Maybe Mr. Cheney will move to a more ambiguous hiding place, like Mount Whether.

Mt. Whether is surely more ambiguous than Mt. Weather; there is no doubt whether or not this is true, no matter the weather, nor even global warming!

I thought pretty much everybody had figured all along that he was either at Site R or at Mount Weather. That's what I was certainly figuring, with some inclination toward Site R. Are there people in the White House who actually think the locations of the CoG sites are still some kind of deep dark secret? Everybody with the least bit of interest in this sort of thing already knows all about the Cold War-era CoG sites.

Actually, one of the lame things about the mass media during the "undisclosed location" days was the big charade that none of them had any idea where the location might be, when certainly any reporter worth taking seriously was thinking the same thing I was. (I'm not saying they necessarily should have come right out and said where it was, but they didn't have to positively act like it was some amazing secret. I mean, none of the media go along with the official policy of pretending nobody knows where "Area 51" is, to give a similar example.)

Anyway, given the GOP's fondness for privatization, maybe they could let the Iron Mountain records-preservation company hide Cheney down in that big facility of theirs in Pennsylvania. Or, elsewhere in Pennsylvania, they could always reactivate the Cannonball.

This emergency site has been there for a long time - at least since the late 1960s. Many people knew about it because it was where they were supposed to go, time permitting, in the event of a hot nuclear war. I'm sure the Soviets knew about it, including exactly where it is, and I bet just about every other foreign intelligence outfit did as well.

Not a very well kept secret.

"Are there people in the White House who actually think the locations of the CoG sites are still some kind of deep dark secret? Everybody with the least bit of interest in this sort of thing already knows all about the Cold War-era CoG sites."

Exactly. Which is why the huffing from the WH at Time is so silly. (But mostly I wanted a chance to link here to the CoG details in case anyone interested wasn't aware of them.)

There is a highly secret government active- intelligence (James Bond type stuff) training ground "somewhere in Virginia", where a spy may go to work out and learn spy-craft. Summer camp for grown up scouts.

The highway signs along I-64 point it out... presumably the spies, driving down from Langley or Washington D.C., might otherwise miss the exit and drive clear to Williamsburg by mistake.

Pouncer--that'll be Camp Peary, down by Yorktown and Williamsburg on the peninsula. It's also known as "The Farm," a term which prompted NSA Zbig Brzinski back during the Carter Years to pack his hiking boots when invited down for a visit, thinking that it was a real farm with real mud.

The really cool idea to come from all of this, including the hyperbolic reaction from the White House, is that in fact there is some other CoG location, for which the anger of the "revelation" or "rediscovery" Site R and Mount Weather might provide suitable cover.

I've always liked the look of Cheyenne Mountain myself, but then I watch too much SG1.

The downside of Cheynenne Mt. is that Matthew Broderick can hack it with a 300 baud modem and 8k of RAM, and it won't stand up to dropping rocks from the moon on it.

Mention of the Farm reminds me of the faintly entertaining movie Spy Game in which it is revealed that USB drives are so hi-tech the CIA is unable to imagine coping with them. (When the movie was made, you could buy them in, say, any CompUsa.)

If you're in the security business, it's always useful to be misunderestimated .....

My personal guess as to where they hide people? There's a site near Richmond that houses (housed?) the big computers for the federal reserve in Richmond. Nice, underground facility, supposedly given to the Library of Congress in 1997/8 to store vintage films. What's funny is if you google "Culpeper" and "Library of Congress" there are dozens of newspaper reports about upgrading the facility so that the films can be moved there "next year" -- next year being 98, 99, 00, 01, etc. They've spent millions on something that's well within helo distance, underground, plenty of bandwidth, etc.

But we'll all get to go see the stored films next year, right...?

The curiousity of people, whom are too lazy to apply themselves beyond the confines of their own personal computer, make it possible for these types of forums to flourish. People do not realize what patriotism is anymore, because if they have to "work" for it--then forget about it...
You may now comment on this, but it will be useless, due to what the vast majority(if any actually view this site) naturally understand what patriotism is...(NO NEED TO FINISH: THOSE WHO UNDERSTAND DO NOT NEED A VAST EXPLAINATION, and THOSE WHO CANNOT UNDERSTAND WILL NOT BE ABLE TO GRASP THIS EXPLAINATION WITHIN THEIR MODE OF LOGIC)

I agree with "hmmmm" It takes all americans to work together in making it hard for the "Bad Guys" in finding out our what-ever-you-call-it-places for purposes of a greater cause. By speculating, websites make it easier for the whole world to know, or even confirm what the "bad guys" think they know. You all on this site and many others like it must need some attention. Good Luck! But I hope it isn't the wrong people giving it to you's...For Our Countries Sake--

There are several public documents and references to Site R which exist on the government's own web sites. The information is unclassified and available for the world to see. Even specifications for physical security and the levels of protection are available and on specific document has been unclassified since 1994. Although I think making documents available to the general public is crazy, I would think that if the Administration really wanted to protect information about the workings of these sites it would be a pretty simple task to issue an excutive order to clean up government web sites that contain plenty of information about the sites.

There is nothing secret about the existance of Site "R" nor has there been anything secret about its existance for several decades. When designed, Site R was pretty much intended to be a safe haven in the event of a nuclear war. Given the war technology that existed back then the rock was more than enough to protect it's inhabitants in the event of a horrific disaster or attack. Those days are long gone and what was once looked at like something out of a James Bond movie has become a facility with a very limited mission.

I would not be suprised if VIPs were tucked away at any of the mountian covered sites on 9/11. Most of the sites might not be good for use in a high tech war mission, but I doubt there are any terrorist piloted jet aircraft that could shake things up inside.

I think Time and other publications are morons for reminding the public of the existance of these facilities and then disclosing where we would choose to secure our leaders (given the ongoing terrorist issues), but God knows terrorists have computers. I can relate that many of the articles I have read are a mixture of fact and a lot of fantasy. Many articles I have seen seem to speculate on conditions that existed decades ago, but are definitely not in line with the current posture of these facilities.

As far a vulnerability goes I am confident that few military organizations are better trained or more competent in their specialty as is the elite US Army Security Force. The organization is more than capable of making quick business out of Bin Ladins best, but I can't imagine terrorists looking to these old mole holes as targets. Besides the fact that the relics have a lot of insulation most of these rock sites today are not at all what many spy chasers have them made out to be and are pretty much used because they were already in existance. I doubt they would be much for generating high numbers of civilian casualties, generating terror or grabbing headlines.

Whatever "secret government" stories exist or will be written, these sites are pretty much empty shells of what once was. They were designed and built during the early stages of a cold war that no longer exists. The excitement, allure and high tech mystery was gone from them years ago.