Exploring The Huge Nuclear Bunker Built Inside Of A Mountain | Super Structures | Spark 

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I miss these types of 90s documentaries. Well written, excellent narration, concise information, to the point. All around great.

I went to Cheyenne Mountain High School. You could look up and see NORAD from the back windows of the school. I remember sitting in classes in the 1980’s and looking up at it and thinking, “I won’t feel a thing”. Because NORAD was target number one for the Soviets. What a crazy thing for a teenager to think about. But very real.

I was working for a while at a secure facility that controls communications across the world. We were in communication with NORAD, NATO, and others. All was 'live'. The technology was incredible and made our work easy and effective. There is no movie out there that can compare to the reality. All those places are run by true professionals. We were aware of everything going on anywhere on the planet. If it could affect the security of NORAD or NATO, we knew. Every day, sometimes more than once, I got to talk with other staff at places like Cheyenne Mountain. I got to see deployments against many enemies, against spy planes, and to assist other countries in times of crises. The only drawback; I could not, then and now, talk about any details. And yet, for an old geeky nerd, this was heaven. We had such nice 'toys' to play with. We did make a difference, even if the world will never hear about it.

I got to tour this facility in 2013 when I was an Honorary Commander for the Air Force. It is absolutely astounding that this was built and the work they do is equally impressive. This place is huge. It has two acre sized ponds inside it and is 5 stories tall! Every person that works there knows that if they are in the facility and there is a nuclear attack on it, they will survive but never see their loved ones outside.

I worked in NORAD Northbay for 6 months. Everyday we would take the bus into the mountain. What I found amazing was in the early years they needed complex cooling systems and then in the 90s they had to install central heating systems. All due to the transition from tube technology to integrated electronics.

Wonderful documentary! So disappointing though that they failed to mention the sub basement levels that house the Star Gate and it's related endeavors.

It is good that NORAD monitors the skies and space above our planet. I remember the time when kids were taught to get underneath their desks if they were at school if a nuke attack were to occur. I was one of those kids.

My grandfather was one of the engineers that worked on NORAD back when they were developing/building it. This was so cool to listen to!

I worked in Norad in the early sixties test drilling to determine the " integrity" of the mountain. This was an awesome place to work that few people knew about.

I was already working underground in a sister project in Canada while that one was under construction in 1965. I was doing a project using the very latest vacuum tube computers of the time and using punch cards for data entry. Anyone remember that? In those days, nuclear war was very much on everyone’s mind. We used to wear dog-tag-like radiation monitors at all times. Seems like it was just yesterday.

They help Santa durint his journey every year! Thank you to all the volunteers at Norad for that! It makes all the kids happy!

I got to go inside Norad once when I was a kid. I was in middle school I think eigth grade. I was a part of a small group of two or three students from each middle school in Pueblo CO. We were picked by our science teachers. We got to go on a bunch of really cool field trips and stuff and this was one we went on. I think it was our first one actually. It was really cool. I was grateful to be picked. I dont remember much about it. The huge double blast doors. The drive into the mountain. I remember after first walking in through the blast doors the small buildings right inside that were on huge coil springs to absorb shock in case of a blast. I remember walking around and them explaining how they could lock themselves in and last for a long time because of the indoor reservoirs of water. We walked by one it was creepy to think of how deep it might be and how dark. And we got to see a command center for a moment. It was all a very cool experience that I will never forget. Oh yeah the group was called PYN it was an acronym for Pueblo youth naturally.

I got to go into Cheyenne mountain when I worked for H P on a service call to fix a monitor-- I remember 3 huge doors each at a different perimeter each time. Very thick doors ( 3 - 6 feet ) slid open to give access to inner rooms all in artificial lightning, shadows in each corner . 🖤 🇺🇲 It was a an adventure in my life that I lived when I was young 1977 Colorado 🇺🇲 ❤ 💙

General Hammond: "The president agrees. You have a 'GO'." Stargate SG-1 🙌

I worked there from 1990-1993, loved being there. It was a great base to be at.

One of my best three year assignments inside the mountain. Truly a remarkable place and so much more than shown on this documentary about the infrastructure and additional tunnels.

