View Full Version : FBI closes Solar Observatory over security
https://www.koat.com/article/reason-behind-closure-of-national-solar-observatory-remains-big-mystery/23118139
On Thursday last week, the National Solar Observatory in Sunspot near Alamogordo was evacuated, along with a nearby post office.
The FBI won't say how involved it is in the investigation but did say the security issue isn’t about UFO’s or aliens.
As of now the neighbors who live in the community have no idea when they'll be able to go back to their homes.
Well.... now we know how Trump was colluding with the Russians. Trump can dial up all the Hurricanes he wants be he can't hide what he's been up to with the Russians in the Solar Observatory.
Seriously though it does seem like an observatory would be some sort of hack-able situation. Don't they use a lot of radio communication to reach out into space for that sort of thing. Seems like some smart person could hide information within other information if need be. ..... but not letting residents go home... that sounds like something all together different.
Maybe RocketMan is going to target it with his space ray for proof of concept?
Business_Casual
09-14-18, 18:46
I wonder if there is fissile material used in astronomy at all? That seems a potential here.
Typical terribly researched and poorly presented C- high school English composition (at best) local (to me) click bait news article. I disagree about the presence of aliens- if this place is occupied by non-native beings it is obviously the undocumented kind, aggressive and hostile to any who don’t share their radical beliefs.
Jokes aside, it seems locals have been displaced- Holloman AFB and White Sands missile range are near Alamogordo. I wonder if there’s some super secret stuff happening.
FromMyColdDeadHand
09-14-18, 18:52
Thanks for posting this, I kept meaning to do it.
The world will lose their ever flipping mind if aliens are contacting us, like as in America, and Trump gets to talk to aliens first.
This could be the ultimate trolling that puts the lefties over the edge.
The world will lose their ever flipping mind if aliens are contacting us, like as in America, and Trump gets to talk to aliens first.
LOL, now that would be classic. Even the SouthPark guys couldn't write that one.
Aliens: All your base are belong to us.
Trump: You suck!
Aliens: Lower your shields and prepare to be boarded!
Trump: I'll destroy your universe and the space horse you rode in on.
LOL, wow, yeah, that would be a trip. Trump greets aliens from another galaxy. Of course the media would accuse him of improper space alien etiquette or some such.
ah, it's probably nothing. Elon Musk probably smoked some more pot and tried to drill a tunnel under it.
Foreign espionage. Direct view down of Holloman AFB and White Sands Missile Range from that mountain. If I wanted to spy on both of those facilities, that's where I'd set up my gear. The fact that techs were up on the antennas indicates they were concerned about the electronics involved with that equipment. I would guess the Peoples Republic of China. We've had other issues with their scientists here in New Mexico at Los Alamos and Sandia Labs.
Would FBI be the ones to jump on that though? Seems like that would be DHS.
The world will lose their ever flipping mind if aliens are contacting us, like as in America, and Trump gets to talk to aliens first.
Would rank right up there with Nixon being the ONLY world leader to have his name on a plaque, left on the moon. And ironically it will likely be one of the last man made artifacts to exist in approx. 500 million years.
https://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/kEBNAdKv8pCroIeAnLsOVhPSeuE=/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/3477390/1128px-A11.plaque.0.jpg
Would FBI be the ones to jump on that though? Seems like that would be DHS.
The FBI is the Federal Agency with arrest powers involving foreign Agents involved in espionage within the US. I am guessing this is some high level espionage going on here.
All your base are belong to us.
Haha. I haven't heard that phrase in years. A guy I worked with had it on a bumper sticker, too.
SomeOtherGuy
09-14-18, 21:11
This has been on the tinfoil sites for a while now. Lots of fascinating speculation. You would think that the sun was coming to an end!
However, I'd give 99:1 odds that the real reason is some variation of OH58D's post:
Foreign espionage. Direct view down of Holloman AFB and White Sands Missile Range from that mountain. If I wanted to spy on both of those facilities, that's where I'd set up my gear. The fact that techs were up on the antennas indicates they were concerned about the electronics involved with that equipment. I would guess the Peoples Republic of China. We've had other issues with their scientists here in New Mexico at Los Alamos and Sandia Labs.
