For 30 years during the Cold War, Ken Johnson worked at Lockheed with top-level security clearance on projects like Polaris missiles, stealth aircraft, and more. Decades later, his grandson discovers a box of his personal files and belongings. Each episode investigates one item to uncover hidden stories of innovation, secrecy, and the Cold War’s mysterious legacy.
Latest episodes
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10 min
The Red Phone: Where Nuclear War Began
Beneath the plains of Nebraska, a hidden command post stood ready to end the world.In this episode of Archive Unknown, Nick Johnson takes you inside Strategic Air Command—the Cold…
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8 min
How the Polaris Missile Made Mutually Assured Destruction Real
The Cold War’s deadliest idea wasn’t just a theory — it was built, tested, and launched from beneath the ocean.In this episode of Archive Unknown, Nick Johnson traces the origins o…
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12 min
The Jet That Flew Faster Than a Speeding Bullet - SR71 & A12
How do you build a plane faster than a bullet?In this episode of Archive Unknown, Nick Johnson traces the secret history of the SR-71 Blackbird — the spy jet born from Cold War fea…
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56 sec
Archive Unknown Trailer
For 30 years during the Cold War, Ken Johnson worked at Lockheed with top-level security clearance on projects like Polaris missiles, stealth aircraft, and more. Decades later, his…
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13 min
The Birth of Area 51
In 1955, Lockheed’s Skunk Works built a secret runway in Nevada’s Groom Lake to test the U-2 spy plane. It would become Area 51, birthplace of the Blackbird and decades of classifi…
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10 min
The World’s First Top-Secret Spy Satellites
In 1960, a small orange parachute drifted from orbit carrying the first film ever returned from space. Its mission was classified — part of Project CORONA, America’s first spy-sate…
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10 min
Operation Plumbbob Nuclear Weapons Tests
Archive Unknown begins in the Nevada desert with Operation Plumbbob—the 1957 nuclear weapons tests that defined the Cold War. Through my grandfather’s classified work and the docum…