Cheyenne Mountain and the NORAD Complex

I'm reviving an old thread here to comment on the escape hatch in Cheyenne. If all main exits are compromised, there is a tunnel leading out. The question I have: where does it lead?

ETA: Consider, first of all, the size. It's a crawling tunnel by the size of that door. That's not to say it couldn't be bigger on the inside. If it really is an escape hatch, I would imagine it angles slightly downward, then probably levels out. If we also consider the nature of the facility--that it was designed as a nuclear shelter--then it's probably got some decontamination facility at the other end, and a way for those at the end to know someone's in the tunnel.

Fort Carson is essentially across the street from the main entrance, but in the event of a nuclear attack, Fort Carson and much of Colorado Springs would likely be contaminated. I doubt the tunnel is designed in a way that would force evacuees to crawl a significant distance, but I would think it leads to a point a safe distance away from the mountain.

If you've hit the facility hard enough to block all the main tunnels, you've likely knocked out the power to the facility, so I doubt there's any kind of vehicle-- like a train or what have you--in the tunnel. My theory based on these assumptions would be the tunnel opens up to allow evacuees to run through it to perhaps Peterson AFB, about 11 miles away.

Assuming the mountain was the main target (it'd have to be to cause that much damage), 11 miles seems a relatively safe distance from the blast. It has the added benefit of being connected to a base where government officials/military operatives could land and enter the bunker through the tunnel in an emergency. On second thought, maybe there is a vehicle of some sort, along with a walkway.

/ETA

a reply to: Sclavus

A few things here. I assume that the Russians and the Chinese would hit all of the surrounding bases simply to cover all bases. One MIRV'd ICBM would be enough to pretty much ensure that. For that matter if you hit the complex with a 5 mT warhead (Current for Chinese Dong Feng ICBM) you would damage a significant chunk of Colorado Springs. see nuclearsecrecy.com...

While the design of the complex is quite a feat its unlikely that the tunnel leading into the mountain would not collapse and I can see them bouncing the rubble to make sure. In that scenario an escape tunnel would collapse as well.

If I was digging an escape tunnel I would head west towards Pikes Peak and away from Colorado Springs, Plus Denver would no doubt be hit as well. But I don't think that it would survive the initial blast(s)

The only thing I could see working is to dig deeper as crazy as that sounds. Project Gnome looked at using nuclear weapons to carve out underground complexes. You dig a deeper shelter and then tunnel a rescue tunnel. But, Since its not a COG shelter etc, I doubt they would spend that kind of money

a reply to: FredT

Fred this is gonna sound totally bats*** nuts but you're kinda right about going deeper to escape, but how much digging might be needed.... Or not... Would likely be WAY LESS THAN YOU THINK!

You might want to pack yer swim trunks though, or a nuclear sububmarine ....

i say that because some of the underground watercourses in that range and within a few miles of the actual cheyenne mountain facility have salt water whose salinity, bioluminescent organisms multiple fish species and even the water temperatures are extremely similar to parts of the Pacific ocean...

These underground anomalies are very real i personally have been to two in the area, mind you though I'm not outright saying you could get out somewhere into the Pacific from them either....

But idk how else to explain them either LOL!

a reply to: FredT

I could see the escape hatch leading to a deeper bunker, and a tunnel from there leading to Pikes Peak. The difference in height is around 5,000 feet between the prominence of the two mountains. Also, Pikes Peak is made up mostly of (wait for it) Pikes Peak granite, and would provide significantly more shelter than Cheyenne Mountain.

So why not put the Cheyenne bunker in Pikes Peak in the first place? Because of proximity to Fort Carson, and the fact that when the Cheyenne bunker was decided upon, Pikes Peak was already a major tourist attraction. There are, however, plenty of places one could conceal a bunker exit hatch.

It'd be a heck of a hike from Cheyenne Mountain to Pikes Peak, but it's certainly doable if the folks in Cheyenne are required to meet military fitness regulations.

a reply to: Sclavus

I would guess that the secondary entrance is either on the back of Old Stage Rd on the west side of mountain in Cheyenne Canyon or underneath the Broadmoor hotel.