My late father worked on "The Dew Line" which was the precursor to Norad.

I was stationed there in 69-72. Great duty and great people. We were just barely our of the vacuum tube generation for the computers.

Glade those guys are there !!!! Thank you 😊

I had the opportunity and the experience to go inside Nora Wallace cadet at the United States Air Force Academy. It is absolutely amazing and to know that it was finished in the sixties was absolutely unbelievable I can only imagine what they have now

I love and enjoy these types of documentaries.

I’m always amazed at the sheer scale of such projects.

Fascinating …. spent my first 4 years of Air Force career (‘73-‘77) as Radar Tech at AC&W site in NJ

Once we let out detailed information in regards to such amazing Military/Homeland Security achievements, means there’s already something 10x better currently operating!

Very interesting. Particularly the engineering aspects

This was amazing I so enjoyed this documentary thanks for letting the people enjoy it

Love the technology that was “state of the art” when first used

Outstanding job and GOD ALMIGHTY BLESS THIS COUNTRY AND THE MEN&WOMEN WHO PROTECT THIS COUNTRY!!! AND I APPRECIATE YALL SHOWING THIS SEGEMENT .

Was able to go in when I was a kid,dad was stationed there from 71 to 80.

I lived with my grand father in Colorado Springs. He was an engineer on this sight, I would be able to got to work with him there, and see the huge blast doors, and inside the huge complex. It was a secret, I wasn't allowed to tell anyone. I still have pictures of it from 48 years ago.

I worked there from 1979 to 1983. NORAD moved out of the mountain a couple of decades ago. Interesting place. Over 7000ft at the parking lot.

As a Canadian, I'm proud of the NORAD system and our military!!

Not surprising, but they failed to mention how much Canada actually has to do with NORAD and that the second highest in NORAD command is a Canadian Lieutenant-General Alain Parent. Here is a brief description of the Canadian/American agreement.🇨🇦🇺🇸 In 1958, both governments signed an agreement to create a bi-national structure that would centralize efforts to defend North American airspace. The agreement established guidelines and principles on how the command would be organized and operated. NORAD would be commanded by an American general, with a Canadian general as deputy commander, who would be equally responsible to both governments. Currently, NORAD is commanded by U.S. Army General Charles Jacoby, who is also the commander of U.S. Northern Command (the U.S. joint command responsible for homeland defence), while the NORAD deputy commander is Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Lieutenant-General Alain Parent.

In an other underground structure i was told the spring was so big they could only carry one per semi truck. ( during interstate construction.)

What a great video showing your enemies how it is constructed very smart.

absolutely AMAZING,..the technology of Rock mining at that time,..impresses the hell out of me

Almost 52 minutes and they never once talked about the StarGate. We know you have it, we've seen it! >.

This video program was produced in 1999. Which explains the CRT monitors. I got to tour this place in 97 was very cool. Had a terrible cold at the time. And high humidity inside really helped me breathe easier.

In the 1970’s my dad worked NORD ( NorthBay Ontario Canada 🇨🇦) .. I visited the “mountain” many times during my time in the Air Cadet’s and as an Air Reservist.. cheers from HudsonBay 🇨🇦

I'm so happy for stuff like that place so they can keep an eye on the world but so many people don't know how lucky they are for them im going to say it for them. Thank you so very much Again Thank you for everything ❤ you have my heart for ever.?

It's good we have such facilities. I'm willing to bet there are others like it which aren't known to outsiders. This one could be just a distraction that keeps everyone's attention directed away from anything else.

The men who engineered and constructed this were absolute geniuses. Amazing hard-working men.

Wow! These engineers and workers were super intelligent and able to imagine ideas bigger than life, and put them into action. Amazing

Outstanding presentation and a glimpse of our history. Thank you!

I remember the urgency of the Zeitgeist very well. Cold War. Right. Thanks to all the construction workers who made it happen.

We need NORAD now more than ever.

My grandparents owned a real estate company that sold a home to a general that worked at NORAD. He gave us a really awesome tour of the place (pre 9/11). What an amazing place. The size of those doors was so impressive.

