Whoa!
Now I do LOVE conspiracies. From Biggie to Tupac, Elvis to Walt Disney's head being frozen, Reptilians to Raëlism, Nazis on the moon to the Illuminati New World Order, the faked moon landing to the 911 conspiracy. But I am not a devote believer in all of them, I just love reading about and hearing the theories. People can sure get creative and some people are just plain messed up. All the links I reference to in this article are mostly from crazy people and Wikipedia so you know they are legit!
After years of hearing about how insane the Denver International airport (DIA) is, last week my job sent me down to Denver, Colorado for an oil and gas trade show and I finally got to see what the conspiracists were fuming over. It sure makes you go hmmmm... Let me take you for a walkabout.
Once you see it...
First off, take a look on Google maps of the DIA. Does that shape look a little familiar? When they were designing this didn't ANYBODY think that this would be a red flag?! (No pun intended).
The Swastika symbol was originally used in Hinduism (god), Buddhism (eternity), and Jainism (four Gatis - destinies). Not until the dirty 30's did evil Mr.Moustache change it forever. He also forever changed the name Adolf. Not so popular anymore. I guess it kind of makes sense for each runway to face outward so the planes can come in from every direction as this airport is a hub and all, but c'mon! It's a little crazy.
Flying into the DIA, the first thing you notice are these crazy white tent like structures on the airport. Supposedly they are supposed to represent the Rocky Mountains as Denver is nestled right in them. But according to locals, it's known as the Circus Tent.
AHHH! EYES ON TENTS!!
Teflon coated and not dishwasher safe.
The conspiracists have learned that the airport used 15 acres of Teflon coated fibreglass to build the tents. The material reflects 90% of the sunlight and doesn't conduct heat. So you can't see into the place with radar or see any heat signatures. Oooohhhhh! Whoop-de-frickin-doo! They sure are ugly from the outside, but they are pretty and kind of awe-inspiring from the inside. They are massive!
The DIA was opened in 1995, 16 months behind schedule and at a cost of $4.8 billion... yes, BILLION! Nearly $2 billion over budget. At 34,000 acres (140 km²) , DIA is by far the largest land area commercial airport in the United States and has a massive solar array that produces approximately six percent of the airport's total power requirements.. This place is HUGE! Heading through the airport, the only way to travel between the three buildings is the underground rail system. This underground railway is just like the railway in the Seattle-Tacoma International airport, although much bigger. I guess there are a lot of tunnels that remain unused as well. There used to be an underground automated baggage system too, but it was faulty and costly and they shut it down in 2005.
If that's car 14... was I on car 13?!?! AHHHHHHH!!!!
Conspiracists believe that the unused underground tunnels are for an underground military base - eight levels deep, with a 4.5 square mile underground city, and an 88.5 square mile base underneath the airport. There are also huge concrete corridors, large enough to fit a two lane highway in, with sprinklers on the ceiling. There is controversy over five buildings that were built on the airport. One building was 150 feet tall, another 78 feet tall, and one that is 126 feet tall. The contractors said they built it in the wrong place, so they just buried them. What?! That is just weird. The underground corridors are still attached to these buried buildings. Some contractors that worked on the site say it resembled pictures of concentration camps. Read more about it here (remember, just take with a grain of salt).
Good ol' Jetsons-like walkway. Time to walk extra-fast! Outta my way!
Tornado shelter?!
Overall it is a nice airport. Clean, efficient, friendly. After I got off the plane and headed into the airport, I noticed the concourse was a long narrow hall. As I headed down the Jetsons-like walkway, I looked to my left and saw a Tornado Shelter sign. Hmm that's odd I thought, and I snapped a pic. "Oh well, keep on truckin!" Up escalators, across massive lobbies, through a giant food court. This is where shit got weird.
There was this plaque. It was the capstone for the completion of the airport.
I did not take this photo.
Fine right? But look closely. Firstly, it says "The time capsule beneath this stone contains messages and memorabilia to the people of Colorado in 2094." Ok... weird. Secondly, there is a Masonic logo above New World Airport Commission! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT! That is just creepy!! For more on the satanic nature of the Freemasons check out this crazy persons webpage here. What the hell is the New World Airport Commission anyway?
I did not take this picture either.
Ok, that gave me goosebumps. Then I arrived at the baggage area and saw this! A creepy ass gargoyle popping out of a suitcase sticking out his tongue! There were a few of these guys. This is not something that should greet you after a flight! Things were definitely starting to get weird. We waited for our luggage and from down the hall I saw a really colorful mural. This is what I wanted to see. So I grabbed my suitcase and headed down to see the art.
The art in the DIA is what makes this place absolutely insane! There are two very large wall murals in the baggage area, split into four paintings. They are all painted by a Mayan artist named Leo Tanguma. This was the first painting I came across, it is titled In Peace and Harmony with Nature (left panel):
This painting apparently is vandalized and restored on a regular basis because people find it "offensive."
So let's break this first one down. There is a massive fire in the background and the destruction of a city. A whale in bloody water, in fact all the animals are either dead or extinct. It also shows three caskets with three dead women in them; an African, a Native American, and a young girl. Also in the background is a creepy girl holding a Mayan tablet. Oh joy and happiness!
The second mural, just to the right and the second part of the first painting, is titled Peace and Harmony with Nature (right panel):
This painting was impressive but huge and I had to stitch together a couple RAW photos. This portrays a bunch of happy children of all ethnicities gathering around a native boy and a flowering tree which is a symbol of peace. Animals are alive and roaming again and it seems to be in perfect harmony like a utopia or garden of eden. The tinfoil-hatters have said that all the plants are poisonous in this mural.
