Every Town - This Airport Has The Most Insane Conspiracies & Secrets - Denver International

Episode Date: June 23, 2023

The airport, also known as DIA or DEN, had the earnest reasons to celebrate…. It’s still the largest airport in North America, and the second largest in the world by land area. In 2019 alone, DIA served over 69,015,703 passengers, the most in its history, which made it the 5th busiest airport in America with an economic impact of more than $33 billion. These factual figures best signify the importance of Colorado’s premiere airport, but it’s the very strange conspiracy theories surrounding it that often gets the most attention.💥 Watch On Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/scarymysteries🎧 Our Other Podcast: https://scarymysteries.buzzsprout.com💥 Exclusive Podcasts: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1235579/subscribe 💀 Follow Our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/scarymysteries 💀 Follow Our Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andrew.fitzg👁 Follow Our TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@andrewfitzgerald💥 Follow Our Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scarymysteriesofficial🗣 Business Inquiries: [e-mail] Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you love true crime, grab your favorite mug and pour yourself a dose of creepy true crime every single morning with a morning cup of murder. This short daily show is the perfect podcast to incorporate into your morning routine because in less than 15 minutes, you'll hear about a true crime that took place on a day's date in history. Each day's dark history lesson will kickstart your morning with intriguing tales of murder, abduction, serial killers, cults, and everything in between.

With over 20 million downloads, Morning Cup of Murder has something for every true crime lover. One listener describes the show as a small package with a powerful punch of crime. Another writes that the show is an absolute delight in the morning. Support yourself a piping hot cup of murder every single morning with Morning Cup of Murder. Find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Every town has a dark side. On February 28, 2020, Colorado's Denver International Airport marked a milestone as it commemorated the first departure from its tarmac of United Airlines Flight 1062 to Kansas City,

and the first arrival of United Flight 1474 from Colorado Springs on its runway 25 years ago. The airport, also known as DIA or DEN, had the earnest reason to celebrate, It's still the largest airport in North America and the second largest in the world by land area. In 2019, alone, DIA served over 69 million passengers the most in its history, which made it the fifth busiest airport in America with an economic impact of more than $33 billion. These factual figures best signify the importance of Colorado's premier airport, but it's the very strange conspiracy theory surrounding it. It often gets the most attention.

Hey guys, I'm Andrew, and welcome to another episode of Every Town. This week, let's deviate a little from confounding tales of unsolved crimes and bloody accounts of murders, and instead take a deep dive into what conspiracy theorists believe are the many secret shrouding the Denver International Airport. From the purpose of its construction to its capstone, collection of artwork, runway, and underground tunnels. Wild stories abound here which makes you wonder, why would there be so many strange ideas about one building, if at least part of them weren't true? Before the Denver International Airport opened its doors and runways in 1995,

flight passengers to and from Denver were served by the Stapleton International Airport starting back in 1929. It was located along the northeast side of downtown Denver, but in the 1980s, after finally, decades of operation, the airport was beset with problems. Among them were inadequate separation between runways, causing long waits during inc-climate weather, limited room for other airlines and new destinations, as well as a lawsuit over aircraft noise, filed by nearby Park Hill community residents. Thus, the Denver Regional Council of Governments explored six areas for a new

metro area airport. By 1989, then Denver mayor Federico Pena and other federal officials authorized the outlay of the first 60 million of the new airport's construction. DIA was considered a mega project which new mayor Wellington Webb oversaw starting in 1991. It was scheduled to open on October 29, 1993, but poor planning, repeated alterations and the designs because of your United Airlines changing requirements, compelled Mayor Webb to postpone DIA's inauguration twice. First in December of 93, and the second time in March of 94. The postponements came because there was a strike from workers,

the automated baggage system malfunctioned big time. But finally on February 28th of 1995, after 16 months of delays in a budget that ballooned a 4.8 billion, which is the equivalent of $8.1 billion a day. DIA started a carve its own story in international aviation history. But the new giant airport also attracted a lot of conspiracy theories, and they've prevailed for almost three decades now. Even before DIA witnessed its maiden takeoff and first arrival, it was already a focal point of hardcore conspiracy theorists,

