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FBI Mysteriously Closes New Mexico Observatory (popularmechanics.com)
Alien conspiracy theories are swirling after an observatory in New Mexico has been unexpectedly closed due to an unnamed "security issue," prompting evacuations and a visit from the FBI. "The Sunspot Observatory is now currently closed to both staff and the public, with no word on why or when it will be open again," reports Popular Mechanics. From the report: "We have decided to vacate the facility at this time as precautionary measure," said spokesperson Shari Lifson to the Alomogordo Daily News. "The Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy who manages the facility is addressing a security issue at this time." Lifson said that the facility was first evacuated on September 6 and has remained closed since then. According to Lifson, the observatory has no date for reopening yet.
As part of the investigation into the security issue, the observatory has contacted the FBI, which has been reported on the scene with multiple agents and a Blackhawk helicopter. According to local sheriff Benny House, the agency has been working with local law enforcement but refuses to share any details. The sheriff speculated that the evacuation could be due to some kind of threat made against the facility or its staff, but expressed confusion as to why local police would be left out of the loop. "If that's the case, why didn't they call us and let us deal with it?" he said. "I don't know why the FBI would get involved so quick and not tell us anything."
UPDATE (9/22/18): A warrant application filed in the case suggests the closure involved an FBI investigation into child pornography.
As part of the investigation into the security issue, the observatory has contacted the FBI, which has been reported on the scene with multiple agents and a Blackhawk helicopter. According to local sheriff Benny House, the agency has been working with local law enforcement but refuses to share any details. The sheriff speculated that the evacuation could be due to some kind of threat made against the facility or its staff, but expressed confusion as to why local police would be left out of the loop. "If that's the case, why didn't they call us and let us deal with it?" he said. "I don't know why the FBI would get involved so quick and not tell us anything."
UPDATE (9/22/18): A warrant application filed in the case suggests the closure involved an FBI investigation into child pornography.
Perhaps they found equipment on site that was designed to snoop on observation data or manipulate it - stealing researchers data so you can publish it first?
I'm not going to say it was aliens. But it was aliens. Ancient alien investigators agree.
Can't have the local police mess up the props FBI placed there to blame the next boogieman.
Have a guess, would it be the Russians or Chinese?
So the Andromeda strain is here.....
for some strange reason, I loved that movie as a kid. On the other hand, that might explain a lot nowadays...
bickerdyke
"Alien conspiracy theories are swirling", which is, from the set of probable causes the most unlikely reason by far. Instead of fantasizing, would be more interesting to list a few of the likely causes.
Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
China.
Took 10 minutes for their webstore to go up, and by the time I order it was 2-3 weeks shipping time. Fucking piece of shit. Some "user experience" that was.
But you ordered it anyway.
Fanbois.
Oh No, theyâ(TM)ve successfully cloned Trump
Pretty Simple really:
1)Overlooks White Sands Missile Range.
2)Large Tower.
3)Suspicion of surveillance devices placed on tower/systems that should not be there.
If you de-fund the sciences, they'll just start trafficking humans.
The FBI is just doing this to get the conspiracy nuts to focus their attention on something minor while they do something else that they do not want people to know about.
(Or they share my sense of humour, and are doing this just to mess with crazy people)
Death has been proven to be 99% fatal in lab rats.
Look, guys, it's not whatever you were thinking. I hate to admit it but I'm the reason they shut the place down. Honestly, I had no idea that RIAA would go so crazy that I was torrenting/seeding a crappy Justin Bieber album and ignored the DMCA notices. I'm really sorry, I didn't think it was that big a deal, really. ;)
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
Big rock coming our way, discovered by that facility. Silence needs to be kept, FBI will do the job.
...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
Seriously, only ONE black...hawk helicopter? Ah, AFRICAN-AMERICAN HAWK helicopter.
Anyway, waiting with bated breath for the "it was a weather balloon" (aliens) or "it was swamp gas" (actual weather balloon). press conference.
