Latest news with #ProjectIceworm
Metro
11 hours ago
- Science
- Metro
'Secret tunnels' under Greenland may be the safest place if war breaks out
Deep below the thick ice of Greenland lies a labyrinth of tunnels that were once thought to be the safest place on Earth in case of a war. First created during the Cold War, Project Iceworm saw the US plan to store hundreds of ballistic missiles in a system of tunnels dubbed 'Camp Century'. Could the sprawling underground complex still be a safe place in case of war? At the time, US military chiefs had hoped to launch a nuclear attack on the Soviet Union during the height of Cold War tensions if things escalated. But less than a decade after it was built, the base was abandoned in 1967 after researchers realised the glacier was moving. The sprawling sub-zero tunnels have been brought back to attention after recent tensions between Iran, Israel and the United States have brought up the possibility of another World War. Talk of World War 3 is nothing new. For years, tense geopolitical moments have stoked fears that we are on the brink of a catastrophic conflict. But these fears were all too common years ago, during the Cold War, when Camp Century – the city under Greenland's ice sheet – was made. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The underground three-kilometre network of tunnels was dubbed Century City and once played host to labs, shops, a cinema, a hospital, and accommodation for hundreds of soldiers. Alex Gardner, a cryospheric scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said: 'We were looking for the bed of the ice and out pops Camp Century. We didn't know what it was at first. In the new data, individual structures in the secret city are visible in a way that they've never been before.' But the icy Greenland site is not without its dangers – it continues to store nuclear waste. Assuming the site would remain frozen in perpetuity, the US Army removed the nuclear reactor installed on site but allowed waste, equivalent to the mass of 30 Airbus A320 aeroplanes, to be entombed under the snow. But other sites around the world, without nuclear waste, could also serve as a safe haven in case of World War 3. More Trending Wood Norton is a tunnel network running deep into the Worcestershire forest, originally bought by the BBC during World War 2 in case of a crisis in London. Peters Mountain in Virginia, USA, serves as one of several secret centres also known as AT&T project offices, which are essential for the US government's continuity planning. Further north in the United States, Raven Rock Mountain Complex in Pennsylvania is a base that could hold up to 1,400 people. And Cheyenne Mountain Complex in El Paso County, Colorado, is an underground complex boasting five chambers of reservoirs for fuel and water, and in one section, there's even reportedly an underground lake. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Vietnam veteran's last words before execution after 47 years on death row MORE: M&S is the official tailor of the England Football team and we're obsessed with the latest formalwear MORE: Bombing for democracy? You must be joking, says reader
Daily Mail
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Discovery of cold war U.S. facility in Greenland may have prompted Trump's bid to claim island
President Donald Trump 's interest in Greenland is probably due to a NASA discovery of an abandoned cold war facility. Chad Greene, chief scientist for the space agency, was flying a plane over an enormous glacier in April 2024 when his radar unexpectedly detected Camp Century, a Cold War-era military base that was abandoned in 1967. Known as 'the city under the ice,' Camp Century was built in 1959. It consists of 21 tunnels drilled just below the surface of the Greenland ice sheet, spanning a total length of 9,800 feet. Since NASA found the base, annexing Greenland has been one of Trump's major policy goals, dating back to the 2024 presidential race, citing the need to bolster America's military presence there. The 66-year-old base was used as a front for Project Iceworm, which aimed to install a vast network of nuclear missile launch sites that could target the Soviet Union. However, the instability of the ice sheet made launching nuclear weapons from this base too dangerous, leading the U.S. to eventually scrap the whole idea. Now, as tensions around the world rise, President Trump has reignited America's decades-old claim to Greenland, saying that the U.S. needs full control of the Danish territory for national security reasons. After the discovery of this frozen outpost, Trump upped the ante on his plans to purchase Greenland from Denmark, warning that he won't rule out using military force to take the island - and Camp Century. 'I don't rule it out,' Trump said in an interview that aired during the May 4 episode of Meet The Press. 'I don't say I'm going to do it, but I don't rule out anything.' 