Tucked away in Laurel Canyon on Wonderland Avenue, another Cold War installation operated under the same cloak of secrecy.

But the Lookout Mountain Air Force Station didn't house weapons, just lights, cameras and Hollywood magic.

Decommissioned in 1969, the complex is now the residence of actor Jared Leto.

I wanted to respect Jared's privacy, so instead of knocking on his door, I went to the home of photographer Ken Hackman, who worked at this top secret movie studio during its heyday.

You were sworn to secrecy about what happened at Lookout Mountain.

Everyone who worked there had top secret clearances.

You couldn't work there.

And.

We're not getting you in trouble right now, right?

Well, I hope not.

Yeah.

The photographs you were taking were of great intelligence.

Military value to the Soviet Union, to to any avowed enemy of the United States.

That's why this all had to be done in a secure facility.

Yeah, exactly.

Yeah.

So for several decades, in the middle of the Cold War, there was a secret Air Force facility in the middle of Los Angeles.

Yes.

There was.

How many people were aware of its presence?

Very, very few.

It was up the Laurel Canyon and Wonderland Avenue.

Up to the top.

And here's this building.

Look out.

Came into existence because of the atomic detonations out in the Pacific.

They wanted documentation.

Yeah.

They made the Air Force executive agent and said, create a facility, know, secure where you can do everything and staffed it with many Hollywood people, mostly older guys and gals who, you know, had been in the rat race of Hollywood, said, hey, I'd like a steady paycheck.

So it was no accident that Lookout Mountain was situated in Los Angeles.

The proximity to to the film industry that that really made it.

That that made it attractive.

Yes.

We made a lot of films.

Yeah.

Not only for the Atomic Energy Commission, but for the Air Force.

I mean, I'm seeing a picture of Jimmy Stewart here.

You must have had quite a few celebrities cycle through on the station.

We had Henry Fonda come up Tennessee Ernie Ford and Vic Moore, Marilyn Monroe, Ronald Reagan.

Really?

That was when he was still selling refrigerators.

What was your role at Lookout Mountain?

I was still photography.

So what does that entail?

What sort of things did you photograph?

Same thing in motion picture.

I used it.

I like that Nations.

How many atomic detonations did you photograph?

I was only on one operation which was the Dominic which was the last atmospheric test we did, which was at 62.

So you photographed an atomic detonation.

I mean what was that like?

Well it was, it was, it was different and it, you know, and I was very young.

We were on the beach of Christmas Island.

This is in the Pacific.

Yeah.

So they gave us goggles, but they said the point of that nation was, wait, look out towards the ocean, away from where it's going to be.

So I did, you know, we all did.

We're not stupid when this thing went off.

It was total white as far as you could see.

Even you were looking in the other direction, looking.

Around, and it was so bright that it washed all the color as far as you could see.

Even as a young 24 year old, I was impressed.

I said, wow, this is like good stuff, which we should not be doing this because this power is just incredible.

And then you as soon as that happens and you turn around and sort of photograph it, you see the mushroom cloud start to build and build and build.

How are you feeling.

I mean where you, you were in awe.

Were you terrified?

No, I was just I got to get pictures.

You were just doing your job.

Yeah.

The job you have to do.

That's what you're there for, right?

So.

Wow.