We found a MYSTERIOUS FILM about a SECRET ARCTIC BASE ?!

In this episode of "Reel Discovery", join the Periscope Film team as they explore the story behind a mysterious reel of film marked "hands off!"
This short was directed by Greg Tillman, shot by Greg Tillman and Rogelio Abraldes, and edited by John Squire.
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Motion picture films don't last forever; many have already been lost or destroyed. For almost two decades, we've worked to collect, scan and preserve the world as it was captured on 35mm, 16mm and 8mm movies -- including home movies, industrial films, and other non-fiction. If you have endangered films you'd like to have scanned, or wish to donate celluloid to Periscope Film so that we can share them with the world, we'd love to hear from you. Contact us via the weblink below.
This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit www.PeriscopeFilm.com

[@scottward7813]

THIS, and films like this, is why PeriscopeFilms is such a treasure! Amazing

[@dcrog69]

Thank you guys for saving all the historical flims you do, and for sharing them with the world.

[@karstendoerr5378]

Without having watched the video, I'm guessing Camp Century. Camp Century is an abandoned United States military base in Greenland. It is located 240 km (149 miles) east of the US Thule Air Base and was built at the end of 1958 as part of Project Iceworm. What was special about this camp? The camp had a nuclear reactor to supply energy. However, this was taken away after the camp was abandoned.

[@Nilboggen]

Was it taken away? I kind of remember this being one our lost reactors and it still being somewhere under the ice but I could be remembering that wrong. Its hard to find much information on Camp Century.

[@marqsee7948]

@@Nilboggen Wikipedia, Camp Century, Project Iceworm, links.

[@keithleavitt8854]

Not a chance we abandoned an underground base being run by a nuclear reactor....but, it is easier to fool people than it is to convince them they are being fooled.

[@Nilboggen]

@@marqsee7948 oh my bad yeah from the wiki it was the radioactive waste that's still there not the reactor itself. "When the camp was decommissioned in 1967, its infrastructure and waste were abandoned under the assumption they would be entombed forever by perpetual snowfall. A 2016 study found that the portion of the ice sheet covering Camp Century will start to melt by 2100, if current trends continue.[12] When the ice melts, the camp's infrastructure, as well as remaining biological, chemical and radioactive waste, will re-enter the environment and potentially disrupt nearby ecosystems. This includes 200,000 liters of diesel, PCBs and radioactive waste."

[@outlawedTV88]

@@Nilboggen believing wiki won't help you ever

[@rupertmiller9690]

That's it? Already known, not much of a secret, not lost at ll.

[@thomasparisi5333]

This was a letdown :(

[@MLaker221]

I waited for this premiere last week and I think it postponed, lol

[@caseytebo7147]

I’m pretty sure periscope has videos about camp century

[@caseytebo7147]

Total let down

[@robert-trading-as-Bob69]

You're missing the point here. It may not be a secret anymore, thanks to the internet and at least 40 years going by, but when the film was taken, it was secret.

[@Michael89312]

I seen a documentary about Camp Century and the thing that I always remember is their mascot dog, a Siberian Husky called 'Mukluk'. They kept the people company out there in the snow while they worked! 😊

[@videodistro]

I figured this was about Camp Century. There is a film the US military produced about it as sort of a cover. It certainly wasn't "lost". There are various copies available to watch on KZbin. Not really new. Sorry, guys. However, you may have other footage, perhaps some b-roll or unused film from the original shoots.

[@DismantleHAARP]

I'll come back in a week

[@rumpstatefiasco]

Very cool! If a guy named R.J. MacReady shows up, keep an eye out for any strange behaviors among the crew.

[@e1m1heretic49]

Operation Avalanche was filmed in that dome.

[@curtwuollet2912]

Looks like a radome to me.

[@_MaxHeadroom_]

Ah yes, Project Iceworm

[@estebanc1714]

"Hands off? Hands On!!!" Thanks for watching :)

[@PeriscopeFilm]

Good one!