Black Mesa
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
Obvious possibility that the observatory may be inadvertently recording information on spy plane movement during long-term exposures, and the FBI was called in to investigate whether (1) it's happening and (2) possibly to remove all evidence. That seems like the obvious stuff, anyways, since the last thing they want is photos released internationally that may incidentally show their schedule of flights or give any indication that it's possible to record them simply by generally pointing long-term exposure film up near interesting sites.
I can't read comments to stuff like this anymore, or imagine away fantastic things.
It's very likely something exceedingly mundane and or probably the FBI over reacting to something.
Example, they discovered aliens? Oh no! Shut it down! It's not like any other obs towers exist on earth...
(Etc)
It'll be fairly basic stuff. Man be lovely it was some kind of Melancholia scenario but I doubt it.
Or: Who's Ellie?
Could the observatory had been hacked because its lazer beam it uses punched a whole in the space station?
... Someone at the cafeteria munched a cracker into a vaguely pistol-like shape.
so the current administration shut it down as more fake news.
I know that one of the telescopes there floats on a tank of mercury. A major leak there would be likely to prompt an evacuation, but why the FBI?
Coincidentally these solar/space cams also shut down at the same time:
- AXIS 232D Network Dome Camera located in Sydney Australia
- Webcams located at SOAR Observatory – The Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope located in Chile
- BRT Tenerife Telescope Webcam located in Spain
- Webcam located at Mauna Kea observatory at the University of Hawaii Hilo
- Webcam from the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope observatory in Hawaii
- Webcam at JAT OBservatory in Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania
Something's going on or maybe it's just tinfoil hat time.
Must have accidentally caught a glimpse of the U.S.S. George W. Bush or somesuch ;)
Seems to be about 50km away, googling the formula SquareRoot(height above surface / 6.752) = visible distance to horizon (distance in KM, height in cm)
So about 1688 metres above sea level to see that dar, and Apache Point is 2788m, so its high enough.
But your talking 50km zoom, like this guys 40km zoom, which clearly cannot be 40km because the horizon would be only about 5km away, he's just not high enough:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=94&v=l118uREKNZo
Meh. Same as this one, claims 50km (Croydon to Wimbledon stadium is only about 6km):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAozLcvQdfw
Nah.
It'll be a bomb threat from a religious nutter against a science target. i.e. Global warming isn't real, ergo scientists are crisis actors, or some such bull shit mental insanity
No he didn't, he's just an Apple hater like you pretending to have had a bad experience.
He would never go so far as actually ordering & using one, that would violate his preconceptions.
My guess is that the observatory's computer system was hacked, and they're being quiet because initial data points towards China/Russia. I bet observatories have info on where all the black satellites are. Or maybe they just wanted to disable it.
Corruption is convincing someone that the selfless ideal is the same as their selfish ideal.
It says "Sunspot Observatory", I had to Google it and turns out that's actually it's name, but it IS a solar observatory, one that's dedicated to observation of the closest star to our planet. Ie. the Sun. This makes it exceedingly unlikely they would have anything to do with any alien discovery, unless they're some sort of Sun-dwelling variety, it'd be more likely to run into one at a Walmart.
It also should go without saying (But I'll say it anyway) that it isn't the world's only solar observatory, and the world includes many more countries than USA, so any discovery relating to Sun couldn't be hidden by shutting down this one, nor would it make sense as it'd stop further observations.
According to article I quickly skimmed, the observatory was founded for radio observations of the sun, and there's mentions of the feds being very interested in the "antennas", so the espionage angle seems almost certain and would necessitate evacuation to prevent tampering with evidence (Perhaps not allowing them to pack their stuff when leaving though, as one article claimed) and continued espionage. Main argument against this is that all sensitive communications would be encrypted nowadays, but still just the existence of certain communications would be a security issue.
oh you sweet summer child, let me tell you about a time 15-18 years ago...
Clearly this is the work of the patriarchy.
FBI finally realizes that Stormy Daniels came from Planet Pussy
And her relationship with that orange one ...
