There's a skyscraper in New York which has no windows, and there's a fascinating reason behind the design choice.
Almost all the apartment blocks and skyscrapers in the world feature windows, so it's only natural that one without any in one of the busiest cities in the world makes people slightly curious.
It's not alone, as several other buildings across the globe also sport the eerie walls - but it's 33 Thomas Street in New York that's taken all the headlines online, with many wanting to know why the secretive-looking building doesn't have any windows at all.
Celebrities such as Tom Hanks have even questioned the mysterious appearance of the building, as the Forrest Gump star tweeting back in 2017: "This is the scariest building I've ever seen! WTF goes on inside?"
Advert
A video of the 29-storey skyscraper has recently resurfaced on Reddit, bringing the building into question once again.
According to one TikToker, it's nothing to do with any of the outlandish conspiracy theories you may have heard flying around, it's actually something a bit less interesting.
Eric Guidry, who is known as @e.guidry on the platform, explained: "So that building in New York, this windowless building in San Francisco, this one in Chicago, this one in Austin and hundreds more buildings placed conspicuously across the country, in very populous locations."
He revealed that the buildings are part of AT&T's long lines network - the 550-foot-tall building in the Big Apple is even known as the 'AT&T Long Lines Building'.
Eric said that prior to digital telephones, lines were physically connected to people on the other end: "That meant we need these massive switching hubs. Most of those buildings I showed were built in the '70s [or earlier].
"That means they didn't require actual operators," he said.
Due to the building being filled with machinery, they decided against windows as there was no real need for it with the absence of humans, more or less.
He further explained that it is one of the 'most secure towers in the world', explaining: "It has enough gas, water and electricity to be able to continue running independently for up to two weeks and is supposed to be able to actually withstand a nuclear blast... within reason."
Eric added that most of the equipment has since been digitalised and while we don't need it for our phones, it's still curcial for our network and internet infrastructure.
"In fact, if you're watching this in the US, this video probably went through one of those buildings," he added.
It's since been suggested that the site could even be used as a National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance site, with the likes of non-profit organisation The Intercept claiming that there was enough evidence provided by several sources, such as NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.
A former AT&T engineer even claimed that there is a 'major gateway switch' which connects calls from the US to the rest of the world but in reality, we'll probably never know.
Joshua Nair