'We need Greenland very badly,' the president added. 'Greenland is a very small amount of people, which we'll take care of, and we'll cherish them, and all of that. But we need that for international security.' The rediscovery of Camp Century is also giving the world a reminder of how serious the U.S. government was about keeping Greenland in its possession for more than two decades. While there are only about 150 U.S. troops stationed at Pituffik Space Base today, there used to be 10,000 soldiers across 17 bases living in Greenland during the Cold War. The U.S. took over Greenland's defense during World War II and then tried to buy it for $100million in 1946. Although Denmark turned down the offer, the U.S. refused to withdraw their troops after the war. The stalemate led to a 1951 treaty with Denmark that allowed the U.S. military to stay and build bases in Greenland. That deal is still in effect today. At Camp Century, the military built the underground base to house 600 medium-range ballistic missiles as tensions with the Soviet Union reached a boiling point. The facility's infrastructure now lies at least 100 feet below the surface of the ice sheet. Previous radar imaging of the area found nothing more than a 'blip,' but the new map revealed 3D structures that aligned with the design and structure of the forgotten nuclear site. Greene's 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. The scientist'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. 'In the new data, individual structures in the secret city are visible in a way that they've never been seen before,' Greene said in a statement. NASA used this data to map the structure of the lost base, and they appeared to match historical records of Camp Century's planned layout. Camp Century was one of the first facilities to be powered by a portable nuclear reactor, which supplied electricity and heat. When the camp was abandoned, the reactor was removed and its hazardous waste buried. The remaining infrastructure was left to be enveloped in layers of ice and snow. Greenland's strategic importance to the U.S. stems from its geographic position and resources, making it a key asset for national security, economic interests, and geopolitical influence. The Danish territory's vast reserves of rare earth minerals, oil, and gas further boost its economic value. President Trump has focused on acquiring natural resources in his global dealings - including a reported rare earth minerals deal in Ukraine. Additionally, the island hosts Pituffik Space Base, which supports missile defense, space surveillance, and Arctic operations. According to the Trump Administration, controlling Greenland would secure these assets, counter growing Russian and Chinese influence in the Arctic, and bolster U.S. and NATO dominance in the region. The information about Camp Century and its nuclear capabilities, specifically related to Project Iceworm, remained a secret until 1997. President Trump has not made mention of trying to use Greenland as a nuclear launching site again if the U.S. gains control of the island.
Daily Mail
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Startling discovery under ice of Greenland boosts Trump's bid to take over island
President Donald Trump 's push to take over Greenland could be due to a NASA discovery deep under the ice. Chad Greene, chief scientist for the space agency, was flying a plane over an enormous glacier in April 2024 when his radar unexpectedly detected Camp Century, a Cold War-era military base that was abandoned in 1967. Known as 'the city under the ice,' Camp Century was built in 1959. It consists of 21 tunnels drilled just below the surface of the Greenland ice sheet, spanning a total length of 9,800 feet. Since NASA found the long-lost base, annexing Greenland has been one of Trump's major policy goals, dating back to the 2024 presidential race, citing the need to bolster America's military presence there. The 66-year-old base was used as a front for Project Iceworm, which aimed to install a vast network of nuclear missile launch sites that could target the Soviet Union. However, the instability of the ice sheet made launching nuclear weapons from this base too dangerous, leading the US to eventually scrap the whole idea. Now, as tensions around the world rise, President Trump has reignited America's decades-old claim to Greenland, saying that the US needs full control of the Danish territory for national security reasons. After the discovery of this frozen outpost, Trump upped the ante on his plans to purchase Greenland from Denmark, warning that he won't rule out using military force to take the island - and Camp Century. 'I don't rule it out,' Trump said in an interview that aired during the May 4 episode of Meet the Press. 'I don't say I'm going to do it, but I don't rule out anything.' 'We need Greenland very badly,' the president added. 