The most restricted places around the world.

There are dozens of places on Earth which ordinary people—like you and I—cannot access.

When speaking about restricted places, secret facilities and so on, most of us rush and conclude those places have got to be like Area 51—the alleged facility where Aliens work with humans and alien technology is developed—but you’d be surprised. In fact, Area 51 is nothing compared to other facilities out there which have security protocols set into place that go beyond anything you’d ever expect.

So let’s start!

The Svalbard Seed Vault

Located on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen nearLongyearbyen in the remote Arctic Svalbard archipelago is the Svalbard Seed Vault. The seed vault is an attempt to insure against the loss of seeds in other gene banks during large-scale regional or global crises. The seed vault is managed under terms spelled out in a tripartite agreement between the Norwegian government, the Global Crop Diversity Trust (GCDT) and the Nordic Genetic Resource Center (NordGen). It is one of the many places on Earth which you cannot visit.

The Svalbard Seed Vault is 120 meters inside a sandstone mountain on Spitsbergen Island and employs robust security systems.

The Vatican’s Secret Archive

What spells out secrecy better than the Vatican’s very own Secret Archive? Probably nothing right?

This enigmatic ‘place’ is not just a really old library filled with ancient texts and ‘religious works. In

fact, the Vatican’s secret archives are considered as one of the largest and most secretive libraries on the planet. In fact, only a sacred few have access to the wonders that the vaults contain. From ancient Maya codices to ancient books that ‘allegedly’ are proof of alien contact, the Vatican Secret Archive is said to have it all, and it is one of the many places on Earth which you cannot enter.

Cheyenne Mountain Complex

Located in Colorado we find the Cheyenne Mountain Complex. It is a military installation and nuclear bunker and is believed to house the United States Space Command, the Aerospace Defense Command, the Air Force Command and the Federal Emergency Management System.

Built some  610 meters under granite, it is one of the most protected places on Earth, ‘immune’ to natural disasters. It is a self-sustaining complex that has its own power plant and water supply. It is so well constructed that it can withstand a 30 megaton nuclear explosion, bombs, and radiological contaminants

Pine Gap Australia

You thought there’s only one AREA 51? The truth is that our planet is filled with similar secret facilities. One of them is located in Australia and is called Pine Gap.

Operated by the Australian Government and the Central Intelligence Agency, Pine Gap is the only place in Australia that is strictly designated as a no-fly zone and is used as a monitoring station.

Havenco, Sealand

Created in 2000, HavenCo was a revolutionary offshore electronic data haven. Built on an old anti-aircraft platform off the coast of England, the company that built it offered services like proxies, VPNS, servers and encryption keys to organizations seeking to evade authorities. However, in order to work with them, the content must have remained free from child pornography, spam and hacking free. The station is now defunct, but good luck getting there.

Air Force One

I mean c’mon, who can access Air Force One? It is one of the most well-protected aircraft on the planet. The flight crew of Air Force One is composed of veteran Air Force officers with thousands of hours of flying time, and Secret Service agents on board have had to go through even further background checks than their normal screening usually requires. Air Force one is a flying city. All of the features of the airplane are classified. Members of the press have to gain the President’s security detail’s trust for one year before being allowed on board.

The Mormon Church Secret Vault

Owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) the ‘VAULT’ is excavated 600 feet into the northern side of Little Cottonwood Canyon. Records stored include genealogical and family history information contained in over 2.4 million rolls of microfilm and 1 million microfiches. This equals about three billion pages of family history records. The vault’s library of microfilm increases by up to 40,000 rolls per year. Since 1999, the church has been digitizing the genealogical microfilms stored in the vault.

The Bohemian Groove

Probably one of the most mysterious and strange places on Earth. The Bohemian Groove is a –forbidden— 2,700-acre rural location located ‘somewhere’ in California. The land is believed to be owned by a private San Francisco-based arts club called the Bohemian Club. It turns out that every summer, the Bohemian Club hosts a two-week camp in the woods were the most influential people in the world gather. Are they worshiping reptilian gods?

RAF Menwith Hill, UK

It has been described as being the largest electronic monitoring station in the world. The site acts as a ground station for a number of satellites operated by the US National Reconnaissance Office. It is also one of the most secretive facilities in Europe. These fascinating and somewhat weird structures provide communication and intelligence support to countries like the UK and the US. And guess what? You can’t access it.

Snake Island

Yikes! The name itself doesn’t sound like a place you’d want to go right? Snake Island is a small Island located off the coast of Brazil and contains 4,000 of the DEADLIEST snakes on the planet. Their venom is so powerful that it can MELT human flesh. Why would anyone even try going there?

The Coca-Cola Vault

Who doesn’t love Coca Cola?

What makes Coca-Cola so special? Why does it taste so Good? What makes it unique? What makes it so special? The place convincing answer to these—and many more questions related to Coca-Cola—are most likely located in the so-called Coca-Cola Vault.