[@showaltermicro]

Thank you for showing some of this- I look for my father in all the Project Ice worm clips- he was there as a water pump engineer for the US Army.

[@showaltermicro]

Made drinking water and water for the reactor for the base

[@martinschneider7130]

I saw a 45 min docu about camp century. Because it was on danish territory, US invited a danish man, just gratuated in high school, to participate. The goal was more than science. The goal was, to test, whether a missile base in greenland could be done. In a periscope film I saw, that in 1947 in McMurdo antarctica seabees installed a nuclear reactor for heating and desalification of seawater.

[@HE-pu3nt]

You guy's haven't heard of project Iceworm? I was reading about that 30 years ago. As for that strange structure. Note that the view port stands proud of the structure, so it's probably a very thick view port. Like the ones used in radiation hot cells. The structure looks like the US militaries small power reactors. An off shoot of the failed SL-1 reactor concept.

[@raffriff42]

The 'view port' is maybe where a pipe will be installed later.

[@ericshellhamer9847]

My dad was a camera man in the Army in the 50s and 60s. He did camera work on the series called “The Big Picture” The one story he tells me is this. He was stationed in Berlin in the early 60s. The CIA wanted film on certain buildings in East Germany. They created a fake civilian movie crew. They got access into areas he couldn’t as a soldier. He had a special movie camera that would film at an angle. He would be pointing the camera at the actors but would be filming something to his left or right instead.

[@cjpenning]

Check Alamy. Radar dome, Greenland. Exact same thing.

[@ZIGZAGBureauofInvestigation]

🎯

[@LurkerAnonymous]

I knew about it. They had to remove the reactor because it allegedly started leaking, if I remember correctly.

[@michaelscheel9533]

I think Denmark Parliament caught wind of the reactor and raised hell it being there.

[@jm_c2440]

Only 'mystery' here is if these guys are shopping around a premise for a series. Creating characters and personalities, a slow predictable build-up and then the unmemorable reveal. 'Lost Film Hunters?' 'Treasure of Cinema?' Whatever the case, just stick with what you do so remarkably well --- salvagiing and making available media that would otherwise be wholly forgotten.

[@markjh2005]

Smacks of "Pawn Stars" or "Curse of Oak Island"

[@Excelcior58]

Very well said! Maybe they will do film barn find episodes and storage wars crossovers...Eww .

[@michaeldineenSG2018]

Periscope film what ever happened to all the elementary and junior high and high school reel to reel films they taught us making us watch in school in science and health class. Any idea on where to obtain?

[@tallboyyyy]

A lot of school systems sold off their 16mm film libraries about 20 years ago. People bought up the films at school auctions and put them on EBay. I bought a lot of old educational films on EBay back then. I have a closet full of films. Over 100. You can still get them but it's not like it was when the school systems were dumping their films.

[@PeriscopeFilm]

We were just in Tacoma picking up hundreds of 16mm educational films! Just this weekend !! Crazy coincidence lol

[@michaeldineenSG2018]

@@PeriscopeFilm Thank you PF for your continued dedication to this field. These are treasures. I am a pretty big researcher in the Vietnam War and and love all Vietnam War reels. Especially the stuff on Plei Me and Ia Drang Valley battles. Thank you so much. Is there any way to email you guy's.

[@PeriscopeFilm]

Yes you can contact us via www.periscopefilm.com and contact(at)PeriscopeFilm(dotcom)

[@dave4882]

I'm thinking radar dome. White to blend into the snow.

[@nlpnt]

I'm amazed at how few views this has gotten!

[@barto4678]

It's because it doesn't start until Sunday morning

[@DismantleHAARP]

Must be getting millions of views because of the hesitation to publish​@@barto4678

[@zebfox011]

I'm amazed that the video itself says it was posted 36 minutes ago and your comment says 2 days ago!😂

[@nlpnt]

@@zebfox011 They must've reuploaded with the comments intact.

