NASA radar unveils hidden Cold War ‘city under the ice’ in Greenland

NASA scientists conducting aerial surveys over Greenland’s ice sheet have made a remarkable discovery: Camp Century, a Cold War-era U.S. military base buried approximately 100 feet beneath the ice. The Smithsonian Magazine reports these findings, which were facilitated by advanced radar technology, which detected the base’s structures during routine ice-penetrating observations.

Constructed in 1959 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Camp Century was publicly presented as a polar research station. However, it also served as a clandestine component of “Project Iceworm,” a secret initiative aimed at deploying nuclear missiles capable of striking the Soviet Union from beneath Greenland’s ice. The base featured a network of tunnels housing various facilities, including a nuclear reactor. Due to the instability of the ice sheet, the project was deemed unfeasible, leading to the base’s abandonment in 1967.

The rediscovery of Camp Century not only sheds light on a lesser-known chapter of Cold War history but also raises environmental concerns. As climate change accelerates ice melt, there is potential for hazardous materials, such as radioactive waste and diesel fuel left at the site, to be released into the environment. This poses risks to local ecosystems and underscores the long-term impacts of historical military activities.