Most of us have heard of Area 51, where top‑secret “flying saucers” are reportedly stored, and some claim live extraterrestrials were spotted there. Yet there’s a whole shadowy roster of lesser‑known, off‑limits sites that supposedly house equally dramatic projects. By definition, these secret installations are never openly acknowledged; officially they “don’t exist,” or their real activities differ wildly from the official story. In this roundup of the 10 alleged top secret bases, we’ll dive into each claim, layer by layer, and see just how wild the rumors get.

10 Alleged Top Secret Bases Overview

10. Base AL/499

Most of what we “know” about Base AL/499, said to sit about 60 metres (200 ft) beneath the quiet English hamlet of Peasemore in Berkshire, comes from a whistle‑blower named James Casbolt. Casbolt alleges his family boasts high‑ranking intelligence contacts and ties to the Illuminati, which allegedly placed him at birth into a covert program operating out of the underground complex, dubbed Project Mannequin.

According to his account, Project Mannequin’s primary focus is a cloning venture aimed at producing super‑soldiers, while a parallel MKULTRA‑style mind‑control stream creates highly trained assassins who are unaware even of their own missions. Though based in the United Kingdom, the operation supposedly links to similar clandestine projects in the United States, ultimately answering to the NSA.

Casbolt further claims that, while his entry was facilitated by family connections—he even says he was part of an Illuminati‑run assassination squad—many others were abducted and forced into the program as unwitting “civilian guinea pigs.”

9. Camp 13

In a recent deep‑dive on recovered alien craft, we explored the so‑called Kalahari Incident, where a downed UFO was allegedly seized by the South African military, complete with two extraterrestrials, before being handed over to U.S. partners. The story adds a twist: a third alien being was supposedly retained by South Africa and taken to a secretive base.

If there’s any grain of truth, the hidden installation that housed this third being may have been just as critical to the South African forces as the wrecked craft itself. Camp 13 is rumored to lie somewhere within the vast Kalahari Desert, though its exact coordinates remain classified. Beyond housing an alien detainee, the base is said to be a testing ground for high‑tech laser weaponry.

UFO researchers based in South Africa argue that sightings far outnumber official reports, and whispers of other similar facilities abound across the desert landscape.

8. Top Secret UFO Response Team Based In Wales

Journalist Derrick Gough contends that, as early as the 1980s, the United Kingdom and United States jointly operated a covert program out of a base tucked in Wales’s Brecon Beacons mountains. This unit allegedly focused on retrieving mutilated human bodies that had been abducted and experimented upon by alien forces.

Gough says he received startling files from a military whistle‑blower, only to endure threatening phone calls and a mysterious fire at his office after attempting to involve the police. He passed the documents to UFO investigator Tony Dodd, who later chronicled the story in his 1999 volume Alien Investigations.

Dodd’s further research suggests the Welsh site was a top‑secret UK/US venture launched under Thatcher and Reagan. The response team was on call around the clock, receiving prior alerts of incoming UFOs and their grim cargo. Their duties spanned recovering the bodies, concealing them from public view, and sealing off operational zones to keep prying eyes at bay.

7. Alien Base Off The Icelandic Coast

UFO researcher Tony Dodd also reported a surge of extraterrestrial activity along Iceland’s shoreline, prompting speculation that a covert alien base operates there, apparently under the watchful (or perhaps unwitting) protection of NATO forces.

Dodd’s sources include members of the Icelandic fishing community—often the only civilian vessels allowed near U.S. and NATO ships—as well as an anonymous Navy insider. These informants described multiple UFOs entering the sea or skimming low over the rugged coastline. The naval source claimed his crew tracked the craft’s approach and ensured a clear passage to the destination, even joining a vessel for one such encounter.

Once the craft slipped into the water, it was monitored closely, while the surrounding waters were kept free of other traffic until the mysterious visitors safely arrived at their hidden base.

6. Network Of Bases Under Denver International Airport

Despite official denials, conspiracy circles have long argued that Denver International Airport conceals a sprawling subterranean complex. Since its opening in February 1995, theories have swirled about hidden tunnels, bizarre “Illuminati‑style” symbols, and a layout that feels deliberately disorienting.

The airport’s construction costs ballooned from roughly $1.7 billion to over $5 billion, and the original design was reportedly scrapped and buried, fueling speculation about secret undertakings below the tarmac.

Researcher Alex Christopher, alongside late whistle‑blower Phil Scheinder, claimed to have accessed the underground facility, describing “human slave labor” overseen by reptilian aliens who ostensibly control the U.S. military and government. They also alleged that the cavern houses experimental labs, production lines, and even a secure area reserved for global elites—including the British royal family—to use during the forthcoming “change.”

5. Secret Base Under Rendlesham Forest

While the 1980 December Rendlesham Forest UFO incident is fairly well‑known, fewer people are aware of the alleged underground complex that supposedly lies beneath the former U.S. bases at Woodbridge and Bentwaters.

