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American family who is building a doomsday castle to survive the apocalypse
Brent Bruns believes the apocalypse will be triggered by a strong electromagnetic pulse (EMP) that will take out the entire power grid and plunge mankind back into the Dark Ages. To prepare for the inevitable, he and his family have built a fortified castle atop a large foothill deep in the woods of South Carolina, complete with a drawbridge, portcullis and an underground bunker. The family is also learning to use medieval weapons including crossbows and catapults that will protect them from marauders and scavengers.Brent Sr., a retired infantry officer, got into doomsday prepping back in 1999. Convinced that the predicted Y2K computer glitch would unleash chaos and bring about the end of civilization as we know it, he wanted to ensure his family's safety if everything went dark. When that didn't happen, Brent put the whole thing out of his mind for a couple of years because he didn't want people to think he was crazy. Eventually he got back to the original plan, only this time he has his whole family to help him.Brent and his family are now stars of National Geographic Channel's Doomsday Castle, a non-scripted reality show that premiered on August 13, 2013.
Chinese man who built his own version of Noah's Ark
Worried about the 2012 Mayan apocalypse, a man in China spent his life savings on the construction of his very own version of Noah's Ark.Lu Zhenghai, from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in northwest China, spent about $160,000 on the boat. The vessel, designed by Lu himself, measures about 65 feet in length and weighs about 80 tons.Lu said he began building his ark in 2010 out of fear that an impending doomsday flood would threaten he and his family's survival.Chinese news website FMN reports that Lu's ark was built with 10 tons of timber and 60 tons of steel. Due to a lack of funds, however, it has yet to be completed. It's a good thing for him that the apocalypse never happened.
$60,000 corrugated pipe bunker that was created to survive doomsday
If you can't afford the $2 million luxury condos above, you certainly have other options. The $60,000 Atlas Survival Shelter, can still save you from tornadoes and other disasters.
Sold by Al's Army Navy Store in Altamonte Springs, FL, the 32'×10' Doomsday Bunker is made from corrugated pipe and is designed to be buried 20 feet underground. Store assistant manager Jeremy Ross said that this survival shelter is meant for people who are "just kind of preparing for something."The Atlas Survival Shelter comes complete with bunk beds that have under-the-lid storage, an escape hatch for emergency attacks, mudrooms with a lockable laser cut interior door, countertops, a kitchen with a sink, low voltage electric lights, electric outlets and a toilet. If that doesn't impress you much, you can also go for the optional flatscreen TV, shortwave radios, camera surveillance, 300-5,000 gallon water tanks, 100-500 gallon fuel storage tanks, DVD player, power-generating exercise bicycle, red oak cabinets and beds, solar panels, restroom facility or an electric toilet with tank.
The survival shelter that claims to be the most secure real estate in the world
During the late 1950's and early 1960's when the Cold War was in full effect, the U.S. government built hundreds of Atlas-F missile silos to prepare the country for an attack that never came. Today, most of these silos lie abandoned and filled with water – monuments to a bygone era of American history left to waste.Thanks to two entrepreneurial cousins, Bruce Francisco and Gregory Gibbons, one of these silos located in beautiful Adirondack State Park near Lake Placid, NY is finding new life as a luxury home, safe haven and getaway complex accessible by plane or car.Above ground, the Silohome features a hangar and spacious open living room with a fireplace and a wraparound porch. Below ground in what was once the launch control center is now two levels and features 3 bedrooms, 2-1/2 baths, and an open living area and kitchen adjoined by a spiral staircase. Past the former LCC, nine additional levels protrude further underground, making up the 12,000 square feet that was actual missile storage space. The home also includes 20 acres of land with another 78 acres available as 10 approved building lots.The Silo House is on the market for $1.76 million for those taking their doomsday preparations seriously.
