Intimidating the Russians, Putting the Public at Ease

Before the Cold War, Greenland was considered strategically important to the military. In World War II, Nazis set up weather stations in eastern Greenland while American soldiers had stations on the west coast. These Nazi weathermen were captured by the U.S. Coast Guard at several of these weather stations. The guard appears bigger than the Nazis in the photo and they seem to be intimidated by his gun.

Radar stations in the Arctic could detect and warn US bases of an enemy attack 15 minutes ahead of time. Ice tunnels would potentially provide shelter from an atomic bomb or a hiding spot for missiles. The publication of photos such as these was meant to put the American public at ease in the midst of the cold war. Perhaps such images were also meant to intimidate Russian readers.

Near Thule, this 60-foot high radar antenna, or "billboard", is about the size of a football field. These antennae are so sensitive that an orange thrown in the air in Miami could be detected in Boston - or at least that's what the military claimed!

The control center of NORAD (North American Air Defense Command) which recieves information from the various radar stations and then dispenses bombers to deal with the threat.

North America was protected by various lines of radar sensing incoming planes and missiles. This diagram shows the location of the DEW (Distant Early Warning) line amongst other radar lines and NORAD in Colorado.