and DIA truthers. And their ideas involve Freemasons, the Illuminati, artist Louise Jimenez and Leo Tanguma, lizard people, aliens, the apocalypse, and more. Imagination started running wild and tongues began wagging when the much-anticipated multi-billion-dollar project missed its first deadline. The supposed launch of DIA in October of 93 was marred by a myriad of setbacks, which resulted to a staggering $2 billion excess in budget. And despite the plausible explanations, given about the delay, it didn't stop many conspiracy theorists to surmise that there were behind-the-scenes strange happenings that the DIA wanted to keep as tightly guarded secrets from the public. Perhaps they found the explanations too simple and mundane that some indulged in wild and exciting theories, or perhaps maybe someone knew something.

They thought, why build a multi-billion-dollar new airport when the old one was fully functioning, and, closer to downtown Denver. To some people, the purpose of constructing the highly expensive and ginormous DIA, twice the size of Manhattan, by the way, was confusing and intriguing. They theorize that the Freemasons, the Illuminati, and the New World Order with ties to Nazism were behind the construction, and that they had a purpose for doing so. To make the airport their secret headquarters come bunker when the apocalypse finally came,

With the power and money of these so-called secret societies, they're the ones that finance the new airport's completion but with strings attached. But where exactly did these conspiracy junkies base their theories from? Well, let's dive in. For one, they cited an object of much speculation. The capstone laid over a sealed time capsule at a dedication ceremony on March 19th of 94. This capsule supposedly contained items like a ball from the Colorado Rockies' first game that year, a viewer's guide to Beavis and Butthead, a flight book from Denver's previous airport,

newspapers published on DIA's opening day, and a Colorado flag. But what really caught the attention of keen eyes was an inscription on the dedication capstone displayed at DIA's Great Hall, near the South Security checkpoint, whose opening line states, The time capsule beneath this stone contains messages and memorabilia to the people of Colorado in 1994. People expected that the main contributors to building the airport would have been the city of Denver or the state of Colorado. However, the very first name listed as a contributor is an organization called New World Airport Commission. This was odd because research showed that they didn't exist at all.

Plus, it uncannily sounded like the New World Order, often referred to as a clandestine, totalitarian world government made up of the world's elite that will ultimately rule humanity in the end. Also etched on that capstone on the square and compass symbol of the free masonry that's linked to the Illuminati, and they're said to be composed of various organizations alleged to conspire to control world affairs. Adding fuel to that fire was the day to the airport's dedication, March 19, 1994. The sum of each digit of the day and year, 19191-94, is 33, which just so happens to be the highest level that represents perfection in freemasonry. So all this is fan the rumors that DIAs the headquarters of the world's most powerful and influential, were said to survive judgment day.

But what does the DIA have to say about the theories? Its meteor relations chief, Heath Montgomery, had explanations for these and said that the capstone was part of the pre-opening festivities, the time capsule was sealed with two pieces of granite made by the masons. This explains then why the Masonic symbols were etched on the capstone. Montgomery added, it's not uncommon to have the masons to be a part of large public facility openings, like an airport. As for the group New World Airport Commission, the media relations expert attested it did exist in 1994

for the purpose of celebrating the opening of DIA. In 2007, the New World Airport Commission's chairman, Charles Ansbacher, shed light on the group's name. It had a dual reference, both to DIA as the world. world's newest airport at that time, and Dvorak Symphony No. 9, popularly known as the New World Symphony. Ansbacher himself, an orchestra conductor, stated, the idea that there is anything secretive about this is totally preposterous. Since the New World Order was speculated as one of the builders of DIA, a conspiracy theory about the organization's alleged ties with Nazism, was connected to the airport's runways, with lengths ranging from 12,000 to 16,000 feet.