Billionaire's bunker that is equipped with panic suite
Al Corbi's residence in the Hollywood Hills has the requisite white walls covered in artwork and picture windows offering breathtaking views of downtown Los Angeles, but it has more in common with NSA headquarters than with the other contemporary homes on the block. The Corbi family doesn't need keys (thanks to biometric recognition software), doesn't fear earthquakes (thanks to steel-reinforced concrete caissons that burrow 30 feet into the private hilltop) and sleeps easily inside a 2,500-square-foot home within a home – a ballistics-proof panic suite that Corbi refers to as a “safe core.”Al Corbi is the founder of security mega-firm SAFE (Strategically Armored Fortified Environments) and his Los Angeles residence serves as a show house for prospective clients.
This 2 million $ condos in Kansas dubbed the most luxurious way to sit out the apocalypse
They has been billed as the most luxurious way to sit out the apocalypse - and now there is a waiting list for the $2 million condos being built in an abandoned missile silo in Kansas. Perhaps the buyers know something we don't.These luxurious units come with all mod-cons, as well as a pool, a movie theater and a library – oh, and a guarantee that they will survive doomsday if and when that fateful day comes. The condos sit deep below the Kansas prairie in the shaft of an abandoned missile silo and are meant to withstand everything from economic collapse and solar flares to terrorist attacks and pandemics. So far, four buyers have thrown down a total of about $7 million (£4.4m) for havens to flee to when disaster happens or the end is nigh.Developer Larry Hall is retrofitting three more Cold War-era silos when this one fills up. Built to withstand an atomic blast, even the most paranoid can find comfort inside concrete walls that are nine feet thick and stretch 174 feet (53 meters) underground.
United Kingdom: Burlington Bunker, a.k.a. Cold War City, Stockwell, Subterfuge, Turnstile, Site 3, Hawthorn Central Government War Headquarters
Telephone switchboard Burlington Bunker
Located in Corsham, Wiltshire, this bunker dates to the 1950s and takes up 35 acres. It was built to house 4000 people in the event of nuclear strikes. The inhabitants would have been able to live there, 100 feet underground, for three months.When the cold war ended, Site 3 was used as a decoy site until it was declassified in 2004. It was never used and when it went up for sale, it still held ashtrays, tea sets, and more unboxed and unused.The site in sleepy Corsham, a cute English village, was chosen because of its limestone bedrock. The site is adjacent to the Tunnel Quarry, part of the Ministry of Defense Central Ammunitions Depot. The quarry is connected by rail to a main line that runs to London. If there had been a threat of nuclear event, high-level government officials and the Royal family would have hopped a train and debarked underground at the bunker site. The prime minister and cabinet members would have made use of the helipad.The nearly mile long bunker included an underground lake, doctor’s and dental offices, and all of the information needed to attempt a rebuild of the country in maps, books, and a database. The Prime Minister had his own suite.The bunker was so large that battery operated vehicles would have driven down corridors with names like First Avenue. There was even a phone system (updated as recently as 1989) for communicating with the outside world. It also included a bakery, just in case, you know, you might want a scone at teatime.Site 3, The Burlington Bunker, began its slow demise in the 1990s when the British government refused upgrades and repairs that would have cost £40 million. It didn’t help that conspiracy theorists had an inkling of its existence and that they believed it was the UK version of Area 51. After years of pushing off those conspiracies and of trying to maintain the site at £500,000 a year, the MOD threw in the towel and declassified it in 2004.
United States: The Greenbrier Bunker
The Cold War era United States government liked a little luxury with their security. The Greenbrier “Hotel” was an incredibly large resort for the very rich, located in the mountains of West Virginia. To this day, it is a playground for those with money to spare. The smallest room runs $228 a night.The Greenbrier had been around a long time and had put up several presidents for a night or two, years before its underground was dug out as a bunker site. In fact, the U.S. military used it as an army hospital and as a detention site for Axis diplomats (German and Japanese) during WWII. Its original owners bought it back after the war. The wealthiest of the jet set were overjoyed and attended the reopening ceremonies – celebrities including the Duke of Windsor and Wallis Simpson and the Kennedy clan.