This has been on the tinfoil sites for a while now. Lots of fascinating speculation. You would think that the sun was coming to an end!
However, I'd give 99:1 odds that the real reason is some variation of OH58D's post:
Another reason for FBI leading the charge on this is that the facility sits on Lincoln National Forest Land. All Federal Trust Lands (Military Bases, Indian Reservation, BLM, etc.) use the FBI for their investigative and arrest powers. Fed turf, feds running the show.
RetroRevolver77
09-14-18, 23:11
deleted
I heard it was because of something to do with a mercury spill, nothing more.
Earlier today, the facility's head said it wasn't a mercury spill, as had been speculated. Hazmat people would be involved with something like that, not the FBI. Interesting no matter what is going on.
Aliens: All your base are belong to us.
Someone set us up the bomb
https://youtu.be/8fvTxv46ano
Moose-Knuckle
09-15-18, 12:12
Would FBI be the ones to jump on that though? Seems like that would be DHS.
FBI handles internal intelligence agent threats while CIA handles them abroad.
This collaborates with what OH85D posted and IMHO is the most probable explanation of the incident.
Perhaps the most promising suggestion comes from the website The Drive, which notes that the National Solar Observatory "enjoys a wide and largely unobstructed view of both the U.S. Air Force's Holloman Air Force Base and the U.S. Army's White Sands Missile Range." As such, they posit that perhaps the situation at the site involves espionage in the form of some kind of technology surreptitiously installed on one of the antennas as the observatory and aimed at those sensitive installations which sit in an adjacent valley. This, they say, would explain why the local sheriff saw FBI agents examining high altitude areas of the facility.
Mysterious Evacuation Of Solar Observatory Overlooking White Sands Smells Like Espionage
Otero County Sheriff Benny House said the FBI asked him to support the initial evacuations at the observatory itself, but gave him no other information and that he and his deputies left after there was no evidence of an ongoing or imminent threat.
"There was a Black Hawk helicopter, a bunch of people around antennas and work crews on towers but nobody would tell us anything," Sheriff House explained to the Alamogordo Daily News on Sept. 7, 2018. "We went up there and everything was good. There was no threat. Nobody would identify any specific threat. We hung out for a little while then we left. No reason for us to be there. Nobody would tell us what we’re supposed to be watching out for."
But given AURA's statements and what else we know about the situation, there is a distinct possibility that "security issue" is actually related to espionage or a similar operational security concern. The National Solar Observatory's site enjoys a wide and largely unobstructed view of both the U.S. Air Force's Holloman Air Force Base and the U.S. Army's White Sands Missile Range, both of which regularly host a very wide array of U.S. military research and development programs.
http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/23582/mysterious-evacuation-of-solar-observatory-overlooking-white-sands-smells-like-espionage
Averageman
09-15-18, 14:00
Couldn't you move a Light Infantry Company on line with Helicopter support and round up any evidence or flush suspects toward FBI Agents on the ground?
Sounds like a neat training exercise.
SomeOtherGuy
09-15-18, 21:25
Couldn't you move a Light Infantry Company on line with Helicopter support and round up any evidence or flush suspects toward FBI Agents on the ground?
Sounds like a neat training exercise.
Interesting idea. Would using the Army in this kind of role violate Posse Comitatus? Would it matter that this might be a counterintelligence incident? At a superficial glance it looks like using the Army for almost any kind of search/seizure could be a violation:
https://infogalactic.com/info/Posse_Comitatus_Act
FWIW I'm under the impression that the FBI has fairly significant helicopter and tactical resources.
Averageman
09-15-18, 21:34
Hmmm I might have been presumptuous in thinking that wouldn't apply to spies working for a foreign agency.
The benefit would be a group that has a bit more youth and perhaps more recent and relevant experience?
Dr. Bullseye
09-15-18, 21:40
Easy one. The FBI has found a safe place to store the FISA documents, Hillary's emails, Wiener's laptop, the DNC emails, Strzok/Page emails, Ohr emails, Nelly Ohr and Christopher Steele.