[@martyspargur5281]

It's so cool to see some faces and a quick look at your setup! I always imagined that you guys kept these films in some kind of refrigerated storage. Please just ignore anyone who can't go with the flow if you give us a little backstory; your whole channel is about whatever is on the reel that day anyway. This is hardly a reason to unsubscribe, just think of all the cool stuff that's still undiscovered! Not everyone has heard of this operation, THANKS! The "Hands Off" is probably just an example of the "Loose lips sink ships" mentality that prevailed during the War.

[@PeriscopeFilm]

If you haven't seen it already check out: kzbin.info/www/bejne/r5mtenyerdOalaM

[@helenel4126]

I'm glad you're scanning these. Film is very fragile and can catch on fire at the slightest provocation.

[@raffriff42]

Nitrate film is like that, but all film made after the 1940s is Acetate or 'Safety' film.

[@fredwood1490]

Not only have I heard about that base, I heard about it back then! It was in the news reels. Strangely enough, Denmark didn't know about it, we kept it from them but it was in the news reels here in the US. (Greenland is a territory of Denmark.) Parts of it turned up lately, it was dug into a glacier and the glacier moved, tore up the base and it was abandoned, leaving lots of equipment behind, not the nuclear reactor though. Denmark knows about it now and they are pissed, we lied to them about it. Ah, yes, the good old days!

[@marcussweden8521]

There are LOTS of movies about it on KZbin....

[@aaronatherton7431]

Do you have a Catalog so I can look up subjects?

[@arseh0lio]

❤Where's the link for the film?🏴❤️🇺🇸💥🎉🥳

[@roberttudor455]

Fascinating !!!! ... BTW Estefan is sitting on a Herman Meller Mirra chair which i sell lol

[@sjhoff]

Yes, so secret that they used the level 11 security deterrent of writing hands off in magic marker on the can. C'mon.

[@THE-X-Force]

When do we get to see it?

[@badgerpa9]

Camp Century is pretty neat, hopefully your video shows new information. The reactor is still there, people often say it was removed but the reactor is still a contention between Denmark and the USA government. Greenland is part of the kingdom of Denmark. The USA had options to buy it in the past but never did.

[@karstendoerr5378]

No, the reactor was dismantled and taken away when the camp was abandoned. What is still there is biological waste, nuclear waste, diesel and PCBs.

[@badgerpa9]

@@karstendoerr5378 denmark says it is still there and has pictures from 1970s when there was a warm season and things melted.

[@SteveBueche1027]

Why were the others deleted?

[@kiwibonsai2355]

From memory the Americans didn't have permission for the reactor. Sad world when you can't even TRUST your allies. Being a New Zealander the Rainbow Warrior incident has made me question intent. In my 50 years politicians seems to only work for the lobbyists.

[@LurkerAnonymous]

Take me to your Leader o/

[@joshuagibson2520]

Good to see y'all.

[@freeskier175]

My friends father was part of this. He had some stories.

[@onemoreguyonline7878]

I may not watch most of your videos, but these absolute gems come along and I have to enjoy every moment. Thank you

[@PeriscopeFilm]

Thanks so much ... glad you have found our channel!

[@Pembroke.]

I heard about this years ago and saw the film when I was in the military, which appears to be powered by nuclear energy

[@user-vl5wk1nx2f]

where is the film i want see it

[@michaelscheel9533]

Centrury 21 with Walter Conkrite did a video in the ealy 60's. Obviously you never saw Happy Days. After Ron Howard left the show his character was drafted and sent to Camp Century.

[@Marciadasilvagarcia64]

Read about it in popular mechanics 1956.

[@pangroszek3498]

It is not a mistery. I saw film about it. Probably on YT.

