Declassified documents reveal truth behind abandoned secret US military base hidden under glacier

It sounds like something from a James Bond film, but the US military actually built a hidden base underneath a glacier.

Declassified documents have revealed the truth behind the abandoned secret base, and with the way the world's ice is melting, it's a good job it's deserted because we've seen what happens when glaciers melt too much - they get too top-heavy and flip over... although that probably wouldn't happen here for a millennia.

During the Cold War, the US constructed an underground city in Greenland on the polar ice cap, claiming that it was built for research purposes to the public and the Danish Government - because as we know from President Donald Trump's recent political endeavors, Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark.

In reality, the establishment - called Camp Century - was every conspiracy theorist's dream come true as it was actually home to a secret network of tunnels and missile silos, all connected by rail cars.

It took two years to dig hundreds of feet into the snow to create the vast structure, which was complete with everything from laboratories and offices to sleeping quarters, showers, a library and a barber shop.

However, this was doomed from the start because what the great minds behind the excursion didn't realize was that the glaciers were alive - as we all know today, they move, shrink and expand... they aren't a place to build great structures.

US military personnel creating Camp Century, the scientific research center - a front for its Cold War army base (US Army/Pictorial Parade/Archive Photos/Getty Images)

In 1960, the finishing touches were being made that would bring the nuclear reactor to use. When it was finally up and running within a few minutes there was a leak - and there are fears that that radiation would eventually leak into the ocean.

After years of fighting the ice, soldiers used electric chainsaws to force it back in tunnels that were narrowing, and with the potential of these secret missiles tipping over, officials finally called it a day on the plan and withdrew all personnel in 1966 - having shut down the nuclear reactor three years prior to that.

In 1969, a research engineer for the US Army Austin Kovacs was deployed back to the camp to undertake a survey of what he discovered was a base in ruin.

Soldiers cutting tunnels into the ice during construction of Camp Century (US Army/Pictorial Parade/Archive Photos/Getty Images)

Thanks to documents that were declassified in 1996, the world now knows the true extent of Camp Century and the incredible American ingenuity that brought it to life.

When the Army abandoned the camp back in 1966, officials believed they were leaving the tunnels behind with the assumption they would eventually become covered by ice and to never be seen again - unfortunately, they didn't account for global warming.

In 2016, scientists reported that melting ice in Greenland could result in the exposure of the base and the radioactive, toxic, human waste that remains there.

At the time, study author Mike MacFerrin said it was only a 'matter of time' before the waste would make its way to the ocean.

While just last year, during a flyover to study the ice sheet over Greenland, NASA unexpectedly captured an image of the camp.