Director Daniel Simpson, who filmed the 2014 horror movie The Rendlesham UFO Incident (also known as Hangar 10) on location, recounted speaking with a property owner who rented space on the now‑private land. When they set up an internet connection, the engineer discovered cables that appeared to date back to the early 1980s. Upon closer inspection, the engineer grew frustrated, noting that the technology seemed far more advanced than anything publicly available at that time.

Simpson also stumbled upon several mysterious hatches scattered throughout the forest. Heavy lids covered ladders that plunged into absolute darkness. Local authorities dismissed them as ordinary drainage systems, yet Simpson argued they looked “highly elaborate” for such a purpose, and locals later confirmed these openings still serve as access points to the secret underground installation. In 2011, files related to the incident mysteriously vanished from the National Archive, adding another layer of intrigue.

4. The Black Pyramid Of Alaska

Alaska’s harsh, unforgiving terrain hides what many claim is an ancient black pyramid buried deep beneath the ground—one of the most bizarre alleged secret sites on the planet.

The story first surfaced in 1992 when Channel 13 Anchorage aired a segment on scientists conducting seismic recordings who believed they’d inadvertently mapped a pyramid‑shaped structure roughly 80 km (50 mi) from Denali (formerly Mount McKinley). Nothing further emerged until 2012, when a retired military veteran contacted UFO journalist Linda Moulton Howe, revealing that the pyramid was thought to be millennia‑old and designed to tap into the Earth’s natural energy.

As Howe publicized the claim, additional witnesses stepped forward. Bruce L. Pearson asserted the structure was “not made by man” and served as a secret base for studying energy harnessing. Another anonymous source claimed his father helped install a powerful electrical system inside the “dark pyramid,” reinforcing the notion of a covert, technologically advanced facility.

3. The Protected Area Of The Ross Sea

In October 2016, an international treaty designated 1.5 million sq km of the Ross Sea as a protected zone, ostensibly to preserve wildlife by banning commercial fishing. On the surface, the move seemed environmentally sound.

However, conspiracy enthusiasts argue the protection is a cover‑up for secret bases operating beneath the icy waters. They claim alien forces reside there, engaged in clandestine wars with a covert multinational human response team.

When Google Earth images resurfaced showing a crashed UFO in Antarctica surrounded by mysterious vehicles—none leaving obvious track marks—researchers began to wonder whether the official rationale for sealing off the Ross Sea was truly about conservation, or something far more enigmatic.

2. Base 211

The Third Reich officially claimed that its 1938 Antarctic expedition aimed to secure Germany’s whaling interests. Conspiracy circles, however, contend the true purpose was to contact inner‑earth beings, culminating in the creation of Base 211.

Rumors abound that Adolf Hitler fled to this hidden base in the war’s final days, later escaping to South America and allegedly living there into the 1980s. Nazi high‑command allegedly believed an ancient alien race inhabited Antarctica and even propagated the notion that they themselves descended from these extraterrestrials.

1. The Claims Of Admiral Byrd

One of the earliest and most famous secret‑base allegations dates back to 1947, when Admiral Richard Byrd allegedly reported an encounter during a flight over the North Pole. He claimed to have discovered an entrance to an inner‑earth realm, leading to a lush, green landscape and a base inhabited by mysterious beings.

Byrd supposedly held a press conference to share his findings, warning listeners that the beings could travel from the South Pole to the North Pole at astonishing speeds. Shortly after, the U.S. military allegedly ordered him “hospitalized” and barred him from any further public briefings on the matter.

Byrd also claimed to have seen aircraft bearing swastikas, fueling speculation that Nazi forces had established Base 211 and secured a communication link with an inter‑terrestrial race capable of pole‑to‑pole travel.

When you think of 10 UFO incidents over American military installations, you picture the most spine‑tingling, head‑scratching moments ever recorded. From glittering silver discs to red‑glowing saucers that apparently disabled nuclear missiles, the stories from United States Air Force bases read like a sci‑fi thriller, yet they are documented accounts that still puzzle investigators.

10 18 Silver Discs Hover Over Nellis AFB October 1951

In the autumn of 1951, deep inside Nevada’s secretive Yucca Flat—an area earmarked for nuclear testing—several service members reported spotting eighteen glittering, rotating discs hovering silently for roughly fifteen minutes. The event, kept under wraps until 1964, suffers from hazy recollections, with the exact date fluctuating between October 22 and October 30, and the sighting time ranging from 6:00 to 7:00 a.m., just before a scheduled nuclear detonation.

One primary witness, a 19‑year‑old identified only as “Mr. M,” also claimed to have seen several strange, fleeting creatures in the vicinity, which evaporated as quickly as they appeared. The metallic objects maintained a tight, soundless formation before vanishing in a matter of seconds.

Nellis Air Force Base has logged numerous UFO sightings over the decades, but this particular episode stands out, especially because a related incident would erupt more than ten years later, deepening the mystery surrounding the base’s aerial phenomena.

While the details remain sketchy due to the delayed report, the sheer number of discs and the simultaneous creature sightings make this a cornerstone case in the annals of military‑linked UFO lore.

