Strange Military Bases – Cheyenne Mountain Complex

Cheyenne Mountain Complex Air Force Station, Colo.:

Background: This iconic underground base has been inspiring science fiction writers and awing engineers since 1966. Located nearly a half mile under a granite mountain, the labyrinthine facility is run by Air Force Space Command. The base earned its place in pop culture when the television version of Stargate made Cheyenne Mountain the HQ of cosmic time travel.

How It’s Unique: One-of-a-kind bases like Cheyenne pose countless construction challenges and need to satisfy seemingly impossible requirements, like being able to withstand multi-megaton attacks. “It would be hard for a contractor to bid a project like this, because you might be using new construction techniques, new construction technology,” Schulz says. Aside from sitting under a mountain of granite, an extremely hard rock, the base is protected by 25-ton blast doors, and some rooms sit on massive beds of springs to better absorb a blast. “It’s certainly not a very secret installation, but it’s well-protected.”