Couldn't you move a Light Infantry Company on line with Helicopter support and round up any evidence or flush suspects toward FBI Agents on the ground?
Sounds like a neat training exercise.
That would be overkill. This is a Federal Science program that uses academics from various universities. Most likely the offending agent(s) has a pocket protector and coke bottle lens glasses and is named Professor Li Ping Chang or something like that. What will end up happening to that facility is total Federal takeover with limited, highly controlled access, turning it into an off limits mountain facility like the peaks around Area 51 and Groom Lake. It already sits on Federal Trust Forest Service land anyway.
Averageman
09-15-18, 21:50
Most likely the offending agent(s) has a pocket protector and coke bottle lens glasses and is named Professor Li Ping Chang or something like that. What will end up happening to that facility is total
Time to call Dick Chaney so he can dust off the waterboarding kit he keeps in the garage.
FromMyColdDeadHand
09-15-18, 22:21
All part of Trumps war on science....
That would be overkill. This is a Federal Science program that uses academics from various universities.
So who lives in the neighborhood? If this is a personnel issue why keep the residents out? Or are the residents also working there?
All part of Trumps war on science....
Or the part of the Federal Government which still works as it should to protect us from our foreign enemies.... Maybe the "good guys/gals" are still on the job, at all hours of the day and night?
Time to call Dick Chaney so he can dust off the waterboarding kit he keeps in the garage.
Nah, let him take Professor Li Ping Chang hunting.
So who lives in the neighborhood? If this is a personnel issue why keep the residents out? Or are the residents also working there?
They place employs somewhere between 9 and 12 people. There is a US Post Office right on the edge of the facility. Other than that it's Lincoln National Forest, open to whomever wants to enjoy our Federal Trust Lands. There are no permanent residents but there is government housing; it's a rural unincorporated place. I have heard that not all work there at the same time, some remotely working from home. Look up Sunspot, New Mexico on Google Maps and then switch to satellite view. You can see it sits on a western edge of a ridge on the mountain with the wide open plains to the west. Pretty country at 9200 foot altitude.
Would FBI be the ones to jump on that though? Seems like that would be DHS.
Domestic counter intelligence is the province if the FBI.
https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/counterintelligence
Listen to OH58D on this.
Domestic counter intelligence is the province if the FBI.
That along with usurping a duly elected President :p.
FromMyColdDeadHand
09-17-18, 07:46
All part of Trumps war on science....
Or the part of the Federal Government which still works as it should to protect us from our foreign enemies.... Maybe the "good guys/gals" are still on the job, at all hours of the day and night?
You know I was joking? Somehow it has to be Trump's fault....
The latest word from an anonymous worker there is that it had something to do with theft of equipment. This employee's voice was disguised in an interview with KOB TV in Albuquerque. I don't know what to make of this, but here's the link to the station for your own review:
https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/sunspot-employee-calls-facility-breeding-ground-for-crime/5072951/
Moose-Knuckle
09-17-18, 13:20
That along with usurping a duly elected President :p.
. . . besieging religious compounds and relieving rural Americans holding infants on their front porch of their lives. ;)
Moose-Knuckle
09-17-18, 13:22
The latest word from an anonymous worker there is that it had something to do with theft of equipment. This employee's voice was disguised in an interview with KOB TV in Albuquerque. I don't know what to make of this, but here's the link to the station for your own review:
https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/sunspot-employee-calls-facility-breeding-ground-for-crime/5072951/
So the plot thickens . . .
Wonder what kind of equipment an observatory would have that would warrant theft by a state sponsored actor? Hmmm....
SomeOtherGuy
09-17-18, 13:37
So the plot thickens . . .
Wonder what kind of equipment an observatory would have that would warrant theft by a state sponsored actor? Hmmm....
I'll take "Chinese Espionage" for $400, Alex...
Come on, guys- don't you know that this is all a massive cover up! Artificial suns, sun spots, the coming end of days.
Someone at this observatory had rock solid proof and was about to drop it...