A mysterious link there? A swastika. In modern times, Western countries view the swastika as a symbol of racial supremacism and intimidation because of its association with Nazism. And one just has to fly a few thousand feet above DIA to view that its runway and terminals resemble the shape of a swastika. However, a close, look at aerial photography of the supposedly swastika-shaped runways reveals an uneven, misshapen, and largely interpretive swastika at best. Whereas DIA doesn't have stapled an airport's problem of parallel runways that were too close together for safe landing and bad weather. The new airport has to contend with this theory. But the real story about the runways

rotating fan-shaped design according to the FAA was to allow optimal take-off, into and against the wind from different directions, depending on weather and traffic patterns, which actually makes a lot of sense. And while that can be seen above ground, it's also widely believe that below the ground, under the airport, is some sort of large secret tunnel system. While the delays in the construction of the massive airport is public knowledge, and reasons have been given, an alleged construction worker says they aren't telling the whole truth. that in fact an entire five-story building was made incorrectly, and it affected the timetable of the whole construction. But instead of destroying it, other structures were built on top of the unfinished building.

Thus, it was buried and reduced to a wasted and unusable space. But as imaginations were running at this point, a theory that the buried structure was actually designed as an underground tunnel with secret bunkers came about. That the story of it, being built in properly, it was just to throw off those regular folks who were involved in making it. They believe that this was actually built as the headquarters in place of refuge for the privileged global members of the Illuminati and the New World Order, in case of the apocalypse, widespread biological warfare, or any cataclysmic reckoning that may occur, really. One person who claimed to have seen the tunnel was Dr. Leonard Horowitz, a former dentist who now dedicates his life to the dangers of drugs and their implications for population control.

According to him, DIA's luggage system and trams malfunctioned three days after it opened. Thus, passengers were redirected through tunnels containing some of the finest gold leaf mosaic artistry Horowitz had ever seen. But when the trams were working again, The alternate passageways, as he called them, were closed off. So, he asked, Why do you believe airport financiers would spend vast fortunes commissioning art that travelers are never going to see? The American government is likewise not spared from getting linked to DIA's conspiracy theories. There are those who think that hidden beneath the airport is Area 52,

named after the real U.S. government's secret base Area 51, where the government's classified information is stored. And remember, that entire place was once told to the American people that it didn't exist at all. Even though the length of the passageways itself has become the subject of interesting stories that have not been proven as facts, of course. One theory posits that the tunnels extend well beyond the airport's grounds. Some believe the tunnels extend all the way to Cheyenne Mountain,

the home of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, located about 100 miles south of DIA in Colorado Springs. Unsurprisingly, this theory gave birth to another one, suggesting that DIA will be the U.S. military's headquarters if another World War breaks out. After all, DIA has enough space to store warplanes, build underground barracks, and utilize existing infrastructure for battle operations.

Alex Renteria, a spokesperson for the airport, debunked these theories with some nonchalant humor. She confirmed the tunnels are indeed long with a total length of about 1.63 miles, and only extend out to the airport's perimeter. But it would take many years and more billions of dollars to connect the tunnels all the way to NORAD. When asked about some people's belief, the tunnels will shelter Illuminati members when the world end, she said, I feel like the Illuminati would like a nicer place. Don't get me wrong, I love our tunnels, but I'm just thinking with all that money. If they're the world's elite, they want a nice place.

Some wallpaper, some marble floors. Meanwhile, according to DIA's media relations chief, Heath Montgomery, full tours of the airport's lower levels aren't allowed, even to media. They can't just take people everywhere for safety and security reasons. and different airline companies lease office space down the tunnels so their privacy is protected by imposing some restrictions. But if you believe in the conspiracies, well, you'd argue that this is just another move to cover up the secrets in the tunnels of the DIA. The Denver International Airport is set aside a portion of its construction and operations budget for art. Its corridors frequently display temporary art exhibits, while a number of public artworks, including those about Colorado's history, are present in the underground trains that link the main terminal with concourses.

But certain art pieces found inside and outside of DIA have been questioned. It all starts with the imposing blue Mustang erected between the inbound and outbound lanes of Pena Boulevard. The 32-foot-tall, 9,000-pound, bright-blue cast fiberglass sculpture of a horse with glowing red eyes has become a symbol of the airport. Many people, though, call it Blucifer for its seemingly demonic appearance. It was one of the earliest public art pieces commissioned for DIA back in 93. El Paso-born artist Luis Jimenez was tasked to do it, but wasn't able to complete the sculpture. In 2006, when Jimenez was almost done with it, a piece of the statue fell on him, causing a severed leg artery that led to his death.