THANKS YOU FOR THE VIDEO !! MUY INTERESANT..

“It’s an exclusive club. Aaaand YOU ain’t invited‼️” - George Carlin (Comedian)😂😂

Imagine what humans could accomplish if we didn't fight each other. All the money , effort & resources on just this project alone could be used in ways to benifit humanity & society. Thats how important peace is, it should be of the utmost importance.

Really awesome information in the comments here by people who worked there... Now, that isn't generally included in older videos like these. Thank you all for sharing! P.S. To the narrators comments about "The Cold War" being over.. That's a joke! And, NORAD still has a huge place in North America's military and protection services... I mean, outside of pizzing on spark plugs and hollyweird... lol

Brings back great memories of the move "War Games" 1983

I rewatched this film tonight, May 19, 2022. Unfortunately, the threat for which NORAD was built is back, stronger than ever.

I loved this very informative. I watched it mainly because my father was the Deputy Commander of the Missile Warning Center and he was in there I find it so cool and interesting

What's a technology! Awesome! So proud

These government facilities that are built inside of mountains exists and they are located where I live it's called NAWS China Lake naval Base located in Ridgecrest California. This was also the birthplace of the recent massive earthquakes

everytime i see that entrance i dont see NORAD, i see the SGC 😂

The real norad is near the Northbay Ontario, old mine approximately 6000 feet below the surface of pure canadian shield granite.

The most amazing thing about this is that it is all controlled by a Comador64. Nothing escapes them only a balloon

Back in the mid 1990s we could see Cheyenne Mountain from the artillery firing range we trained at. We made jokes about knocking on the door & letting them know the Cold War was over, they could come out.

Can you imagine the tech existent in the facility now?

CRTs and Silicon Graphics workstations. So much awesome!

I knew an old guy named Rex M. Who was a compter nerd for the air force at NORAD in the 70's, 80's, 90's He was a real interesting guy to talk to. Rex was a good guy.

fantastic achievement and i am grateful that it is there however i hope you have kept up with all the new threats on the horizon

Reinforcing a superstructure underground with miles of anchors and shored up under pinning would greatly reduce the risk and stress of fatigue created from blasting and

Technology has been so improved

I saw a video of one 18 wheeler after another unloading freeze dried and Dehyd. Food at the opening of the mountain,fork lifts was busy as bee's unloading the trucks with more waiting in line!!--David.

And they didn't mention Stargate SG-1 and how popular it was , so popular that Cheyenne Mountain had to mark a door as the Gate Room.

Worked in there for 6 years.....best time of my life.

Back in the '50s there was a show called You Asked For It where viewers would ask for an episode about something they head about and NORAD headquarters was featured in an episode.

They forgot to mention that N.O.R.A.D. also tracks Santa Claus for two weeks every year before Christmas!

Still Amazing!!!

I grew up near their right outside gate 1 fort carson. I named my daughter middle name Cheyenne because seeing that mountain always made me feel at home

Meus parabéns, sem dúvida foi um exaustivo trabalho brilhante de engenharia. Com muitos desafios que foram superados e novas soluções que foram descobertas e solucionadas. Parabéns há todos que trabalharam e colaboraram nesse projeto magnífico, foi uma grande vitória

That is a lie to say at the beginning of the atomic age no one knew how to make tunnels in that rock. I understand this was different, but this ignores the knowledge that came before. They just had to get miners from the other side of the mountain in Cripple Creek who developed those techniques in the 1890s. over 100 , miles of tunnels in the same rock. 8 mile at the 3000 foot level a tunnel just to drain water which it is still doing to this day. The hard rock drills they show were developed in Cripple Creek. I have seen 1890 old rock bolts in the Molly Kathleen mine.

They got more then one big facts I was a semi driver for 3 years been in a few of them an heard of the others theres full city's under ground

Guy comes though and performs amazingly and saves the entire project, bosses, what's all the fuss about, your fired, talk about a perfect example of how it usually works, lol.

