7. Cheyenne Mountain Complex
The Cheyenne mountain complex is a US military complex and nuclear bunker located in Colorado at the Cheyenne mountain air force station. Since being declared fully operational in April 1966 after five years construction, the installation has played a vital role in the Department of Defense during both peacetime and wartime.
Several tenants have used this facility, mostly government based Air force initiatives. The site use to be mainly used for monitoring air space over Canada and USA through a system of Missiles, space systems and foreign aircraft detection.
The site was built 610 meters below granite, on a site of 5 acres. Fifteen three story buildings are protected from movement by earthquakes or explosions from a system of 1000 giant springs. The Cheyenne Mountain Complex also boasts a two tonne blast radius door should it ever be needed.
6. Granite Mountain Records Vault
The granite mountain records vault is a mass of solid rock one mile up little cottonwood canyon in the Wasatch range of Utah. Granite mountain records vault does exactly what it says on the tin. Owned by the Church of Jesus Christ, of Latter day Saints or LDS church. The granite mountain facilities feature a dry environment controlled facility used for long term record storage, as well as offices and a restoration laboratory for microfilm.
Examples of the records kept include genealogical and family history information, stored in over 2.4 million rolls of microfilm, or the equivalent of 3 billion pages of paper.
The vault was built in 1965, and due to its age it cannot be electronically hacked or targeted unless you have some serious equipment. That’s if you manged to get to the vault door, which is set 30 meters into the mountain side, a very cold mountain side. The Granite record vaults main security element is its location and accessibility, like many others on this list.
5.Svalbard Global Seed Vault, Norway
Built in 2008 and considered one the most important buildings/vaults in human history, the Svalbard global seed vault contains a collection of every seed currently known to man. The number of seeds protected is currently approaching a staggering 1 million varieties of seeds. A very impressive feet and a very important one. The vault allows for any natural or human disaster, supplying the human race with a collection of every potential seed we could ever have a use for. Humans 1-0 Natural Disaster.
The vault is buried underground on the island of Spitsbergen in Norway which is about as remote as one could get. You would not happen across this place by accident, its security,once again, is its remoteness. And judging by the look of their front door it would take more than a couple knocks to get in. The seed bank is 120 Metres inside a sandstone mountain and its security systems are described as robust. Seeds are packaged in special three ply foil packets and heat sealed to exclude moisture. The facility bizarrely boasts that there are no permanent staff on site, which actually contradicts its security a tiny bit, but we can let that slide for this list.
4. Federal Reserve Bank of New York
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is one of the 12 Federal Reserve Bank of the United States. It is located in New York. A public competition for the design of the building was held and the architectural firm of York and Sayer submitted the winning design. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York maintains a vault that lies 80 feet below street level and 50 feet below sea level, resting on Manhattan bedrock. By 1927, the vault contained 10% of the world's official gold reserves. Currently, it is reputedly the largest gold repository in the world
The vault is safeguarded by a comprehensive multi-layered security system, highlighted by a 90-ton steel cylinder protecting the only entry into the vault. The nine-foot-tall cylinder is set within a 140-ton steel-and-concrete frame that, when closed, creates an airtight and watertight seal. Also, once closed, four steel rods are inserted into holes in the cylinder and time clocks are engaged, locking the vault until the next business day.
Security is further enhanced by massive steel-reinforced concrete walls surrounding the vault and 24-hour monitoring of activity inside and outside the vault by security cameras, as well as the use of motion sensors when the vault is closed. So yeah, not your normal level of banking security you could say.
3.Vatican Secret Archives, Italy
The Pope, as Sovereign of Vatican City and having primal incumbency, owns the archives until his death or resignation.The Vatican closed the library for three years during large-scale renovations, installing climate-controlled rooms for manuscript preservation and state-of-the-art security measures for theft prevention.
The Huffington post notes - a new tower inside the Vatican’s Belvedere Courtyard ferries manuscripts from their bomb-proof bunker to a climate-controlled consultation room. Inside the bunker itself, fire-proof and dust-proof floors and walls were installed to further protect the manuscripts. The library’s 70,000 books have been outfitted with computer chips to prevent loss and theft, closed-circuit cameras have been installed and new automated entry and exit gates keep tabs on who is coming in and going out.”
Pope Nicholas V started the library in the 1450s. Now, it boasts an impressive collection of 150,000 volumes of illuminated manuscripts,70,000 book titles, and the oldest known complete Bible (believed to be made in the year 325). (sadly there are few pictures detailing the security measures taken)
2.The White House, USA
We all know what the White House is and what it does or doesn’t do. In the past the white house has been ridiculed for its ‘security’ measures with several high profile break ins and security leaks. This doesn’t mean its security is lacking, it is more an indicator of the amount of people who deem it necessary to at least attempt getting into the place.
The White House security starts with the Secret service, whom are obviously highly trained individuals whose sole purpose is to protect and serve their president. Homeland security are heavily involved and are also the people who are responsible for the scanning of every bit of food that enters the building.
The white house pretty much offers every level of security one could imagine rooftop snipers,citizen disguised agents on a 'tour', plus an all-important air filtration system for that extra set of bragging rights.
1.Fort Knox,
This entry to our top secure places is more of a historical context and due to the obvious is presence of the American Army and its numbers.
Fort Knox State Park or Fort Knox State Historic Site, is located on the western bank of the Penobscot River in the town of Prospect, Maine, Knox, USA. It is named after Major General Henry Knox, the first U.S. Secretary of War and Commander of Artillery during the American Revolutionary War, who at the end of his life lived not far away in Thomaston.
Below the fortress-like structure lies the gold vault lined with granite walls and protected by a blast-proof door weighing 20 tons. Members of the Depository staff must dial separate combinations known only to them. Beyond the main vault door, smaller compartments provide further protection. According to a Mosler Safe Company brochure:
The most famous, if not the largest, vault door order came from the Federal government in 1935 for the newly constructed gold depository at Fort Knox, Kentucky. Both the vault door and emergency door were 21-inches thick and made of the latest torch- and drill-resistant material. The main vault door weighed 20 tons and the vault casing was 25-inches thick.
The facility is ringed with fences and is guarded by the United States Mint Police. The Depository premises are within the site of Fort Knox, a US Army post, allowing the Army to provide additional protection. The Depository is protected by layers of physical security, alarms, video cameras, microphones, mine fields, barbed razor wire, electric fences, heavily armed guards, and the Army units based at Fort Knox, including an unmarked Apache helicopter, gunships of 8/229 Aviation based at Godman Army Airfield, the 19th Engineer Battalion, formerly training battalions of the United States Army Armor School, and the 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 1st Infantry Division, totaling 30,000 soldiers, with associated tanks, armored personnel carriers, attack helicopters, and artillery.
There is an escape tunnel from the lower level of the vault to be used by someone who may have been accidentally locked in.
For security reasons, no visitors are allowed inside the depository grounds. This policy has been enforced ever since the vault opened, with only two exceptions. The first was an inspection by members of the United States Congress and the news media on September 23, 1974 led by then Director of the United States Mint, Mary Brooks. The second was a similar inspection made by the congress members on August 21, 2017, led by Secretary of the Treasury Steven Munchin.
Enough security for you?...
Information extracted from wikipedia and google images.