Ashlee VanceNYT Best Seller | Reporter at Bloomberg Businessweek

A Journey Into A New Mexico Ghost Town #ghosttown #newmexico #science

27 Jul 2026 · 1 min

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In this vlog, the presenter visits Playas, New Mexico, a former copper‑smelting town that was abandoned in the early 2000s and has since been repurposed as a remote testing facility for military and public‑safety operations. The narrator outlines the site's history, describes its current role hosting counter‑terrorism training—including a mock Afghan village—and mentions pilot‑extraction exercises. The video promises a night‑time stay and a tour of the unusual installations at this isolated location.

Chapters

Good morning, viewers. I am in a very remote site called Playas in New Mexico. This used to be a copper smelting town until, I think, the early 2000s when it became really a ghost town. And now it's a crazy testing site for all sorts of military and public safety things. They do counterterrorism operations here in an Afghan village that I'm going to show you. They do pilot extractions. We spent the night here in this house, and, uh, we're going on a little adventure to show you guys all the stuff they have at this very weird place.