Why The Denver Airport Started Embracing Its Conspiracy Theories

If you’ve traveled through Denver International Airport recently, you may have noticed some peculiar construction signs. Instead of the standard “pardon our dust” messaging, the airport openly flaunts its conspiracy theories, playfully referencing illuminati headquarters, lizard people's lairs, and the underground tunnels that some believe are reserved for the world’s elite in the event of an apocalypse.

One sign reads: "Apologies for the noise. It takes really big drills to get to the underworld."

Another quips: “Forgive the mess. Building secret underground tunnels can get quite untidy.”

The Denver International Airport’s conspiracy theories (and there’s many of them) have become central to its marketing, and the airport leans into them even harder during October when interest in the occult peak.

“Conspiracies have been tied to the Denver airport since we first opened,” says Stephanie Figueroa, a public information officer at DEN. “In the past few years, we decided to embrace them as part of our identity and as a way to better connect with our passengers.”

From Tweets hinting at the Denver airport’s conspiracy theories to staff taking broadcast journalists into the underground tunnels for tours to share with viewers, playing up the conspiracy theories makes travelers’ interactions with the airport memorable and unique, Figueroa says.

The construction signs are “just another tool to poke fun at ourselves and differentiate ourselves,” she says.

While the public response to the signs has been mostly positive, Figueroa says, some of the staunchest skeptics remain convinced that the Denver airport is up to something sinister, and simply hiding its conspiracy theories in plain sight.

Why Are There So Many Conspiracy Theories at the Denver Airport?

So, how did the Denver airport become so ripe for conspiracy theories? Figueroa has a few guesses. Construction delays and financing difficulties pushed out the opening of the airport for several months, which caused a lot of speculation from the public.

Then, when the airport finally opened in Feb. 1995, a new state-of-the-art automated baggage system went awry, launching bags off the conveyor belts and shredding luggage. Some called it the baggage system from hell. On top of all that, temporary structures that were erected for construction had been taken down as they were no longer needed, Figerora says. Conspiracy theories started spinning. Were bunkers moved underground? Was the airport cursed? How about haunted?

A popular airport for connections, Denver International Airport has been rapidly growing, and is the third busiest airport in the world, according to Airports Council International, with more than 69 million travelers passing through in 2022.

As conspiracy theorists have started looking for more clues, the airport’s public art pieces provided plenty of fodder — though Denver airport officials have responses to each claim.

The bronze gargoyles are a symbol of the New World Order? Not so, says Figueroa. They’re perched over baggage claim to protect people’s luggage.

How about famed Chicano artist Leo Tanguma’s murals (which are in storage during a construction phase, but will return) that some interpret as apocalyptic? There are certainly some unsettling images — like a soldier wearing a gas mask, and other images depicting war and destruction. But, Figueroa says, those who follow the mural’s storyline, will notice it’s one that’s actually optimistic, if not cautionary, with overarching themes of world peace.

But the most convincing piece of “evidence” for conspiracy theorists is an installation on the approach to the airport. Those arriving at Denver International Airport are greeted by a hulking blue mustang with beady red eyes that glow in the dark. Mustang, who many refer to as “Blucifer,” was installed in 2008, two years after a portion of the sculpture fell on its artist-creator Luis Jiménez, severing an artery in his leg and killing him. That’s led many to say the 900-pound statue is cursed.

Mustang was completed posthumously by Jiménez’s studio staff and family, as well as lowrider and race car painters. The glowing red eyes? They’re a tribute to Jiménez’s father’s neon shop that he worked in when he was younger.

Another convincing morsel for conspiracy theorists is the granite marker at the Denver airport’s south entrance that hints at secret societies. It depicts symbols of the Freemasons and mentions a non-existent “New World Airport Commission.” Maybe we’ll have a better understanding in 2094 when the time capsule underneath is set to be opened.

Should Denver’s Airport Lean into its Conspiracy Theories?

When Voodoo Doughnuts opened an outpost on the B concourse last year, it took a page from the Denver airport’s marketing playbook. It placed a large blue alien outside the donut shop to greet guests.

One of the airport’s least famous conspiracy theories is that it’s located at W104' 44' 30' N40' 36' 10', the coordinates relayed to humans by the aliens in Steven Spielberg’s “Close Encounters of The Third Kind.”

While it could be a compelling piece of evidence for conspiracy theorists, the geography is off. If you were to pinpoint the coordinates in the 1977 sci-fi movie, you’d be about 51 miles northwest of Denver International Airport.

But is the Denver airport and its vendors on to something when it comes to promoting its conspiracy theories?

Definitely, says Cassaundra Kalba, senior publicist at Society22 PR, a self-described conspiracy theory fanatic who visited the Denver airport for the first time earlier this month.

"Using conspiracy theories in marketing is a bold move, and Denver Airport does it in a way that's hard to ignore,” Kalba says. “They've taken stories, which could have been a PR headache, and turned them into something that grabs attention.”

The messaging is clever because it gets people curious and engaged, says Kalba, who says she was drawn in and spent extra time exploring the airport during her recent visit.

It can be a tricky balance to strike, she says, especially since airports, planes, and travel can already be stressful and some people take conspiracy theories more seriously than others.

“Keeping it light-hearted is key to making sure their strategy adds to the travel experience without taking away from the comfort and security airports are meant to provide,” she says.