The sculptor's children completed the blue Mustang, and it was finally set up at the airport on February 12, 2008. It speculated to be haunted and that it came alive and actually attacked Jimenez. Some people have pinned the statue's glowing red eyes as a nod to the four horsemen of the apocalypse, though Jimenez at once said that the red pair of eyes was in a moment. honor of the wild spirit of the American West. Time and again, reports have circulated that the blue Mustang will be taken down and removed from the airport, but that will never happen. According to Rantaria, it's one of the favorite pieces because it does what art is meant to do,

create conversation, and suspicions too, apparently. Efforts to connect DIA's aesthetic sense to the apocalypse and the New World Order, extended the murals mounted inside. Chicano muralist Leo Tanguma's murals done in the early 90s had been the topic of conspiracy theory and debate. One is called Children of the World Dream of Peace, and the other in peace and harmony with nature. The latter is split into two,

with the left side depicting a scene of destruction, violence, and death, while the one on the right shows people from different cultures and ethnicities, celebrating joyously in the presence of animals. The left part of the mural, conspiracy theorist contend, threatens people of the Armageddon which they connected to the airport's tunnels allegedly reserved for the Illuminati. In defense, Renteria said that the chaotic images warn people of what the world will become if we stop caring for our planet and each other. But if we do so, we'll reap happiness as shown in the right part of the mural,

and that's the version Tanguma once highlighted. The Children of the World Dream of Peace mural proved to be a magnet for arguments and speculations as well. One part features a soldier that looks a whole lot like a Nazi wearing a gas mask who's towering over huddled children in fear. The other part is more colorful and positive with the soldier joining people from different parts of the world in celebrating peace. The Nazi imagery has prompted some to believe its proof that the D.I. is indeed linked to the New World Order, which itself has links to Nazism. Montgomery, however, emphasized that the mural signifies that children are living in a world

that does have war and violence and a lot of bad things, but they're dreaming of a cohesive and peaceful world where war doesn't exist. In effect, Tanguma's murals are anti-war and anti-hate, and they actually promote loving Mother Earth and working towards peace as symbolized by people of different backgrounds coming together. Well, the statements of DIA authorities, Alex, Rantaria, and Heath Montgomery may have deflated some speculations propagated by conspiracy theorists.

The mysteries handing DIA should rest here to a certain extent, except that what the man responsible for the structure itself said is worth hearing. Curtis Fentris, the CEO and principal in charge of design of Fentress Architects, took over the helm in building DIA. He's worked on constructing many airports, so his thoughts equally matter. And his reply, when asked about any underground tunnels or secret bomb shelters in DIA,

Fentris actually said, Well, I can't really speak of it. I'm sworn to secrecy. Now, was this all in jest, perhaps? But he went on to say, I understand that they're going to be creating a tour of some of the underground facilities in the future at DIA. When you go to Moscow, you can go down in the area where they were poised to launch a missile strike against America. They have this big underground bomb shelter about 100 feet down underground.

Could be similar to that kind of thing with tours to the underground of DIA. So this wasn't a confirmation, but neither was it a denial of the existence of secret tunnels and bunkers. is in DIA, and many have theorized about. And then Fentris implied that there are possibly more answers people have been anticipating to know, but they're well kept in the time capsule. And when will that be retrieved again? Right. 2094, so it looks like we'll have to do a part two of this podcast when that time comes.

So that's it for this week's episode of Everytown. If you enjoyed it, remember you can watch this episode on YouTube, and I'd encourage you to do so. Just look up the scary mysteries YouTube channel, and you'll find it there, along with other cool content. And if you go, please remember to subscribe. Thanks for tuning in. Remember to come back next week for another episode filled with scary strange and mysterious stories. Because you never know. Maybe your town will be next.