If you ever believed that secret, tough-to-break-into or inaccessible locations existed in movies like Kingsman alone, or that no one could match Jason Bourne in marksmanship out of the virtual screen, you couldn’t be more wrong.
When it comes to government data, religious texts, historical evidences, billions of dollars in gold and diamond, or even seeds, people have created powerful security systems, so intricately designed that it will put superheroes to shame.
Here’s a list of some of the world’s most difficult places to break into, even in your dreams.
1. Fort Knox – Kentucky, U.S.A
It is guarded by a team of heavily armed guards, electrified fences, a 22-tonne vault door and a password no one knows fully.
What it guards: Home to the US Bullion Depository, Fort Knox not only stores thousands of tonnes of gold, but is also said to house important historical documents, such as the Magna Carta.
If you plan on breaking into Fort Knox, like James Bond in Goldfinger, you have to get past four fences, two of which are electrified and then sneak past a team of armed guards. After avoiding all the video cameras on your way, you will need to blast through the four feet thick granite walls held together by 750 tonnes of steel. After all this, you will need to work your way through the maze of locked doors till you find a 22-tonne vault door. For the combination to the vault, all you need to do is find all the members of Fort Knox staff because every knows a small part of the combination – nobody knows the whole thing. If you are live through all of it, you are the world’s new superhero.
2. Svalbard Global Seed Vault – Spitsbergen, Norway
It can survive earthquakes and a nuclear holocaust and is one of the toughest to break into.
What it guards: Designed to store a wide assortment of seeds in an effort to preserve crop diversity, it is home to over 500,000 plant species from around the world. In case doomsday casts its spell upon us, we will be able to revive these plant species.
620 miles away from the North Pole, and distanced by hundreds of miles of ocean, it’s so deep that it is resistant to a nuclear holocaust, and can avoid severe earthquakes. It is located 430 feet above sea level so that it is secure from any possible sea-level rise. The vaults resting behind four heavy steel doors, make for one of the toughest vaults to break into in the world.
3. The Iranian Gold Reserves – Location Unknown
No one knows where it is – which makes it completely impossible for anyone to break into.
What it guards: Iran has enough gold to prevent a freeze.
What makes the vault holding Iran’s gold reserves impenetrable is that nobody can say for sure where it is. What better security than not knowing the location of the reserves unless you stumble upon it with a (gargantuan) bit of luck.
4. Cheyenne Mountain – Colorado, U.S.A
Buried 2000 feet deep in the mountains, it is gated with two 25-tonne doors that can withstand a 30 megaton blast.
What it guards: Cheyenne was the world’s most secure building and hosted the US Missile Warning Center and NORAD during the Cold War. It is now maintained by a skeleton crew, in case it is ever needed again.
They say, ‘Fat Man’ – the bomb that dropped on Nagasaki, would have to explode 1429 times to crack the entrance of Cheyenne Mountain. Gated with two 25-tonne doors, which can afford to withstand a 30 megaton blast, they are buried 2000 feet deep in the mountains, so far that air has to be pumped inside. It is also one of the cleanest air to breathe.
Cheyenne was the world’s most secure building and hosted the US Missile Warning Center and NORAD during the Cold War. It is now maintained by a skeleton crew, in case it is ever needed again.
5. Federal Reserve Bank of New York – U.S.A
The pallets here are moved by robots. It is kept under the watch of the best sharpshooters.
What it guards: It stores more gold bullion than the famous Fort Knox. It is so secure that even foreign governments use it to store their gold.
This bank prefers robots to humans. When it comes to security, men aren’t allowed to enter the vault. The pallets are moved around by a team of robots. If you ever wondered what Deadshot would be like in real life, you must try breaking into the Fed Reserve Bank of New York. The bank is kept under the watch of Deadshot-level sharpshooters.
6. Iron Mountain Vault – New York, U.S.A
Located 200 feet below the ground in a mine, it is heavily guarded and has a really thorough security check.
What it guards: Besides finding the charred remains of Flight 93, the original photo of Einstein sticking his tongue out, and Edison’s patent for the light bulb, you will find thousands of historic master recordings, photo negatives, and original film reels here. Iron Mountain also gives it shelter to Room 48, a data center backing up some of America’s biggest companies.
Located 200 feet below the ground in an old limestone mine, and guarded with two waves of armed guards even before one makes it to the front door, it houses 1.7 million square feet of super-secure vaults. Those allowed inside, are inspected so thoroughly that the process itself labels it as one the most difficult places to crack into.
7. Bank of England Gold Vault – London, England
Bombproof, with a very sophisticated security system, it involves voice recognition and a 3-foot-long multiple key-system.
What it guards: More than 4,600 tonnes of gold are stored in this gold vault.
The walls are bombproof and the security system is extremely clever. It involves a sophisticated voice recognition, a 3-foot long multiple key system, and other security measures and information about the vault that aren’t even revealed. What can be the solution to a half revealed problem? None, right?
8. Mormon Church’s Secret Vaults – Wasatch Range of Utah, U.S.A
Rumour has it that records are protected by temperature control, motion and heat sensors. It can withstand a nuclear blast.
What it guards: These secret vaults contain genealogical and historical records.
Built 600-feet into the side of a giant rock, and constructed to withstand a nuclear blast, not only are they heavily guarded, but rumour has it that the records are protected by temperature control and motion and heat sensors. It has steel, bank-safe type doors designed to seal tighter under impact. There are some administrative offices inside the complex, but it is not accessible to the public or even the church members.
9. Bahnhof – Kista, Sweden
The data is guarded by a heavy steel door and the servers can run for weeks without electricity.
What it guards: Bahnhof shelters the servers for WikiLeaks. Julian Assange’s most precious computers hide in this data bunker. And as long as Bahnhof stays, Wikileaks lives.
Buried more than 100 feet beneath the streets of Stockholm, the vault is guarded by a 1.5-foot steel door. This old nuclear bunker’s servers are driven by backup generators which can run for weeks if the power is down. In case you were wondering about the level of security, the data protected inside is so secure that even the American government couldn’t get inside it.
10. KFC Secret Ingredients Recipe Vault, Kentucky, USA
It is kept in the Kentucky Safe guarded by motion detectors and cameras. Even the President of KFC does not have access to it.
What it guards: What can be dearer to a fast food empire than its secret recipe? (Try!)
The original recipe including eleven undisclosed herbs and spices are written on a yellow piece of paper in pencil and can be found in the Kentucky Safe. The safe, surrounded by thick concrete slabs, lies inside a state-of-the-art vault that is surrounded by motion detectors, cameras, and guards and is connected to a backup generator. Even the President of KFC cannot get his hands on the recipe.