History Main / BlackSite

'''Vaughn:''' Well, some folks call it a private holding facility, others, a secret prison. I think it's officially listed as a document-processing center. So you can take your pick.\\

-- ''Series/BurnNotice''

->''The next morning they put me on the train to Cheltenham (second class of course) to visit a large office site which appears as a blank spot on all maps of the area, just in case the Russians haven't noticed the farm growing satellite dishes out back.''
-->-- '''The Concrete Jungle''' by Creator/CharlesStross

* ''VideoGame/TheOldRepublic'': The planet Belsavis, where the Republic maintained a secret prison for prisoners that couldn't be kept in normal facilities. It's secret was blown and the Empire landed on the planet to break out some of their high-value prisoners, and anyone else that could cause the Republic problems.

->''The next morning they put me on the train to Cheltenham (second class of course) to visit a large office site, which appears as a blank spot on all maps of the area, just in case the Russians haven't noticed the farm growing satellite dishes out back.''

** A particularly popular variation places one of these internment camps in the partly-disused support tunnels under Denver International Airport (colloquially known as the "New World Airport"), on account of the airport's admittedly kinda creepy public art, alleged "hidden [[BrotherhoodOfFunnyHats Masonic]]/[[ThoseWackyNazis Nazi]] symbolism", and this one commemorative plaque donated by the Freemasons which makes reference to the (apparently non-existent) "New World Airport Commission" which sounds kinda like "New World Order".

** [=UNIT=] Base 5 from ''[[Recap/TheSarahJaneAdventuresS4E5E6DeathOfTheDoctor Death of the Doctor]]'', visibly located on top Mount Snowdon (the highest mountain in Wales and the focal point of a national park, no less), is also incredibly eye-grabbing. [=UNIY=] Black Sites in ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures'' seem to have a problem with this.

** [=UNIT=] Base 5 from ''[[Recap/TheSarahJaneAdventuresS4E5E6DeathOfTheDoctor Death of the Doctor]]'', visibly located on top Mount Snowdon (the highest mountain in Whales and the focal point of a national park, no less), is also incredibly eye-grabbing. [=UNIY=] Black Sites in ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures'' seem to have a problem with this.

* The SCPFoundation maintains a large number of these both to research and contain SCPs. The most prominent feature is a nuclear warhead to be detonated only in the gravest of circumstances like an uncontainable breach (and they're nervous about using it on 682, [[AdaptiveAbility as it might make it invulnerable to nukes]]).

* PEFE HQ in ''Roleplay/WeAreAllPokemonTrainers'', which is located on an island in the middle of the ocean where all sorts of science is performed, has no defined location, and has Psychic types and PEFEgons that prevent it from being found except by PEFE employees and those they bring with them. As a result only the most trusted are allowed to visit, though luckily the organization is fairly begnign. Beforehand it was the property of Pokefutures Inc., who used it to perform unethical experiments, some of which were fought during the PEFExp miniarc.

* The SCPFoundation maintains a large number of these both to research and contain SCPs. The most prominent feature is a nuclear warhead to be detonated only in the gravest of circumstances like an uncontainable breach (and they're nervous about using it on 682, as it might make it invulnerable to nukes).

* The facility where much of the action in ''The Signal (2014)'' is assumed to be this trope, [[spoiler: but subverted when it turns out the entire desert where the facility is located is a fake environment inside an alien spaceship.]]

* [=CONTROL=] Headquarters in ''Series/GetSmart'', with it's now-iconic oft-referenced entrance corridor full of dozens of dramatically opening automatic doors. It's only ''after'' going through all the doors (which presumably require clearance to pass) that you come to the elevator disguised as a phone booth, which leads to the real facility, located [[ElaborateUndergroundBase underground]].

* ThePunisher: The End has Frank find a secret bunker containing what may well be the last remains of humanity after a full-scale nuclear war, having learned of its location from a cellmate who helped build them. Unfortunately, as they're also the people who ''started'' the war, he kills them all before succumbing to radiation poisoning.

* The first season of Series/TwentyFour has bad guys raiding a secret detention center to release that season's BigBad.

* In Series/{{Intelligence 2014}}, CYBERCOM has a secret black site prison where they imprison the BigBad due to his ties with the American government.

* [=CONTROL=] Headquarters in Series/GetSmart, with it's now-iconic oft-referenced entrance corridor full of dozens of dramatically opening automatic doors. It's only ''after'' going through all the doors (which presumably require clearance to pass) that you come to the elevator disguised as a phone booth, which leads to the real facility, located [[ElaborateUndergroundBase underground]].

* In ''Film/ZeroDarkThirty'', the CIA has, among other places, a secret prison somewhere in a polish city where prisoners are tortured for information on Osama bin Laden.

# Secret Lab: A scientific facility where unethical experiments are preformed or fantastic technologies are developed in secret, often with the implications that it will be used either as a weapon or to control the populace.

While this trope frequently overlaps with ElaborateUndergroundBase, a Black Site might be concealed merely by being remote (sparsely populated deserts such as those in Nevada and neighboring states are a popular choice) or just behind so much security that even if the public knew it was there, they'd never be able to get close enough to see it. Often times the site will not appear on any maps, and be airbrushed out of satellite and aerial photography, although they'll just as often be in the center of a strictly enforced no-fly zone, preventing aerial photographs from ever coming into being in the first place. Note that in RealLife, the existence and locations of Black Sites will often not be officially classified as secret, but all information about them beyond that ''will be'', which is why [[OpenSecret everyone and their dog knows about]] [[{{Area51}} Area 51]] but details about the facility such as what it's for, what's inside it, what goes on there, who works there, and what it looks like from any vantage other than low earth orbit is still very much an [[StockUnsolvedMysteries Unsolved Mystery]][[note]]Or at least it was, until being largely declassified in 2013 (see dedicated trope page for more info), but [[RuleOfCool that's not as cool]][[/note]]. However, even if the facility's existence isn't classified, that just means they legally ''can'' tell the public about it, not that they necessarily ''will''.

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