"Red Nightmare" Claims--Question #1

Factual Questions
1

In the introduction to the short film Red Nightmare, a classic bit of Cold War propaganda from 1962, Jack Webb refers to it being “said” that The Soviet Union had built simulations of American town within its own borders. Their agents trained24/7 in these places to pass for Americans so they could infiltrate The United States and undermine The American Way of Life.

I’m pushing 60, and though I was pretty much of a Jack Headstrong, The All-American American as a kid, (that’s a Bob & Ray reference), this story never made much sense to me. Some people used to take this quite seriously though. As just one instance, I recall there was an episode of Mission: Impossible where members of the IMF infiltrated such a town, pretending to be die hard Communists training to be Americans. Back in the 80s or thereabouts there was a comedy about two American teens getting stuck in such a place, which was a lot like Pleasantville, that is, an amalgam of various 50s sitcom worlds.

Has any concrete evidence of any kind in support of this claim ever come to light? Has there ever been any indication that such mock towns existed for the purpose of allowing spies to play act at being Americans?

2

Fun question. There was a lot of hearsay about it. I lived in Russia first 16 years of my life, and I definitely heard about that, but again, doesn’t prove anything. By now, if they existed, someone would have gone there and filmed it, just as a fun news item. Don’t think they have ever been documented in this way.

Here’s a fun propaganda movie from 1960s about it:

3

[QUOTE=slipster]
{snip} Back in the 80s or thereabouts there was a comedy about two American teens getting stuck in such a place, which was a lot like Pleasantville, that is, an amalgam of various 50s sitcom worlds. {snip}
[/QUOTE]

Not exactly what you’ve described, but close to it: The Experts (1989).