White Sulphur Springs, WV isn’t exactly in the heart of any kind of hustle and bustle, so it’s easy to see how, with so many people of influence frequenting the place, it was selected to be the secure relocation area for the United States government during a Nuclear War.A deal was struck in the late 50’s in which the government would add an addition to the resort for the privilege of constructing the bunker beneath it and re-configuring areas of the hotel for its purposes. Also, in the agreement was the permission of the entire resort to be given over to the government’s purposes in the event of a nuclear situation. The dirt removed for the bunker was used to build a golf course, and also as fill dirt on a local airport runway.
The bunker was enormous. It was meant to house 1000 people, including the members of Congress. An auditorium in the structure had 470 seats so that Congress could still meet under the worst of outside world conditions. Joint sessions of Congress would be held in the room called The Exhibit Hall, which measured 89X186 feet with a 20-foot ceiling supported by 18 columns.Rooms used by hotel guests as a business meeting areas had secret blast doors, two of which were sized to let vehicles through. The Exhibit Hall itself was always visible to guests, they just didn’t know what it was. Well, at least not until the Greenbrier was exposed by a reporter.
Russia: The Moscow Metro
The Moscow Metro bunker known as Metro-2 may be fiction, but there’s a whole lot of support that it’s fact.The bunker rose to the light in a 1992 novel by novelist and screenwriter, Vladimir Gonik. The book, Preispodniaia (Abyss), is set in a bunker secreted away in the subway systems of Moscow. Parts of the book came out in installations in the Sovershenno Sekretno newspaper. The author and the editor of the newspaper stated in interviews that they had been collecting information over 20 years about bunkers connected by underground rail and that they had heard about them in reference to the name “Metro-2”.
Gonik was writing this novel during the Cold War. He said that very sensitive information had been left out of the book or had been purposely altered. He claims he was able to collect all of this info through his position as a Ministry of Defense doctor.
Other Russian journalists have referenced Metro-2 and they claim that its existence is “neither confirmed nor denied” by the subway or by the Federal Security Service (FSB). Some say that an underground bunker tour given by the government is meant to give misinformation and to deflect interest.No matter, the U.S. government believes in the Metro-2. Below is an excerpt from a 1991 report:“The Soviets have constructed deep-underground . . . interconnected by a network of deep interconnected subway lines that provide a quick and secure means of evacuation for the leadership. The leadership can move from their peacetime offices through concealed entryways in protective quarters beneath the city . . .These facilities are intended for the national command authority in wartime. They are estimated to be between 200 m (660 ft) and 300 m (980 ft) deep, and can accommodate an estimated 10,000 people. A special subway line runs from some points in Moscow and possibly to the VIP terminal at Vnukovo Airfield . Even a few Russian officials will admit to the existence of what has been codenamed “D-6” – an underground bunker paralleling the Moscow Metro, started by Joseph Stalin, and maintained today by the Main Directorate of Special Programs and the Ministry of Defense.“This is an extensive network of tunnels and an emergency command center in case of war, where you can command the nuclear forces of the country. It can hide a lot of people – its maintenance was necessary. I know that the “Metro-2″ has branches that go to the suburbs so that the command could move away from the epicenter of a nuclear attack.” – Mikhail Poltoraninin, former minister under Boris Yeltsin
“Its underground transport communications connecting the Kremlin with the command posts, which are designed to ensure the stable operation of the senior military and political leadership in times of armed conflict, including a nuclear conflict. This is a gigantic system. It was built for 40 years. It cost a huge amount of money. For 91 years, the very existence of this system was the highest state secret.” – Alexander Muzykantskiy, former head of central administrative district and former Information Minister“You still do not know the main KGB secret yet: a huge underground city, a whole communications network of such facilities. But they will not show you; they will never, of course.” – Oleg Gordievsky, former KGB and MI6
It is known for sure that the D6 line does exist. An urban exploration group called Diggers of the Underground Planet found an entrance and photographed it in 1994.