10 UFO Incidents Overview

9 UFO Crashes In Nellis AFB April 1962

Newspaper articles from the era, coupled with later investigations by UFO researchers, reveal that an enigmatic craft plummeted onto Nellis Air Force Base on the night of April 18, 1962. The object’s journey began over the Atlantic, skimming New York, then sweeping across Kansas, Colorado, Utah, and Arizona before abruptly ending in a spectacular “brilliant red explosion” reported by the Las Vegas Sun.

Project Blue Book files later hinted at a possible cover‑up. An original radar entry marking an unidentified contact was retroactively altered to “insufficient data,” with no explanatory note. Moreover, the official record claimed there were “no visual” sightings, a clear contradiction to the vivid eyewitness accounts.

Rumors of scrambled Air Force jets attempting to intercept the object further fueled the intrigue, cementing this crash as one of the most mystifying UFO events in modern history.

8 UFO Deactivates Nukes At Malmstrom AFB March 1967

The Malmstrom incident is perhaps the most unsettling of all: on March 16, 1967, a luminous, red‑hued saucer hovered above the Montana installation. Captain Robert Salas observed the object for several minutes while multiple personnel also watched the eerie scene.

During that window, ten nuclear missiles under Salas’s supervision inexplicably went offline one after another. The craft then disappeared, leaving the missiles disabled for several hours before they spontaneously returned to operational status.

UFO scholars argue this was a deliberate demonstration of superiority, showcasing an intelligence capable of neutralizing the United States’ most powerful weapons. The episode remains officially unexplained.

7 Glowing Object Hovers Over Loring AFB October 1975

On the evening of October 27, 1975, personnel at Loring Air Force Base in Maine observed a luminous object hovering above the weapons storage area. The sighting occurred at approximately 7:45 p.m., and the craft displayed a single red beacon alongside a white strobe on its underside.

Witness Danny Lewis recounted that the object circled the base repeatedly before settling directly over the concealed weapons unit, where it lingered for roughly forty minutes before ascending and vanishing into the night.

Remarkably, the following evening the same phenomenon reappeared at almost the identical time, repeating the same circular pattern and hover. After several weeks of heightened alert and additional sightings, the mysterious activity abruptly ceased.

6 ‘Cat And Mouse’ UFO Chase Over Cannon AFB January 1976

On January 21, 1976, a student journalist known only as “Bruce” was testing radio transmitters overlooking Cannon Air Force Base when he noticed a string of lights resembling “bulbs on a string.” Through binoculars, the lights resolved into saucer‑shaped objects with a red glow emanating from their undersides.

One craft stayed stationary while two others swooped down toward the ground before moving over a nearby town, where streetlights appeared to dim sequentially as the UFOs passed. Bruce returned the next night, this time with fellow journalists positioned on rooftops. Just before 1:00 a.m., four glowing objects reappeared, prompting the scramble of several F‑111 jets.

Despite the fighter interception, the aerial intruders evaded capture, disappearing vertically within seconds after a 45‑minute chase. Freedom‑of‑Information Act requests later confirmed multiple F‑111s were indeed launched, and Bruce reported receiving unsettling warnings after publicly discussing the event.

5 Red Object Over Ellsworth AFB August 1953

On the evening of August 5, 1953, residents of Blackhawk, South Dakota, witnessed a glowing red craft heading toward Ellsworth Air Force Base. Many of the witnesses were seasoned members of the Ground Observer Corps, lending credibility to their reports.

Volunteer observer Mrs. Kellian promptly filed a sighting with base radar operators, who confirmed the object on their screens and dispatched personnel for visual confirmation. An aircraft already on patrol was redirected to intercept, but as it approached, the UFO accelerated away, evading capture. A second jet also scrambled, only to meet the same outcome.

The Air Force ultimately classified the phenomenon as “unknown,” with no further official investigation, leaving the case shrouded in mystery.

4 Alien Battle Over McChord AFB October 1972

In October 1972, two airmen—Steven Briggs and Dennis Hillsgeck—were stationed at the Tactical Air Navigation (TACAN) facility adjacent to McChord Air Force Base when a high‑pitched whine alerted them to an overhead saucer‑shaped object. The craft descended rapidly, prompting the emergence of two humanoid figures that seemed intent on entering the facility.

The airmen called for backup, and after roughly fifteen minutes, a security police officer, Sergeant Darren Alexander, arrived with a canine unit. He observed both the craft and one of the beings on the ground. Reacting instinctively, Alexander drew his revolver and discharged six rounds at close range, after which the creature vanished, leaving the officer bewildered.

This dramatic encounter, revealed by former government agent Robert Collins in 2001, continues to divide UFO researchers, with skeptics questioning the veracity of the claims.

3 Abductee Crash‑Lands At Edwards AFB Summer 1971

In the summer of 1971, a startling incident unfolded near Edwards Air Force Base when a loud, otherworldly roar was followed by a fiery crash. Bystanders reported seeing three grey‑haired humanoids and a woman clad in a tight, pink jumpsuit amidst the wreckage.

Military trucks quickly sealed off the area, removing both the debris and the strange occupants. While the Air Force later claimed the crash involved a conventional military vehicle, UFO researcher Albert Rosales located the woman—identified as Lorraine Dvorak Cordini—and facilitated hypnotic regression sessions.

