Welcome to From the Runway Up. 
I'm Becky and I'm Caitlin, and we work in the Public Relations Department at McGhee Tyson Airport in Knoxville, Tennessee, which is one of the fastest growing airports in the country. Collectively, we have more than 40 years of experience in the aviation industry. This podcast will provide you a window seat to aviation and airport operations.
Whether you're an aviation enthusiast, a frequent flyer, or just curious about what it takes to run an airport, this podcast is for you. So fasten your safety belts and get ready for takeoff on this episode of From the Runway Up.
Welcome to our spooky edition of our October episode of From the Runway Up. We are so glad you are here today because we are so excited to record this episode.
Yeah, we're going to try something a little different. We typically talk about all of the operations of an airport or how air service works and where planes fly. Today, we're going to talk about airports and all the spooky rumors that they're known for and that they embrace within the industry.
Because if you think about it, the aviation industry has been here for over 100 years—and that leaves a lot of time for some spooky activity potentially at some of these airports and airfields. So we're going to speak to one of the spookiest airports—and they're embracing that whole spooky vibe—the Denver International Airport.
We have the opportunity to talk today with Stacey Stegman. She's the Senior Vice President of Communications, Marketing, and Customer Experience at Denver. And she's going to share some insight into all the different things that people relate to their airport.
Stacey, thank you so much for chatting with us today. The topic of our podcast episode is just kind of spooky airport stories. Typically, our episodes are more operational and behind the scenes, which can get a little bit stuffy, so we're very excited to talk about something a little bit more fun.
So whenever I think of Denver and what comes to my mind when I think about spooky season is your blue Mustang. Can you tell us a little bit about the story behind that—why it was commissioned and what the original direction was?
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Absolutely. So our airport here in Denver is really known for this sculpture. It's this 32-foot-tall blue Mustang that sits outside and greets you as you approach our terminal. He's really just a tough one—he’s anatomically correct, he's got veins and a fierce look, and he’s got these gleaming red eyes.
There’s a lot of history about him in our community here. I would say it's 50/50—some love him, some hate him, or are fearful of him—but he's sort of our protector here at the airport.
When the airport was under construction in the late ’80s and early ’90s, the airport procured all of this public art that was going to be part of the airport, and this one was selected way back then. But it wasn’t until 2008 that he was installed.
That’s because the artist had a whole host of other projects underway, and it was one of those where it was getting very tense—trying to negotiate getting him installed and starting to go through legal avenues and all kinds of problems.
Ultimately, when the artist was finishing the sculpture, he was working on a section of the horse and it was hung up by a strap. The strap broke, the piece of the horse swung down, and it ended up puncturing the artist. Unfortunately, because he lived in a remote area, he couldn’t get to a hospital in time and died on his way there.
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Oh my goodness. That is spooky.
What we’ve heard about is different versions of the horse, and I think it’s interesting that you mentioned that 50% love him and 50% don’t—but at the same time, it’s a focal point of conversation when people talk about your airport. What is it like from a marketing perspective to have such a visual representation of the airport?
You know, we at the airport love this horse. His name is Mustang—that’s the title of the sculpture. Luis Jimenez was the artist. But our community has started calling him “Blucifer,” sort of a nickname we’ve heard.
Some feel like he’s cursed. We don’t feel that. We’re extremely proud of Mustang. He’s big and beautiful and, like I said, we consider him a symbol of the Wild West—the Mustang, the freedom of running wild.
We wish we could do more with him, but because of artist rights and commercialism, the estate of the artist is pretty strict about where they want to see uses of him. So we haven’t commercialized him as much as we’d love to.
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On another topic—rumor has it that Denver was built by Freemasons and a secret society. Some examples we read about when researching this podcast include markings throughout your airport—one of them being at the south entrance: a capstone with Freemason symbols. What is special about that capstone and why do people link it to secret societies?
Oh my gosh, the rumors about this airport have been incredible. When the airport was being built, it was way outside of the city, all fenced in. People were seeing these series of underground tunnels. This was before the internet, before good aerial photography, so there was a lot of, “What are they building out there?”
The airport was over budget, it looked strange, and we do have these series of underground tunnels. It was built with a sophisticated baggage system that ran underground. It ended up working, but took a long time, and we had all kinds of problems with it.
People saw that space underground and started rumors: underground bunkers, lizard people, alien test labs—and eventually, that the airport was a shelter for the world’s elite when the end of the world comes.
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Then there was a committee formed when the airport opened called the New World Airport Commission. It helped with opening ceremonies and created a time capsule that would open 100 years later.