United States: Cheyenne Mountain
This five acre Colorado bunker is 2000 feet down, encased in granite. It is the former site of NORAD.The bunker is pretty impressive. It sits on 1000 springs and a network of flexible pipe connectors that would keep any of the structures from moving more than an inch in the event of an earthquake or explosion. It is the only high-altitude facility that is protected from EMP (electromagnetic pulse).The bunker and 25-ton blast doors can deflect a 30 megaton nuclear explosion – even if it detonates within a mile of the facility. Blast valve filters will prevent entry of airborne contaminants of any kind, from chemical to biological, from entering the bunker.On the perks side, it has all of the usual amenities from cots to medical facilities and also includes stores and fitness centers. Once the whole fallout thing dissipated, the nuclear survivors would have access to the sites outdoor activities which included racquetball, basketball, and tennis courts along with parks and a softball field. This one was, after all, for the military. They like to keep fit.NORAD was relocated to Peterson Airforce Base in 2006. Since then, Cheyenne Mountain has been used as a training facility. Some of its satellites and antennas have turned to use by commercial communications companies.
China: Beijing’s Underground City and The Shanghai Complex
With the intention of housing every one of Beijing’s population of 6 million, Mao Zedong began building Dìxià Chéng, The Underground City, in 1969. When finished, The Underground Great Wall as it is also known, encompassed 33 square miles, alternating between 30 and 60 feet under the ground.Dìxià Chéng was waterproof, gas-proof, and built to withstand biological and nuclear attacks.It is so large that in its heyday it contained all of the things other bunkers do like medical facilities, but also included restaurants and movie theaters and even factories and a farm. There were almost 90 known entrances and it was rumored that it was far more, with most residences being near a trap door that would lead to the tunnels. Most of the known entrances were in stores in the shopping districts and it is assumed that major landmarks and government buildings had entrances.It was closed for some time, but in 2000 was opened for tours. Since 2008, however, it has been closed for repairs. Still, parts of it are used by residents to keep cool in summer and portions have been repurposed as stores and theaters.Not much is known about the Shanghai Complex. In 2006, several news outlets reported that a 1 million square foot complex was being built under Shanghai that could house 200,000 people during a nuclear attack. The complex was connected by tunnels to apartments, office building, shopping/entertainment centers, and the subway. It was supposed to be able to sustain life for two weeks. No more has been said about it since 2006.
Switzerland: Sonnenberg Tunnel
The large gates of the Sonnenbergtunnel shelter in Switzerland were last closed in 1987. The gate is constructed on sight and is curved to withstand great pressure.
The neutral Swiss, being ever innovative and practical, not to mention above the rest of the world’s nuclear shenanigans, have an ingenious way of protecting their citizens should one of the rest of our nations deploy the bomb. Like nearly everything the Swiss make, it’s multipurpose.The Sonnenberg Tunnel, a 1550 meter motorway tunnel in Lucerne, will be plugged up on each end in the event of a nuclear attack. Those plugs are 350-ton concrete doors that take 14 hours to close. More than 20,000 Swiss can be protected from initial blast and the effects of radiation from a one megaton bomb detonated within one mile.
This shelter has been fully tested. Operation Ant, a test performed 1987, gave Swiss officials an idea of what works well in the bunker and what doesn’t.The bunker contains the usual facilities, and also a 12 prisoner jail and an operating theater for surgery. Special colored lights indicate whether it is night or day as smoothly as a Swiss timepiece. Soothing music is pumped throughout the bunker, but no “hard rock”. But, if you can’t stand the music, you can ask one of your 64 roommates to turn off the speakers in your bunkroom.
The Sonnenberg is the largest, but not the only, shelter in Switzerland. It is Swiss policy that every citizen be provided shelter. Most homeowners have one, as they are required to by law, but there are also many public shelters.
Sadly, the Sonnenberg was being dismantled as of 2007. The door would not shut properly during testing and that doesn’t bode well for keeping out nasty fallout or biological or chemical weapons.
Lucky for travelers and bunker enthusiasts, the underground complex is still open for tours. All seven floors are open for tour. Should disaster strike during the tour, the Sonnenberg is still equipped to house a more manageable 2000 people, so your tour group should be covered.
