Featured Image Credit: YouTube/Cloth Map
Topics: World News, YouTube
Gerrard Kaonga
A YouTuber was understandably very nervous as he explored an abandoned nuclear base that could have destroyed the world.
Humanity has seen many close calls regarding our mortality.
One possible cause of our extinction that we haven’t quite been able to shake is that nuclear war will result in our planet being nearly impossible to inhabit.
While multiple countries have access to nuclear weapons, most political philosophies have agreed that global mutually assured destruction through the use of nukes... is a bad idea.
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But there is still a fascination surrounding some of the facilities that have had the capabilities to completely reshape the world as we know it.
Podcaster and internet personality Drew Scanlon, who you might recognize from the shocked blinking guy meme, once visited an old nuke base in Ukraine and was stunned at what he found.
As part of his online travel series, Cloth Map, in 2017, he documented his visit to a decommissioned nuclear base in Ukraine.
In the footage, viewed over 1.6 million times on YouTube, his guide, Dmytro, revealed how the base was built in preparation for war. Most likely between the US and Russia.
“It was designed for 45 days. They used to have everything needed like food in the fridge and some medicine,” the guide joked.
“They used to have radio sets and a television set but what’s the use after everyone died?”
After showing Scanlon the living quarters, the guide took him into the main room, something the YouTuber told his viewers he was not prepared for.
After opening a hatch and coming inside, Dmytro said: “This is the main room, the room to destroy the world.”
Dmytro went on to explain that an operator would be sent codes from Moscow from a screen in front of them and them and another person would insert their keys and turn them at the same time.
He added this was often depicted in popular Hollywood movies, as well as a person pushing a big red button.
Dmytro said that in reality, the button is gray and when pushed, the launch sequence of a nuclear missile would then be started. He then had Scanlon enact the launch sequence and explained what was happening as the room alarm began to sound with blinking lights.
“It takes 22 minutes to nuke Washington DC. Goodbye America,” Dmytro added.
An admittedly nervous Scanlon looked at the camera and joked: "Sorry, everyone."
Thankfully it was all for show, so no apology necessary Scanlon.