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NASA spied from the air.
Then the nuclear base appeared on the radar.
It can be said that it was right under the ice.
In April this year, Nasa flew a Gulfstream III over Greenland. Just over 24 miles east of the American airbase Piuffik Space BaseinfoclosePiuffik Space Base Until 2023 known as Thule Air Base. scientist Chad Greene took a picture of the ice sheets under the plane.
At the same moment, something mysterious appeared on the radar.
– We didn’t know what it was at first. We were looking for the bottom of the ice sheet and there Camp century popped up, says Alex Gardner, another researcher on board, in a press release from NASA.
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full screen The “Camp century” base is hidden about 30 meters under the ice. Photo: NASA
Began construction in 1959
Camp century is also known as the “city under the ice”. Its existence was not news to the team. In its work to map the ice, Nasa has flown over it several times before – but never with such advanced radar equipment as that day in April.
– In the new data, individual buildings are visible in a way they have been before, says Chad Greene.
Camp Century began construction by US Army Corps of Engineers in 1959. Officially, the purpose was to test different techniques for building under the ice, but the real plan was top secret, writes Sky News.
In the tunnels there would be a nuclear weapons base that could launch ballistic missiles at the Soviet Union. The hidden city was originally intended to house up to 33 individual bases, but plans were abandoned and the US Army left the area in 1967.
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full screen The base was left abandoned in 1967. Photo: Nasa
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full screenFrom the beginning, the hidden “city” was supposed to house 33 individual bases. Photo: Stella Pictures/Ddp
The requirement for Denmark
Then nature took over. The ice cover grew and the base is now at least 30 meters down, according to Nasa.
– At the time, the Cold War was seen as the greatest threat to humanity. And now the area has become a destination for climate scientists trying to investigate environmental change. So it has a second purpose, says Daniel Ruetenik, producer at the television company CBS who eight years ago did a documentary about Camp century.
A more local environmental disaster is buried in a tunnel. The US army left behind 200,000 liters of diesel and sewage, writes Sky News. The Greenland authorities have in vain demanded that Denmark, which owns the giant island, take responsibility for the cleanup.