It was over a decade ago when we, the Morcans, began researching the many unusual and unexplained events that have occurred in Greenland throughout its colorful history. Events that have fueled many a conspiracy theory.
The results of our research are included in a chapter titled ‘Greenland aka Conspiracyland’ in our book The Orphan Conspiracies. It’s interesting that at least one of the conspiracy theories (Thulegate) is now rightly referred to as conspiracy fact.
Thulegate would have to be one of Greenland’s most intriguing conspiracy theories, which is appropriate because it’s centered on Thule Air Base (now Pituffik Space Base) that just happens to be the US Air Force’s northernmost base located as it is above the Arctic Circle in Greenland’s northwest.
Then home to the 21st Space Wing’s space surveillance and missile warning sensors, the base has attracted its share of controversy – as has Thule itself with conspiracy theories dating back to ancient times.
The location’s name itself is shrouded in mystery. Various interpretations of Thule have confused it with other northern destinations including Iceland and Scandinavia, and in medieval times Thule was associated with distant places beyond the known world. So, it’s ripe for conspiracy theories, mired as it is in ancient mythology.
Thulegate relates to the documented January 1968 crash of an American B-52 nuclear bomber on the ice sheet near the Thule Air Base. Apparently, the bomber was carrying four nuclear warheads, which the Pentagon maintained were destroyed in the crash. However, a Daily Mail report (updated on November 11, 2008 in its Mail Online site) debunks this, confirming what conspiracy theorists had speculated all along – that one or more of the warheads hadn’t been destroyed.
The report stated, “…the carrying of nuclear weapons over Danish territory was kept secret, according to the BBC investigation…One of the missions went wrong and a bomber crashed into the ice a few miles from the air base.
“A declassified US government video, obtained by the BBC, documents the clear-up and gives some idea of the scale of the operation.”
Political science academic Scott Sagan postulated that “If the aircraft had crashed into Thule Air Base, the missile early warning system and the redundant warning aircraft would have been knocked out simultaneously, potentially leading NORAD to conclude incorrectly that a nuclear attack had started.”
Other Greenland conspiracy theories covered in this book include: Project Iceworm, the Thule Society, Korean War vets, alien artifacts and The Hollow Theory.
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The Orphan Conspiracies: 29 Conspiracy Theories from The Orphan Trilogy is available as an audiobook courtesy of Amazon’s Audible initiative. (Listening time: 13hrs. 44mins.).
The paperback version of this book is available from Harvard Book Store, Barnes & Noble, Waterstones UK & Europe bookstores, Amazon and via public libraries…
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Morcan Books & Films 