Far above India’s plains, where the air thins and glaciers creak, human presence fades into silence, a Cold War secret lies buried beneath ice and rock. A covert CIA-led mission in the Indian Himalayas, during the height of nuclear paranoia and Cold War geopolitics, catastrophically went wrong in 1965. American and Indian climbers, operating under the cover of a scientific expedition, were compelled by brutal weather to abandon a plutonium-powered nuclear device near the summit of Nanda Devi-one of India’s highest and most sacred peaks-meant to spy on China’s nuclear programme, the device instead vanished. Six decades later, it has never been recovered. Its precise location is unknown. As the glaciers melt, infrastructure expands, and memories fade, the lost device has transformed from a classified intelligence failure into a gnawing environmental, security, and moral question-one that neither government has fully answered and that still unsettles scientists, villagers, and policy-makers alike.
Why the CIA turned to the Himalayas
The first nuclear test by China in October 1964 triggered the operation. The explosion sent shockwaves to both Washington and New Delhi: India had just lost the 1962 border war with China, and the United States lacked deep intelligence access inside Chinese territory.
Satellite surveillance was still limited. Human intelligence networks were weak. The CIA looked for alternatives.
One notion surfaced. It might be possible to intercept missile telemetry signals from extremely high altitudes. The Himalayas had both elevation and proximity. Nanda Devi, rising 25,645 feet inside Indian territory, seemed strategically perfect.
The nuclear device used in espionage
To power the surveillance equipment, the CIA picked a SNAP-19C generator-a plutonium-238 and plutonium-239-powered compact nuclear power source. Generators like these were used by NASA in its space missions.
The device weighed approximately 50 pounds. It generated heat through radioactive decay, converting that heat into electricity. It was designed to function unattended for years.
The material inside made it dangerous because plutonium is highly toxic. It is also a core component of nuclear weapons.
A mission shrouded with a scientific mantle.
It was publicly presented as scientific research, claiming to study atmospheric physics and human endurance at high altitude. In fact, the expedition was a joint CIA–Indian intelligence operation.
The perfect cover came in the form of Barry Bishop, a widely acclaimed National Geographic photographer and mountaineer. American climbers with intelligence links were recruited. Indian elite mountaineers joined under the able leadership of Captain M.S. Kohli, a naval officer and Everest veteran.
Only a select few in the Indian government were aware of the true purpose.
Blizzard near the summit forces retreat
The expedition started in September 1965, which was very late in the Himalayan season. The climbers were rushed to altitude, and acclimatization was poor.
Things rapidly got worse. Food gave out. Snow fell heavier. Winds grew stronger.
On October 16, a severe blizzard hit near the summit. Visibility collapsed, exhaustion set in, and lives were at risk.
From base camp, Kohli ordered an immediate retreat. To save lives, the climbers secured the equipment to an ice ledge near Camp Four and descended.
The nuclear device remained behind.
The device vanishes into thin air.
The equipment – gone when a recovery team returned in 1966. The ledge of ice itself had vanished. An avalanche was the probable cause.
In 1967 and 1968, the search missions followed. Teams used radiation detectors, infrared sensors, metal scanners, and telescopes. They found nothing.
Former climbers have subsequently speculated that the heat generated might have melted surrounding ice and allowed it to sink deeper into the glacier over time.
Its location remains unknown.
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Environmental and security concerns remain
The glaciers of Nanda Devi feed the tributaries of the Ganges River, which supports hundreds of millions of people. This has kept fears alive for decades.
Scientific evidence from the 1970s indicated that large-scale contamination is highly unlikely due to dilution, but plutonium is highly hazardous to health if taken in close proximity to the human body.
With climate change now accelerating glacier melt, concerns are returning. There are fears about security, too. Though the device can’t explode like a nuclear bomb, plutonium could be misused in a radiological “dirty bomb.”
The story became public in the late 1970s and outraged Indians. Parliament demanded answers, and protests accused the CIA of putting lives at risk.
Privately, US President Jimmy Carter and Indian Prime Minister Morarji Desai opted for quiet cooperation. They downplayed the issue. It faded from headlines.
Neither government has publicly recognized the mission. There is silence.
An unfinished Cold War legacy
Fears have been revived repeatedly by natural disasters in the vicinity of Nanda Devi. A deadly collapse of a glacier in 2021 heightened local suspicion, even though scientists pointed to climate change. With the expansion in the number of roads, dams, and military infrastructure in the region, calls to locate and remove the device grow louder. Buried with the hardware beneath Himalayan ice was something even more important. It was another reminder that Cold War decisions still shape present risks, unrealized and unseen but waiting to resurface.
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