E.T. bone home.
Wow is it that long? I guess it is, I fancy some grits now for some reason (I'm from the UK so don;t even know what they are...)
"everything has been politicized. And in that sense much of our public information system, including from the government, from the drive-by media, has been corrupted.â€
Well he's right. Unfortunately he's also a major contributor to that corruption and politicization.
And apparently, a huge Sharknado fan.....
Donald Trump, on a crusade to make Nixon look respectable
Oh no! Instant gratification denied.. Whatever will you do? I can guess.....
Dear Diary,
Today was the worst! I have it so rough....
"...speculated that the evacuation could be due to some kind of threat made against the facility or its staff."
My guess: somebody from Hawaii was vacationing in the area, found out that the observatory existed, and complained to the Feds that it "was an insult to her ancestors."
The Chinese were using an antenna array on site to generate intelligence about weapons tests at White Sands.
But yes, its aliens.
No he didn't, he's just an Apple hater like you pretending to have had a bad experience.
He would never go so far as actually ordering & using one, that would violate his preconceptions.
No, it would violate his wallet. Along with any principles he might have about actually owning what you buy.
Can't replace the battery. The bootloader will definitely be locked. Can't expand storage. Must use walled garden.
I look forward to finding out when some halfwit judge releases everybody ...
They've been there so long because there are so many rabbit holes around the observatory.
On an unrelated note, police are trying to track the parents of a young girl seen in the area but believed to be a runaway. Around 11 years old.
Chinese "academics" were using the facility to spy on local military compounds.
I believe this has all been planned in advance:
NMSU - SSOC Transition Plan
There's probably less to this story than the conspiracy theorists would like to believe.
The telescope sits on a liquid mercury bearing. From the linked document (p8):
Further, the TCS contains significant risk in its older server motors, mercury float bearings, and control software. Regular inspection and
maintenance is key to the longevity of the TCS. Fully documenting maintenance and risk, and implementing upgrades greatly reduces the risk associated with the TCS. As such, the telescope will be less expensive to operate, and much less liable to catastrophic failure. At minimum, the SSOC will require one telescope control engineer ready to assume full control and maintenance of the TCS in Oct 2018.
So a mercury spill could be quite hazardous, and if you were of such a mind, that large amount of mercury could be an inviting target to steal.
Based on recent history ... big law enforcement action and nobody saying anything ... at least 50/50 chance that it involves the militant wing of the religion/worldview that must not be named.
We will never hear of this story again. dead and buried
Obviously after illegal aliens, not space aliens.
It's going to be a major letdown if Trump tagged that ass. It would be a complete lack of respect to have such bad taste in women. *facepalm* No Trump, please say it ain't so my man!
I wondered what that large sun spot moving across the sun was. I guess they got a better view of the object.
I am not saying it is aliens.... but aliens.
More like "D.T. bone home".
They must have found a Speak & Spell in the closet there...
Sorry, the right lost the right to moralizing when you all turned a blind eye to what you CLAIM to 'abhor' and elected Trump. You also lost any claims to 'the party of fiscal responsibility' at the same time.
Donald Trump, on a crusade to make Nixon look respectable
Your grammar is other
Aliens who want to enslave all humans by burrowing into their brain Could explain the GOP...
Truth isn't Truth - Guliani
You know what really owns the libs? Surfing. Storm surge waves are the best ever, and don't let The Man try to convince you otherwise!
How is the Riemann zeta function like Trump rallies? Both have an endless number of trivial zeros.
Let me enlighten you.
Mostly flavorless. Makes rice savory by comparison...
Donald Trump, on a crusade to make Nixon look respectable
Bunch of physicists. Sounds like something happened and nuclear material is now contaminating the site. How it got there is an open question. Since the post office is shut down, maybe somebody mailed a dirty bomb?
Hackers got into the facility and used it to locate spy satellites.
Now the feds want to collect the evidence.