During regression, Lorraine described being abducted from her home, outfitted in the pink suit, and taken aboard a larger orbital ship for examination. She was then placed in a smaller craft, which crashed near Edwards, after which she awoke in a military hangar surrounded by large‑headed alien beings distinct from her captors. The story remains highly contested.

2 UFO Sighting Over Larson AFB December 1952

On December 22, 1952, an off‑duty technician driving toward Larson Air Force Base in Washington observed a vague, hat‑shaped object hovering above the installation. Intrigued, he pulled over, exited his vehicle, and obtained a steadier view of the craft.

The UFO performed breathtaking maneuvers, glowing brighter as its speed increased. At one point, the witness claimed the object rolled in mid‑air, exposing a red‑glowing underside. After hovering for roughly fifteen minutes, the technician resumed his journey, satisfied that nothing further was afoot.

1 UFO Incident Over Minot AFB October 1968

Unusual activity has long plagued Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota, but the most striking episode occurred just after 2:00 a.m. on October 24, 1968. While performing “above‑ground security” for an underground operation, a small unit reported a massive glowing object hovering overhead.

Within minutes, multiple reports flooded in from various locations around the base, and the phenomenon persisted throughout the night. At approximately 3:30 a.m., a B‑52 bomber crew observed the craft, describing it as resembling a “miniature sun placed on the ground.”

Project Blue Book investigated the incident, but by that stage the program’s investigative vigor had waned. The sighting remains officially unexplained, though a whistle‑blower claimed a similar event two years earlier that allegedly caused the base’s nuclear missiles to shut down—an allegation the Air Force denied despite contemporary newspaper reports of frequent UFO sightings in the area.

The recent buzz around the “Storm Area 51, They Can’t Stop All Of Us” meme may have fizzled, but it reminded us that the sky isn’t the limit when it comes to secretive military sites. In fact, the U.S. Navy finally confirmed the existence of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, ending decades of official denial. That admission has reignited curiosity about the many bases that have long been linked to strange lights, alien encounters, and mysterious technology – all far from the famed Nevada desert complex. Below, we count down the top 10 military installations that have hosted UFO activity, each with its own eerie tale.

What Makes These Top 10 Military Sites So Mysterious

10 Malmstrom Air Force Base

Malmstrom Air Force Base, home to the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles near Great Falls, Montana, has a chilling 1967 incident. Security patrols and maintenance crews reported a luminous object hovering over one of the missile silos, after which each of the ten missiles inexplicably shut down, one by one. Declassified records confirm the missiles went offline, yet the UFO explanation remains unverified. The base’s UFO lore stretches back further to 1950, when Nick Mariana, manager of a minor‑league baseball team, captured a brief 16‑second color film of two silver discs streaking over Great Falls. Mariana later claimed the Air Force returned his footage with 35 frames missing—frames that allegedly showed the discs rotating at incredible speed.

9 Carswell Air Force Base

The legendary 1947 Roswell incident may have taken place in New Mexico, but its after‑effects reached Texas. Operations officer Robert Shirkey observed aluminum‑like material with mysterious characters being loaded for a flight bound for Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth. Flight crewman Robert Porter noted the crates were astonishingly light, almost as if empty. Subsequent years saw more sightings: a T‑shaped craft hovered at 4,000 feet over the nearby airport in 1954, shimmering in blue, green, and white; and in 1965, a triangular UFO with three illuminated points was logged by the Mutual UFO Network. The base continues to be a hotspot for unexplained aerial activity.

8 Wright‑Patterson Air Force Base

Captain Oliver W. “Pappy” Henderson, a senior pilot stationed at Roswell during the infamous incident, later flew a secret mission to Wright‑Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. For over three decades he kept silent under a security clearance, but in 1977 he finally revealed that he had transported wreckage from the Roswell crash site, along with small alien bodies. He showed a piece of metal that looked like aluminum yet was lighter and far stiffer. The story resurfaced in 1982 at a reunion, and other veterans, including Marine Lt. Col. Marion M. “Black Mac” Magruder, corroborated the tale—Magruder recalling that the alien he saw was oddly “squiggly.”

7 Fort Dix

Major George Filer, chronicled in John Guerra’s “Strange Craft,” recounts a 1978 encounter at Fort Dix, New Jersey, where a military policeman chasing a low‑flying aircraft encountered a four‑foot‑tall, grayish‑brown creature with long arms and a bulbous head. The officer fired upon the being, and the remains emitted a strong ammonia odor. Filer, a member of the Disclosure Project, argues that the Pentagon’s 2017 release of naval footage showing an advanced aerial vehicle validates his description of the alien encounter.

6 29 Palms

Deep in California’s Mojave Desert, the Marine Corps base at 29 Palms hosted a massive multi‑regimental live‑maneuver exercise in October 2019. The installation appears in Project Redbook, a database cataloguing alleged subsurface alien activity sites. According to researcher Val Valerian, recovered extraterrestrial technology is examined in underground facilities beneath the base. UFO sightings have peppered the area since the 1950s, with a notable worm‑like object hovering over the town in May 2019.