Fort Knox

Have you ever heard the saying ‘protected like Fort Knox’? Fort Knox is a reserve that holds the United States Gold Bullion Reserve and a number of other national treasures. It is considered as one of the most secure places on the planet.

Around 30,000 soldiers and a flotilla of attack helicopters protect the facility.

Woomera Prohibited Area

Located just outside of Adelaide Australia, this facility covers a staggering 127,000 square kilometers. It is a MASSIVE weapon testing range operated by the Royal Australian Air Force. It is one of the most restricted places on Earth. The facility is known for being home to British Nuclear Weapon testing and space probes.

Curiously, the land it sits on is rich in mineral elements and is worth billions of dollars for its natural resources. It can only be accessed by special permit holders.

Bank of England Gold Vault

As you’ve probably figured out by yourself, this Gold Vault is located in the United Kingdom. It is something like the UK version of Fort Knox. Located beneath the Bank of England headquarters in London sits the largest gold vault in the UK. It is believed to store over 5,152 tons of gold bricks that are neatly arranged like wrapped chocolate bars on shelves and palettes. Yummy right?

To gain access, you have to unlock a bomb-proof door using a high-tech voice recognition system then use several three-foot-long keys to open locks leading to it.

The Korean demilitarized zone

In order to differentiate the land between North and South Korea—at the end of the Korean War in 1953— a strip of land known as the Korean Demilitarized zone was established.

Today, it remains as one of the most heavily guarded places on Earth—with an area of 250km in length and 4 kilometers in width.

Room 39 North Korea

In  Korean Peninsula we find Room 39, aka Bureau 39.

This ‘facility’ is part of a secretive organization whose goal is to find ways to obtain foreign currency for Kim Jong-un, Chairman of the Workers’ Party of Korea. It was established in 1970.

The secretive organization has been described as the ‘kingpin’ of North Korea’s ‘court economy’.

Mezhgorye, Russia

Mezghorye is one of the most protected places in Russia, where two battalions permanently guard the base, preventing anyone from accessing it. The base is said to contain automatic ballistic missiles which van be remotely activated in the event of a nuclear strike which can be detected by seismic, light and pressure sensors.

Disney Club 33

Club 33 is considered one of the most secretive ‘clubs’ on the planet. It is a secretive society and one of the most expensive clubs on the planet. If you happen to get on the list, a $40,000 initiation fee is required. Plus, you have to be the annual fee of $27,000.

The Club is entirely of limits from the public. Its members include Presidents of the United States, business leaders, and actors.

Google Datacenter

We cannot talk about secretive places on Earth without mentioning Google. Google runs the internet and as such must have a data center that is as guarded as Area 51. You cannot access it. Ever.

Queen’s Bedroom, UK

Not sure why anyone would want to access it, but the Queen’s Bedroom in the United Kingdom was ‘broken into’ in 1982 when a man called Michael Fagan scaled Buckingham Palace’s 14 foot high perimeter wall despite it being adored with revolving spikes and barbed wire, climbed up a drainpipe and wandered into the Queen’s bedroom in the early morning hours. Since the incident, the general security at the Palace has been ramped up and the Queen’s bedroom’s perimeter is outfitted with sophisticated alarms, motion sensors and round the clock security guard presence.

Iron Mountain’s National Data Center

Located in the United States, Iron Mountain is an elusive company operating the top secret National American Data Center. It is carved 220 feet underground into a former limestone mine in Pennsylvania. It features an underground lake used to cool data systems and a facility named Room 48 –used to discover geothermal conditions to create the perfect environment for electronic documents. The charred remains of United Flight 93 can be found here as well as some of Bill Gates’ private photographic collections.

Dulce Base

One of the most controversial places on Earth. It is believed that just outside Albuquerque, New Mexico in a town named Dulce where there is a secretive base said to be a joint government-alien biogenetic laboratory that carries out experiments on humans and animals. A giant conspiracy? Interestingly, a man called Phil Schneider claimed to have helped build an entrance to the top-secret base.

Banhof/Wikileaks

Located in Sweden, Banhof is an independent Swedish Internet service provider, home to WikiLeaks, an international journalistic organization that has been publishing secret information belonging to various governments around the world since 2006. The data center is located in a top-secret, heavily guarded bunker called Pionen, built into the White Mountains in Stockholm.

Area 51

We cannot leave Area 51 out of the list. After all, it is one of the most secretive and well-protected places on Earth. This military base is located in Nevada, some 80 miles from downtown Las Vegas.

According to ‘official’ reports, the base’s primary purpose is the research and development of experimental aircraft and weaponry.

Interestingly, its existence has only been acknowledged in 2013, and until then the government claimed the base didn’t exist.

Bold Lane Car Park

A car park? Seriously? Well, according to a BBC news report

The Bold Lane Car Park is operated by Parksafe Systems and is listed as one of the most secure places in the world. There are 190 cameras in the garage, emergency lock-down systems for all exits and a PA that allows the operator to communicate with anybody in the building.