Thanks to Wikileaks and Edward Snowdon, information about secret operations and governments spying on its citizens has been brought to light. I used to think that surveillance crews used to sit in underground bunkers in the middle of nowhere watching and listening to us.
Never in a million years did I think that one of the biggest surveillance hubs would be sitting in plain sight in the middle of New York City.
But Forrest Gump actor Tom Hanks has revealed just that.
His 13 million followers went wild when he posted the photo, with the caption: "This is the scariest building I've ever seen! WTF goes on inside?"
The building is 33 Thomas Street in Manhattan, and it has an incredible history. Built in 1974, the 29-storey property was meant to house telephone switching equipment but is now used by the telecommunications company AT&T. The exterior walls are precast concrete panels, clad with flame-treated textured Swedish granite faces - so pretty much nothing can get in or out.
Advert
It was designed to withstand nuclear fallout for up to two weeks after a blast and is completely self-sufficient, as it contains its own gas and water supplies as well as generation capabilities.
To explain just how important this building is; in 1991, management and equipment failure along with human error caused more than five million calls to be blocked. Federal Aviation Administration lines were also down, meaning air traffic control across nearly 400 airports was interrupted.
Credit: Google Maps
Advert
But an investigation by The Intercept last year stated that the building is 'one of the most important National Security Agency surveillance sites on U.S. soil - a covert monitoring hub that is used to tap into phone calls, faxes, and internet data'.
An article claims that 33 Thomas Street is codenamed TITANPOINTE, and is the site which conducts surveillance on the communications from the UN, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and a further 38 countries.
Their investigation focused on former AT&T employees as well as information leaked by Edward Snowdon. So it's not 100 percent certain that the NSA resides behind those walls, but regardless, the building is still really creepy.
Featured Image Credit: PA