Brent Bruns believes the apocalypse will be triggered by a strong electromagnetic pulse (EMP) that will take out the entire power grid and plunge mankind back into the Dark Ages. To prepare for the inevitable, he and his family have built a fortified castle atop a large foothill deep in the woods of South Carolina, complete with a drawbridge, portcullis and an underground bunker. The family is also learning to use medieval weapons including crossbows and catapults that will protect them from marauders and scavengers.Brent Sr., a retired infantry officer, got into doomsday prepping back in 1999. Convinced that the predicted Y2K computer glitch would unleash chaos and bring about the end of civilization as we know it, he wanted to ensure his family's safety if everything went dark. When that didn't happen, Brent put the whole thing out of his mind for a couple of years because he didn't want people to think he was crazy. Eventually he got back to the original plan, only this time he has his whole family to help him.Brent and his family are now stars of National Geographic Channel's Doomsday Castle, a non-scripted reality show that premiered on August 13, 2013.
Chinese man who built his own version of Noah's Ark
Worried about the 2012 Mayan apocalypse, a man in China spent his life savings on the construction of his very own version of Noah's Ark.Lu Zhenghai, from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in northwest China, spent about $160,000 on the boat. The vessel, designed by Lu himself, measures about 65 feet in length and weighs about 80 tons.Lu said he began building his ark in 2010 out of fear that an impending doomsday flood would threaten he and his family's survival.Chinese news website FMN reports that Lu's ark was built with 10 tons of timber and 60 tons of steel. Due to a lack of funds, however, it has yet to be completed. It's a good thing for him that the apocalypse never happened.
$60,000 corrugated pipe bunker that was created to survive doomsday
If you can't afford the $2 million luxury condos above, you certainly have other options. The $60,000 Atlas Survival Shelter, can still save you from tornadoes and other disasters.
Sold by Al's Army Navy Store in Altamonte Springs, FL, the 32'×10' Doomsday Bunker is made from corrugated pipe and is designed to be buried 20 feet underground. Store assistant manager Jeremy Ross said that this survival shelter is meant for people who are "just kind of preparing for something."The Atlas Survival Shelter comes complete with bunk beds that have under-the-lid storage, an escape hatch for emergency attacks, mudrooms with a lockable laser cut interior door, countertops, a kitchen with a sink, low voltage electric lights, electric outlets and a toilet. If that doesn't impress you much, you can also go for the optional flatscreen TV, shortwave radios, camera surveillance, 300-5,000 gallon water tanks, 100-500 gallon fuel storage tanks, DVD player, power-generating exercise bicycle, red oak cabinets and beds, solar panels, restroom facility or an electric toilet with tank.
The survival shelter that claims to be the most secure real estate in the world
During the late 1950's and early 1960's when the Cold War was in full effect, the U.S. government built hundreds of Atlas-F missile silos to prepare the country for an attack that never came. Today, most of these silos lie abandoned and filled with water – monuments to a bygone era of American history left to waste.Thanks to two entrepreneurial cousins, Bruce Francisco and Gregory Gibbons, one of these silos located in beautiful Adirondack State Park near Lake Placid, NY is finding new life as a luxury home, safe haven and getaway complex accessible by plane or car.Above ground, the Silohome features a hangar and spacious open living room with a fireplace and a wraparound porch. Below ground in what was once the launch control center is now two levels and features 3 bedrooms, 2-1/2 baths, and an open living area and kitchen adjoined by a spiral staircase. Past the former LCC, nine additional levels protrude further underground, making up the 12,000 square feet that was actual missile storage space. The home also includes 20 acres of land with another 78 acres available as 10 approved building lots.The Silo House is on the market for $1.76 million for those taking their doomsday preparations seriously.
