“Seal The Mountain! Seal The Mountain!”
Leafing through my hotel-provided New York Times on Saturday, I was filled with gloom at the loss of an iconic location from my film and TV watching earlier years. The North American Aerospace Defence Command (come on - you all know NORAD) is to leave its home in Cheyenne Mountain, and move to what the NYT describes as 'an ordinary building'.
The print version of the Times, unlike the online story, used a photo of the entrance tunnel to depict the facility, and that seems right, given that at various times, the same shot was used as a visual shorthand for the 'impregnable' centre of US military operations in the case of a nuclear attack (and indeed for the facility housing an interdimensional gateway capable of taking humans to the far reaches of space in mere seconds). One way or another, that tunnel (and secondarily the monstrous twenty five ton doors) have been lodged in my mind ever since I saw Wargames,, absolutely one of the seminal movies of my youth and for me at least the defining Matthew Broderick film. How many parents across the world saw that film and proclaimed to their offspring; "No you certainly can't have a computer!"? I love that film above many that even I will categorically acknowledge to be 'better'.
And then the Stargate was moved there, and a whole new generation found out that there was a community inside that mountain ready and willing to sit out the end of the world. What are the SG-1 team going to do now?
Do you think that one of these days the whole complex will become a tourist attraction? I'd put money on it. And if so, I want to book my tickets right now.
July 31st, 2006 - 21:51
You should read Survival City by Tom Vanderbilt. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1568983050/002-3603049-4028836?v=glance&n=283155
It’s a tour of loads of cold war relics, mainly missile bases and bunkers. I loved it.
August 1st, 2006 - 06:42
Like you Jon, I love War Games – if you do hear of any tours being arranged (isn’t that how Broderick sneaks out anyway), let me know, as I would love to check the place out! I remember one time I wrote a story that was heavily based on the key opening scene of the missile launch test that failed. Massive plagiarism, but lots of fun
August 1st, 2006 - 12:41
oooh, where do i sign on for the tour?
“do you want to play a game ?”