Inside America's little-known 'hoax of the century'

In 1967, Leonard Lewin's 'Report From Iron Mountain' presented a controversial analysis suggesting that the United States' economy was heavily reliant on war. This satirical hoax, initially perceived as a genuine government report, claimed that a group of experts at a secret meeting concluded that ongoing conflict was necessary to maintain economic stability. The document argued that the absence of war would destabilize society, making the discussion around peace seem absurd in the political climate of the era, marked by the Vietnam War and societal turmoil.

The report presented the results of a classified war-games exercise staged inside Iron Mountain, an elaborate bomb shelter north of Manhattan.

The panel concluded that war, and the ceaseless preparation for it, served as 'the essential economic stabilizer of modern societies.'

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