Denver International Airport- Alyssa Lawrence

Many Americans travel through airports every day, but what really goes on behind the scenes of these major traveling hubs? At the Denver, Colorado, airport there are suspicious pieces of art, as well as underground tunnels and runways shaped as swastikas, which are usually missed when traveling plane to plane. There are many conspiracy theories to why these things are put into the airport. These theories include that DIA is a headquarters for the New World Order, there are hidden messages inside the airport, and the most plausible one; the DIA was built to be a refuge for world elites if a world catastrophe were to occur.

Character Analysis

When walking through the Denver International Airport, you may be shocked by the horror the artwork portrays. The “sinister minded” artist who created the suspicious paintings inside DIA is an older, Tejano man named Leo Tanguma. Tanguma grew up a Baptist, very poor, in a small town called Beeville, Texas. Growing up, he witnessed racial discrimination of the Mexican people in his town due to them being the minority in his town. Because of this, the Mexican-American painter became very proud of his ethnic background and the struggle his people faced with injustice (Tanguma).

Since he was a child, Tanguma had always been intrigued by art and painted anything he could come up with. To further his interests, Tanguma spent several years in Houston studying art with John Biggers, an African American artist, who “urged him to explore the work of muralist in Mexico” (Alvarez). From there, he became fascinated with the history of his people and decided to focus his morals on helping people become more aware of history and racial intolerance. He states that he “[identifies] with other oppressed groups here in the U.S., and with oppressed people everywhere,” giving him a reason to use his art to portray his feelings (Tanguma). This would explain why the Muslim sabre is in his painting The Children of the World Dream of Peace, and why there are Black and Native people eating at a dinner table in the picture In Peace and Harmony with Nature. This internal conflict gives Tanguma a purpose to creating his art.

 Furthermore, Tanguma faces an external conflict because of people interrogating his paintings in the Denver Airport. Many critics have tried to depict his motives on why he chose these pieces of art for the travel hub.  Travelers through DIA express that the “majority of people are intimidated [by airports]… to be bombarded with such explicit images of death before boarding an airplane is boarder line sadistic,” explaining their fear of the paintings and the horror it brings to travelers (Silverman). To defend his work, Tanguma states, “A key element found in my work is the struggle for human liberation and democracy. This refers to dehumanizing conditions oppressed peoples strive to overcome, such as poverty and homelessness in our cities, the destruction of the environment, racism and exploitation, or any unjust conditions”  (“The Art of Leo Tanguma”). However, many people do not understand why these disturbing pieces of art are found in the airport unless they know Leo Tanguma’s background and reasoning. Because these critics have tried to justify why Tanguma chose these paintings, more conspiracies have been created about the airport as a whole. Tanguma’s artwork is just one of the many things that make this airport suspicious.           

Conspiracy Theories

Conspiracy theories about the DIA were circulating before the airport was even completed in 1995. There are two main conspiracy theories highlighted when looking at the Denver International Airport. One involves the New World order and the artwork inside the airport and the other one says it was built to help world leaders stay safe in case of a catastrophe. Both conspiracies were created because of the things built and put into the airport.

For the first conspiracy, it is known that there are a plethora of creepy décor and artwork hanging inside DIA, which has led to the conspiracy that there are hidden messages inside the airport planted by the New World Order. Throughout the airport there are “mysterious” words carved into the floor that have many people wondering (Smith). Also, the artwork inside the airport includes “murals of a devil jumping out of a suitcase, as well as a statue of Anubis, the ancient Egyptian god of death… [and another mural which] some have interpreted one mural as America submitting to Germany” (Hoeller). These paintings and secret language messages have caused many people to become skeptical of the airport.

 Many people do not understand why these are in a place where millions of people travel in and out of. “The explanations that conspiracy theorists have offered [include]… DIA is the home of the global shadow government of Illuminati… /New World Order” (Blaskiewicz). It is said that the New World Order is a big group which helped funded the DIA (Hoeller). However, there is no evidence that the New World Order even exist. Most of the murals inside DIA were created by Leo Tanguma, and when confronted he stated that “there is no underlying New World Order message and at no time was he instructed on what to paint by outside sources” (Smith). Also, it is known that the Navaho, a Native American tribe, had a great influence on the airport. Many of the words written on the floor of DIA, which people believe come from a New World Order secret language, actually come from the Navaho language (Smith). “‘Cochetopa’ is the Navaho word for a mountain pass, ‘Sisnaajini’ is the Navaho word for The Black Mountain and ‘Dzit Dit Gall’ is the Navaho word for The White Mountain. All of these places are sacred places to the Navaho and all are within Colorado” (Smith). This proves that there is nothing in the airport that really points to it being tied to the New World Order.

