Clip from Third Pod from the Sun Centennial Episode 4: Toxic city under the ice

University of Colorado Boulder glaciologist Mike MacFerrin takes us on a tour of the DYE2 station, one of two large radar stations in south Greenland that were part of the U.S.'s DEW line during the Cold War. The DEW line, or Distant Early Warning System, consisted of multistory buildings with a large, rotating radar dish on top that monitored for any Soviet invasion of the poles, either through missiles or airplanes or anything of the sort.

Most of the original DEW stations were deactivated in 1988, as satellites were rendering them obsolete and maintenance costs were rising. DYE2 was abandoned in just one day, and everything was left behind, just as it was. In this video, Mike describes his visit to DYE2 in 2013.

Listen to more episodes on AGU's YouTube channel or at thirdpodfromthesun.com.

Photos by Mike MacFerrin and Karin Alley.
Video produced by Lauren Lipuma at AGU.

Transcript
Mike MacFerrin: There are still two large radar stations in south Greenland that were part of the U.S.'s DEW line during the Cold War,
the Detection Early Warning System. One of them, I've been inside numerous times, you can still walk into it. It was abandoned one day in 1988. This is the DYE2 Station on the ice. And everything was left behind, same as Camp Century. You walk in there, there's still eggs in the fridge, there's canned goods on the shelves
Lauren Lipuma: No way.
Mike MacFerrin: There's flowers on the table.
Lauren Lipuma: No way! What do the flowers look like?
Mike MacFerrin: Well, the flowers, they were fake. When you first see them, you're like, “Wow, those are in really good shape 30 years later,” and then you realize they're nylon. But yeah, there's still books on the shelves and magazines in the rooms.
Lauren Lipuma: That's crazy.
Mike MacFerrin: And it's really creepy walking around, the paint's peeling off the walls. And you're like, if anywhere was haunted, this would be it.