'Greenland is a very small amount of people, which we'll take care of, and we'll cherish them, and all of that. But we need that for international security.' The rediscovery of Camp Century is also giving the world a reminder of how serious the US government was about keeping Greenland in its possession for more than two decades. While there are only about 150 US troops stationed at Pituffik Space Base today, there used to be 10,000 soldiers across 17 bases living in Greenland during the Cold War. The US took over Greenland's defense during World War II and then tried to buy it for $100 million in 1946. Although Denmark turned down the offer, the US refused to withdraw their troops after the war. The stalemate led to a 1951 treaty with Denmark that allowed the US military to stay and build bases in Greenland. That deal is still in effect today. At Camp Century, the military built the underground base to house 600 medium-range ballistic missiles as tensions with the Soviet Union reached a boiling point. The facility's infrastructure now lies at least 100 feet below the surface of the ice sheet. Previous radar imaging of the area found nothing more than a 'blip,' but the new map revealed 3D structures that aligned with the design and structure of the forgotten nuclear site. The US took over Greenland's defense during World War II and then tried to buy it for $100 million in 1946. Although Denmark turned down the offer, the US refused to withdraw their troops after the war Camp Century is a US military base built in 1959 that consists of a network of 21 tunnels but just below the surface of the ice sheet ice, spanning a total length of 9,800 feet Greene's 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. The scientist'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. 'In the new data, individual structures in the secret city are visible in a way that they've never been seen before,' Greene said in a statement. NASA used this data to map the structure of the lost base, and they appeared to match historical records of Camp Century's planned layout. Camp Century was one of the first facilities to be powered by a portable nuclear reactor, which supplied electricity and heat. When the camp was abandoned, the reactor was removed and its hazardous waste buried. The remaining infrastructure was left to be enveloped in layers of ice and snow. Greenland's strategic importance to the US stems from its geographic position and resources, making it a key asset for national security, economic interests, and geopolitical influence. The Danish territory's vast reserves of rare earth minerals, oil, and gas further boost its economic value. President Trump has focused on acquiring natural resources in his global dealings - including a reported rare earth minerals deal in Ukraine. Additionally, the island hosts Pituffik Space Base, which supports missile defense, space surveillance, and Arctic operations. According to the Trump Administration, controlling Greenland would secure these assets, counter growing Russian and Chinese influence in the Arctic, and bolster US and NATO dominance in the region. The information about Camp Century and its nuclear capabilities, specifically related to Project Iceworm, remained a secret until 1997. President Trump has not made mention of trying to if the US gains control of the island.
Newsweek
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Newsweek
Map Shows US Nuclear Base Hidden Under Greenland's Ice Since Cold War
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. NASA scientists have rediscovered an abandoned U.S. nuclear base buried beneath Greenland's ice sheet since the Cold War. During a research flight over the Arctic Circle last spring, the team detected a vast network of tunnels and structures hidden deep within the ice. The site was later identified as Camp Century, a military outpost built as part of Project Iceworm—a secret Pentagon project which aimed to build nuclear-missile launch sites beneath the ice that could target the Soviet Union, the Wall Street Journal reported. Scientists were testing a new radar system designed to scan deep beneath the ice, and what initially appeared to be remnants of a lost civilization turned out to be the Cold War-era military base. Why It Matters The rediscovery is a reminder of the extent of U.S. involvement and its presence in Greenland, the Journal reported. President Donald Trump is on a quest to acquire the vast, resource-rich island—a development which has faced significant criticism. He said in March he would seize the autonomous Danish territory "one way or another" and hasn't ruled out using military force to do so. What To Know Radar scans revealed an extensive network of ice-buried tunnels stretching approximately 9,800 feet—remnants of the once-secret U.S. military outpost known as Camp Century. Partially constructed in 1959 during the height of the Cold War, Camp Century was abandoned in 1967 as Greenland's shifting ice sheet was too unstable to support the envisioned underground network of ballistic missile launchers. Today, the base lies entombed beneath at least 100 feet of ice. Per a 1951 treaty with Denmark, the U.S. is able to build military installations in Greenland. At its peak during the Cold War, Washington had 17 military base across the island with about 10,000 troops. That presence has since shrunk to about 200 troops at just one U.S.