AI Summary
5 min readThe Denver Airport: A Doomsday Bunker or Just Bad Art?
In September 2011, a comet named Elenin was barreling toward Earth. President Barack Obama happened to visit Denver, Colorado, at the same time—officially to fundraise for his American Jobs Act. But for believers in one of America's most persistent conspiracy theories, the timing was no coincidence. They argued Obama was really there to access a secret doomsday bunker hidden beneath the Denver International Airport (DIA), a facility supposedly built to protect the elite from civilization-ending events. The comet disintegrated before reaching Earth, and Obama spoke at a local high school instead. But the theory had already taken root, and it has only grown stranger since.
The Art That Launched a Thousand Theories
DIA opened in 1995 after a notoriously troubled construction that ballooned from $1.5 billion to $5.2 billion and faced three delays. For conspiracy researcher Alex Christopher, that was just the beginning. At a 1994 lecture in Denver, she noticed the airport's capstone—a granite plaque in the main hall—bore the symbol of the Freemasons alongside the words "New World Airport Commission." The phrase sounded suspiciously like "New World Order," the supposed global cabal that conspiracy theorists believe secretly controls world events.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (00:06) **The 2011 Comet Panic and Obama's Denver Visit** - The episode opens with the 2011 Elenin comet scare and frames President Obama's trip to Denver as suspicious timing.
- 2 (01:40) **Introducing the Central Mystery: DIA as a Doomsday Bunker** - DIA is presented not as a normal airport, but as a suspected underground bunker for the elite, complete with occult imagery.
- 3 (06:09) **The Creepy Art of DIA: The Murals of Leo Tanguma** - The episode details the first major piece of physical evidence: the violent and disturbing murals in the airport.
- 4 (07:56) **The Curse of "Blucifer"** - The story of the 32-foot-tall blue horse statue, "Mustang," and the tragic death of its artist, Luis Jimenez.
- 5 (11:40) **The Origin of the Conspiracy: Alex Christopher and the Capstone** - The investigation goes back to 1989 and the troubled construction of DIA, which went massively over budget and was delayed.
- 6 (16:09) **Decoding the Murals: Alex's Interpretation** - Alex Christopher's analysis of Leo Tanguma's murals reveals what she believes is a Nazi/New World Order plot.
- 7 (20:56) **The Underground Tunnels: A City for the Elite** - Alex, guided by engineer Phil Schneider, investigates the massive 3.5 million square foot tunnel system beneath DIA.
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Show Notes
This July, we’re revisiting five classic topics in our Conspiracy Theories: Rewind series! Denver International Airport is said to be holding more than planes and luggage. It’s home to apocalyptic artwork, Freemason imagery, and even a literal murderous 32-foot-tall horse. And beneath all of this is a vast tunnel system that many believe houses an alien race that enslaves human children. Is this really just an airport or is it the headquarters for the New World Order?
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