They Dropped a Bulldozer on the South Pole (It's Still Down There) (Real Footage)

In 1957, the U.S. Air Force pushed a bulldozer out of a Globemaster over the South Pole. Its parachutes never opened. It buried itself more than 45 feet deep — and it's still down there. This is the real story of how the U.S. Navy and Air Force built the first station at the geographic South Pole during Operation Deep Freeze (1955–1957): a runway made of frozen sea ice, a D-8 bulldozer lost through the ice at McMurdo, the first airplane ever to land at the Pole, parachutes that failed in the cold, a runway that melted away under the Globemasters — and the second bulldozer that fell from the sky. Every frame in this video is real archival footage from the U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force and Department of Defense. CHAPTERS 0:00 The bulldozer that fell from the sky 1:36 A promise at 90° South 3:01 A runway made of sea 6:19 October 1956 7:29 Que Sera, Sera — the first landing at the Pole 8:53 A town by parachute 10:34 The runway melts 12:12 Eighteen men 12:45 The second bulldozer 14:04 Under the snow ARCHIVE FOOTAGE (public domain, U.S. Government) "Operation Deep Freeze I" — U.S. Navy Photographic Report MN-8500 (1957), DoD/NARA "South Pole City" (1957) — U.S. Air Force & U.S. Navy photography, for Douglas Aircraft Co. "Seabees in the Antarctic: Base Construction" — U.S. Navy (c. 1959) "MATS Deepfreeze Airlift" — U.S. Air Force, Air Photographic and Charting Service (1961) "Flight to the South Pole" — U.S. Navy (1968) "Portrait of Antarctica" — U.S. Navy (1961) "Air Operations in the Antarctic" — U.S. Navy (1960) SOURCES southpolestation.com — South Pole Station history & timeline (1956–58) Naval History and Heritage Command — Operation Deep Freeze I; R4D-5L "Que Sera Sera" Wikipedia — Operation Deep Freeze; Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station; Williams Field Boston College Libraries — Fr. Daniel Linehan, S.J., Operation Deep Freeze #SouthPole #OperationDeepFreeze #History