5 Fort Meade

Dan Sherman’s “Above Black: Project Preserve Destiny” reveals a covert Air Force program called “Greys” that placed him at Fort Meade, Maryland, in 1992. Trained as an “Intuitive Communicator,” Sherman claims he was tasked with speaking to Grey aliens—beings first encountered at Roswell. He describes receiving “abduction data” while seated in a communications van, and later decoding a radio transmission from outer space, a project later declassified by the National Security Agency headquartered at the same base.

4 Edwards Air Force Base

President Dwight Eisenhower may have met extraterrestrials at Edwards Air Force Base, according to ex‑dentist Dr. Michael Salla. The story goes that the president, either on a secret evening trip or while visiting the base for dental work, encountered two blue‑eyed aliens with colorless lips and white hair on February 20 1954. The Associated Press briefly reported Eisenhower’s death that day, only to retract the story minutes later. Eisenhower’s great‑granddaughter, Laura Magdalene Eisenhower, publicly supports the claim that her grandfather was in contact with alien beings.

3 Kirtland Air Force Base

In 1980, guards at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico reported UFOs over the Coyote Canyon area, coinciding with a six‑hour radar jam. Physicist Paul Bennewitz had been documenting strange lights in the sky since 1979, capturing over 2,600 feet of film and recording low‑frequency transmissions he believed originated from alien sources. He even built a computer program to translate the signals, later claiming the extraterrestrials were manipulating people through electromagnetic devices.

2 Holloman Air Force Base

Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico sits at the heart of several UFO mysteries. Project 1947, an archival effort covering sightings from 1900‑1965, documents a 1950 incident where electronics engineer Cliff Booth and a colleague used an Askania theodolite to photograph a cigar‑shaped UFO. Though the images were blurry, the men were convinced they’d witnessed a genuine extraterrestrial vehicle. Later, filmmaker Robert Emenegger was urged by the Air Force to produce a UFO documentary, but the agency reneged on promised footage of a 1971 landing at Holloman, which allegedly showed three UFOs and three alien beings emerging from one of them.

1 Dobbins Air Force Base

Michael Hitt’s “Georgia’s Aerial Phenomenon 1947‑1987” chronicles 234 UFO sightings in the state, many involving Dobbins Air Force Base personnel. In 1952, airmen reported a streaking object that vanished, yet radar traced it traveling at 1,200 mph—twice the speed of a typical aircraft. Tower operator Bruce Beach noted that the frequency of sightings in the 1950s was so high the control tower installed a 3D camera, a rarity at the time. The phenomenon persisted, with a massive, black, Boeing 727‑sized UFO reported near the base in January 2019.

The American Civil War, raging from 1861 to 1865, was the United States’ first truly modern conflict and remains the deadliest war in the nation’s history. More than a century and a half later, the legacy of that brutal struggle still echoes across the Southern landscape, especially in the names of ten active Army installations. In this top 10 army roundup we’ll tour each of these forts, uncovering the stories of the Confederate generals they commemorate and the contemporary missions they support.

Top 10 Army Bases and Their Confederate Namesakes

10 Ambrose Powell Hill Jr.

Established in 1941 just outside Bowling Green, Virginia, Fort A.P. Hill began as a sprawling training ground for the United States Army. Over the decades it has evolved into a premier weapons‑training hub, welcoming not only soldiers from every branch but also law‑enforcement agencies such as U.S. Customs and Border Protection, as well as state and local police forces seeking advanced firearms instruction.

The installation bears the name of Ambrose Powell Hill, a Virginian who first fought for the United States in the Mexican‑American and Seminole wars before throwing in his lot with the Confederacy when the Civil War erupted. Hill quickly rose through the Confederate ranks, becoming commander of the famed “Light Division” and one of Stonewall Jackson’s most trusted sub‑ordinates.

After Jackson’s death at Chancellorsville, Hill was promoted to lieutenant general and assumed command of General Lee’s Third Corps, steering it through the Gettysburg Campaign. He met his end during the Union’s assault on the Third Battle of Petersburg in 1865, just weeks before the war’s conclusion.

9 Henry Benning

Fort Benning, located in the heart of Georgia, serves as the home of the U.S. Army Infantry School, the Maneuver Center of Excellence, and the Armor School, among other elite training institutions. Supporting more than 120,000 active‑duty personnel, family members, veterans, and civilian staff, the post is a cornerstone of the Army’s combat‑training enterprise. Its origins trace back to 1918 when it was founded to provide basic training for new recruits.

The fort honors Henry L. Benning, a staunch secessionist who led “Benning’s Brigade” during the Civil War. A vocal opponent of abolition, Benning entered politics as a Democratic congressman before abandoning any chance at a Confederate cabinet post to join the Confederate Army as colonel of the 17th Georgia Infantry in 1861.

Rising to the rank of brigadier general, Benning led his troops against Ulysses S. Grant during the Overland Campaign. He remained in the field until the Confederacy’s collapse, personally overseeing the surrender of his men in April 1865, a poignant end to a fiercely fought career.

