The truth behind a secret US military base that was built into a glacier in Greenland in the 1960s has been revealed.
Camp Century – which is now 100 feet under the icy surface – was a feat of US engineering and housed an atomic reactor. It was supposed to be the world’s first atomic-powered military base, according to National Geographic.
But it was more than just that, and other activities were even a secret to the Danish government that controls Greenland.
Project Iceworm was America’s top-secret project that planned to turn Camp Century into a ballistic missile base, now declassified documents revealed.
Greenland was the perfect spot for such a project as it was hard to target, near Russia, and in a remote area, according to National Geographic.
The military wanted to house 600 nuclear-tipped missiles in the two miles of underground tunnels that could eventually be aimed at the Soviet Union.
No one even suspected the missile were on the base until 1968 when a US jet carrying nuclear bombs crashed and investigation into US activity in the country was launched, according to NPR.
It found that the Danish prime minister had granted the US the greenlight to house nuclear missiles on the island and there was a plan to bury them under ice, the outlet said.
Camp Century – which is now 100 feet under the surface – was a feat of US engineering and housed an atomic reactor. It was supposed to be the world’s first atomic-powered military base
America wanted to turn Camp Century into a ballistic missile base, now declassified documents revealed. Pictured: Crew members inside Camp Century
The plan was to be able to move hundreds of missiles through thousands of miles of tunnels.
But those tunnels became hard to maintain and life in the Artic wasn’t great. Surface temperatures could reach -70 degrees, and in the wintertime, it would be dark 24 hours a day.
Inside the tunnels was a wet mess as soldiers had to trim the ice with chainsaws as it continued to push inward, threatening to crush everything inside.
Tons of ice had to be removed each week, which eventually led the military to pull out as it was too hard to maintain.
The base didn’t last 10 years and it now just remains a forgotten location with its true meaning locked behind classified documents.
Despite its short-lived stint, John Fresh, who was a soldier at Camp Century, said it wasn’t all that bad.
They had a theater and library, and despite the fact that they were surrounded by ice, they had ‘lights and heat, and all that kind of stuff’.
He told NPR: ‘It was cold. I mean, you know, when you walk down there, you could feel it’s like walking into a freezer.’
The military wanted to house 600 nuclear-tipped missiles in the two miles of underground tunnels that could eventually be aimed at the Soviet Union (pictured: a 2024 image of the base)
They lived in bunkhouses that were constructed in the ice, there was no sunlight or breeze.
The nearest humans were 127 miles away from the base and shipments of food and fuel had to brought to them on sleds. Sleds were also the only way to get to the base, according to National Geographic.
All that’s left of the base is a mile of radioactive waste and other trash that was dumped on the glacier to freeze, according to the magazine.
‘Think of all the energy and resources it took to do this to build those tunnels and put soldiers down there,’ scientist Paul Bierman told the magazine.
‘It’s almost science fiction. No one would dream of doing that today.’
Last year, NASA scientist Chad Greene discovered the defunct base while flying a plane over the enormous glacier when the radar unexpectedly detected something buried within the ice.
Previous radar imaging of Camp Century looked like nothing more than a ‘blip,’ but the new map revealed 3D structures that aligned with the design and structure of the base.
Previous airborne surveys that flew over Camp Century have detected signs of the base within the ice.
Last year, NASA scientist Chad Greene discovered the defunct base while flying a plane over the enormous glacier when the radar unexpectedly detected something buried within the ice
But those flights used conventional ground-penetrating radar, which points straight down and produces a 2D profile of the ice sheet, according to a NASA Earth Observatory statement.
The latest discovery used radar to map the surface of an ice sheet, its internal layers and the bedrock below, similar to the way that doctors use ultrasound to see inside the human body.
Greene’s flight, which took place in April 2024, used NASA’s Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR) mounted onto the bottom of the aircraft.
This system doesn’t just look downward, it also captures a side-view to image solid structures with more dimensionality.
Greenland has recently been in the spotlight as President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed an interest in making Greenland – an autonomous territory of Denmark – part of the US, citing its strategic importance and mineral wealth.
He has not ruled out using military or economic power to persuade the EU member to hand it over.
