side of things, perhaps in some parallel reality where the SSC was completed, we’re already dealing with time slips and strange phenomena leaking from the collider. Watch the video below for some theorized possibilities posed by some in the scientific community.

Native American culture was and still is a culture that is very much in sync with nature. They believe that the land is its own kind of entity and that it holds memory. Given the momentum the project had, personnel in place, miles of tunnels bored, publicity of the project, excitement in the area, all of that energy moving in one particular trajectory - what if it had ripples of effect that are unknown to us?

And that segues perfectly into my next creative project, which centers around this very topic. It’s still in the early works but I’m excited at the prospects for this one. See below, but more on that soon...

COLLISION SYNOPSIS

45-year-old Gemma Knox knew from an early age just how she wanted her life to turn out, following in the footsteps of her dad as a physicist. But when tragedy strikes and she loses her dad and older brother, it dramatically alters the trajectory of her life. Now, years later she is experiencing strange phenomena, time slips, false memories, cryptic messages left by a stranger, and the weirdest of all: a visit from her long deceased brother in a public place in broad daylight. Desperate to get to the bottom of what is going on, she participates in a hypnotherapy session with her psychologist. But instead of revisiting distant memories, she finds herself in the middle of a sterile lab setting. She notices a clue about this place before coming back from the hypnosis and immediately knows where to go. Once she’s standing in the right location, her surroundings suddenly change. She is frozen in place, unable to process who is standing right in front of her: her own self. Her double speaks, “You made it, I knew you’d figure it out.”

A fictional story based on actual hypothetical science; Collision will stretch your belief in what you thought was possible. Currently in pre-production.