Billionaire's bunker that is equipped with panic suite
Al Corbi's residence in the Hollywood Hills has the requisite white walls covered in artwork and picture windows offering breathtaking views of downtown Los Angeles, but it has more in common with NSA headquarters than with the other contemporary homes on the block. The Corbi family doesn't need keys (thanks to biometric recognition software), doesn't fear earthquakes (thanks to steel-reinforced concrete caissons that burrow 30 feet into the private hilltop) and sleeps easily inside a 2,500-square-foot home within a home – a ballistics-proof panic suite that Corbi refers to as a “safe core.”Al Corbi is the founder of security mega-firm SAFE (Strategically Armored Fortified Environments) and his Los Angeles residence serves as a show house for prospective clients.
This 2 million $ condos in Kansas dubbed the most luxurious way to sit out the apocalypse
They has been billed as the most luxurious way to sit out the apocalypse - and now there is a waiting list for the $2 million condos being built in an abandoned missile silo in Kansas. Perhaps the buyers know something we don't.These luxurious units come with all mod-cons, as well as a pool, a movie theater and a library – oh, and a guarantee that they will survive doomsday if and when that fateful day comes. The condos sit deep below the Kansas prairie in the shaft of an abandoned missile silo and are meant to withstand everything from economic collapse and solar flares to terrorist attacks and pandemics. So far, four buyers have thrown down a total of about $7 million (£4.4m) for havens to flee to when disaster happens or the end is nigh.Developer Larry Hall is retrofitting three more Cold War-era silos when this one fills up. Built to withstand an atomic blast, even the most paranoid can find comfort inside concrete walls that are nine feet thick and stretch 174 feet (53 meters) underground.
United Kingdom: Burlington Bunker, a.k.a. Cold War City, Stockwell, Subterfuge, Turnstile, Site 3, Hawthorn Central Government War Headquarters
Telephone switchboard Burlington Bunker
Located in Corsham, Wiltshire, this bunker dates to the 1950s and takes up 35 acres. It was built to house 4000 people in the event of nuclear strikes. The inhabitants would have been able to live there, 100 feet underground, for three months.When the cold war ended, Site 3 was used as a decoy site until it was declassified in 2004. It was never used and when it went up for sale, it still held ashtrays, tea sets, and more unboxed and unused.The site in sleepy Corsham, a cute English village, was chosen because of its limestone bedrock. The site is adjacent to the Tunnel Quarry, part of the Ministry of Defense Central Ammunitions Depot. The quarry is connected by rail to a main line that runs to London. If there had been a threat of nuclear event, high-level government officials and the Royal family would have hopped a train and debarked underground at the bunker site. The prime minister and cabinet members would have made use of the helipad.The nearly mile long bunker included an underground lake, doctor’s and dental offices, and all of the information needed to attempt a rebuild of the country in maps, books, and a database. The Prime Minister had his own suite.The bunker was so large that battery operated vehicles would have driven down corridors with names like First Avenue. There was even a phone system (updated as recently as 1989) for communicating with the outside world. It also included a bakery, just in case, you know, you might want a scone at teatime.Site 3, The Burlington Bunker, began its slow demise in the 1990s when the British government refused upgrades and repairs that would have cost £40 million. It didn’t help that conspiracy theorists had an inkling of its existence and that they believed it was the UK version of Area 51. After years of pushing off those conspiracies and of trying to maintain the site at £500,000 a year, the MOD threw in the towel and declassified it in 2004.
United States: The Greenbrier Bunker
The Cold War era United States government liked a little luxury with their security. The Greenbrier “Hotel” was an incredibly large resort for the very rich, located in the mountains of West Virginia. To this day, it is a playground for those with money to spare. The smallest room runs $228 a night.The Greenbrier had been around a long time and had put up several presidents for a night or two, years before its underground was dug out as a bunker site. In fact, the U.S. military used it as an army hospital and as a detention site for Axis diplomats (German and Japanese) during WWII. Its original owners bought it back after the war. The wealthiest of the jet set were overjoyed and attended the reopening ceremonies – celebrities including the Duke of Windsor and Wallis Simpson and the Kennedy clan.
