Description (From transcript): “There is a big statue of a blue horse. It’s really really tall; you can see it from far away and its eyes are red. It’s really bright and visible. It’s a huge thing that you notice right away on your way to the Denver International Airport. The name is Blucifer. That tells you a little bit about where this is kind of headed *laughs*. There’s a lot of legends at the airport, the history of where it was built, how it was built, what’s underneath it, all of that. But this horse is just kind of out there, it’s a bolder staple. I also recently learned that the guy who was building it, a piece of the horse fell on him and he died while building it. And his son finished the construction of it. I feel like that also adds a layer of spookiness. And the red eyes? Like for what? And the name? It’s really interesting and scary.”

Context: The informant (LV) is a first generation Mexican American woman residing in Denver, Colorado. Because she lives in Denver, she says that it feels its, literally, a little more close to home. She explains how there’s a lot of theories about DIA (the Denver International Airport) such as stuff being built underground. She says that there is so much information, such as illuminati related content and “who knows what’s true”. She says that this airport is one of the biggest in the US and Colorado is very historically important and rich, which plays a big role on why there are so many theories around this location. She says Blucifer is a unique aspect of Denver. 

She remembers hearing stories as she was growing up about the airport. She had an uncle who worked there. Because she likes to travel, she’s always taking Lyfts and Ubers to the airports. She learned new details of the story from an Uber driver who was taking her to the airport. She says that Uber drivers know a lot about the places where they live and part of their job has become telling people these stories.

My interpretation: This legend is intriguing to me because despite sounding heavily fictional for the sake of shock factor, parts of the story are true, making it one of very few legends that are heavily based in truth. However, because people continued to add their own interpretations of it, other aspects are not as clear on truth values. Despite resulting in tragedy, it also seems to have become an important part of Denver’s history, especially because it is one of the first things outsiders see in Colorado, emphasizing just how important the figure and the story have become. 

For further reading on this statue and legend, see: 

Wolf, Stephanie. “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Blucifer, the Demon Horse of Dia.” Colorado Public Radio, Colorado Public Radio, 11 Feb. 2021, www.cpr.org/2019/11/04/everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-blucifer-the-demon-horse-of-dia/.