The second conspiracy theory proposes that the airport was built to house world leaders in case of a world catastrophe.  For starters, no one understood why the airport was even being built in the first place. This is because “there was a fully functioning [airport] closer to downtown,” giving the city no reasonable reason to even think about creating a new one (Hoeller). The airport also took an unusually extensive time to build, which makes it skeptical to the public. The airport was “opened on February 28, 1995, 16 months behind schedule,” as well as $3.1 billion over budget (Smith). This made society question what was being put into the airport that would need this extra time and money to construct. As it turns out, there were underground tunnels being built underneath where the airport was supposed to go. The tunnels were supposedly going to be used for an automated baggage system, however the system ended up not working. “Despite its astronomic cost and the amount of space it takes up, it was never fixed,” leading people to believe the bagging system idea was a cover up for underground bunkers to help house word leaders in case of a world disaster (Hoeller).

However, in May of 2016, 9NEWS went underneath the airport to find out exactly what is going on down there. They discovered that “the area under DIA is full of life, full of workers and full of vehicles” which transports baggage instead of the automated system they first thought of (Shapiro). However, the tunnels are still kept very secretive; they do not allow many people to go underneath besides workers or for special reasoning. No one is sure whether the tunnels were originally built to house world leaders or not, and if it still could, making this conspiracy to why the airport was created, very plausible.

In a survey of twenty people, 50 percent believed that the airport was created for other reasons besides traveling, while the other 50 percent believed it was only built for travel use. There is an excess of suspicious things that have been built or put into the airport, making many people wonder the true reason the airport was built. From the swastika looking runways to the insanely creepy paintings, there is no wonder people would question the true motives of the Denver International Airport. However, there is still not enough evidence, for any of the conspiracy theories, to prove that the airport was created for more than just helping people travel, which is why many people believe it is just an airport.

Conclusion

            The Denver International Airport still remains a huge topic for conspiracies. The conspiracies behind it include:

1. It is headquarters for the New World Order
2. The hidden messages inside the airport
3. It was built to house world leaders in case of a catastrophe

Although the airport still remains a mystery, the secretiveness of the tunnels and workers makes the conspiracy theory of the airport being built for world leaders the most plausible. Next time you find yourself walking through the airport, take time to take a look at all the reasoning behind the conspiracies.

Works Cited

Alvarez, Olivia Flores. “A Look at Leo Tanguma's The Rebirth of Our Nationality Mural.” Houston Press, 22 May 2016, http://www.houstonpress.com/arts/a-look-at-leo-tangumas-the-rebirth-of-our-nationality-mural-6368260.

Blaskiewicz, Robert. “The Denver International Airport Conspiracy - CSI.” CSI, 11 Apr. 2012,

www.csicop.org/specialarticles/show/the_denver_international_airport_conspiracy.

Hoeller, Sophie-Claire. “People Have All Sorts of Conspiracy Theories about Denver's Airport -  

           Here's Why.” Business Insider, Business Insider, Inc, 16 Oct. 2015, 

www.businessinsider.com/denver-airport-conspiracy-theories-2015-10.

“INTERVIEW: Leo Tanguma | Zingmagazine.” INTERVIEW: Leo Tanguma | Zingmagazine, June 2012, http://www.zingmagazine.com/drupal/node/2039.

Shapiro, Gary. “The Secret Tunnels of Denver International Airport.” 9 NEWS, 18 May 2016   

www.9news.com/travel/under-colorado-the-secret-tunnels-of-denver-international-airport/201142788.

Silverman, Solange et al. “The Denver Airport Controversy - World Mysteries Blog.” World Mysteries Blog, 16 Dec. 2014, http://blog.world-mysteries.com/modern-world/the-denver-airport-controversy/.

Smith, G. S. “Denver International Airport Conspiracy: Denver, Colorado.” Strange History.org

www.strangehistory.org/cms/index.php/popular/77-denver-international-airport-         conspiracy-denver-colorado-feature.

 Tanguma, Leo. “Leo Tanguma.” Christian Social Network Ministry, http://www.christiansocialnetwork.net/leo-tanguma.html.

“‘The Art of Leo Tanguma’" Renowned Artist to Speak March 8 at CCA.” Community College

of Aurora in Colorado: Aurora, Denver Metro, and Online, https://www.ccaurora.edu/news-events/news-releases/leo-tanguma-march-8.