Journalism takes me to a nerd’s dream

Journalism takes me to a nerd’s dream

Blast Doors SelifeI must admit to being a little nerdy (don’t look so surprised), so when the opportunity came up to photograph a tour inside the Cheyenne Mountain Complex near Colorado Springs, I couldn’t resist the temptation.

The facility, located deep inside a granite mountain and behind massive steel blast doors, has been the setting for science fiction conjecture in WarGames, Stargate and more. From what we saw inside, Hollywood had it completely wrong.

A coworker of mine spent months arranging the trip and satisfying the security requirements. She spearheads a series on our website called “Secrets of Colorado,” and this place certainly is full of them.

Our tour guides made sure we never saw or photographed anyone’s security badges or any real workspaces. In fact, while they told us 13 agencies work inside the underground complex, they never named more than 3 of them.

I was also asked to refrain from posting my images from the tour on personal social media, for fear that the public might think the mountain stronghold is somehow open to public tours — which it isn’t. Therefore, to see more of what we experienced and learned inside this Cold War bunker that continues to host secretive missions, check out the Secrets of Colorado story.

And no, I didn’t have to ask them about the movies. Our guides brought it up and laughed it off before I ever had a chance.