:p
Moose-Knuckle
09-17-18, 14:27
Come on, guys- don't you know that this is all a massive cover up! Artificial suns, sun spots, the coming end of days.
Someone at this observatory had rock solid proof and was about to drop it...
:p
Perhaps they obtained indisputable proof of the ninth planet/ Nibiru/ Planet X . . . :ph34r:
Doc Safari
09-17-18, 14:29
The Feds shut down the local post office over the incident, too. Somebody walked out with some sensitive hard drives, files, or other data and mailed it to someone from that post office.
The Feds shut down the local post office over the incident, too. Somebody walked out with some sensitive hard drives, files, or other data and mailed it to someone from that post office.
If that's the case, and it's not a mislead, I could see this situation as some Cold War Spy Taunting.
It certainly wouldn't be the first, and only, time when someone did something to get the attention and say: "Hey, look how easy this was to do. Imagine what we could really do if we try."
I mean, hell, they had the head of the KGB shaking a president's hand and getting pictures of it.
**TinFoil Hat(e)** :jester:
Perhaps I'm getting cantankerous in my old age and not trusting the official line, but my BS meter is pegging the needle on this. All that activity with helicopters, FBI running around, closing down the Post Office, and then some "employee" spills the beans willingly to the local media that it was just a theft of equipment of around $15,000 by another worker. Sounds like a "story" was needed to lower the public appetite for the story. The giveaway is the lockout of local law enforcement regarding the so-called "theft". Normally State, County and Feds coordinate on these kinds of small time crimes.
More information is needed on this episode before I'm a believer.
Averageman
09-17-18, 15:14
Perhaps I'm getting cantankerous in my old age and not trusting the official line, but my BS meter is pegging the needle on this. All that activity with helicopters, FBI running around, closing down the Post Office, and then some "employee" spills the beans willingly to the local media that it was just a theft of equipment of around $15,000 by another worker. Sounds like a "story" was needed to lower the public appetite for the story. The giveaway is the lockout of local law enforcement regarding the so-called "theft". Normally State, County and Feds coordinate on these kinds of small time crimes.
More information is needed on this episode before I'm a believer.
I tend to agree.
$15,000 in hard drives and computer equipment, now think about that. More money than $15,000 was spent in paying for hotels and meals for per diem expenses a week in to this fiasco. Sleight of hand on a grand level.
Theft at any level of any .gov project is built in to the budget, everything is going to walk out the door from ink pens to very expensive tools.Getting someone off of their third point of contact to actually pursue even millions of dollars worth of equipment being stolen results in a cursory effort at best.
Low hanging fruit shows faster results and is easier to successfully pursue than espionage. A quick check of Craig's list and some cursory arrests and your six is covered.
Just on Army Bases, it's a known problem of theft. I was at Fort Campbell during the 1994-2004 AWB and I remember the hordes of used (but not used up) G.I. magazines leaving the base in trunks of cars heading to the local Army surplus joints. One Spec 4 was busted during my time that had over 200 mags in his car.
Doc Safari
09-17-18, 15:38
Just on Army Bases, it's a known problem of theft. I was at Fort Campbell during the 1994-2004 AWB and I remember the hordes of used (but not used up) G.I. magazines leaving the base in trunks of cars heading to the local Army surplus joints. One Spec 4 was busted during my time that had over 200 mags in his car.
And I've seen those at gun shows along with some other suspicious stuff like high-end optics that look a little too used to be Bubba's range toy optics.
Perhaps I'm getting cantankerous in my old age and not trusting the official line, but my BS meter is pegging the needle on this. All that activity with helicopters, FBI running around, closing down the Post Office, and then some "employee" spills the beans willingly to the local media that it was just a theft of equipment of around $15,000 by another worker. Sounds like a "story" was needed to lower the public appetite for the story. The giveaway is the lockout of local law enforcement regarding the so-called "theft". Normally State, County and Feds coordinate on these kinds of small time crimes.
More information is needed on this episode before I'm a believer.
53845
MountainRaven
09-17-18, 21:07
So the plot thickens . . .
Wonder what kind of equipment an observatory would have that would warrant theft by a state sponsored actor? Hmmm....