[@brokennib1]

Actually reminds me of the SL-1 reactor accident in the 60's that was part of an experimental program for basically a simple reactor to set up for the military, etc. Wonder if this is related?

[@deanmyers453]

old story,,where you been

[@So-CalNevAri82]

Wowsers, cool

[@michaelmaccini]

You guys are great!

[@neves5083]

Super cool

[@kellysnipe9586]

Sounds interesting! "The Secret Land" is already on KZbin. This is a color film produced by the US Navy back in the 1940s or 50s, about an expedition to the South Pole. Narrated by actors Robert Taylor and Van Heflin, both ex Navy. Lots of strange rumors about that expedition.....secret arctic ufo bases and such...nazi bases too. The Admiral who oversaw the expedition was eventually confined to a mental institution, and wound up jumping from a 5th floor window.

[@TravisLee33]

I tried to check your claims but couldn't find anything. There was Admiral James Forrester who jumped out of a 16-ft window at a mental care facility. However, I couldn't find anything stating that he was involved in this expedition.

[@videodistro]

Wrong. This is about Camp Century in Greenland. There is a wide spread film the US military did about Cano Century all over youtube. It is NOT in the antarctic.

[@kellysnipe9586]

@@videodistro You misunderstood my remark. I wasn't saying that Periscope's new film was the same as "The Secret Land". I was merely contributing to the conversation by pointing out another similar themed film that viewers may not have been aware of.

[@kellysnipe9586]

@@TravisLee33 If you watch the film "The Secret Land", which is an official Navy film, you'll see James Forrestal at the very beginning, sitting behind his desk and introducing the film. He was Secretary of the Navy at the time.

[@TravisLee33]

@@kellysnipe9586 Thanks for the clarification.

[@onedayiwillmakesomecontent]

Thanks for the behind the scenes! Keep up the good work!

[@clickbaitcharlie2329]

Camp century?😊

[@joepeanut6827]

There is a video about this on youtube from several years ago. I don't remember the title but this not a new video.

[@apollorobb]

Good to finally see an inside view of what you guys do . Been watching for a long time this was really cool

[@frankwrenchman4573]

Interesting

[@michaelbyrnee9584]

Are you sure it is not a radar dome?

[@MCW1955]

Best line. Hands off? Hands on!!!

[@SleepingSoldier]

Interesting.

[@joshcoe]

free!

[@ConradSzymczak]

I would like a copy of this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@3isr3g3n]

Your work is invaluable. Thank you so much.

[@PeriscopeFilm]

You're very welcome!

[@ScoutCrafter]

Who was the genius who thought putting your watermark across every upload was a good idea?

[@PeriscopeFilm]

Here's the issue: Tens of thousands of films have been lost forever -- destroyed -- and many others are at risk. Our company preserves these precious bits of history one film at a time. How do we afford to do that? By selling them as stock footage to documentary filmmakers and broadcasters. If we did not have a counter, we could not afford to post films like these online, and no films would be preserved. It's that simple. So we ask you to bear with the watermark and timecodes. In the past we tried many different systems including placing our timer at the bottom corner of our videos. What happened? Unscrupulous KZbin users downloaded our vids, blew them up so the timer was not visible, and re-posted them as their own content! We had to use content control to have the videos removed and shut down these channels. It's hard enough work preserving these films and posting them, without having to spend precious time dealing with policing thievery -- and not what we devoted ourselves to do. Love our channel and want to support what we do? You can help us save and post more orphaned films! Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/PeriscopeFilm Even a really tiny contribution can make a difference.

[@YrHmblSrvnt]

The dome is a standard military-issue dish-antenna cover. I've seen them in white, olive, and black. McMurdo's (Antarctica) weather office had two; one for the RAWIN antenna (tracking weather balloons) and one for their weather satellite antenna. Stations built on the Greenland and Antarctic icecaps get buried by drifting snow. Camp Century and Byrd Station were similar attempts to get around this by building giant trenches and roofing them over. This didn't work either, since the movement of the ice (like a glacier) and human activity eventually deforms the trench and it becomes unusable. Modern camps are ski equipped and moved periodically, or put up on stilts to enable the drifting snow to pass harmlessly by. Sorry, no clickbait or CONSPIRACY THEORY to your film at all. "Hands off" simply means "I'm watching, so don't steal my reel."