8 Braxton Bragg

Fort Bragg, situated just outside Fayetteville, North Carolina, holds the distinction of being the world’s most populous military installation, regularly supporting around 50,000 active‑duty service members. The base hosts the XVIII Airborne Corps, U.S. Special Operations Command, and a host of other high‑profile units.

Founded in 1918 as an artillery‑training center, the post was christened for Braxton Bragg, a North Carolina native who served in the U.S. Army during the Second Seminole and Mexican‑American wars before joining the Confederacy. Though originally opposed to secession, Bragg accepted a commission as a Confederate brigadier general in 1861 and commanded forces in Pensacola, Florida.

Throughout the war he led troops in pivotal battles such as Chattanooga and Chickamauga, later becoming a trusted advisor to President Jefferson Davis. Bragg is credited with helping Davis recognize the inevitable defeat of the Confederacy, a realization that paved the way for the final surrender.

7 John Brown Gordon

Originally opened as Camp Gordon in 1917 to train the 82nd Division, the installation was upgraded to Fort status in 1941 and today houses the U.S. Army Signal Corps, the Cyber Corps, and a suite of other high‑tech units.

The fort bears the name of John B. Gordon, a Georgian who entered the Confederate service without prior military experience. After a rapid rise through the ranks—captain of the 6th Alabama Infantry, colonel at Seven Pines, and a hard‑earned brigadier general following multiple wounds at Antietam—Gordon earned General Robert E. Lee’s admiration for his tenacity.

Gordon continued to lead his men until the war’s end, surrendering at Appomattox Court House on April 12, 1865. Post‑war, he entered politics, fiercely opposing Reconstruction, later serving as a U.S. senator and the 53rd governor of Georgia.

6 John Bell Hood

Commissioned in January 1942, Fort Hood was sited on the wide‑open Texas plains to test tank destroyers during World War II. Today it stands as the world’s most populous military base, sprawling over 214,000 acres and serving as headquarters for III Corps, the 1st Cavalry Division, and numerous other cavalry and infantry formations.

The installation is named for John Bell Hood, a West Point‑trained officer who briefly served in the U.S. Army before resigning his commission after the bombardment of Fort Sumter. A native Kentuckian, Hood aligned himself with Texas when his home state remained neutral, receiving a colonel’s commission in September 1860 to lead the 4th Texas Infantry.

Hood fought in many of the war’s most famous engagements—Antietam, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, and Chickamauga—earning a temporary promotion to major general in July 1864 before returning to his lieutenant‑general rank. His aggressive tactics made him both feared and respected on the battlefield.

5 George Pickett

Fort Pickett, positioned near Blackstone, Virginia, operates as a Virginia Army National Guard post and houses the Army National Guard Maneuver Training Center. Established in 1941, the base was designed to simultaneously train multiple infantry divisions.

The fort commemorates George Pickett, a career U.S. Army officer who served in the Mexican‑American War before resigning his commission after the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter. Within a month he had become a colonel in the Confederate Army and was promoted to brigadier general by 1862.

Pickett is most famously remembered for leading the ill‑fated “Pickett’s Charge” at Gettysburg, a desperate advance that ended in a catastrophic loss for the Confederacy. Despite the disaster, he remained active throughout the war and stood alongside General Lee during the surrender at Appomattox Court House.

4 Edmund Winchester Rucker

Opened during World War II, Fort Rucker in Alabama was originally a flight‑training center and today serves as the home of Army Aviation and the Warrant Officer Candidate School, where future Army aviators earn their wings.

The base honors Edmund Winchester Rucker, a Confederate officer who enlisted as a private in 1861. He first served with Pickett’s Tennessee Company of Sappers and Miners, rising to lieutenant by 1862, and later commanding the 1st East Tennessee Legion—known as Rucker’s Legion—as a colonel in 1863.

Although he never received formal confirmation from the Confederate Congress, Rucker attained the rank of brigadier general, suffered multiple wounds, and even lost an arm after being captured. He was eventually released in a prisoner exchange orchestrated by General Nathan Bedford Forrest, the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.

3 Leonidas Polk

Founded in 1941 as a training camp for the Louisiana Maneuvers, Fort Polk now hosts the Joint Readiness Training Center and a variety of combat units, including the 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 10th Mountain Division.

The installation was named for Leonidas Polk, the first Episcopal Bishop of Louisiana who set aside his clerical duties to become a major general in the Confederate Army. A West Point classmate of Jefferson Davis, Polk offered his services early in the war and was assigned command of forces in Kentucky, a move that inadvertently forced the Union to intervene and effectively ceded the state to the North.

Polk led troops in the Army of Mississippi and Tennessee, commanding roughly 20,000 men in Georgia as the Confederacy’s second‑in‑command. He met his end in June 1864 near Marietta, Georgia, when Union artillery spotted him and delivered a fatal third shot.

2 Pierre Gustave Toutant‑Beauregard

Established in 1918 as a training site for the 17th Division before the United States entered World War I, Camp Beauregard now serves the Louisiana Army National Guard as a primary training area.

