For thirty years, a secret nuclear bunker for every member of Congress was hidden beneath the Greenbrier, one of America’s most elegant luxury resorts in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. Code-named Project Greek Island, the 112,000-square-foot underground facility was maintained by government agents posing as employees of a fake television repair company called Forsythe Associates. The resort’s guests had no idea.
The bunker had dormitories, a decontamination chamber, a power plant, and a broadcast studio with changeable seasonal window backdrops so that Congressmen could address the nation on television and pretend they were still in Washington, D.C. The Greenbrier was just one of a network of classified facilities, including Raven Rock Mountain Complex in Pennsylvania and Mount Weather in Virginia, designed to ensure the survival of the American government in the event of nuclear war. The program was exposed by a Washington Post journalist in 1992 and decommissioned shortly after.
The Detail That Changes Everything
The bunker’s broadcast studio had changeable seasonal window backdrops so Congressmen could pretend they were still in Washington
Historical Context
This story spans 1958-1992 and is centered across multiple classified locations in the United States. Understanding the broader historical context is essential to grasping why events unfolded as they did.
Key Figures
The central figures in this story include Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, and Ted Gup. Each played a distinct role in the events documented in this episode.
What This Documentary Covers
- Discover the secret locations of America’s 147+ classified bunkers built during the Cold War
- Learn why the government buried entire command centers 2,000+ feet underground
- Explore the technology designed to sustain leaders through nuclear winter scenarios
- Understand the real survival plans that contradicted official public reassurances
- Examine why most bunkers were decommissioned and what replaced them after 1991
Themes Explored
This episode examines interconnected themes including Cold War, nuclear preparedness, government secrets, continuity of government, underground facilities. These themes recur across multiple episodes in our documentary collection, revealing patterns that connect seemingly unrelated stories.
Watch the Full Documentary
This companion article provides context and background for the full documentary. For the complete story with narration, original music, and archival imagery, watch the episode above or on YouTube.
