# Most Protected Building on Earth? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 19, 2013, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-protected-building-on-earth/666604 "2013-08-19T01:17:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-protected-building-on-earth/666604/21 "2013-08-20T12:18:00Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > But they have missions that are other than protecting the Bullion Depository. Half of them are testing that stupid monkey/typewriter theory. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-protected-building-on-earth/666604/22 "2013-08-20T12:33:14Z")
I think there is a level above which there aren’t distinctions to be made. I believe it is impossible to break into Fort Knox, and equally impossible to take the pillow from Kim Jong Un’s bed. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-protected-building-on-earth/666604/23 "2013-08-20T16:36:06Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > and equally impossible to take the pillow from Kim Jong Un’s bed. Unless you’re Miss January. ---
**Author:** ![jbaker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/59ef9b/32.png) [@jbaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jbaker)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-protected-building-on-earth/666604/24 "2013-08-20T17:25:56Z")
Does “most protected” mean “with the most protection resources” or “whose protections are most difficult to defeat”? The question also does not differentiate among the very different protection requirements of civilian residences and workplaces such as the White House and the U.S. Embassy in Iraq, depositories such as Fort Knox, and military facilities such as Cheyenne Mountain. Conceivably there could be six or more answers. The most protected depository, by either measure, is probably the Federal Reserve Bank of New York building at 33 Liberty Street, New York City. This is the largest gold depository on Earth, and it has security to match. The White House is probably the building with the most protection resources in the United States, but its relatively high level of accessibility means that there are probably other buildings whose protections would be more difficult to breach, and there may be foreign countries that devote more resources to protecting their leaders’ residences or workplaces. I don’t know which military facilities would be the most protected. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-protected-building-on-earth/666604/25 "2013-08-20T19:14:16Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I think there is a level above which there aren’t distinctions to be made. I believe it is impossible to break into Fort Knox, and equally impossible to take the pillow from Kim Jong Un’s bed. I bet Chiun could do it. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-protected-building-on-earth/666604/26 "2013-08-20T19:18:45Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > The most protected building on Earth is one in Russia. You’ve never heard of it, and neither has anybody else. If nobody’s heard of it, how do the people protecting it know where to show up for work? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-protected-building-on-earth/666604/27 "2013-08-20T19:25:54Z")
They only hire deaf guards. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-protected-building-on-earth/666604/28 "2013-08-20T19:26:26Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > Fort Knox has 10,000 troops stationed around the Treasury storage building, right? And Washington DC has how many federal agents keeping an eye on everything? Tracking cell phones calls, observing thousands of cameras using facial recognition, reading emails of suspected threatening foreigners and countless active military just walking around all over the place in uniform. Still it just amazes me that 5 cars of jihadist with RPG rockets haven’t just gotten out and unloaded on the White House just to make a statement. It’s also amazing how fast they caught the nut job that was just throwing paint on monuments. DC is a security zone orgy, with multiple agencies trying out there tactics and techniques. While 9-11 was actually happening it was briefly reported that there appeared to be anti-aircraft missiles firing up out of the White House grounds. Never heard a follow up report on those, even by the nut jobs; always made me wonder if someone got told to back off. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-protected-building-on-earth/666604/29 "2013-08-20T20:01:52Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > …Still it just amazes me that 5 cars of jihadist with RPG rockets haven’t just gotten out and unloaded on the White House just to make a statement. It’s also amazing how fast they caught the nut job that was just throwing paint on monuments. DC is a security zone orgy, with multiple agencies trying out there tactics and techniques. > > While 9-11 was actually happening it was briefly reported that there appeared to be anti-aircraft missiles firing up out of the White House grounds. Never heard a follow up report on those, even by the nut jobs; always made me wonder if someone got told to back off. I have wondered the same thing. I guess it’s tougher to do the Baader-Meinhof thing in this country than I thought. Though screw RPGs: if you’re a jihadi, and you have access to military ordnance from either Libya or Syria, there are plenty of semi-man-portable anti-tank missiles that were made to eliminate main battle tanks. Even as wondrous as the latest palanquin from Cadillac must be, it isn’t a tank. Neither are any of the other high value targets in that area. Though the Pentagon, with its massive reinforced concrete construction, comes close. Especially after the [renovations](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentagon_Renovation_Program), for any building not holding an ICBM. And then there’s [Frank Corder’](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Eugene_Corder)s ill-thought-out flight into the White House South Lawn. I understand he was hammered, and it was dark, but how do you miss an entire building? Unless of course something got in his way. I’ll throw [Pantex](http://www.pantex.com/about/Documents/ex_doc_security.pdf) or any of the special weapons storage facilities like the Navy’s Explosives Handling Wharves, into the list of pretty damned well protected buildings. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-protected-building-on-earth/666604/30 "2013-08-20T20:27:25Z")