[@PeriscopeFilm]

Well -- we're pretty sure that the "Hands Off" was written on the reel because the entire operation was restricted. While it is now well known, at the time this footage was shot it would have almost certainly been considered a national security item.

[@setbos5385]

Too much tease not enough tea

[@RVA1954]

That’s really cool! Looking forward to seeing THAT video. I know nothing about what it takes to do what you guys do, but when I see how you discover these things I am very envious! Keep up the good work. I enjoy your videos very much! THANKS

[@ZIGZAGBureauofInvestigation]

Its a 12 Man undersea Diving Bell for the exploration /Journey to remnants of a mutant five-millennia-old Sumerian civilization living beneath arctic ocean crust .

[@samiam619]

Time for you to start taking your Meds again or stop using the stuff you were going to sell

[@ZIGZAGBureauofInvestigation]

@@samiam619Thank u Mutant

[@jefferyrightmire9520]

The sphere is a radome, to cover a radar antenna.

[@blueseptember314]

When it says “hands off,” of course it must be watched! 👍🏻

[@zukowski2023]

Thank You, to you guys and your staff for doing what you love to do, saving old films like this and so many more. They will serve as time capsule into our past and no doubt be great research material for younger generations. As a member of the National film Board of Canada, it's great to be able to search topics and find films covering those topics from the lens of "then". Thank You again.

[@PeriscopeFilm]

Yes we love NFB films -- wish USA had a similar institution. Thanks for the comment and for being a sub.

[@snarky_user]

arCtic

[@Dr.Stein99]

Thank you for providing something truely motivational for me to focus my undivided attention to. You have successfully reatored my faith in online streaming media. Grateful to be a loyal viewer. : ). Due, keep on? Yes. Let the keepin' on begin.

[@PasleyAviationPhotography]

I appreciate the sentiment but your earlier stuff was just you selling publicly archived films for profit. So don't go around claiming to be doing gods work.

[@videodistro]

Its perfectly legal and moral to sell archival film that has been altered or restored. Get over it.

[@cluistube]

I like the idea of you guys doing this, but the pawn stars vibe is an immediate no from me. Just be yourselves.

[@ArdentlyGrant]

there are several copies of a black and white documentary shot by the US army on KZbin discussing and presenting camp Central. in fact, if I had the bet on it I thought I saw it on this channel to begin a few years ago. in any case camp century was cover operation for project iceworm, hundreds possibly thousands, of miles of tunnels and it's transport intercontinental ballistic missiles underneath the eyes around Greenland without ever telling Denmark about it. Denmark owns Greenland. That's the more interesting angle of this story

[@ZZ_The_Boxing_Cat]

You know they don't want us up there for a reason. Thx for all your videos.

[@Arsenic71]

The Germans only built bases on the far side of the moon, not in the Arctic.

[@BattleTested]

Quick get the geiger counter!

[@fluke196c]

beyond disappointing. should have just posted the video. not your fake banter.

[@unexpectedvistas6198]

This was way too much clickbait. Sorry guys, but i do not believe you have not heard of this before. That's an unsub from me.

[@silverhammer7779]

What the government tells us about isn't anywhere near as interesting as what they DON'T tell us. Keep digging, guys...inquiring minds want to KNOW! 💯

[@mattcolumbia7948]

Don't become the history channel.

[@Antichristlamic]

Your older videos which were military stock footage showed much more interesting aspects of Antarctica to the watchful 👁️.

[@PeriscopeFilm]

Okay -- but FYI this takes place in the arctic not the Antarctic.