Obsolete or essential? NORAD the North American Aerospace Defense Command was built in the 1960s, and was touted as the most secure spot on U.S. soil. With the Cold War kaput, and threats of a different nature now in the public consciousness, is there still a need for the bunker under Cheyenne Mountain?
click to enlarge
-
Mark Heinrich
Vista Grande
Systems security engineer Is NORAD/Cheyenne Mountain obsolete?
No. The fact that it's a bunker is kind of irrelevant now, but we still need a place that can track satellite debris, narcotics and the like, and that's a perfectly reasonable spot for it.
These days, is a nuclear bomb or a car bomb the more realistic threat?
They're both so far down the scale that neither hardly registers.
What do you imagine going on inside NORAD?
I've toured in there. It's a very fancy data- collection center with data coming in from all over and people trying to make sense of it.
Does looking at Cheyenne Mountain make you feel secure?
Neither secure nor insecure. It's a relic of the Cold War and part of our local history.
What should we use NORAD for, if it goes vacant? It could become the ultimate spa, with places for meditation and massage. It's near golf courses, and it has a fabulous view.
click to enlarge
-
Steve O'Brien
Rockrimmon
Customer service representative Do you think NORAD is obsolete?
I don't know enough about what it's supposed to do.
Which to you is the likelier prospect: a nuclear exchange or a car bomb?
I'm more concerned with creating positive energy in the world to make peace the reality. I visualize peace for every person as much as I can. I refuse to live in fear of nuclear weapons and car bombs.
What do you imagine going on in NORAD?
Lots of people sitting in front of computer screens, analyzing data, tracking satellite paths, monitoring radar screens.
If NORAD moves, what should the Cheyenne Mountain facility be used for?
Clear out all the buildings and have large drum rituals. Maybe even have cave paintings.
click to enlarge
-
Fern DeLise
Widefield
Underemployed legal secretary Is NORAD obsolete?
I suspect it is, but I wonder how the Star Wars thing from the Reagan era plays off that. In short ... I have no idea.
Which is the greater present-day danger: nuclear war or car bombs?
I don't feel threatened by either. I feel far more threatened by the ongoing corporate takeover of the world's resources at the expense of citizens in general.
What does NORAD stand for?
North ... I can't tell you. My father could, though he helped build it way back when.
If NORAD leaves Cheyenne Mountain, what should that facility be used for? It should be put to use as a county landfill, or as a repository for nuclear waste.