-operated military outpost—the Pituffik Space Base. Trump has doubled down on his desire to seize the 57,000 resident island. The president has argued that Greenland's status poses a growing national security concern as Russia and China, who have ramped up their presence in the Arctic Circle, may attempt to access its mineral resources. Last week, Reuters reported, citing two officials familiar with the matter, that the U.S. will look at offering Greenland a special status that can loop the island into the U.S. sphere of influence. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has said that "Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders." Greenland's Prime Minister Mute Egede has echoed that sentiment, adding that use of the island's territory was "Greenland's business." "Greenland is ours. We are not for sale and will never be for sale. We must not lose our long struggle for freedom," Egede told Reuters in December. What People Are Saying NASA scientist Chad Greene, who was part of the team to make the discovery last spring, said: "It's like flying over another planet, and it's hard to imagine anyone or anything ever being able to survive there." Vice President JD Vance said during a visit to Greenland in March: "Our message to Denmark is very simple. You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland. "Denmark has not kept pace in devoting the resources necessary to keep this base, to keep our troops, and in my view to keep the people of Greenland safe from a lot of aggressive incursions from Russia, from China, and from other nations. "Why does Greenland matter so much? We know that Russia and China and other nations are taking an extraordinary interest in Arctic passageways, Arctic naval routes, and in the minerals of the Arctic territories. We need to ensure America is leading in the Arctic." What Happens Next It remains unclear if, how or when the Trump administration will move to acquire Greenland.
Mint
14-05-2025
- Science
- Mint
The US nuclear base hidden under Greenland's ice for decades
While flying above the Arctic Circle last spring, a team of NASA scientists testing a new radar system over northern Greenland detected something unusual. Deep into the ice sheet, their instruments showed, sat a cluster of settlements connected by a network of tunnels, like a bygone civilization frozen in time. 'It's like flying over another planet, and it's hard to imagine anyone or anything ever being able to survive there," said NASA scientist Chad Greene, who was on the plane. What the scientists saw on their screens wasn't a lost civilization but remnants of a U.S. military base built under the ice during the Cold War. A NASA team flying over Greenland with a new radar system detected the abandoned Camp Century beneath the ice. The base was part of an ambitious and clandestine Pentagon plan, known as Project Iceworm, to build a network of nuclear-missile launch sites beneath the Arctic ice. The underground site, which was designed to store 600 medium-range ballistic missiles, reveals the extent of U.S. involvement in Greenland going back over half a century. Camp Century, as the outpost was called, was partially constructed in 1959, and abandoned in 1967 after the ice sheet was deemed too unstable to support the proposed missile-launch network. Over the years, ice accumulated and the facility is now buried under at least 100 feet of ice. The camp was known to some before the recent National Aeronautics and Space Administration overflight as an ostensible research facility, but its real military purpose was classified until 1996. Greene and his colleagues captured the first full picture of the camp in its entirety in December. More than just a relic of Cold War folly, Camp Century is a reminder of the U.S.'s longstanding presence on the Danish territory of Greenland, a position that at times has been controversial. Historically, to maintain sovereignty over Greenland, Denmark has had to relinquish part of the territory to the U.S. President Trump has gone even further. Trump has criticized Denmark for failing to adequately secure Greenland, the world's largest island, and threatened to take the territory by force in the name of American national security. The U.S. already has the right to establish bases in Greenland if it wishes to do so, according to a 1951 treaty with Denmark that enabled it to construct Camp Century, something Danish politicians have reminded Washington of publicly in recent weeks. Officials in Greenland and Denmark have attempted to fend off Trump by demonstrating they are open to an enhanced American