Explorers Find Abandoned NATO Military Bases in Italy

Written by Fabio Lucas Carvalho

Published on 13/01/2025 at 13:17

Updated on 13/01/2025 at 13:18

Foto: Reprodução

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Urban Explorers Discovered NATO Military Bases Built During the Cold War, Completely Abandoned in Italy

In 1956, NATO began developing an early warning system against potential attacks from the USSR and its satellite countries. This system was named Allied Command Europe Highband, or simply ACE High.

At that time, communication satellites as we know them today did not exist, and the network used a UHF tropospheric scatter system. This technology allowed signals to travel beyond the horizon, creating an advanced infrastructure for the standards of the era.

One of the centers of this network, located on the island of Cephalonia in Greece, was deactivated in 1996 when the system became obsolete.

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Explorers Publish Video

Today, the YouTube channel Okos, known for exploring abandoned places, published an impressive video. In it, a group of Spanish explorers enters two old NATO bases, whose location remains secret.

One of them, as shown in the video, was a communication center of the ACE High network. Despite the state of abandonment, the facilities reveal fascinating details of the operation of this communication system.

The abandoned bases, however, are not only intriguing. They also pose a significant health risk to the explorers.

In one of the locations, the presence of asbestos and fungi reached alarming levels. Therefore, the explorers used personal protective equipment to minimize the dangers.

The captured images impress with the grandeur of the facilities. Extensive underground tunnels, old corridors, and rooms filled with deteriorating equipment are visible amidst the abandonment. The size of the site is a reminder of the magnitude of the efforts to maintain an active communication network during times of geopolitical tension.

Two of the parabolic antennas, located at an Italian base, also appear in the video. They were crucial in connecting ACE High stations, creating a communication network that linked northern Norway to Cyprus and southern Turkey.

These antennas, despite the wear of time, continue to impress with their structure and the role they played in one of the most critical periods of the 20th century.

The video, filmed in high quality, also highlights the more delicate details of the facilities. Each image reinforces the importance of ACE High in NATO’s military and technological history while also showing the impact of abandonment and the danger of neglecting such places.

Explorers Find Abandoned NATO Military Bases in Italy

Urban Explorers Discovered NATO Military Bases Built During the Cold War, Completely Abandoned in Italy

Explorers Publish Video

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Explorers Find Abandoned NATO Military Bases in Italy

Urban Explorers Discovered NATO Military Bases Built During the Cold War, Completely Abandoned in Italy

Explorers Publish Video

The Soviet Union spent 22 years drilling into the Earth’s crust and reached a depth of 12,262 meters — they found water where it was thought impossible, hydrogen bubbling from the rock, granite that is 2.7 billion years old, and temperatures of 180 degrees that melted the drill bits.

Gaddafi built the world’s largest artificial river under the Sahara — it’s 4,000 km of giant pipes that pump 40,000-year-old fossil water to entire cities in Libya.

A German architect built a cylindrical house in 1994 that rotates to follow the sun throughout the day, generates 5 times more energy than it consumes, and was the world’s first energy-positive house.

Two African countries will inaugurate in 4 days an 825-meter bridge suspended 90 meters high over a reservoir — it is the largest of three bridges of a megaproject that will supply millions of people.

A company that drilled for oil has drilled 4.8 kilometers of rock in Utah and found a never-ending heat of 290 degrees — now it is building the world’s first next-generation commercial geothermal power plant, with 100 MW connected to the grid in June 2026.

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