At this moment, we are at an altitude of 1,300 meters, and rising - while we are on our way to today's exploration.
On the highest mountain massif in northern Sardinia, a formerly secret US military base is located.
In the past, locals have told many rumors and stories about this place which have endured to this day.
We are here to find out the truth.
This is a place where the ghost of the Cold War is still present today.
Join us as we travel back in time to declassify the past!
Help us realize more and bigger projects by pledging on Patreon and getting rewards in return.
These once classified premises are secluded and exposed, so the view from up here is stunning.
But it can be even better - from the top of these enormous dishes.
What looks like you could make contact with extraterrestrials with it, is actually a relay station.
Data was received here and then retransmitted to the next station far away.
This allowed communication over long distances.
It was put into service by the US Air Force in the 1960s - at a strategic location,
directly in the center of the Mediterranean world.
This was basically their main hub for controlling radio communications in that region.
During the Cold War relaying information across countries safely and fast was crucial.
A secret military project should make this happen.
Together with NATO, the US had built a network of communication hubs across the global West
that used new technology to connect each other.
The keyword here is "troposcatter".
We will show you how this works with a simple animation.
Classified info like phone calls or other intel are transmitted with microwaves and beamed up into the air.
They bounce off the so-called troposphere, which is the lowest part of our atmosphere - thus the name troposcatter.
Back on Earth, the signal reaches a receiving site.
Every hub used two sets of dishes - one for receiving, and one for broadcasting to the next one.
This so-called "tropospheric scattering" has a huge advantage, which is also why it is partly used still today.
For communicating, these stations do not need a line of sight.
Since the signal bounces off the atmosphere, the hubs can be secluded or hidden in the mountains.
They also can be hundreds of kilometers away from one another.
But during the Cold War, there was also another massive benefit for the military: This technology was safe.
Signals could only be received in one spot, so it was basically impossible to intercept.
To have a camping site with a view, we drive down to the barracks.
Although it is an Italian summer night, it is cold up here in the mountains.
Before we go to sleep, we feast.
We will need that extra energy tomorrow when we get up at first light.
Alright, allow us a brief digression.
For more than 40 years, the Cold War raged between both superpowers, the Soviet Union and the US.
Officially, this war was never declared, but that did not diminish its dangerous nature:
Several times, the world came close to the brink of a nuclear abyss.
So, NATO installed an internationally connected early warning system:
A formerly top-secret long-range communications program.
Code name: ACE-High, short for "Allied Command Europe Highband".
Dating back to the 1950s, this was basically a troposcatter network
starting from the north of Europe, leading south all the way to Italy, then to Greece and Turkey -
so, almost 7,000 kilometers along the border of the USSR were covered.
To our understanding, the USAF base in Sardinia we are exploring in this video
was not part of ACE-High but of another network.
Anyway, the idea was to use these systems to coordinate a counterstrike in the event of an attack -
because tropospheric scattering has another huge advantage we have not yet talked about:
Communicating with it is still possible even after atomic weapons are deployed.
But since nuclear warfare never happened and the Cold War ended,
these facilities became useless - and most of them have never undergone repurposing.
In our past videos, we have already documented two of these ACE-High relics, both explored in 2018.
For the links to these episodes check out the video description.
But now, it is time to wake up.
In fact, in clear weather, you can see the coast from here, and sometimes even Corsica.
But today is not such a day.
For 30 years now, this military site has been lying idle.
The last transmissions made by the large parabolic antennas were linked to the First Gulf War.
But with the rise of satellite communication, the compound became outdated.
The US sold the premises to the Italian Ministry of Defense.
Then, in 2008, it was passed into civilian administration.
But none of them had any plans for the site.
So, today, it is just forgotten.
What remains are plundered buildings, flaking paint, and rust - a lot of rust.
Most of the rooms are completely stripped.
You need quite an imagination today to find out the original purposes of the structures.
Next to workshops and warehouses, there were sleeping quarters, a kitchen, bar, and cinema, but also a power plant.
There are four marine diesel engines still left behind, probably used as power generators.
According to a press release from half a decade ago,
the municipality was thinking about re-naturalizing the whole area and restoring the original landscape -
but opinions are still divided as to who should pay for it.
Hazardous materials are among the debris that endangers the environment and would cost a fortune to remove.
So, it is cheaper to just forget that this place even exists.
And yet, this place was not completely forgotten.
The antennas on top of the mountain were turned into one of Sardinia's most important broadcast transmitters for TV and radio.
While only classified intel was sent from here in the past,
today, everyone can receive the signals from the once top-secret military base.
The Cold War is over - and relics like this help us to remember
the times when the world came too close to the brink of a nuclear abyss.
Let us learn from that past!
Okay, let's bounce.
We have shown you the interesting parts of this compound and told you the history.
And of course, there are way more stories we could tell.
Since this is an US radar base, there are the obligatory rumors and conspiracy theories
about mind control, secret experiments - and all of that stuff, you name it.
However, for the real creepypasta, we need to drive down to the valley.
In a bigger town nearby, there is an overgrown villa that the locals give a wide berth - for good reason.
But we will spare you the nightmares until the next episode.
Our summer holidays are over!
Well, it was not really a holiday since we were out exploring basically the whole time -
but we did not upload much to our channel.
That will change now.
We are focusing on editing again!
We have a huge backlog, so keep an eye out for new uploads.
Definitely stay curious, and keep exploring!