military presence while rejecting a full U.S. takeover of the territory. At one point during the Cold War, the U.S. maintained 17 bases in Greenland, including Camp Century, and kept about 10,000 troops there. Today, the number of forces has shrunk to fewer than 200 in one base, the Pituffik Space Base, formerly known as the Thule Air Base. The presence of U.S. nuclear weapons has historically been a source of friction with Denmark. The U.S. military at the time didn't disclose Camp Century's nuclear-related purpose to Copenhagen, a self-declared nuclear-free zone. In 1968, a nuclear-armed B-52 bomber crashed near the Thule Air Base, causing the payload to rupture and disperse, leading to radioactive contamination of the sea ice. The incident led to public controversy in Denmark, as did the revelation that the U.S. stored nuclear weapons at the Thule Air Base without informing Copenhagen or Greenland. Recently, Trump's campaign to take control of Greenland, and reporting in The Wall Street Journal that the U.S. is stepping up espionage on the island, has unsettled Greenlanders, pushing them closer to Denmark. Mineral-rich Greenland has been a part of U.S. Arctic security considerations since the beginning of World War II. At the time of the German occupation of Denmark in 1940, Greenland was a Danish colony. The U.S. was concerned about the Germans occupying the island as a base for military operations closer to America. In 1941, the Danish representative to Washington, contravening directives from Copenhagen, signed a deal that transferred responsibility for Greenland's defense to the U.S. and gave Washington the right to establish bases on the island. After the end of the war, the U.S. refused Denmark's demand that it leave Greenland, and instead offered to buy it for $100 million. Denmark rejected the offer. In 1951, the Danish parliament ratified the 1941 treaty, allowing the U.S. to maintain troops on the island. 'In the 1940s Denmark learned that if you say no to the U.S., the U.S. will go ahead anyway," said Ulrik Pram Gad, senior researcher with the Danish Institute for International Studies. The Trump administration has caused fear in Greenland that this is still the case, he said. 'Denmark has been allowed to maintain sovereignty over Greenland by outsourcing some of it—security—to the U.S.," Gad said. The Pentagon publicly hailed the construction of Camp Century as an achievement of engineering, but its real purpose remained classified, even to many of the men who served there. Robert Weiss, a physician who was in his 20s in 1962 when he cut short his residency at New York's Bellevue Hospital to deploy to Camp Century, said he believed the base was merely a research station, until the Pentagon's secret plans were declassified almost 30 years ago. He says he didn't pay much attention to geopolitics, though he was aware that the base's location was strategic. 'We did realize that it was important; that the Russians could come over the top of the Pole," said Weiss, who did two tours in northern Greenland. With 21 interconnected tunnels spanning nearly 2 miles, carved directly into the ice sheet, the base was powered by a nuclear reactor that had been dragged more than 130 miles across the ice sheet. Sleeping quarters, a gym, latrines, labs and a mess hall supported about 200 military personnel. 'When I got there, it was blowing snow and minus 50 degrees," Weiss remembered. With no reason to venture outside, where there was little daylight in the winter, he would stay underground for weeks at a time. The underground caverns were reasonably warm, the food was good and beer was available in the evenings. 'It wasn't very hard living from that standpoint," he said. The harsh climate prompted jokes among the men on the base. 'We used to say that there was a pretty girl behind every tree," Weiss said. 'Of course, there was one problem: There were no trees." Only one woman, a Danish doctor, is known to have set foot on the base. It took six decades and extremely sophisticated equipment for the scale of Camp Century to be exposed. When Greene, who is a cryospheric scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, flew over northern Greenland, his team was testing a radar instrument known as UAVSAR, which can see through ice, much like a sonar penetrates water. They were hoping to map the bottom of the Greenland and Antarctic ice bed, where glaciers rest on continental bedrock kilometers below the surface of the ice, to forecast how much and how fast the sea level will rise. Weather dictates where NASA scientists fly in extreme regions such as northern Greenland, and they selected the route just before takeoff. The discovery of Camp Century happened by chance, but was a thrill of a lifetime, Greene said. 'You see how the buildings and tunnels were connected, how people had to move about in their day-to-day life, and think what a wild experience it must have been to be stationed there," he said.