I read an article that said the gold vaults under the Federal Reserve in New York were the hardest area to enter. Any thoughts on how those compare to getting into Ft. Knox? ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-protected-building-on-earth/666604/31 "2013-08-20T20:41:07Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > While 9-11 was actually happening it was briefly reported that there appeared to be anti-aircraft missiles firing up out of the White House grounds. Never heard a follow up report on those, even by the nut jobs; always made me wonder if someone got told to back off. How would that have accomplished anything? If antiaircraft missiles were fired in the middle of a major metropolitan area in broad daylight on a clear day, thousands if not tens of thousands of people would have seen the exhaust trails, not to mention that the missiles (or their shrapnel) have to come down somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![pdunderhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4bbf92/32.png) [@pdunderhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pdunderhill)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-protected-building-on-earth/666604/32 "2013-08-20T21:43:03Z")
After a little bit of mulling, it seems that the obvious answer is the most barren, unknown site. Semms to me that if you want to protect someting of importance you do have a choice: i. Build in plain sight. Other Dopers seem to know their way around U.S National Defence sites I\* do not, honestly!\* ii. Distract, confuse or disguise. I think I’ve got something from RAND about this whole business and definetly info re the UK Governments various plans. If the OP is including a full exchange of ICBMs then, oddly, the Saudi desrts could be quite safe. My thinking. Short of Mutually Assured Destruction the Middle East is the single most valuable resource/geographical area to dominate. If you’re fighting with your neighbour over a turkey you don’t kill the bird. The most protected place on Earth is that place that draws the least attention, I’ve a very nice map from Montana State Tourism that’s full of open spaces. Peter ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-protected-building-on-earth/666604/33 "2013-08-20T21:55:57Z")
> [@wevets](#): > > How would that have accomplished anything? If antiaircraft missiles were fired in the middle of a major metropolitan area in broad daylight on a clear day, thousands if not tens of thousands of people would have seen the exhaust trails, not to mention that the missiles (or their shrapnel) have to come down somewhere. The plane went down before it got close to the White House so they didn’t need to use them. I never said they were actually fired; just be prepared for use which would mean they would have to break ground and be positioned. I clearly remember this being reported on 9-11 and never heard of it again. Maybe it was mistaken report, fog of war type thing. Maybe not. ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-protected-building-on-earth/666604/34 "2013-08-20T22:31:28Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > While 9-11 was actually happening it was briefly reported that there appeared to be anti-aircraft missiles firing up out of the White House grounds. Never heard a follow up report on those, even by the nut jobs; always made me wonder if someone got told to back off. > [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > The plane went down before it got close to the White House so they didn’t need to use them. I never said they were actually fired; just be prepared for use which would mean they would have to break ground and be positioned. I clearly remember this being reported on 9-11 and never heard of it again. Maybe it was mistaken report, fog of war type thing. Maybe not. I read your earlier post as an allegation that the missiles had been fired, it was reported, and “someone” was told to stop reporting it, not that the missiles were just there. I get what you’re saying now. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-protected-building-on-earth/666604/35 "2013-08-20T22:39:56Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > But then, they’ve got a Stargate, so there’s that. So, the least protected building, then? ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2013, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-protected-building-on-earth/666604/36 "2013-08-20T23:17:42Z")
Well, US forces could steal The Precious Pillow. But nobody gets inside NORAD that isn’t North American. ---
**Author:** ![yoyodyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a9a28c/32.png) [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-protected-building-on-earth/666604/37 "2013-08-21T00:28:28Z")
> [@aNewLeaf](#): > > Well, US forces could steal The Precious Pillow. But nobody gets inside NORAD that isn’t North American. I don’t think they let hockey-playing curling-loving back-bacon-eating maple-syrup-drinking toque-wearing eh-sayers in either. ---
**Author:** ![Fish\_Cheer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fish_cheer/32/17179_2.png) [@Fish\_Cheer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish_Cheer)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-protected-building-on-earth/666604/38 "2013-08-21T02:01:12Z")
Why do you think it’s called the _North American_ Aerospace Defense Command then, and not the United States Aerospace Defense Command? The Deputy Commander is Canadian, for crying out loud. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-protected-building-on-earth/666604/39 "2013-08-21T03:51:39Z")
I’m guessing that some buildings at Area 51 are _very_ well protected. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2013, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-protected-building-on-earth/666604/40 "2013-08-21T10:28:14Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > So, the least protected building, then? Yeah, nothing says safety like a door that lets whatever alien of the week pop in and blow shit up. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-protected-building-on-earth/666604.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-protected-building-on-earth/666604.md?page=3)