Accessory to War: The Unspoken Alliance Between Astrophysics and the Military, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Avis Lang: 9780393064445: Amazon.com: Books (https://www.amazon.com/Accessory-War-Unspoken-Alliance-Astrophysics/dp/0393064441).
Neil DeGrasse Tyson On Astrophysics & The Military : NPR (https://www.npr.org/2018/09/17/648719837/neil-degrasse-tyson-on-astrophysics-the-military)
Dr. Tyson's book linked above was published on 11 September of this year, and he's been doing some interviews related to the book and its subject matter. One of the things that Dr. Tyson touches on in the interview is adaptive optics: Developed by the US military for precision tracking and targeting Soviet satellites during the Cold War and now used by astronomers to improve the accuracy of their observations of celestial objects. So I don't know what might have been stolen by a state-sponsored actor, but I'm sure there's something of value to a state-sponsored actor.
Accessory to War: The Unspoken Alliance Between Astrophysics and the Military, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Avis Lang: 9780393064445: Amazon.com: Books (https://www.amazon.com/Accessory-War-Unspoken-Alliance-Astrophysics/dp/0393064441).
Neil DeGrasse Tyson On Astrophysics & The Military : NPR (https://www.npr.org/2018/09/17/648719837/neil-degrasse-tyson-on-astrophysics-the-military)
Dr. Tyson's book linked above was published on 11 September of this year, and he's been doing some interviews related to the book and its subject matter. One of the things that Dr. Tyson touches on in the interview is adaptive optics: Developed by the US military for precision tracking and targeting Soviet satellites during the Cold War and now used by astronomers to improve the accuracy of their observations of celestial objects. So I don't know what might have been stolen by a state-sponsored actor, but I'm sure there's something of value to a state-sponsored actor.
Thanks for the link to the new read.
Doc Safari
09-18-18, 09:11
Supposedly that observatory has an unobstructed view of White Sands Missile Range. Maybe someone was sending illegal photos of classified installations to someone.
Supposedly that observatory has an unobstructed view of White Sands Missile Range. Maybe someone was sending illegal photos of classified installations to someone.
It's a closer line of sight view to Holloman AFB, and White Sands (WSMR) as well off to the West-Southwest. At 9200 foot altitude, a clear view, but I am thinking more like electronic surveillance, not imaging.
Moose-Knuckle
09-18-18, 17:07
Accessory to War: The Unspoken Alliance Between Astrophysics and the Military, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Avis Lang: 9780393064445: Amazon.com: Books (https://www.amazon.com/Accessory-War-Unspoken-Alliance-Astrophysics/dp/0393064441).
Neil DeGrasse Tyson On Astrophysics & The Military : NPR (https://www.npr.org/2018/09/17/648719837/neil-degrasse-tyson-on-astrophysics-the-military)
Dr. Tyson's book linked above was published on 11 September of this year, and he's been doing some interviews related to the book and its subject matter. One of the things that Dr. Tyson touches on in the interview is adaptive optics: Developed by the US military for precision tracking and targeting Soviet satellites during the Cold War and now used by astronomers to improve the accuracy of their observations of celestial objects. So I don't know what might have been stolen by a state-sponsored actor, but I'm sure there's something of value to a state-sponsored actor.
Being an observatory I was thinking along the line of optics.
But meh, we got 2nd gen Space Fence and kill vehicles.
Doc Safari
09-18-18, 17:13
It's a closer line of sight view to Holloman AFB, and White Sands (WSMR) as well off to the West-Southwest. At 9200 foot altitude, a clear view, but I am thinking more like electronic surveillance, not imaging.
The fact that the Feds also closed the Post Office in Sunspot tells me they suspected hard copies of things were being mailed to someone.
The fact that the Feds also closed the Post Office in Sunspot tells me they suspected hard copies of things were being mailed to someone.