The third mural is titled The Children of the World Dream of Peace (left panel):
Happy, happy, joy, joy!
In this painting the people of the world are collecting their weapons and giving them to a German boy. He is shown with an anvil and wearing an iron fist (communism?), hammering them out into a plowshare. There is a warlord in a gas mask dead on the ground with doves on him (these come into play in the second part of the painting). Everyone is of different ethnicities and seem very happy. Yay finally something positive in this bloody airport!
And the fourth and final mural, just to the right, is titled The Children of the World Dream of Peace (right panel):
This painting is also vandalized on a regular basis because people find it "offensive."
This final mural was actually a little disturbing. The huge military warlord that was dead in the first half of the painting is now standing over the people and a dilapidated city holding a machine gun and a sword that is stabbing the belly of a dove (a symbol of peace). The rainbow from the first half of the painting continues on here and turns into a wispy ghost trail symbolic of death. Then a row of sad women holding dead babies. I didn't capture it in the photo above, but in the lower right hand corner of the painting there was this poem:
I once was a little child
who longed for other worlds.
But I am no more a child
for I have known fear.
I have learned to hate...
How tragic, then, is youth
which lives with enemies,
with gallows ropes.
Yet, I still believe
I only sleep today.
That I'll wake up
a child again,
and start to
laugh and play."
by
Hama Herchenberg,
14 years old.. died
December 18, 1943
Auschwitz
Concentration camp
The other creepy part of this last painting is that on the floor right below this painting, I was standing on this (image to the right). At first I didn't even notice really what it was. After researching the paintings, it is said that Denver was build on gold (Au) and silver (Ag) mines in the 1800's and this represents gold and silver. The conspiracy is that one of the sponsors of the airport discovered a new deadly strain of Hepatitis. Also known as Australia Antigen (AUAG, but the actually term is HBsAg). This plaque is on the floor right in front of a giant mural about chemical warfare... now if that's not coincidence, I don't know what is!
There are a bunch of weird words throughout the airport. DZIT DIT GAII is a mosaic on the floor and people thought it was German (Nazis right?), but it's actually Navajo for white mountain. Cochetopa and Sisnaajini are also carved into the floor but they too are Navajo terms for geographical sites in Colorado. Braaksma and Villarreal, also on the floor, are the names of Carolyn Braaksma and Mark Villarreal who were the artists who worked on the airport's sculptures and paintings.
Conspiracists say that the imagery has symbolism and trigger points for the Illuminati, Project MK Ultra, Freemasonry, Skull and Bones society, Templar, Satanic, the New World Order, and the Nazis. The artist Leo Tanguma has said this about his art at the airport, "My work comes out of the Chicano movement and I'm still trying to be faithful to my original ideal of human dignity for all people."
Well in my honest opinion, it's just plain fucked up Leo and it's freakin' me out!!
After having a mind-fuck of a tour through the airport of the gargoyles, weird ass paintings, and the Freemason time capsule, we grab the truck and drive off. On the way out I saw this:
What. The. Hell?!
Seriously! Look at the 32 foot high, 9,000-pound, fibreglass, anatomically correct, demon-possessed horse! All that's missing is Ichabod Crane hanging on waving his hat! When I got back to the hotel I researched this blue mustang and it got really weird. The sculptors name was Luis Jiménez and he was 66 years old. While he was creating it, on June 13, 2006, a section of the sculpture fell on him and severed an artery in his leg and he died of blood loss on his studio floor. His widow and sons had to complete his work. It cost $300,000 and was finally erected at the airport in February of 2008. How crazy is that?!
The sculpture is actually very impressive. A little scary, but damn cool. It is an striking azure blue and the eyes are a satanic red that are actually illuminated. This was done by Luis Jiménez as a tribute to his father who was a neon sign maker. This 32 foot statue was based off of Luis' earlier work called Mesteño (Mustang). It is on display at the University of Oklahoma. It is only 8 feet tall but is also blue and has glowing red eyes. Read the article here. The locals have named it Blucifer, Satan's Steed, and Blue Stallion of Death. Some locals have even signed petitions to have it removed but to no avail. It stays.
Upon arriving in Denver I realized a few things:
Denver's altitude is 5,280 feet, exactly one mile above sea level. It's 1,723 feet higher than Calgary! I found I did get nauseous if i didn't keep hydrated.
My favorite beer Coors Banquet is brewed in Golden, Colorado. Golden is 24 kilometres away from Denver. We did go to Golden but not to the brewery (work trip), so a return trip to the brewery is in order.
Red Rock Amphitheater is absolutely AMAZING! It's an open air concert venue in a rock structure in Morrison, Colorado. Anybody who is anybody has played there. The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, you name it.
If you say you are with the party, you can totally crash United States senator John McCain and the Denver senator's cigar party at the Brown Palace Hotel.
Pot is LEGAL! Not decriminalized, LEGAL! You smell it on the streets, you smell it in bars, you can go into a dispensary (I did) and smell and buy any kind of pot you want. I think this is why there are so many homeless there though. If you are interested in the laws about it being legal and where you can and cannot smoke it, read more here. I did get a swanky shirt at the dispensary though!
Overall I had an amazing time in Denver. It was very Amsterdam-ish, even though I've never been to Amsterdam, it's what I think it would be like. Great art, people signing in the streets, a very cultured and socially diverse city. It's a very tolerant city that will pave the way for expression and unconventional systems. A personal vacation to Denver is definitely in my future!
But that airport.... wow!
I'll leave you with a little video of a guy whose ideas of the Denver International Airport are a little... different. Enjoy!