DIA came up in an episode of Jesse Ventura's Conspiracy Theory that I recently watched. Frankly, DIA probably deserves an episode all on its own. Ventura just shuffled around the airport and stared disbelievingly at a mural on the wall, but surely there's more investigating (and shouting) that could be done there?
In 1995 a new airport opened in Denver, replacing the former Stapleton International Airport. At 53 square miles, it is the largest international airport in the United States - and the third largest in the world.
But aside from being a United Airlines hub with a state of the art baggage system, DIA has also quickly become the focus of conspiracy theorists everywhere.
As a general overview, conspiracy theorists claim that DIA is just the cap on an underground network of tunnels - nay, an entire underground city - where the elite will retreat when the world comes to an end. Some believe that "the elite" include the world's rich and famous; others that it consists strictly of government and military personnel. And still others believe that the DIA will be the hiding place for the Illuminati, the secret conspiracy to run the world via the Trilateral Commission.
In the airport's early days in the mid to late 1990s, several people came forward to say that they had worked on building the tunnels, or had toured the underground system. Pictures of cavernous rooms, mine shafts, and vast tunnels big enough to drive a semi truck through were released. It was claimed that these rooms would be used for prisoner control, or would house the New World Order.
In hindsight, most of these pictures and locations have proved to be part of DIA's high tech, world class automated baggage system, storage tanks, and other normal airport accoutrements. OR SO THEY WOULD HAVE US BELIEVE.
The airport's artwork has come under fire as being a signal to the airport's true purpose. Now it is inarguably true that the murals in the airport are both lurid and horrifying, and perhaps inappropriate for people who are about to embark upon airline travel, which is a fraught and tension-filled act at the best of times. DIA's murals do not soothe the traveler's jangled nerves. Quite the contrary. They depict fireballs, stormtroopers in full riot gear, dying doves, and huddled, terrified children.
Conspiracy theorists claim that the paintings portray the overthrow of the current paradigm, the coming paramilitary apocalypse which will usher in the New World Order, crushing all dissidents (and bunny rabbits) before it. The artist himself claims that no, no, oh my, you've misunderstood: it simply depicts the coming environmental catastrophe. This isn't as ringing a defense as one might want to hear.
It still leaves aside the issue of why, if you're going to build a big secret underground lair, you would decorate it with a painting of the End Times. Kind of tips your hand, don't you think?
Finally, the two things that really send people over the edge: the Masonic capstone and the phrase "New World Airport Commission." The Masons were apparently involved in the construction of the airport, although why that earned them pride of place is unexplained. The "New World Airport Commission" is not a real thing, so that's anyone's guess. More fuel for the flames, clearly!
In 1995 a new airport opened in Denver, replacing the former Stapleton International Airport. At 53 square miles, it is the largest international airport in the United States - and the third largest in the world.
But aside from being a United Airlines hub with a state of the art baggage system, DIA has also quickly become the focus of conspiracy theorists everywhere.
As a general overview, conspiracy theorists claim that DIA is just the cap on an underground network of tunnels - nay, an entire underground city - where the elite will retreat when the world comes to an end. Some believe that "the elite" include the world's rich and famous; others that it consists strictly of government and military personnel. And still others believe that the DIA will be the hiding place for the Illuminati, the secret conspiracy to run the world via the Trilateral Commission.
In the airport's early days in the mid to late 1990s, several people came forward to say that they had worked on building the tunnels, or had toured the underground system. Pictures of cavernous rooms, mine shafts, and vast tunnels big enough to drive a semi truck through were released. It was claimed that these rooms would be used for prisoner control, or would house the New World Order.
In hindsight, most of these pictures and locations have proved to be part of DIA's high tech, world class automated baggage system, storage tanks, and other normal airport accoutrements. OR SO THEY WOULD HAVE US BELIEVE.
The airport's artwork has come under fire as being a signal to the airport's true purpose. Now it is inarguably true that the murals in the airport are both lurid and horrifying, and perhaps inappropriate for people who are about to embark upon airline travel, which is a fraught and tension-filled act at the best of times. DIA's murals do not soothe the traveler's jangled nerves. Quite the contrary. They depict fireballs, stormtroopers in full riot gear, dying doves, and huddled, terrified children.
Conspiracy theorists claim that the paintings portray the overthrow of the current paradigm, the coming paramilitary apocalypse which will usher in the New World Order, crushing all dissidents (and bunny rabbits) before it. The artist himself claims that no, no, oh my, you've misunderstood: it simply depicts the coming environmental catastrophe. This isn't as ringing a defense as one might want to hear.
It still leaves aside the issue of why, if you're going to build a big secret underground lair, you would decorate it with a painting of the End Times. Kind of tips your hand, don't you think?
Finally, the two things that really send people over the edge: the Masonic capstone and the phrase "New World Airport Commission." The Masons were apparently involved in the construction of the airport, although why that earned them pride of place is unexplained. The "New World Airport Commission" is not a real thing, so that's anyone's guess. More fuel for the flames, clearly!
Photo credit: Flickr/Mash Down Babylon