I'm half-expecting a new blockbuster movie to come out soon featuring that observatory; the FBI were hired as part of the stunt to generate interest. Or maybe they're actors dressed as FBI. Either is probably unlikely, but not out of the realm of possibility I suppose.
Look back up at my post, now look back down, you're on the Internet. Now look back up. I'm a signature.
Clearly they were getting too close to the truth about Spaceforce.
It's going to be a major letdown if Trump tagged that ass. It would be a complete lack of respect to have such bad taste in women. *facepalm* No Trump, please say it ain't so my man!
LOL, of course he did. Trump never met a pussy he didn't want to stick his dick into. That man is an adolescent in a 71 year old body.
At first I was all Anathem, but then I realized that a telescope that's just looking at the sun is clearly causing a real-life Currents of Space. We better get going on our insterstellar escape vehicles while we stilll have a chance. (and for the #tinfoilhat group, clearly this info is being locked down until the Important People can get away on the first rockets)
https://app.box.com/WitthoftResume Code: https://github.com/cellocgw
until the Important People can get away
So, The Marching Morons?
Have gnu, will travel.
Have gnu, will travel.
I figured this thread would be full of Anathem jokes by now. Slashdot comments just ain't what they used to be.
Nah, it's probably a security incident like somebody cracking some computer system, or the espionage angle others here have suggested. The idea of the discovery of extraterrestrial life is silly (but then, that's what they want us to think).
He's partially right, though. Predictions of gloom and doom are popular, with a GW chaser. There is no shortage of hot air about how bad a hurricane is "because GW", and it's good to point this out when it fizzles, and to keep it in mind for the next hurricane that is actually bad. A stopped clock and all that.
Even with GW, the strength and number increase will be minimal, and will require decades of data to tease it out beyond normal variance. Yet every hurricane is a much worse, terrrrrrrible consequence of GW.
Pay attention to the rhetoric.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
She's beautiful. What are you really trying to say?
I'd appreciate it if you could stop reading my diary. K, thx.
Solar activity that could threaten earth -
build-up of solar flare?
Lack of sunspots causing the star to pelt the earth with energy different than normal?
Other coincidental data:
Solar Minimum
Other closings of solar observatories world-wide (should check the data of running observatories for tamper anomalies)
People in DoD and DC are very worried right now about an "EMP" - Carrington event from the sun?
The post office in the town of sunspot is also closed indefinitely (not a tower overlooking white sands). - Zerohedge article from a couple days ago.
The FBI closed the post office as well as the observatory with efficiency - so as to prevent anyone noticing anything that they might be able to with that equipment. - what equipment is installed at the observatory?
Anyone in El Paso that can drive to sunspot and record a youtube video of the town's activities?
no wonder mike pence doesn't want to be alone with him.
So the big question is; which of this morning's news events are causing the conspiracy theorists to jizz themselves the most; This observatory being shut down; or the exploding homes in Massachusetts?
This space unintentionally left blank.
And my wife works at Apache Point Observatory, a mile away, and thus far unaffected. I've done lots of photography at both sites and been all over the place, inside and out of both telescopes.
At first I thought it was a manhunt, but they wouldn't exclude local law enforcement, and they wouldn't stay in one area for so long. Then for giggles I watched parts of some of the conspiracy videos on YouTube, and I ran in to a comment that had some resonance. The poster said that he saw a comment on another conspiracy vid (therefore it must be true) that a Chinese spy had been caught with 8 computers spying on Holloman Air Force Base. First off, HAFB is a training base flying F-16s and MQ-9 UAVs, the former have been around for decades and the latter aren't that interesting. Not much secret going on there. Now, perhaps the spy was spying on White Sands Missile Range? He would have done better positioning himself in the Organ Mountains on the other side of the basin, except that's pretty rocky, it would've been much more comfortable hiding in the forest over here. Who knows.
Some of the other conspiracy theories were amusing. The sun went out! (we'd know it 8 minutes later, and we know how our sun will die). Something dark passed in front of the sun! (several observatories around the world watch the sun all the time and no one else reported anything - and they would have reported it). They found Planet X! (no one else reported it - see previous).