White Sulphur Springs, WV isn’t exactly in the heart of any kind of hustle and bustle, so it’s easy to see how, with so many people of influence frequenting the place, it was selected to be the secure relocation area for the United States government during a Nuclear War.A deal was struck in the late 50’s in which the government would add an addition to the resort for the privilege of constructing the bunker beneath it and re-configuring areas of the hotel for its purposes. Also, in the agreement was the permission of the entire resort to be given over to the government’s purposes in the event of a nuclear situation. The dirt removed for the bunker was used to build a golf course, and also as fill dirt on a local airport runway.
The bunker was enormous. It was meant to house 1000 people, including the members of Congress. An auditorium in the structure had 470 seats so that Congress could still meet under the worst of outside world conditions. Joint sessions of Congress would be held in the room called The Exhibit Hall, which measured 89X186 feet with a 20-foot ceiling supported by 18 columns.Rooms used by hotel guests as a business meeting areas had secret blast doors, two of which were sized to let vehicles through. The Exhibit Hall itself was always visible to guests, they just didn’t know what it was. Well, at least not until the Greenbrier was exposed by a reporter.
Russia: The Moscow Metro
The Moscow Metro bunker known as Metro-2 may be fiction, but there’s a whole lot of support that it’s fact.The bunker rose to the light in a 1992 novel by novelist and screenwriter, Vladimir Gonik. The book, Preispodniaia (Abyss), is set in a bunker secreted away in the subway systems of Moscow. Parts of the book came out in installations in the Sovershenno Sekretno newspaper. The author and the editor of the newspaper stated in interviews that they had been collecting information over 20 years about bunkers connected by underground rail and that they had heard about them in reference to the name “Metro-2”.
Gonik was writing this novel during the Cold War. He said that very sensitive information had been left out of the book or had been purposely altered. He claims he was able to collect all of this info through his position as a Ministry of Defense doctor.
Other Russian journalists have referenced Metro-2 and they claim that its existence is “neither confirmed nor denied” by the subway or by the Federal Security Service (FSB). Some say that an underground bunker tour given by the government is meant to give misinformation and to deflect interest.No matter, the U.S. government believes in the Metro-2. Below is an excerpt from a 1991 report:“The Soviets have constructed deep-underground . . . interconnected by a network of deep interconnected subway lines that provide a quick and secure means of evacuation for the leadership. The leadership can move from their peacetime offices through concealed entryways in protective quarters beneath the city . . .These facilities are intended for the national command authority in wartime. They are estimated to be between 200 m (660 ft) and 300 m (980 ft) deep, and can accommodate an estimated 10,000 people. A special subway line runs from some points in Moscow and possibly to the VIP terminal at Vnukovo Airfield . Even a few Russian officials will admit to the existence of what has been codenamed “D-6” – an underground bunker paralleling the Moscow Metro, started by Joseph Stalin, and maintained today by the Main Directorate of Special Programs and the Ministry of Defense.“This is an extensive network of tunnels and an emergency command center in case of war, where you can command the nuclear forces of the country. It can hide a lot of people – its maintenance was necessary. I know that the “Metro-2″ has branches that go to the suburbs so that the command could move away from the epicenter of a nuclear attack.” – Mikhail Poltoraninin, former minister under Boris Yeltsin
“Its underground transport communications connecting the Kremlin with the command posts, which are designed to ensure the stable operation of the senior military and political leadership in times of armed conflict, including a nuclear conflict. This is a gigantic system. It was built for 40 years. It cost a huge amount of money. For 91 years, the very existence of this system was the highest state secret.” – Alexander Muzykantskiy, former head of central administrative district and former Information Minister“You still do not know the main KGB secret yet: a huge underground city, a whole communications network of such facilities. But they will not show you; they will never, of course.” – Oleg Gordievsky, former KGB and MI6
It is known for sure that the D6 line does exist. An urban exploration group called Diggers of the Underground Planet found an entrance and photographed it in 1994.