It may have been DiFi's driver. He probably stopped at the PO with her on the way to her mansion to make the pick up.
hotrodder636
09-18-18, 18:37
Maybe they found the significance of the Black Knight
Now the story coming out of El Paso and Albuquerque network affiliates is that it was child porn on the computer of a janitor, traced to the Sun Spot facility. The story keeps evolving and none of it seems credible considering the level of FBI activity.
https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/warrant-fbi-agents-search-sunspot-observatory-for-child-pornography/5077303/
So foreign intelligence operatives collecting real time intel on US Miltary operations gets down played to Joe Bob's naughty hard drive no-no's "acci-muh-dently" becoming public sector knowledge....wow...just like Herman the Cricket (old school Disney character) says, "I believe it!".
Now the story coming out of El Paso and Albuquerque network affiliates is that it was child porn on the computer of a janitor,
What?!
when I got in my car today Glen Beck was reviewing a theory by someone. No idea who it was...
the gist was.....
1. Incoming signals = big data secured on physical devices.
2. Too big to send over Ip without notice.
3. Low level relay to nearby location ( home of a resident in neighborhood )
4. 3 = reason residents were expelled from area.
5. Blackhawks were looking for heat sigs from anyone that stayed behind in homes.
6. antennaes / towers inspected for low power transmission antennaes to nearby homes.
IOW... it was a distribution center but relay of the collected data was complex.
That is a very rough estimate of me hearing a very quick review of what he understands he was told by someone else.
It doesn't sound all that far fetched. Capturing the data is one thing. That's almost the nature of the game. Delivering it unnoticed is the tricky part.
Porn on a janitors computer? Sounds like the Vegas shooters brother invented that one.
SomeOtherGuy
09-20-18, 08:20
Post #55 - plausible. Explains the helicopters which otherwise don't make much sense. Realistically, counter-espionage is the only non-tinfoil explanation that makes sense. And the sun still seems to be shining two weeks later, so I'm going to discount the "2012" apocalypse theory.
Porn on a janitors computer? Sounds like the Vegas shooters brother invented that one.
It was probably the same guy in Sunspot. These "criminal masterminds" get around.
Whiskey_Bravo
09-20-18, 08:29
Child porn on a computer needs helicopters , the post office to be shut down and residents kicked out? Yeah that seems plausible.
SomeOtherGuy
09-20-18, 08:52
...............
"Nothing to see here but a perv and his child porn, you all go home now or we will have to search your computers too!"
Sent from my SM-J727T using Tapatalk
Moose-Knuckle
09-20-18, 11:46
Now the story coming out of El Paso and Albuquerque network affiliates is that it was child porn on the computer of a janitor, traced to the Sun Spot facility. The story keeps evolving and none of it seems credible considering the level of FBI activity.
https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/warrant-fbi-agents-search-sunspot-observatory-for-child-pornography/5077303/
Yeah I'm not buying that.
I'm sticking with the espionage angle till Paul Harvey gives us the rest of the story.
FromMyColdDeadHand
09-20-18, 13:25
Or was it 3D printing guns?
I'm getting the story lines mixed up...
What if it was Alien (as in extraterrestrial) child porn?
It was just a regular old sensitive items check, you know to make sure they didn't leave any brass laying around...
FromMyColdDeadHand
09-20-18, 14:50
What if it was Alien (as in extraterrestrial) child porn?
What solar period (our or theirs) do you use to judge age?
Yeah I'm not buying that.
I'm sticking with the espionage angle till Paul Harvey gives us the rest of the story.
The observatory's only janitor is sitting home watching the news thinking to himself "Wha???? I don't even have a computer!" .
Doc Safari
09-20-18, 17:24
The observatory's only janitor is sitting home watching the news thinking to himself "Wha???? I don't even have a computer!" .
Maybe he'll turn out to be an illegal alien and Beto O'Rourke will save him. BTW, has anybody checked Beto's computer for child porn?
Whiskey_Bravo
09-20-18, 17:45
Maybe he'll turn out to be an illegal alien and Beto O'Rourke will save him. BTW, has anybody checked Beto's computer for child porn?
He is a democrat so pretty sure he gets a free pass and at least one get out of jail free card.
What if it was Alien (as in extraterrestrial) child porn?Or....https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180921/27869c1ec5a2db9948f15bb9707e3beb.jpg
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