Nasa researchers have found again a long-hidden “town” encased under 100ft of ice, 58 years after it was vacated as a U.S. facility amidst the Cold War era.
Camp Century, established in 1959 in the northwest of Greenland, was intended to be a clandestine launch location for ballistic missiles aimed at the Soviet Union, though it was never finalized.
As the ice began to encroach upon the location, the United States abandoned the initiative and left the camp—which had the potential to develop into 33 facilities—to succumb gradually to natural elements.
This all changed when NASA scientist Chad Greene, in collaboration with agency expert Alex Gardner, flew over Greenland in April of this year to examine ice sheets and project future sea level increases.
“Our goal was to locate the bottom of the ice, and then Camp Century emerged,” recalled Mr. Gardner, noting how their radar-detecting instruments seemed to correspond with tunnels constructed within the base.
“Initially, we were uncertain about what we were observing,” Mr. Gardner further remarked.
A flight above the ice came upon the hidden city. Pic: NASA
Although the existence of this base has been recognized for years and detected on earlier occasions, NASA declared that the new mapping illustrates the structures “in a manner that has never been presented before”.
Officially, Camp Century was established to evaluate construction methods under ice, yet the actual agenda was highly classified—creating a concealed launch site as a contingency against Soviet hostilities.
Abandoned in 1966, the remnants that the U.S. left behind—an estimated 200,000 liters of diesel fuel and wastewater—has sparked controversy regarding cleanup efforts.
A thermal drill at Camp Century during the 1960s. Pic: National Archives
Greenland has formerly urged Denmark—which governs the territory—to assume accountability, claiming the Danes were part of the initial agreement.
Near the conclusion of his initial term, president-elect Donald Trump expressed an interest in purchasing Greenland from Denmark, characterizing it as “essentially a significant real estate opportunity”.
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Possibilities of Greenland being ice-free in the past
As the Greenlandic ice sheet melts, the terrain underneath might uncover gold, rubies, diamonds, copper, olivine, marble, and oil.
This melting signifies that previously inaccessible energy and mineral resources are becoming more reachable—but climate change-fueled sea level rise remains an escalating threat to coastal populations globally.