United States: Cheyenne Mountain
This five acre Colorado bunker is 2000 feet down, encased in granite. It is the former site of NORAD.The bunker is pretty impressive. It sits on 1000 springs and a network of flexible pipe connectors that would keep any of the structures from moving more than an inch in the event of an earthquake or explosion. It is the only high-altitude facility that is protected from EMP (electromagnetic pulse).The bunker and 25-ton blast doors can deflect a 30 megaton nuclear explosion – even if it detonates within a mile of the facility. Blast valve filters will prevent entry of airborne contaminants of any kind, from chemical to biological, from entering the bunker.On the perks side, it has all of the usual amenities from cots to medical facilities and also includes stores and fitness centers. Once the whole fallout thing dissipated, the nuclear survivors would have access to the sites outdoor activities which included racquetball, basketball, and tennis courts along with parks and a softball field. This one was, after all, for the military. They like to keep fit.NORAD was relocated to Peterson Airforce Base in 2006. Since then, Cheyenne Mountain has been used as a training facility. Some of its satellites and antennas have turned to use by commercial communications companies.
China: Beijing’s Underground City and The Shanghai Complex
With the intention of housing every one of Beijing’s population of 6 million, Mao Zedong began building Dìxià Chéng, The Underground City, in 1969. When finished, The Underground Great Wall as it is also known, encompassed 33 square miles, alternating between 30 and 60 feet under the ground.Dìxià Chéng was waterproof, gas-proof, and built to withstand biological and nuclear attacks.It is so large that in its heyday it contained all of the things other bunkers do like medical facilities, but also included restaurants and movie theaters and even factories and a farm. There were almost 90 known entrances and it was rumored that it was far more, with most residences being near a trap door that would lead to the tunnels. Most of the known entrances were in stores in the shopping districts and it is assumed that major landmarks and government buildings had entrances.It was closed for some time, but in 2000 was opened for tours. Since 2008, however, it has been closed for repairs. Still, parts of it are used by residents to keep cool in summer and portions have been repurposed as stores and theaters.Not much is known about the Shanghai Complex. In 2006, several news outlets reported that a 1 million square foot complex was being built under Shanghai that could house 200,000 people during a nuclear attack. The complex was connected by tunnels to apartments, office building, shopping/entertainment centers, and the subway. It was supposed to be able to sustain life for two weeks. No more has been said about it since 2006.
Switzerland: Sonnenberg Tunnel
The large gates of the Sonnenbergtunnel shelter in Switzerland were last closed in 1987. The gate is constructed on sight and is curved to withstand great pressure.
The neutral Swiss, being ever innovative and practical, not to mention above the rest of the world’s nuclear shenanigans, have an ingenious way of protecting their citizens should one of the rest of our nations deploy the bomb. Like nearly everything the Swiss make, it’s multipurpose.The Sonnenberg Tunnel, a 1550 meter motorway tunnel in Lucerne, will be plugged up on each end in the event of a nuclear attack. Those plugs are 350-ton concrete doors that take 14 hours to close. More than 20,000 Swiss can be protected from initial blast and the effects of radiation from a one megaton bomb detonated within one mile.
This shelter has been fully tested. Operation Ant, a test performed 1987, gave Swiss officials an idea of what works well in the bunker and what doesn’t.The bunker contains the usual facilities, and also a 12 prisoner jail and an operating theater for surgery. Special colored lights indicate whether it is night or day as smoothly as a Swiss timepiece. Soothing music is pumped throughout the bunker, but no “hard rock”. But, if you can’t stand the music, you can ask one of your 64 roommates to turn off the speakers in your bunkroom.
The Sonnenberg is the largest, but not the only, shelter in Switzerland. It is Swiss policy that every citizen be provided shelter. Most homeowners have one, as they are required to by law, but there are also many public shelters.
Sadly, the Sonnenberg was being dismantled as of 2007. The door would not shut properly during testing and that doesn’t bode well for keeping out nasty fallout or biological or chemical weapons.
Lucky for travelers and bunker enthusiasts, the underground complex is still open for tours. All seven floors are open for tour. Should disaster strike during the tour, the Sonnenberg is still equipped to house a more manageable 2000 people, so your tour group should be covered.