On the stone, it says “The New World Airport Commission,” and people tie that to the “New World Order.” That created even more theories about secret societies.
People still come out to see it, thinking they’ll discover something nefarious going on.
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Oh, you should really film your own National Treasure movie out there just to play up on that.
It’s pretty amazing.
Yeah. So we’ll check that off the list—no lizard people beneath Denver Airport.
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Just curious, do you all do tours of these? You said people come out just to get a look at this capstone.
We have done a few things for charity or art tours. We’ve also had television shows—like America Unearthed and one with Jesse Ventura—come film here.
We’ve got a lot of art that some people think is weird or misunderstood, which is very typical of art. For example, there’s a mural by a Chicano artist that depicts both war and peace—depending on which direction you read it.
It’s meant to show what happens when you live in harmony, but some interpret it as apocalyptic. Combined with other art, symbols from mining, and misunderstood imagery, people started connecting dots that weren’t meant to be connected—creating stories of a “New World Order” airport.
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Well, and speaking of weird art—you have gargoyles, right?
Yes! In baggage claim, we have two bronze sculptures of gargoyles by artist Terry Allen, called Notre Denver. Historically, gargoyles were protectors of buildings, warding off evil.
These ones sit on top of bronze suitcases as protectors of lost luggage. They look spooky, but they’re actually whimsical and fun.
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Well, between Notre Denver and Mustang, you all are protected.
We think so—we’re doing our best!
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You’ve worked at Denver for quite a while. Do you have any stories that are outside the norm, or do you feel like all of this is just inflated?
I’ve never seen anything myself. Once, when I first started, I got a text asking me to check a certain door number because something secret was going on behind it. I grabbed a new employee, we badged the door—and an alarm went off! For a second, I thought, “Oh no, did I find the secret room?”
It turned out the alarm just goes off the first time you badge a door. Inside was nothing but luggage storage.
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We do have some areas under the tunnels I’ve never explored—where utilities are kept. Maybe I’ll check those out one day! But honestly, I think every airport has an air of mystery—especially with secure areas the public can’t access.
For the most part, nothing spooky.
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Well, that’s good to know.
Thank you so much for joining us today and sharing all that. My last question is—Denver’s really embraced this spooky image. How was the decision made to lean into it instead of avoiding it?
The airport had to fight back against the rumors for a long time. But when we started a major remodeling project in 2018, we didn’t want to just say “pardon our dust.” We thought, why not have fun with it?
Our CEO at the time loved the idea of embracing the conspiracy themes in a playful way. It became part of our brand.
We have to be careful though—some people take the theories seriously and can be unstable—so we balance humor with sensitivity. We’re not trying to mock anyone; we just want to lighten the mood of travel.
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I think y’all do a great job with that.
Thank you so much.
Okay, I think that’s it.
Yeah. Thank you, Stacey, for your time today.
…Stacey? Are you there?
She hung up—or it disconnected.
Oh. Okay, well that was creepy.
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You know, it reminds me of some other creepy stories I’ve heard about airports. The first one being Savannah Hilton Head International Airport—they actually have graves in their runway!
If you fly and land, you can see the grave markers in the runway.
What happened was the airport, originally a military base, expanded during World War II and absorbed a private family cemetery—the Dotson family. The family negotiated to keep four grave markers from their farm, and they still exist today on the northwest side of the runway.
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And it’s not the only one! Atlanta’s airport, the busiest in the world, also built its fifth runway over two cemeteries—but they remain publicly accessible, somehow, between the runways.
Like we said, aviation being over a century old leaves lots of room for spooky history—or as some might say, paranormal activity.
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One airport even made it onto A&E’s Haunted America—the New Century Air Center in Kansas. It was a World War II naval combat training station and has been known for paranormal activity ever since.
If I weren’t such a chicken, I’d watch that episode—but I’m not going to!
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And last but not least—we’ve heard that McGhee Tyson Airport itself has had some paranormal activity.
Not in the current facility, mind you—we seem to be paranormal-free (knock on wood)—but in the old terminal back in the 1970s and ’80s, employees reported seeing a lady late at night trying to catch a flight.
They’d see her in a nice dress—or hear her clumping around in heels—but when the new terminal was built, she didn’t make the move.
That old terminal is now the location of the current Signature Aviation facility, our FBO on property. We’ll have to ask them if they’ve seen or heard her!
Hopefully, she stays put.
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Thank you for listening to this special spooky edition of From the Runway Up. We hope you’ve enjoyed this short departure from our usual episodes—and that you’ll join us again next time!