The camp is named after Pierre Gustave Toutant‑Beauregard, a West Point graduate who fought in the Mexican‑American War and became the Confederacy’s first brigadier general. Within five months of joining the Southern cause, Beauregard rose to the rank of full general, making him the fifth‑highest‑ranking officer in the Confederate Army.

He famously ordered the first shots of the Civil War at Fort Sumter, earning him the nickname “The Hero of Fort Sumter.” After the war, Beauregard entered politics, surprisingly supporting black civil‑rights initiatives as a Republican, while also working as a railroad executive and promoting the Louisiana Lottery, the nation’s only legal lottery at the time.

1 Robert Edward Lee

Fort Lee began its life as a Civil War‑era training camp west of Richmond, originally known as Camp Lee. It grew into a full‑scale fort during World War I and today hosts the U.S. Army Combined Arms Support Command, the Quartermaster, Ordnance, and Transportation schools.

The post honors Robert E. Lee, a distinguished U.S. Army officer who served in the Mexican‑American War and later served as superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point. Though initially reluctant to join the secessionist cause, Lee ultimately resigned his commission and became one of the Confederacy’s most celebrated generals.

Lee was swiftly promoted to full general and commanded the Confederate forces in western Virginia. He led the infamous Maryland Campaign that culminated in the Battle of Gettysburg, a turning point that resulted in a decisive Union victory. Lee continued to command the Army of Northern Virginia until its surrender at Appomattox Court House in April 1865, after which the Confederacy collapsed.

Thanks to human conflict, there is no shortage of forts, bases, and shelters. Those that are abandoned have a certain attraction, a sense of mystery that calls to urban explorers and researchers alike. This list looks at deserted places with interesting backgrounds or current situations. From the station in Antarctica that scientists keep abandoning to the bunker mania that almost ruined a country, here is the best collection of strange stories!

10 From Conflict Lookouts to Bat Hotels

In 1994, Jordan and Israel put aside their differences and signed a peace treaty. As a result, army bunkers along the Jordan River were vacated, and they’ve been empty ever since. Well, empty of humans anyway. Over time, 12 indigenous species of bats moved into the ghost bunkers. From an environmental point of view, this was a good move on the animals’ part. Five of the species were listed as either endangered or critically threatened. The bunkers became a much-needed sanctuary for them.

No interference from people and living in a closed military zone stretching 60 miles (96 kilometers) allowed the bats to thrive. Their numbers, now in the thousands, help the environment because their appetite for bugs reduces the need for pesticides in the surrounding areas. Great for the environment, but definitely not someplace I want to add to my “must-visit” list.^[1]

9 A Unique Gallery of Ships

The Old Fort in Zanzibar has long since been retired as an active fort. These days, the castle-like building is a cultural center. But recently, carved graffiti of ships on the walls came to light. Likely created during the late nineteenth century, researchers believe that the pictures were inspired by boredom. In other words, the “artists” were guards on duty who had time on their hands and a clear view of the ships that docked outside the fort.

This sounds mundane. But the engravings provide a rare snapshot of which vessels were a part of the trans-oceanic trade network that used the western Indian Ocean during this time.

If the soldiers truly did doodle ships they saw in real life, then a rich variety lowered their anchors near the Old Fort. These included a rare ship called an East African mtepe (a vessel that was sewn together instead of using nails), European-style frigates, and dhows (settee-rigged deep-sea ships). Some carvings also had transom sterns which hinted at ships like the kotia, ghanja, baghla, and more.^[2]

8 A Bizarre Ant Colony

In the west of Poland sits a dismantled nuclear base. Originally built by the Soviets, the design includes two underground bunkers. In recent times, bats decided to turn the bunkers into overwintering caves, and this gave bat fans the opportunity to study them.

In 2013, someone noticed the ants. A huge number of wood ants were trapped inside one of the bunkers, and the prognosis for them was slim. They had no queen, food, light, heat, or way to escape. And yet, as the years passed, their numbers never dwindled.

The mystery was solved when researchers looked at clusters of dead ants and discovered that nearly 90% of them had been nibbled on by their nestmates. The colony also had a nest above the bunker, and some ants kept falling through a hole (replenishing their numbers). They survived by eating their dead. The scientists were kind enough to install a ramp leading back to the nest, and after years of being trapped, almost all the ants quickly abandoned the bunker.^[3]

7 The Location of Sapling Fort

During the early nineteenth century, the Tlingit people resisted Russia’s goal of establishing a fur trading post in Alaska. They built the “Sapling Fort,” also known as Shís’gi Noow, which was the final barrier against advancing Russian soldiers. In 1804, the Tlingit engaged in a battle at the fort, but five days later, they were defeated.

Despite their commendable last stand, the location of Sapling Fort slowly disappeared from local memory. In 2021, researchers decided to hunt for the historical fort by using radar scans.

The idea was to look for underground ruins and compare the shape of their perimeter with the known design of Sapling Fort. The project became one of the biggest radar surveys in Alaska. After buzzing 42 acres (17 hectares), they found subsurface signatures that matched the fort’s design as well as details given in both Russian and Tlingit accounts.

