Jakarta, Indonesia Sentinel — In a stunning discovery, NASA scientists have identified “hidden city” said to be the remnants of a hidden Cold War-era military base buried beneath Greenland’s ice sheet. The detection occurred during a routine Arctic survey in April 2024, using advanced radar equipment aboard NASA’s Gulfstream III aircraft.
Known as Camp Century, the hidden city was originally constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during the Cold War. This elaborate network of tunnels served as a military research station and a potential launch site for nuclear missiles from the Arctic.
The camp operated between 1959 and 1967 before being abandoned, leaving it buried under decades of accumulating snow and ice.
Rediscovering a Forgotten Cold War Relic
According to Merdeka.com, NASA’s radar data reveals that Camp Century lies at least 30 meters below the ice’s surface. However, due to ice melt accelerated by climate change, parts of the base are beginning to emerge.
“We were surveying ice layers when Camp Century appeared. At first, we didn’t know what it was,” said Alex Gardner, a cryosphere scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Using the Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR), researchers produced high-resolution maps of the ice sheet, uncovering details of the long-buried structures.
“For the first time, individual structures of this secret city are visible in unprecedented detail,” explained Chad Greene, a NASA scientist who participated in the survey.
A Climate Time Capsule
The discovery has sparked concerns about the environmental risks posed by Camp Century’s gradual exposure. The site is believed to contain hazardous materials, including radioactive waste and other contaminants, that could leak into the surrounding environment as ice continues to melt.
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Previous estimates suggested the site might resurface by the end of the 21st century. However, the new findings suggest this timeline could accelerate due to rapid warming in the Arctic, which is heating at nearly four times the global average.
“Our primary mission was to study the impacts of climate change on Arctic ice, not to find Camp Century,” Greene said. “Still, this discovery underscores how critical it is to understand ice thickness and its response to rapid ocean and atmospheric warming.”
A Secret City Beneath the Ice
Camp Century was envisioned as an underground city, featuring more than 4,800 Km of planned tunnels that would offer a strategic advantage in the nuclear arms race with the Soviet Union. Built under orders from President Dwight D. Eisenhower, the base included housing, laboratories, and military infrastructure, designed to operate covertly in the extreme Arctic environment.
While the full scope of the base was never completed, its legacy remains frozen in time and becomes a hidden city beneath Greendland’s ice. NASA’s findings not only highlight the potential environmental consequences of Arctic melting but also offer a rare glimpse into Cold War history, preserved beneath the ice for more than half a century.
(Raidi/Agung)
