A talking, gargoyle robot at the Denver International Airport once greeted visitors, “Welcome to the Illuminati headquarters … I mean, Denver International Airport.”
“Welcome to the Illuminati Headquarters … I mean, Denver International Airport (DIA),” is a phrase some travelers passing through the Rocky Mountain transportation hub may have heard first-hand, according to claimsshared to social media channels over the years:
The Denver Airport Installs a Talking Gargoyle That Says "Welcome to the Illuminati Headquarters": https://t.co/9RY9gjycoe
A DIA representative confirmed to Snopes that this claim is true.
“Yes, we did have an animatronic talking gargoyle that was installed as a surprise event for customers in 2019 in celebration of the airport’s 24th birthday,” Stacey Stegman, DIA senior vice president of communications, marketing, and customer experience, told Snopes in an email.
“The gargoyle was operated remotely by a live comedian who interacted in the moment with customers, and the interactions were recorded on hidden camera.”
That hidden camera footage was posted to YouTube by the airport on Feb. 18, 2019, (archived here) and described the gargoyle as being “243 years old” and “here to clear the air on all the conspiracies” at the airport:
According to the DIA and the Denver Public Library, the international airport has been central to numerous conspiracy theories since its opening in 1995 – and the gargoyle bit was a play on these far-out ideas. Some of these rumors claim that the runways form swastikas in tribute to the new world order and that the site is home to the Illuminati headquarters.
While these claims are unfounded, they can contribute to the spread of potentially dangerous misinformation, as was the case in June 2020 when some social media users falsely posted that a 1994 mural showed citizens of the world wearing masks and predicted the COVID-19 epidemic.
Sources
A Local’s Guide to DIA Conspiracy Theories | Denver Public Library History. https://history.denverlibrary.org/news/denver/locals-guide-dia-conspiracy-theories. Accessed 10 Nov. 2023.
Chatty Gargoyle at Denver International Airport. www.youtube.com, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKVOtx7Blfk. Accessed 10 Nov. 2023.
DreamOnForever. Denver Airport Installs Talking Gargoyle That Says "Welcome To The Illuminati Headquarters, I Mean, Denver International - iFunny Brazil. br.ifunny.co, https://br.ifunny.co/video/denver-airport-installs-talking-gargoyle-that-says-welcome-to-the-gR1CE4Zb7. Accessed 10 Nov. 2023.
tomolive. “Denver Airport Installs Talking Gargoyle That Says ‘Welcome To The Illuminati Headquarters, I Mean, Denver International Airport!’” R/AstonishingLegends, 4 Mar. 2019, www.reddit.com/r/AstonishingLegends/comments/axc632/denver_airport_installs_talking_gargoyle_that/.
A Local’s Guide to DIA Conspiracy Theories | Denver Public Library History. https://history.denverlibrary.org/news/denver/locals-guide-dia-conspiracy-theories. Accessed 10 Nov. 2023.
Chatty Gargoyle at Denver International Airport. www.youtube.com, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKVOtx7Blfk. Accessed 10 Nov. 2023.
DreamOnForever. Denver Airport Installs Talking Gargoyle That Says "Welcome To The Illuminati Headquarters, I Mean, Denver International - iFunny Brazil. br.ifunny.co, https://br.ifunny.co/video/denver-airport-installs-talking-gargoyle-that-says-welcome-to-the-gR1CE4Zb7. Accessed 10 Nov. 2023.
tomolive. “Denver Airport Installs Talking Gargoyle That Says ‘Welcome To The Illuminati Headquarters, I Mean, Denver International Airport!’” R/AstonishingLegends, 4 Mar. 2019, www.reddit.com/r/AstonishingLegends/comments/axc632/denver_airport_installs_talking_gargoyle_that/.