So, where was it? After a century of being missing, Sapling Fort was found in Sitka National Historical Park near the mouth of the Kasda Heen river.^[4]

6 A Ghost Station in Antarctica

The Halley VI Research Station sits on the Brunt Ice Shelf in Antarctica. It’s been gathering Earth and space weather information since the 1950s. For decades, scientists enjoyed the fully equipped living quarters that were designed to keep humans comfy all year round. But a couple of years ago, the shelf started to crack. Fearing for their safety, the researchers abandoned Halley VI.

But this research station is fascinating for two reasons. First, it’s constantly being abandoned. Every winter, when living on a cracking shelf becomes too risky, the scientists leave. However, they were losing a lot of data this way and eventually rigged Halley VI so that it now runs itself. In the long months when it’s basically a ghost base, the station continues to gather important weather and climate measurements—with no help from humans.^[5]

5 Thousands of Concrete Mushrooms

It’s hard to imagine that the building of bunkers can bring a country to its knees. But that is what happened to Albania. From 1941 to 1985, the country was ruled by a dictator named Enver Hoxha, who was convinced that Yugoslavia, Greece, and even his Soviet allies wanted to invade Albania. While the chances of this were zero, Hoxha was so paranoid that he built about 750,000 bunkers all over the country. Their construction practically enslaved his people and drained the country’s coffers.

Most of the concrete fortresses were domed and stocky. This earned them the local nickname of “mushrooms.” These days, hundreds of them still exist all over Albania and range from large underground shelters to two-person igloos. People now use these relics for more practical matters like animal sheds, shops, changing rooms, art galleries, or discreet meeting places for couples.^[6]

4 Remains of a Fake Airfield

During World War II, battles weren’t always won with brute force. Sometimes, all you needed was a clever trick. Late in 1942, the decision was made to create a fake airport to give enemy pilots the impression of a strong military presence in Virginia. However, the base also served as a decoy during air raids to spare the nearby city of Richmond. At night, when Richmond went dark, the airfield lit up to draw German planes away from the city (and the real airfield).

The dummy airfield was created by the 936th Camouflage Battalion, who made fake hangars, vehicles, aircraft, and taxiways. After the war, the site was used for bombing practice, and later, there was a failed attempt to turn the site into a psychiatric facility. These days, when viewed from the air, some ruins of the now-abandoned airport still peek through the trees. These include a water tower and roads leading to nowhere.^[7]

3 A Secret Japanese Camp

In 2004, Robert Muckle received a tip about an interesting site in the North Shore mountains of British Columbia. The archaeologist expected to walk into a historic logging camp. But upon arrival, the truth emerged. Once upon a time, deep in the Canadian forest, there was a thriving Japanese village.

This surprising discovery consisted of 14 houses, a water reservoir, a bathhouse, a garden, and a shrine. Muckle suspects that the site started out as a logging camp but then turned into a secret village as more Japanese sought refuge from the racism of the day, made worse by the Second World War when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and Hong Kong, where many Canadian soldiers were killed.

The base was abruptly abandoned. Muckle’s theory is a sad one. During this war, up to 90% of Japanese Canadians were forcibly relocated. This policy separated families because the men were forced to work on road gangs, and women and children were dropped off in ghost towns in the wilderness. Muckle suspects that the secret village was discovered and that the inhabitants were packed off to different camps.^[8]

2 The Monster Nazi Bunker

During World War II, the German military occupied Bordeaux in France. They established a fleet of submarines in the area that needed a safe place to dock while being repaired. The result? A massive bunker that was designed to withstand the worst aerial attacks. The domed structure spread over 130,000 square feet (over 12,000 square meters) and consumed enough reinforced concrete to fill 240 Olympic swimming pools today.

The submarine base was abandoned two years after it was built. Not because it didn’t work—the bunker withstood several air attacks with almost no damage. However, when German forces withdrew from Bordeaux in 1944, they couldn’t exactly take the massive building along.

The base remained empty for decades. Then, it caught the eye of creative minds who turned the cavernous interior into the world’s biggest digital art gallery. These days, visitors can walk through different sections of the bunker and enjoy floor-to-ceiling art being digitally projected against the walls.^[9]

1 The Anderson Fallout Shelter

In 1991, a Fort Wayne resident was totally fed up. Tim Howey owned a home with a curious feature, one that kept luring strangers to his yard. The crowd-pleaser was an old bunker. Purchased by the previous owners of the home, the Andersons, the shelter had cost $1,800 and claimed to protect people against nuclear fallout. The Andersons lived during the Cold War when nuclear threats were always around the corner. So, in 1955, they had the bunker installed in their front lawn at a depth of 15 feet (4.5 meters).

By the time Tim Howey owned the property, the steel structure had risen to the surface and into public view. When the attention became too much, he offered the artifact to the National Museum of American History, which jumped at the chance to own the artifact. They exhumed the bunker and added it to their collection. Visitors were now free to gawk at the cramped quarters that included a chemical toilet, four beds, and a hand-cranked pump that could be used to pull fresh air into the shelter.^[10]