Ha! At 3:49 that's the USS Arleigh Burke. My brother is a plank owner on that ship and loved her well. I recognized the bow number right away. I was there at her commissioning and have been all over inside and out. Bro was the very first firecontrolman on the forward turret there. She was designed to have a very low radar signature and is the first major US Navy ship to have the back-raked mast. She's the first of her class of destroyer. If you look at her, there are no vertical lines or planes anywhere, a design that makes it very hard for a radar beam to accurately bounce back to the originator. Good ship. I don't think the Cold War is over at all. Like the narrator said, it's only changed hands. I still view our fellow nuclear capable countries as potential threats (or potential allies...you never know what India is going to do and whatever India does, Pakistan will follow and vice versa because of the utter loathing between the governments of each country) so I think NORAD has not outlived its usefulness. We will always need a facility, or facilities, like this until such time as Humankind grows up and out of its greedy lust for war and destruction (which we are quite good at and have a real penchant for). I disagree with the narrator that the former Soviet Union, now mostly the Russian Republic, has lost much of its nuclear capabilities. I think it hides them well but they're still there. You'd be an utter fool if you think the infrastructure and the weapons themselves have somehow magically vanished. China is a wild card in all this. I don't think we know exactly what HER capabilities are beyond a handful of need to know experts. My rough guess would be that her weaponry at this point rivals that of the former USSR if not the US. The Chinese play their cards very close to their vests and are, as stereotypes maintain, very inscrutable and opaque to read.

Judging by the vga monitors. I'd say this is video from the 80's.

Imagine all the extra room in there now without all those giant late 1990s monitors.

A montage of old, very old, and ancient footage. The newest stuff I say was vintage ~ 1985 to 1995. The VDTs and (SGI) Silicone Graphics computers where 1990's

At one point all of the telecommunications for the Dew Line went through NYC and routed through a single utility vault. You could take out the whole system with one hand grenade. This is one of the primary reasons we developed a distributed communications system i.e. The Internet!

Always keep NORAD UP TO DATE AND ON ALERT.

Watched this entire documentary. Loved it. So interesting. Would be neat to get an update. This must have been shot twenty years ago or more.

There’s a broom closet that has STARGATE COMMAND stenciled on the door. Some people from the show got to tour the facility and apparently had some fans in there.

Nice picture and beautiful document 😍

You can bet we can't even imagine the stuff they have in there now

"No one ever sleeps." God damn it! I didn't know that was a career option.

i stayed 6 months in jail with someone who was in the navy, he was stationed on a submarine. actually 2, one of them was about the size of 3 school buses. the other was the size of a football feild he said. this would supposedly have occurred in the late 90s, but he claimed that while on the larger vessel, they would dive down in the pacific and go down to these places underwater where they would then rise up, and it'd be like they were in like a cave only reachable by submarine. he said they had huge facilities in some of these "caves" and none of the people on the sub had any idea where they were except the captains and navagators. whether this is true or not, i'm not sure. but, apparently they work basically like NORAD, they monitor the skies and oceans from down there.

This documentary is probably from the late 90s early 2000s. I would like to see it nowadays!👍

I just read about 25 comments and had to stop from laughing. It's obvious the people posting comments never worked there and can't grasp the concept many military operations' full missions aren't broadcast to the general public (there's a reason for that, it's called national security). I didn't see anyone mention (in the 25 comments) active duty, military service. Regardless, this an interesting video both for historical purposes and technological information. Thank you for sharing it.

Dad worked inside this mountain in '62 while I was walking to Ivy Wild Elementary school in Colorado Springs. I remember the anxiety of trying to know the difference between the fire drills and A bomb drills as an 8 year second grader! RIP Dad

Man, I wish I worked at StarGate Command.

NORAD is fascinating

Where's the Stargate! We wanna see the Stargate!

Cheyenne Mountain: Sentinel in the Sky Super Structures of the World: Season 1, Episode 6 Air date: March 25, 2000

the world needs it

Blood, Sweat and Tears built this Facility, Job Well Done People.

Cheyenne Mountain has been closed since 2002. They use it now for training. NORAD was moved to Peterson Air Force base, however Cheyenne Mountain is still Norad’s backup.