If we ever get actual information as to what went on, it might be interesting. Or it might not be.
When you sympathize with stupidity, you start thinking like an idiot.
Would explain why the post office is also closed. Terror threat against either the facility, or someone in the facility.
The governor of Puerto Rico is a D. So is the mayor of SanJan.
Those are the chief assholes involved.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
Nope, sorry.
Clinton didn't get elected.
False equivalency.
But thanks for playing.
Donald Trump, on a crusade to make Nixon look respectable
Like altzhiemers I bet.
They know deep down in their GUT. Something you liebruls will just never understand!
Im sure that cancer growing inside your pancreas has nothing to do with your vile hatred and irrational anger. But keep it up bud! We're all cheering for your tumor.
Sorry the left gave up ANY AND ALL pretense of having ANY morals at all when they didn't call for her ass to be thrown in prison.
Let's think about that. A GOP controlled executive branch. A GOP controlled house and senate. A GOP appointed justice dept. A GOP that can literally do anything they please right now. You really ought to look at who you voted for and ask why they are letting HRC get away with these terrible crimes. Seems like you voted for the wrong people maybe?
Plan 9 back in the 50s failed. The aliens have come up with a new one
You can see the tide coming in...
Show me an article where somebody was eager to describe a terrorist as a christian before the full story came out. Just one, I'll wait
Thank dog.
The Ds are responsible for who they nominate. Suck it up.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
Now you're projecting. Why would I be angry? The bitch didn't win.
I'm happy to keep my guns, money and nation's constitution.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
Sir, you're not supposed to eat the grits. They're for pouring down your pants.
Wumpwuss the faggot calls Puerto Rico assholes while he sucks Putin's cock, news at 11
A New Mexico astronomycal observatory? Did they found a mysterious looking hammer, impossible to lift?
How many dems called for her to be thrown in prison? I rest my case.
They didn't call for her to be thrown in prison for the same reason the Rs aren't throwing her in prison now. I'll leave it as an exercise for the reader to figure it out.
Neither linked article mentions aliens. Fuck you /.
Two possibilities imo humble opinion. It was aliens. Or, it was the "Solar Warden" (no matter what it's called) Fleet traversing the sun. I think the latter. Not a novel idea, or renaissance moment, but our government lies each and every day to us since July 8, 1947.
Add in the following sentence from Wikipedia that includes the closure of a post office "On September 7, 2018, the site, which includes the Sunspot Solar Observatory and a post office, was closed due to what was described as a "security issue" resulting from "a credible threat". According to the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), the observatory “will remain closed until further notice due to an ongoing security concern." Almost sounds like someone sent an envelope full of a white powdery substance. Kinda old school now a day.
Life is in a state of dynamic equilibrium, it both blows and sucks
Bunch of guys were at the local tex-mex place and had a lot of beans. Did you see the shape of the observatory? They had to close it down for a while.
They spotted a meteor heading straight for us.
Not that that will stop the conspiracy nuts.
Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
I'm sure if he told you 'it ain't so' you'd believe him. Retards.
I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
He's a choosing beggar. Picture the disgusting neckbeard who wrote that. Pretty ridiculous.
An "agitated" janitor is supposedly using the Sunspot Internet connection to upload, download and store child porn and the FBI reacts by bringing in a Black Helicopter and FBI swat team to evacuate the whole hilltop, homes, post office and all other facilities, and keeps them closed for eleven days? And, the Sunspot server admin has no clue that a lowly janitor is busting into his system and using it for illegal purposes?
Not likely. FBI hackers had already identified the janitor as the perp, and two agents could have been dispatched to arrest the perp and made a copy of the evidence before deleting it from the servers.
The Feds wanted that facility offline, and are kept offline for 11 days for other reasons. IMO, the child porn claim is just transparent cover story.
Running with Linux for over 20 years!