Secret Places Banned to the Public

Secretive Russian town of Mezhgorye

There is a town in Russia, called Mezhgorye, which is barred to anyone, except for those believed to work at the highly secretive Mount Yamantaw site, thought by many to be either an ultra-secret research facility, or be nuclear. Founded in 1979. The town is at the foot of the mountain, the highest in the Urals, at 5,381ft, where US satellites have recorded excavation projects, on a huge scale, though repeated enquiries about the nature of operations, at this maddeningly closely watched community, have been met by bland responses, such as it being a mine of some kind, or a repository for Russian treasures, and even as somewhere for government, in case of disaster, but nobody knows.

The mysterious Moscow metro2

Moscow, capital city of Russia, supposedly has a secondary, secret underground metro system, known as Metro-2, running parallel to the public Metro. Built, it is thought, during Stalin’s time, KGB codename for the project being D-6. The existence of this phantom system has never been confirmed, nor denied, by the FSB -Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, or indeed the Moscow Metro administration themselves. Rumored to be much longer, in length, than the public Metro.  And to consist of four lines, running between 50 and 200m below ground it connects the Kremlin with the FSB headquarters, Vnukovo-2 government airport, plus underground town Ramenki, as well as other, undisclosed locations.

The super secret Area 51 Groom Lake facility

Area 51, a phrase well known around the world, is a military base, Groom Lake, in the southern portion of Nevada, USA, 83 miles from Las Vegas. Found along the southern shore of Groom Lake, the large, secretive, military airfield appears to be involved in the development, and testing of experimental aircraft, as well as advanced weapons systems research.  So closely guarded is this place, and so well monitored, that it has been the subject of conspiracy theory for decades. Even the U.S. government only reluctantly admits to the existence of this place, and the fact that deadly force can, and has been used against people trying to get into the Area 51 zone, really does make you wonder

The ultra secretive Room 39 of North Korea

North Korea, that most oppressive of states, is infamous for Room 39, sometimes called Bureau 39, one of the most secretive of their organizations, dedicated to seeking methods of obtaining foreign currency for North Korea’s leader. Established in the late 1970s and described, by some in the west, as the lynchpin of the dynastic Kim family dealings. Room 39 is such a secretive institution that none are sure exactly what goes on there, though it is widely believed that ten to twenty bank accounts, in Switzerland and China, are used in illegalities such as counterfeiting, money laundering, drug smuggling and illicit weapon sales. The organization has, reportedly, 120 foreign trade companies that it operates, under the direct control of the ruling family, who obviously deny any illegal activities. Room 39 is believed to be l inside a ruling Workers’ Party building in Pyongyang, the capital city of North Korea, but nobody knows for sure

The Inaccessible Ise Grand Shrine of Japan

Japan has an amazing series of over 100 shrines, known as the Ise Grand Shrine, the most sacred shrine in the country. Dedicated to Amaterasu, the Sun goddess, this wondrous place has existed since 4BC, and it is thought that the main shrine contains the single, most important item in Japanese imperial history, the Naikū. This is the mirror, from Japanese mythology, which graced the hands of the first emperors of Japan. Demolished, purely to enable rebuilding, every 20 years, honoring Shinto ideas of death and rebirth, the shrine is barred to anyone but the priest or priestess, who has to a member of the Japanese imperial family everyone else is kept away by very alert guards.

The terrifying Mount Weather Emergency operations center.

Mount Weather is not somewhere that that the US publics ever really want to goes to. This is the genuine article, as in the disaster films, where some highly classified area has been prepared, to accept the lucky few destined to survive. Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center truly is the real thing, set up in the 1950s, during the cold war; it still operates today, as a “last hope” area, though naturally highly classified. Federal Emergency Management Agency staffs, FEMA, are in charge of it, and already, when required much of US telecommunications traffic can be routed through it, so that emergency services operate well

The incredibly intrusive RAF Menwith Hill

The global ECHELON spy network, much employed by US and British governments, is the reason why Royal Air Force station Menwith Hill exists. Containing extensive satellite tracking ground systems, this communications intercept, and missile warning site, has been called the largest electronic monitoring station on earth. Ground station for satellites, of the US National Reconnaissance Office, serving the US National Security Agency, the station is famous for having antennae contained in highly distinctive white radomes. Believed by some to be part of the ECHELON system, reportedly created for the purpose of monitoring military and diplomatic communications, from Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc allies, during the Cold War, and these days I believed to search also for terrorist plots, drug dealing information, as well as political and diplomatic intelligence. Also believed to be involved filtering all telephone and radio communications in the western world, though not proven, this is an incredibly secretive and well guarded place that the public can never get into.